BurmaNet News September 25, 1995

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The BurmaNet News: September 25, 1995
Issue#237

Noted in Passing:
There are legal matters also that we have to consider... all sorts of
legal matters. - Burmese Minister of National Planning and Economic 
Development David Abel on why the SLORC has not begun a dialogue 
with Aung San Suu Kyi.  (quoted in REUTER: BURMA SAYS LEGAL 
MATTERS DELAY TALKS WITH SUU KYI)


Headlines:
========
IHT: SINGAPORE DOMINATES BURMA'S TOURISM INFRASTRUCTURE
REUTER: BURMA SAYS LEGAL MATTERS DELAY TALKS WITH SUU KYI
REUTER: BURMA SAYS IT WILL JOIN MEKONG RIVER COMMISSION
ASAHI: JAPAN TO GIVE $400,000 TO BURMA
NATION: SLORC CLAIMING PEACE PROGRESS
US SENATE: MCCONNELL AMENDMENT NO. 2753 (Senate - September 21, 1995)
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IHT: SINGAPORE DOMINATES BURMA'S TOURISM INFRASTRUCTURE
September 19, 1995  by Michael Richardson,  "The Australian"
(International Herald Tribune)

     In the presence of Lieutenant General Kyaw Ba, Burma's Minister
for Hotels and Tourism, a prominent Singapore company recently held a
ground breaking ceremony to mark the start of construction work on a
300-room international class hotel in Mandalay, the cultural hub of
northern Burma.
	The building of the Sedona Hotel in Mandalay at a cost of $US33.5
million by the Singapore's government-linked Keppel Group throws the
spot light on efforts by Burma's military rullers to develop tourism,
both for economic and political reasons.
	It also highlights the leading role of Singapore companies among
investors in Burma, especially in the tourism, transport, real estate
and infrastructure sectors.
	The Keppel Group aims to have the new Sedona open at the end of
1996, around the time the Burmese authoriries plan to start their 
Visit Myanmar Year in October for 1996-97 financial year.
	Union of Myanmar was made the country;s official name by the
military regime, known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council,
which took power after crushing prodemocracy demonstrations in 1988.
	Since then, the number of tourists visiting Burma has risen to
close to 100,000 in 1994-95, from 26,000 in 1992-93, according to
government figures. Authorities hoped for 500,000 tourists in the
Visit Myanmar Year.
	Burma has many cultural and scenic attractions but that target
seems unlikely to be met, partly because the country's repressive
political image, especially in the West, and partly because of the
lack of adequate roads, transport, accomodation and other basic
infrastructure.
	General Kyaw Ba referred to the political problem in his speech
at the Sedona's ground breaking ceremony.  "Actually, we could have more 
visitors had some of the foreign media spread the real political situation 
of the country," he said.
     "Because of the misinformation that exaggerates the insurgency,
many foreigners still hold to the impression that Myanmar is
politically unstable and therefore is not a safe place to travel."
	In fact, the military government has in recent years negotiated
ceasefires with more than a dozen ethnic minority insurgent forces,
although some anti-government guerillas still operate in the remote
areas.
	The release by the military of Nobel Peace Prize winner and pro-
democracy leader Ms Aung San Suu kyi in July from six years of house
arrest was calculated to improve Burma's overseas image.
	General Kyaw Ba said Burma was politically stable and "safer than
any other part of the world" for visitors.
	Having the hotels, international-standard airports and expanded
air links is clearly essential to cater for the growing number of
business travellers as well as tourists to Burma.
	The Mandalay Sedona will complement a 450-room Sedona hotel
nearing completion in Rangoon, Burma's capital. That project will cost
the Keppel group about $US80 million.
	Rangoon's first new luxury hotel for business travellers, the
Summit Parkview, was opened last June by another Sigapore consortium
led by the government-linked Singapore Technologies group. The six-
storey, 250-room hotel cost $US40 million.
	Singapore Technologies recently signed a memorandum of under-
standing with Burma's Department of Civil Aviation to design and build
a new international airport near Mandalay capable of handling 
widebodied jets. The contract is worth nearly $US360 million and is scheduled to 
be completed within two years of the final award of the contract, expected
soon.
Recent deals bring Singapore's approved investments in Burma to
about $US2.6 billion, making it by far the largest investor in the 
country. By 1998, five Singapore-owned hotels will account for a third of
Rangoon's hotel rooms.
	But not evryone in convinced that Singapore's tourist, transport
and property development investment in Burma will pay off. Over the
next 24 months, 17 new hotels are scheduled to open in Rangoon alone,
increasing capacity by 5,600 rooms.
	While Burma had about 100,000 foreign visitors last year, Vietnam
had just over 1 million. Yet by the end of 1996, Burma's hotel capcity
will equal that of Vietnam, if all plans are realised, which suggests
there may be many rooms looking for occupants.

