CNI News
6 Sept 2022
Border trade with Bangladesh in Maungdaw is likely to come to a halt due to stagnant commodition under transportation restrictions imposed in Maungdaw in Rakhine State, according to merchants in Maungdaw.
As authorities closed Maungdaw-Angumaw Road indefinitely in August, Z-crafts transported trucks along Sittwe-Buthidaung waterway. Two days later, authorities closed the waterway again and trucks cannot travel to Maungdaw.
Therefore, border trade with Bangladesh in Maungdaw is being conducted with goods that have already arrived in the town, U Aung Naing, a merchant in Maungdaw told the CNI.
He said, “We are almost short of goods to be exported. We have to carry out border trade with the stocks we have. On 1st and 2nd September, goods were transported from Buthidaung. Now, the road has been closed for three days. Before 2nd September, trucks could travel from Sittwe checkpoint to Buthidaung jetty. Three days after the Maungdaw-Angumaw road was shut, the route was closed. A cargo boat from Maungdaw runs every other day.”
Goods transported form Yangon and other states and regions are being unloaded at Sittwe Port currently, according to merchants.
A cargo truck in Maungdaw border trading camp.
Border trade with Bangladesh has been delayed because it takes longer to transport goods from merchants in Maungdaw to Sittwe border trading camp, U Aung Naing added.
He told the CNI, “Goods we have already ordered are now unloaded in Sittwe and exported to Bangladesh. Fishery products are also exported from Sittwe to Bangladesh. If we can export goods from Maungdaw to Bangladesh by boat, it takes only one hour to get to Bangladesh. It takes 20 hours to export goods from Sittwe to Bangladesh by sea.”
Through the border trading camp in Maungdaw, Myanmar exported goods worth US$ 2.83 million in May, US$ 2.32 million in June, US$ 1.562 million in July and US$ 1.483 million in 2022.
As goods cannot be transported to Maungdaw, Merchants there face difficulties, Vice Chairman U Aung San Thein of Maungdaw Border Trade Chamber of Commerce told the CNI.
He said, “Goods have not arrived in Maungdaw for two or three days. So, we cannot export goods to Bangladesh. Merchants want to export goods but it is difficult.”
Due to clashes between the military and the AA, transportation routes have been closed indefinitely and export volume to Bangladesh has dropped and merchants think that border trade from Maungdaw will come to a halt soon.
