The first meeting of a joint committee between Taiwan and Myanmar is to be held in Yangon next month, the first platform for Taiwanese businesspeople to explore trade and investment opportunities in the resource-rich nation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday.
Department of Economic and Trade Affairs Director-General John Lai (賴建中) said Taiwan has established nonofficial communication channels with Myanmar after the country began opening itself up to the world in 2011.
The visit to Myanmar by a business delegation led by Wang Chung-yu (王鍾渝), chairman of the Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association, a nonprofit group supported the government, earlier this year laid the foundation for non--governmental exchanges, Lai said.
During the visit, the association signed a bilateral cooperative agreement with the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Myanmar’s largest nonprofit business federation, Lai said.
Timed to coincide with the launch of the joint committee on Nov. 4, the association will organize a delegation composed of businesspeople in steel, cement and medical devices industries to explore business opportunities in Myanmar, Lai said.
Lai added that the government would also aim to help Myanmar develop through investments in its major infrastructure projects.
Taiwan will launch a cooperation program on rice production with Myanmar, International Cooperation and Development Fund Secretary-General Tao Wen-lung (陶文隆) told the news briefing.
The fund has played a leading role in agricultural technology development through its many agricultural missions worldwide, Tao said.
“Although the growth of rice yield has been highly uneven in Myanmar, it has a large potential to produce more rice. We will work with Myanmar to develop rice varieties that can boost its food supplies under its climate conditions,” Tao said.
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