India, Myanmar chalk plans for $1 bn trade

Asian News Service: 12May, 2006

NEW DELHI: India and Myanmar have agreed to expand and diversify trade to $1 billion, it was announced on Friday.

The decision was taken at the second meeting of the India-Myanmar Joint Trade Committee (JTC), which concluded here on Thursday night. New Delhi has also sought the opening of another post on the border with Mayanmar.

The meeting was co-chaired by India's Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath and Myanmar's Commerce Minister Tin Naing Thein.

The meeting acknowledged that India ranked as the second most important market for Myanmar exports and the seventh most important source of its imports in 2004-05 itself.

"Today, there is ongoing cooperation in the areas of agriculture, telecommunications, oil and gas sectors and increasing business-to-business interactions in the private sector," said Kamal Nath in his address.

He remarked that although there had been significant increase in bilateral trade to reach over $500 million in 2004-05, this was still short of the target set by the two sides at the first meeting of the JTC held in Yangon in 2003.

On border trade, Kamal Nath raised the issue of opening of the Pangsau Pass as an additional facility for people living along both sides of the border.

"Besides the border trade, the commodities basket also needs to be broadened from the present limited list of 22 commodities," said Kamal Nath.

"Our bilateral border trade agreement inked in 1994 provides framework facilities by which trade is being carried out through the designated border points of Moreh-Tamu and now Zowkhathar-Rhi since January 2004.

We now hope to add another border trading point at Pangsau Pass. " The Indian minister urged the expansion of the list of commodities that could be exchanged under the agreement.

"We need to study the obstacles that stand in the way of bilateral trade, whether they relate to banking, transport or other infrastructure related problems. The JTC should look into this," Kamal Nath said.

Both ministers emphasised the natural complementarities of the two economies and noted that after Myanmar's entry into the ASEAN and BIMST-EC, new avenues had opened for greater cooperation on a bilateral and regional/multilateral basis.