Myanmar's Rubber Export Declines

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   Myanmar's Rubber Export Declines

Xinhua, Rangoon, 6 October 2000.Myanmar exported 13,700
tons of raw rubber in the first six months of 2000, an 8.6-percent
drop compared with the same period of 1999, according to the
latest data published by the country's Central Statistical Organization.

The export earning from raw rubber in the six-month period was
registered at 7.7 million U.S. dollars, increasing, however, by 11. 5
percent compared with the corresponding period of 1999.

Meanwhile, during the half-year period, Myanmar increased import of
rubber manufactures, buying 21.8 million dollars of such products.
The import figure for the same period of 1999 stood at 13.7 million dollars.

Myanmar has been striving to extend the cultivated areas of rubber
which is one of its industrial crops.

According to official statistics, the country cultivates 127, 068
hectares of rubber annually and it targets to extend the areas to 190,350
hectares by this year.