Fishery products worth $ 6.84 million will be exported to Bangladesh through the Maungdaw trade zone on the western border in the 2008-2009 fiscal year according to a projection by the Burmese government, said a representative of the trade zone administration.

"Maritime resources worth $ 5.27 million have already been exported to Bangladesh through the Maungdaw trade zone till September 15. It accounts for 81.25 per cent of the total target for the export of maritime resources to Bangladesh," he said.

The most common maritime exports to Bangladesh through the Maungdaw trade zone are fresh fish, dry fish, and shrimp.

There are three maritime resource export zones in Arakan state and a combined total worth nearly $10 million is exported to Thailand and Bangladesh.

"We hope over $ 39 million worth of maritime resources can be exported to Thailand and Bangladesh from the three maritime resource export zones of Thandwe, Sittwe, and Maungdaw in Arakan State," the official added.

According to local business sources, the fishery products from the Thandwe export zone are being exported to Thailand via the Kaw Thaung - Ranoung fishery sectors this year.

A report from the government maritime resource department said that $ 0.21 million worth of fish and shrimp were exported to Thailand from the Thandwe fishery zone from April 1 to August 30, 2008.

The authorities expect $ 1.75 million in maritime products to be exported to Thailand from the Thandwe export zone through the southern border. The products are being exported to Thailand using the FOB system.

"The government proclaimed that the maritime sector in Arakan State has been improving every year, but our standard of living has not changed and we are just as poor as 50 years ago," a fishery worker from Sittwe said.