There are some important issues to address in the investment of shrimp farming by foreign investors in Myanmar, as identified during farm visits and interviews with future and present investors.
The situation where takeover by a hostile government in the future is a distinct possibility or where the political climate is so unstable or unpredictable that no long range projections can be made short of intuitive guesses. Investors are afraid to invest for the time being.
Shrimp disease is one of the most important constraints to the investors. So far, Myanmar appears to have remained free from disease even though their neighbours, Bangladesh and Thailand are facing viral disease problems.
Investors were complaining that the premium for land is very steep. And also the land aliented could not be used as collateral for obtaining finance from local banks.
Since most of the shrimp farms are located at Rakhine State or at the Southern part of Myanmar, the cost of transporting to Yangon is very high and this will reduce the profit margin of the investors.
There are no direct shipment facilities from major towns other than Yangon. According to exporters, it causes the freight costs relatively higher and also the shipment schedules are not very frequent.
The total production of post larvae for culturing are limited. There would appear to be a prospect to import substantial quantities of shrimp post larvae as local hatcheries can't supply the required numbers.
