Interview: Myanmar looks forward to further developing agricultural trade with China: official

Myanmar looks forwards to further developing agricultural trade with China, which in turn would further benefit the agriculture and farmers of the Southeast Asian nation, a senior agriculture official told Xinhua in a recent interview.

It will be a great help to the farmers if more agricultural products can be exported to China -- our largest trade partner, said Ye Tint Tun, director general of Agriculture Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation.

Myanmar earned over 3.3 billion U.S. dollars from agricultural exports in the first 10 months of the present fiscal year 2019-2020 which started in October, accounting for 22 percent of the total exports, according to figures released by the commerce ministry.

As the agricultural sector plays a very important role in Myanmar, which accounts for more than 20 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), the government has attached great importance to its development and valued the cooperation with other countries including China.

The existing cooperation between Myanmar and China in agriculture under the framework of Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) has proven to be helpful to Myanmar as the LMC Special Fund has continued to support agricultural projects in the country for the past three years, said Ye Tint Tun.

Those projects supported by the LMC Special Fund have helped advance the productivity and quality of fruits, vegetables and other agricultural products and thus brought the benefit to local farmers, he said.

"We find the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation quite effective and it is appreciable to see that the cooperation has a direct impact on farmers," said the official.

He believed that Lancang-Mekong countries including Myanmar will maintain a sustainable agricultural system and the production capacity of agricultural products will be strengthened under the LMC framework.

Myanmar appreciates the assistance from the LMC and hopes the LMC leaders' meeting will include programs which can create a good market for local agricultural products of regional countries and provide more technical assistance, said Ye Tint Tun.

With accelerating efforts in developing agriculture, Myanmar has made progress in ensuring food safety in the local market while boosting market opportunities abroad, as well as promoting agricultural mechanization.

As Myanmar and China enjoy "Paukphaw" (fraternal) friendship, Myanmar is willing to have more cooperation with China in agriculture and will appreciate more assistance extended by its neighboring nation, said Ye Tint Tun.