TODAY

U Htun Htune Naing                                         Chairman & CEO                                                    Blue Ocean Operating Management Co Ltd

Our hope for the appearance of State policy goes for two; one of them is domestic policy. This could invite a surge of foreign investment what with a new government to be formed in 2016. And job opportunities would increase also, I should think. New government policy is an unknown at present. The task in hand is to stabilize the economy, social affairs, politics, education and helathcare so that the country will improve for real. The AEC has come into force since December 2015, and Member Myanmar is bound to enjoy its impacts in 2016. And we should prepare for our entry, starting now. The same goes mutual for other ASEAN members. For the time being we should consider how to adapt to domestic-policy changes, and how to respond to AEC impacts.

A major desire is a surge in foreign direct investment (FDI) which is best suited to national development. Besides it is necessary for domestic small industries to grow up. Having big companies alone is not enough for a country’s prosperity. A growth of small and medium companies coupled with the rise of the middle class necessarily makes for a country’s econo-mic development. Current Myanmar authorities usually designate small industries only as SMEs. In fact small self – managed businesses like DTP shops, photocopy shop, or a photo studio should come under SMEs. To help them grow, give loans smoothly. Such businessmen could be helped by adopting a certain policy. Nowadays international banks are poised to lend to them.

Next: Education Sector. Most people think expertness at economics means earning a MBA or DBA. A sort of applied economics should be made accessible to SME people. It is undesirable that a would – be student has to offer up K 50,000-K 100,000 for a skill training. For busi-nesses to grow, economics education should be made open to all by governmental and private organizations, Again, enhanced Vocational Training will create Skill Levels.

Blue Ocean is the first and biggest Call Center in Myanmar. With AEC in force more economic efforts are called for domestically. Besides we need to look to other prospective ASEAN countries where most Myanmar migrants live and work and need to be serviced. Again we need to prepare to work jointly with would-be expatriates in the country.
Lately our service has much expanded. 1876 Hotline is easily accessible. Now that Internet connections and telephone lines have grown to a large extent, other parties have access to information almost everywhere. So we are going for Government Hotlines in 2016. Internationally such lines are outsourced. Another thing: in regard of foreign companies about to come in, their Outsources could be approached. For example, hotline 1880 is for the public, 180 for blood donation, and another number for Child Labour complaints. These are in the pipeline. Ours is tripartite, with govern-ment, UN – like bodies and the public. Blue Ocean is poised to create every Platform feasible among the public and organizations.

Daw Win Win Tint                                               Managing Director                                                   City Mart Holding Co Ltd

What most businesspeople wish to have is a level playing field where everyone taking part enjoys equal rights and opportunities. As regards policy, there were times when it was biased and marked by favouritism. I wish to see a situation where everyone has equal rights and equal competitive opportunities. The new government, which we are going to have, should have a long-term vision for every sector of the economy— a vision that is based not on particular individuals’ views but on the long-term interest of the whole country. We might have a long-term vision regarding what we’d like to see happen, for example, in agriculture or stock breeding. Our short-term vision should have things that can contribute to the achievement of these long-term goals. I think implementation of short – and long – term plans based on good vision will speed up the country’ economic growth.

At present there still are policies that are no longer relevant to the times. Some of these are just impracticable or I’d rather say inconsistent with what is being done on the ground. There are many instances of this happening. This calls for a lot of attention by the policymakers. They should formulate a good policy and create a good working environment, which I think is the foundation for economic progess. The state of things in the past indcates that there was a lack of such requirements. A better policy and a better working environment will serve as an incentive for more economic artivities and promote economic growth. In the past we did not have enough of such a good business enviroment, so that some people were not keen to make their businesses grow, though they had the potentials. Some people tried to resort to get-rich-quick way of doing business, with little long-term banefits for the country. CMHL has a lot in mind to do, and do better, in a better environment, and we’re expecting things to turn out that way. In the past extreme policies adopted on the basis of fear or concern resulted in cases where we had ‘one setp forward, two steps backward’.

We’re looking forward to seeing changes in policies regarding banking. There are difficul-ties regarding working capital. We have foreign banks now in our country. But, is it reasonable that their service is not accessible to our local businesses? So the banking policies, as they are now, should be reviewed as soon as possible.
Speaking for (CMHL), we took out a bank loan from IFC. We wish to make our products and services affordable to our 51-million people. We now have branch shops in Yangon, Mandalay and Naypyidaw. CMHL has plans to open more shops in Monywa, Mawlmying, Pathein, and Taunggyi in 2011.

Tax policy regulations, which have a direct bearing on us as retailers, have become better for the retail industry, but there’s still need for further improvement in these regulations. We want to see better policies and better monitoring. In terms of technology, Internet infrastructure has become relatively better but still calls for further improvement, because application of technology these days involves the use of online infrastructure. Only then will the retail industry in our country be able to make real-time information possible.