Myanmar

MYANMAR BUSINESS SURVEY: DATA ANALYSIS AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS
sampling frame were available to the survey team.
Consequently, convenience, snow-balling and seminar
sampling methods, 7 all of which are non-probability
sampling methods, were used to minimize the cost of
the survey while maximizing the number of responses
and the accuracy of the survey. 8 The survey consisted
of pre-appointed onsite interviews by trained personnel
to enhance the quality of the data collection while
increasing the response rate. Interview guides were
prepared for the interviewers and updated from time
to time as data collection progressed.
A large sample was targeted (i.e., at least 2 500 firms)
in order to achieve a reasonable representation of the
business sector in Myanmar. All 14 States/Regions and
Nay Pyi Taw Union Territory, the capital of Myanmar,
were covered by the survey. Specifically, the survey
was administered in the capital of each State/Region. 9
Events such as press conferences and meetings
with business associations were also frequently held
to inform the business communities in Myanmar of
the business survey in advance and to seek their
cooperation. The survey team also contacted local
chambers of commerce and industry to inform them
of the survey and to request collaboration.
One potential drawback of this survey is that the
sample is not strictly representative in a statistical sense,
although it covers a very large number of firms in all
geographic locations. As mentioned above, the unique
circumstances of Myanmar have made information on
businesses a scarce commodity. Information on the
total business population and its district characteristics
does not exist, making conventional sampling methods
unviable. In fact Myanmar has only recently completed
its first census in more than 30 years. Furthermore,
several key sectors and enterprises are still controlled
by the public sector and its associates which make
access challenging for international surveys such as the
present survey. As a result, even the best sampling
methods would likely introduce unintentional bias.
Although the sample may not, strictly speaking, be
representative, it still provides the most comprehensive
view currently available of the situation on the ground
for many firms in Myanmar.
Survey team
The 120-member survey team comprised members
from UMFCCI as well as advisors from ESCAP and
OECD. In total, it included 15 task force executives,
two international advisers, one executive director, one
project manager, two survey team assistants, five area
managers, 94 volunteers. The detailed survey team
structure is shown in figure 2.1.
One three-day training workshop was conducted for
the project manager and the area managers by the
ESCAP adviser at UMFCCI in early December 2013.
Then more than 100 volunteers, or interviewers, were
recruited by project and area managers in different
cities/towns across Myanmar and given intensive
training. In late December 2013 and January 2014,
a total of 16 training sessions were conducted by
the managers in different cities and towns for the
interviewers.
Data collection
Data collection was started in the first week of January
2014 when the printed questionnaire (in both Burmese
and English) was distributed to the area managers,
who then assigned teams of trained volunteers to
conduct interviews in their designated areas or cities.
Even though there were more than 110 volunteers in
January 2014, some of them were dismissed due to
the lack of competency in conducting interviews. The
project had employed 94 volunteers or interviewers,
including some team leaders, by the end of data
collection in the second week of March 2014. Either
a Burmese or an English questionnaire was used for
the interview, according to the interviewee’s preference;
however, the English version was typically used for
foreigners or foreign enterprises. If requested, the
interactive form of the questionnaire was distributed
by hand or email to informants, usually larger firms
or foreigners, and collected later.
To ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of the data
collection, a two-day training workshop on survey
methodology was organized in Bangkok at the end
of January 2014 by ESCAP for all the survey team
managers. During the workshop, difficulties and
challenges faced by the survey team in the field were
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