18.03.2007
Exploring trade possibilities between Northeast & Burma
_ By Nava Thakuria
They entered India through Moreh in Manipur and departed with Champhai in Mizoram. Meanwhile, the team had a fruitful stoppage in Asom. A 31-member delegation comprising Myanmar (Burma) government officials, leaders of different chambers and traders and came to India primarily for exploring trade possibilities with the region.
However, the visit of a Burmese delegation to Northeast India emerged as a major opening for not only bilateral trade but also people to people contacts between India and Myanmar.
Burmese Junta's trade delegation to Northeast India
The weeklong visit of the delegates started on February 28. It was the first business delegation from Burma to visit Northeast since both the countries signed a trade agreement in January 1994. The agreement came into effect in April the following year.
The agreement initiated border trade facilities through two points namely Moreh-Tamu (in Sagaing division) and Champhai-Rih (in Chin province). Meanwhile, both the governments have set a target of $ 1 billion trade in 2006-07 while their bilateral trade in the FY2005-06 totaled $570 million.
"The lower level of trade at Moreh was prompted by many factors like lack of proper information about the market, currency problem in Myanmar and also deteriorating law and order situation in Manipur," said an Indian trader based at Moreh. He was of course optimistic about the initiatives of Burmese government (named State Peace and Development Council) in disseminating information and the measures taken by the Indian Commerce Ministry in recent past.
In his recent visit to Manipur, the India commerce minister Jairam Ramesh said that an integrated check post will be developed at Moreh to manage both cargo and passenger movement across the border. The project with a budget of Indian Rs 70 crore is expected to provide modern infrastructure facilities and better connectivity.
In Manipur, the Burmese delegates met a number of government officials and businessmen. With interactive sessions on priority, the team also made time to visit few historically important sites namely Kangla fort, war cemeteries and Ima Keithel (women's' market) in Imphal.
The team members had more sessions in Asom, where they interacted with local entrepreneurs and trade bodies in Guwahati. The team also visited the 14th International Guwahati Trade Fair, where some entrepreneurs from Burma participated. The trade fair (February 26- March 9), organized by the Industries and Trade Fair Association of Assam (ITFAA), and was participated by a number of traders from Thailand, Indonesia, Egypt, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.
Earlier the team that included three government officials namely Thaung Kyaw, deputy director of directorate of border trade, Tha Ra, deputy general manager of Myanma Economy Bank and Aung Min, director of life stock breeding had successful discussions with relevant people. The powerful students’ body of Northeast, All Assam Students' Union with Asom Unnati Sabha representatives had a meeting with the delegation in Guwahati. Student leader Samujjal Bhattacharya welcomed the delegation to the Northeast and emphasized on development of sustainable trade relationship with Myanmar. He also urged the delegates to support the recent initiatives by different organizations in Asom to reopen the historic Stilwell road impressing upon their government in Nay Pyi Taw (new capital of Myanmar).
The Second World War-famed road originates at Ledo in Asom and crosses through the Pangsau pass in Burma finally reaching Kunming, the capital of China's Yunnan province in the south. Like many others, the student body also looks at the road as a means for improving trade between India and Southeast Asian countries including Burma. The major portion of the 1726-kilometer road lies within Burma (1,033 km) with 632 km in China and a small stretch in India (61 km). Unfortunately, the road inside the military ruled country is not developed and in many places the road becomes almost unusable.
Accepting the warm reception in Guwahati, the delegates expressed their interest to continue the bilateral relationship. The focus areas of the discussion were different perspectives of Assam tea, herbal medicines, timber, textiles and fish farming in both the countries.
"The visit is inspired by our government primarily for improvement of bilateral trades with Northeast India," said, Thaung Kyaw, the deputy director of Directorate of Border Trade. He also added that they were interested on importing the efficient tea technology from Asom that might help them to boost their production of the beverage in Burma.
