OCTOBER especially since foreign companies are venturing
OCTOBER 2017 SEMESTER School of Business & Accountancy (Diploma in Accountancy) Syazana Bte Sazali (S10138608B) INTERNSHIP FINAL REPORT Content Page Page(s) 1.
Introduction 2. Key challenge facing the banking profession in Myanmar 2.1 Central Bank of Myanmar’s (CBM) weak regulation system 2.2 Impact and implications of CBM’s weak regulation system 3. One issue related to Yoma Bank 3.1 Employee Benefits 4.
Personal reflections and career development plan 4.1 Reflection of internship experience at Yoma Bank 4.2 Personal development plan (and career path) 5. Conclusion 6. Appendices 7. References 1. IntroductionThe purpose of this final report is tosummarise my experience, learning points and observations from my internship inYoma Bank. This report will first touch on how Central Bank of Myanmar’s (CBM)weak regulation system affects the banking profession in Myanmar, justificationas to why CBM’s unsound system is the key challenge and the impact andimplications the system brings.
I will then review how the employeebenefit offered by Yoma Bank (YB) is one issue which caught my attention. Iwill also recommend what YB could do to improve their employee benefit packagesin order to retain employees and stay competitive especially since foreigncompanies are venturing in Myanmar. The recommendations will take into accountthe benefits and measurable costs.Next, I will focus on my personalreflection on my learning experience during my course of internship at YomaBank by mainly reflecting how the tasks assigned to me have helped me attainednew knowledge and also enabling me to apply theories and knowledge that Igained from school, into real working life setting. Throughout my experienceinterning at Yoma Bank, one specific NP Core Values that I have observedhappening more than frequent would be “Respect”. The locals take this valueseriously and even made it their way of life.Lastly, I will conclude the reportwith a summary of the entire report, covering the main points – CBM’s unsoundsystem as a key challenge for the banking profession in Myanmar, YB’s employeebenefits as one issue identified and my personal reflection on my internshipexperience and what my future goals are and my plans to achieve them, followedby closing statements for each point.
2. Keychallenge facing the banking profession in Myanmar2.1 CBM’s weak regulatory systemIn my opinion, the key challengefacing the banking profession in Myanmar is CBM’s unsound system. Myanmar onlystarted opening its doors for economic liberalization beginning 2011, followingthe election of the new government. The Central Bank of Myanmar Law was enactedon 2nd July 1990 but CBM was forced to become independent, prior tothe formation of the new government in 2011, to lay down policies independentlyso as to control price stability in the domestic market and to preserve thevalue of the Myanmar currency, externally and internally. The law enacting CBMcontains more than 100 sections empowering CBM to supervise and monitor banksand financial institutions. After 50 years of being under military rule, comingout as independent would be a challenge for CBM. According to a consultant fromAsia Green Development Bank, the independence of CBM is the most importantfactor in the nation’s finance sector.
Whether a nation’s finance sector ismature or not, depends entirely on how independent the central bank is. With the weak regulatory system, CBMneeds to go through a strong regulatory reform process. After all the yearsliving behind closed doors and finally coming out, CBM lacks behind in technologyand human resources. Developing its data infrastructure is one way to aid itsweakness in technology. Even with its weak infrastructure, CBM intends totransform the country into a digitally empowered society. The people of Myanmarhave always been accustomed to dealing every transaction with cash, hence, Myanmar’stransition into a more cashless and digital society could take some time. Accordingto an online press posted by Grab – Southeast Asia’s leading ride-hailing platform(2017), with less than ten percent of the Burmese population have a bank accountand an even lower percentage embracing the debit and credit card, Myanmar dominatesa cash-based environment as cash has always been the default mode of payment forthe people to pay for any goods or services, including transportation.
Myanmar has become one of the world’s fastestgrowing markets for mobile phone users – from less than ten percent penetrationat the end of 2013 to about 74 percent by the middle of 2016. Of the 74 percentin 2016, 80 percent are smartphone users. Myanmar’s rapid embrace of the smartphonesacts as a catalyst for FinTech, but it brings pressure on banks and the authoritiesas due to the provision of access and the demand which drives the change, banksand authorities need to advance faster to bring FinTech services to the public.Banks’ practice of checking on clients and transactions to ensure they are not dealingwith known criminals and money laundering activities is the grey area of FinTechsas they are less capable of carrying out such activities and possibly, less worriedof those activities as the transaction levels are generally small. However, CBMwill need to reconsider all such threats and take them seriously in a promisingdesire to become a more dynamic financial system.Secondly, CBM lacks competitive humanresources. Most of the locals study and/or live abroad 2.2 Impact & implications of CBM’s weaksystemThere wouldneed to be proper preparation for the depreciation of Myanmar currency (kyats)against the US dollar.
