The Agrobusiness Forum in Nay Pyi Taw on December 12 2019 was first edition of EuroCham Myanmar’s signature event on advocacy. With the common objective of promoting sustainability, inclusivity, productivity and competitiveness in the agriculture sector, EuroCham Myanmar (EuroCham), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are collaborating in convening the Agrobusiness Forum 2019, focused on promoting good agricultural practices and responsible supply chain management among agrobusinesses operating in Myanmar.
The Forum provided a platform for agrobusiness representatives and Myanmar policy makers to openly discuss challenges and opportunities in implementing good agricultural practices and promoting responsible supply chains with a focus on trade and finance, labour rights and decent work, land issues, technologies, food safety and the environment in Myanmar’s agricultural sector.
The Agrobusiness Forum 2019 was opened with a keynote address from His Excellency Dr. Aung Thu, Union Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation of Myanmar His Excellency began his keynote by highlighting the considerable role agriculture plays as both an economic contributor and as a source of employment in the country. “Our ministry will closely collaborate together hand in hand with stakeholders to achieve our common goal of the development of the agriculture sector in our country.” Said Dr. Aung Thu.
Piyamal Pichaiwongse, Deputy Liaison Officer for the International Labour Organisation, highlighted the dynamism and opportunity in Myanmar’s agriculture sector during the scene setting address. Central to this development is the relationship, as Pichaiwongse elaborated, between producer and consumer, and both play key roles in transmitting information as to what expectations are and what benefits can be delivered. These include food safety, food security, socially responsible labour standards and environmental sustainability, complying with these standards inherently leads to greater market access.
After that, Co-Chair of the EuroCham Agrobusiness Advocacy Group, Esther Wintraeken, introduced the plenary session as a moderator, consisting of Kang Chengrui from East West Seeds talking on Import and Export Practices, Calvin Zan from De Heus sharing experiences on Land Issues. The panel also was made up of Karina Ufert, from AgriRS, elaborating on Access to Finance, and Hyacinthe Cloarec from Metro Wholesale Myanmar and Erwin Sikma from Impact Terra elaborating on Food Safety and Technology in Agriculture respectively. Following the scene setting address, discussions contextualised Agriculture in Myanmar through the lens of a growing need to adhere to international standards in terms of trade and finance, labour rights and decent work, land issues, technologies, food safety and environment. The roundtable sessions touched upon cooperation between government and the private sector, in regard to understanding the underlying problem and what are tangible solutions.
More than 240 participants attended, including policy makers from the Government of Myanmar, business representatives active in Myanmar’s agriculture sector, employers and employee organisations, international and civil society organisations (WFP, Grow Asia, UNODC, UNOPS, ICCO…). With the common objective of promoting sustainability, inclusivity, productivity and competitiveness in the agriculture sector, EuroCham Myanmar (EuroCham), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) collaborated in convening the Agrobusiness Forum 2019, focused on promoting good agricultural practices and responsible supply chain management among agrobusinesses operating in Myanmar.
