STATE Administration Council Chairman Prime Minister Senior General Min Aung Hlaing pledged to increase trade and investment between Myanmar and China at the gathering of China-Myanmar business leaders at Hualuxe Kunming Hotel in Kunming, People’s Republic of China, on 5 November on his visit to China to attend the 8th Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Summit.

At the gathering, the Senior General said that advanced tech­nolo¬gies and biotechnology are widely used in China’s agricultural sector, and the country invites enhanced cooperation with partner business people to transfer technology through investments, pro¬duce suitable agricultural products, and ensure value-added food safety that can also sustain the ecosystem.

Utilizing agricultural and livestock sound foundations, Myan­mar is striving to become one of the countries manufactur­ing foods worldwide. However, it cannot meet the visions due to the requirements to utilize agricultural techniques and farmlands fully. Up to now, Myanmar still requires agri­cultural techniques, such as the production of fertilizers, plant drugs and pesticides to boost agrarian produce.

At present, the govern­ment is ready to assist in the creation of opportunities for an increasing amount of in­vestments in the agricultural sector. Hence, investors are invited to operate farming and agricultural tasks and distrib­ute modern machinery and farm equipment and ware­houses in order to leverage up the agrarian mechanization sector as Myanmar possesses favourable weather and ade­quate land plots for the agricultural tasks.

Myanmar has more than 65 million hectares of farmlands among Southeast Asian countries. However, some 20 per cent of these land plots have been placed under crops. Fertile farmlands without chemical residues in Myanmar are good opportunities for investors. Moreover, investors can seek opportunities to operate agro-based livestock breeding farms in a broader scale.

The government anticipates operating livestock farms using modern techniques and producing frozen meats. Likewise, the government is keen to upgrade agricultural sector to the mech­anized farming in order to deliver value-added agricultural and livestock products, as the country has a large food market due to its location close to populous neighbouring countries. Hence, the government provides aid for foreign investors to ease work process in agriculture and livestock sectors.

The Myanmar Investment Commission has decided to prior­itize partner businesspersons in manufacturing fertilizers, electric vehicles, cement, steel, agricultural and livestock value-added products, medicines and medications and cooking oil. As such, clarifications from the Head of State on his tour of China to Chinese businesspersons can contribute to boosting the State economy in the future.