Myanmar rice exports falter on illicit China trade

[SeaVisionBurma]

Rice exports this year are set to fall to less than half of the government target of 3 million-tonnes as traders are withholding stock from its trading partners in an attempt to secure more favourable prices being offered by illicit Chinese importers, officials said.

From The Myanmar Times, by Zat Htike

Men load bags of rice onto a truck to be exported out of the country. Photo: Kaung Htet

U Lu Maw Myint Maung, joint secretary general of the Myanmar Rice Federation, told The Myanmar Times, that Myanmar exported nearly 1 million tonnes of rice through the first nine months of the fiscal year at the end of January, falling short of the 1.01 million tonnes of rice exported during the same period last year.

“Because of an unstable local rice price, we have not been able to speed up exports during the rainy season, he said. “If we had, Myanmar would probably have been able to export about 2 million tonnes this year, because there is enough reserve.”

He said that traders are increasingly looking to sell rice through Shan State’s Muse border, alongside China’s Yunnan Province, where they can earn as much as 28 percent more profit by dealing with tax-dodging Chinese

Read the full article here: http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/business/9492-rice-exports-falter-on-illicit-china-trade.html

[Barney R]

I wonder how much has made it's way into Thailand where prices are higher again ?

[IDL]

I've been saying it for over two decades, the Chinese are going to spoil the world!

Sure there are dodgy dealers world-over, but it's culture to 'avoid' the expense of doing things by-the-book for these guys. Hundreds of years of development by many countries will see all the ethics, money, research, social accountability, etc, wasted, as the Chinese become more powerful.

I've been seeing it coming for decades, why haven't my politicians???

[belg]

and i tought most went to thai borders, you know, for the 15k / baht price...

[Tomtomtom69]

I've been saying it for over two decades, the Chinese are going to spoil the world!

Sure there are dodgy dealers world-over, but it's culture to 'avoid' the expense of doing things by-the-book for these guys. Hundreds of years of development by many countries will see all the ethics, money, research, social accountability, etc, wasted, as the Chinese become more powerful.

I've been seeing it coming for decades, why haven't my politicians???

Well what you have to do then, is play the Chinese game, if you want to catch up. I already do. Stop with the ethics and morality and all that crap...it doesn't get you very far in developing Asia particularly with the Chinese as your direct competitors. If they are willing to pay bribes, so you should be too (obviously you don't want to do this in a high level deal where officials from your western government are around otherwise you could be implicated by your government and tried on bribery of foreign officials charges). Although on a low level everyday basis, the chance of this ever happening are extremely slim. If they [the Chinese] are willing to pay government officials to look the other way when they break local labor laws by only employing their own people or employing too few locals, why don't other countries that have investments in such countries as Laos do the same thing? All I can think of is that they follow the same set of standards as in their own countries, not taking into account differences in local conditions, laws and the rule of law (like how contracts aren't necessarily enforced in the same ways as back home, laws can change at a whim's notice, paying a little bit of money to get the ball rolling is an accepted part of business etc.)

[IDL]

I've been saying it for over two decades, the Chinese are going to spoil the world!

Sure there are dodgy dealers world-over, but it's culture to 'avoid' the expense of doing things by-the-book for these guys. Hundreds of years of development by many countries will see all the ethics, money, research, social accountability, etc, wasted, as the Chinese become more powerful.

I've been seeing it coming for decades, why haven't my politicians???

Well what you have to do then, is play the Chinese game, if you want to catch up. I already do. Stop with the ethics and morality and all that crap...it doesn't get you very far in developing Asia particularly with the Chinese as your direct competitors. If they are willing to pay bribes, so you should be too (obviously you don't want to do this in a high level deal where officials from your western government are around otherwise you could be implicated by your government and tried on bribery of foreign officials charges). Although on a low level everyday basis, the chance of this ever happening are extremely slim. If they [the Chinese] are willing to pay government officials to look the other way when they break local labor laws by only employing their own people or employing too few locals, why don't other countries that have investments in such countries as Laos do the same thing? All I can think of is that they follow the same set of standards as in their own countries, not taking into account differences in local conditions, laws and the rule of law (like how contracts aren't necessarily enforced in the same ways as back home, laws can change at a whim's notice, paying a little bit of money to get the ball rolling is an accepted part of business etc.)

I'm not disputing that what you say has its place. However, anarchy is the first thing that springs to my mind.

Aside from them being better at the 'game' than we are (old hat to them, newish concept to us, generally speaking of course), to what end? Sure, it would [whilst living somewhere like here] reduce the grey-hair growth, lower the blood pressure, and generally make everyday living a little less stressful, but for long-term stability, and for me, it just tastes wrong.

I certainly don't see my viewpoint coming from some higher moral ground (or "crap" as you put it), simply we have been taught a certain way (and I don't mean brainwashed, as 'our' ways for the betterment of all makes total sense to me), and because I see it as a perfectly justifiable and sensible way forward, I'm unlikely to ever change the way I feel about it.

Oh and I'm all for a level playing field. If one's not connected or privy to the resources to 'fix' a contract/situation, how's that fair. Sure world-over the top dogs monopolize the top contracts, but at least the 'little' people get a chance to get-off-the-ground.

Just saying like,

[sauvagecheri]

Do you really expect the "World"to be "Fair" all the time?

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