The Relationship of the Political Reforms Toward the Industrial Development of Myanmar from 2011-2020

Abstract

This research aims to analyze the impact of the political reforms of Myanmar on the country’s industrial development from 2011-2020. The qualitative research methodology is applied to understand Myanmar’s industrial transitions during this period by dividing them into two parts. The first part is the study of the research-related documents to understand the problems, changes, and all possible consequences. The second part involves collecting data from field research in five industrial zones in Myanmar.

The results show that during 2011-2020, Myanmar continued to prioritize state power in formulating and implementing policies to drive industrialization through economic zone and special economic zone development mechanisms. Myanmar has strengths in natural resources that can generate income for the country and an opportunity to be a strategic point connecting Southeast Asia with other regions in Asia. However, there are weaknesses of the country in using the state to lead the market, the transparency of the economic reform process, and labor productivity that is still inefficient, and the quality of human capital is low, which requires the quality of labor to be upgraded to respond to the industrial sector. Furthermore, in the post-military coup since 1 February 2021, Myanmar has been missing the key elements that have hindered industrial reform, namely political instability, and lack of political party independence. The Myanmar army has de facto power over the state and infiltrates many important organizations in various sectors of the economy. There is a lack of transparency in government organizations and state enterprises and the problem of compliance with human rights principles towards ethnic groups. If Myanmar could overcome these obstacles and challenges and try to maintain its strengths and search for existing opportunities, the country could have become a new economic hub for ASEAN.