YANGON, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar's western Rakhine state has planned to export 10,000 tons of Matpe beans to India in the current fiscal year 2017-18 which began in April, official media reported Tuesday.
Accordingly, arrangements are underway to plant Matpe beans in the state during the coming rainy season and will export the surplus to the neighboring country, Rakhine State Minister of Planning, Revenue and Commerce U Kyaw Aye Thein was quoted as saying.
The Matpe beans are likely to be shipped directly from the state's Sittway Port instead of Yangon to boost trade in the state, he said, however, doubting that if vessels with a weight of exceeding 3,000 tons could berth at the port.
The state minister revealed that a proposal of building a new port is being submitted to the central government.
Rakhine state's Sittway and Maungtaw border trade points had high trade volume in the past but due to the current situation, trade value there was only around 5 million U.S. dollars, according to statistics.
The state government is finalizing a plan of establishing a trade zone in Kanyinchaung, Maungtaw township this year.
According to the state government's major plan of development of the state, it is divided into north, middle and south zones. The north zone will mainly accommodate agricultural and livestock sectors with Matpe beans planting and fresh water fish breeding.
Myanmar exported 1.2 million tons of beans and pulses annually with 80 percent going to India, followed by China, Indonesia, Japan and European countries.
Meanwhile, India proposed to increase its demand for Myanmar's mung beans and pigeon peas by 25,000 tons per year starting this year.
Statistics also show that Myanmar earned over 2.93 billion U.S. dollars from agricultural exports in the last fiscal year 2016-17 which ended in March, up by 315 million dollars from the previous fiscal year of 2015-16.
Accounting for 25 percent of the total export earning during the year, the agricultural export was topped by various peas with 1.4 billion U.S. dollars.
