The Prospects of Chemical Engineers in Myanmar 1

Mu Mu Aye
Joint General Secretary
Myanmar Engineering Society
Yangon, Myanmar
mu.biotech@gmail.com
2
Cho Win Maw
Ph.D. (U.N.S.W.), P.E., F.MES
CEC member and Chair, Chemical Engineering Technical Division and
Food, Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Technical Division
Myanmar Engineering Society
Yangon, Myanmar
chowinmawdr@googlemail.com

Abstract—The first chemical engineering department was and by 8.5% in 2014-15. There are still constraints for
founded in Myanmar at the Rangoon University in 1954. Now development and according to the recent World Bank Report
six technological universities and one technological academy are the top four obstacles for business operation are access to
offering chemical engineering graduate course. Myanmar has
finance, access to land, access to electricity and access to
transformed the planned economy into market economy and
promote private sector, attracting more investment particularly
skilled workers. The government has recognized and
foreign direct investment to support the reform process. addressed these challenges. The county needs to continue to
Myanmar’s rich natural resources and progress in agricultural export natural resources such as natural gas and minerals as a
sector reform are playing a critical role in the country economic major revenue source with the longer-term objective to utilize
growth. Major export commodities such as gas and agriculture them for industrial development to raise the average income of
produce are raw and garments are CMP. Major import its citizens and to provide employment for the people. The
consumer goods can be produced by locally available raw engineering community, including chemical engineers must be
materials. Agro-based industries, petrochemical industries, mobilized to become more effective in delivering service to
pharmaceutical industries and chemical industries have a great
the industrialization process.
potential to be developed or established. Safety and
environmental protection must be given priority in industrial II. CHEMICAL ENGINEERS
development. The significant rise in foreign direct investment Chemical engineers are concerned with processes that
and private industrial enterprises, development of special convert raw materials into usable products. Chemical
economic zones, safety and environmental conservation engineers develop, design, construct and operate the process
awareness demand the service of the chemical engineers for the plant and equipment used in it. Chemical engineers develop
industrial development in Myanmar. economic ways of using materials and energy, controlling
Key Words: Chemical engineer, FDI in Myanmar pollution, conserving resources and making process safer.
Chemical engineers are responsible for delivering many
I. INTRODUCTION products that we use daily, such as paper, drinking water,
processed food, gas, gasoline, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals,
The Union of Myanmar is situated in Southeast plastic, paints, dyes, tyres, soap, detergent, silicon chips etc.
Asia.According to the Directorate of Information and Public
Relation publication 2015, the area of Myanmar is 261228 A. History of Chemical Engineering
square miles and borders China 2226.85, Laos 234.91, Industrial chemicals such as acids and soda were
Thailand 2098.14, Bangladesh 271.92, and India 1452.93 km. produced in 1600s and 1700s through batch processing. In the
The length of contiguous frontier is 7284.75kilometers and late 1800s, Europe's industrial revolution developed the
that of the coastline is about 2,229 kilometers. According to industrial scale manufacturing which demanded large scale
2014 census the population is 51.49 million with the production of industrial chemicals by continuous process.
population density of 76 per square kilometer and 70 percent These events led up to the establishment of chemical
of them live in rural areas. Agriculture is the dominant sector engineering as a profession.
of the economy but growth in trade is led by export of gas and Mr. George E. Davis (1850-1906), an alkali inspector
garments. The government has implemented a comprehensive from Midland region of England who gave the world first
reform for economic growth and poverty reduction since chemical engineering course at the Manchester Technical
2011.The transformation process has already gained School in 1887, was regarded as the father of chemical
momentum. Eight billion US dollars FDI recorded in 2014-15 engineering. Chemistry Professor Lewis M. Norton (1885-
is twenty-five times FDI 329.6 million US dollars in 2009-10. 1893) introduced the world first four-year undergraduate
The ADB estimated the economy grew by 7.8% in 2013-14 chemical engineering program at the Massachusetts Institute

