Salt produced in Arakan State will be exported to Bangladesh this year for the first time in more than a decade, according to those engaging in salt production.

Bangladesh and the military regime reached an agreement in March 2022 that will see salt from Arakan State shipped to the South Asian country.

The chairman of the Arakan State Salt Farmers Association, U Than Win, said that it is not yet known how many tonnes of salt will be exported, as it depends on the quality of the salt.

“If the quality of the salt is good, Bangladesh has offered to buy it from Arakan State. We have to produce good quality salt,” he said.

From 1993 to 2004, nearly 150,000 tonnes of salt were exported from Arakan State to Bangladesh, but the purchases were stopped for a variety of reasons for several years thereafter.

In 2012, Bangladesh bought 30,000 tonnes of salt from Arakan State, but that was the last purchase made until this most recent deal because the salt was deemed of insufficient quality.

U Maung Tun Win, a local salt farmer from Shwenyoma Village, Kyaukphyu Township, said that if the salt produced in Arakan State is exported to Bangladesh once again, there will be more people working in the salt industry and the acreage of salt farms will increase.

“If the government allows the direct export of salt to the Bangladesh market, the people of Arakan will also benefit,” he said.

Bangladesh consumes nearly 1 million tonnes of salt annually, but the country can only produce about 300,000 tonnes of salt per year, according to the Arakan State Salt Farmers Association.

Salt farmers in Arakan State say they need loans, technologies and markets to rejuvenate the local salt industry.