Current Status ReportIn Myanmar, originally known as Burma, the current overall HDI (Human Development Index) for this year is 0.483 (UNDP 2011). Of the three factors of human development, health is the most important factor in Myanmar, while the lowest is income. Over the past 30 years, Myanmar's HDI trend has been steadily increasing between 1980 and 2010. Despite a slight decline in 1990, placing the country below the low human development line, the trend resumes five years later . Finally, Myanmar's development sits just above the threshold of Low Human Development. Despite the improvement, Myanmar still faces challenges that prevent an increase in the growth rate. According to the CIA fact book, Myanmar “suffers from pervasive government controls, inefficient economic policies, corruption, and rural poverty” (CIA 2010-11). Myanmar is a valued exporter of natural gas, with a turnover of just over eight and a half billion according to a 2010 estimate from the CIA fact book. However, Myanmar's public population lives in poverty as military, political and business leaders exploit the country's resources and assets. This is caused by inefficient economic policies and the inability to manage finances. More developed countries have imposed financial and economic sanctions on Myanmar, as well as travel bans on military and civilian leaders and others connected to the Burmese government (CIA 2011). Myanmar appears to be a country that is highly dependent on foreign trade, receiving grants of “technical assistance (mainly from Asia), limited humanitarian aid and debt relief from Japan and China, and soft loans from China and India” (State 2011). Looking at the aid provided, it seems that Myanmar is more of a...... middle of paper ......bycountry/myanmar_40738.htmlMillennium Development Goals: Myanmar. (n.d.). Index Mundi - Facts about the country. Retrieved December 5, 2011, from http://www.indexmundi.com/burma/millennium-development-goals.htmlMyanmar and Birth Spacing: An Overview. (n.d.). Searo. Retrieved December 5, 2011, from www.searo.who.int/LinkFiles/Family_Planning_Fact_Sheets_Myanmar.pdfMyanmar Millenium Development Goals. (n.d.). Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development. Retrieved December 4, 2011, from www.mnped.gov.mm/MDG06.pdfUNDP Myanmar. (n.d.). UNDP Myanmar. Retrieved December 6, 2011, from http://www.mm.undp.org/enviroment/UNDP_MMR_Enviroment.htmlXinhuanet. (2011, April 29). The trade fair on the border between Myanmar and China was launched at Muse. English.Xinhuanet.com. Retrieved December 4, 2011, from http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-04/29/c_13851770.htm