Myanmar needs to produce marketable products which can penetrate local and international markets as the ministry is working to reduce imports and increase exports, said Aung Soe, Permanent Secretary of the Commerce Ministry.
“The supply change is linked to trade. Export is central to trade promotion. We can import any products if we have money. Now the country sees more imports than exports. The ministry is trying to reduce imports by increasing exports. We have the National Export Strategy (NES). Under this strategy, we have designated the priority sectors. We need to strive for the improvement of these sectors. The first priority is supply,” he added.
The next point is market. They are regional market and global market. We need to make the products competitive in both markets. In addition, we also try to meet the desired quality and quantity of products and standards set. So the ministry has laid down the NES, he added.
Myanmar’s most promising sectors put in the NES are paddy, beans and pulses, edible oil crops, marine products, vegetables and fruits. In addition, the industry which produces food stuffs from farm produce are included in the NES.
Currently, Myanmar mainly exports farm, animal, marine, forest, mining, CMP and other products and imports capital goods, industrial raw materials, personal goods and raw materials for CMP industries.
In 2018-19 FY, the total trade value hit nearly 35 billion US dollars—exports of nearly 17 billion US dollars and imports of over 18 billion US dollars.
