June 18: Thailand‘s Ministry of Commerce has proposed a plan to establish export wholesale markets along the Thailand-Myanmar border and in several inland trading towns, said an official from the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry. 

The proposal was made by the External Trade Department of Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce at a business seminar on June 15, which was held at the headquarters of the Myanmar Ministry of Commerce. 

 

The new markets will speed up bilateral trade and increase Thai investment in Myanmar, said the UMFCCI official. 

 

“Border trade between Thailand and Myanmar is important, as it accounts for about 70 per cent of the total bilateral trade volume between the two countries,” he said. 

 

The new export wholesale markets will help increase exports of Myanmar commodities to regional markets in the CLTV countries – Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam – said the official. 

 

A feasibility study on the implementation of the markets is expected to be conducted in the border region in the near future, he said. 

 

The study will take about nine months, and will be conducted by a consultancy agency (to be hired by Thailand‘s Ministry of Commerce) along with Myanmar‘s Ministry of Commerce and the UMFCCI, said the official. 

 

A Technical Consultancy Committee will be established by the two countries’ commerce ministries and will include experts and experienced exporters from the agricultural, trading and industrial sectors, as well as experienced architects and engineers to build the markets. 

 

The project will be implemented in 10 towns in Myanmar – including Mandalay, Myawaddy, Myeik, Kawthaung and Tachileik – and six towns in Thailand, including Chiang Mai and Kanchanaburi. 

 

Total trade volume between Myanmar and Thailand in 2004 was more than US$1.9 billion, and Myanmar enjoys a $715 million trade surplus with Thailand, according to official figures. 

 

From 2003 to 2004 the volume of goods imported by Thailand from Myanmar increased by 40.39 per cent to $1.34 billion, while exports from Thailand to Myanmar increased 33.77 per cent to $624 million in the same period.