Hnin Wai speaks

Hnin Wai speaks

By The Myanmar Times   |   Monday, 24 March 2014

Since 2001, Hnin Wai has worked for greater participation of women in business with the Myanmar Women's Entrepreneur Association, where she is now secretary general. Her own experiences as an ambitious student and entrepreneur strengthened her interest in development issues and helped pave the way for others.

Photo: Aung Htay Hlaing

While completing an MBA at the Yangon Institute of Economics in 2002, she helped organise the city's first hosting of the Global Conference of Women Entrepreneurs. Later, she won a scholarship to do a second MBA at Japan's prestigious Hitotsubashi University Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy (ICS) where, as only the second Myanmar student ever to complete the course, she burnished the reputation of Myanmar post-grads. She became the leader of the MWEA's education committee, and this year there are about a dozen Myanmar students at ICS, including five women from the association. The Myanmar Times spoke with Hnin Wai recently at her Dagon office.

Are you an entrepreneur yourself?

During my MBA here, I was doing export-import managing at a company. We exported rattan furniture overseas. I also ran a private school, my own business. I come from Myeik, which is a city famous for business. So my family also did business – normally we are involved in fisheries, because it's a place of many islands, and also there is a local shipping industry and sales of goods, like clothing. But I wanted to transition to a broader business world, so I moved to Yangon. In my life, I say, the opportunities always come together. I applied to my first degree in English (BA, 1996), and then got the position at the rattan company for five or six years before I applied to the second MBA.

How did your two MBA experiences differ?

The MBA here was based only on textbooks. Class discussion and business cases, we didn't have. With the Japanese professors we could have a lot of class discussion, and the courses were registered from Harvard University, and there was class participation and group work. It was very challenging compared to the program here. Here, the experiences shared in school were very local. I explained to the prof that I wanted to study operations management.

What has changed for business-women since 2001?

In early 2000, because our country was so closed, we had no exposure to outside, especially for women. Passports were very difficult. Because of this association, after 2002 and the global women's conference, the MWEA organised a women's group of people who wanted to go overseas to visit trade fairs. After ASEAN countries, we could also visit Japan. We had made contacts. We got invites to international workshops and we could apply for passports. We had already 1000 members and many who were interested got this international exposure.

Are you seeing a rise in migrants to the city?

A young generation of women have got their degree, or some education, and they don't want to stay in their home town, so they come to Yangon and Mandalay looking for job opportunities. Mostly I see that in the garment industry. For women from rural areas, it provides a place to live and work.

We have some friends in the garment industry, and when the country was closed, they trained and kept their labour. The workers had experience and they were maintained. There was no foreign demand. When the country opened, the garment industry lost their experienced labour because foreign companies could pay better and they had better facilities. So the losers were the Myanmar garment companies. On the other hand, the local companies are getting more contracts now from abroad.

To what extent are returnees involved at the MWEA? Do they face special challenges?

Returnees, they say, 'We've just came back, and according to the news the Myanmar is a good place to be,' but they don't know where to start. For the young generation of paid salary people, it's okay. They can join a big company, because even the local big companies are paying the same as ones abroad. But for the people who want their own business, they are a little far from the Myanmar business situation, its rules and regulations. So they are looking for local people who they can partner with, because information is not clear, even for local people! The procedures change every time, and there's no notice. So if we want to extend the company registration, we have to go to the office and ask, 'What is the procedure now?' Most countries you can go onto a website and find that information. You don't need to take time to visit the office.

What is the greatest challenge women face starting businesses?

Finance. If we don't have money, we cannot do business even if we have a great idea. The MWEA can provide loans to women with a good business plan. Now we have SME Development Bank, but we need to give collateral to get a loan. In Cambodia, if we have a proper business plan we can go to the bank and get the loan. That is international practice. Myanmar and Laos are the only countries in ASEAN where it's difficult like this to get a loan.

How does feminism intersect with traditional family values?

We have obligations according ot our culture. When we do business with family we need to pretend we are not knowing 100 percent for this process. Just give the role to the husband and support from the back. This culture we need to adjust. Some women, they have a strong participation in their own business. Experience sharing is important. We learn from family how to integrate work and life and tradition to do business successfully.

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