On January 26 Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation Vladimir Padalko met with Vice President of the Federation of the Myanmar Chamber of Commerce and Industry San Lin and representatives of a number of companies operating in agricultural production, the banking sector and tourism. The negotiations were devoted to discussing the possibilities of cooperation between the business of Russia and Myanmar.
Taking into account the fact that the agreement on cooperation between the chambers was signed in 2006, Vladimir Padalko suggested that the Myanmar side consider signing an updated agreement. It was agreed that the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry will routinely submit its draft for consideration by the Federation of the Myanmar Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The Vice President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry emphasized that in the Russian business community there is an acute lack of information about Myanmar, the structure of the national economy, the state of development of individual industries, economic and export potential, investment climate, import needs, opportunities in the tourism sector, and mutual settlement mechanisms. Introducing broad clarity to these topics will allow Russian business to get a clear idea of the prospects for the development of business ties with Myanmar, and the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry to form a serious delegation of entrepreneurs to one of the country’s economic forums. San Lin in response promised to provide information about such events that could coincide with the visit of the Russian business delegation, as well as to ensure that the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry provides relevant information about Myanmar. Mr. Padalko also emphasized the importance of building sea container transportation between Myanmar and Russia through Vladivostok.
Representatives of the Myanmar business community expressed interest in receiving Russian technologies for the production of a number of agricultural products. Mr. San Lin noted that Myanmar is interested in exporting fish, seafood, rice, and fruits to Russia, and therefore he would like to send him information about the necessary certificates for these goods for their import into the Russian Federation. He also expressed great interest in Russian investment in sunflower cultivation and oil production in Myanmar.
Vice President of the Myanmar Banking Association Mr. To Aung Myint informed that according to the agreement of the central banks, in bilateral trade it is possible to pay in Indian, Chinese and Thai currencies. In the country, he noted, you can use the MIR card, which should be of interest to Russian tourists.
Tourism became a separate topic of discussion at the meeting. The Myanmar side emphasized that there is a visa-free regime for Russians in the country, and the country has a developed infrastructure for organizing recreation. An agreement was reached on joint preparation, in cooperation with the Russian-Myanmar Business Council, of a presentation on the tourism potential of Myanmar.
The meeting was attended by the Director of the Department of External Relations of the Chamber Konstantin Kostin and the Director of the Department for Work with Associations of Entrepreneurs of the Chamber Alexander Volchenko, as well as the Executive Secretary of the Russian-Myanmar Business Council Alexey Kashin.
The meeting with the Myanmar business delegation at the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry took place on the eve of the 4th meeting of the Intergovernmental Russian-Myanmar Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation, which will take place on January 27, 2024 at the VDNKh site.
By Dmitry Bystrov and Petr Cheremushkin
