Myanmar film director Zin Yaw Maung Maung (R) inspects a Daewoo DVD player at the new showroom for the South Korea giant in downtown Yangon, August 25. Pic: Aye Zaw Myo

SOUTH Korea’s Daewoo International Corp. formally returned to Myanmar’s consumer electronics market on August 25 with the opening of a Yangon showroom, almost a decade after the company pulled out due to financial woes.

Daewoo has partnered with local electronics retail chain OK Myanmar to distribute its home appliances, including televisions, DVD players, refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners.

OK Myanmar managing director U Kyaw Kyaw Hlaing said a Korean Daewoo representative who had been involved in the company’s Myanmar sales in the 1990s contacted OK Myanmar last year to discuss reintroducing the brand to the country.

“In June 2006, we started selling Daewoo air conditioners again. Within a short period, we had strong demand from our dealers,” he said.

Hoping to build upon the good reputation U Kyaw Kyaw Hlaing said Daewoo had retained from the 1990s, it was decided to open a dedicated showroom in Yangon.

The outlet on Bo Aung Kyaw Street in Kyauktada township is currently the sole authorised sales centre for Daewoo electronics, although similar shops are planned for Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw, U Kyaw Kyaw Hlaing said.

“There is high demand for Daewoo products due to their previous success here. So we’re hoping for strong sales within a short period,” he added.

Daewoo International is a former trading unit of the now-defunct Daewoo Group, which collapsed due to corporate corruption and massive debt following the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Daewoo stopped exporting consumer electronics to Myanmar in 1998.