Myanmar Rice Federation

The Myanmar Rice Federation (Burmese: မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ ဆန်စပါးအသင်းချုပ်) is Burma's national organisation for the rice industry, responsible for negotiating rice export deals with neighbouring countries, including China and India.

Myanmar Rice Federation
မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ ဆန်စပါးအသင်းချုပ်
AbbreviationMRF
PredecessorMyanmar Rice Industry Association MIRA
Formation2012 (2012)
HeadquartersLanmadaw Township, Yangon, Myanmar
Executive Chairman
Chit Khine
Websitemyanmarricefederation.org

History

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Myanmar Rice Federation was formed in 2012 as a successor to the Myanmar Rice Industry Association (MIRA).

In July 2017, the MRF partnered with the Chinese group CITIC to conduct a feasibility study regarding the implementation of 33 agricultural business centres in Myanmar.[1] In September 2017, the organization's website was briefly hacked as a protest to the Rohingya conflict.[2]

Between 2010 and 2012, Myanmar rice exports to China grew from very little to 752,000 tonnes. In 2014, the two country signed their first legal agreement to organize their rice trade.[3]

In March 2015, the MRF was criticized for its limited shortlist of rice producers allowed to export rice to China.[4] In early August 2015, the MRF announced the halt of rice exports for a month and a half due to the heavy flood affecting the country.[5] In April 2016, the MRF urged the new Myanmar government to privatize the Myanmar Agricultural Development Bank to increase its loan capacity.[6]

Myanmar Rice Federation organized the MRF Stakeholder Forum 2018, held in Naypyidaw on 7 March 2018. The MRF Forum was officiated and graced by Myanmar's State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi. The MRF announced the Floor Rice for paddy in the interest of small-holder farmers.[7]

Description

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MRF is responsible for negotiating rice export deals with neighbouring countries, including China and India.[8][9] Myanmar exports more than 1 million tonnes of rice to 50 countries, and 70% of its exports go to China (numbers April 2016-January 2017).[10]

MRF's executive committee is chaired by Chit Khaing.[11]

References

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  1. ^ "China's CITIC to partner with Myanmar Rice Federation on study". Mizzima.com. 31 July 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  2. ^ "Rohingya sympathizers hack Myanmar Rice Federation website". Coconuts.co. 13 September 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  3. ^ Zaw Htike (29 September 2014). "First step made for a legal China rice trade". Mmtimes.com. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  4. ^ Sy Phyo Win (16 March 2015). "Criticism dogs Myanmar Rice Federation's China choices". Mmtimes.com. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  5. ^ Timothy McLaughlin (4 August 2015). "Myanmar appeals for international assistance for flood relief". Reuters.com. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  6. ^ "Rice Federation seeks agriculture bank sell-off". Frontiermyanmar.net. 26 April 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  7. ^ Htoo Thant (8 March 2018). "Myanmar fixes 2018 paddy price at K500,000 per 100 baskets". Mmtimes.com. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  8. ^ Su Phyo Win (16 March 2015). "Criticism dogs Myanmar Rice Federation's China choices". Myanmar Times. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  9. ^ Kyaw Hsu Mon (21 November 2014). "Rice Prices Reverse Recent Slump After Heavy Rains". The Irrawaddy. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  10. ^ Nay Thiha (13 February 2017). "70% of rice exported to China". Elevenmyanmar.com. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  11. ^ "မြန်မာနိုင်ငံဆန်စပါးအသင်းချုပ် ဗဟိုအလုပ်အမှုဆောင်အမည်စာရင်း". မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ ဆန်စပါးအသင်းချုပ် (in Burmese). Retrieved 21 June 2015.
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