BANGKOK, 17 February 2012 – Myanmar has revealed its plan to make an annual import of at least 60,000 pickup trucks from Thailand.
The Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) Secretary-General Hla Maung Shwe said on Thursday that 90% of the cars in Myanmar are Japanese used cars imported from Japan, and currently, there are around 380,000 cars running on the streets.
According to the UMFCCI Secretary-General, around 90% of these cars are more than 5 years old now.
Maung Shwe disclosed the information of Myanmar’s auto market during a meeting between 40 Myanmarese civil servants and businessmen and Thailand’s Board of Investment (BOI) in Bangkok.
He has noted that the visit to Thailand this time is the first of its kind and aims at studying the possibility of a plan to import 1-ton pickup trucks from Thailand.
Considering Myanmar’s expectedly-high demand for automobile and its current situation, Maung Shwe has requested that the BOI make a suggestion on the planned annual import of 60,000-80,000 pickup trucks.
At present, Thailand is Myanmar’s second-largest source of goods next to China, with an annual gross import value of US$800 million.
Meanwhile, BOI Deputy Secretary-General Chokedee Kaewsang said that his meeting with visiting Myanmarese entrepreneurs and Thai auto-part makers has reached a preliminary estimate that Thailand should be looking at an opportunity to export around THB1.8 billion worth of parts to Myanmar.
