Economy
From The Report: Myanmar 2020
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Myanmar is now one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia Pacific, with a key geostrategic location, abundant natural resources and a youthful population underpinning its progress. It is also a country that has achieved much in a relatively short period of time, after only setting out on the path of liberalisation and democratisation in 2011-12. Since then GDP, personal incomes, international trade and standards of living have improved significantly. Cities such as Yangon and Mandalay have experienced booms in real estate and construction, while the national grid has expanded, and transport and logistics networks have widened and deepened. The wholesale and retail sector is becoming a major driving force of the economy, and the financial and manufacturing sectors are undergoing liberalisation and diversification. This chapter contains interviews with U Soe Win, Minister of Planning, Finance and Industry; Daw Cherry Trivedi, CEO, Myanmar Institute of Directors; and Melvyn Pun, CEO, Yoma Strategic Holdings.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Trending up: Plans to increase spending buttress strong growth, while the government aims to bring more funds into the formal economy
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Myanmar is now one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia Pacific, with a key geostrategic location, abundant natural resources and a youthful population underpinning its progress. It is also a country that has achieved much in a relatively short period of time, after only setting out on the path of liberalisation and democratisation back in 2011-12. Since then GDP, personal incomes, international trade and standards of living have improved significantly. Cities such as Yangon and Mandalay…

Analysis

Checks and balances: Applying international corporate governance standards means confronting traditional values
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As Myanmar is liberalising its economy, an increasingly wide range of traditional business practices and structures are being challenged. These range from how to raise finance to how to attract and keep talented employees, with changes in corporate governance now seen as a vital step to ensure sustainable future growth. Transitioning to new ways of doing business is not always an easy task, but “this paradigm shift is crucial for Myanmar companies”, Daw Cherry Trivedi, CEO of the Myanmar…

Interview

The new normal: U Soe Win, Minister of Planning, Finance and Industry, on encouraging foreign participation and tackling poverty
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Interview:U Soe Win In what ways will public-private partnership (PPP) projects be facilitated through the PPP Centre? U SOE WIN: The new PPP Centre’s primary function is to identify and implement high-quality and bankable PPP projects to help bridge our substantial infrastructure gap. It will also help advance the working relationship between the public and private sectors, better leveraging the expertise and financing available from both sides, and helping to reduce Myanmar’s budget…

Interview

Raising the bar: Daw Cherry Trivedi, CEO, Myanmar Institute of Directors, on bringing the corporate governance structure up to speed
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Interview:Daw Cherry Trivedi What are the main issues standing in the way of effective corporate governance? DAW CHERRY TRIVEDI: The traditional corporate governance structure, as found elsewhere in the world, does not exist in Myanmar. What exists instead is a hierarchical, founder-based structure with centralised power around one individual. There tends to be a topdown approach with very little delegation, consisting of boards which are then filled with friends or family. The result of…

Analysis

In the net: New tax laws aim to reduce the share of the unregistered economy
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In 2019 Myanmar’s Internal Revenue Department (IRD) pushed forward with two major reforms – a new tax law and a new tax administration law. The first of the two, the Union Tax Law (UTL 2019), passed by Parliament in September 2019, drew headlines for granting tax amnesty to citizens with undisclosed sources of income. The law brought other important changes too, and demonstrated the government’s commitment to widening the tax base, expanding the registered economy, and improving and…

Interview

Promoting activity: Melvyn Pun, CEO, Yoma Strategic Holdings, on the growth trends of the middle class, financial inclusion and bourse performance
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Interview: Melvyn Pun In what ways can the authorities encourage greater activity on the Yangon Stock Exchange? MELVYN PUN: It is clear that the exchange still has a long way to develop. Foreign investors are now legally permitted to own local companies’ shares, and officials are working to develop and enable the trading and clearing systems that are needed to support such foreign investment in the near term. We have yet to enunciate, however, why it is attractive to invest in companies on the…

Overview

Talent map: Changing global migration patterns result from growing anti- migration sentiment
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As the world’s nations and businesses become increasingly interconnected, so too does the flow of global migration. According to the OECD’s “International Migration Outlook 2018”, in 2017 some 258m people resided in a country other than the one they were born in, and more than 5m foreign-born persons settled in OECD countries. The flow of migration is believed to not only improve the lives of the migrants themselves, but also to contribute significantly to the economic opportunities of individual businesses and countries. Despite this, public opinion across the globe is turning against migration, much to the frustration of business…