MYANMAR. Travel retailer Singapore Myanmar Investco Limited (SMI) was named winner of the Luxury Retail category in the Singapore Business Review (SBR) Listed Companies Awards at a ceremony this week. The company’s duty free business at Yangon Airport’s international terminal, where it has managed the business since late 2016, was nominated for the award.
Now in their fourth year, the SBR Listed Companies Awards aim to recognise outstanding publicly listed companies in Singapore. Award winners are judged on three key criteria of “uniqueness & innovation”, “effectiveness & impact” and “dynamism”.
SMI runs 72,000sq ft of duty free space at Yangon International, in what it described as “the last frontier market in Asia”.
The company noted: “Although faced with strong competition from at least four international retail travel companies, SMI was awarded the entire retail space with an impactful and high-quality design layout to bring forth a completely new consumer and retail experience for travellers. Faced with daunting deadlines as the new terminal was being completed, SMI’s President and CEO, Mark Bedingham, leveraged his extensive experience and networks to attract more than 25 international retail brands (including Coach, Pandora, Swarovski, Tumi, Kinokuniya, among others) and F&B operators (such as Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf) to make their maiden foray in Myanmar. Led by SMI’s Operations Director, Satheeish Subramaniam, the group was able to ensure that all the duty free stores were completed on schedule to welcome travellers to the new terminal.”
SMI added that, since the opening, it has helped introduce more international brands into the domestic Myanmar market. It has collaborated with leading mall developers in Myanmar to bring fashion, lifestyle and cosmetics brands to Myanmar as well as new F&B concepts such as Crystal Jade, Ippudo, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Jones the Grocer to the growing consumer market.
SMI’s other business activities include Europcar car rental and cold storage logistics, Bedingham said: “Winning the Luxury Retail category in the SBR Listed Companies Awards 2018 further reaffirms SMI’s strong capabilities in Myanmar. It goes to show that a relatively small Singapore company, driven by ambition and perseverance, can achieve something big in a challenging pioneer market.”
