Narinjara News

Bangladesh Ministers visited Burmese ships

Teknaf, November 12: Two ministers of the Bangladesh government, accompanied by local officials, visited the Burmese cargo ships, docked at the Teknaf Port, which were unloading fish exported from Burma to Bangladesh, according to local reporter from border area.

On the 5th of November 2003, the Minister of Shipping, Mr Akbar Hossain and the Minster of Communications, Mr Salahudin Ahmed led the local MP, Shahjahan Chowdhury, President of Bangladesh Ports Authority, Shamser Uddin Ahmed, and other officials on the visit. 

The visit was part of a ceremony, which saw the control of the port being transferred from the public sector to private companies.  In order to improve efficiency in handling cargos and to increase profits, the Bangladesh government privatised Teknaf Port.

The US has imposed and is continuing trade sanctions against the Military Junta ever since it detained Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. 

This has resulted in the cessation of fish exports from Burma to the US and has also led to demands for fish from other Asian countries to fall, leaving more fish for the Bangladesh market. 

Before the sanctions, a kilogram of prawns in Sittwe markets was priced at more than 20,000 kyats, but now it is less than 10,000 kyats.  Hence, the majority of fish exports goes to Bangladesh and the Teknaf Port is jammed with Burmese cargo ships loaded with fish.

The main fish trading port, Teknaf, only made 280 million Taka of revenue the whole of last year, while within the first four weeks of this financial year has already made 150 million Taka, according to the Chittagong Taxation Commissioner, Sawar Jahan.#

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