Meinhardt's determination bears fruit

Success demands hard work, according to John Anderson, a director of Meinhardt (Thailand) and managing director of of Meinhardt Myanmar - the units of the global engineering, infrastructure and project-management consulting firm. 

“At the beginning, I was in Yangon every month. Then, it’s every week. That demanded a lot of investment that concerned our directors,” Anderson said in an interview.

Serge Pun’s Yoma Strategic Holdings Co handed the company the first contract, a small job involving an apartment building of the real estate group. Without any connection, Anderson recalled sending an e-mail to the Myanmar entrepreneur, asking him for his time so that he could introduce the company. Meinhardt’s extensive portfolio was helpful, as “people in Myanmar are familiar with brand names”. From that small job, Yoma contracted the company to renovate Railway Co headquarters, one of the city's oldest colonial-era buildings, part of the group’s “Landmark” project. To Anderson, as the renovation permit is pending, the project could open up more opportunities as local and foreign developers’ eyes turning heritage buildings in the country into commercial use.

More contracts followed due to word of mouth and the proven quality and good work, he said. 

“Our brand is well-known across Southeast Asia. Myanmar people are probably comfortable with brand names. They want to be like Singapore and they know what we have,” Anderson said. 

The operations were first supported mainly by staff from Bangkok, with assistance from other offices in the region. The first local staff was hired two years ago and to date, Meinhardt Myanmar has 20 employees. Some of them were Myanmar people who had been working elsewhere, like Singapore and Bangkok. The “repats” are now in Yangon. 

Operating from Bangkok is convenient, he said. While wages for skilled labour in Myanmar is a bit cheaper than in Thailand, rents there are many times higher. Rents for office space in downtown Bangkok cover only a shop house in Yangon. Meanwhile, low-skilled labour costs 50 per cent less than Thailand. The staff at the Bangkok office is also familiar with working overseas, having been forced to due to the downturn in Thailand. 

Bangkok’s office is now overseeing the human resource development in Myanmar, and assistance is also given to the accounting department. Some jobs were sub-contracted to local contractors. Anderson has observed that Myanmar people work hard and are enthusiastic and forward-looking.