1
of Technology (M.I.T.) in 1888. Professor Warren K. Lewis The name was changed to "The Association of Engineers in
(1882-1975), who defined the field of chemical engineering, Burma" in 1927 and was abolished in 1963 due to a
became the first Head of Chemical Engineering Department at government act, abolishing all parties and associations. In line
M.I.T., was known as the father of modern chemical with the new development in Myanmar, the Myanmar
engineering. In 1924, M.I.T. awarded first Ph.D. in chemical Engineering Society (MES) was officially formed on
engineering. The American Institute of Chemical Engineers December 23, 1995.
was founded in 1908 and U.K. based the Institution of The MES activities aim at developing engineering
Chemical Engineers was formed in 1922. Developments in profession and its competitiveness, human resource and
chemical engineering were mainly incited by the capacity building, and industrial sector of the nation.
petrochemical industry. Advancements in biotechnology The MES has 46023 members and 159 corporate
found application of chemical engineering principles in members companies on April 30, 2015.The MES affiliation
manufacturing process using biological molecules or and cooperation with other engineering institutions includes
organisms, especially in the pharmaceutical industry and ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organizations, ASEAN
biochemical engineering became a branch of chemical Academy of Engineering and Technology, World Federation
engineering. of Engineering Organizations, ASEAN Center for Energy,
International Association of Earthquake Engineering and
B. Chemical Engineering Discipline
engineering institutions from ASEAN member countries.
Chemical engineering is a discipline, influencing numerous
areas of technology from experimentation in the laboratory to  Myanmar Engineering Council
full scale production. The chemical engineer must have a The Myanmar Engineering Council Law was enacted on
complete and quantitative understanding of both the
November 28, 2013. The main objectives of the law are as
engineering and scientific principles underlying these
processes. This is reflected in the curriculum of chemical follows:
engineering departments today. However, at first chemical a) To uphold and upgrade the dignity, ethics and
engineering courses simply merged industrial chemistry and quality of the Myanmar citizen engineers,
mechanical engineering .In the early twentieth century, the graduate technicians and technicians who are
idea of unit operations was developed by Dr. William H. practicing engineering works.
Walker (1869-1964) together with alumnus Arthur D. Little b) To explore using engineering technology and
(1863-1935). Then “unit processes and unit operations”
information technology combined the good
became essential to the discipline. By 1950s and 1960s
transport phenomena, process systems engineering and methods, research and development activities by
chemical reaction engineering were defined and incorporated which the natural resources and human resources
in chemical engineering courses. Application of biotechnology of the State may be beneficially applied with
for mass production of antibiotics, pharmaceuticals and new least impact on environment.
products led to the establishment of biochemical engineering c) To carry out guidance and supervision, to take
as a branch of chemical engineering. The safety and necessary actions for the fulfillment of the
environmental impact of large scale chemical plants were soon
raised as concerns and safety became part of chemical requirements of stipulated technical standard,
engineering degree course and environmental protection and proper method, free from danger, keeping ethic
waste management were also given more focus. Modern and being dutiful in the fields of engineering and
chemical engineering courses are built on the foundation of technology education, researches and services.
physics, chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, mathematics d) To service engineering and technology related
and economics. Accreditation curriculum criterion for functions and duties beneficial for the State
engineering bachelor's degree program states at least three
assigned by the relevant Ministry and the
major components must be included: mathematics and basic
sciences with at least one fourth of the credits required for relevant organization.
graduation, technical and professional engineering component The mission of Myanmar Engineering Council is to
with at least three eights of the credits required for graduation develop Myanmar engineers and technicians to fulfill the
and general education component. needs of international standard and quality of their engineering
C. Engineering Organizations in Myanmar professions satisfactorily with the vision of our country future
Myanmar Engineering Society is the major non- success will be driven by Myanmar engineers, graduate
governmental engineering organization in Myanmar and technicians and technicians.
Myanmar Engineering Council has been formed according The Council comprises of sixty members who are
to the 2013 Myanmar Engineering Council Law. senior professional engineers. The council conducts the
 Myanmar Engineering Society assessment of applicant engineers and registers as Professional
The Burma Engineering Congress which was formed Engineer (P.E.), Registered Senior Engineer (R.S.E.) and
in 1916 was the first engineering organization in Myanmar. Registered Engineer (R.E.).The pre-requisite for registration
as a graduate engineer is a qualification in engineering which

