YANGON, About 80 percent of the country’s foreign trade are done by sea.

Myanmar’s foreign trade has reached over 8.2 billion U.S. dollars, as of Jan 14, in the six-month interim budget period, which started in Oct last year, according to figures released by the Ministry of Commerce yesterday.

The country announced changing its fiscal year from the original Oct-Sept, to Apr-Mar, beginning 2022-2023, producing a six-month interim budget period from Oct last year, to Mar this year.

From Oct 1, 2021, to Jan 14, this year, the country has earned over 4.1 billion U.S. dollars from exports, while its imports were valued at over 4.09 billion U.S. dollars.

During the period, manufacturing goods topped the export list, with the most value, earning over 2.3 billion U.S. dollars, followed by agricultural and marine products.

The country’s maritime trade totalled over 6.5 billion U.S. dollars, while its border trade amounted to 1.7 billion U.S. dollars, in over three months of the six-month transitional period.

According to data released by the commerce ministry yesterday, for the transitional period, total foreign trade saw a decrease of over 869 million U.S. dollars, from over 9.1 billion U.S. dollars recorded for the same period of the previous fiscal year.

The ministry had set a target of 17 billion U.S. dollars, for total foreign trade in the six-month interim budget period, Assistant Secretary, U Thaung Naing, said recently.

Myanmar’s major exports include agricultural products, animal products, marine products, minerals, forest products, and manufacturing goods.

About 80 percent of the country’s foreign trade are done by sea.

Source: Nam News Network