As a developing country in Asia with robust economic growth and numerous opportunities for business, Myanmar focuses on accelerating economic growth by allowing non-residents to start businesses in the country. While the civil war in the past plagued the country, the situation has improved, and peaceful environment has been created by the people and the government paving the way for a new future.
Myanmar has an untapped business potential with a promising economy, and a vast prospective market for entrepreneurs, international investors and well-established companies to expand their business operations. Business leaders who interested in understanding and operating in Myanmar have a handful of options to start their business in the country by registering their company in Myanmar, one of the options is launching a Representative Office (RO).
The Representative Office (RO) registered in Myanmar may only act as a liaison office, and its services are limited to market research, feasibility studies and collecting data for head office. RO's are not allowed to trade inside Myanmar. Usually, registered offices are satellite offices of established businesses outside Myanmar or subsidiaries that are created to expand business operations in the country.
The Myanmar Companies Act permits international investors, corporates and business people to register their business in Myanmar as a Representative office for a specific purpose such as research, analysing and marketing.
According to the new Company Laws, a foreigner and non-resident individual in Myanmar one can start a Representative Office (RO) in Myanmar. The office can be used for understanding the prevailing market conditions in Myanmar, promoting established businesses from other countries, or exploring business opportunities and planning useful business model to get into Myanmar market to take advantage of the lower cost of operations, cheap labour, and numerous facilities for local manufacturing operations.
International companies who are planning to enter into the Myanmar market can set up their Representative Office to research the viability of doing business in Myanmar by assessing the market scenario. The RO is allowed to analyse industry growth, calculating profitability, and send data to the headquarters. Furthermore, the corporate-owned RO can work on understanding the local competition, finding prospective partners and other critical business parameters such as infrastructure, logistics, human resources etc., before setting up permanent operations in the country.
The Representative Office is not allowed to perform trade inside the country and thereby should have no income from its operations in Myanmar. Representation offices are expected to operate with the periodic remittances received from the overseas headquarters or their invested capital, these funds from one of the two sources must be used for covering the administrative costs, launching marketing campaigns, office rents, employee salaries and other expenses.
There are specific requirements outlined by Myanmar's governmental organisations according to the Myanmar Companies Act for setting up a Representative Office in Myanmar.
With tremendous opportunities for investment and growth, the first-mover advantage can significantly assist your business growth in the upcoming years when Myanmar's economy grows. If you're planning to set up your representative office in Myanmar contact us. Our expert team shall assist you in understanding the business environment in Myanmar and help you in registering your business in the country.