Myanmar has been a timber producing and exporting country for decades but now this nation has decided to start importing timber in order to protect its diminishing forests. Mr. Kyaw Aw, the Long a timber-producing and exporting country, Myanmar will start importing wood to protect its forests while allowing local timber companies to continue operating, the government has decided. U Kyaw Zaw, Director of the Office of the Minister for Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation has stated that a plan permitting the import of raw timber from other countries has been approved. Myanmar stopped exporting timber to other countries earlier in the financial year 2014-15 though logging operations within the country were continued.

For the current financial year, logging has been temporarily banned and domestic demand for timber will be met through existing teak and hardwood stocks. The local timber traders are in favor of importing logs as the existing stock is not going to be sufficient to meet their needs. Additionally, some of the timber bought from other countries is cheaper than the domestically produced logs. Myanmar Government has considered their demands and is willing to import timber from overseas. This ban on logging is only temporary though and is expected to resume in the 2017-18 financial year.