YANGON, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Myanmar government will take stringent measures on illegal trade, especially illegal border trade, Vice President U Myint Swe warned on Friday.
U Myint Swe, also chairman of the Private Sector Development Committee, made the remarks at a meeting with local businessmen at the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI).
The meeting was also attended by Minister of Planning and Finance U Kyaw Win.
U Myint Swe urged the private sector to cooperate with the government on cracking down on smuggling which is one of the big challenges to economic growth.
The country is suffering the loss of large amount of taxes due to smuggling every year, according to local economists.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Commerce will introduce new technology to check restricted goods and increase the pay of staff assigned at border trade gates while upgrading trade facilities of the border gates.
The country has 15 border trade gates with neighboring Thailand, China, India and Bangladesh.
Myanmar's total trade value reached 20.403 billion U.S. dollars in the first 10 months of the 2016-2017 fiscal year as of Jan. 6.
