Lu Htet Naing, Narinjara News, 10 October 2024

The border trade stations in Sittwe Town, whichis still governed by the military junta, and Maungdaw Town in Arakan State havehalted trading as a result of the worsening armed conflict, according to areport released on October 4 by the Institute for Strategy and Policy - Myanmar(ISP - Myanmar).

ISP-Myanmar claims that in the three yearsafter the coup, trade from the Maungdaw border station reached a meager $0.03million, while trade from the border station in Sittwe Town totaled only $0.32million.

Operations at the Maungdaw station, which is a significantsource of foreign revenue by facilitating trade between Bangladesh and Arakan,have been suspended because of the continuous conflict.

The only area left for the Arakan Army (AA) totake control of is the junta's 5th Border Guard Police Battalion (NaKhaKha-5)in Maungdaw District.

The Maungdaw border trade station and the otherremaining regions are under the control of the AA.

Due to the ongoing fighting, the border tradingstation Sittwe has suspended operations but is still under the jurisdiction ofthe military junta.

Furthermore, ISP-Myanmar disclosed that themilitary regime gave up control of five border trade stations that brought in$9.48 billion in revenue in the three years following the coup. Thesefacilities were shut down in response to Operation 1027.

The border trading stations of Lwegel, ChinShwe Haw, Mese, Rih, and Muse are among them.

In addition, ISP-Myanmar reported that in thethree years following the coup, the formal legal trade value of the 17 bordertrade stations has surpassed $22 million daily.

Among these, the Nabule/Htee Khee station onthe Myanmar-Thailand border recorded the highest trade, averaging $6.69 milliondaily.

The closing of the border trade posts hasresulted in tax revenue losses for the military junta, according to Arakanesetraders, who are also complaining about significant financial losses.

These numbers, which were calculated from theoverall border commerce value reported by the military junta between February2021 and June 2024, show the average daily border trade value at each station.

Photo: Kanyin Chaung Economic Zone in Maungdaw.(old photo)