The Journey of Construction & Marketing In Myanmar – Arrival To Boom In Ecommerce

Prior to the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19), Myanmar’s construction industry was expected to grow by 9.1% in 2020. Due to the stringent measures taken by the government – with strict lockdowns and travel restrictions to contain the spread of the virus – construction activities were disrupted across the country. As a result, a growth of 3.7% in the overall construction output has been expected by 2021. [infographic 1]

Construction Industry Growth Dynamics

The industry dynamics, in the short term, lay their focus extensively on new construction projects with direct investments from the government as well as big private players.

Despite the government focusing on transport infrastructure, coupled with efforts to boost energy production, with an aim to revive the country’s economy – the growth rate is expected to expand by 9.1% by the end of this year.

According to a study from the Asian Development Bank, MMK182.9 trillion (US$120 billion) in investment will be required until 2030 to bridge the country’s infrastructure gap. Furthermore, the government is investing in improving electricity generation capacity, with an aim to achieve nationwide electrification by 2030. [infographic 2]

Myanmar Construction Industry Market Size By Value

We have used the CAGR (compound annual growth rate) investment criteria to look at the curve of Myanmar’s staggering construction and building industry before Covid19 and after the market was impacted by the lockdown forced due to the virus.

According to an online report, the construction and building industry in Myanmar was expected to record a CAGR of 12.8% by 2024. Of course, the figures would be lesser due to the global pandemic and the restrictions that came along with it.

While the commercial construction sphere recorded a 13.2 CAGR growth between 2015 and 2019, the residential construction industry increased at a CAGR of 8.8%

Trends In The Upcoming Years

Despite having no concrete policy on how to deal with the impact of digital platforms on the local economy and civil society as well as the cross border outflow of local data, the government has done very little to curb or upset the staggering reforms on the digital end of Myanmar’s markets.

Thus, for the first few competitive years – since the boom of internet – Myanmar markets, marketers, and businesses have focused on:

1. Creating Online Presence
2. Value Creation

By asserting the nuances of e-commerce, marketers and businesses have gone full depth to cultivate an online ecosystem for their respective shops or stores.

Due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, many businesses – which earlier were hesitant – have now sped up their process and moved completely online. Despite being, majorly, a cash-based economy, all sectors with the exception of agriculture have profitably shifted to ecommerce. There has been a significant rise in the number of online suppliers and the demand from consumers simultaneously, making it easier to balance the equation from your office or couch.

Opportunities

In some cases, the need for local knowledge might give an advantage to locally rooted platforms, enabling them to offer between services to local users. In other cases, some platform companies are “globally local”, such as Uber or Facebook.

 674 total views