More Chinese investments approved in Kachin State

By Admin 10 Aug 2023

DMG Newsroom
10 August 2023, Sittwe

Two China-Myanmar joint ventures have been granted permission to invest in three agricultural projects in Kachin State, northern Myanmar, according to the state investment committee.

Sanyaung Myanmar Investment Company and Sin Xin Myanmar Myitkyina Company were approved earlier this month to grow macadamia, rubber and passion fruit. It is not yet known when those projects will begin, said an official from the Kachin State investment committee.

“Those projects will provide jobs for around 1,500 people,” he claimed.

According to the investment commission, US$780,000 will be invested in growing macadamia and passion fruits, and US$100,000 will be invested in growing rubber.

China and Thailand are the major buyers of macadamia and passion fruits grown in Myanmar, with a kilogramme selling for 28,000 kyats, according to merchants.

There are 850,000 acres of rubber plantations in Myanmar, with annual production of over 300,000 tonnes of rubber. Around 75 percent of production is sold to China. On the domestic market, one pound of rubber sells for between 1,300 and 1,700 kyats.

“I doubt Chinese projects will benefit local people,” said Putao resident Ko Brang Shaung. “[Chinese business owners] encouraged [local Kachin people] to grow many acres of a type of spice at the Putao border, saying that they would buy it. Then, China [Chinese buyers] offered low prices. Kachin [growers] have suffered.”

Chinese-linked companies have made significant investments in the agricultural sector in Kachin State.