By Zaw Win Than
A SENIOR rice industry official has called
for greater encouragement of foreign investment in the agriculture sector in a
bid to spur national development.
U Ye Min Aung, secretary general of Myanmar
Rice Industry Association (MRIA), said agricultural development should be
prioritised over industrial development as the sector employs about two-thirds
of Myanmar’s workforce.
“Agriculture is very important [but] our
rural infrastructure is very, very weak. Our previous government did not pay
much attention to rural infrastructure but our present government has
highlighted significance of rural infrastructure and of course the interests of
farmers, who make up nearly 70 percent of our population,” he said at a
roundtable program in Malaysia earlier this month.
“We should promote investment in the
agricultural sector. For the time being most of the investment coming into
Myanmar is resources based, mainly in oil and gas and hydropower. I think we
have less than 1pc of foreign direct investment in the agricultural sector,” he
said.
Agriculture contributes 35pc of gross
domestic product, employs 66pc of the workforce and has strong potential to
support poverty alleviation because 70pc of the country’s population live in
rural areas, he said. Of Myanmar’s 43,239 registered private enterprises, food
companies make up 35,827, predominantly rice mills, bean processing mills and
oil mills, he said, adding that most of these were small family-run operations.
“Myanmar can be considered one of the main
food sources for ASEAN … If we can exploit our potential in the agriculture
sector, we can successfully set up agro-based industry,” said U Ye Min Aung,
who is also a central executive committee member of the Union of Myanmar
Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
“[There’s] no need to [prioritise
industrialisation] in the short term because industrialisation requires a lot
of investment, technology transfer and time to set up. So we have a lot of
potential in agriculture and agro-based sectors and we need to utilise and
optimise [this potential],” he said.
Other speakers at the one-day program
included Dr Bridget Welsh, an associate professor of political science from
Singapore Management University, U Ko Ko Lay, a deputy director in the Ministry
of Commerce, Dr Tin Htut, rector of Yezin Agricultural University and U Than
Htut, a director of Eden Group of Companies.
Titled “Understand the changes, realising the
opportunities”, the July 9 event was held in Kuala Lumpur and organised by
Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia to highlight recent
political, economic and business developments in Myanmar, touching on current
trends and future directions as well as challenges and responses.
The event had a strong economic focus, with U
Ko Ko Lay, deputy director of the Directorate of Trade’s International Trade
Promotion Department, touting Myanmar as “a virgin land with abundant natural
resources, highly literate population and huge workable labour force”.
“The [foreign] investment law will be amended
and more reform measures will continuously take place in the future to build a
democratic country. We also hope to receive all kinds of assistance, in all
possible ways, such as financial assistance, technology transfer and technical
assistance and capacity building activities to enable … the development of the
country,” he said.
ISIS Malaysia chief executive Dr Mahani
Zainal Abidin said recent developments in Myanmar had been “very much welcomed”
by regional and international observers.
“The president has also announced the ‘second
wave’ of reform and democratic processes further. The international communities
have responded quickly,” she said, adding that the business community had
“reacted equally fast”.
“Consequently, Myanmar is now on the radar
screen of many governments and businesses,” she said.
U Ye Min Aung said that while Myanmar was
“moving towards broader economic reforms and liberalisation” it needed more
international support.
“We have no option but to develop our
capacity and capability,” he said. “If we fail to do so we will become even
more neglected and marginalised than we are at present.
“Myanmar has not yet entered the community of
vibrant business environments in ASEAN, but there is much potential and
opportunities for us to join the club of wealthy ASEAN nations before too
long.”
Original article here
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