Myanmar firm bags home Asean Business Awards

Asean Business Awards were presented late Tuesday night at the ceremony attended by over 600 dignitaries, distinguished guests and delegates including President Thein Sein and Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sun. Twenty-one enterprises from Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam were named the winners for the six categories - Asean Centricity, Corporate Excellence, Innovation, Young Entrepreneur, Women Leader, and Micro Small and Medium Enterprises. Six of them won the Asean-level awards - one each from the Philippines (in Women Leader category) and Myanmar and four from Singapore.
The award presentation ceremony also marked the opening ceremony of Asean Business and Investment Summit 2014.
Aside from BOOM, five other Myanmar firms - Kanbawza Bank Ltd, Myanmar Airways International, FAME Pharmaceuticals Industry Ltd, Kelvin Chia Yangon, and City Mart Holding Co Ltd - were named national champions in their respective areas. Surecatch World Pte Ltd became the only Singaporean firm among the runner-ups along with four Filipino firms and three Vietnamese firms.
“Unfavourable environment, lack of entrepreneurial spirit and little access to capital are some of the problems for entrepreneurs in Myanmar. Our hope is that these six businesses will inspire other entrepreneurs in Myanmar,” said Wai Phyo, vice president of Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI)and chairman of the Asean Business Awards 2014.
Launched in 2007, the awards are designed to recognise outstanding enterprises in the Asean business community.
According to Wai Phyo, this was the first year online registration was available. Over 500 companies in Asean applied for the awards, the highest number in its history. Among them, 121 companies passed the preliminary screening, with assistance from KPMG, a global consultancy firm. On October 13, ten judges representing all Asean member states descended to Yangon to give their final votes. At the selection concluded, 21 national winners were named and among them, there were six Asean winners and 13 runner-ups.
“Through the regional recognition such as the Asean Business Awards, more and more Asean companies will push themselves further, which will elevate the overall competitiveness of the Asean business community,” Wai Phyo said.
This year, the awards categories were expanded to include Young Entrepreneurs, and Women Leader, in recognition of their growing contribution to the regional economy and social development.
Established in 2009, BOOM now has over 400 employees. In 2013, the company received the ISO9001: 2008 certificate and introduced new services like temporary hotline centres for the 27th SEA Games and 7th Para SEA Games in Myanmar.. It has served domestic clients like AGD Bank, Super Coffee Mix, Eleven Media Group, MRTV-4, CB Bank and also international clients such as BBC Burmese, Lenso Direct, Urban English.
Among the Asean-level winners from Singapore is United Overseas Bank, which recently won the preliminary approval for the licence to operate in Myanmar.
Wee Ee Cheong, deputy chairman and chief executive officer of UOB Group, attributed the recognition to the bank's long-term commitment to its clients in Southeast Asia which allows the bank to grow from a small local bank in Singapore to a regional bank present in 19 countries and territories around the world. One of its clients include Asiatech Energy, which is constructing a combined cycle power plant in Mon state in Myanmar. The power plant, once completed, will produce enough electricity to power 1.6 million households in Myanmar.
“UOB is honoured to be recognised as an organisation that promotes economic growth in Southeast Asia through our integrated regional franchise. Over the last eight decades, we have come to appreciate the many opportunities and risks that businesses must manage in this diverse region. We have applied this knowledge and experience to actively help our customers seek business opportunities across Southeast Asia that deliver long-term, sustainable growth for the region,” Wee said in a statement.
On expectation that intra-regional trade would continue to make a difference to the economies in Southeast Asia, UOB in 2004 established the Global Business Development Unit to help Singapore businesses expand into the region. Since 2011, it has set up nine Foreign Direct Investment Advisory Units, to assist clients' expansion into Southeast Asia. The bank forecasts intra-regional trade in the region to rise to 61 per cent by 2020, from 33 per cent in 2000.