Myanmar coffee market declines sharply

by ECONOMY

The Myanmar coffee market is slumping on the back of ailing demand, which has persisted since March, when COVID-19 first hit the country. The domestic coffee maker relies heavily on coffee shops, and hotels for revenue and growth. However, domestic consumption has dropped by at least 70 percent since the end of the March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Myanmar Coffee Association.

The rate of sales at local shops has declined sharply. All the shops are closed due to the pandemic. Although the export market has held up well, it might also slow down in the coming year. Based on domestic coffee consumption trends, 90pc of the population drink ready-made coffee made with cheap imported coffee powders, and the rest of the population consumes steamed local coffee. In Myanmar, most coffee users pre-order the year’s supply and collect in advance.

COVID-19 broke out soon after they collected this year’s orders, which were made based on much higher consumption forecasts than what they are seeing in the market now. The purchase of local coffee beans will also be affected because domestic consumption and foreign orders might decline due to the aftermath of COVID-19 in the coming year, coffee entrepreneurs say.

Source: Myanmar Times

Water supply project from Dotthawadi River to start in 2021

by CONSTRUCTION

Mandalay Pyigyitagon Water Supply Development Project with the purification of Dotthawadi river, jointly implemented by the Netherlands and Mandalay City Development Committee (MCDC), will commence only in early 2021, said U Saw Han, a member of MCDC. It is hard to carry out the project during the coronavirus crisis. The officials are also still negotiating it. The precautionary restriction measures and crowd restriction caused the project to suspend, he added. This project was initiated with the assistance of JICA grant in 2018 and covered five wards in Pyigyitagon Township. The remaining 13 communities will get water supply from Dotthawadi river water purification scheme.

The project will begin only in early 2021 due to the COVID-19 impacts, he stated. The project can cover 70 per cent of Pyigyitagon Township, with the Dutch grant of 29.96 million Euro and 29.96 million Euro loan from the Netherlands banks — FMO and ING, with the total project cost of 59.92 million Euro. In this project, construction of water treatment plant, pumping station, water storage lake, service water pipelines, household water connections, development of district meter area zone to reduce the water loss, and installation of water meter in Pyigyitagon Township are included. Under the project development, residents in 70 per cent of the Pyigyitagon town area will receive good and clean water.

The Netherlands and Myanmar signed the grant agreement for Pyigyitagon Water Supply Development Project on 9 June 2020 in the ways of the virtual signing event. Mr Huub Buise, Deputy Ambassador, Mr Astrid Raaphorst, Director of NL Process and Legal Affair, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), Daw Si Si Pyone, Director General, Treasury Department under the Ministry of Planning, Finance and Industry and Dr Ye Lwin, Mayor of the Mandalay City signed the grant agreement, according to the Netherlands Embassy to Myanmar.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

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Shan-Yangon transport cost double amidst COVID-19 resurgence

by LOGISTICS

The transport cost for commodities from Shan State to Yangon Region has increased more than double amid the coronavirus crisis, said U Kyaw Thu, secretary of the Myanmar Fruit, Flower and Vegetable Producer and Exporter Association (MFVP). At present, the truck fare rates remarkably soar to K1.6 million from the previous rate of K600,000-650,000, he continued. “We can steadily transport the goods at the previous rate of K600,000-650,000. Now, the truck drivers are price markers,” he stressed. Following the double increase rate, only 20 to 30 trucks are seen entering Thirimingala Market of Yangon in the recent days.

They see the entry of over 20 trucks only these days. Before the coronavirus outbreak and the period before the resurgence of coronavirus, hundreds of trucks are flowing into the region,. The vegetables such as tomato, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, bell pepper, eggplant, potato and onion are abundant in Shan State. However, the local products cannot easily be transported to the other regions owing to high truck fares and other transport difficulties. As a result, the commodity prices are so high for consumers, according to MFVP.

The truck operators raised the fares. Consequently, it directly hurts consumers. Nevertheless, the farmers do not even get handsome profit and benefit from that. The consumer price is unexpectedly ten times higher than the low introductory rate of farmers. Transport problem must be resolved to control the commodity rate. If not that, the price will continue rising. The tomato is priced only K300 per viss (a viss equals to 1.6 kg), whereas the prevailing price is K3,000 per viss in markets in Yangon. Similarly, a cabbage fetches only K300-400 in the farm, yet, the price touched a high of K1,500 in Yangon. The cost of a cauliflower increased to K1,000 in Yangon from K150 on the farm.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

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CMP raw materials import plunges to $2.17 bln in 2019-2020FY

by MANUFACTURING

CMP raw materials import has registered at US$2.17 billion in the past financial year 2019-2020, which plunged from $2.37 billion recorded in the 2018-2019FY, according to the Ministry of Commerce. Myanmar manufacturing sector has mostly concentrated in garment and textiles produced on the Cutting, Making, and Packing basis, and it contributes to the country’s GDP to a certain extent. At present, some CMP garment factories have shut down on the reason for the lack of raw materials due to the COVID-19 negative impacts, leaving thousands of workers unemployed. The COVID-19 badly batters the labor-intensive enterprises, said an official of the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration.

