Myanmar is prioritizing import substitutions in order to reduce the trade deficit while boosting exports (U Than Aung, Deputy Director of Directorate of Investment and Company Administration)

In order to reduce the trade deficit, Myanmar is putting a priority on import substitutions, the Deputy Director of Directorate of Investment and Company Administration, U Than Aung Kyaw, said at Korea-Myanmar Investment Forum held at Latte on June 20.

Import substitutions industrialization is a trade and economic policy which advocates replacing foreign imports with domestic production. This type of policy is intended to reduce a countries foreign dependency through the local production of industrialized products, or in Myanmar’s case, reduce the trade deficit while boosting exports.

“We are trying to boost exports by producing value added products. If we can produce import substitution products locally, imports will decease itself,” he said.

He also explained that reducing the amount of imports will help level out the trade deficit, but perhaps more importantly, it will also create more job opportunities for local workers.

In 2011, because of a lack of infrastructure such as transportation and electricity, most of the foreign investments came into the mining sector for petroleum and various ores. However, starting in 2015, more and more investments came into the manufacturing sectors which can create more factory job opportunities he said. 

From April 1 to June 15, 2018, Myanmar’s exports topped out at $3.12 billion, while the volume of imports was approximately $4.25 billion, according the Ministry of Commerce.

(Myanmar Business Today: https://www.mmbiztoday.com/articles/myanmar-prioritizes-import-substitutions-reduce-trade-deficit )

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