Rakhine merchants urge to let trade resume on Bangladesh border

As a part of measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19, border trade between Bangladesh and Myanmar has been halted for the past eight months – a move which local Rakhine merchants have asked to reconsider.

Local Rakhine traders urged the State government to resume the border trade, reports Myanmar Times.

Chair of the Maungdaw Border Trade Chamber of Commerce U Aung Myint said that even before being halted due to Covid-19, the border trade between Myanmar and Bangladesh stopped in May and resumed briefly in July earlier.

According to the local traders, the main exports of Myanmar are locally-produced onion, dried fish and marine products.

As Maungdaw border trade centre is situated in the town area, it is not appropriate to trade during the pandemic and it has been thinking to trade via Kanyin Chaung trading zone, one and a half-mile away from Maungdaw town, he said.

U Aung Myint Thein said that if the trade resumes, there will responsibilities that will have to be taken by traders and state government.

If Myanmar approves the resumption of the border trade, it has to inform Bangladesh government too, aside from informing the traders on both sides of the border.