Myanmar crisis: leave or stay? Taiwan, Hong Kong expats among the foreigners counting the cost of doing business

Foreign investors face pressure to suspend business with the junta while expat workers have left due to post-coup instability, including cash shortages

Animosity towards Beijing in Myanmar has boiled over, leaving many Chinese nationals anxious that they will be targeted further after a spate of arson attacks on manufacturing plants

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Demonstrators march during a protest in Mandalay. Business activity in Myanmar has plummeted since the coup. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 12:30pm, 11 Apr 2021Updated: 9:48pm, 4 Jun 2021

Taiwanese entrepreneur Andy Chen and his family have packed their belongings to leave Myanmar. The 35-year-old first visited the country in 2013 as a volunteer and now owns an engineering service firm, but life in Yangon has become too difficult since the military deposed Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government on February 1.

In the early weeks of the protests, Chen took photographs from his flat and posted videos on Facebook but he stopped after security forces began firing into people’s homes and conducting raids. The unrest has persuaded Chen to leave, a decision he describes as “sorrowful”.

“The firm will be operated at minimal cost, with [day-to-day operations] entrusted to two staff,” he said.

His firm employs 15 staff but most have requested unpaid leave because they dare not commute to the office. He has continued to pay them a basic salary because the money could be “life-saving”, he said.

Chen left his native Taiwan in 2015 after quitting his job and turning down an offer to study abroad on a generous scholarship. He initially doubted his decision, but his firm thrived after taking on a series of projects, including sales of household appliances, construction of factories and building infrastructure in industrial estates.

Chen befriended more locals and his Taiwanese wife joined him in Myanmar. Their two children learned to speak Burmese from their nanny and kindergarten classmates. Even during last year’s Covid-19 pandemic, business remained relatively stable: an initial dip was followed by a boom when many of Chen’s competitors decided to leave the country.