Employers want the next generation of professionals to have managerial skills.

A BUSINESS can copy the entire, tangible infrastructure – the building, fittings and the accessories – of a rival company but cannot copy the intangible abilities of each staff member of that rival.

This is why human resources has become the most important aspect of business, above all else, and it determines the path of each organisation or country.

Singapore is a good example. When that country became an independent state in 1965 it had no resources except its people to create a developed nation. Singapore was able to cope with this situation and has now developed an incredibly profitable service economy.

In Myanmar, the words human resources was largely unfamiliar until 1995, when the first MBA program was introduced at the Yangon Institute of Economics (YIE). Human Resources Management was prescribed as one of the core subjects taught in the two-year MBA courses. Only a limited number of students, however, can be taught the subject because the MBA course accepts a mere 50 students each year.

The demand of emerging business organizations for skilled graduates of these human resource courses far outstrips supply.

Myanmar started the practice of a market-oriented economy in 1989 and, subsequently, many privately-owned companies have emerged. But these newly-formed companies have been forced to recruit former government officers to lead administration and management activities because of the insufficient number of competent graduates.

U Aye Kyaw is the founder of Yangon-based, privately-owned Myanmar Human Resources (MHR) training centre, which was established 1998 to provide the skilled managerial staff that are in such high demand in the job market. Subjects taught at the centre include financial management, HR management and marketing.

He said: “We have been developing the skills of those who are not able to learn these managerial subjects at Yangon Institute of Economics. There are currently more than 10,000 private companies in Myanmar but the supply capacity for white-collar staff educated in managerial subjects is small compared to the demand.”

“Local companies want staff who have studied these subjects. All the students who complete my classes are recruited by local companies as soon as they finish their training,” he said.

To cultivate and develop the human resource sector the government established the National Centre for Human Resource Development (NCHRD), under the Ministry of Education, in 1998.

The NCHRD identify business community needs and initiate the vocational, professional and technology-based courses that are in demand.

Through cooperation with institutions in Europe, Japan and South Korea, some Myanmar universities are introducing joint postgraduate, masters-level and even doctorate-level educational programs for local students.

U Winston Set Aung graduated from the first batch of MBA courses and is now currently working as a research director of Asia Development Research Institute. He said the educational and employment goals in Myanmar have changed.

“The ultimate goal for Myanmar students’ about 15 years ago if they passed the matriculation exam with high marks was to become a doctor of medicine or an engineer . The goals of students then were narrow and the options fewer – but that has now changed. Students with high marks in their matriculation exam are now choosing subjects like chemistry, IT and so on, things they are truly interested in, rather than to attend the institutes of medicine and technological universities,” he said.

Many Myanmar students are also now interested in pursuing their higher education in foreign countries, with the preferred destination being Singapore. Winston Set Aung said this would benefit Myanmar’s human resource sector in the future.

“We should not view this is a brain drain for Myanmar, students going abroad to further their education. They will get international higher education experiences and good connections, which will be of benefit to our own country one day.

“Millions of Japanese and Chinese students have left their home countries to pursue higher education abroad. Today, Japan and China are developing thanks to the combined strengths of their local graduates and those educated in the foreign countries,” he said.