Japan is helping Myanmar (also known as Burma) to regain its status as
a top rice exporter by making its first purchase of the grain from
the Southeast Asian country in more than four decades and investing in
rice processing plants there.
Myanmar has already ramped up rice exports to record levels after two years of reforms following the end of military rule and Japan's moves could further boost production, local industry officials say.
''We have seen that Japan is enthusiastic about investing in Burma's rice production,'' Myanmar Rice Industry Association Chairman Chit Khaing told Radio Free Asia's Burmese Service.
''What we need is technology. That's why we are collaborating with
companies like Mitsui,'' Chit Khaing, who is also the head of the
Myanmar Agribusiness Public Corporation Ltd (MAPCO), which is forging a
joint venture with the Japanese company to build four rice processing
plants, including mills, in Myanmar.
The mills will help Myanmar process rice for export to other countries while other plants will manufacture food products and produce power.
Japan, whose rice industry is among the world's most protected, agreed to a 5,000-tonne shipment of long-grain rice from Myanmar last month, its first import of rice from the Southeast Asian nation in 45 years. The shipment, to be made in early May, was ordered by trading house Mitsui.
In a further boost to exports, Mitsui and MAPCO are to set up a network of rice processing plants, including mills, as part of an Integrated Rice Complex Project that will have an intake of 400,000 tonnes of rice per year.
Pending a final agreement, MAPCO will take a 51% stake in the venture with the remaining equity to be held by the Japanese trading giant. The four plants will be established in Naypyidaw, Yangon's Tantay township, in Ayeyarwady's Kyaiklat township, and Bago's Letpadan township.
''The rice bran and broken rice from the four factories will be made into other foods - for example, we will produce rice bran oil from rice bran and rice noodles will be produced from broken rice," Chit Khaing said. ''We are going to power the factories with electricity from rice hulls."
MAPCO also plans by the end of April to enter a joint venture with another major Japanese conglomerate, Mitsubishi, to start milling tropical japonica rice - used to make thin rice cakes popular in Japan - that is at present milled in China, according to the Bangkok Post.
Future as a rice exporter
The mills will help Myanmar process rice for export to other countries while other plants will manufacture food products and produce power.
Japan, whose rice industry is among the world's most protected, agreed to a 5,000-tonne shipment of long-grain rice from Myanmar last month, its first import of rice from the Southeast Asian nation in 45 years. The shipment, to be made in early May, was ordered by trading house Mitsui.
In a further boost to exports, Mitsui and MAPCO are to set up a network of rice processing plants, including mills, as part of an Integrated Rice Complex Project that will have an intake of 400,000 tonnes of rice per year.
Pending a final agreement, MAPCO will take a 51% stake in the venture with the remaining equity to be held by the Japanese trading giant. The four plants will be established in Naypyidaw, Yangon's Tantay township, in Ayeyarwady's Kyaiklat township, and Bago's Letpadan township.
''The rice bran and broken rice from the four factories will be made into other foods - for example, we will produce rice bran oil from rice bran and rice noodles will be produced from broken rice," Chit Khaing said. ''We are going to power the factories with electricity from rice hulls."
MAPCO also plans by the end of April to enter a joint venture with another major Japanese conglomerate, Mitsubishi, to start milling tropical japonica rice - used to make thin rice cakes popular in Japan - that is at present milled in China, according to the Bangkok Post.
Future as a rice exporter
In the fiscal year that ended in March, Myanmar exceeded its target of 1.5 million tonnes of rice exports by about 600,000 tonnes, breaking a 46-year-old record, state media reported. Myanmar was the world's biggest rice exporter for much of the first half of the 20th century until it was overtaken by Thailand after a military takeover of Myanmar in 1962.
Chit Khaing said he was optimistic that Myanmar could continue to raise its exports from this year onward. ''Although we were left behind in the agricultural sector compared to other countries, I think we will definitely find our way back. Our agricultural sector has advantages over Thailand or Vietnam: we have our own rivers and much idle land that can be used as farmland.''
Myanmar's overall production stood at 13 to 14 million tonnes of milled rice in the last fiscal year, according to the Irrawaddy journal. Vietnam's total rice output last year reached 44 million tonnes, while Thailand's stood at 37 million tonnes.
Despite improvements in recent years, productivity in Myanmar's agriculture sector, which accounts for more than a third of the economy, has been hampered by factors such as antiquated practices and poor seed quality. In order to continue to improve yields, Myanmar will need to work to educate farmers and use better equipment, officials have said.
As of late February, Japan was the 11th largest investor in Myanmar, with US$270 million in overall investments, according to the Associated Press. Although it scaled back most business activity and cut government aid when the US and other Western nations imposed sanctions in 2003, Japan did not impose sanctions on Myanmar.
source: Asia Times Online
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