South Korean machinery to be distri

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South Korean machinery to be distributed in Myanmar 

Xinhua, Yangon, 10 November 1999.   Farm machinery manufactured 
by South Korea will be distributed in Myanmar under a hire-purchase
system in the wake of increased reclamation of vacant, virgin and fallow 
lands in the country. The farm  machinery to be distributed by the 
Daewoo Company of South Korea includes paddy harvesters,
winnowers and tractors, the official newspaper The New Light of Myanmar 
reported Wednesday.

Meanwhile, local industrial enterprises are also producing and devising 
farm machinery to help transform farming from manual to mechanized. 
Myanmar is an agricultural country with a backward industry and
the bulk of its machinery has to be imported, especially from China and 
Japan. According to official statistics, Myanmar imported machinery and 
equipment worth 397 million U.S. dollars in the first half of this year, 
accounting for 31.39 percent of the total import volume of 1.265 billion 
dollars in the period.

Meanwhile, the country is also exempting customs duties on the import 
of agricultural implements including related machinery, pesticide and 
fertilizer to encourage agricultural undertakings. Agriculture is the mainstay 
of Myanmar's economy, accounting for 36 percent of the country's gross domestic
product and 35 percent of the total export. 

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