MCRB seeks more public input into 2nd transparency report

The public will be asked about specific grievances that they have about the firms’ operations. It will also raise these issues with the companies, enlisted for the ranking.

"Last year, this report measures only what companies say they do, and not what they actually do," said MCRB director Vicky Bowman. "This year, we will also ask for civil society’s input and information about their experiences about the companies. We want to get more feedback from the public to act as a reality check. For example, has the company been involved in specific land grab cases, or does it mistreat its workers or prevent them from joining a trade union?"

"We hope that those who have been negatively affected by any of these 100 companies’ operations will let us know particularly if the company has not addressed the grievance satisfactorily."

The 2015 Pwint Thit Sa/Transparency in Myanmar Enterprises (TiME) report is intended to encourage increased transparency by Myanmar businesses in the areas of anti-corruption, organisational transparency, and human rights, health, safety and the environment, based on information companies publish on the internet. It will cover 100 large local firms selected from the lists of top income tax payers and commercial tax payers. The rating will be based on the information on these issues provided on the company’s official website or social media.

The research process was kicked off recently. In May, initial results would be sent to the companies, which will be asked for comments.

"We will give them time to update their website until the end of June," said Bowman.

The report will be published in July.

Last year’s report covered 60 companies. It found that around 25 had no website and only about 10 published significant relevant information.

According to Bowman, a lot of local businesses, government organisations and non-government organisations found last year’s report useful. One example is that foreign companies can easily check how their local partners or potential partners are rated.

"It also encouraged local firms to prove they are doing business responsibly. Since last year’s report, a number of them have upgraded the information they publish," she said.

Bowman said that transparency is crucial to a business for being more successful and attracting foreign partnership. Business can attract more employees and partners with a good reputation.

"It is like a social licence to operate as the community will appreciate more. For the country as a whole, you need to have a business sector which is not engaging in corruption. That is one reason why we check out if these companies are giving gifts to government officials or practising international standards," she said.

Bowman was optimistic about the country’s business transparency with the yearly-increasing number of people who have access to the internet. She also underscored the importance of social media including Facebook. As a result, the firms’ updates on the social media will also be taken into account for the rating.

"Some companies use Facebook and they have hundreds of thousands of Like. For example, Coca-Cola Myanmar acquired 200,000 Likes so far. Websites are important and so is social media. If a company has presence in social media, we will look at that, too," she said.