Registered at the Chamber of Commerce in Myanmar!

Almost a green light ...

As we explained in our previous blog post, we needed to set up a business in Myanmar. But how do you do that 😊? Setting up a formal ‘Foreign Company’ is possible for foreigners in Myanmar, but specific situations require collaboration with a local partner. It appeared we had such a situation at hand; the village where we want to settle has a protected status and it turned out that we, as foreigners, are not allowed to start working there unless we worked in cooperation with a local business partner. Fortunately, we have gotten to know Ruata the businessman whom we traveled with through the mountains. He has a company in Yangon selling disinfectants to hospitals in Myanmar, no unnecessary luxury! We now know Ruata well enough that we are happy to take this step of starting up a company with him and he is also happy to cooperate with us.

Since November 14, our private company has been registered with the Chamber of Commerce in Myanmar under the Burmese name ‘ဘီမိုင်ဂက်(စ်) မြန်မာ ကုမ္ပဏီ လီမိတက်‘ or as we say, ‘BMYGuest Myanmar Company Limited’ 😊.

With this company we desire to create employment for the underdeveloped population, starting in Chin State. The minimum salary here is € 2.50 per day. Not per hour, per day! We want to teach residents of these villages to arrange the rental of holiday homes and to receive tourists. There are so many things for them to learn. Hygiene is something that really needs to be taught in Myanmar and especially here in Chin! For example, change the bedding after every tourist. “Why would you?? It doesn't look too dirty, does it?!" We have slept many times in guesthouses where the bed linen was used one or more nights before our visit. You could complain at the reception desk, but they will not understand your complaint. The bed isn't that dirty! Keeping records and processing registrations with a computer will also be new experiences, as will arranging walking tours, breakfast services, and (perhaps in the future) running a small restaurant, transporting tourists to the nearest town, and so on and so on. There are so many opportunities if only someone would teach the villagers how…

The Chief Minister and the Minister of Hotels and Tourism have verbally promised us their support. All agreements made with these gentlemen have been processed in an English letter that was then translated into the Burmese 'scribbles' (google it, and you will understand this description immediately :) Once they have signed the letter of approval we have the green light for the craftsmen to start construction.

For the time being, the men from the village are busy with the preparations for construction. They are certainly craftsmen! When they make something, an elephant can dance on it and it does not creak! Everything happens manually; no machine will touch the wood. Trees are cut down miles away from the steep mountain slopes, and the heavy trunks are carried to the village on the worker’s shoulders. All this in flip flops! We have had a few meetings with the village council about the entire project, which alone is a new experience for them. They are also clearly not used to thinking about and calculating the costs, putting agreements in black and white, and even seeing the simple building plan made their mouths fall open. These are all totally new experiences, but they found it all very interesting and you can see from their faces that they are really looking forward to the big project!

The meetings are a bit less efficient than what Albert is used to, taking 3-4 hours each. They also include sitting cross-legged on the floor or somewhere on a bench in the village. A lot to get used to 😉

While we were in Yangon founding our company, Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi was in the Netherlands due to the genocide case that Gambia has filed against Myanmar. The case is handled by the International Court of Justice in The Hague and it's live on TV. It is clear that much has gone wrong in this country in recent years and a positive lasting solution is not yet available. It also makes clear to us that we are dealing with a country where the government has major challenges and where everyone has an opinion, both domestically and abroad. What to believe depends on which side you are on.

At the same time, it also makes clear to us that a large part of the population has suffered for many years from military domination. It is now time for the population to be assisted in development and experience love instead of violence. Although we are only a very small drop in a very large ocean, we want to do our best to support the local population. With our initiatives, we will try to train and educate people, prevent child labor, give young boys and girls a chance to find meaningful work, and through this stop human trafficking and forced prostitution. What we do may be limited, but if we can let even a few people feel loved and give them a future then it's all worth it.

Unexpectedly wedding guests ...

We stayed in the mayor’s house for 10 days during which his daughter was getting married, and it appeared to be at the top of the bridal couple’s wish list of to have a couple of tall foreigners at their celebration! We were invited to attend the wedding, and our polite "no, we do not want to be intruders at a family event" was not accepted. The day before the wedding two pigs and a couple of chickens were slaughtered and a number of old women came down to peel 4 buckets full of garlic cloves, ginger, and onions!! Good grief!

Together with just a few vegetables and huge pans of white rice, a wedding meal was prepared for around 100 guests.

An hour before the wedding service started, the father of the bride realized that his hair still needed to be cut. He looked at Judy and, yes, what do you do when a comb and household scissors are pushed into your hands... 😊

Because we are foreign guests, we were treated very well at the wedding ceremony! Large pieces of pork liver, stuffed intestines, pig tongue, and more indefinable pieces of pork were offered to us with a friendly smile and shiny eyes. All very tempting, but we wisely stuck to rice and vegetables, and luckily some villagers seemed to understand that it was not our kind of food.

We were present all day at the wedding and it was quite an experience! In addition, it was a good opportunity for us to get to know a lot of people in the village and for them to know us. Also, a great opportunity to "dance" with a giant! Who would not want that..?