Addressing a group of Indian journalists that visited Myanmar and Laos, as part of the Asean media exchange programme, director general of directorate of trade, ministry of commerce, Colonel Khin Maung Lay said his country wanted to reduce barriers between India and Asean countries, and wanted the Bimstec agreement to act as a bridge. India is presently a summit level partner of Asean and is working on a free trade agreement (FTA) with the Asean countries.

The early harvest programme under FTA had to be dropped because of disagreement on the rules of origin (ROO). ROO is an important part of any bilateral trade agreement as it determines how much local content a product should have to qualify as an original product of the member country.

Yangon has also supported India’s bid for a permanent seat in the UN security council. According to official sources, Myanmar favoured India over Japan and Brazil since it was its closest neighbour.

Since India is Myanmar’s major trading partner and trade between the two countries was increasing rapidly, Col Khin Maung Lay said it was imperative to find ways and means to increase the economic co-operation.

Apart from traditional items like rice, beans and pulses, Myanmar is searching for new areas of co-operation in the areas of information and communication technology (ICT), energy, small & medium enterprises and industrial products.

Trade between the two countries currently stands at $ 470 million with trade balance in Myanmar’s favour. The two governments have decided to increase trade to $ 1 billion in the next couple of years.

A joint task force comprising leading industry members from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI), constituted in February 2004, have come up with a number of recommendations to enhance bilateral trade, border trade, bilateral investments, technology transfer and co-operation in services.

According to UMFCCI secretary general U Sein Win Hlaing, the two countries should earnestly try to identify key areas for co-operation and efforts should be made to improve border trade.

India ranks 21st as far as foreign investment in Myanmar was concerned and occupies 8.4% share in the total trade volume, he said. Tourism is another area which the Myanmar wants to focus on. Information minister Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan said the two regions should be promoted in such a way that tourists visiting India also visit Myanmar and vice-versa.

Indian ambassador to Myanmar RK Bhatia said since the country had supported India’s growing relations with Asean, it was viewed as an important partner by New Delhi.