Launching Ceremony of the Myanmar Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Qualitative Study Report (2018)

On 26 March the results and outcomes of the Myanmar Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Qualitative Study Report (2018), SAM engagement, and four in-depth Studies were presented at a launching ceremony in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. The meeting brought together representatives from ministries in Myanmar and stakeholders to discuss the progress of the evidence-based policy-making and analysis to support the country’s move through a challenging structural transformation and development process.

The ceremony was opened by U Set Aung, Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Planning and Finance followed by a keynote speech delivered by H.E. John Nielsen, Ambassador of Denmark to Myanmar. Director General, U San Myint and Professor Finn Tarp continued by explaining the objectives of the 2018 MSME survey and the key results. Furthermore, Finn Tarp introduced the Pre-Prototype 2015 SAM.

The 2018 qualitative study report complements the 2017 MSME quantitative survey with a more detailed set of selected topics and specific industries. Three key issues having impacts on the MSME sector in Myanmar are (1) informality in registration, labour markets, and payments;( 2) complexities and future of the wood sector; and (3) the gender wage gap.

The project will continue the work on two in-depth studies: MEMS 2018 Lab-in-the-Field Experiment Report; and Governance of Global Value Chains, State and Small Businesses: The Case of Timber in Myanmar. In addition, the project outputs include developing a new SAM Prototype 2015 and a 2017 SAM, enhancing analysis and capacity-building among CSO staff. This year, the CSO-UNU-WIDER-University of Copenhagen team will also implement a second round of the MEMS (Myanmar Enterprise Monitoring System) quantitative survey.

The MEMS survey is part of the project ‘Towards Inclusive Development in Myanmar’ initiated by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) of the Ministry of Planning and Finance of Myanmar, supported financially by the Government of Denmark. UNU-WIDER and the Development Economics Research Group at the University of Copenhagen provide technical collaboration. The project aims to strengthen evidence-based policy-making and analysis and help underpin Myanmar’s move through a challenging structural transformation and development process.