The First Meeting for the Union of Myanmar Trade Development Project Committee held on 30th July 2015
The first meeting of the Trade Development Programme Project Committee was held at the Building No.3, Ministry of Commerce, NayPyi Taw on 30th July 2015. U NyuntAUng, Director General of the Department of Trade chaired the meeting and the committee members from line ministries, the representatives from EU and GIZ participated in the meeting.
Mr. Frits Hendriks, the Team Leader of the Technical Assistance Team, and Mr. Stephen Roberts, the senior expert on food safety and SPS, presented the highlights of the Inception Report and the Work Plan. The Inception Report is divided into a number of more general and administrative chapters and the technical chapter that contains a broad range of activities that are planned for the coming period. It was pointed out that the list is still based on the initial planning for a six-month period, but that due to the agreed meeting schedule of the Project Committee, the planning periods are now reduced to four months.
With the acceptance of the Inception Report, the participants also agree with the proposed recommendations formulated in the report.
Moreover, the participants also understand that with the approval of the Inception Report the line ministries can now contact and work directly with the TDP Team on all activities related to their fields of interest but need to share information to the focal ministry. The line ministries should take responsibility for issuing letters of invitation for the visa applications of TDP experts, which would increase the efficiency of implementation.
Mr. Frits Hendriks gave a short reference to two GIZ regional projects. One is in the area of competition policy, where cooperation and coordination with TDP has been established. The other regional project deals among others with trade in services, but this project has only recently started.