Myanmar's private sector offers to export rice to Bangladesh

FE Team | Published: September 21, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

FE Report
Myanmar's private sector exporters are interested to export to Bangladesh 100 thousand (1 lakh) tonnes of rice at Free on Board (FoB) price of about US$270 per tonne, official sources said.
The commerce ministry has already told the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce Industry (FBCCI), the country's apex trade body, and the food ministry to take necessary measures in this connection.
"We have asked the authorities concerned to take necessary steps on the basis of a message received here recently from our Yangon mission," a senior official of the commerce ministry told the FE Thursday.
The Commerce Ministry of Myanmar has informed the Bangladesh Embassy in Yangon that at present they do not have any stock of rice available at the government level, but they have available stocks of the essential at the private level for export to Bangladesh.
The private sector rice exporters also informed the Bangladesh Mission in Yangon that they can export about 100 thousand (1 lakh) tonnes of rice to the country through telegraphic transfer (TT) in advance via Singapore-based banks on the basis of the FoB price.
The exporters of Myanmar do not prefer to export their products through opening letters of credit (LCs) due to imposition of investment and trade sanctions on Myanmar by the United States, European Union and Canada.
Myanmar exporters have also nominated two banks - United Overseas Bank (EOB) and Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) - for the TT in advance for importing the essential.
But local importers and bankers said there is no such practice in import of any commodities.
According to the president of the Rakhine State Chambers of Commerce and Industry, some of the rice exporters of Myanmar are interested to export rice through border trade via Maungdaw-Teknaf, but before that they need the permission of their government.

An agreement on border trade has already been signed between the governments of Bangladesh and Myanmar to strengthen the bilateral trade relations between the two countries.