MYANMAR rice traders should deal directly with foreign buyers, the government is urging.

Under the current system, 90 percent of Myanmar rice is sold abroad through Singaporean buffer companies, he said.

Deputy commerce minister Brigadier General Aung Tun urged Myanmar exporters to seek out foreign direct buyers for their rice in order to secure the future of the country’s agro-based industry.

“We need to sell products like rice, beans and pulses to foreign clients direct. But about 90 percent of Myanmar rice exports go through Singaporean broker companies,” said the deputy minister at the opening ceremony for the Shwe Kawa Myay rice and beans company at Kawa City Hall in southern Bago Division on June 21.

Shwe Kawa Myay is one of the 43 township-based rice, beans and pulses specialised private companies the government designated last month to make export transactions.

“Our profits are suffering to some extent because we can’t deal directly with the true buyers. Our exporters need to have the capacity to link directly with the end-buyers abroad,” said the deputy minister.

U Thadoe Hein, managing director of Shwe Kawa Myay, told The Myanmar Times that Myanmar rice prices were manipulated in favour of foreign broker companies in indirect trading.

“Going through buffer companies pushed the price up 2-3pc. If we can export direct to the true buyers, we can reduce those weaknesses,” said U Thadoe Hein.

Myanmar exports mostly to West African countries like Ivory Coast, Gabon and Sierra Leone, and some Asian countries like Sri Lanka and Malaysia, according to the Myanmar Rice and Paddy Traders’ Association (MRPTA).