Myanmar’s border trade with Bangladesh slumps

By Admin 27 Jun 2023

DMG Newsroom
27 June 2023, Maungdaw

Myanmar’s border trade with Bangladesh has declined after Dhaka limited its imports from Myanmar through Arakan State, according to officials of the border trade camps.

Myanmar exports rice, onion, betel nut, coconut, ginger, fish, prawn and crab to Bangladesh through its border trade camps in Arakan State. Since early June, Bangladesh has suspended imports of all products from Myanmar except ginger and garlic.

“A shipment of betel nuts has arrived at the Bangladeshi side of the border. But they were not allowed to be loaded onto trucks [to proceed to their intended destination]. The shipment gets stuck there. We still don’t know how long the ban will last,” said official U Aung Myint Thein of the Kanyin Chaung border trade camp in Maungdaw.

Myanmar’s military regime planned to export US$1 million worth of goods to Bangladesh, and imported US$30,000 worth of goods from Bangladesh in June through the Maungdaw border trade camp, for the total trade value of US$1.03 million.

“The trade volume has declined due to restrictions,” said U Tin Aung Oo, chairman of the Arakan State Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Merchants exporting coconuts to Bangladesh are suffering as they have been forced to offload their stocks on domestic consumers at steeply discounted prices, said coconut dealer U Tun Win from Manaung.

“We have not been able to export coconut for a month now. So, we have to sell coconuts to Yangon at half price,” he said.

Myanmar primarily exports marine and agricultural products to Bangladesh through the border trade camps in Maungdaw and Sittwe, and mostly imports building materials.