A Comparative Study on Assessment of Economy-wide Material Flow Accounts and its

Implications in Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Philippines

Kyaw Nyunt MAUNG* *, Takahiro KOMATSU*

**, Marianne Faith G. MARTINICO-PEREZ* *,
Cherry Myo LWIN**, Sujauddin MOHAMMAD***, Kenji SUGIMOTO* *, Keijiro OKUOKA**,
Shinsuke MURAKAMI***, Hiroki TANIKAWA* *

Abstract: This study assesses Economy-wide Material Flow Accounts (EW-MFA) and
examines its implications on Myanmar, Bangladesh, and the Philippines for the 1985–2009
period. Studying these implications is necessary for assessing and monitoring the physical
dimension of economic metabolism to ensure sustainability. EW-MFA is a framework for
compiling statistics, which indicates the overall amount of physical inputs into an economy,
material accumulation in the economy, and output flows to other economies or back to nature.
While such assessments have been conducted in many industrialized countries, little effort
has been made to undertake a similar study in the context of developing countries. In this
study, we compare the EW-MFA indicators of Myanmar, Bangladesh, and the Philippines and
assess material flow and resource efficiency in each national context. While Myanmar is a
primary resource provider, Bangladesh is a resource importer, and the Philippines is a newly
industrialized country, the fundamentally different economic and development structure of
each of these countries, coupled with similar policies and demographic trend, will provide a
strong foundation for formulation of sustainable resource use policies in the region.
Key Words : Economy-wide Material Flow Accounts, Southeast Asian countries, Direct
Material Input, Domestic Material Consumption, Physical Trade Balance

INTRODUCTION the world. The transition of regional economies

The human society has achieved great success in
terms of economic growth during the past century.
However, the pursuit for economic growth has
resulted in a neglect of the truth that the
environmental system has a finite supply of
natural resources. Subsequently, more and more
resource-related and serious environmental
problems are emerging. Studying the physical
dimensions of the economy is one way of possibly
finding a solution to environmental challenges.
Recent reports show that rapid growth in material
consumption by the population giants of the
Asia-Pacific continues apace. The Asia-Pacific
region with developing countries (China, India,
Indonesia and etc.) and developed countries
(Japan, US and Canada) continues to rapidly
catch up in per capita material use terms, with
the regional average now being 86% of the rest of
*Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, **Graduate School of Engineering, University of Tokyo,
away from biomass to minerals continues, with
further contractions in the share of biomass in the
region (UNEP & CSIRO 2013). In resource flow
accounts, natural resource flows are organized
and quantified in order to track the amount of
materials, energy, and water that are used in any
defined system over a certain period of time.
Resource flow accounting is also used to track the
amount of waste and emissions in the system. The
materials remaining in the system are quantified
to create a stock of capital. Resource flow
accounting provides an overview of the accounts,
distinguishes inputs from output in an economic
system as well as material accumulation.
Indicators of EW-MFA examine specific aspects of
the metabolism of an economy and pressures on
the environment. Key indicators include total
domestic extraction, physical trade balance,
domestic material consumption per capita, and

