The 1st time panel discussion on “Successful business through better intercultural communication in Myanmar” aims at opening up the dialogue on the challenges of intercultural communications in Myanmar and bring solutions to improve the working environment of both Myanmar nationals and expatriates.
The panel discussion will bring together professionals from both sides - Myanmar nationals and expatriates who have an extensive working experience in intercultural communications in Myanmar. Among the panelists, Ms. Hana Bui is an author and intercultural trainer about Myanmar, U Win Myint Aung is a Professional in HR and Corporate Affairs, U Kyaw Zin Htun is Head of PR and Communications at Iflix Myanmar, and Mr. Philippe Battle is General Manager of Accor Hotels Myanmar. The moderator of the event - Mr. Werner Eggert is a consultant for the Myanmar Journalism Institute.
With Ms. Hana Bui’s presence, attendants of the workshop will also get an opportunity to grab a signed copy of the book “When Global Meets Local – How Expatriates Can Succeed in Myanmar”. The book offers a first-time essential guide on how to work well in Myanmar and is currently attracting notable attention from the expat community in the Golden Land.
According to Ms. Hana Bui, the majority of the 50 Myanmar professionals working with expats who participated in her survey, pointed out that cultural issues/conflicts between expats and Myanmar nationals are most often derived from issues of communications and relationships. In addition to doing this survey, Hana also interviewed over 100 expats in preparation for her book.
Mr. Guillaume Rebiere, Executive Director, CCI France Myanmar shared that during his years of working in Myanmar, he has witnessed many tensions and frustrations between expatriates and Myanmar nationals, mostly due to mutual misunderstanding and lack of knowledge of others’ cultures. This is why CCI France Myanmar wants to organize this event to address these issues and to propose effective methods and solutions for improving intercultural communication inside companies in Myanmar.
Indeed, expats coming to work in Myanmar for the first time, often find themselves facing numerous unknowns or situation that they may find odd or surprising. It may lead them to having to overcome much confusion and many obstacles . The cultural challenges are often the biggest challenges of expats working oversea, let alone expats working in a newly opened country, which has just awakened after half a century of isolation. According to The Economist, a survey of senior executives from 68 countries indicates that 90% see "cross-cultural leadership" as the biggest management challenge of this century. Up to 40% of managers sent on overseas assignments terminate early. The cost for employers of each early return is between USD 250,000 and USD 1,250,000. In most cases, the reason is cultural issues rather than professional, technical skills.
For this reason, and in addition to this event, Ms. Hana Bui and CCI France Myanmar are partnering up to propose trainings aiming at helping companies and expatriates operating in Myanmar, to overcome the challenge related to cultural issues, that they face in their daily jobs.
For further information about the panel discussion, please contact:
Mrs. Pascaline Griffon, Business and Marketing Manager, CCI France Myanmar, business.manager@ccifrance-myanmar.org
To register for the event:
