16 May

After the incumbent government took office, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Irrigation adopted the 5-year Agricultural Policy and the Agricultural Development Strategy for the development of the agriculture and livestock sector.

Since then, the Fisheries Department has made utmost efforts for the steady development of the sector and achieving fish sufficiency, improving the socio-economic life of fishery-based communities through the development of the sector, and assisting the country’s development. Towards this end, they are working with six visions and 25 work processes.

The Myanmar Fisheries Federation and the Ministry’s Livestock Department have been working together to develop the fisheries sector. The MFF has also been cooperating with the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department.

They are conducting research on fish resources in the sea and maintaining natural resources and fishery-related businesses by teaming up not only with the FAO, but also international organizations, such as World Fish, EU-GIZ, DANIDA, Japanese International Cooperation Agency, and Korea International Cooperation Agency.

In 2017, the country produced 1,048 million tonnes of seafood from 240,000 hectares of ponds, mainly stocked with native carp species and tilapia, for domestic consumption and export to other countries in the region.

For the sustainable development of our fishery resource, we need to follow international standards, rules, and regulations.

The permission to export fishery products, including farmed fish and prawn, to EU countries has come to us as the fruitful result of our relentless efforts.

It’s a big step forward for us as this creates the opportunity to export our aquaculture produce to the single largest global seafood market.

Today, we have gained entry into the EU fisheries market. But, it is important for us to develop Good Aquaculture Practices (GAqP) as soon as possible to produce fish and prawn which meet EU standards. Our fish and prawn farmers are urged to understand the importance of food safety regulations and control systems in aquaculture farming.

Meanwhile, we would like to invite investors to grab the opportunity to produce fishery products for export, as Myanmar’s aquaculture sector is set to become a key producer of sustainable seafood in the future.

To help businesses, the government has revised foreign investment laws, and reduced bureaucratic hurdles in investment sectors, among which, aquaculture tops the list.

At the same time, the government is confident that all stakeholders understand the necessity to ensure that investments do not harm a fragile environment, already vulnerable to natural disasters and climate change.

GNLM