Journal of Environmental Information Science 42-5 51

per dollar of gross domestic product (GDP). This
method has received increasing recognition for its
ability to depict the physical structure of the
socioeconomic system. Indicators based on
EW-MFA provide background information in
aggregated form on the composition of and
changes to the physical structure of socioeconomic
systems (M. Fisher-Kowalski et al. 2011).
Material and energy flow analysis has emerged as
a significant approach for tracking the flows of
matter and energy. This framework has been used
by Ayres (1994) and Erkman (1997) for comparing
the natural ecosystem with the industrial system
in their studies on industrialized countries. A
number of studies focusing on industrialized
countries have used this framework (e.g.,
Hammer and Hubacek 2002; Mundle et al. 1999;
Scansny et al. 2003: Schandl et al. 2012). Some
preliminary research studies have used this model
in the context of China (Xu and Zhang 2007).
However, no such comprehensive research has
been conducted for developing countries in Asia
except China, a country with economy in
transition. Therefore, for the preliminary
assessment from 1985 to 2009, two countries were
selected from from Southeast Asia region, a very
dynamic region which has significant potential to
lead in the economic development in the future.
These countries are Myanmar, being a resource
rich and a primary resource provider country, and
Philippines, which is an archipelago with an
emerging economy. The high density of
population and the growing economy of
Bangladesh is also a significant basis for using its
eight-year data (2000-2007) as it is being affected
not only by natural disasters but also local
problems.
1) Myanmar
Myanmar is a member of the Association of the
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The Union of
Myanmar covers a total area of 678,500 km2 and
shares long borders with Bangladesh, India,
People’s Republic of China, Lao People’s
Democratic Republic, and Thailand. It is
strategically located between South Asia and
Southeast Asia, and is sandwiched between the
52
two most populated nations in the world—China
and India. Myanmar is rich in national resources
such as agriculture products, mines, and natural
energy. Its major industries are in the agro-based,
textile, and steel milling sectors. Its major exports
are rice, teak, beans and pulses, rubber, coffee,
and minerals.
2) Bangladesh
Bangladesh is a South Asian country located on
the fertile Ganges Delta. It is one of the poorest
countries in Asia with a huge population density
and a rapidly growing construction sector.
Bangladesh is one of the leading ship breaking
countries in the world. Bangladesh ship breaking
industry was the sole source of re-rollable scraps
for its small re-rolling industries. Additionally,
brick-making is a significant sector in Bangladesh.
Moreover, due to the unavailability of stone
aggregate, brick is the main building material for
the country’s construction industry.
3) Philippines
The Philippines lies in the southeastern coast of
Asia. It is an archipelagic country with 7,107
islands, stretching across an area of 300,000 km2.
Located on the western fringes of the Pacific Ring
of Fire, Philippines has abundant mineral
deposits due to the volcanic nature of its islands.
Although mineral deposits such as gold, copper,
nickel, chromite, and zinc are abundantly
available, large volumes remain untapped. It has
a rapidly increasing population with a growth rate
of 2% in the period 2000–2007. The Philippines is
also a member of the ASEAN. It is classified as a
lower middle-income country. The pace of
economic growth and material achievement has
led to large-scale expansion in material base,
severe exhaustion of natural resources, and
serious deterioration of the environment. This
first-of-its-kind study, besides examining the
notion of sustainability in Myanmar, Bangladesh,
and the Philippines, also hopes to lay down a
framework for undertaking similar studies for
other developing countries. And, we consider the
following research questions: (i) How will the total
volume of domestic extraction, domestic material
consumption and physical trade balance that
Journal of Environmental Information Science 42-5
causes pressure on the environment in Myanmar,
Bangladesh and the Philippines be? and (ii) What
are the trends of resource productivity in three
countries?. The abovementioned research
questions have been framed with the following
objectives: to focus on the physical dimension of
the economies of Myanmar, Bangladesh, and
Philippines, and employ the EW-MFA method to
provide insights on the linkages among economic
development, national policies, and
environmental pressures. The remainder of the
paper is organized as follows. Data and
methodology used are discussed in Section 1.
Results and discussions are outlined in Section 2.
Section 3 comprises concluding remarks,
including some reflections on study limitations
and areas of future research.
1. DATA AND METHODOLOGY
