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Malaria was once the biggest killer of mankind and remains an entrenched global

health challenge. The threat from the mosquito-borne infectious disease has also risen dramatically with the recent emergence of drug-resistant strains in the Greater Mekong sub-region.

Between 2000 and 2015 the world made remarkable progress in reducing malaria,

with the number of those affected down by 37 per cent and deaths by 62 per cent.

In Thailand, the improvement was even better, with the number of malaria sufferers down 65 per cent from 2010 to 2016.

Thirty-five Thai provinces were recently declared malaria-free, moving the country nearer to its national malaria elimination target of 2025.

But global progress is stalling. According to a 2017 report, worldwide malaria cases in 2016 were estimated at 216 million, up five million on the previous year.

Emerging forms of drug-resistant malaria in the Greater Mekong sub-region also threaten a resurgence in malaria-related deaths, which would cause serious social and economic impacts and strain healthcare systems.

“This must be a wake-up call that our previous success is at risk and that the malaria control strategies of the past will not be as effective in the future,” said Dr Benjamin Rolfe, the CEO of APLMA.

”For our country to grow further, we need to create thousands of jobs for our citizens. Job creation entirely depends on investments we receive from local and foreign companies,” he said.

“Foreign investors still have some difficulties investing in Myanmar while local businesses are facing challenges on how to make contact with foreign counterparts. It is still hard for the private sector to ensure proper contacts with foreign investors. That is how we came to realise the urgent need for a medium that can help local businesses and foreign investors get connected.”

With this objective in mind, MIDA was established in early 2015 as a Yangon-based non-profit organisation which aims to create a linkage between the locals and foreigners willing to invest in Myanmar, chiefly in infrastructure and labour-intensive projects.

Focusing on Myanmar’s emerging market and development potential, the organisation aims to provide the latest information and necessary assistance to investors. That would enable them to make important decisions and capitalise on investment opportunities arising out of the nation’s improving political climate.

“We advise foreign companies on various sectors of Myanmar’s economy with high potential for growth,” said Khin Maung Aye.

“We are able to render technical advice to foreign investors as to how to comply with the domestic laws, rules, regulations, notifications, directives and procedures in the most effective and efficient manner,” he said.

“In this regard, we try to connect foreign companies to local professional entities and relevant governmental departments and enterprises. We work closely with a number of government organisations, ministries, the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC), as well as investment committees in all States and regions.”

Led by Cooperative Bank Limited and KMA Group of Companies, the organisation currently has 32 executive board members and more than 80 members representing big private companies and public companies that invest in all areas of Myanmar, but chiefly covering Yangon, Bago, Mandalay, Tanintharyi regions and Shan State.

“We warmly welcome every investor who is willing to join us in lending a helping hand to the government for ensuring more investment flows into the country. But they should be authorised businesses investing in MIC-approved projects,” he said.

Khin Maung Aye sees tremendous investment opportunities in a range of sectors, including agriculture, forestry, oil and gas, mining, infrastructure, and hotels and tourism. However, the opportunities remain underutilised for various reasons, he said.

“Although foreign investors are aware of the government’s strong political will to open up the country and to create a favourable investment climate through preferential policies and various investment incentives, there has been an information gap between potential foreign investors and local enterprises.

“As a result, prospective investors are not in a position to make informed decisions before investing here without first having comprehensive information on economic statistics, policies, laws, rules, regulations, processes, the investment environment, market conditions and demand – as well as existing and planned projects in Myanmar,” he said.

In this regard, MIDA has planned to organise a series of investment forums at home and abroad. Last year, it held a large forum in Nay Pyi Taw, attracting more than 1,000 participants. Over half of them were foreign investors from international companies, including some billionaires who came to Myanmar’s capital on their private jets.

The organisation also held an investment forum in Japan, which attracted top-10 Japanese businesses. It has the MIC chairman’s approval to hold a similar forum in China in late June, to be followed by a forum in India scheduled for November this year after an invite from India’s envoy.

According to Khin Maung Aye, the organisation has also planned to expand high-level investment forums at the regional level, starting with Yangon this week.

The first-ever Yangon Investment Forum is set for May 9 in cooperation with the Yangon Region Investment Committee and foreign partners including GIZ and PWC Co. There, Yangon chief minister Phyo Min Thein is set to unveil the region’s investment strategies.

“As the event draws near, we see more and more foreign companies register to attend. It is a very good signal that the international community continues to have an interest in doing business here,” he said.

He said similar forums would be held in Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw later this year.

“We have yet to inform the regional governments of our plan [to organise the forums]. But we believe the authorities will allow us to make it happen,” he said.

He considers Yangon, Bago and Mandalay regions as well as Shan State as the most promising areas for investment growth.

“We sometimes get new ideas from some investors we meet. For one thing, an investor asked me if we would leave the [Irrawaddy] River alone, without any maintenance and proper use for public benefits. That suggestion helped us come up with an idea to save the [Irrawaddy] and to make good use of it for national economic growth,” he said.

NETH’s main business is in-vehicle embedded software development. It uses Thailand as a base for automotive software development and exports such software to Japan.

Okoshi added that the technical skills of software development engineers in Thailand are comparatively high among countries in the region.

Atsushi Aoki, president of NEXTY Electronics Corporation, NETH’s parent company, said countries in Asia have adequate numbers of very proficient engineers, but he believes Thailand has the advantage of having been involved for several years in in-vehicle software development.

