NEWS7 June 2012

TNS wins first global client engagement in Myanmar

Asia Pacific New business

SINGAPORE— TNS says it has won its first global FMCG client contract in Myanmar just weeks after the US and other countries eased sanctions preventing investment in the country.

The client has not been named but Asia Pacific CEO Chris Riquier (pictured) said the study would explore “consumption habits, key purchase occasions and the dynamics of food and beverage categories”.

Meanwhile, TNS Indochina director Ralf Matthaes said Myanmar, also known as Burma, had all the key ingredients of an emerging consumer economy – “a young population of 54m, GDP growth of 5.5% and an unexpected large proportion of high net value consumers in the major urban centres”.

He also noted that “many major FMCG brands are visible” on the store shelves and in the markets of the former capital Yangon, yet these “have yet to truly take hold due to a lack of consumer connection, distribution and marketing support,” said Matthaes.

Myanmar had faced tough economic sanctions for more than two decades after the ruling military junta refused to honour the results of democratic elections held in 1990. General elections took place under a new constitution in 2010 and since then the country has embarked on a series of reforms which led to last month’s easing of sanctions.

@RESEARCH LIVE

3 Comments

12 years ago

Ipsos is there too. I guess that all of the big players will now be moving in to service their MNC clients.The question will be about the quality of what they produce. How easy is it for companies that don't know the country to get good consumer insights? http://youtu.be/X4mRNlqMHn4

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12 years ago

If you were first you had to be there before 1994 because we carried out many studies for Global clients in Rangoon. Jan Standaart had an office in Myanmar in the mid 90's working for many global clients especially cigarettes. So you clearly werent't the first by a long shot. Please do your homework in furture!

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12 years ago

Chris, I don't see where in this article Tarran makes the claim that TNS was the first company to operate in Myanmar. It only states TNS won "its" first client engagement. If I were Mr. Tarran, I'd be awaiting your apology.

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