Sittwe: Bangladesh's ambassador to Burma, Major General Anup Kumar Chakma met Arakanese businessmen in the state capital Sittwe during his visit to the city on 10 May, 2010, said a businessman.

At the meeting, both sides agreed to promote border trade and also to remove some obstacles to help promote border trade between the two neighbours, he said.

Border trade between Burma and Bangladesh has declined as there are less export and import items being exchanged between the two countries daily.

"We submitted to him that we wanted to export salt and rice to Bangladesh, and also told him we want to extend our trade to Chittagong Port, not just Teknaf."

In border trade, Burmese merchants are only able to use the Teknaf border port to transport goods to Bangladesh, and can't utilize Chittagong, the largest port city in the country. The businessmen are keen to access Chittagong Port to expand their business.

"If we get a chance to use the port of Chittagong, we can extend our trade. We are now importing cement from Bangladesh to Burma through Teknaf. We want to import cement through Chittagong Port to save on transportation costs and time. We also plan to import iron for use in construction from Bangladesh, so we need the Chittagong Port to upgrade border trade," the businessman said.

Arakanese businessmen also made a request to the Bangladesh ambassador that they be permitted to import iron for construction from Bangladesh to Burma.

"The ambassador agreed to fulfill our demand regarding border trade and said he would reply after he discussed it with the concerned Bangladesh authorities," he added.

Burma currently exports no more than 10 items to Bangladesh, including turmeric, fish, rice, Zitawfi, cattle, timber, and dried fish. Just cement and orchids or lilies are currently officially imported from Bangladesh to Burma.

After the meeting, the Bangladesh ambassador visited the Bangladesh Consulate in Sittwe.