Thailand interested in importing avocados from Myanmar

By Admin 18 Oct 2023

DMG Newsroom
18 October 2023, Sittwe

Thailand has offered to buy 90 percent of the avocados produced in Myanmar this year, according to the Myanmar Avocado Producer and Exporter Association (MAVO).
 
Discussions are underway between the junta-appointed Ministry of Commerce and the Thai government to export avocados via the border.
 
“Thailand will import quality avocados from Myanmar. Myanmar will begin exporting avocados to Thailand at the end of October,” said U Kyaw Soe Min, secretary of the Myanmar Avocado Producers and Exporters Association (MAVO).
 
Myanmar produces an average of 3,000 to 5,000 tonnes of avocado per year.
 
Avocados produced in Myanmar this year have been offered for purchase to Thailand as well as India, and avocado growers say they will export to both countries when the avocados are harvested.
 
U Myo Nyunt, founder of the Northern Treasure Company, which produces and sells avocados, said there are still weaknesses in the storage of avocados in order to export them widely to foreign countries.
 
“There is market demand for avocados, but Myanmar is still not able to export as much as expected. The system of avocado cleaning, drying, selecting, packing and sending to cold storage facilities is still weak in Myanmar. If these can be done, Myanmar will be able to export more avocados abroad, and the government should also help them,” he said.
 
U Myo Nyunt continued that Asian countries, as well as Dubai and European countries, have offered to buy avocados from Myanmar, but due to weaknesses related to the production cycle, they still cannot be exported.
 
There are around 25,000 acres of avocado farms in Myanmar. Avocados are mainly grown in Shan State, PyinOoLwin and Mogok in Mandalay Region, Chin and Kachin states, and in the Naga Hills region. Of this, there are reportedly more than 15,000 acres of quality avocados for export.