TSL to set up car service centre in Myanmar

“We will open a one-stop service centre, SMRT, in Yangon with Bt30 million investment,” said Sureeporn Udompolvanich, chief executive officer of TSL Auto Corporation.
This is the first time TSL has expanded outside Thailand.
Sureeporn said the centre would capture the high-end market.
“TSL could benefit from full liberalisation under the Asean Economic Community in terms of turnover in labour, transport and logistics, cars and auto parts,” she said.
The company will form a 60:40 joint venture with two groups of local partners under the name SMRT Co Ltd. TSL will hold a 40-per-cent stake and its partners will hold the rest. The SMRT centre will be in Yangon on 1 rai (1,600 square metres) of land.
She said foreign-registered companies would receive a tax holiday for five years under Myanmar’s new policy to support and promote foreign direct investment. The tax privilege can be extended every three years. In addition, the import of auto parts and machinery in Myanmar is not taxed.
Sureeporn said the car market in Myanmar was relatively large, with a huge number of high-end cars used by the rich. About 1,000 cars a month are imported into Myanmar. However, there is a lack of skilled mechanics. The company will send a team of skilled mechanics to the centre in Yangon. This is an opportunity for TSL, as it has expertise in importing quality cars.
TSL will provide not only maintenance and repairs for car bodies, paint and engines, but also accessories such as decorative sets, motor oil, parts and tyres.
“The SMTR centre in Myanmar would have the same standard as the one in Thailand,” Sureeporn said.
She said the reason for investing in Myanmar was that the population was similar to Thailand’s, while Myanmar had more resources. In addition, the culture and lifestyle of Thais and the people of Myanmar are similar. As the two countries are neighbours, Thai business should have more advantages in their bid to access Myanmar consumers’ spending behaviour than other players.