Rebuilding Myanmar from within
MONASH University Malaysia’s Master of Business Administration (MBA) student Aye Chan Lwin was interested in Myanmar as a location in which to implement her social enterprise project. The project aims to capitalise on Burmese talent and improve rural infrastructure. It was Aye Chan’s visit to Yangon, Myanmar, in 2012 that sparked the idea of starting a project management course for people there.
Myanmar started opening its doors to foreign investment in 2012. Aye Chan was surprised to see the high number of projects underway that contrasted with the lack of qualified local professionals, and aghast at the wage gap between foreign and local workers.
Aye Chan recalls a conversation she had with a foreign engineer who worked as a telecommunications manager in Myanmar.
“Being an engineer myself, I asked him about how things work and the difficulties faced in the industry. When I heard about the privileges he was entitled to, I decided that I would dedicate myself to showing Myanmar that it has skilled locals who can do the same type of work it hires foreigners for, but with more locally appropriate attributes and interests.
“The only weakness Myanmar locals have is their lack of exposure to international standards. With formal training, they can be equally talented. Talent should be based on meritocracy, not race or gender,” says Aye Chan, who is proud of her Burmese heritage.
Born in Yangon and having grown up in various countries such as Vietnam, South Africa, Singapore and Australia, Aye Chan has had international exposure from a young age. She holds a Diploma in Engineering (Electrical, Computer and Electronics) from Nanyang Polytechnic in Singapore and Bachelor of Engineering specialising in electrical and computer engineering from Queensland University of Technology, Australia, and is a certified Project Management Professional from Project Management Institute in the United States.
She speaks Mandarin, Burmese, French and English fluently, and was recently presented with Monash University’s 2018 Vice-Chancellor’s Diversity and Inclusion Award.
In 2015, Aye Chan left her job as the regional head for BP Australia and moved to Malaysia with her family. Last year, she decided to pursue her MBA in South Asian Studies at Monash University Malaysia and kick-start her “train the trainer” social enterprise.
In collaboration with a joint-venture partner, Myanmar Certified Training Centers, Aye Chan designed the Project Management Fundamental (PMF) course – a two-day training course that introduces the tools and techniques of project management.
With funding from the World Bank, Aye Chan began running PMF courses for the Myanmar government’s Department of Rural Development in September last year. Since then, she has conducted six classes involving 350 participants in the Yangon region.
PMF course participants train local village leaders on how to apply project management basics to infrastructure projects in their villages.
Moving forward, Aye Chan hopes to restructure the business, revamp the course to be more practical-focused and expand the target market to include the private sector. She hopes to offer the course in Malaysia once she has perfected the business model and established new trainers who can succeed her.
“I find the people of Myanmar to be truly remarkable. They are smart and eager to learn. Once we can capitalise on the locals’ skill sets and assign them to the right knowledge areas, the opportunities are limitless. Project management is universal and everyone is involved in a project one way or another,” says Aye Chan.
For more information on postgraduate courses offered by Monash University Malaysia’s School of Business, visit www.monash.edu.my/business