The November 8, 2015 elections in Myanmar marked a historic milestone in the country’s political and economic transition that began in 2011.
... See More + Incoming policy makers are preparing to pick up the baton and deliver on the people’s strong aspirations for a harmonious and prosperous Myanmar. In this series of policy notes, the World Bank Group seeks to promote dialogue on critical development challenges and on options for policies and reforms that can contribute to shared prosperity for the people of Myanmar. The policy notes focus on six interconnected areas that are likely to be high priorities for shared prosperity. The first is on closing the gap in access to social services for improving Myanmar’s human development outcomes. This could help to strengthen the productivity and employability of Myanmar’s current and future labor force, which is the critical input to inclusive growth and a precondition to success in all the other areas. The second policy note is on growing together by reducing poverty in rural areas. Policies to boost agriculture productivity and accelerate the delivery of essential services in rural areas, where they lag the most, could help to supply the much needed labor and food for the rapidly expanding industrial, manufacturing and service sectors.
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Myanmar has the opportunity to significantly enhance energy access, starting from a situation where energy consumption per capita is among the lowest in the world.
... See More + Two-thirds of the population is not connected to the national electricity grid, and 84 percent of rural households lack access to electricity. The lack of affordable and reliable power is a key constraint to the delivery of vital services such as health, education and finance for rural populations, and for private sector development and job creation more broadly. Also, access to modern fuels for cooking (such as liquefied petroleum gas) is limited to urban areas. Consequently, traditional biomass (wood and animal dung) is widely used and accounts for about 70 percent of primary energy consumption. The Government’s National Electrification Plan aims to electrify more than 7 million households and achieve access to electricity for 36 million people by 2030. Achieving this objective (which is also the UN SDG7 in Myanmar) is vital to poverty reduction and shared prosperity.
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Myanmar’s financial system is undergoing a rapid transformation. A history of economic isolation has left Myanmar with small and underdeveloped financial institutions and very low access to financial services.
... See More + Since 2011, however, demands on the financial system have grown exponentially with increased trade and investment, growing household income, and expanding government operations. While recent reforms have stimulated financial sector growth, much more needs to be done to establish a competitive and vibrant financial sector that can meet the needs of Myanmar’s expanding economy, boost incomes, and reduce poverty particularly among those living in rural areas. Increasing access to financial services is critical to achieving shared prosperity in Myanmar.
See Less -
Market-based reforms and the opening up of trade and investment initiated over the past four years have had a positive impact on growth in Myanmar.
... See More + These have enhanced private sector participation and increased the role of exports in the economy. Reforms have included streamlined business entry procedures, reduced export and import licensing requirements, and enhanced public-private partnerships and dialogue. Promoting private sector competitiveness and inclusion in Myanmar have enormous potential to drive job creation, economic diversification, and structural transformation. This would involve improving the investment climate with an emphasis on transparency and predictability; reducing trade costs and strengthening connectivity for economic integration; enhancing public-private partnerships; and strengthening institutional capacity to drive the reform process. The ongoing peace process calls for careful sequencing of reforms, starting with reducing the costs of doing business and engaging in trade; consulting with local communities; and supporting vulnerable groups adversely affected by economic changes.
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Policies that enable rural communities to participate in expanding economic opportunities can be central to inclusive growth in Myanmar. Rural communities are home to the majority of Myanmar’s population, the majority of its many ethnic groups, and 70 percent of its poor.
... See More + Development in rural areas is constrained by low returns to agriculture, and significantly lower levels of public service delivery and human development outcomes relative to urban areas. Reforms to enhance agriculture productivity are necessary though not sufficient for improving the welfare and livelihoods of rural communities. These have to be complemented with increased access to social and economic services that can raise human and physical capacity to create the conditions necessary for the growth of a dynamic rural non-farm sector. These reforms could help to not only reduce the drag on rural growth and poverty reduction, but also contribute to structural economic transformation so that the welfare of all people in Myanmar can grow together.
See Less -
Myanmar has a unique opportunity to enable people’s participation in change by promoting transparency and accountability throughout the public sector, including in revenue collection, the management of public expenditure, public policy making, and service provision.
... See More + This can have a pivotal impact on the effectiveness of the public sector and thereby its ability to promote inclusive growth. In Myanmar, the public sector’s historically narrow revenue base and its limited role in public service delivery have led to weak development outcomes. A history of opacity and lack of public engagement in policymaking have fueled corruption and compounded the loss of public trust in government.
See Less -
Myanmar has a unique opportunity to enable people’s participation in change by promoting transparency and accountability throughout the public sector, including in revenue collection, the management of public expenditure, public policy making, and service provision.
... See More + This can have a pivotal impact on the effectiveness of the public sector and thereby its ability to promote inclusive growth. In Myanmar, the public sector’s historically narrow revenue base and its limited role in public service delivery have led to weak development outcomes. A history of opacity and lack of public engagement in policymaking have fueled corruption and compounded the loss of public trust in government.
See Less -
Myanmar has the opportunity to significantly enhance energy access, starting from a situation where energy consumption per capita is among the lowest in the world.