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 must be recognized by the Council. The Council has the duty
to ensure that the quality of engineering education program of E. Economic Development in Myanmar and
its registered engineers must attain the minimum standard Opportunities for Chemical Engineers
compared to global practice. Therefore the Council performs Myanmar has begun an array of fundamental
the accreditation of engineering programs. It also assesses the political, economic and social reform since the President, His
engineering companies and organizations. The council Excellency U Thein Sein and his government took office in
functions and duties are implemented by the Executive 2011. The comprehensive reform effort aims to strengthen the
Committee. Under the Executive Committee, the following economy, to tackle poverty, to develop private sector and to
work committees are formed to carry out the functions and promote sustainable and equitable growth. The country has
duties: much to offer, including a strategic location, sharing borders
a) Assessment Committee with Bangladesh, India , China, Laos and Thailand to form
b) Accreditation Committee land bridge between South Asia and South East Asia; 2,229
c) Ethics Committee km coastline; working age population of about thirty-three
d) Disciplinary Committee million; favorable climate condition for the tropical and
e) Standards and Specifications Committee subtropical agriculture; ample water resources ; fertile
f) Continuing Professional Development agricultural land and abundant natural resources such as
Committee natural gas, teak and timber, jade, ruby and gemstones, gold ,
g) Assessment of Engineering Companies and silver , copper and minerals etc.
Organizations Committee
h) International Relation Committee F. Industrial Development
To promote a high economic growth of 1.7 fold rise in per
D. Chemical Engineering in Myanmar capita GDP after the first five- year development plan from 2011
-12 to 2015-16, Myanmar is targeting 1.3 times increase in the
Rangoon University was established on the first of
industry sector contribution to GDP. The top priority of the plan
December, 1920 as the first university in Myanmar.
is the development of agriculture as a base to build up a modern
Engineering Department was founded in 1923-24 academic
industrialized nation and all round development of other sectors
year and started the civil engineering course from 1924-25.
of the economy as well. Growth must be balanced and
Chemical Engineering Department was formed in 1954 with
proportionate among States and Divisions. It has to be inclusive
lecturers from India. In 1957, U Khin Aung Kyi was awarded a
for the entire population. It is a people center development plan.
Master Degree in Chemical Engineering by the M.I.T. and
became the Head of Department of Chemical Engineering.
(a) First five- year plan targets
Now the following technological universities are offering
The GDP growth rates were targets as follows;
chemical engineering courses:
1. Yangon Technological University Target Actual
(Opened in 1961) (1) 2011-12 6.0 5.9
2. Mandalay Technological University (2) 2012- 13 6.7 7.3
(Opened in 1991) (3) 2013-14 8.9 8.7
3. Technological University (Thanlyin) (4) 2014-15 9.1 8.5
(Opened in 2002)
(IMF)
4. Technological University (Manadalay-Ohbo)
(opened in 2002) (5) 2015-16 9.2
5. West Yangon Technological University Average 8.0
( HlaingTharyar) (Opened in 2005)
6. Technological University (Magway) (b) GDP ratio
(Opened in 2006) The sector GDP contribution ratio will be expected to change
7. Defense Services Technological Academy as follows:
(Opened in 1994) 2011-12 2015-16
There were 3533 chemical engineers graduated from Agriculture 36.4 % 29.2 %
technological universities in Myanmar until the end of 2014. Industrial 26 %32.1 %
Eight engineering bachelor's degree programs, including Services 37.6 % 38.7 %
chemical engineering from the Yangon Technological
University are being evaluated by the Myanmar Engineering (c) Development of Private Industries
Council to become the first technological university in Private Industries in Myanmar must be registered at
Myanmar, accredited according to the Federation of the Ministry of Industry according to the Private Industrial
Engineering Institutions of Asia and Pacific (FEIAP) Enterprise Law 1990. The private industries have been
engineering education guidelines. The other technological developed since the introduction of market oriented economic
universities are in preparation stage.

