With huge potential in the emerging organic fruit and vegetable sector, the agriculture sector of Chin State offers a great potential to investors.

Myanmar is sometimes regarded as Asia’s last ‘frontier market’. As such, Chin State should be considered a most promising investment destination.

The quality of agricultural products from the state, such as coffee, elephant foot yam and avocado, are well-known and has potential for growth, if investments are made into modern growing, processing and better marketing techniques.

It is required to form associations or groups to produce and trade Chin State’s high-quality products, as well as to penetrate international markets.

In Chin State, elephant foot yam was produced in Matupi, Mindat and Paletwa townships. An acre of land can yield more than 3,000 Viss (Viss = 1.53293 kg = 3.6 lb) of elephant foot yam and, if properly planted, the yield per acre can range from 5,000 to 8,000 Viss, earning a farmer more than Ks 8.3 million.

An acre of avocado yields some 3 tons per year, and at US$ 1,300 per ton, an income of Ks 5.8 million can be expected. If both avocado and elephant foot yam were planted, the income for farmers could be more than Ks 14 million.

Meanwhile, the grade of coffee from Chin State is above 96, while internationally, if a grade of coffee is above 80 it is considered a special grade. This means coffee from Chin State is among the world’s top grades.

Coffee planting should be performed by individuals or groups, which has been successful in Chin State for many years.

We need modern farming and post harvest technology to prevent Chin State’s high quality agricultural products from declining, due to traditional methods practiced by today’s farmers.

Investment in modern technology and quality packaging system would help world class coffee from Chin State to penetrate the international market.

Today, some private companies are producing the best quality Arabic coffee with modern equipment in Chin State.

These prospects for businesses have proven that the time is ripe to invest in Chin State.

While investments into Myanmar are once again turning a corner, we cannot allow Chin State to be left behind.

We would like to urge local and foreign investors who have not yet been to Chin State to visit the state and witness the untapped investment opportunities offered by Chin State.