Maungdaw border trade suffers 90% decline as junta blockade continues: merchants

By DMG 02 Nov 2022

DMG Newsroom
2 November 2022, Maungdaw

Myanmar’s border trade with Bangladesh via Maungdaw has declined by almost 90 percent since the military regime imposed travel restrictions in mid-August along the Agnumaw-Maungdaw road, a key route for border commerce with Bangladesh, according to traders in Maungdaw.

The border trade has dropped steadily since the regime blocked multiple transportation routes in the northern Arakan State starting August 13.

Export earnings through Maungdaw have declined from some US$1.5 million per month previously to around US$150,000 now, according to the chairman of the Maungdaw Border Trade Association, U Aung Myint Thein.

“Over the past few months, we exported one vessel of goods to Maungdaw per week. Now, it is one vessel in two weeks. And I’m afraid the export volume may further decline to one vessel per month, and then totally halt,” he said.

Though the Maungdaw border trade camp is open currently, it is only exporting existing stocks, and exports will halt once those stocks run out, according to business owners from Maungdaw. The border trade will come to a complete standstill if the existing travel restrictions continue, they warn.

The Myanmar military has also imposed tight restrictions on waterways in the region.

The junta’s travel restrictions mean goods from Sittwe barely arrive in Maungdaw, whether for export or local use and consumption, said merchants from Maungdaw.

“As goods do not arrive in Maungdaw, our businesses are not operating. There is no flow of commodities here,” said one border trader.

Traders and cargo workers who are dependent on the border trade for their livelihoods are suffering as a result. Some workers have quit, according to business owners in Maungdaw.

“Business is slow due to the blockade. The greater the restrictions are, the worse the impacts will be. We will continue to suffer as long as travel restrictions are in place,” said a border trader from Sittwe.

Myanmar primarily exports ginger, onion, pepper, plum jam, and fisheries products to Bangladesh.