Irrawaddy-Feb 8
Myanmar’s trade with Thailand has steeply declined since the 2021 coup as the junta imposes restrictions to prevent weapons from reaching resistance forces. Border trade declined from over US$4 billion in 2019-20 to $3.6 billion in the 2022-23 financial year, which ends on March 31, according to the junta’s Ministry of Commerce. Goods sold in the Thai border town of Mae Sot are largely out of stock across the frontier in Myawaddy because traders can only import if they also export to Thailand, according to a trader in Myawaddy.
“I have got all the documents needed to import fertilizers. But I can’t import because I am running a trade deficit of about 4 million baht [$119,000]. We haven’t made exports of that value. It is causing delays. Many other traders are facing the same problems,” the trader told The Irrawaddy. The regime imposed restrictions, including that the value of imports and exports must be equal, and the payments must be made in dollars or baht through a junta-controlled bank. It has also required traders to seek approval from Myanmar’s Food and Drug Administration to import and export. Meanwhile, trade is often delayed by frequent fighting along the border. Traders also have to pay high taxes along The junta closed the Thai border at Htee Khee in Tanintharyi Region in April last year after a resistance attack on a police station on the Dawei-Htee Khee road. Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmars-trade-with-thailand-slumps-since-coup.html
