Must prepare to derive benefit of border trade
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: March 03, 2023 -

AS Manipur is yet to have any industries capable of producing goods which could be marketed in other parts of the country or exported to its international neighbours, it obvious that businessmen and enterprises from other states have been deriving benefits of the Indo-Myanmar border trade agreement.

For equitable trade and commerce activities at the international level, abundant industrial and agricultural outputs, apart from tourism potential, are being acknowledged as some important factors, which Manipur is bereft of since time immemorial.

Though the current volume of trading is notably sluggish owing to the geo-political instability in Myanmar, return of normalcy in the neighbouring country is unlikely to make much of a difference to Manipur other than ensuring regular income for the small-time traders and, hopefully, steady flow of tourists.

Markets in Imphal flooded with various goods originating from Southeast Asian countries also testify that the state has been only serving as the corridor for bulk transportation of legitimate goods and export of tradable items with Guwahati as the operational hub.

There is no denying the fact that protracted restive situation in Myanmar coupled with the Covid pandemic-induced restrictions on border trade and commerce activities has seriously affected Moreh town, which used to be the commercial hotspot.

Moreover, compared to the small-time traders of Manipur yearning for full-throttle trading, the Myanmar situation is being construed as one of the factors for the Mizoram government to reach out to its international neighbour Bangladesh and sign pacts to promote people-to-people contact and strengthen cross border trading.

As commented in this column earlier, the Mizoram government is persistently exploring all options to take full advantage of its proximity with immediate international neighbours Bangladesh and Myanmar, whereas Manipur, which also shares the border with Myanmar, has not only faltered in taking advantage of being the gateway to south-east Asia but also seems to be simply waiting for command from New Delhi to translate the potentials into profit or looking forward to the military junta to fully resume the border trade in Moreh sector.

As such, there is no element of surprise when Congress MLA K Meghachandra expressed disappointment that the Indo-Myanmar border trade, in-spite of its potential to enhance livelihood and business opportunities for youth of the state, is benefitting only the outsiders.

While it would be grossly unfair to grieve over non-Manipuris feasting on the opportunity as import and export of legitimate goods are carried out with adherence to the agreement signed, Meghachandra’s suggestion that the government should take up special policies for enabling the local youth to derive benefits from the new opportunities instead of just becoming labourers should be accorded importance.

It is also recommended that subject experts be consulted with to find means and ways to improve trade and commerce and establish better connectivity with Myanmar as well as identify the bottlenecks.

As barring the so-called outsiders from the Indo-Myanmar trade pact through the Moreh route is not plausible, the state government may also propose for setting up border Haats, also referred to as rough-and-ready markets, to allow local people to trade in locally-grown agricultural and manufactured items along the border, for the sustenance of small-time business persons.