MYANMAR BUSINESS SURVEY: DATA ANALYSIS AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS However, the Anti-Corruption Commission has also come under criticism for lacking impartiality, as the Commissioners are appointed by the President and the Lower and Upper Houses of Parliament (Linn, 2014). The inclusion of former senior military officers in the Commission is also of concern as they may have vested interests and may be unwilling to investigate their former colleagues (Thompson, 2014).
Myanmar has the potential to achieve rapid economic growth of more than 8 per cent per annum, but this will require increasing the rate of labour productivity growth to 7 per cent from the current level of 2.7 per cent (MGI, 2013). This will be challenging but not unprecedented as China was able to increase its labour productivity by seven per cent from 1994 to 2006 and reached a GDP per capita level that is four times the level of Myanmar today (MGI, 2013).
The Myanmar Enterprise Survey 2014 conducted by the World Bank also found that corruption was still prevalent in the country. More than 40 per cent of respondents reported having experienced at least one bribe payment request (World Bank, 2014a). Thus, more work remains to be done to extinguish corruption in the country.
Myanmar’s productivity challenge is twofold. First, the economy must undergo a structural shift away from sectors such as agriculture, which are characterized by low productivity internationally. Second, productivity within sectors is low compared to regional peers and must be increased. For example, in manufacturing, labour productivity in Myanmar is 50-75 per cent lower than the weighted average for China, India, Indonesia, Thailand and Viet Nam (MGI, 2013). Improving productivity is all the more important to increasing competitiveness in the face of increasing regional integration.
Business surveys in Myanmar A major challenge to implementing the required reforms is the dearth of information on the business conditions on the ground. In Myanmar several international surveys have been conducted to assess the business environment and assist policymakers in determining the right course of action. These surveys include, among others: (a) the Global Competitiveness Index; (b) the World Bank’s two business surveys – the “Doing Business” report and Myanmar Enterprise Survey 2014; (c) the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom; and (d) Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) surveys of Japanese companies operating in Asia and the Pacific, including Myanmar.
7. Corruption After decades of the military rule and a tightlycontrolled economy, corruption remains one of the most significant challenges facing Myanmar. The level of corruption is high by international standards, with the country ranking 156 out of 175 in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index 2014, alongside Cambodia and Zimbabwe (Transparency International, 2014a).12 Corruption pervades the entire economy from high level nepotism and cronyism to everyday bribery and harassment. Businesses and individuals requiring licences and permits from public officials are often asked for bribes-colloquially referred to as ‘tea money’ (OECD, 2013).
The World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Competitiveness Index has been reporting and benchmarking the factors that underpin national competitiveness in more than 100 countries for more than three decades. The index defines competitiveness as the “set of institutions, policies, and factors that determine the level of productivity of a country” (WEF, 2014; p.4). Many different factors that drive productivity and competitiveness are arranged into 12 pillars of competitiveness. These include: (a) institutions; (b) infrastructure; (c) macroeconomic environment; (d) health and primary education; (e) higher education and training; (f) goods market efficiency; (g) labour market efficiency; (h) financial market development; (i) technological readiness; (j) market size; (k) business sophistication; and (l) innovation (WEF, 2014).
The Government has acknowledged the problem and has made commitments to achieve good governance and a clean government as part of its reform agenda (OECD, 2013). A new Anti-Corruption Law was passed in 2013. A key provision in this law was the establishment of an Anti-Corruption Commission that came into force in 2014 with the stated aim of reducing corruption and bribery. Corruption cases are now being investigated more frequently, with the Government announcing that nearly 17 000 civil servants had been punished between April 2011 and December 2012 (OECD, 2013).
The index reveals that although Myanmar’s institutional quality is low, it has improved recently. When Myanmar 8