Myanmar Prime Minister General Soe Win has stressed that more assistance is to be rendered to the private sector for the country's industrial development.

Soe Win was quoted by the Saturday's official newspaper The New Light of Myanmar in his opening speech at an industrial development coordination meeting here on Friday that the private sector plays an important role in speeding up the development momentum of industry.

He disclosed that the private sector contributed 90 percent to the country's industrial sector in 2002-03, 92 percent in 2003-04 and over 93 percent in 2004-05.

It is necessary to fully operate the existing old and new factories and to build more, he said, stressing that private industries are required to improve in quantity as well as in quality with the use of advanced technologies.

Cooperative efforts between the state and the private sector are to be exerted for the emergence of an industrial nation, he urged.

Myanmar's industrial sector increased with an average of 24.4 percent in the previous four fiscal years and the private industrial sector has increased to more than 23 percent in 2002-03, 30 percent in 2003-04 and 25 percent in 2004-05, he said, adding that Myanmar's industrial sector accounts for about 11 percent in the country's gross domestic products (GDP).

Source: Xinhua