He added that built-in software for automotive use will grow together with improved production engineering. Therefore, if the manufacturing site of the vehicle and the design site of the software are separated, even if huge amounts of money are budgeted it might be difficult to efficiently develop embedded software.

He said that for the past nearly 15 years, Japan and Thailand have grown together, especially in hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles, which utilise embedded software for automobiles.

Aoki said that Japan is now a hub for in-vehicle software development as Japanese vehicle manufacturers have been successful in creating the Blue Ocean by themselves and launched products in the market ahead of competitors, while major software companies in the Asia-Pacific region are developing software for existing markets.

“In addition to that, our Kaizen sprit – the spirit of continuous improvement – is reflected in the business. We believe that makes customers highly satisfied with Japanese-made cars. Therefore it is no surprise that Japan has become a hub for in-vehicle software development as “we have created what the market is seeking”.

When asked how NETH plays a role in helping Thailand achieve the goal of becoming a hub of automotive software development in the Asia Pacific region, Masami Ikura, NETH’s chief technology officer, said: “We are playing a great role in nurturing excellent engineers of tomorrow, by providing them opportunities to get a great deal of experience in our company.

“Those experiences will help them become key players for enhancing their presence in Thailand in the future. To that end, we would spare no effort to provide cooperation for cultivating embedded system engineers in major universities in Thailand,” he added.

He said that in-vehicle software development directly affects the lives of drivers and passengers. Even a small mistake may endanger their safety. Therefore, persistent efforts and strong motivation to produce better things are imperative.

Meanwhile, Okoshi added that various experiments have been conducted to realise autonomous driving in western countries and Japan.

“We will do our best to make autonomous driving possible even in Thailand, so that we can contribute to the country,” he added.

In early April, NETH together with its private and state partners, organised its second annual student meeting on Automotive Embedded System, welcoming university students to show their talents on software development to control autonomous vehicles.

The contest is aimed at stimulating human resource development in automotive software to serve the advent of the “Future Automotive” era. Twelve software teams, selected from universities around the nation, participated.

The winning team was LKB48 from King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, while the first runner-up was Double E team from King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok. The team Antman from King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi was the second runner-up and also received the Good Design Award.

But the thing about leadership is that it has such a broad meaning that it is nearly impossible to pinpoint what exact leadership approach would best suit your people.

The reality is that it is truly impossible to choose just one ideal leadership style. One approach can reach and inspire many, but the same approach might not work at all for others. This is why developing a situational leadership skill set is important.

According to the Ken Blanchard Companies, a model developed by Hersey and Blanchard suggests that situational leadership calls for leaders to use more than one leadership style, matching them to each individual and his or her development level for a task.

But how does a situational leader know the right approach? The situational leader approaches this by building three skills crucial to this leadership style.

The first skill that situational leaders must master is goal setting. The goals must be SMART – specific, motivating, attainable, relevant and trackable. Each element of a “smart” goal is crucial to both the leader and the individual or team. The benefit of developing this skill is to make sure that both the leader and the individual have the same understanding of what the goal is. It clarifies what the individual must achieve, how much and when.

The second skill to develop is diagnosis. As mentioned earlier, situational leaders must be able to diagnose the individual’s development level for the task – their competency and commitment. Competence refers to both the knowledge and skills required, those specific for the task as well as any transferable skills that can be applied. Meanwhile, commitment refers to the confidence and motivation the individual has for the task.

The benefit of the diagnosis skill for the situational leader is to develop their ability to understand their own people better and how they feel about a task or goal. Empathy is such an important aspect in this skill as it allows the leader to deeply understand others.

The third skill, which directly comes after diagnosis, is leadership style matching. After understanding how competent and committed the individual is towards the goal or task, the situational leader will be able to identify what leadership style to use – directing, coaching, supporting and delegating – involving the two varying types of behaviours of being directive and supportive in each style. Directive behaviour refers to structuring, controlling and supervising the task for the individual, while supportive behaviour, on the other hand, refers to listening, praising and facilitating the task for the individual.

The benefit of varying the style of leadership is clear – every individual has different development levels towards different tasks. The situational leader applying different styles will insure that the leader can bring the best out of the individual.

To give you a clearer image, take the example of a coaching leadership style. This leadership style is applied for the individual with little to some competence but low commitment for the task. The situational leader will apply behaviours that are both highly directive and supportive to meet the needs of a person with some level of competence but low commitment.

The benefit for leaders in developing all these skills comes not only from their own positive outcomes, but also from positively affecting one of the most important elements of leadership – your people.

Additionally, you would eventually develop a leadership language that your people would have the opportunity to learn. This increases productivity and motivation as your people would also have better understanding of you, as leader.

Another benefit is having a clear guideline that a model provides. Often times, leaders already know how to lead their people. But leaders, such as newly appointed managers, will have to unlearn and relearn as they’ll have new tasks and new people to manage. The model gives them a foundation to begin their leadership journey.

This is an effective and successfully tested model developed by Hersey and Blanchard that can help leaders with how they can best lead their people. Still, your people are going to develop their own patterns of behaviour. As effective business leaders, the key to becoming a situational leader is flexibility, and only then can your organisation grow.

ARINYA TALERNGSRI is chief capability officer and managing director at SEAC (formerly APMGroup), Southeast Asia’s leading executive, leadership and innovation capability development centre. She can be reached by email at arinya_t@seasiacenter.com or https://www.linkedin.com/in/ arinya-talerngsri-53b81aa