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In 2010, a mobile phone Sim card in Myanmar, one of the world’s poorest countries, cost around $2,000. Today, any mobile user can get connected for around $1, and hook up to a network that went from 7% coverage in 2012, to around 90% today, and much of it at least 3G. As local bankers lament, if only banking reform had moved as briskly as the telco industry in the new Myanmar.

SME – small and medium-sized enterprise – lending is hard going in a country like Myanmar. In a cash economy that doesn’t have an industry-credible credit bureau, mortgages, or reliable legal records on property title and ownership for collateral, lending to anyone – let alone taking a bet on a rising entrepreneur – is tricky at best. Then there’s the generously described ‘informal’ market to compete with. Loan sharks who do have collateral have been known to take out loans from licensed banks at state-set rates, and then lend it on at four times their cost of funds. Add a quixotic central bank to the mix, and it’s a brave firm that fashions itself as a SME-only lender, positioning to support the backbone of any fast-emerging economy.

It’s not much of a contest in Myanmar’s CIB space. KBZ outreaches and out-muscles its competitors by some measure here too. Such heft opens doors, and KBZ is the first modern Myanmar bank to venture abroad, with offices in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore to follow Myanmar’s trade routes and diaspora. Beijing and Tokyo will likely be next, then Western financial centres.

Asiamoney’s 30th annual Brokers Poll runs from 3 June to 16 August. We invite senior institutional investors from around the world to assess their sell-side banks and brokerage firms for Asian equities.

Asiamoney’s 28th annual Brokers Poll is scheduled for launch in June 2017. We invite senior institutional investors from around the world to assess their sell-side banks and brokerage firms for Asian equities.

Asiamoney’s 31st annual Brokers Poll runs from 1 June to 7 August. We invite senior institutional investors from around the world to assess their sell-side banks and brokerage firms for Asian equities.

The 28th annual Asiamoney Brokers Poll invited chief investment officers, fund managers and investment analysts to take part. Nearly 6,700 valid responses were received from voters representing fund management houses, insurance companies, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, hedge funds and wealth managers from around the world.