During the COVID-19 pandemic, Burmese Thai Taiang’s online store sales continued to increase, and the income from the online store could fully satisfy the daily expenses of her family of three.
Tae Taeang lives in Yangon and started to use the Internet to sell cosmetics and skin care products at home in 2016. “E-commerce not only allows me to have a good income, but also allows me to make many friends.” Tay Tay Aung said that the development of the Internet in Myanmar has given her the opportunity to engage in e-commerce, and e-commerce has become her main job.
Among the population of more than 54 million Myanmar, about 35 million use the Internet, most of which use mobile phone networks. Miao Rui, an official in charge of communications in Myanmar, said: “Myanmar’s mobile phone network coverage is about 95%, and 4G coverage is about 70%. The new crown epidemic has brought disasters to many industries. In order to adapt to the lifestyle of the epidemic, the Internet used by netizens The traffic has increased by about 60%.”
Tay Thaiang said that during the epidemic, there were orders every day, and at most, the daily sales could be about 40 million kyats (about 208,000 yuan).
Tun Durad, vice president of the Myanmar Computer Association, said that the epidemic has to some extent promoted the development of the Internet economy in Myanmar, such as online shopping, online meal ordering, online education, online payment, and instant messaging.
Miao Du, an official of the Myanmar Ministry of Commerce, said that during the epidemic, most wholesale markets were closed, and shopkeepers began to sell products online, which is a good development trend. “Most people used to prefer face-to-face transactions, but online transactions have become more common during the epidemic.”
To develop the Internet economy, online payment is particularly critical. Miao Du said that online payment in Myanmar is widely used during the epidemic. “Most banks provide mobile banking services. In the past, you had to pay to the charging department. Now you can basically pay online.”
Taitaiang started using online payment when it first started e-commerce. Currently, more than half of the orders are completed through online payment.
Ninion, an official of the Myanmar Ministry of Commerce, said that Myanmar will significantly increase the non-cash payment rate based on the digital economy roadmap. As more and more people are engaged in e-commerce, online payment will become more and more popular. In addition, instant messaging in Myanmar has been greatly developed during the epidemic, and government agencies and enterprises have begun to use online meetings and online offices.
Ninion said that during the epidemic, online platform sales in Myanmar increased significantly, and government departments are formulating relevant policies to promote the development of the Internet economy.
Tai Tai Ang operates an online shop during the day, and conducts online meetings with the sales team at night or trains team members online. The Internet economy in Myanmar is developing vigorously and is expected to flourish in the post-epidemic era. She said: “I have planned the future for my e-commerce business.”
