Myanmar Trade: Missing Targets

Myanmar might not be able to hit trade targets this fiscal year as exports plummet, the Ministry of Commerce said.  

The country set a 29.9 billion US dollars trade target for this fiscal year. From April last year to February this year, Myanmar’s total trade reached 24.1 billion US dollars— over 870 million less than the same period last year.  

Exports are down by 735 million US dollars. Imports are more stable but still declined by about 74 million USD.  

Director of the Department of Trade Promotion of the Ministry of Commerce, U Win Myint, said that unstable currency exchange, labor issues and changes in the political transition period are the reasons of this decline. 

Director , Department of Trade Promotion, Win Myint: We can say that we only were able to achieve 75% of export target and 86% in imports. According to this data, as there is only a remaining month, we will try to export as much as we can. I think this happened because of the unstable currency exchange rate during the export period, labor issues, as well as the changes in [political] transition period. 

The main sectors that suffered most from export decline are agriculture, minerals, and industrial products. U Win Myint added quality control as another reason as to why exports remain low. 

The Ministry will try to boost trade by focusing on old markets and penetrating new ones, U Win Myint said.