As the market is still emerging, Hence, CBM needs to setproper and prudent regulations and undertake necessary reforms boldly andrapidly.3. Oneissue related to the company3.1 Employee benefits4. Personalreflection & career development plan4.1 Reflection of internship experience atYoma BankMy internshipat YB has been a productive and enriching experience. Initially, I wasreceptive towards doing my intern in the banking sector because I had minimalbanking knowledge.
However, knowing that Myanmar is an emerging country had methinking that this could not be more perfect as I was able to grow alongside adeveloping market. As an intern with little banking knowledge, I was hoping togain more than just the basics. My colleagues were always more than happy toguide me or help me when I need clarifications.I was notinvolved in any hands-on engagements but I was able to learn a lot of technicalknowledge just by doing the tasks assigned to me. By the end of my internshipperiod, I drafted ten different application manuals (some applications arecombined into one manual) and out of the ten, only one needed more work done bysomeone else other than myself. On an average, I needed at least five workingdays to complete a simple manual and at least twice as long for a more complexmanual.
This includes editing and beautifying the manual so it is easy for thereaders to follow. By the time I got done with each manual, I was able to dothe work without referring to the manual because in order for me to draft outthose manuals, I had to first understand each steps taken. Hence, whiledrafting each manual, I never fail to have questions to clarify. I have alwaysbeen afraid to ask questions in classes in front of so many people sometimes,but being in a working environment, I was able to overcome this fear.
Askingquestions can feel a little scary and makes me feel intimidated, yetquestioning helps me to learn more than I would already know. I would also seeother staffs learning certain procedures from each other. One thing I can vouchis that the locals practice the act of respect and treats it as a basicetiquette in their culture. Whenever they need to call someone out for help or evencasual talks, they would address the person “Ma” (most commonly used forfemales) or “Ko” (most commonly used for males). It is somehow similar to howwe address “Mr.
” and “Ms”. They used these terms even at workplace as theBurmese language is highly age-oriented and the terms of address reflectsrelatively the age, seniority and respect. 4.2Personal development plan (and career path)5. ConclusionTotal word count in report (excludingcontent page, acknowledgement, appendices & references): 3,500 words6. Appendices7. ReferencesC.
Yukate.(2014, Apr 29). Getting to Know theCentral Bank of Myanmar. Retrieved on 23 Jan 2018, from https://www.
mmbiztoday.com/articles/getting-know-central-bank-myanmarCentral Bankof Myanmar. (2015). Background History ofCentral Bank of Myanmar. Retrieved on 23 Jan 2018, from http://www.cbm.gov.
mm/content/background-history-central-bank-myanmar-0 Global NewLight of Myanmar. (2017, Aug 30). StrengtheningMyanmar’s banking sector is key to economic growth.
Retrieved on 23 Jan2018, from http://www.globalnewlightofmyanmar.com/strengthening-myanmars-banking-sector-is-key-to-economic-growth/Grab. (2017, Jun29). Wave Money and Grab Partner to ProvideConvenient Financial Payment System for Grab Drivers and Users. Retrieved on24 Jan 2018, from https://www.
grab.com/mm/press/business/wave-money-grab-partner-provide-convenient-financial-payment-system-grab-drivers-users/Hays, J.(2014, May). CUSTOMS, MANNERS ANDETIQUETTE IN MYANMAR. Retrieved on 23 Jan 2018, from http://factsanddetails.
com/southeast-asia/Myanmar/sub5_5c/entry-3040.htmlJanssen, P. (2016,Jul 20). Banking on FinTech fervour. Retrievedon 24 Jan 2018, from https://frontiermyanmar.net/en/banking-on-fintech-fervourThiha. (2016,Nov 29).
Myanmar Banks ‘Facing Five KeyChallenges’. Retrieved on 18 Jan 2018, from https://consult-myanmar.com/2016/11/29/myanmar-banks-facing-five-key-challenges/
