This study analyzes the relationship between foreign trade and economic growth in Myanmar over the period 1990-2014. It covers the annual data of GDP, Export and Import of Myanmar from 1980 to 2014. This study adopts two major methodological approaches – exploratory data analysis and descriptive analysis. For the first approach, Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) unit root test and Granger causality test are used under the framework of Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model, which have almost never been studied for the (...) Myanmar case. The second approach includes the analysis of Myanmar’s foreign trade trend with descriptive statistics. The results show that foreign trade did not generate a significant effect on the economic growth of Myanmar. Rather, import growth was negatively influenced by the economic growth of Myanmar. It is found out that exports had been determined by the GDP growth. Thus, growth-driven export strategy had been applied for the period of 1990-2014. Also, there was only one causal run from export growth to import growth. The results conclude that foreign trade did not have significant impact on the economic growth of Myanmar over the period of 1990–2014. (shrink)

Alongwith the major organ of the doctrinal operations, the Permanent Resolution Act, this research presented a situation review article on the Doctrine of the Chittagong Peace Process in Bangladesh with few global strikeable issues. Unarmed surviving Parbatya Chittagong nation of Buddhists population in Bangladesh has not yet been able to form their government since 1997 to 2023, so it has been assumed that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina & Awami League Government of Bangladesh (ALGOB) cheated to weaponless freedom fighters Buddhists people (...) by taking their weapons through the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord 1997 that was signed between Bangladesh and Chittagong HillTracts in order to a Commonwealth of Independence of Autonomy Government, Formation of Legislative Assembly House and Parliament Building Construction, which is also the last official initiative of the Parbatya Peace Process in the Chinese Belt and Road. Following the theater of war between the US-led NATO—Ukraine alliance and the Russian Federation, the 3rd World War situations intended to expand between Bangladesh and Myanmar. This doctrinal paper has been presented through codification of situations of the post-seizure war-fighting battles surviving cold and silent conflicts in Parbatya, Chittagong Hill Tracts, in order to deliver the seized nation onto a free pathway. (shrink)

This article aims to feature and present a collection of narratives on religion drawn from the author’s travels in Southeast Asia, with a selective centering on experiences gathered from Thailand, Myanmar, and Indonesia. Since time immemorial in Asia, religion has played a substantial role in shaping each society’s identity, history, and culture. Religion can either instigate long-lasting camaraderie or even divisiveness. This paper focuses on how religion has reflected and enriched the diversity of Asian history and culture. Moreover, this (...) paper demonstrates how religion influenced the political development process and became a de facto parameter of ethical standards. This article desires to contribute two things. First, via conveying an appreciation of anecdotal narratives as a sophisticated form of literature and a formal approach to describing an in-depth experience. Utilizing a form of descriptive storytelling undoubtedly constructs knowledge of the perceived other. Second, via contributing significantly to Araling Kabanwahan (or a Philippine approach to Area Studies and Regionalism Studies). Araling Kabanwahan, in this regard, serves as a powerful lens for an understanding of being a Filipino by studying the history of other localities in Asia, which in turn, broadens our perspective. Although this paper is not focused on the Philippine setting per se, it offers an avenue towards realizing the spectrum of similarities and differences of the Asian experience in terms of religion. Primarily gathered from first-hand accounts of various individuals from various religious backgrounds, this paper tackles experiences brought by Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. It is important here finally to emphasize that the author acknowledges that he is a taga-labas, or an outsider from the ones being studied. Despite being an outsider, however, the author still attempted to apply an objective, academic, and unbiased approach to interpreting personal narratives. (shrink)

In my essay “Chasing Waves: Reflection on Southeast Asian Fisherfolk (2021a),” I already featured the less documented experience of the socially marginalized. My essay focused on the personal narratives of Bruneian fishermen of Kampor Ayer, Brunei Darussalam (2016); the fishermen of Mui Ne, Vietnam (2017); and the Intha of Myanmar (2018), with whom I had the fortunate chance to converse with. However, my personal travel experience in the three countries only gave voice to “non-Filipino workers.” That is why in (...) this current essay, I will highlight the unique experience of the Filipinos themselves – in the form of migrant workers in Southeast Asia. I have interacted with and interviewed many Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Pacific; even in other countries where Filipino tourists were unfamiliar or visited, surprisingly happen to have OFWs. With that, it is unsurprising why Filipinos are articulated as globe-trotting people (Perdon 2014) and quasi-wandering people (San Juan 2009) because of their prevalence in the discourse of the global diaspora. In this essay, I will feature the stories of personal experiences of select Filipina workers in Southeast Asia, specifically in Malaysia (2014), Singapore (2014), and Cambodia (2017), extracted from my travel narratives from 2014-2018. (shrink)