About Myanmar

Location
Myanmar is situated in Southeast Asia and is bordered on the north and northeast by
China, on the east and southeast by Laos and Thailand, on the south by the Andaman Sea
and the Bay of Bengal and on the west by Bangladesh and India. It is located between
latitudes 09 32 N and 28 31 N and longitudes 92 10 E and 101 11 E.
Geography
The country covers an area of 677,000 square kilometres (261,228 square miles) ranging
936 kilometres (581 miles) from east to west and 2,051 kilometres (1,275 miles) from north
to south, It is a land of hills and valleys and is rimmed in the north, east and west by
mountain ranges forming a giant horseshoe. Enclosed within the mountaion barriers are the
flat lands of Ayeyarwaddy, Chindwin and Sittaung River valleys where most of the country's
agricultural land and population are concentrated.
The length of contiguous frontier is 6,159 kilometres. The total length of Myanmar-
Bangladesh boundary is 271 kilometres (168.7 miles). The total length of Myanmar-China
boundary is 2,204 kilometres (1,370 miles); Myanmar-Thailand 2,107 kilometres (1,309.8
miles); Myanmar-India 1,338 kilometres (831.8 miles); and Myanmar-Laos 238 kilometres
(147.9 miles).
Climate
As a whole, the location and topography of the country generated a diversity of climate
conditions. Seasonal changes in the monsoon wind directions create summer, rainy and
winter seasons. Extremes of temperature are rare. The directions of winds and depression
bring rain, and although it is always heavy in the coastal areas during monsoon season, it
seldom creates hardships. The Government is giving priority to the forest conservation and
greening of nine arid districts in central Myanmar.
Flora and Fauna
Myanmar is endowed with a rich diversity of habitat types arising largely from its unusual
ecological diversity. It is home to nearly 300 known mammal species, 300 reptiles and
about 100 birds species, and a haven for about 7,000 species of plant life. Since Myanmar
considers such a rich pool of bio diversity as an important national asset, the Government
has drawn up strict regulations to protect its biological resources.
Population
The Union of Myanmar is made up of 135 national races, of which the main national races
are Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Chin, Bamar, Mon, Rakhine and Shan. Population of the country
is estimated at 52.4 million (July, 2003) and the population growth rate is 1.84 percent.

2014 Chairmanship
The year 2014 will be exciting year for Myanmar as Myanmar takes the rotating chair of
ASEAN for the first time after joining ASEAN in 17 years. Political, economic and
administrative reforms in Myanmar since 2011 have made it possible for Myanmar to play a
more active role in regional and international affairs in accordance with its foreign policy
objectives stipulated in the 2008 Constitution. Myanmar will faithfully implement the
responsibilities of ASEAN Chair in accordance with the Article 31 and 32 of the ASEAN
Charter.

Myanmar has set the theme for 2014 ASEAN Chair as Moving Forward in Unity to a
Peaceful and Prosperous Community. The solidarity of ASEAN is the first and foremost
ingredient for ASEAN to be credible in the world and to be fully integrated into a community.
The ultimate goal of ASEAN is to reach to a peaceful and prosperous community where
ASEAN will be outward looking, playing a leading role in emerging regional architecture and
contributing to the healthy development of global community, people-centred, caring and
socially responsible, economically dynamic, sustainable and resilient, maintaining peace,
stability and harmony. Myanmars chairmanship of ASEAN aims to add value to these
ASEAN objectives and dynamics.

Equitable Economic Development
In the ASEAN Blueprint it was strongly emphasized that all the ASEAN countries
need to pay more attention to their respective Small and Medium Enterprises that
count for over 90% of the total enterprises and contribute around 60 to 70% to the
GDP. SMEs are also the major job providers in all ASEAN countries. The Blueprint
laid down the policy as follow:
SME development

The ASEAN Policy Blueprint for SME Development (APBSD) 2004-2014 outlines the
framework for SME development in the ASEAN region. It comprises strategic work
programmes, policy measures and indicative outputs. Its objectives are to:

(a) Accelerate the pace of SME development, optimizing on the diversities of ASEAN
Member Countries;
(b) Enhance the competitiveness and dynamism of ASEAN SMEs by facilitating their
access to information, market, human resource development and skills, finance as well as
technology;
(c) Strengthen the resilience of ASEAN SMEs to better withstand adverse macroeconomic
and financial difficulties, as well as the challenges of a more liberalized trading
environment; and
(d) Increase the contribution of SMEs to the overall economic growth and development of
ASEAN as a region.

In line with these policy guidelines Myanmar Government has formed a Central SME
development Committee chaired by the president and vice chaired by the two vice
presidents since 2012. In Myanmar 99.4% of the total industries are SMEs.The main
problems with SMEs in Myanmar are:

Lack of knowledge in international trade
Lack of capacity in market expansion
Lower technology
Inadequate source of funds
Under capacity for doing research

Therefore both the union and the regional governments need to assist them to develop their
capacity in filling the gap of the above. There should be some institutions to provide facilities
to the Myanmar SMEs. They could be-

Training Institutions- The union government, in collaboration with the regional
government should establish the training institution to provide the SMEs on the
following subjects:

i) Basic principles of marketing, positioning, branding, packaging, etc.
ii) Market survey and market expansion strategy.
iii) HR management, Office management
iv) Basic bookkeeping and preparing acceptable financial statements
v) International trade, World Trade Organization
vi) E-commerce and e-business
vii) Basic research and collecting data for business planning
viii) Business communication and English speaking.

Credit Information Bureau and Credit Guarantee Corporation- The union
government should establish such institutions and also expands to the regional
governments. These institutions shall organize the SMEs to be its members so that
SMEs are aware of sourcing funds for their business. They can assist them to get
loans from the banks even though the SMEs do not have enough collateral.

Market penetrating institutions- The union government can assist the SMEs through
such institutions. In Philippines one of the government department provide this
service to the SMEs to find new markets oversea. The institution should organize
trade expo in negotiation with the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of the other
ASEAN countries and exhibit Myanmar products. This will not only find the new
markets offshore but also will widen the eyes of the Myanmar SMEs entrepreneurs.
At the moment Myanmar has only one SME Centre in Yangon and it could not cover
the whole country. The States and Regional Governments should cooperate with
this department to open new centers and to assist the local SMEs in their respective
regions.

Most importantly building trust between the SMEs and the Government is essential to do all
the above activities. There was a long history of worries by the SMEs that the government
will nationalize their business when they bloom up. Both the union and the regional
government should wipe away this worry by encouraging them to promote their business.
There are so many things to do and it needs time. Most of the ASEAN countries has done in
the development of SMEs and we should take this as an advantage. We should follow the
successful methods of our ASEAN friends but avoid the methods that bring them failures.
As a saying goes, there always is better opportunity for the late comers.