Myanmar has made it onto Forbes Magazine’s “30 Under 30 Asia” list for the second year consecutively. Ms. Chan Myae Khine, founder and CEO of Amara Digital Marketing Agency, is listed as one of the honorees for Media, Marketing & Advertising category this year. Ms. Chan’s Forbes profile says the following: “Khine is responsible for the first ever digital marketing agency in Myanmar, which is also completely self-funded. Amara manages digital marketing projects for local and international clients. International hotel chain operator AccorHotels plans to expand its base by opening five new hotels in Myanmar by the year 2019. In order to re-brand an existing hotel apartment into a Mercure in Myanmar, the company has signed a management contract with SC Capital Partners Group. The management contract will make it possible to rebrand the seven-story Micasa Hotel Apartments Yangon to Mercure Yangon Kaba Aye by July 2017. The new Mercure is located in close proximity to the famous Shwedagon Golden Pagoda. It offers 143 apartments and 40 deluxe rooms to its customers. As per company’s Chief Operating Officer (CEO) Mr. Patrick Basset, the company is opening five new properties by the year 2019 as a part of the larger strategy to expand its footprint in Myanmar. A press release issued by AccorHotels stated that presently there are five of its hotels operating in Myanmar. These hotels include, The Lake Garden Nay Pyi Taw, MGallery by Sofitel, Novotel Yangon Max, Novotel Inle Lake Myat Min, and ibis Styles Yangon Stadium. In 2016, Amara’s revenue grew by 400 percent to reach US $ 200,000. It has served clients such as Nok Air, VietJet, Singapore Tourism Board, Cherry Mobile, Oppo, and the Singapore Institute of Management.”

Ms. Chan opened her marketing firm Amara in partnership with her husband Mr. Kyaw Myo Khine. Previously she studied at Yangon University of Foreign Languages and National University of Singapore and then she started working in Singapore in both IT related and marketing roles. In relation to being included in this prestigious list, Ms. Chan said: “Comparing to other honorees from different countries in this year’s list, my achievement is next to nothing. Yet, I am grateful for getting featured while leading an independent agency fully owned by locals. As Forbes looks at company’s results rather than individual’s achievements, this recognition is mainly the result of my colleagues. I would love to see more Burmese making to the list under various categories in upcoming years.”