Myanmar and Laos are cooperating in the agricultural sector and are implementing a project of agricultural center which constitutes part of a four-country cooperation program, the weekly Voice journal reported Monday.

In the Tonpheng Agricultural Center, in addition to two dams built by the Myanmar side, a seed reproduction farm has also been built to undertake production of crop seeds under an economic cooperation program agreed by Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand in 2003, the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation was quoted as saying.

The strategic project, aimed at creating job opportunities in the region, is also known as the Ayeyawaddy-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS).

Myanmar and Laos are also cooperating in other sectors of forestry and marine products and dissemination of technical knowledge under the program, it said.

Myanmar is encouraging both local and foreign investment in agriculture saying that there exists a great deal of land in the country to be utilized for the purpose.

A total of about 18 million hectares of fallow and cultivable waste land are available for agricultural expansion, according to the ministry.

According to official statistics, the agricultural sector accounts for 41.2 percent of Myanmar's national economy and 11 percent of the export.

The agricultural sector grew 11.8 percent in the fiscal year of 2005-06 (April-March).

Source: Xinhua