Myanmar EU Trade Helpdesk

We were asked to identify eight potential Myanmar export products / potential EU markets. To identify the main products with export potential, we conducted research and interviewed relevant sector associations. We also talked to additional public and private sector stakeholders for confirmation and to gain new product ideas. And together with a great team from the Trade Development Programme, we conducted several workshops to create and implement a new EU Helpdesk Strategy. And those are only a few parts of the project.

• Market scans by means of concise infosheets (Globally Cool has developed 10 different types of info-sheets as a guide for Myanmar staff).
• Product profiles in the form of promotional materials for promising Myanmar export products (Globally Cool has developed 10 different types of product profiles as a guide for Myanmar staff).
• Export Promotion Guides in the form of elaborate market research reports (up to 80 pages) with a number of practical tips and advice.
• Training 'How to Export to the EU'.
• Training 'Market Analysis Tools / EU Market Intelligence'.
• Training 'Trade Fair Participation'.
• Furthermore, the EU Trade Helpdesk serves Myanmar exports as the key point within the country to find information about European buyers and to get information and advice for the solution for any export-related problem. It is now maintained full-time by the staff of the Ministry of Commerce which guarantees the sustainability of the service. The project fully met the expectations of the National Export Strategy of Myanmar.

Activities

• Identification of Myanmar products with the highest export potential. Using a comprehensive statistical methodology with a number of indicators which resulted in a long list of products. Together with the team of the Trade Development Programme, we selected the top 10 product to work on during the initial phase. Furthermore, for the final conclusion and recommendations, we conducted several interviews with relevant sector associations, public and private sector stallholders and experts.
• In the following phase, we delivered a number of training sessions for the staff of the Helpdesk to increase their capacities in offering export research services. Training topics included: best market selection, market research and development of market information materials, trade fair participation, creation of unique selling points for Myanmar products etc.
• The development of concise information materials was done through coaching and co-creation with the staff of the Ministry of Commerce. 10 different market scans and 10 different product profiles were developed for the following products: cashew nuts, coffee, green tea, fermented tea, honey, mung beans, outdoor jackets, sesame seeds and mango.
• Development of extensive Export Promotion Guides which included a lot of intensive marketing research activities. Guides were developed for mung beans for sprouting, organic green tea and frozen shrimps. In order to develop those content-rich materials we visited the most relevant trade fairs such as Seafood Expo (Brussels), Biofach (Nuremberg) and conducted a lot of direct interviews with importers, traders and experts. The market research also included personal visits to the companies and interviewing the leading European purchasing managers for the relevant products.
• A final round of co-creation sessions, training and coaching sessions with Ministry of Commerce staff was organised to further increase their capacity to continue producing information materials alone in the line with needs of Myanmar exporters.
• A final round of meetings with representatives of leading export associations was organized in order to share the findings with them.
• A promotional event was organized in Yangon with the participation of exporters, national authorities and European Union high-level officials.
• Launch of the EU Trade Helpdesk.