Indigenous Entrepreneurship in Myanmar: The Role of Community-Based Enterprises in Sustainable Human Development

The country of Myanmar (Burma) is home to 54 million people across eight major ethnic races and 135 ethnic groups. In post-colonial Myanmar, there is a long history of violent and oppressive military rule recently punctuated by a 2021 military coup and subsequent junta that has led to the increased persecution of Myanmar’s ethnic minorities. The lack of government support for health, education, and business in ethnic minority areas as well as ongoing conflict has necessitated the increase and importance of community-based indigenous enterprises. The purpose of this chapter is to highlight the role of these community-based enterprises and social enterprises as forms of indigenous entrepreneurship in promoting human development in Myanmar. It includes a description and analysis of examples of community-based entrepreneurial endeavours in Myanmar and concludes with implications for research as well as a discussion on the challenges of conducting research on indigenous entrepreneurship in Myanmar.