1.1 Types of data source
To assess the trend of material consumption and
economic efficiency in Myanmar, Bangladesh, and
Philippines, a multi-dimensional dataset
incorporating data from reliable official sources
and credible international data sources has been
used for comparing indicators and establishing
material flow accounts from 1985 to 2009 because
of respective data availability in each country.
Four main categories of materials (biomass,
fossil fuels, metal ores and industrial minerals,
and construction minerals) are included in the
material flow accounts. Domestic Extraction (DE),
Domestic Material Consumption (DMC) and
Physical Trade Balance (PTB) are chosen as the
main indicators in the economy wide material flow
accounts.
For Myanmar and Philippines, the data spans
for 24 years in time series from 1985 to 2009,
divided into the year nodes of 1985, 1990, and
2009. Data for Myanmar was taken from the
Myanmar Statistical Yearbook for 1995, 2000, and
2009. Data on Myanmar’s GDP Purchasing Power
Parity (GDP PPP) was taken from the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) data source.
Data for Philippines was taken from the
Journal of Environmental Information Science 42-5
Philippine Statistical Yearbook, Philippine’s
Department of Energy, Philippine’s Bureau of
Agricultural Statistics, Asian Development Bank
(ADB) database, and United Nations Statistics
Division. Supplementary data was also taken
from the International Trade Statistics and
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research
Organization (CSIRO) Material Flow Database.
Material flow data for Bangladesh was
available for the 2000–2007 period. GDP and
population data were available for the 1985–2009
period. Based on data from the CSIRO material
flow database, material input from the ship
breaking industry was also added for Bangladesh.
It has been assumed that ships imported for
breaking are the source of steel since more than
80–90 % of ships are made of steel and almost all
of it is recycled or reused in Bangladesh. Economic
and demographic data was compiled from the UN
statistical database and IMF data source.
1.2 Research Framework and Methodology
The research framework is shown in Figure 1. In
this study, the methodology of EW-MFA (Eurostat
2012) was applied for finding the metabolism of
the economy related to environmental impact. The
significance of the EWMFA is the possibility of
building database on material flow in the
developing countries (Myanmar, Bangladesh and
Philippines), exploration of the link between
Research Background
Myanmar Bangladesh Philippines
(Statistical Data)
(Statistical Data) (Statistical Data)
.
Evaluation of indicators of
EW-MFA:
DE, DMC, PTB, etc.
Comparative analysis
and development pattern
Results and Discussion Future Studies
Limitation and Policy
Discussion
Figure 1. Research Framework
53
 economic activities of a national economy and
environmental impacts through pressure
indicators. As the limitation of this research,
emission part has to be excluded due to absence of
data availability. Nevertheless, this research
could reveal worthy attempts to EW-MFA in
situation with limited data that can be used in
developing countries.
After compiling data for each country, we started
evaluating the main economy-wide material flow
indicators. First, domestic extraction (DE) is
estimated by using the following equation:
௝ increasing trend with steady growth rate from
(௧) ௜ ௜(௧) ௜(௧) ௜(௧) ௜(௧)
where DE(t) stands for domestic material
extraction in year t, entailing sum total of
extraction of all material types from i to j for each
category. Bi(t) stands for extracted amount of
biomass of material i in year t; Fi(t) refers to
extracted amount of fossil energy carrier i in year
t; Mi(t) refers to the amount of metal ores and
industrial minerals of type i extracted in year t;
and Ci(t) is the amount of construction minerals of
type i extracted in year t. All calculations are in
tonnes.
Second, direct material inputs are estimated
using the following equation:
calculated as shown in the following equation:
(௧) (௧) (௧) (4)
In addition to these equations, this study
attempts to capture resource intensity by dividing
DMC of a particular year with GDP of that year
for ascertaining the economic efficiency of
material consumption for each country.
2. Results and Discussion
2.1 Economic performance and population
As shown in Figure 2, GDP demonstrate an
(1)
1985 through 2009. Among the three countries,
Philippines registered the highest GDP, signifying
relatively higher level of economic development.
GDP of Bangladesh and Philippines increased
from USD 42 billion and USD 78 billion in 1985 to
USD 242 billion and USD 338 billion in 2009.
Myanmar’s GDP rose to USD 72 billion in 2009
from USD 9 billion in 1985. In terms of GDP per
capita, USD 241 for Myanmar in 1985, USD 449
for Bangladesh, and USD 1442 for Philippines in
1985, increased to USD 859, USD 1213, and USD
3051 in 2009, respectively. As in Figure 3, the
400000
BANGLADESH MYANMAR PHILIPPINES
350000

