"Being here early is essential for us because we focus on building market fundamentals and capacities,” said Emmanuel Maillard, project manager at Building Market's Yangon office. “We anticipate and prepare for the arrival of international buyers, including INGOs, multilateral and bilateral development organizations and private investors."

The organization said it will hold bi-monthly training sessions in Yangon with a view to maximizing opportunities for local business people, and will also compile a tender database, which will be searchable by Myanmar companies.

"The local market is not organized and is still very small,” said Moung Kee Aung, the Building Market's business matchmaking manager. “Finding goods or services that are cheap and high quality is not that easy. This is why we help organizations reach and connect with more local suppliers."

Building Markets currently has operations across five countries and says it has to date successfully re-directed more than US$1.2 billion into local economies.