• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.146-170
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• 2020

Purpose - This paper addresses the concepts of FDI-Trade-Growth nexus in Myanmar's economy and empirically investigates the interrelationships of trade, investment and economic growth to reveal the growth model of Myanmar's economy. Additionally, this paper also addresses the cooperative strategies between Myanmar and South Korea through a case study related to South Korea's economic growth. Design/methodology - Our empirical model considers the interrelationship among FDI, trade, growth, labor force and inflation in Myanmar. This study employs ARDL (Autoregressive Distributed Lag) to conduct an analysis of the FDI-Trade-Growth relationships using the time series data from 1970 to 2016 and a conducted case study of South Korea provided for practical implication on cooperative strategies between Myanmar and Korea. Findings - Export equation was chosen through the diagnostic tests. Our main findings can be summarized as follows: Export in Myanmar is positively influenced by labor force, FDI, capital formation and negatively impacted by import and instable inflation rate in the long run. In the short run, GDP and import positively influence export. The Granger causality test proves that Myanmar is an FDI/labor force-led Growth economy, where FDI and labor force are main drivers of export followed by GDP in Myanmar. The case study of South Korea provided that Korea's tax and credit system for promoting export-led FDI industries and cooperative units for joint ventures between Korea and Myanmar in export-led FDI industries are recommended. Originality/value - No study has yet to be conducted on the interrelationships of macroeconomic factors from the perspectives of FDI-Trade-Growth Nexus in Myanmar under the assumption of labor force and inflation rate as fundamental conditions. The current study also covered a relatively longer period of time series data from 1970 to 2016. This paper also conducts a case study of South Korea's experience in order to evaluate the findings and provide better policy implications.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.771-781
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to identify major drivers of Myanmar's long-term economic growth and draw implications to implement development policies. This study investigated Myanmar, as the country is the most recently opened economy in Southeast Asia. This study conducted simulation analysis based on scenarios by applying World Bank's Long-Term Growth Model, Penn World Table 9.1, and World Development Indicator data. This study makes extensive use of LTGM and the LTGM-TFP extension to improve the validity of models for data calibration. This study confirms the validity of the model with data calibration and specifies scenarios for simulation analyses by setting the growth trajectory of Vietnam due to common geographical, political, and economic conditions. Main findings include that Myanmar's economic growth rate will continue to fall below 3% in 2040 without proper improvement of growth drivers. The results of this study also provide that total factor productivity growth and female labor participation are key factors for Myanmar's long-term economic growth. This study advises policymakers in Myanmar to strengthen human capital, which is crucial for total factor productivity growth in Myanmar's context and directly affects economic growth. Further, labor market policies to promote female labor participation is important to sustain economic growth.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.251-258
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• 2017

Shortage of trained seafarers is an issue, which many ship-owners are facing and, according to recent studies, the shortfall of both officers and rating will worsen in the next few years. The key role of seafarers is of fundamental importance in international trade, as they are the ones responsible for safely manning and operating ships. In developing countries, they also perform a strategic aspect in terms of contribution to GDP, mainly by earning foreign currency and increasing national consumption of goods and services. Myanmar is still considered a developing country with an economy, which has only recently started growing steady. It is also one of the major seafarers supplying nations and the contribution, which seafarers have on the national GDP may be particularly significant in comparison to other countries. This study aims at investigating seafarers' impact towards the Myanmar national economy. The paper describes the status of Myanmar seafarers, and the seafarers' current and forecasted impact towards the Myanmar economy through a regression model. The study concludes with recommendations to make Myanmar seafarers more competitive internationally and increase their economic contribution nationally.

• East Asian Economic Review
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.167-188
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• 2015

The objective of this study is to obtain a better understanding of the current rice production condition in Myanmar through efficiency analysis, especially, to examine the impact of farm mechanization on Myanmar rice production efficiency. For representation of efficiency and the determinants, this paper uses both the data envelopment analysis (DEA) and the stochastic frontier approach (SFA) with variable returns to scale on Myanmar rice production. The efficiency of the rice production was estimated and subsequently the determinants factors were investigated based on the estimated efficiency level of these sample farmers. The empirical evidence finds that farm mechanical tools significantly improve the Myanmar rice production efficiency.

• Asia Pacific Journal of Business Review
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.40-55
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• 2016

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has the potential to provide economic opportunities and help raise the social and political status of countries. For developing countries, ICT can be used as a tool for economic growth and social advancement in a short period of time. The benefits of ICT, however, are not only economic in nature. It can help improve professional skills, teaching quality, job creation, agricultural production, community involvement, and information use, personal relationships, and time use. These benefits are examples of how ICT has become an indispensable part of our lives. Myanmar is a developing country and is ranked low in the ICT Development Index. In terms of ICT development, Myanmar today is facing many issues such as a lack of telecommunication infrastructure, ICT awareness, electricity, and budget for ICT development. Among the economic reforms implemented by the recent government, the telecommunications sector has been opened up as a measure of economic reform. As a result of this reform, the telecommunications sector has been growing rapidly. Myanmar, however, remains behind other Asian countries. This paper discusses Myanmar's ICT infrastructure status, progress that has been made in the country's telecommunications over the last fifteen years, and the challenges that lie ahead.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.278-297
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• 2021

Despite competing strategical interests over Southeast Asia that have emerged in the last decade, with the launch of wide scope geopolitical strategies Chinese and Japanese initiatives have been characterized by a certain degree of implicit coordination, particularly in offering support to the Myanmar state's territorializing strategies for economic development. The case of the Thilawa Special Economic Zones (SEZ) is exemplary, as it was a Japan-led project which became a model and benchmark example for similar development initiatives supported by the People's Republic of China.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.210-236
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• 2021

