Incorporation

And so it begins. 

Armed with a wad of cash and approximately 6 years 10 months of Myanmar experience, I decided to set up shop in Myanmar. All on the basis of trust in the people and trust in my instinct on the first movers advantage. 

Known as one of the worst places to do business, Myanmar is indeed a challenging ground, but in difficulties, there lies opportunities. And what's there to lose when I am still single? More over, my business partner is willing to be based in Myanmar. Among the business community, we always have this invisible rule; If you can't be based there, don't do business there. This is what every businessman who make or break have come to learn in the fatherland. Reason being:

1) The locals are very lazy, they only work, when they see the boss around.
2) Dishonesty among the locals are growing as income gap widens, have heard of horror stories whereby office equipment are all stolen by the employees.
3) Foreigner bias. Yes, the country is EXTREMELY biased towards any foreigners. You pay extra taxes as a foreigner, extra cover charges as a foreigner, undertable money is 100% more if you are a foreigner. 
4) The yes man syndrome. The locals are very good at saying yes, because that is about the only english they know. So whenever they say yes, DO NOT take it that they understood what you said. I have to stress this clearly, most of them have 0 knowledge of anything.
5) The inability to admit to mistakes and learn. Burmese people has a very very high ego, they can't take it when a foreigner tells them there is a better way to do anything. They always believe what they do is correct even though their method might already be outdated and wrong. 

Hence you can see why a person in charge who is NOT a local has to be based in Myanmar. Because Murphy's law is a very real thing in Myanmar. After decades of oppression and propaganda, many of the locals only believe what they believe and is closed to changes and ideas. However, it is in such extreme conditions, where many are afraid to venture; lies what would be my pot of gold. 

Sources: https://www.mmtimes.com/news/myanmar-slips-business-ranking-despite-what-govt-says.html

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