Entrepreneurs invited to help set up MSME Association Rakhine

By DMG 11 Feb 2022

DMG Newsroom
11 February 2022, Sittwe 

Arrangements are being made to form a micro, small and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) association in Arakan State and invite entrepreneurs to join the alliance, according to U Soe Win Naing, vice chairman of the MSME Association Rakhine Implementation Committee. 

There are MSME organisations in other states and regions, but not in Arakan State, the business leader noted. He said the association aims to hold elections on March 27 in Sittwe, in collaboration with small and medium-sized businesses in Arakan State. 

“It is not easy to get information about opportunities when MSME entrepreneurs stand alone. They do not know where to get the loans. And there are those who do not know how to deal with organisations and government departments. By joining the MSME Rakhine Association, you will make things easier,” U Soe Win Naing told DMG. 

“We have arranged to form the MSME Rakhine Association to provide state-of-the-art information and support to local and foreign entrepreneurs so that they can exchange technology with each other and connect local and foreign entrepreneurs with local entrepreneurs. The association will help create job opportunities in the state and bring innovative products from start-ups to market,” he added. 

“If more entrepreneurs succeed, there will be more job opportunities for young people. We will be able to connect with entrepreneurs from other regions and states. Then Arakan State will develop more,” he said. 

MSME entrepreneurs can contact the MSME Association Rakhine page on Facebook to become a member of the group. 

U Tin Aung Oo, chairman of the Arakan State Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the MSME alliance is a much-needed organisation in Arakan State, and that the chamber would welcome the emergence of such a coalition. 

“Only when all SMEs work together will their market connectivity be strengthened. And it’s more effective to search for technologies as a team. The Myanmar MSME Association has also been formed and is helping to connect them,” he added. 

Some MSME entrepreneurs say they are having difficulty navigating the Food and Drug Administration approval process for their products, and also want help strengthening marketing links. 

More than 80% of Myanmar’s businesses are MSMEs, and the 2015 Small and Medium Enterprise Development Law defines most manufacturing-based operations (including the garment sector), wholesale and retail services, and a handful of other industries as SMEs.