The implementation of a National Statistics Policy which will give priority to local industrial production, trading, wholesale and retail and investment will be finalized this year

The implementation plan for a national statistics policy which gives priority to the private sector in areas such as local industrial production, trading, wholesale and retail will be finalised this year, says U San Myint, director general of Central Statistical Organisation.

After the government approves the action plan, which is being drawn with assistance from the World Bank, 10 working groups will be formed to ensure it is properly implemented in the coming budget year, U San Myint said. The statistics will be updated once every five years until 2030.

Statistics from the private sector that will be collected will cover areas such as production, local and foreign trade, wholesale and retail, and investments. The purpose of the data collection is compile accurate statistics that reflect the country’s economy.

“To begin with, we will conduct surveys of micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises with the help of experts from Denmark this month,” U San Myint said.

In the past, economic statistics prioritised public-sector production, although some collection of private-sector data was conducted, he explained, adding that improved statistics on the country’s economy and growth rates would be beneficial to both policy makers and the private sector.

“One of the challenges we now face is that business owners are not used to providing their data with the government. They don’t want to share their business data with anyone. In fact we are not doing this on a micro level. We will work on national level. The Statistical Act was enacted in 2018, and it came into effect in January this year, so it is required by law that businesses cooperate in this matter,” said U San Myint.

The collection of data will be conducted by the Central Statistical Organisation with the cooperation of other government ministries so that accurate economic statistics can be released, he said.

“Currently, the Central Statistical Organisation publish data such as currency inflation and the consumer price index on our website. We aim to create an integrated web page that will serve as a hub for information on the country’s develoment and relevant statistics,” he said.

Developing human resources, reliable data collection and statistical literacy are being prioritised, he said. At present, Myanmar ranks fifth among ASEAN countries for statistical information.

(The Myanmar Times: https://www.mmtimes.com/news/national-statistics-policy-be-finalised-year.html )

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