2014 Myanmar Turning Point Key Report Special Introduction
This is a first for Taiwan's media! An environmental group sponsored independent media to conduct cross-border agricultural reporting. Under funding from the "Jianzhen Environmental Education Foundation," "News Market" dispatched senior journalists Wang Wen-hao and Peng Yu-jung to Myanmar for nearly a month of reporting. In addition to Myanmar's largest city, "Yangon," they also traveled to rural areas of Myanmar rarely visited in depth by international media, to understand on the ground the challenges and potential of Myanmar's agricultural development, and to try to find opportunities for Taiwan to actively cooperate in Myanmar's transformation process.
Why should Taiwan get to know Myanmar?
After 64 years, Taiwan and Myanmar officially broke the stalemate of no mutual exchanges for the first time, formally signing the "Taiwan-Myanmar Agricultural Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding," taking the first step toward official exchanges and mutual visits between the two sides.
Since June 8, 1950, when Myanmar switched to recognizing the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China in Taiwan and Myanmar's officials had always had no dealings with each other, and Myanmar had always maintained close relations with China.
It was not until more than two years ago, when the Myanmar government carried out reform and opening up, that Western countries lifted economic sanctions against Myanmar one by one. Political figures and businesspeople from Japan, South Korea, the United States, and European countries visited Myanmar one after another, on the one hand paying attention to Myanmar's political transition and strategically containing China, and on the other hand seeking investment opportunities in Myanmar.
Whether the World Bank or the Asian Development Bank, both point out that agriculture is key to Myanmar's pursuit of economic growth. American investment expert Rogers, whose words and actions are regarded as gospel by investors, is even more bullish on Myanmar's future growth momentum. Myanmar is also currently one of the few countries in the world maintaining an economic growth rate above 7%.
Taiwan's relationship with Myanmar also quietly thawed and broke the ice amid this wave of "global Myanmar fever."
This year, Myanmar serves as the rotating chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states, giving it a pivotal position. For Taiwan, which is eager to integrate into the Southeast Asian regional economy, it is necessary to reacquaint itself with Myanmar, a country that seems close but is in fact unfamiliar.
On April 1 of this year, Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Bao-ji traveled to Myanmar's capital, Naypyidaw, and, witnessed by officials of Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, signed the "Taiwan-Myanmar Agricultural Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding" with Minister for Agriculture and Irrigation Myint Hlaing. The content covers technical cooperation, mutual personnel visits, technical training, and other items.
Reacquainting itself with Myanmar from an agricultural perspective, and using agriculture as a way of international participation, is the answer that News Market tried to find through reporting.
[2014 Myanmar Turning Point Key Report] Guide to the titles/introductions of each article
The information brought back from Myanmar is very rich. News Market specially created a special topic website and for the first time tried adding a dynamic reading function. Please go to the [2014 Myanmar Turning Point Key Report] to read it in full. Below is the guide to the titles/introductions of each article:
00. Foreword: Myanmar, the world's new focus
Whether the World Bank or the Asian Development Bank, both point out that agriculture is key to Myanmar's pursuit of economic growth. American investment expert Rogers, whose words and actions are regarded as gospel by investors, is even more bullish on Myanmar's future growth momentum. Myanmar is also currently one of the few countries in the world maintaining an economic growth rate above 7%. Taiwan's relationship with Myanmar also quietly thawed and broke the ice amid this wave of "global Myanmar fever."
01. Myanmar, how are you?
On first arriving in Yangon, Myanmar, the deepest first impression is none other than the congested traffic, and on lanes accustomed to driving on the right, the incredible coexistence of both right-hand-drive and left-hand-drive cars crazily moving forward...
02. Farmers who cannot eat their fill in the rice kingdom
"Myanmar wants to strive to be the world's largest rice exporter, yet nearly 40% of farmers in the country live below the poverty line and cannot eat their fill. Isn't that very contradictory?" Dr. Ohnmar, coordinator of Myanmar's Food Security Working Group, said when discussing where Myanmar's agriculture should go...
