The Myanmar military regime has restricted exports to Bangladesh through ports after Bangladeshi banks froze the accounts of two Myanmar state banks, according to Anadolu Agency on 9 September, citing media reports.

The Ankara-based news agency also reported that the junta prohibited the export of various food commodities to Bangladesh through the Maungdaw border in Rakhine State after Bangladesh’s Sonali Bank froze the accounts of the Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank and the Myanmar Investment and Commercial Bank, totaling US$1.1 million.

The Sonali Bank issued an official order in late August that asked all commercial banks not to conduct financial transactions with two Myanmar state banks that come under US sanctions, according to a document obtained by Anadolu.

According to figures from the Rakhine State Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RSCC), Myanmar exported US$3.57 million worth of goods and imported $880,000 worth of goods from Bangladesh from April to July this year.

Myanmar’s major export items to Bangladesh are coffee, tea, oil seed, fruits, grains, essential oils, perfumes, cosmetics and toiletries, whilst Bangladesh imports pharmaceutical products, special woven or tufted fabric, lace, tapestry, and inorganic chemicals from Myanmar.

Myanmar’s export to Bangladesh were worth $181.1 Million during 2022, and imports were worth $36.89 million, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade.

Myanmar’s border trade with Bangladesh declined by 60 per cent in April-July, compared with the same period last year after Bangladesh imposed a limit on imports of freshwater fish from Myanmar four months ago.

Bilateral trade between the two neighbouring countries takes place through border trade camps in Maungdaw and Sittwe in Rakhine State.