A man and a woman above the noise of downtown Yangon on public street phones.

MALAYSIAN telecommunications giant Merchantrade Asia Sdn. Bhd. has made a proposal to the Myanmar Government to invest in the country’s telecommunications sector by setting up 6000 call shops throughout the country, the company announced last week.

“We are under negotiation with Myanma Post and Tele-communication to set up call shops around Myanmar,” Merchantrade Asia Sdn Bhd spokesman Ravi Vamathevan said at a meeting between the Kuala Lumpur & Selangor Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, on January 24 at Traders Hotel, Yangon.

The Malaysian company’s business plan, if approved, would result in smoother telecommunication services across the country, Mr Vamathevan said.

The company would set up 2000 call shops in Yangon and another 1000 call shops each in four other Myanmar commercial centres – Mandalay, Magway, Hakha in Chin State and Tamu, on the India-Myanmar border.

International direct dial and domestic call services would be available within the price-range of average Myanmar citizens, Mr Vamathevan said. The call shops would be established in cyber cafés, shopping malls, supermarkets and bus and train stations.

Mr Ravi Vamathevan said that Merchantrade Asia has already set up analogous call shops in Thailand, Bangladesh and Nepal, as well as Malaysia where it has more than 5000 call shops offering connections to more than 220 countries.

In Malaysia, the company also offers a prepay service on home phone lines through a direct loading system.

It was a service many Myanmar abroad were already familiar with, Mr Vamathevan said.

“Thirty-five per cent of Myanmar workers in Malaysia are now using call cards arranged by Merchantrade Asia to communicate within and outside Malaysia,” he said.