Quasi‐legal commerce in southeast asia: Evidence from myanmar

The historical absence of formal political borders in the mainland Southeast Asian region, combined with the nature of the geography, mean that unofficial and illegal forms of crossborder movement and economic activities are pervasive and significant throughout the region. This is particularly true in Myanmar (formerly Burma), where pressure on international firms to comply with a boycott of the country, togeth‐er with the covert activities of the government conspire to make border trade a viable form of international business. Although illegal trade such as smuggling is perhaps a universal feature of international economic activities, what is more interesting is the phenomenon of quasi‐legal trade, which includes such activities as parallel importing and reimporting, and advertising by proxy. In many cases, there is evidence that multinational firms collude with distributors, quasi‐legal importers, and government officials to enable the continuation of the marketing of their brands within a country in which this would otherwise be prohibited. This article reports on research conduct‐ed in Myanmar during 1997 and 1998 concerning this issue. The study included a wide‐ranging program of qualitative research with in‐depth interviews of leading overseas executives, intermediaries, and government officials. This research in Myanmar is unique, and it was conducted under considerable difficulties and extreme need for security and provision of confidentiality. In describing the role of multinational companies and others in pursuing quasi‐legal border trade, the article makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the business environment in Myanmar and, more generally, in Southeast Asia. The wider implications of this for international marketing are also described. 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.