A live crab market has opened in a trade zone in Myanmar's border town of Muse in a bid to boost crab exports, marine industry sources said on Sunday.

The crab market, the first of its kind in Myanmar, was set up by the Crab Entrepreneurs Association and Myanmar Fishery Products and Processors Association, with the aim of stabilizing the crab market prices which fluctuated throughout last year.

Official figures show that 12,000 tons of live crab valued at about 12 million U.S. dollars were exported through Muse check point to neighboring China in the fiscal year 2004-05.

The Myanmar authorities are developing the 150-hectare border trade zone in Muse, which links China's Ruili in Yunnan province, and the zone, also known as the Muse 105 Mile Zone, is to open before February, according to the Directorate of Trade of the Ministry of Commerce.

Once the zone is inaugurated, it will contribute to the development of border trade between Myanmar and China, said the ministry.

Myanmar is also making efforts to transform border trade to normal trade to enhance trade between the two countries.

Meanwhile, as an encouragement to enhance sale of marine products, Myanmar has cut the export tariff of crab to 850 U.S. dollars per ton from 1,000 dollars per ton in 2001.

In Myanmar, crabs are mostly bred in the southwestern Ayeyawaddy division and western Rakhine state and mainly exported to markets in China and Thailand.

Source: Xinhua