To deal with the shortage of raw materials for the CMP garment factories in Myanmar, the Ministry of Commerce, the Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association and the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar, the China Enterprise Chamber of Commerce in Myanmar (CECCM) have jointly imported raw materials through border trade channels and airlines. However, import values of raw materials by CMP businesses in the last FY dropped by $197.7 million compared to a year-ago period. The CMP garment sector in Myanmar has been hit hard by the coronavirus impacts amid the global demand slump, said an official of Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association. Supply chain disruptions and cancelling customer orders following the coronavirus outbreak hurt the global textile industry. Similarly, the CMP garment sector which contributes to 30 per cent of Myanmar’s export sector is bracing for downward trend owing to the cancellation of order from the European countries and suspension of the trade by western countries amid the pandemic.

Exports of garments manufactured under the cut-make-pack (CMP) system were valued about US$4 billion around the past eleven months in the last financial year 2019-2020, said an official of the Ministry of Commerce. Since an outbreak like Covid-19 might happen in the future, it is necessary to prepare for a sufficient supply of raw materials. The public and private sectors will cooperate in setting up the supply chain on our sources, including weaving, knitting, dyeing, and sewing factories. Japan is the largest market for Myanmar apparel, followed by the European Union. The MGMA has more than 500 members, and garment factories in Myanmar, employing more than 500,000 workers. Investors prefer to invest in countries with inexpensive labor, such as Myanmar.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

Yangon calls for EOI submissions for New Yangon industrial park

by CONSTRUCTION

The Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) under the Yangon Region Government has invited expressions of interest (EOI) for the development of an industrial park in New Yangon City, according to the Swiss Challenge Tender Committee on October 15. This follows an unsolicited proposal to develop the industrial park by State-owned China Communications Construction Company (CCCC). The New Yangon City Development had come under fire for signing an agreement with CCCC without calling a tender. The developer said it would carry out a Swiss challenge instead, allowing firms to challenge CCCC’s bid.

A Swiss challenge requires the government to publish the bid and invite third parties to match or counter-propose a better deal. The Swiss Challenge Tender Committee will call a tender to select a competing developer for the project, which includes development of a water treatment plant, wastewater treatment plant, power plant, and commercial and residential land area within the industrial park. It also involve construction of the Yangon River Bridge, municipal roads and municipal infrastructure for the resettlement areas. Interested competitors are required to submit an EOI by October 22. Qualified entities that have been shortlisted will be provided with information about the Request for Proposal (RFP) by the Tender Committee no later than seven working days after the deadline for EOI submission.

The RFP will contain further details on the scope of work, documents to be submitted by applicants and a timeframe for the Swiss challenge tender process. On October 14, the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center under the Ministry of Planning, Finance and Industry issued order involving the tender process for unsolicited project proposals without government invitation. Under the new order, unsolicited project proposals worth more than K2 billion will be processed under the procedures listed under order. If the unsolicited project proposal is accepted and beneficial for the State, the government has three options – to proceed with a Swiss challenge, standard tender process or direct negotiation for implementation.

Source: Myanmar Times

Second wave of COVID-19 hits Myanmar microfinance sector

by ECONOMY

The Microfinance Business Supervisory Committee in October 13 repeated instructions for microfinance institutions (MFIs) not to force borrowers who are unable repay their debts to do so amid the current period of declining business and income. It is the third time of the committee has issued the statement since COVID-19 first struck Myanmar in March. The latest statement comes amid worsening economic conditions as the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise daily.

MFIs in Myanmar are once again facing increasing difficulties collecting loan repayments from borrowers affected by COVID-19. The MFIs had been able resume their business of lending in May and June. But operations were disrupted again from late August onwards as the number of cases began to spike once more. With factories told to close in late September and businesses told to restrict operations, the number of defaults has begun spiking again in recent weeks. At the same time, the MFIs are also becoming more cautions of who they lend to, resulting in less business overall. The microfinance business is now just 10 percent of levels seen in May and June, when business had started to pick up from the first wave of COVID-19.

The statement is just a warning to MFIs not to collect by force as the clientele are mostly those who are directly affected by COVID-19 and not able to repay their loans at this time. MFIs are still able to negotiate or work with their borrowers for loan repayment arrangements. The industry will cooperate with the government over the coming months while focusing efforts on resuming normal operations based on borrowers’ income situations. In July, the government provided K100 billion in short-term commercial loans to MFIs at interest rates not exceeding 9 percent with collateral through the State-owned Myanmar Economic Bank. There is a one year grace period.

