last February, a delegation of French companies led by Business France went prospecting in Burma. The opportunity to test the reputation and the attractiveness of France in a country in the midst of opening and growing.
Seen from Mandalay, France is a country that is very far away. It is to try to reduce this distance, and build bridges between france and Burma for Business, France has organized a month ago, a trip of local representatives of the second largest city in Burma with a delegation of French companies. The objective is to establish a business relationship”, explains Cyril Boat, responsible for the office Business in France in the region.
That SMES take their first steps at the international or they may have already tried to export, this stay is mid-way between diplomacy and the business can ask of precious milestones. “Burma is open and the extent of the development works is an enormous one,” continues Cyril Boat. But France has to do with the fierce competition of countries that are already very well established such as Japan or, to a lesser extent, Germany and Great Britain.”
A country that is (re)built
Despite everything, the French have a beautiful card to play in this country, which is (re)built since the lifting of trade sanctions, the european because they have an excellent reputation. “There is a real attraction for the French know-how, details Clément Moulet, in charge of communication of Business France. Level infrastructure, for example, the excellent training of French engineers is highly sought after.”
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the First emergency in Burma : to develop a system that is energy efficient and install anything to produce electricity. “the goal was to electrify the whole country by 2020, leading Cyril Boat. But it seems to me ambitious.” So this is where the know-how and the efficiency of certain foreign groups can make the difference. To retain the attention of the Burmese people, groups, aliens must show a white paw and solid references. “Working in Burma assumes an investment on the long term and a lot of humility, warns Cyril Boat. The Burmese are very knowledgeable and always ask relevant questions so it should be solid and ready to answer without seeing. “
Help SMES to dare
Another difficulty : the understanding of the customs of the local. For Cyril’s Boat, the French entrepreneurs who want to conquer the myanmar market should take account of the specificities culturellles. “Not to deal with the awkward questions of how front-end or in public,” warns Cyril Boat. Then, it must be force of proposal and contact very regularly with the customers to maintain the business relationship.”
Jose-Angel Gonzalez, export manager at Labarrone-Citaf, a small company of 50 people, was in the travel Business France. “We had clients to see in the area and I took the opportunity to come and explore this market,” he says. These trips are useful because we can observe interlocutors of choice, but they are not enough to build real links, it is then necessary that each company moves and is very involved on-site to hope to win some markets.”
More broadly, these travel Business France, teaming partners, diplomatic and economic are intended to encourage companies to dare to the export and international. “In general, the SMES manage to export in the luggage of large groups pure assert a particular technique, pointe Cyril Boat. But there are also a lot of design offices, versatile or SMES are very specialised, which are resourceful and are positioning themselves alone, without the support of any large.
A little picture of Labaronne-Citaf and its storage tanks for acclaimed on all continents. “We are working around the world for over twenty years and we realize 50% of our turnover to export,” tip Jose-Angel Gonzalez. Proof that distance does not always constitute an obstacle for the companies.
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