Jim Rogers Says "Myanmar Best Investment Opportunity in the World"

Legendary investor Jim Rogers, who founded the Quantum Fund along with George Soros, told OilPrice.com that Myanmar is likely the best investing opportunity in the world. "Probably the best investment opportunity in the world right now is Myanmar. In 1962, Myanmar was the richest country in Asia. They closed off in 1962, and now it's the poorest country in Asia. I see enormous opportunities there because they're now opening up. It's like when China opened up in 1978. There were unbelievable opportunities going forward. The same is true in Myanmar now in my view. North Korea, I expect to see the same sorts of developments." Rogers is famous for not only his incredible investing success, but also for his around the world adventures by motorcycle and car. In 1980, Rogers retired from actively managing other people's money and literally drove around the world on his motorcycle. Again, from 1990 to 1992, he drove 100,000 miles across six continents. The adventure made it into the Guinness Book of World Records and is detailed in his book "Investment Biker." During his travels, Rogers would frequently buy stocks at the stock exchanges of third world countries where he saw potential. Many of these investments became quite lucrative. Given his background, Jim Rogers is not your average emerging market investor. He has literally been around the world multiple times and seen the developing world up close for years at a time. In addition to recommending Myanmar for investment, Rogers said that North Korea is not far behind. The problem for most investors is that there is not an easy way to gain exposure to these markets. There is no Myanmar ETF, for example. One way that investors could potentially profit from growth in Myanmar, however, is through the ETF which tracks Thailand's markets. SeekingAlpha reports that "Thailand is Myanmar's largest export market and second largest import market, the latter of which is set to boom with an easing of import restrictions and a progressively freer Myanmar market." The ETF which tracks Thailand is the iShares MSCI Thailand Index Fund THD. Another potential trading opportunity in the years to come could be the Global X FTSE ASEAN 40 ETF ASEA, although this security is extremely thinly traded and only has a market cap of $29 million. This ETF seeks investment results that correspond to the price and yield performance of the stock markets of the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Countries that are represented include Malaysia, the Phillipines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Year-to-date, the security is up a little less than 11%, outperforming the S&P 500.