[Michael Richardson is editor for Asia of the International Herald
Tribune.]
*************

REUTER: BURMA SAYS LEGAL MATTERS DELAY TALKS WITH SUU KYI
September 20, 1995   (abridged)

      SINGAPORE, Sept 20 (Reuter) - Burma said on Wednesday it would not open
a dialogue with opposition leader and Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi
unless certain ``legal procedures'' were followed. 

    But Burmese Minister of National Planning and Economic Development David
Abel stressed such dialogues would not be the final solution. 

    ``There have been dialogues. In the future there can also be dialogue but
that doesn't resolve the issue,'' he told reporters at a seminar on Burma. 

    ``There are legal matters also that we have to consider... all sorts of
legal matters,'' he said. He declined to elaborate. 
******************************

REUTER: BURMA SAYS IT WILL JOIN MEKONG RIVER COMMISSION

      SINGAPORE, Sept 20 (Reuter) - Burma said on Wednesday it would accept
an invitation to join four other Indochinese nations in jointly tapping the
resources of the Mekong River for economic development. 

    David Abel, Burma's minister of national planning and economic
development, told reporters Rangoon was identifying projects for development
as part of the Mekong River Commission (MRC). 

    But it was unclear when Burma would officially join the MRC, whose
members are Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. China has also been invited
to join. 

    ``We believe that despite having our own national identity, we have one
common aspiration, that is cooperation and development for peace and
stability,'' Abel told a Singapore seminar on the Mekong's development. 

    Cambodia's First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh said the MRC had
outlined a framework for the development of trans-Indochinese highways. 
``We have the time frame, I think we have found the funding,'' he said.
``The idea of the Mekong Six is not a simple concept anymore but a reality.''
But he said much work had to be done, including attracting private-sector
investment in developing key infrastructure projects. 

    The Mekong Six refers to four existing MRC members, along with Burma and
China. 

    The Mekong River rises in Tibet and flows south, passing through southern
China. Along its 4,184-km (2,600-mile) course it serves as the boundary
between Laos and Burma, most of Laos and Thailand, before passing through
Cambodia and southern Vietnam and emptying into the South China Sea. 

    Cambodian officials said priority areas for projects include
hydro-electric power, irrigation, fisheries, navigation and transport. 

***************************

ASAHI: JAPAN TO GIVE $400,000 TO BURMA
September 22, 1995         Asahi Evening News

Rangoon -- Japan will give Burma $400,000 (40 million yen)
to build schools in border areas, official media reported
Thursday.

State-run newspapers said powerful military intelligence leader
Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt made the announcement Wednesday at
the opening ceremony of a school for orphans donated by the
Japanese government.

Japan, once a major donor to Burma, froze all its aid programs
when the military-run State Law and Order Restoration
Council (SLORC) took power in 1988.

Tokyo announced its intention to resume overseas
development aid to Burma in July after the release of
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from nearly six years of
house arrest.


Comments/opinions for the Japanese government? 
Write:     Letters to the Editor
	Asahi Evening News
	Fax: 81+3+3542-6172
******************

NATION: SLORC CLAIMING PEACE PROGRESS
September 24, 1995          Agence France-Presse

RANGOON _ A key member of the Burmese junta has claimed that
"dramatic changes for the better" have taken place in border
regions over the past seven years, leading to ceasefire deals
with armed ethnic groups.

"Even compared with prevailing conditions three years ago, the
development gap between our national races has narrowed down
considerably," official newspapers quoted Lt Gen Khin Nyunt as
telling members of a working committee on Friday.

Khin Nyunt, first secretary of the State Law and Order
Restoration Council (Slorc), said the council "sincerely believes
in the concept of national reconciliation", and is urging other
armed groups still in the jungles to discard their old attitudes.

Insurgency, which has plagued successive governments since Burma
gained independence from the British in 1948 was considered to be
the prime cause for the lack of development in the border
regions.

