US food executives seek Myanmar Tilapia deal

August 22, 2017

American food industry executives have made an offer to buy Myanmar tilapia exports, said U Tun Win Myint, head of Yangon Region Fisheries Department.

“America has made an offer to buy 20 or 30 containers of tilapia from Myanmar per month. One container can carry 40 or 50 tons. They want the tilapia containers monthly. But, we cannot fulfill their demand. Even we tried to breed the tilapia, we can supply only two or three containers the most per month,” U Tun Win Myint said. “Our local farmers are still breeding the fish with the traditional methods. They need to do more research to keep up with international markets and to know what kinds of fish are in highest demand.”

Tilapia is being bred mostly in Twantay, Khayan-thongwa townships in Yangon.

Yangon breeders are also farming catfish, striped snakehead and small fresh-water catfish.

Fisheries products earned around US$600 million in FY2016-2017.

Ko Moe

Ref; The Global New Light of Myanmar