China's Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure connectivity and other projects are presented in much of the discourse as a grand strategy to trap developing nations in debt, to exert asymmetric power and construct a new world economic order. The asymmetric relationship between China and Myanmar might therefore be expected to generate a range of political risks for stakeholders. Myanmar itself presents a "perfect storm" of problems, with dysfunctional governance, civil conflict, under-development and growing economic dependence on China. The Kyaukphyu port project and associated Special Economic Zone in Myanmar's troubled Rakhine state is investigated as a case study of risks on the Belt and Road. While worst case fears China might seize military control of the port appear unlikely, at least in current conditions, empirical observation indicates the complexity on the ground generates an array of other risks - as well as opportunities, should conditions allow. Further, despite challenges and constrained capacity, Myanmar governments have demonstrated agency, including by re-negotiating control and costs of the Kyaukphyu project. The case underlines that conditions are more complicated than simply China's asymmetric power. A sceptical approach is taken to normative discourses in order to build inductive understanding of how stakeholders and local experts perceive dynamics underway. A political risk approach is deployed to develop a framework to identify, analyse and assess risks for actors in relation to the Kyaukphyu project. The research findings are presented on an interim basis, given current constraints on field interviews due to the current crisis.

• Land and Housing Review
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.145-159
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• 2017

Despite the longing for democracy of most people, Myanmar has missed opportunities for social and economic development by military dictatorship. However, since 2010, the civilian government has gained new opportunities for reform. After turning to economic reform, developed countries such as the US and EU lifted the economic sanctions that they had taken in the past. As a result, it is growing rapidly compared to neighboring countries due to attracting foreign capital, tariff benefits on export items, and expansion of industrial infrastructure. Despite the increased investment value due to economic growth and democratization, the complex and customary land system of Myanmar must be an uneasy factor in securing stable land rights when entering overseas markets. Therefore, this study sought the method of securing the land rights in the development project through the analysis of the foreign investment system in Myanmar and the investigation of joint development cases. The results of this study are as follows. First, the acquisition of land use rights at the early stage of development can be considered through the foreign investment system. Under the Foreign Investment Law and Myanmar Investment Law, the land can be used for up to 70 years, and Under the Special Economic Zone Law, the land can be used for up to 75 years. Second, in relation to land compensation, it is required to establish a detailed resettlement plan for the indigenous people as the difficulty of land acquisition is expected due to the recent democratization trend and strengthening the voice of residents. Third, land use at the operational stage can be achieved by leasing the land from developers, and this will be the most realistic plan at present. In other words, the developer can directly develop the land created under the Foreign Investment Law and the Special Economic Zone Law, or Sub-lease and transfer the land use right to a third party.

• Korea and Global Affairs
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.183-220
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• 2019

Nowadays, soft power is playing a more important role in international communication and cooperation, and as cultural exchange in regional cooperation is deeply influenced by national soft powers, the development is usually unbalanced. Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar are adjacent to each other with a long history of intercourse. In the year 2013, initiation of constructing Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor advocated by China and India was responded positively by Bangladesh and Myanmar. Since then, the world has witnessed an increasing connection of these four countries. Being the critical bond connecting the southwestern areas of China and Bangladesh, India as well as Myanmar, Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor is characterized by multiple regional cultures along with frequent connections in cultural products and activities. However, cultural exchange now is dominated by imbalanced development due to potent soft power of China and India that these two countries export more cultural products to the rest, which has an impact in many fields of Bangladesh and Myanmar. Priority should be given to coordinated development in cultural exchange regarding the construction of Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor. Only by developing a sustainable development mechanism for cultural exchange, to coordinate the influences of soft powers of these four countries, then a fine complexion of "all flowers are in bloom" can be created, returning to five original intention of the construction of this economic corridor: "Policy Communication" and "Strength People-to-people Ties", etc.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.125-139
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• 2017

This study analyzes the determinants and patterns of regional migration in Myanmar. Population migration is affected by various factors such as economic and social factors as well as regional characteristics. It is affected by factors such as income, employment and social overhead capital. Therefore, this study attempts to analyze the following two research problems. First, I would like to analyze whether the reform and opening of Myanmar is causing the migration of rural to urban population. Myanmar is also trying to verify the pattern of population migration experienced by other developing countries. Second, we analyze the impact of social overhead capital on population migration in Myanmar. We analyze the impact of basic infrastructure such as roads, electricity and water on population movements. This will give implications for investment policy decision of social overhead capital for balanced regional development. First, the pattern of population migration in Myanmar is shifting from rural to urban areas, as other developing countries have experienced. Myanmar's urban areas of Yangon and Mandalay have been analyzed as having migration. Second, the expansion of social overhead capital was found to have an impact. Social overhead capital such as roads and educational environments were analyzed to have the capacity to inhale the population. Especially, the educational environment of the region has a great effect on population migration. It is analyzed that education reform is an important policy issue for the balanced regional development of Myanmar. Fourth, employment opportunities were analyzed to have the greatest impact on Myanmar population movements. In the early stage of economic development, it is analyzed that the population moves to a region where employment opportunity is high in the situation where foreign capital is coming in. It is analyzed that the direction of inflow of foreign capital and the imbalance of development in the region will be determined in the situation where the economic development is carried out through foreign capital.