Bangladesh is planning to purchase 100,000 tonnes of Myanmar rice under a government-to-government agreement.
“We will negotiate the price in the coming days. The rice will be exported via a maritime route if an agreement is reached between the two sides,” said U Aung Myint, secretary of Rice and Paddy Traders Association.
“As Bangladesh is going for a government-to-government agreement rather than calling for a tender, the deal is likely to be reached. In the case of a tender, they will purchase from us only if we win. If the negotiations go well in the coming days, we can start exporting in February. The last time Bangladesh purchased rice from us was three years ago. They haven’t purchased since,” he said. The move also comes after local traders submitted a request to the Rakhine State government to resume border trade between Bangladesh and Myanmar, which has been halted for over eight months as part of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Myanmar rice is being exported to 65 countries via maritime and border trade routes.
At present, Malaysia has offered to buy 15,000 tonnes of rice from Myanmar and the Philippines is also making inquiries to do so.
U Aung Myint said there is a high demand for Myanmar rice and broken rice due to China’s domestic consumption. There has been increasing demand from China compared to the previous year, he said, adding that the rice is exported to China via the Muse border gate. Statistics from the Ministry of Commerce showed that Myanmar generated over $190 million from rice and broken rice exports from October 1 to December 18 in the 2020-21 fiscal year.
The General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China issued licenses to 43 Myanmar companies on July 10, enabling them to export rice to the country. The Myanmar Rice Federation, however, expects the export volume of rice to decline in 2021 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. – Translated
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Source: Myanmar Times
