Myanmar: Support to the implementation of the Trade Development Programme, aquaculture and fisheries products component

Project Background

The Myanmar Trade Development Programme (TDP) was a 48-month technical assistance programme entrusted to GIZ by the European Union under an indirect management delegation agreement. The budget of the programme was 10.5 million EUR and was provided on the basis of co-financing by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).  The objective of the TDP was to help promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth in Myanmar by enabling the country to leverage its reintegration into the world trading system, including ASEAN, to strengthen trade and investment. The objectives of the programme were to support trade policy reform, improve customs procedures, promote exports and ensure quality standards for food safety and consumer protection by strengthening human capacity and institutional, policy and technical frameworks through support to both the private and public sectors.

The direct beneficiaries of the TDP were the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation, the Ministry of Health and Sports, the Ministry of Education and the Customs Department under the Ministry of Planning and Finance. The indirect beneficiaries were the private sector operators in Myanmar.

Objectives

Overall objective: The overall objective of the project was to contribute to the enhancement of inclusive economic growth of Myanmar by enabling the country to take advantage of its re-integration into the world trading system including ASEAN, and the opportunities for trade and investment.

Specific objective: To improve in both, the public and private sector, the capacities for developing and implementing trade policy initiatives.

Results achieved:

1. Enhance the capacities of private and public actors, in trade policy analysis, formulation and implementation
2. Facilitate rapid movement of legitimate import and export of goods
3. Myanmar’s sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS) comply with SPS Agreement and meet EU requirements in selected sectors
4. A developed national quality infrastructure to reduce barriers to international trade

Activities and/or Results

This support intervention essentially was a short-term expert pool with 1,300 expert days for the last nine months of the TDP, which started in January 2015 and runs until August 2018. Experts mobilised by our consortium covered the following four components:

1. Trade Reform
2. Trade Facilitation
3. Food Safety and SPS Measures
4. National Quality Infrastructure, including HAACP, ISO certification and control and surveillance system for food safety and aquatic animal health

COFAD was in charge of the following tasks for aquaculture and fisheries products: 

• Support to government in improving aquaculture and fisheries regulation 
• Training government staff in import procedure for EU
• Database analysis in import and production
• Aquaculture/fisheries certification and standard procedure implementation