17-18 Nov, 2016 - Yangon, MYANMAR
PARKROYAL Yangon
PARKROYAL Yangon
Myanmar’s growing demand for bottle water has given rise to a number of unlicensed operators that produce bottle water that is of questionable standards.
According to data from the 2014 census, as much as a third of Myanmar’s towns and city dwellers drink bottled water. Mostly due to poor quality of urban water supply systems.
After a nationwide survey conducted by Ministry of Health’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA), some 750 brands of bottled water were approved while 73 (close to 10 percent) brands were found to be lacking in quality, or being unregistered with the FDA. The FDA subsequently released a list of these banned brands and their production locations. These unregistered brands cannot guarantee hygiene as they might be using tap water.
To meet the demand of the locals, many small scale purification facilities have come up in Myanmar. It is quite easy to set up such a facility and some of the them are located in residential complexes. These small-scale facilities produce almost fifty to hundred 20-litre bottles per day. It has become a mammoth task for FDA to curb the growth of these facilities. Even if the FDA bans a particular unregistered brand, they quickly change the name and come up with a different brand name.
In just one instance when the FDA, staff of Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) and the police conducted surprise checks at facilities in Yangon in February, as many as 13 failed to meet hygiene standards.
What does it mean for global bottled water brands entering the Myanmar Market? What happens to the vast number of PET bottles used by these small-scale facilities? Is there a way to integrate them to the PET value chain and raise the hygiene standard for bottled water?
6th PET Asia Outlook on 17-18 November, 2016 in Yangon discusses more about the country’s demand for bottled water.
Email Ms. Hafizah at hafizah@cmtsp.com.sg or call (65) 6346 9218 for more information on the event.
