The paper estimates Myanmar’s export potential based on bilateral export patterns observed for six countries in Southeast Asia. Against that benchmark and controlling for outliers, Myanmar is found to be trading at about 15 per cent of its potential. The bulk of this gap is explained by low trade with industrialized countries. It is conjectured that economic reforms and integration with the world economy are likely to close this gap to potential rather swiftly, particularly if Myanmar can manage to capitalize on its favourable predisposition to international trade.