India aimed at bilateral trade with Burma holding SME exhibition in Burma in January 2007

Iftekhar Ahmed
Narinjara News: 11 Septebmer, 2006

India to boost bilateral trade and cooperation in investment and banking sectors has been coordinating with Burma to hold a small and medium entrepreneurs (SME) exhibition in Burma in the last week of January 2007.

The exhibition will be the 2nd Indian event in Rangoon after the Confederation of Indian Industry held a "Made in India" industrial show in February 2004, in which iron and steel products, construction materials, medicine and medical equipment, cosmetics, garment, handicraft, leather ware, farming equipment, electronic products and kitchen ware were displayed.

Visiting business delegation of the Indo-Myanmar Chambers of Commerce and Industry has discussed about the plan of sponsoring the 2007 SME Exhibition in Burma with its Burmese counterpart on Thursday.

During the past few years relations between Burma and India have been growing with cooperation in all sectors, particularly in those of trade and economy, setting a target for their bilateral trade to attain 1 billion US dollars by 2006.

India stands as Burma's 4th largest trading partner after Thailand, China and Singapore, and also Burma's second largest export market after Thailand, absorbing 25 per cent of its total exports.

Burma-India bilateral trade, including the border trade, amounted to 557.68 million dollars in the fiscal year 2005-06 which ended in March, up 24 per cent from 2004-05, according to official statistics.

Of the total, the border trade accounted for 15.76 million dollars. The Burma-India border trade for the first quarter of 2006-07 (April-June) amounted to 2.91 million dollars.

Burma-India border trade started in 1994 and so far there are two border trade points set up on the Burma side-Tamu (opposite to India's Moreh) and Reedkhandhar ( linking India's Zokhawthar).

It is expected that a border trade zone in Tamu will be established in the future as part of Burma's plan of setting up such zones with neighboring countries in the process of transformation of its border trade system at all trade points into normal one following the emergence of such zones in Muse with China in April this year.