29 August
MYANMAR has begun the shift towards a market-ori-ented economy, which is better suited to a democratic system.
In a democracy, all businesses, except those that are critical to the country, are run by the private sector, and that helps reduce the burden on the government.
Myanmar, which was under centralized control in the past, is facing challenges in pushing economic reforms forward, and this has been evident in the government’s efforts to transform state-run factories into joint ventures or privatize them.
The status of employees in factories, which have ceased operation and have been turned into joint ventures or privatized, remains an area of concern for the government as the work-ers cannot be transferred to the private sector, nor can they be forced to retire. The situation often results in a deadlock.
On 27 August at the Py-ithu Hlutta, the Ministry of Industry reiterated its com-mitment to successfully trans-form its factories and show re-sults in the near future, which is cause for hope.
Under the umbrella of state-owned enterprises, the functions of all the sectors are being carried out by pol-icy makers, regulators, pub-lic services, and commercial services — this is a problem of complexity. This situation demands systematic reforms, in accordance with interna-tional rules and procedures, through classification of state-owned enterprises. This is an important factor that we need to consider when we transform factories.
Calculation of pensions for employees comes first when we think about privatizing state-run factories. Besides, as part of efforts for smooth transformation, providing employees with capacity building training and reinstating them at appropriate positions must be considered.
There were a total of 112 factories under the Ministry of Industry, out of which 55 were operated under a private-public cooperation program. Of these 55 factories, two were joint ven-tures, three were under win-win cooperation, and 50 were on a long-term lease. The remaining 57 factories were operated as state-owned factories.
It is good to know that the Ministry of Industry is planning to step up efforts for the transformation of factories, with definite and clear policies, rules, and technical assistance to boost the productivity of the private sector.
We also welcome the ministry’s pledge to review the transfor-mation, including the current win-win businesses, take a suitable approach which can benefit the State, and manage local and for-eign debt owned by state-run factories effectively, in cooperation with the Ministry of Planning and Finance and other institutions.
We hope that the fruitful results of the transformation efforts by the Ministry of Industry are seen in the near future.
GNLM
