Business and Cultural Specifics of Burma

The aim of my bachelor thesis is to outline the process of business negotiation in Burma, business etiquette and cultural specifics of the country and also to verify the hypothesis that they are so different from our practices as to prevent citizens of the Czech Republic and Burma from communicating and doing business with each other, or that they distinctively complicate these matters. The paper should serve as a comprehensive guide for future investors, entrepreneurs, business representatives and other people, who want to learn something more about this country. The body of the thesis is divided into four chapters, whereas the introductory chapter provides basic characteristics of the country such as history, geography, demography, administrative division of the country and the current political situation. The second chapter is focused on the economic stuation and business relations between Burma and the Czech Republic with an emphasis on basic conditions of the use of Czech products in the local marketplace. The third chapter is an analysis of business practices and etiquette, and the last chapter concentrates on specific features of Burmese culture, whose knowledge constitutes a basic prerequisite for misunderstanding the nature of the local population and establishment of successful business relations. The paper is based on Czech and foreign books and internet resources, statistics made by international organizations,observations of guide Radka Tkáčiková, personal experience of foreign business representatives operating in Burma and information provided by Ing. Ivan Chválny from the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Bangkok.