Vice-President U Nyo Saw has called on relevant government departments, organizations and private-sector stakeholders to strengthen coordination in boosting rice exports and expanding national rice reserves to ensure domestic rice sufficiency, stabilize market prices and provide timely assistance to disaster-affected areas, while preparing for potential weather anomalies caused by Super El Niño.
He made the remarks while delivering the opening speech at a coordination meeting on boosting export volume and collecting national rice reserves, held at the Yangon Region Government Office yesterday afternoon.
During the meeting, the Vice-President highlighted that rice is the country’s primary agricultural crop and elaborated on efforts, in line with the President’s guidance, to increase paddy yields, develop the rice production sector, expand access to international markets and boost exports.
He also reviewed the implementation of action plans adopted at the Myanmar Rice Conference 2022 to promote the rice sector, including the systematic online registration of rice warehouses through the Myanmar Rice Online (MyRO) system, the issuance of digital certificates for approved warehouse licences and joint government-private sector efforts to build up adequate emergency rice reserves annually. He stressed that these measures were essential to stabilizing domestic rice prices and ensuring effective assistance for disaster-affected areas.
The Vice-President further emphasized the need to maintain domestic rice sufficiency, secure foreign markets, ensure systematic export operations, stabilize domestic prices and maintain an accurate database of registered rice stocks. He also highlighted the importance of storing essential food reserves for distribution to disaster victims and expanding national rice reserves in anticipation of weather anomalies associated with Super El Niño.
He urged all relevant departments and organizations to coordinate and cooperate effectively to ensure the successful expansion of national reserve rice collection. Following his remarks, the Myanmar Rice Federation president presented an overview of prevailing rice market conditions, the status of national rice reserves and exports of rice and broken rice. Representatives of participating federations, government departments and export companies also reported on rice reserves storage, the distribution of relief supplies to disaster-affected areas, export shipments and ongoing measures to increase rice exports.
The Vice-President subsequently reviewed the reports, coordinated necessary arrangements and delivered concluding remarks. After the meeting, he inspected national rice reserves storage facilities at export-oriented rice warehouses in Shwepyitha and Hlinethaya townships and provided necessary guidance.
The meeting was attended by Yangon Region Chief Minister U Aung Naing Thu, Deputy Minister for Commerce U Win Myint Khine, the deputy commander of the Yangon Command, regional ministers, officials from relevant departments, the president of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI), the president of the Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF), and representatives of export companies. — MNA/TH
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