Acknowledgements
This publication was jointly prepared by ESCAP and the Mekong Institute with the latter’s financial support. The business survey was developed and conducted jointly by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) with financial assistance from the Government of Japan, The Asia Foundation, the Deutsche Gesellschaft fßr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the OECD, the UMFCCI and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). The survey instruments were designed by ESCAP and OECD in technical consultations with The Asia Foundation, the German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). Hanns Seidel Foundation organized the launch event and technical seminars of the business survey in Myanmar. This survey project is the brainchild of Margit Molnar, former Head of Competitiveness and Structural Analysis Unit, OECD Development Centre. The implementation of the project was led by Masato Abe, Economic Affairs Officer, Business and Development Section, under the supervision of Marc Proksch, Chief, Business and Development Section, Trade and Investment Division, ESCAP. Derek Carnegie and Martha Baxter (both at OECD) provided significant inputs to the development of the survey project and its implementation. Madhurjya Kumar Dutta, Programme Manager of Trade and Investment Facilitation Department, and Wen Hao, Programme Facilitator, provided their technical expertise and advice to the project under the supervision of Dr. Watcharas Leelawath, Director, Mekong Institute. Special thanks go to the entire survey team managed by UMFCCI, and in particular, to U Win Aung, President, U Zaw Min Win, Vice-President, U Moe Myint Kyaw, Secretary-General, U Myint Zaw, Joint Secretary-General, Captain Aung Khin Myint, Executive Director of the Myanmar Business Survey Project and Sai Aung Mane, Project Manager. The survey team, comprising (in alphabetical order) Yaw Htung, Wazo Chan Myei, Than Naing Oo, Khin Cho Thein and Thiha Thaung Yin as well as Nwe Nwe Oo, Ei Ei Kay Khaing and Pann Pann Su Mon, made important contributions to the project. This publication was co-authored by Aaron Soans (formerly ESCAP and Mekong Institute; now OECD) and Masato Abe. Toru Adachi (Embassy of Japan in Bangkok) prepared the section on agribusiness and food industries. Sai Aung Mane contributed extensively to the data collection and data cleaning sections in Chapter 2. Substantive inputs were made by Gordon Israel who also designed the cover of the book. Veronika Marinova managed the production of the publication with substantive inputs. Robert Oliver edited the manuscripts. Natthika Charoenphon, Shan Ni and Pranee Suriyan provided administrative support. The authors are also grateful for insightful comments provided by David Abonyi (ESCAP), Shervin Majlessi (UNODC Bangkok), Adam McCarty (Mekong Economics), Mia Mikic (ESCAP) and Teemu Puutio (ESCAP).
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