IN the 2024-2025 financial year, the country earned US$725 mil­lion from marine product ex­ports, while Taninthayi Region exported $303.62 million worth of raw marine products out of these exports, and if these raw products are exported as fin­ished products, it would receive two or three times the foreign income, according to the Tanin­thayi Region Fisheries Feder­ation.

In order to process the fin­ished products, an international standard fish auction market and an industrial zone will be needed in Myeik of Taninthayi Region. Through the processing of fish, prawns, and other aquat­ic products in value-added fac­tories, more local employment opportunities will be created, and the region will also emerge as a major distribution hub for aquatic product exports within the ASEAN region.

"Almost half of the whole exports are being produced in Taninthayi Region. Prawns are exported to China and Japan, and the saltwater products are exported to Thailand. We also communicated with Russia to export the marine products, but we are still estimating, as the journey is very long. If we can export the fish and prawn alive and finished products, we will earn two or three times the foreign income, benefiting the country and business people," said U Thet Soe, secretary of the federation.

There are 1,313 offshore fishing vessels and 68 vessels for carrying aquatic products in Dawei, Myeik and Kawthoung districts and 5,924 onshore fish­ing vessels and 453 vessels for carrying aquatic products in Dawei, Myeik, Kawthoung and Bokpyin districts.

The marine products from Taninthayi Region are trans­ported to Ranong by Hline Phyu vessels, and undergo in­itial check with the FOB sys­tem at the Myeik checkpoint, again at the Kawthoung FOB checkpoint, and are exported to Thailand.

In the 2022-2023 finan­cial year, the country earned $232.189 million with 201,425.442 tonnes of exports, while $253.355 million with 236,746.675 tonnes of exports in the 2023-2024 finan­cial year, and $303.628 million with 285,314.714 tonnes of ex­ports in the 2024-2025 financial year. — Thitsa (MNA)/KTZH