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National Planning: SG Addresses National Planning Commission Meeting

23 September 2021
17295
2021-09-23 10:23

The Chairman of the National Planning Commission and Chairman of the State Administration Council Prime Minister Senior General Min Aung Hlaing addressed the National Planning Commission meeting 1/2021 in Nay Pyi Taw on Wednesday.

In the meeting, the Senior General stressed that the upmost efforts must be made harmoniously to meet the sector-wise and region-wise targets and export target in the plans and inflow of investment. He also said that the meeting 1/2021 of the National Planning Commission would approve the six-month National Planning bill of the 2021-2022 financial year.

The new financial year will be set from April to March in 2022-2023 financial year.

So, the six-month National Planning Law will be set for six months from October 2021 to March 2022. The government strived for the country to be free from the Least Developed Countries (LDC) status. It is necessary to implement the projects and work procedures to meet the standards for enabling the country to be free from the LDC status.

As the government emphasizes food sufficiency of the entire people, narrowing of the development gap between rural and urban areas and poverty alleviation, relevant Union ministries and region and state governments need to cooperate with each other in the work process.

The Senior General noted that the six-month national plan aims to revitalize the economic and social affairs and contribute to the social-economic development of the people. The Senior General urged region and state authorities to strive for meeting the targets in respective sectors during the six-month project period so as to secure the quick win. It is necessary to produce marketable crops suitable for climatic conditions, apply modern agricultural techniques and technologies, agricultural machinery and prevent dangers of pests in order to implement modern farming.

Agriculturists, breeders and engineers as well as technicians must be turned out continuously. The Senior General stressed the need for an increase of livestock products to be exported for earning income for the State by distributing the pedigree animal species, providing modern livestock systems to the breeders and performing veterinary works.

He also urged those present to utilize the advantages of respective sectors such as agriculture and livestock sectors, industrial and service sectors, one village one product and Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) sectors for the economic development of the respective regions and states.

The Senior General pointed out that it is necessary to create job opportunities for those who returned from foreign countries and strive for re-operating the factories at full capacity. If the cultivation of cotton meets the target of 800,000 acres of land under the farmland policy to produce 800 to 1,000 viss per acre of cotton in order to develop local textile industries based on the cotton yarn and earn income from the export of cotton and cotton products. The Senior General also highlighted the import of fuel and cooking oil and fertilizer, production of edible oils at home, spending of funds on generating electricity and fuel consumption.

It is necessary to strive for the production of value-added products to increase the export volume so as to reduce the trade deficit. If Myanmar can upgrade the industries based on agriculture and livestock farms, the State economy is sure to resurge.

He also stressed the need to emphasize the thrift of finance during the six-month planning period and to spend the fund on purchase of actually needy materials. The public-private partnership programme should be implemented under the rules and regulations and laws for the economic development of the State. The cooperative system must be implemented with the direct participation of the people for the improvement of the rural economy and production.

He also stressed the need for turning out qualified teachers and emerging the developed education system. He urged the concerned officials to research the production of vaccines and medicines against COVID-19 through cooperation among the relevant departments and the Ministry of Health. Preparations must be made for the protection of disaster-hit areas. The Senior General expressed his firm belief that if all the citizens make the utmost efforts for carrying out the development undertakings, Myanmar will be a middle-class country in the ASEAN region within five years and a top country within 10 years.

This meeting continued with discussions on the plans for ministries and regions, political, economic and social stability of the State and improvement of socio-economic status of the people within six months, the resurgence of the economy, thrifty spending of the funds and coordination for implementing the targets of projects.

The six-month national plan (proposal draft) for 2021-2022 financial year, review over the foreign loans of the State and tax matters were also discussed. In his response to the discussions, the Senior General urged the relevant ministries to conduct systematic timber extraction and eliminate the illegal timber extraction and illegal sawmills. He also stressed the need to increase the number of taxpayer people, rather than increasing the tax rate.

Myanmar needs to increase the products for ensuring the economic development of the State so as to reduce the volume of foreign loans. The six-month national plan as a bridge between the current and future financial years is based on the Five-Point Road Map and Nine Objectives of the State Administration Council. Such plans are to recover the economy that deteriorated in the COVID-19 period.

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