Source: Myanmar Times

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Individual trades through land border exceed K43 bln in FY2019-2020

by TRADING

Trade conducted by Individual Trading Card (ITC) holders touched a low of K43 billion through the land border in the last financial year 2019-2020, according to the data released by the Ministry of Commerce. The trade value plunged from K59 billion registered in the FY2018-2019 as both export and import sharply fell in the last FY2019-2020. The Trade Department issued 88 cards in the October-September period of the FY2019-2020, and the cardholders conducted trade worth K43 billion. While imports exceeded K40 billion, exports were valued at just K3.25 billion.
The Myawady border recorded the highest trade value at K28 billion in the last FY, according to the Commerce Ministry. But, the figure only reflected imports as individual trading cardholders did not export goods through the Myawady gate.

The value of trade carried out by individual cardholders stood at K450 million at Tamu, over K10.8 million at Muse, K188 million at Tachilek, K39.4 million at Lwejel, K488 million at Kampaiti, over K2 billion at Kawthoung, K680.9 million at Reed, K7.7 billion at Mawtaung, K3.4 billion at Hteekhee, and K183 million at Kengtung, as per data from the Commerce Ministry. Individual trades topped K737 million in the period from 21 November 2012 to 31 March 2013; exceeded K6.6 billion in the FY2013-2014; reached K9.37 billion in the FY2014-2015; stood at over K6.4 billion in the FY2015-2016; rose above K18.5 billion in the FY2016-2017; touched K45.9 billion in the FY2017-2018; K22.5 billion during the 2018 mini-budget period (April-September); and K59 billion in the FY2018-2019.

Trading with the use of ITC is based on local currency. Hundreds of exports and imports items have been allowed for individual trading at the border checkpoints. The trade department has issued 1,775 cards so far intending to boost trade. People in business can trade goods worth K3 million per day using ITCs, and the Trade Department has permitted trade of up to K15 million per day over five days.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

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Trade documentation, payments in Myanmar to be completed online

by TRADING

Myanmar will launch an online portal that will enable all paperwork and payments to be done digitally to facilitate trade in November. Administrative procedures such as applications and payments for export and import permits can be done online on the Myanmar Tradenet 2.0 portal, while the documents can also be issued digitally. These procedures had all beem done manually at the Department of Trade in the past.

Foreign countries are already using TradeNet 4.0. In Myanmar, they are just moving to Tradenet 2.0. They have to keep pace with their trading partners and this is also very helpful in reducing physical contact during the COVID-29 period. Myanmar can expect trade to raise once the online system is in place. In Tradenet 2.0 they have amended some of the existing policies in applying for and renewing export/import licenses. By going online, trades will no longer need to submit recommendations from the various departments, including the Department of Agriculture, Livestock Breeding & Veterinary Department and Food and Drug Administration, to the Department of Trade.

As all the documents can be accessed on the system, traders will not need to visit all the departments to obtain the required documentation for the process. All traders should update their details online before October 25. After that deadline, accounts with incomplete data will be removed from the system. The ministry will strive to launch Tradenet 2.0 in time despite the lack of staff working in the office during COVID-19.

Source: Myanmar Times

COVID-19 AND FOOD MARKET DISRUPTIONS IN MYANMAR

by EVENT

Date: 15 October 2020 (Thursday) , 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM

Please register at :  https://register.gotowebinar.com/regist…/5527017764042744336

Organizer: Michigan State University International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

ကိုဗစ်နိုင်တင်း ကူးစက်မှုတွေ မြင့်တက်မှုကြောင့် ရောဂါပြန့်ပွားမှုကို ထိန်းချုပ်လုပ်ဆောင်နေရတာနဲ့အမျှ အစားအစာဈေးကွက်ကို ထိခိုက်လာပါတယ်။ ဒီအကြောင်းအရာနဲ့ ပတ်သက်တဲ့ အွန်လိုင်းဆွေးနွေးပွဲလေးကို မီရှီဂန်ပြည်နယ်တက္ကသိုလ်နဲ့ IFPRI တို့ပူးပေါင်းပြီး အောက်တိုဘာလ ၁၅ရက်နေ့မှာ ကျင်းပမှာ ဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံက လက်ရှိ အစားအစာ ဈေးကွက် လည်ပတ်နေတဲ့အပေါ်မှာ လေ့လာသုံးသပ်ထားတဲ့ အချက်တွေအပေါ်မှာ ဆွေးနွေးပေးမှာ ဖြစ်လို့ စိတ်ဝင်စားသူတွေအနေနဲ့ စာရင်းသွင်း တက်ရောက်နိုင်ဖို့ မျှဝေပေးလိုက်ပါတယ်ရှင်။