WITH the launching of internet facilities by BaganNET in March 2002, it looked for a while like the dream of striking it rich through e-commerce was finally going to be realised.

However, there are still only a few hundred companies—a handful compared to the myriad businesses in Myanmar—who have launched their enterprises online.

According to Zaw Htut, a leading web developer and founder of the Win Myanmar Company, Myanmar has already made a huge leap forward from being a country with extremely limited internet access—a fact that caught the interest of the New York Times, which published an article on the subject in 2000—to one that now has 75,000 users and counting.

However, viewed from another perspective, this means that only 13 per cent of Myanmar’s 55 million people are using the internet.

The low percentage of local internet users, though, should not discourage Myanmar businesses from trying to sell their wares online to international clients, who use the internet in much greater numbers, Zaw Htut.

Internationally, travel agencies, airlines, hotels and cruise lines have been huge e-commerce success stories, with export companies not far behind. Through his web development company, Zaw Htut has helped put 32 tour operators, seven export companies, five marine producers, and four gem dealers in Myanmar onto e-commerce.

“A few of the more successful travel agencies that have signed contracts with our company have increased their sales to over US$2 million in the last two years,” Zaw Htut said, adding proof to the hype surrounding the potential of e-commerce to boost companies’ earnings.

Win Myanmar offers a variety of internet packages, ranging in price from K197,000 to K1,484,000 each, which include a year’s hosting, a domain name and promotion.

After selecting a package, the customer signs a contract and pays half of the fees up front. Afterwards, the customer and Win Myanmar go through a process of building web pages and revising them until the customer is satisfied with the website.

“The primary reason to build a website is to get a return and to get business leads out of it,” Zaw Htut says.

In seminars, he tries to get the message across to hopeful merchants that e-commerce can be a lucrative venture for them with the right approach.

He also tells his audiences an anecdote about grocery shopping at a supermarket in Maryland, where he encountered on the shelves a packet of 10 large banana leaves that was being sold for $2.50.

He was even more shocked when he saw the label: ‘Product of Thailand.’
“I was so amazed!” he said. “If Thai banana leaves can sell halfway across the world, so can our bountiful Myanmar resources. All we need is good marketing.”

If Myanmar’s entrepreneurs really want to jumpstart their e-commerce business, Zaw Htut added, they should also improve their English skills.

According to him, many local companies that have launched e-commerce websites are stumped when they get inquiries or orders in English from foreign countries.

It may be a bit early for domestic e-commerce marketing due to the low numbers of internet users here, but for business people interested in the overseas market, it may be worthwhile to attempt to set up an e-commerce website.

Recently, after launching their website, the TOYO Company (which produces car batteries) received orders all the way from Peru.