03. The Myanmar dream of Taiwanese rice farmers
Rice farmer Lin Hsu-yang from Yuanchang, Yunlin, and rice farmer Weng Liang-cai from Wufeng, Taichung, were once invited by a Taiwanese businessperson investing in rice production in Myanmar to travel far to Myanmar's third-largest city, "Pathein," to provide technical guidance on rice cultivation, hoping to bring Taiwan's rice industry production methods...
04. Pig farming in Myanmar, Taiwanese sentiment
"Everything you see now in the pig farm bears Taiwan's imprint." Chinese youth Yan Long-fang, who normally keeps a low profile raising pigs in Yangon, Myanmar, upon learning that we were journalists from Taiwan, broke the usual practice of not opening up for visits and warmly welcomed us...
05. Known-You Seed of Taiwan makes snake bites no longer a nightmare for Myanmar farmers
In the rural village of SamaLauk, more than 60 km from the western suburbs of Yangon, Myanmar, Taiwan's Known-You Seed Company donated funds to establish a farmers' hospital. Over 13 years, it has treated more than 800 farmers poisoned by venomous snake bites and delivered countless rural women in labor, including those with difficult births...
06. Myanmar's Metta helps poor farmers engage in organic agriculture
To be honest, because I was fortunate enough to come here and interview Myanmar's largest grassroots NGO, "METTA," as well as the rural villages and farmers guided by METTA, my pessimism about Myanmar's rapid reform and opening up and full embrace of economic liberalization regained some hope...
07. NGO mutual assistance and cooperation network: an exclusive interview with Myanmar's Food Security Working Group
In order to broadly understand the current situation of Myanmar's agriculture and farmers, we arranged an interview with the Myanmar Food Security Working Group, which for many years has connected and coordinated various agricultural NGOs and ethnic minorities in Myanmar. Coordinator Dr. Ohnmar introduced the role played by FSWG and Myanmar's agriculture...
08. The sorrow of floating tomatoes on Inlay Lake
Inlay Lake is Myanmar's tourist destination best known to Western countries. Its status is like that of Sun Moon Lake to Taiwan, but its area is far larger than Sun Moon Lake. The floating island agriculture on Inlay Lake is also the world's largest floating agriculture area by size. Farmers spread bottom sediment onto water plants to form floating islands for growing tomatoes and melons...
09. Visiting a market in Myanmar (Part 1)
In this dry season, vegetables are still very abundant. All kinds of eggplant, cauliflower, pumpkin, sweet potato, water spinach, okra, kale, cabbage (but with very thick leaves), cucumber, pea pods, asparagus, loofah, chayote, beetroot, corn, bitter melon, chili, broad beans, Chinese chives, scallions, ginger, garlic, taro, mint leaves, bamboo shoots, Thai basil, radish, and tamarind can all be seen.
10. Visiting a market in Myanmar (Part 2)
According to statistics from Myanmar's Ministry of Commerce, Myanmar's mango export value has exceeded 10 million US dollars in recent years. Among them, the most popular is the Sen Ta Lone variety (literally translated from Burmese as "one diamond," and in the past it was an offering to Myanmar's royal family). If mango is the king of fruits, Sen Ta Lone can be said to be the king of kings.
11. Myanmar flavors
Gazing at this expanse of deep blue from the small window, and at the distant port city of Yangon, I actually did not feel much uncertainty or anxiety. Instead, I thought of the familiar flavors from living in the Huaxin Street area of Zhonghe, New Taipei City, over these three years, and thought of Gong Mama's fish noodle soup (mohinga) and Golden Peacock's Burmese-style curry (h'in) with a cold plate of wild vegetables
12. Who's coming to dinner: being a guest in an ordinary Myanmar home
What do ordinary Myanmar families usually eat at home? Through a roundabout opportunity, we were invited to eat at the home of our friend Soe in Dalah, across the Ayeyarwady River from Yangon. Soe was once a trishaw driver, and after studying English hard, went to work in Singapore...
Myanmar mini profile
Myanmar has an area of 676,577 square kilometers, equivalent to 19 Taiwans. Its population is about 60 million and grows by 1.9% each year. Average GDP per person is only 715 US dollars; 26% of the population lives in poverty...