RANGOON — Per January 1, the Ministry of Commerce will require car importers to apply for import
licenses prior to shipping as part of a government effort to reduce the storage of vehicles at
Thilawa Port, state media announced on Wednesday.
Thousands of cars have been parked for months at the port area because importers tend to wait with
seeking a license and picking up cars until they have found buyers for their vehicles, according to
ministry officials cited in The Global New Light of Myanmar.
Currently, importers are allowed to ship in cars to Thilawa Port and apply for an import license
upon arrival of their vehicles, which in the meantime can be parked at docks. Parking cars at the
port benefits some of the importers as they lack storage space or a showroom.
“Though some people have received a [import] permit from the ministry, they didn’t pick up their
cars from the docks. Also, some importers keep their cars there while correcting their import permit
submissions, so there are many cars crowding the docks,” a Commerce Ministry official was quoted
as telling state media.
Once an import license is granted, a car has to be picked up from the port area within three months,
or customs authorities may impound the vehicle. Authorities hope that by requiring importers to
apply for licenses prior to shipping, car dealers would pick up the vehicles sooner.
Myo Zin Win, the general secretary of Myanmar Car Dealers Association, estimated that currently some
6,000 vehicles have been parked for months at Thilawa Port. He said both local car dealers as well
as foreign-owned businesses were contributing to the problem.
Most cars imported into Burma are second-hand vehicles from Japan, which are popular due to their
quality and affordability.
Myo Zin Win said many of the parked vehicles were being imported by Pakistani businessmen based in
Japan, adding that they would register as a Burmese company with the help of a local business
partner. These importers, he claimed, often lack storage facilities for cars and prefer to keep them
at Thilawa Port.
“Many foreigners import many cars from Japan first, and then they don’t pick them up from the
docks while they look for buyers,” he said, adding that these businesses were involved as car
import requirements are less strict for foreigners than for Burmese nationals.
Source : http://www.irrawaddy.org/
