PESTLE Analysis of Myanmar

Introduction 

Pestle analysis of Myanmar. The Republic of the Union of Myanmar or Burma is a Southeast Asian country. It shares the border with the Bay of Bengal, Andaman Sea, Thailand, Laos, China, India, and Bangladesh. Naypyidaw is the capital of Myanmar.

Myanmar has a total area of 261,228 square miles, and it’s the 39th world’s largest country. It’s the 10th largest country in Asia. However, approximately 54,658,316 people are populating the country, and it’s the 26 world’s most populated country. Rangoon is the country’s largest city.

Burmese people laid the foundation of the Pagan Kingdom in the 1050s, and it promoted culture and language. Mongols invasion disrupted and divided the region. Taungoo dynasty reunified the country and became the Southeast Asian largest empire for a while in the 16th century. The colonial British East India Company conquered the region after 60 years of Anglo-Burmese Wars in the 19th century. The country finally achieved its independence on January 04, 1948.

Today, we’ll discuss the pestle analysis of Myanmar. It’s going to focus on the maco-environmental factors impacting Asian growing country. Here’s the pestle analysis of Myanmar as follows;

Political factors affecting Myanmar 

Diplomatic Relation

Myanmar has a membership of BIMSTEC, ASEAN, Non-Aligned Movement, and East Asia Summit. The neighboring giant countries like China and India have conflicted relations over the commonly shared border, and Myanmar is in the middle of the conflict.

However, the main priority of the Burmese government is to develop the Economic Corridor with China. She’s also working on establishing relations with Korea, Japan, and Australia to lower the reliance and influence of China.

Challenges

Myanmar is facing a serious challenge of increasing corruption and the crime rate. According to the ranking of Transparency International, Myanmar falls at 137 positions of the corruption level with a transparency score of 28.

The government has to introduce constitutional reforms in order to safeguard the rights of ethnic minorities. She should also work on reducing the tension with the Rakhine state.  

Conflict

The conflicts among various ethnic groups are the order of the day in Myanmar, and they sometimes result in the form of violent clash and bloodshed. Even the military dictator couldn’t stop the conflict. Every group wants to prove its dominance over the other. Some political critics say that the military ignites conflicts in order to destabilize the political government.

Dictatorial Regime

Myanmar has had a fierce long dictatorial regime from 1962-2011. The military has recently seized political power from the NLD (National League for Democracy) on February 01, 2021. In other words, the country is still under a dictatorial regime and it has nationalized every big industry and major project.

Economical factors affecting Myanmar

GDP & Impact of Pandemic

According to an estimate, the annual nominal GDP of Myanmar in 2020 was 70.89 billion dollars. Out of which, the per capita income of the country was 1608.50 dollars.

The Burmese government and people strictly followed the virus prevention protocol and guidelines. It’s because the country was aware of her limitations and testing facilities. However, the economic impact of the pandemic of covid-19 was very strong, and it has very badly affected the remittance, tourism, and gas export industry.

Economic Growth

The post-pandemic period for Myanmar would be difficult and hard because the Burmese economy had already been suffering. The pandemic of covid-19 limited the country’s economic growth and exports. However, economists suggest that the country’s economy would grow by 5.9% in the upcoming years. But it’s now difficult to say because of the military dictatorial regime and global economic crisis.

Industries

Fishing and agriculture are the main sources of the country’s revenue. They provide employment opportunities to two-third of the country’s population. People cultivate rice crops across the country. It’s worth mentioning it here that fishing and agriculture are the only two private sectors, every other business is under government control.

Employment

According to an estimate, Myanmar has an unemployment rate of 1.71% in 2020, it’s highly impressive. Approximately 37 million people are doing the hard labor work. However, the country has an employment rate of 99% during 2010-2018.

Social factors impacting Myanmar 

Culture

Myanmar has a remarkable architecture of its temples. It has a highly religious socio-cultural environment. People dress modestly to show humbleness. Monks collect donations in the form of rice, food, and fruits for the monasteries and temples. Puppet shows, dance, costumes, and theatrical performances are some of the cultural festivities.

Religion & Ethnicity

Myanmar is a highly religious country. Buddhism is the majority religion comprising 87.9%. Other religions are Christianity (6.2%), Islam (4.3%), and others (1.6%).

Demography

Myanmar is a highly diverse country comprising approximately 135 ethnic groups. Some of the main ethnic groups are Bamar (68%), Chinese (3%), Rakhine (4), Kayin (7%), and Shan (10%). Burmese is the official language of Myanmar. However, different ethnic groups speak different languages. The average age of men and women in the country is 66 years. She has a majority young population of the average age of 29 years old.  

Technological factors affecting Myanmar 

Tech Growth

The pandemic of covid-19 has pushed Myanmar to adapt to the online work culture, even though it’s difficult to work online straight 9 hours. Various businesses and companies are learning cloud computing to handle the current circumstances. The trend of e-commerce and online shopping is also increasing. The government is promoting the usage of the internet and digital technology.

E-commerce & ICT Sector

 Myanmar is investing a lot of resources in the e-commerce industry. The country is also facing some challenges like tech education, ICT skill, and converting smartphone users into e-consumers.

Telecom

The tech industry isn’t growing at the same rate as the other Asian countries. Myanmar has introduced economical internet packages to attract users. She is facing a serious issue of an energy shortage, especially in rural areas.

Legal factors impacting Myanmar 

Welcoming Investors

Myanmar government has been introducing various regulations, consistent, and reliable policies for foreign businesses. Now, the government has allowed foreign businesses to own equity of up 35%. It has opened the door for many opportunities for local businesses.  

FDI

Myanmar is finally accepting the significance of international relations with other countries and the world’s organizations. Many foreign nations have taken interest in the country because of her modern policies. However, the country has a specific geographical position and a lot of natural resources. It could serve of great importance to many foreign investors.

Environmental factors impacting Myanmar 

Natural Disasters

Myanmar has faced the world’s worst environmental disasters for the past two decades. People still call the flood of 2008 the worst natural disaster in the country’s history. According to an estimate, the temperature would increase approximately 3 degrees centigrade by 2040, and the sea level would rise 40 centimeters by 2050.

Deforestation

The growing agriculture industry is causing deforestation in Myanmar. The country has already lost approximately 3,459,475 are of forest to deforestation.

Pollution

Myanmar is facing a severe issue of air pollution. The construction, energy, mining, and manufacturing industries are causing air pollution.

Climate

Myanmar is a tropical country with a monsoon rainy season from Jun to October. November to February is cold and dry, and March to May is very hot. However, the weather remains hot and humid throughout the year.

Conclusion: Myanmar Pestle Analysis 

After an in-depth study of the pestle analysis of Myanmar, we’ve concluded that Myanmar is one of the growing Asian countries. Environmental disasters, climate change, lower-tech growth, and dictatorial regimes are some of the main issues. Myanmar should address these issues and learn from the neighboring developed countries.