300000
௝
(௧) (௧) ௜ ௜(௧) 250000
USD million

200000
where DMI(t) refers to domestic inputs in year t
150000

and Ii is the amount of imports of i in year t. A 100000

variety of imports of types i to j are taken into 50000

account. 0
85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09
19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20
Third, direct material consumption is estimated Figure 2. Gross Domestic Product trends in
by using the following equation: Myanmar, Bangladesh and Philippines
௝
(௧) (௧) ௜ ௜(௧) (3) 160
BANGLADESH MYANMAR PHILIPPINES
140
where DMC(t) refers to direct material 120
Population (Million)

consumption in year t and Ei(t) refers to the 100

80
amount of exports of type i in year t. Details of all 60

export types from i to j are taken into 40

consideration. 20

0
Lastly, the Physical Trade Balance in year t, Philippines was 37, 94 and 54 million in 1985
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009

PTB (t), which is the difference between physical Figure 3. Population trends in Myanmar,
imports (I(t)) and physical exports (E(t)) in year t, is Bangladesh and Philippines

54 Journal of Environmental Information Science 42-5

population of Myanmar, Bangladesh and but
400
Metal Ores and Industrial Minerals Fossil energy Construction minerals Biomass
increased to 59, 150 and 92 million in 2009 with 350

the growth rate of average 2 percent. This pattern 300

Million tonnes
250
of population growth rate encouraged the rate of 200

economic growth and material consumption in the 150

100
future. At the same time, we could say that the 50

trend of urbanization in the three countries will 0

Philippines

Philippines

Philippines
Myanmar

Myanmar

Myanmar
Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh
increase the rate of material consumption.
2.2. Comparative Assessment of EW-MFA 1985 2000 2009

Indicators Figure 4. Breakdown of Domestic extraction in

The flow of materials between economy and Myanmar, Bangladesh and Philippines

environment are characterized with the help of

BANGLADESH MYANMAR PHILIPPINES
these indicators. Domestic extraction is
5.00

aggregated from a large number of items such as 4.50

4.00
single crops harvested and fossil fuels, 3.50

tonnes per capita

3.00
construction minerals, and single metal ores 2.50
2.00
extracted. 1.50
1.00
2..2.1 Trends in Domestic Extraction 0.50

Figure 4 shows material categories breakdown

of the domestic extraction trends for the three
countries in 1985, 2000 and 2009. Due to lack of
data, the period of study for Bangladesh in this
context is from 2000 through 2007. As one of the
main characteristics of developing countries,
biomass category continued to dominate domestic
extraction during the study period for three
countries. Fossil energy and construction minerals
increased with 0.5 times and 3 times in Myanmar
and 20 times and 7 times in the Philippines
between 1985 and 2009. In Bangladesh, fossil fuel
and construction minerals increased 2 times and
0.3 times between 2000 and 2007. The huge
portion of biomass in Myanmar represents
deforestation and forest degradation. Large part
of construction mineral in Philippines indicates
large volume of environmental impact. Domestic
extraction has constantly increased over two
decades. As shown in Figure 5, Bangladesh
registered the lowest figures (2 tonnes) among the
three countries, mainly because it is more
populous than other two countries. While per
capita material extraction in Myanmar was about
2 tonnes, Philippines recorded 3 tonnes per capita
material extraction in 1985. In 2009, Myanmar’s
material extraction per capita increased to 3
tonnes and per capita figure for Philippines
0.00
85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09
19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20
Figure 5. Per capita domestic extraction trends
in Myanmar, Bangladesh and Philippines
increased to 4 tonnes due to increasing demand
of construction minerals in Philippines and fossil
fuel and construction mineral in Myanmar.
2.2.2 Trends in Domestic Material Consumption
It can be observed in Figure 6 that domestic
material consumption in Myanmar and
Philippines grew by more than 2 times during the
period 1985 to 2009, growing from 62 and 174
million tonnes in 1985 to 183 and 417 million
tonnes in 2009, respectively. In the case of
Bangladesh, domestic material extraction of 293
million tonnes in 2000 increased to 379 million
tonnes in 2007. It can be observed that the trend
of material consumption continuously increased
during the study period for the three countries. It
was further observed that the continuing growth
rate of annual domestic material consumption was
triggered by higher economic and population
growth rate. As shown in Figure 7, the per capita
material consumption of 2 tonnes for Myanmar
and 3 tonnes for Philippines in 1985 rose to 3
tonnes and 5 tonnes in 2009, respectively. In the
case of Bangladesh, 2 tonnes of per capita

Journal of Environmental Information Science 42-5 55

 BANGLADESH MYANMAR PHILIPPINES
BANGLADESH MYANMAR PHILIPPINES
60.00

450.00
50.00
400.00
350.00 40.00
Million tonnes

300.00 30.00

Million tonnes
250.00
200.00 20.00

150.00 10.00
100.00
0.00
50.00
5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
0.00 98 198 198 198 198 199 199 199 199 199 199 199 199 199 199 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200
-10.00 1
1987

1991

1997

2001

2007
1985
1986

1988
1989
1990

1992
1993

1995
1996

1998
1999
2000

2002
2003

2005
2006

2008
2009
1994

2004
-20.00
Figure 8. Physical trade balance trends in
Figure 6. Domestic material consumption trends
Myanmar, Bangladesh and Philippines
in Myanmar, Bangladesh and Philippines
reducing its dependence on extractive primary
BANGLADESH MYANMAR PHILIPPINES
resources for exports and ensuring economic gains
5.00 from resource exports are domestically invested
4.50
4.00 for creating a sound foundation for sustainable
3.50
tonnes per capita

3.00 growth in the future.

