The Myanmar government’s trade promotion body has signed a deal with the European Chamber of Commerce to boost bilateral trade and investment from countries within Europe.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Friday (24 November) during a meeting in Yangon with Philipp Dupuis, the head of the Economic and Trade Section of the EU covering Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand, and Myantrade, the Myanmar Trade Promotion Organization under the Ministry of Commerce.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The two sides discussed the latest difficulties European companies face in Myanmar and possible solutions that need more attention in terms of World Trade Organization (WTO) compliance.
The MoU marks Myantrade’s first agreement with a foreign business chamber since the Government launched its five-year National Export Strategy in March 2015, said U Aung Toe, Deputy Minister for Commerce, according to Frontier Myanmar.
“I am confident that the MoU will enhance bilateral trade corporation between Myanmar and European Union, and promote investment of companies from the EU,” he said in his opening remarks.
Business ties between the EU and Myanmar have expanded significantly since 2011 with the lifting of most economic sanctions and reinstatement of the Generalised System of Preferences for Myanmar exports. In 2013, work began on an Investment protection Agreement that is now nearing completion.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataEuropean Commission figures show that bilateral trade has grown from EUR245m (US$292m) in 2010 to EUR1.56bn in 2016.
Most of the growth has been in Myanmar exports, which increased almost 350% in three years, from EUR223m in 2013 to EUR993m in 2016, according to the publication. Of this figure, 69.6% was textile products, while another 5.7% was footwear and hats.
