The private sector of Myanmar has received much attention during Myanmar’s recent opening and
ongoing transition period, and while still being characterized by relatively low levels of diversification
and productivity, it has been identified as having large potential for driving Myanmar’s economic
development and growth. However, little reliable data exists on businesses in Myanmar, which makes
it difficult to understand their characteristics, to design evidence-based policies for private sector
development, or to make precise statements about the private sector’s current contribution to
economic growth and development.

The objective of the Myanmar Business Survey 2015 (MBS) is to address these limitations and to
provide comprehensive economic statistics on the private sector of Myanmar, to inform both
government policy-makers and non-government stakeholders, and to provide a key data source for
the calculation of national accounts. The survey is expected to be the first in a series of regular annual
or biennial business surveys, and was designed to comply with international standards and best
practices for economic statistics / structural business statistics. It constitutes a core element of the
official economic statistics of Myanmar. The survey was implemented jointly by the Central Statistical
Organization (CSO) and Planning Department (PD) of the Ministry of Planning and Finance (MoPF).
UNDP provided capacity building, technical assistance and financial support during the survey. ISTAT
also provided capacity building and technical support.