2.50
2.00 2.3 Comparative analysis of material intensity
1.50
1.00
To measure economic efficiency of resource use
0.50
0.00
in Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Philippines,
85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09
19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 material intensity (i.e., DMC per GDP) is
Figure 7. Per capita domestic material estimated. In this case, GDP is specified in terms
consumption trends of PPP in USD to capture the real trend for all
countries. High material intensity has been
material consumption in 2000 increased to 3
identified as a strong driver of extractive
tonnes in 2007. Because of distribution of GDP
environmental pressure. In the past, resource use
growth, purchasing power of people in these
was growing at a faster pace than economic
countries increased during the study period.
activities in Myanmar, Bangladesh, and
2.2.3 Trends in Physical Trade Balance
Philippines. Increasing material intensity at the
Many factors such as development status and regional level is a cause for concern.
population density determine whether a country According to Figure 9, Myanmar experienced a
is a net exporter or an importer of resources. rapid downward trend due to its GDP PPP growth
Massive dominance of the Philippines in terms of rate. Myanmar’s material intensity of 6
both DE and DMC has not yet reflected in its PTB. tonnes/USD 1000 in 1985 declined to 2.5
Countries with high population density and low tonnes/USD 1000 in 2009. Decreasing material
resource endowments like Bangladesh and the intensity points to improvement in efficiency of
Philippines are net importers of resources while resource use during the study period in Myanmar.
Myanmar, with low population density and a rich In the Philippines, DMC increased from 174
resource base, was under heavy pressure to export million tonnes to 417 million tonnes between 1985
its natural resources. As shown in Figure 8, and 2009. This translates to a slightly increasing
potential resource supply risks confront net trend of consumption from 3 tonnes/person in
importers of materials like Bangladesh and the 1985 to 5 tonnes/person in 2009, while material
Philippines. These countries need to take specific intensity trend of consumption (DMC/GDP)
actions directed towards preventing such risks. gradually decreased from 2 tonnes/USD 1000 in
However, it is important to note that the 1985 to 1 tonne/USD 1000 in 2009. However, the
increasing use of resources is a positive indicator trend of material intensity was stable in
of socio-economic progress and human welfare Bangladesh during the study period because of
gains. Moreover, Myanmar faces the challenge of

56 Journal of Environmental Information Science 42-5

 DMC/GDP PPP vs. GDP PPP/capita situation of three countries where material
7
Bangladesh intensity was actually decreasing, extractive
6 y = 8.1912e -0.001x
R2 = 0.97025 Myanmer pressure on the environment declined during the
5
DMC/GDP PPP

Philippines
study period. Based on the result of the material
4 Expon. (Bangladesh)
intensity analysis, the development trends of
3 Expon. (Myanmer)

Expon. (Philippines) Myanmar, Bangladesh and Philippines are

2
y = 3.9368e -5E-04x
R2 = 0.84491
different because of different sectors of
1 y = 3.2379e -3E-04x
R2 = 0.95416 contribution to the economic growth rates.
0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 Countries like Myanmar, Bangladesh, and
GDP PPP/capita
Philippines need to develop institutional
Figure 9. Comparative analysis of material
capacities, knowledge base, and data on natural
intensity vs. GDP PPP/capita
resource use for more effective studies.
DMC/capita vs. GDP PPP/capita 2.4 Policy discussion
y = 1.3666ln(x) - 6.6272
5
R2= 0.82376 As part of this study, the trends of material inputs
4.5
4
y = 0.685ln(x) - 1.8213
and output in Myanmar, Bangladesh, and the
3.5 Bangladesh
R2 = 0.94542
Philippines were evaluated since common things
DMC/capita