It may be mentioned that India and Burma have already set a $1 Billion bilateral trade target in 2006-07. Moreover, India has been ranked as the second-most important market for Burmese exports. The principal exports from Burma to India comprises of rice, fish and prawns, timber, plywood, maize, pulses, beans etc. On the other hand, India’s primary exports to Burma include dairy products, textile yarn, pharmaceutical products, fertilizer, machinery and apparatus.
Meanwhile, a trilateral memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on March 4 among three trade bodies representing Asom, Manipur and Burma. With an aim to enhance the trade relation between Northeast (in particular) and Burma that emphases the increasing participation of the business communities, the agreement was inked by the ITFAA, the Indo-Myanmar Border Traders' Union of Manipur (IMBTU ) and the Union of Myanmar Border Trade Chamber of Commerce, Myanmar (UMBTCC). ITFAA president Jatin Hazarika and Secretary Rajeev Das, IMBTU president W Nabachandra Singh and secretary general Ph. Ibotombi Sharma and UMBTCC president Hla Maung and secretary Aye Ko signed the MoU.
"We have decided to work together in boosting bilateral trade between Northeast ( India) and Burma involving more entrepreneurs and concerning trade bodies," said ITFAA secretary Rajeev Das, who is one of the signatories in the MoU. The members of the three trade bodies have decided to organize a meeting at Moreh to exchange views about ongoing border trades within the next three months, Mr Das added.
Of course, the team was too shy to speak to media persons. They were really scared of talking of a single word reflecting the political situation in present Burma. Even when asked about their comments on New Delhi’s continued financial aid, they got worried. When asked about their reaction regarding the increase of aid to Myanmar by New Delhi this year up to USD 18 million, nobody showed keenness to explain his views only saying that 'it was a high level thing (to react on)'. Mentionable that India has increased the development aid to Burma from Rs. 44.57 crore (USD 10 million) in 2006-07 to Rs. 80.41 crore (USD 18 million) in 2007-08. The Indian Finance Minister P. Chidambaram proposed it while presenting the national budget in Lok Sabha (lower house of India Parliament) recently.
Moreover, the delegates had little knowledge about the Kaladan project, under which the Mizoram capital Aizawl is planned to link with a Burmese port in the Bay of Bengal. The US$212.4 million Kaladan project, which has already been approved by the Burmese military rulers implies on the development of the Sittway port and also improvement of waterways and road transport to connect it with Mizoram, which is adjacent to Burma's Chin province. Completion of the project is expected to facilitate the landlocked Northeast to connect with Sittway, the capital of the western Burmese province of Rakhine, also known as Arakan, which is less than 400 km away from Aizawl.
The local trade bodies had, however, appreciated the initiative of Burmese team to visit Northeast and expressed optimism in enhancing the bilateral trade ties. "The interactive sessions with the visiting delegation in Guwahati were really pragmatic," said Rajesh Das, an office bearer of the Industries and Trade Fair Association of Assam.
Y. Dilipkumar Singh, chairman of programme implementation committee, Indo-Myanmar Border Traders' Union, while talking to this writer also expressed optimism at the visit. "This kind of initiative will definitely enhance bilateral trades. It will finally help the traders from both the countries to reap the benefits from governments' incentives," added Mr Singh.
During the third leg of journey, the delegates met the Mizoram chief minister Zoram Thanga on March 6. While the team members welcomed New Delhi's project to construct roads and promote business avenues in Burma, Zoram Thanga requested them to initiate establishing tourist centres at Rih lake and Buannel hill inside the neighbouring country. He also emphasized on better co-operation between the two countries while dealing with unlawful activities in international border areas.
Moreover, the delegates had a meeting with local traders at Aizawl under the banner of Indo-Myanmar Border Trade Chamber of Commerce, which was initiated by Mizoram Trade and Commerce department of the state government. The visiting team has reportedly informed the meeting that their government had already given permission for starting trades from Rihkhawdar (in Burma) with Zokhawthar in Mizoram. The Burmese team finally left India on March 7 through the Champhai-Rih border point that leads to Chin province of Burma.
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