3
system in 1988 and most of them are food Industries as shown in 5. Purified 310 208 8 526
Drinking Water
Table I. 6. Sugar 76 42 40 158
TABLE I REGISTERED INDUSTRIES IN MYANMAR
Sr. Particular 1988 2008 2012 2014 7. Dairy 30 29 3 62
No. 8. Canning 8 3 0 11
1. All Industries 26,690 43,763 43,216 43,356
(registered) 9. Rice Mill 299 2,215 13,786 16,800
2. Food Industries 17,780 28,137 27,500 26,928 10. Edible Oil Mill 276 844 1,901 3,021
(registered)
11. Candy 15 1 16
3. Percentage % 66.6 64.3 63.6 62.1
12. Garment 284 99 6 389
Three special economic zones and nineteen 13. Cement 10 10
industrial zones were developed throughout the country for 14. Soap 18 8 7 33
industrial development. Because of the privatization scheme, 15. Cosmetic 14 6 2 22
most of the State owned factories were leased, corporatized,
16. Plastic 217 235 107 559
sold or formed joint venture companies. The current situation
of private industrial sector on February 28, 2015 is shown as 17. Paper 107 58 63 228

Table II. 18. Paint 15 1 3 19

TABLE II THE CURRENT SITUATION OF PRIVATE 19. Rubber 51 37 12 100
SECTOR
Sr. Quantity % Labor 20. Leather 34 43 35 112
No. 21. Fertilizer 38 69 14 121
1. Food 27,378 61.18 190,903
2. Textile 2,204 4.93 269,045
3. Building 3,688 8.24 38,102 (d) Trade of Selected Commodities
Material
4. Consumer 1,333 2.98 20,573 The value of foreign trade in US million dollars is
product shown in Table IV.
5. Household 296 0.66 4,004
TABLE IV THEVALUE OF FOREIGN TRADE
product
US$ million
6. Metal 2,314 5.17 17,130
7. Other 7,536 47,787 Sr Fiscal Year Export Import Balance
Total 44,749 100 587,544 No.
1. 2011- 2012 9,135.6 9,035.1 + 100.5
This figure does not include micro industries which
employ less than five workers or invest less than fifty million 2. 2012-2013 8,977.0 9,068.9 - 91.9
kyat. These private industries were classified according to the 3. 2013-2014 11,204.0 1,3759.5 -2,555.5
private industrial enterprise law as follows;
4. 2014-2015 11,611.845 16,524.404 -4,912.559
QTY %
(1) Large Industries 5740 12.8
(> 50 HP,>100 workers) Myanmar used to be the major rice exporting
(2) Medium Industries 8471 18.9 countries with 3.3 million MT of rice exported in 1,938.39 but
(25 to 50 HP, 50 to 100 workers)
because of various factors, rice export dropped to 358,000 MT
(3) Small Industries 30538 68.3
(< 25 HP, < 50 workers) in 2007 -2008 but rice export has been more than one million
The types of some of these private factories are shown in MT since 2012 during to agriculture sector reform. The target
Table III. is four million MT in 2020. The rise in rice export can be seen
TABLE III TYPES OF PRIVATE FACTORIES in Table V.
Sr. Type Large Medium Small Total
TABLE V RICE EXPORT DATA
No.
Sr. Year Quantity in Value in US$
1. Alcohol Distillery 40 16 15 71 million MT million
No.
2. Soft Drink 40 4 7 51
1. 2010-2011 0.54 198
3. Cigarette 15 0 0 15
2. 2011-2012 0.79 309
4. Pharmaceutical 26 20 10 56
3. 2012-2013 1.39 529

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 goods
Total 9,035.1 9,068.9 13,759. 12,214.7
4. 2013-2014 1.01 395
5. 2014-2015 1.77 645 Some of the import commodities are possible to
produce locally by setting up industries is Myanmar. The
The export data for natural gas are as follows:
import data of selected commodities are shown in Table
US$ in million VII.
(1) 2010-11 2,522.5 TABLE VIITHEIMPORTDATA OF SELECTED
COMMODITIES
(2) 2011-12 3,502.5
Sr. Commodities 2010- 2011- 2012- 2013-2014
(3) 2012-13 3,666.1 No 2011 2012 2013