... See More + Two-thirds of the population is not connected to the national electricity grid, and 84 percent of rural households lack access to electricity. The lack of affordable and reliable power is a key constraint to the delivery of vital services such as health, education and finance for rural populations, and for private sector development and job creation more broadly. Also, access to modern fuels for cooking (such as liquefied petroleum gas) is limited to urban areas. Consequently, traditional biomass (wood and animal dung) is widely used and accounts for about 70 percent of primary energy consumption. The Government’s National Electrification Plan aims to electrify more than 7 million households and achieve access to electricity for 36 million people by 2030. Achieving this objective (which is also the UN SDG7 in Myanmar) is vital to poverty reduction and shared prosperity.
See Less -
Myanmar has an important opportunity to improve the health status and education outcomes of its people after decades of underspending and institutional neglect in the social sectors.
... See More + Low access to health, education and social protection services has severely worsened human development outcomes, which ranked among the lowest in the region. Since 2011, there has been a sea change in public policy with rapidly rising social spending to expand access to services and protect families from poverty. The payoffs are immense, in Myanmar, an additional year of schooling is estimated to be associated with 6.7 percent higher income (World Bank, 2014a), which will be compounded with better health and social protection. Although significant progress has been made recently, immense challenges and opportunities remain. Policies to close the gap in access to social services are fundamental to inclusive growth in Myanmar.
See Less -
The November 8, 2015 elections in Myanmar marked a historic milestone in the country’s political and economic transition that began in 2011.
... See More + Incoming policy makers are preparing to pick up the baton and deliver on the people’s strong aspirations for a harmonious and prosperous Myanmar. In this series of policy notes, the World Bank Group seeks to promote dialogue on critical development challenges and on options for policies and reforms that can contribute to shared prosperity for the people of Myanmar. The policy notes focus on six interconnected areas that are likely to be high priorities for shared prosperity. The first is on closing the gap in access to social services for improving Myanmar’s human development outcomes. This could help to strengthen the productivity and employability of Myanmar’s current and future labor force, which is the critical input to inclusive growth and a precondition to success in all the other areas. The second policy note is on growing together by reducing poverty in rural areas. Policies to boost agriculture productivity and accelerate the delivery of essential services in rural areas, where they lag the most, could help to supply the much needed labor and food for the rapidly expanding industrial, manufacturing and service sectors.
See Less -
Myanmar’s financial system is undergoing a rapid transformation. A history of economic isolation has left Myanmar with small and underdeveloped financial institutions and very low access to financial services.
... See More + Since 2011, however, demands on the financial system have grown exponentially with increased trade and investment, growing household income, and expanding government operations. While recent reforms have stimulated financial sector growth, much more needs to be done to establish a competitive and vibrant financial sector that can meet the needs of Myanmar’s expanding economy, boost incomes, and reduce poverty particularly among those living in rural areas. Increasing access to financial services is critical to achieving shared prosperity in Myanmar.
See Less -
Myanmar has an important opportunity to improve the health status and education outcomes of its people after decades of underspending and institutional neglect in the social sectors.
... See More + Low access to health, education and social protection services has severely worsened human development outcomes, which ranked among the lowest in the region. Since 2011, there has been a sea change in public policy with rapidly rising social spending to expand access to services and protect families from poverty. The payoffs are immense, in Myanmar, an additional year of schooling is estimated to be associated with 6.7 percent higher income (World Bank, 2014a), which will be compounded with better health and social protection. Although significant progress has been made recently, immense challenges and opportunities remain. Policies to close the gap in access to social services are fundamental to inclusive growth in Myanmar.
See Less -
Market-based reforms and the opening up of trade and investment initiated over the past four years have had a positive impact on growth in Myanmar.
... See More + These have enhanced private sector participation and increased the role of exports in the economy. Reforms have included streamlined business entry procedures, reduced export and import licensing requirements, and enhanced public-private partnerships and dialogue. Promoting private sector competitiveness and inclusion in Myanmar have enormous potential to drive job creation, economic diversification, and structural transformation. This would involve improving the investment climate with an emphasis on transparency and predictability; reducing trade costs and strengthening connectivity for economic integration; enhancing public-private partnerships; and strengthening institutional capacity to drive the reform process. The ongoing peace process calls for careful sequencing of reforms, starting with reducing the costs of doing business and engaging in trade; consulting with local communities; and supporting vulnerable groups adversely affected by economic changes.
See Less -
Policies that enable rural communities to participate in expanding economic opportunities can be central to inclusive growth in Myanmar. Rural communities are home to the majority of Myanmar’s population, the majority of its many ethnic groups, and 70 percent of its poor.
... See More + Development in rural areas is constrained by low returns to agriculture, and significantly lower levels of public service delivery and human development outcomes relative to urban areas. Reforms to enhance agriculture productivity are necessary though not sufficient for improving the welfare and livelihoods of rural communities. These have to be complemented with increased access to social and economic services that can raise human and physical capacity to create the conditions necessary for the growth of a dynamic rural non-farm sector. These reforms could help to not only reduce the drag on rural growth and poverty reduction, but also contribute to structural economic transformation so that the welfare of all people in Myanmar can grow together.
See Less -
