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The Private Sector in Myanmar is Best-Placed to be the Force for Reform
Vicky Bowman gave a keynote presentation at the Professional Development Conference 2018 in Yangon on the topic of ‘What, and Why, should Human Resources Managers in Myanmar know about Corporate Governance and Responsible Business?’.
Dr Maung Maung Lay, Vice-President of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) also gave a keynote speech focusing on the urgency of addressing Myanmar’s low level of human capital.
This was the second PDC in Yangon, and was co-organised by LEARN Myanmar and Professionals Supremacy Corporation Pte Ltd
Vicky’s presentation highlighted that human resources managers played an essential role in ensuring that their companies did business responsibly, since ‘Corporate Governance is about What People Do and Why”. Each element of what makes a responsible business - treating customers responsibly, not paying bribes etc – involves choices, informed or otherwise, by employees. She outlined the importance of having corporate governance systems, policies and training in place to ensure responsible business conduct.
She highlighted MCRB’s Pwint Thit Sa/Transparency in Myanmar Enterprises report which had been undertaken for four years, most recently in partnership with Yever, and now based on the ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard. This benchmarking initiative rates company websites for the CG information they publish, and was increasingly recognized by leading Myanmar companies as an important tool for them to be recognized for their efforts by actual, and potential, business partners and investors.
Vicky explained that this Pwint Thit Sa initiative to encourage disclosure and good corporate governance was aligned to the current direction of regulatory reform, particularly the 2016 Myanmar Investment Law/2017 Rules and the 2017 Companies Act. She also highlighted the 2015 Law protecting the Rights of People with Disabilities, and 2017 Rules, which outlawed discrimination, and established the possibility that Myanmar could introduce compulsory employment quotas. To enable Myanmar employers to understand how to include people with disabilities as employees and customers, MCRB together with the Ministry of Social Welfare, Myanmar Federation of People with Disabilities, and AAR Japan, would shortly be publishing a bilingual guide for Employers to help them to be more ‘disability confident’. This contained advice on appropriate language to use, how to identify ‘reasonable accommodations’ to help an employee with disability do the job effectively, and appropriate vocabulary to use.
To ensure that the voice of the private sector was heard in initiatives and regulatory reform relating to human resources, Vicky encouraged companies and their human resources directors to consider how to organise themselves on a more institutional basis, noting the recent establishment of the Myanmar Institute of Directors, and the Myanmar Business Coalition for Gender Equality. The time might soon be ripe for a Myanmar Institute of Human Resources Directors to support professionalisation and build capacity, and give the function the public voice it needed. Organisations like the Chartered Institute of Personnel Directors (CIPD) offered many useful resources to a worldwide membership that could be useful also in Myanmar.
Finally, Vicky built on the theme from her short remarks to the LinkedIn Local Yangon networking event the previous evening at Novotel, co-sponsored by CCI-France, the French Chamber of Commerce who also offer a variety of professional development opportunities. Businesses in Myanmar are – or should be - building human capital and developing their employees to be creative and critical thinkers, accountable leaders, good delegators, supporters of equality and respectful of difference. These are the skills necessary to run a successful modern business that can compete with the disruption of the ‘4th Industrial Revolution’.
Since the private sector is driven by market pressures, including the demands of international business partners, investors and others who expect good corporate governance, respect for international standards and a strong first and second tier leadership, Myanmar businesses have no choice but to reform and modernise. These market pressures are not felt by the civil service, military, political or religious leaders. Furthermore, civil society and the media faces increasing constraints, limiting its ability to press for reform. All this means that the private sector in Myanmar is in the position of being the leading force for reform today, providing it has the appropriate market incentives and business opportunities.
Furthermore, the change management and leadership skills which are essential for business success are the same ones which are needed to lead Myanmar through its ongoing and challenging ‘triple transformation’ of peace, politics and economics. This means that businesses – whether large or small, foreign, repat or home-grown Myanmar – also has an essential role in nation-building. By helping employees to develop such skills, they are building the human capital and leaders needed for Myanmar to become a prosperous, democratic nation.
