Entrepreneurs to develop Rakhine

October 29, 2017

Entrepreneurs gathered in Maungtaw, Rakhine State, yesterday to explore business opportunities in their attempts to revitalise the border region’s economy, which has stalled since terrorist attacks in late August.

The businessmen from the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) arrived in Maungtaw yesterday to seek development opportunities for the whole region.

Soon after their arrival, the businessmen met with representatives of the Rakhine State Government.

“Can we establish a textile factory in Maungtaw Region? We have to think about production and business development since it’s an economic zone. If we can boost the market, then it will simultaneously increase job opportunities,” said U Aung Kyi Soe, General-Secretary of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

The Union Government urged the businessmen to operate in a new economic mechanism, pledging that the administration would encourage competition among the businesses in Rakhine in implementing rehabilitation, resettlement and development.

The Maungtaw Border Merchants Association had been working on the Kanyin Chaung Economic Zone as the UMFCCI facilitates the project, while the UEHRD (Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine) has formed task forces under the leadership of their Director General Dr. Aung Htun Thet.

“The task forces will focus on creating jobs ranging from constructing buildings, agriculture, livestock breeding, developing the economic zone, healthcare, private loans, creating job opportunities and developing tourism. We have to acquire the necessary items from Yangon and Sittway”, Dr. Aung Htun Thet said.

With the establishment the Kanyinchaung Economic Zone, cold storage factories should be established to boost the region’s fishery export, he said.

The largest export item from Maungtaw to Bangladesh are aquatic products like prawns, hilsa and other fish, and the second biggest export item is rice.

The third and fourth most popular items are raw ginger and kitchenware.

Mawsi and MNA

Ref; The Global New Light of Myanmar