3 Myanmer
2.5
2
Philippines among three countries are state-led economic
y = 0.8751ln(x) - 3.8238 Log. (Bangladesh)
1.5
R2 = 0.70221 development through different terms development
1 Log. (Myanmer)
0.5 Log. (Philippines) plans and strategies. Trends in material use are
0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 broadly supported by different macro and micro
GDP PPP/capita
Figure 10. Trend of DMC/capita vs. GDP PPP/capita policies that form a part of short, medium, and
long-term developmental plans formulated and
similar trends of material extraction and GDP implemented by the governments of each country.
PPP. According to Figure 10, domestic material
1) Myanmar
consumption per capita as a result of economic
Myanmar achieved an average annual growth
growth (GDP PPP/capita) and performance was
rate of 9.6% under the three short-term five year
moving upwards for Myanmar, Bangladesh, and
plans covering the period 1992/1993 to 2005/06.
Philippines.
These short-term plans accomplished continuous
According to Figure 9 and 10, the trends of
development from 1.34 times (over the base year
material intensity, DMC and GDP per capita
1992–93) in 1995/96 to 1.5 times (over the base
indicated different status of improvement in three
year of 1996–97) in 2000/01, to an 8% average
countries. The 58 percent decrease of material
annual growth rate from 2001/02 to 2005/06. The
intensity in Myanmar was largely driven by a
GDP growth rate has been increasing significantly,
massive increase in natural gas extraction and
indicating an economic expansion. The current
exports which delivered major improvement in the
National Medium-Term Priority Framework
volume of GDP. Philippines' material intensity
(NMTPF) covering the 2000–2014 implementation
was changed about 50 percent because of dramatic
period embarks on the achievement of national
increase of the manufacturing and service sectors
development targets, with the foreign assistance,
which promoted the amount of GDP efficiently. In
in line with the Millennium Development Goals
Bangladesh, material intensity had static
(MDGs).
(average) trend with the similar growth rate of
2) Bangladesh
material consumption and economic development.
Bangladesh is now all set to become a
It is important to note that decreasing material
middle-income country by 2021. This goal is
intensity has come close to offsetting the effect of
manifested in the Sixth Five-year Plan and the
growing economy on resource demands which
long-term development vision, defined as “Vision
deliver heavy pressure on environment. In the

