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Burmese delegation in Northeast India
March 3, 2007: A delegation of Burmese officials and traders are visiting Northeast India. The 31 member delegation has arrived in Manipur on February 28 and later visited Assam, another important northeastern state of India. They suppose to visit Mizoram and also the Indo-Burma border point at Rih-Saiha in the coming days.
Meanwhile, the team has series of discussions with different organizations in the region including the Industries Trade Fair Association of Assam (ITFAA), All Assam Students' Union and Asom Unnati Sabha.
During their visit, the team will study different perspectives of the famous tea industry of Assam. Moreover, they are interested for discussions in other sectors like herbal medicines, timber, textiles and fish farming too.
"We are keen on importing the best of tea technology available in Assam to boost production of the beverage in our country. We are already in touch with the Indian tea industry to help us in producing more tea and also improving quality," said Thung Kyaw, Burma 's deputy director for border trades.
Besides Thung Kyaw, the delegation comprises of Aung Min, Burmese director of livestock breeding and fisheries, Tha Ra, deputy general manager of Myanmar Economic Bank with others from different trade bodies.
"The visit was primarily aimed by the Burmese government for improvement of bilateral trades between Burma and Northeast (in particular)," added Thung Kyaw.
Of course, the team was too shy to speak to media persons. When asked about their reaction regarding the increase of aid to Burma by New Delhi this year up to 18 Million USD, nobody showed interest to express his views, only saying that 'it was a high level thing'.
The local trade fair association has however appreciated the initiative of Burmese team to visit Northeast and expressed optimism in enhancing the bilateral trade ties.
"We are organizing few interactive sessions with the visiting Burmese delegation in Guwahati," said Rajesh Das, an office bearer of the Industries Trade Fair Association of Assam.
It may be mentioned that India and Burma have already set a $1 Billion bilateral trade target in 2006-07. Moreover, India has been ranked as the second-most important market for Burmese exports.
The principal exports from Burma to India comprises of rice, fish and prawns, timber, plywood, maize, pulses, beans etc. On the other hand, India 's primary exports to Burma includes dairy products, textile yarn, pharmaceutical products, fertilizer, machinery and apparatus.
Sources: NARINJARA