Whenever I travel around Asia to attend forums and conferences, I hear
people talking about my country as the region’s last frontier. This makes me
proud—but also a bit scared. Why? Because it makes me realize how little we
know of the outside world, and how much we must learn to catch up.
We lack so much, in terms of knowledge, experience,
laws, infrastructure, and so many other things. But as we open up to the rest
of the world, we can’t just sit and wait for change to happen. We need to
prepare ourselves and shape the future for generations to come.
When I look at big companies and the way they brand
and market their goods and services, I envy them. I wouldn’t want to copy
everything they do, but some things are certainly worth emulating. If we want
to succeed, we are going to have to improve the way we brand and market
ourselves.
But this doesn’t mean presenting a phony version of
ourselves to the world. What we lack in experience and sophistication, we more
than make up for in authenticity. If we trust and value our roots, and work as
hard as the big companies do to make a name for ourselves, we are sure to make
great strides in improving our lives and the lives of our children, and in
bringing prosperity to Burma.
It
shouldn’t be that difficult to get the world’s attention. After all, we are the
second largest country in Southeast Asia, with a population of 60 million
hardworking people. There is plenty of room for all kinds of companies, both
big and small. With the right kind of investment, particularly in small and
medium enterprises (SMEs)—which could provide 60-70 percent of employment in
the country—our people could pursue their passions, improve their quality of
life, and raise the standards of their education and health care. By starting
with small, affordable projects, Burma could rebuild itself as a financially,
intellectually and emotionally independent nation.
Five
years ago, I decided to start some small pilot projects of my own in my native
Shan State. As an ethnic Intha person, I wanted to do something to protect Inle
Lake, the ancestral home of my people. Beautiful but threatened by
environmental degradation—caused by deforestation, shrinking water catchment
areas, poor waste management, intensive agriculture, a growing population, and
rapid development of the tourism industry—the lake is being pushed to its
limits.
Although
the needs of the lake are big and challenging, I felt a good place to begin was
by offering an alternative to unsustainable practices that endanger not only
the lake itself, but also the culture that has grown up around it. That’s why,
in 2009, I founded the Inthar Heritage House (now the Inle Heritage Foundation)
to bring business solutions and life skills to the local community.
Focused
on both environmental awareness and the preservation and promotion of the local
culture, the foundation seeks practical solutions to the problems facing Inle
Lake and those who live around it. Last year, to further this aim, I set up the
Inle Heritage Hospitality Vocational Training Center, which provides young
adults in the Inle Lake community with the skills they need to participate in a
healthy, sustainable local tourism industry. On May 30, with great
encouragement from the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, we held a graduation
ceremony for the 42 students of the Class of 2014. A few days before that, we
held a job fair at which all of our students found work for the coming season.
As part
of their training, the students worked at the Inthar Heritage House Restaurant,
our souvenir shop, and the Thahara Inle Heritage mockup hotel. As social
businesses (that is, businesses that seek to achieve maximum social impact,
rather than maximum profit), these projects strive to be self-sustaining and,
in the long term, financially independent. At present, we host nearly 15,000
visitors a year, generating enough income to cover around 60 percent of the
operating costs of our foundation and its projects.
While
our way of doing business certainly has its challenges, we are also keenly
aware of the danger of irresponsible development. It is difficult—both for the
government and for our local communities—to preserve our precious heritage and
achieve economic growth at the same time, but I am convinced it can be done.
Burma
can be thought of as a beautiful young woman who is just coming out of a
convent. She must have the right to make her own choices, even if it means she
may make some mistakes. She can learn from those mistakes and move on. The only
thing that truly matters is that she is able to follow a path of her own
choosing.
The
worst thing would be to worry so much that we do nothing to improve our lives.
In business, we survive by taking chances, learning not only from our own
mistakes, but also those of others. That way, when an opportunity presents
itself, we have the confidence to take it. But beyond this, we must build trust
in our communities and learn to cherish our heritage. Only then can our country
hope to become a better place to live.
Yin Myo
Su
Yin
Myo Su is the founder of Inthar Heritage House and Inle Heritage Hospitality
Vocational Training Center on Inle Lake in Shan State. She is the winner of the
2013 Goldman Sachs & Fortune Global Women Leaders Award.
Business & Investment Opportunities
Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd (SBC) is incorporated
in Singapore since 1994.
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