Myanmar's efforts to boost its rice

[brelief@xxxxxxx]

Subject: Myanmar's efforts to boost its rice production  (and export  when people are starving at home  -- shades of the Khmer Rouge!)

"In Myanmar, the government owns all farmland...." 


Myanmar's efforts to boost its rice production 
08:28 a.m. Oct 30, 1998 Eastern 

By Anchalee Koetsawang 

PHUKET, Thailand, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Myanmar's efforts to boost its
rice production in the hope of being able to become
an exporter again is being questioned by industry analysts. 

Myanmar trade sources have said the military government has an
ambitious plan to export one million tonnes of rice for the
1999/2000 season (April-March) compared with around 200,000 tonnes
targeted for this season. 

Although the government has launched a series of measures to stimulate
output, they could all be scuttled by excessive bureaucracy and
regulations, the analysts attending an Asian Rice Conference here told
Reuters. 

Myanmar was once a key world rice exporter. 

Daphne Khin Swe Swe Aye, a U.S. Agriculture Department specialist in
Myanmar, had earlier told the conference that the
government was upgrading its rice industry by giving credits to
farmers, implementing advance paddy purchase systems
and helping to modernise rice mills. 

A major breakthrough was a government plan to get the private sector
to participate in farming, she said. 

Under the plan, land would be leased to the private sector, including
foreign investors, for up to 20 years and investors
could export half of their production. 

Currently, private sector participation in the rice industry is
concentrated in domestic trading and milling, as the export of
rice is monopolised by the government, she said. 

Private sector participation is expected to bring in both technology
and improvement in infrastructure. 

But an executive with a European company said many potential
participants lacked expertise. 

Other factors likely to undermine the government's scheme to boost the
farm sector were a lack of hard currency and obsolete regulations,
analysts said. 

Foreign exchange shortages limited the government's ability to import
fertiliser or farm machinery, they added. 

In Myanmar, the government owns all farmland and has provided long
term leases to tenants since 1965. 

Myanmar's 1998/99 paddy production is expected to reach 16 million
tonnes. 

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