With the support Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Planning and Finance and Myanmar Financial Intelligence Unit, EuroCham Myanmar organized Anti-Illicit Trade Forum 2019 in Nay Pyi Taw

The Anti-illicit Trade Forum 2019 was held at M-Gallery Hotel in Nay Pyi Taw on Thursday.

It was organized by EuroCham Myanmar with the support of Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Planning and Finance, and Myanmar Financial Intelligence Unit.

A report on illicit trade that evaluates the tax losses in selected FMCG products was launched at the event.

In 2017-2018, according to foreign custom data, the export to Myanmar was 25.12 billion US$, while the official import resulted to be only 18.68 billion US$. Therefore, it was 6.44 billion US$ worth of illicit trade.

Executive Director, Myanmar Marketing Research and Development, Aung Min said “The Global Illicit Trade environment Index in which Myanmar ranks 82nd out of 84 countries evaluated, with an overall score of 23.0 out of 100. It's a sign of lots of works to be done to address the illicit trade. When it comes to illicit,  there are a variety of products but we focused on beer, whisky, cigarettes, medicines, mobile handsets, cosmetics and personal care.”

The study estimates that the total illicit trade value of six selected consumer goods was 2.37 billion out of 6.44 billion US$ in total. The government could have collected additional tax revenue by 364 million US$ only from the six aforementioned selected consumer goods.

Executive Director, EuroCham Myanmar, Marc de la Fouchardiere said "Anti-illicit is quite a complex issue that is cross sectorial. It concerns all sectors of the economy. Some points you have to start somewhere and we decided to start with those five sectors that is being the most representative of the illicit trade volume in Myanmar."

The in-depth discussions to improve the knowledge and understanding of the regulatory environment and economic circumstances were also in included in the forum, with the participation of private sector representatives, high level government officials, key experts from international organizations and academics.

(Myanmar International TV Channel: https://www.myanmaritv.com/news/anti-illicit-trade-forum-held-nay-pyi-taw )

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