Cost of Doing Business in Myanmar-survey Report 2017

Studies sinking employee salaries ( Survey report 2017 )

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Methodology and process 

 
The Survey on the Cost of Doing Business in Myanmar was conducted from September to
December 2016.  The process included set-up of the survey including preliminary discus-
sions between DICA, JICA and MSR, held a consultation/coordination meeting with relevant
government departments, private sector associations and others in total more than 50 partic-ipants on September 16, compilation of a list of interviewees, conducting interviews including making appointments, compilation of report and seeking confirmation of the data and infor-mation from some government departments and enterprises.  

In doing this survey, the following methods were employed: 

1  Indepth interviews (IDIs) for acquiring primary data
2  Desk study—using established websites for acquiring secondary information, and 
3  Using published materials 

In the IDI part, there were three divisions—(1) government departments/enterprises, (2) as-
sociations and (3) private businessmen. As the rules and regulations for making investments
in Myanmar are mainly concerned with the government departments and enterprises, official
data and information constitutes the largest part of this survey report.  Data and information
provided by the respondents of the government departments and enterprises from IDIs were
reinforced with the information from the websites concerned. All the websites accessed are
established ones. Some respondents handed some documents related to their work process
and pamphlets to the data-collectors.  

All the data and information were scrutinized, edited and put in the report with care for accu-
racy and efficient use of space. All pieces of information had to be scrutinized so that they
would be appropriate with or fulfill the purpose of the publication. In the final stage, the data
and information put in the report were sent in parts to the respective respondent for confir-
mation.  

Explanation of chapters 

 
As the title of this report suggests, costs are mainly reported in the publication.  However,
the costs are usually coupled with the procedures, which cannot be ignored. There are 7
main chapters in this publication—(1) Land, space and building; (2) Human resources; (3)
Government sector; (4) Export-import and logistics; (5) Infrastructure usage; (6) Business
services and others; and (7) Thilawa Special Economic Zone. The last part of the report are
the appendices.  

In the beginning of the report, demographic information is given with reference to the Results of the 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census of the Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population. Chapter 1 deals with prices of industrial land, commercial land and residen-tial land, with focus mainly on Yangon City, along with the costs for renting office space, commercial space and residential space. Construction costs are included in this chapter so that potential investors would have some idea of constructing a building and the cost of con-struction materials. 

In Chapter 2, there are two main parts—employment and human resource development.  In
the employment sector, minimum, median and maximum salaries of five industries, including
benefits and allowances, are provided.  The human resource development part starts with a
brief explanation of the Myanmar education system, followed by fees collected by private
vocational and technical schools and private international schools are detailed.

Chapter 3 (Government Sector) provides the costs and basic information about the process
of  establishing  a  business  and  investment  process.  The  first  part  details  the  costs  and processes  of  registering  foreign  companies,  branch  companies/representative  offices  and joint-venture companies and fulfillment of legal requirements. The second part—Investment Process—contains  procedure for applying for permit from  the Myanmar Investment  Com-mission, documents to be attached with proposal forms and post-activities.
Chapter 4 explains customs and clearance, import clearance system, export and import pro-
cedures and the second part is the logistics section—overseas logistics, cross-border logis-
tics, domestic logistics and cargo handling costs. 

Chapter 5 mentions the cost of utilities—electricity, inspection of water and sanitation, waste
disposal,  gases,  fuels,  generators  along  with  installation  costs  and  telecommunication—
mobile phone, landline phone and the Internet costs and their installation costs. 
Other business services are summed up in Chapter 6 which includes financial and insurance services  and  individual  services  such  as  lawyer’s  service  fees,  accounting  service  fees, business consultancy fees, engineering services and inspection charges—inspection for fire safety, inspection of electricity, inspection of elevator and escalator, and inspection of boiler. 

In the second part are some hotel rates, car rental rates, and kinds of visas and visa fees. In
the last part, the living costs of an individual expatriate and a family expatriates are esti-
mated.  

The last chapter, Chapter 7, exclusively mentions costs and procedures of Thilawa Special
Economic  Zone  which  has  its  own  specific  nature.  Chapter  8  provides  listings  of  DICA branch offices in Myanmar, business associations, some marketing research companies and EIA/SIA companies, sample calculation of income tax, and finally, references—interviews, associations, printed materials, and websites used in this survey.

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