Data Collection for

Myanmar Business Survey: Data Analysis and Policy Recommendation

Sai Aung Mane Project Manager, Myanmar Business Survey Project 2013-2014 Managing Director, Myanmar Business Development Consulting

(MyanmarBDC) Yangon, 28 November 2015

Outline • Introduction to MyanmarBDC • Myanmar Business Survey 2014 • Objectives of the survey • Cooperating agencies • Expected outcome • Issues covered • Targeted sectors • Targeted population • Questionnaire • Survey team • Methodology • Collected samples by state/region • Challenges in collecting data and solutions

MyanmarBDC

• MyanmarBDC is a result-oriented consulting, research and advisory firm

• that enables businesses, particularly the SMEs in Myanmar to flourish,

• providing unique opportunities for foreign investors

• and driving inclusive social and economic development.

MyanmarBDC

21 February 2015 Enhancing Competitiveness | Facilitating Investment | Driving Inclusive Development 4

Strategic Pillars

Strategic Pillar 1

• Business Registration

• Feasibility Studies

• Business Plan

• Strategic Planning

• Market Analysis

• Industrial Analysis

• Strategic Marketing

• Planning and Service

• Management Improvement

• Finance and Accounting Improvement

• HR Development

• Short, Long-Term Training

• In-house training

• IT and Online-marketing

Services

Enhancing Competitiveness

Facilitating Investment

& Trade

Driving Inclusive

Development

Strategic Pillar 2 Strategic Pillar 3

• Market Survey & Analysis

• Industrial Survey & Analysis

• Partner Search

• Due Diligence

• B2C Survey & Research

• B2B Survey & Research

• Organize consultation events

• Project Management

• Survey

• Research

• Consultation

• Project Management

Other customize Services

Strong team and network of consultants to deliver services

Myanmar Business Survey 2014

• The first-ever nation-wide comprehensive business survey

• One of the world’s most representative and most challenging business surveys conducted in a country

• Covered all 14 States/Regions, Union Territory and all major cities – such as border trade towns and commercial cities

• All types, sizes and sectors • Over 3,000 samples – January – April 2014

Project objectives

• To address the lack of information on business conditions and environment

• To assess the status of the business community

• To identify major obstacles faced by businesses

• To provide effective policy recommendations

Cooperating agencies • Executing agencies

– OECD – UNESCAP – UMFCCI (hosts the survey team)

• Donors and other cooperating agencies – The Government of Japan – Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit

(GIZ) – Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) – The Asia Foundation – UNIDO – Hanns Seidel Foundation

Outcomes

• Providing better information about the situation of the business sector

• Providing evidences for the better policy making and institutional capacity building

• Enabling major policy inputs by UMFCCI

• Enabling a more business-oriented policy framework for the Government

• Utilizing data by a number of stakeholders

Seven Key issues

1. Business enabling environment • legal regulatory framework

• Infrastructure

2. Entrepreneurship (partially covered)

3. Access to finance

4. Human resources

5. Innovation and technology

6. Business development services (partially covered)

7. Market & resource access

Targeted sectors

• Agribusinesses (but not subsistence farmers)

• Manufacturing

• Services

• Trading

• Also cover various sub-sectors in each of the sectors

Targeted population • Covered all types, sizes, ownership and nationality of

businesses – Foreign enterprises in Myanmar – State owned enterprises – Military enterprises – Large enterprises – Group/parent companies – Joint ventures/partnerships – End users and consumers – Small and medium enterprises – Micro enterprises – Cooperatives – Informal sector

Questionnaire • Prepared in October – December 2013

• Repeated pre-tests

• 73 main questions

• 19 pages in English, 24 pages in Myanmar

• Mostly hard copies, but also in electronic version

• Forward and back translation of questionnaire

– English to Myanmar (by one professional translator)

– Translated Myanmar to English (by another translator) to double check

Structure of Survey Team

Many trainings!

Another training workshop in Bangkok

Training in Kalay

Methodology

• No list of the entire business community

– Thus, no sampling frame

• Convenience and snow-balling methods

– Approaches through business associations

– Site interview

– Drop-off – explain, self-fill out, collect, follow-up

– Conference – group explained, self-fill out,

– Email - electronic version

Sample population by state/region

Major challenges and solutions

Major challenges and solutions

Most of businesspeople understand that this survey is important for them and for their businesses

Thank You