Thailand
Myanmar: The exports earnings from the fisheries sectors reached over USSD $ 700 million in the 2019 – 2020 fiscal year
Export earnings from the fisheries sector during the period between 1 October and 26 June in the 2019-2020 financial year reached US$703.7 million, an increase of $105 million from the year-ago period, according to the statistics released by the Commerce Ministry.
The figures stood at just $598.7 million during a-year ago period.
During the current fiscal, the fishery exports are expected to reach a record high. So far, over 580,000 tonnes of fishery products have been shipped to the external market. The export volume reflects an increase of 70,000 tonnes compared with those registered in the last fiscal year. Myanmar Fisheries Federation (MFF) expected to earn more than $800 million from fishery exports in the current fiscal year, said an official of MFF.
Myanmar exports fisheries products, such as fish, prawns, and crabs, to markets in 40 countries, including China, Saudi Arabia, the US, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, and countries in the European Union. Myanmar’s fishery exports have declined over the past three months, owing to the coronavirus pandemic impacts. However, Myanmar witnessed a large volume of exports in the post-pandemic period.
The Myanmar Fisheries Federation (MFF) is making concerted efforts to increase fishery export earnings by developing fish farming lakes which meet international standards and adopting advanced fishing techniques.
There are over 247,000 acres of fish farms and 240,000 prawn breeding farms across the
country.
Myanmar exported 340,000 tonnes of fishery products worth $530 million in the 2013-2014FY, 330,000 tonnes worth $480 million in the 2014-2015FY, 360,000 tonnes worth $500 million in the 2015-2016FY, 430,000 tonnes worth $600 million in the 2016-2017FY, 560,000 tonnes worth $700 million in the 2017-2018FY, and over 580,000 tonnes in the 2018-2019FY, according to the Commerce Ministry.
An MFF official said the federation has asked the government to tackle problems faced in the export of farm-raised fish and prawns through G2G pacts and ensure smooth freight movement between countries to bolster exports. According to the MFF, integrated poultry and fish farming cannot ensure food safety, which is a requirement for export.
Therefore, the federation has asked for the formulation of a law to restrict that kind of mixed farming. Fish farming must be conducted as a large-scale project to get access to Project Bank loans, according to the MFF. — GNLM(Translated by Ei Myat Mon)
Source: https://www.globalnewlightofmyanmar.com/fishery-exports-soar-to-over-700-mln-in-2019-2020fy/