(4) 2013-14 3,299.2 1. Diesel 1,215.84 1,554.37 1222.17 1,484.621

(5) 2014-15 3,525.6 2. Gasoline 68.95 159.01 219.46 559.304

(Up to December 2015) 3. Urea 162.56 174.36 171.49 233.006

Jade is the one of the principle export commodity of 4. Caustic soda 0.929 1.378 1.611 1.831
Myanmar. The export data for jade are as follows: 5. Pharmaceuticals 186.12 225.93 273.93 251.33
US$ in million
6. Processed Food 50.64 109.43 561.80 1,147.59
(1) 2011-12 34.2
(2) 2012-13 297.9 7. Plastic seeds 175.33 215.81 200.66 285.72
(3) 2013-14 1011.6 8. Cement 140.4 150.0 157.5 204.2
(4) 2014-2015 984.2
(Up to December 2015) 9. Paper /paper 70.3 98.4 121.7 167.8
board
The garment industry is the fastest growing industry in
Myanmar. The export data of garment, mostly on C.M.P
10. Edible vegetable 202.4 394.6 304.0 514.5
basis are as follows: oil and other
US$ in million hydrogenated oil
(1) 2010-11 379.1
(2) 2011-12 497.5
(3) 2012-13 695.4 The average fertilizer use in Myanmar is 6 kg /
hectare which is one of the lowest in the world. Out of the
(4) 2013-14 884.7
total area of 67,659,050 hectares, one fourth of it is cultivable
(5) 2014-15 739.5 land and 18 % of it is agricultural land. Myanmar has six urea
(Up to December 2015) fertilizer plants with installed capacity of 2,272 MT per day
The most important exports are manufactured but the actual production is much lower. The production data
products such as gas and garment, agricultural products of urea were as follows:
such as rice and mineral products such as jade. As seen MT
from above mentioned figures, the major export 2011-2012165,810
commodities are raw or CMP. We need further to develop 2012-2013208,615
2013-2014156,586
manufacturing of value added products.
2014-2015123,258
The imports can be classified capital goods, (Up to Dec 2015)
intermediate goods such as edible oil, hydrogenated oil Due to agriculture sector expansion there is a great
and consumer goods as shown in Table VI. potential to promote urea production in Myanmar. Industrial
TABLE VI IMPORT VOLUME development in Myanmar demanded huge consumption of
US $ in million industrial chemicals. Caustic soda which has a wide range of
Sr. Import 2011- 2012- 2013- 2014- applications can be produced by passing an electric current
No. 2012 2013 2014 2015 through a solution of brine (common salt dissolved in water).
Up to Myanmar has capacity of producing 35,000 MT of aqueous
Dec caustic soda per year and is importing an average of 3,500 MT
2015 of caustic soda solid and 200 MT of aqueous caustic soda per
1. Capital 3843.3 4,020.5 6,122.2 5,321.2 year. Therefore the Ministry of Industry has planned to set up
goods a new plant in Myanmar.
2. Intermediate 3451.1 3,029.9 4,403.8 3,636.2 The local production of pharmaceuticals is about 15
goods % of the national requirement. Therefore the Myanmar
3. Consumer 1740.7 2,018.5 3,233.5 3,257.2 Investment Commission gave permission to local companies

5
and foreign companies to establish pharmaceutical plants in engineers for the sustainable and socially responsible
Myanmar. industrial development in Myanmar.
Myanmar has cement factories which can produce ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
3.78 million MT annually but more than two million MT of First and foremost, the author would like to express my
cement need to be imported due to high demand in gratitude to U Win Khaing, President of Myanmar Engineering
construction projects. Per capita consumption of cement in Society, for his enthusiastic and systematic guidance. The
Myanmar is about 95 Kg which is much lower than Thailand author also wishes to thank Associate Professors and Heads
per capita consumption of 347 kg and Indonesia per capita from Technological Universities to collect data and
consumption of 125 kg. The expansion of existing mills and information. The author also wishes to acknowledge respective
implementation of new cement mill projects are in progress. Ministries to collect data and information.
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