Journal of Environmental Information Science 42-5 57

 2021,” and the perspective plan (2010–2021). As
the current economy relies on export and
remittances, Bangladesh aims to increase GDP
growth to 7.5–8% per year from these sectors. The
country’s strength, for the achievement of this
goal, lies in the labor-intensive manufacturing
sector, services, and exports. However, important
issues, such as urbanization management, need to
be addressed along the way. The country’s
geographical location also calls for proper
adaptation to mitigate the impacts of climate
change.
3) Philippines
The Philippine economy is characterized by a
series of ups and downs due to the impact of
political instability as well as domestic and world
political and economic events. To recover from the
economic malaise caused by political turmoil, the
country formulated medium-term Philippine
Development Plans in 1984–1987 and 1987–1992
to address poverty alleviation, reduce population
growth, and attain sustainable economic
development. However, the already low GDP
growth of 4.3% in 1987 plummeted to 0.3% in 1992
following political turmoil and power shortages.
The economy recovered with the implementation
of the 1993–1998 medium-term Philippine
Development Plan, achieving 5.2% GDP growth at
the end of 1997, until it slowed down during the
Asian financial crisis in 1997. The 2004–2010
medium-term Philippine Development Plan
focused on action-based strategies to fight poverty.
The economy was affected by the 2008 global
financial crisis, but leaped to a 7.6% GDP growth
rate in 2010.
In three countries, short, medium and long-term
development plans have been installed for
targeting the specific economic growth rate of each
countries. For Myanmar, the second Short-term
Five Year Plan (1996-2000) and the third
Short-term five Year Plan (2000-2005) reflected
the dramatic increase of material consumption at
the same period. The Medium-term Philippines
Development Plans (1984-1992 and 1993-1998)
with targeting pointed out accelerated growth of
material consumption in Philippines. Five-year
58
development Plans of Bangladesh promoted the
consumption trend. There are different population
sizes and development status among three
countries. Moreover, it is noted that development
plans and policies are related to trends of material
consumption of each country during the study
period from 1985 to 2009. And it is also important
for future policy trend towards sustainability in
Myanmar, Bangladesh and Philippines.
LIMITATIONS
Since Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Philippines
are developing countries, limited amount of
dataset and references are available. Bangladesh
case study could be undertaken only from 2000
through 2007 due to lack of data availability.
Moreover, national statistics compiled from
government sources or industrial organization
databases are not very reliable and satisfactory.
Although records of statistical databases are
maintained in some cases, they are not always
compiled properly and statistical data is not
always generated in accordance with
international standards and best practices. There
are a few sources providing various kinds of data
for Myanmar. Some of the statistical data
obtained from the Central Statistical
Organization in Myanmar, especially those
pertaining to export and import, were mentioned
in monetary values and not in volume (tonnes).
Conversion factor to international units is an
obstacle while working with local units. In case of
the Philippines, although the government has
collected and compiled statistical data, there are
still limitations in using data for the purpose of
EW-MFA. For instance, certain categories for
EW-MFA are not accounted for in the current data
compilation.
FUTURE STUDIES
Resource flow accounts and its key indicators
are a first step in informing regional initiatives
and national governments about the past and
current trend of resource use, aiding in policy
Journal of Environmental Information Science 42-5
decisions for ensuring sustainable development.
For a more sustainable and inclusive research,
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and trade issues
should also be used as primary drivers of resource
use and shifting of resource burdens. Moreover,
the IPAT framework could be used to analyze the
role of different drivers of resource use. The IPAT
framework captures the sum total of “Impacts” on
the environment (I), as the product of “Population”
(P), multiplied by a “Technological coefficient” (T).
We aim to employ this framework in our future
study for tracing driving factors in more details.
CONCLUSION
Domestic extraction in Myanmar and
Philippines in1985 increased from 63 and 156 to
195 and 398 million tonnes in 2009, respectively.
In Bangladesh, grew from 276 in 2000 to 351
million tonnes in 2007. Domestic material
consumption increased from 62 and 174 million
tonnes in 1985 to 183 and 417 million tonnes in
2009, respectively. For Bangladesh's domestic
material consumption, 293 in 2000 was changed
to 379 million tonnes in 2007. In terms of physical
trade balance, Bangladesh and Philippines are the
net importers but Myanmar is net exporter of
resource. Myanmar's material intensity of 6
tonnes declined in 1985 to 2.5 tonnes per 1000
USD in 2009. In Philippines, material intensity
gradually decreased from 2 to 1 tonnes per 1000
USD but Bangladesh' material intensity is the
same material intensity (2 tonnes per 1000 USD)
from 2000 to 2007. Material extraction in
Bangladesh in 2000 was about 20% greater than
in 2007, with its GDP growing at a rate of over
50%. Together with a rapidly growing GDP,
Myanmar’s material extraction in 2009 registered
a fourfold increase compared to 1985. This growth
can be mainly attributed to the expansion of
agricultural land, deforestation, new energy
sources, discovery of new mining sites, and several
other factors. Myanmar’s extent of domestic
material extraction is one of the lowest in the
Asia-Pacific region.
In the case of Philippines, the amount of
Journal of Environmental Information Science 42-5
extraction in 2009 was more than two times
higher than in 1985, with a fourfold increase in
GDP. This implies that economic efficiency of
material use in Philippines remained almost the
same during the study period.
There are different population sizes and
development status among three countries.
Moreover, it is noted that development plans
pointed out material consumption with growth
rate and economic development during the study
period from 1985 to 2009. Material flow indicators
show pressures on the environment and may be
used as a proxy for assessing environmental
impact. Government agencies, statistical
organizations, and research institutions should
work together to address the future challenges of
resource supply and waste and emission issues.
Despite their rapidly increasing material use
driven by high growth rates, these countries need
to invest in material and energy efficiency and set
a series of policies for achieving more sustainable
resource use in the future.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors gratefully appreciate the Environment Research
and Technology Development Fund (3k113002) of the Ministry
of Environment, Japan and Grants-in-Aid for Scientific
Research (A) 25241027 that made it possible to complete this
study.
NOTES
1) Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research
Organization CSIRO and UNEP Asia-Pacific Material
Flows online database.,
http://www.cse.csiro.au/forms/form-material-flows.aspx.,
Accessed in 7/23/2013.
2) International Trade Statistics:
http://www.trademap.org/tradestat/Product_SelCoun.,
Accessed in 7/25/2013.
3) Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Basic data of
Bangladesh,
http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/area/bangladesh/data.html
Accessed in 6/10/2013.
4) The World Bank, Bangladesh Overview.,
http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/bangladesh.
Accessed in 8/15/2013.
59
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