A total of 15 armed ethnic groups have adopted the "development
for peace" deals with Slorc, with the majority represented at the
national convention which is drafting a constitution purported to
turn Burma into a unified democratic state.

According to a plan evolved in 1992, Slorc has spent an
equivalent of nearly US$475 million for the project which covers
18 "special regions" where 7.5 million of Burma's ethnic people
live.

*****************************************************************
Typed by the Research Department of the ABSDF {MTZ}  24.9.95
*****************************************************************

US SENATE: MCCONNELL AMENDMENT NO. 2753 (Senate - September 21, 1995)


Mr. McCONNELL proposed an amendment to the bill H.R. 1868, supra; as
follows:

AMENDMENT NO. 2753

At the appropriate place in the bill insert the following:


SEC. 2. SANCTIONS AGAINST BURMA .

Except as provided in section 4, the following sanctions shall apply to
Burma , effective 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act (or on
such other date as is specified in this section):

 (1) Investments: No United States national may make any investment in Burma

 (2) United States assistance: United States assistance for Burma is prohibited.

(3) Trade privileges: The President shall continue the suspension of
special trade privileges pursuant to the Generalized System of Preferences
(GSP), and shall continue the suspension of nondiscriminatory trade
treatment (most-favored-nation status), with respect to Burma .

(4) Importation of goods: No article which is produced, manufactured,
grown, or extracted in Burma may be imported into the United States.

(5) Trade and investment treaties: The United States should continue to
suspend carrying out obligations under bilateral trade and investment
treaties with Burma .

(6) Travel restrictions: The Secretary of State shall prohibit the use of
United States passports for travel to Burma except for travel by United
States diplomatic personnel.

 (7) Diplomatic representation: The President is urged not to accept
diplomatic representation from Burma at a level greater than the level of
diplomatic representation accorded the United States in Burma .

(8) Foreign assistance: The United States shall suspend assistance under
the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Arms Export Control Act to any
foreign government which sells or otherwise transfers arms to the
Government of Burma .

(9) International organizations contributions: The United States shall
withhold from each international organization that funds activities in
Burma other than humanitarian activities an amount equal to the United
States proportionate share of that funding.

 (10) Multilateral assistance: The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct
the United States executive director of each financial institution to vote
against any loan or other utilization of the funds of the respective bank
to or for Burma .

 (11) Eminent persons group: The President, acting through the United States
Permanent Representative to the United Nations, should urge the United
Nations to establish an eminent persons group to report on compliance by
the Government of Burma with United Nations resolutions.

 (12) International arms embargo: The President, acting through the United
States Permanent Representative to the United Nations, should urge the
establishment by the United Nations of an international arms embargo of
Burma .


SEC. 3. AGREEMENTS TO IMPOSE SANCTIONS ON BURMA .

(a) Negotiations With Trading Partners:

(1) In general: Not later than 15 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the President shall initiate negotiations with all foreign
countries with which the United States trades for the purpose of entering
into agreements with the countries--

(A) to support United States sanctions against Burma , and
 (B) to cease trade with and investment in Burma .

(2) Certification of negotiations and agreements: Not later than 90 days
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall certify to
the Congress each country that--

(A) has failed to enter into an agreement described in paragraph (1), or
 (B) has entered into such an agreement but is not enforcing it.

 (3) Action by the president: Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if
a certification is made with respect to any country under paragraph (2) the
President shall withdraw--

 (A) any designation of such country--
 (i) as a beneficiary developing country for purposes of title V of the
Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.),

(ii) as a beneficiary country for purposes of the Caribbean Basin Economic
Recovery Act (19 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.), or

 (iii) as a beneficiary country for purposes of the Andean Trade Preference
Act (19 U.S.C. 3201 et seq.),

 (B) from such countries the benefits of any other special tariff treatment
program under which the special rates of duty apply under column 1 of the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, and

 (C) most-favored-nation trade treatment with respect to any such country.
 (b) Applicability:


 (1) In general: The provisions of this section apply to goods entered, or
withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, originating in or imported from a
country with respect to which an action described in subsection (a)(3) has
been taken, during the period beginning on the date that is 15 days after
the date of the certification described in subsection (a)(2) and ending on
the date that is 15 days after the earlier of--

(A) the date the President certifies to the Congress that such country has
entered into an agreement described in subsection (a)(1) and is enforcing
the agreement, or

(B) the date a certification described in section 4 is made.

(2) Rate of duty during period designation is withdrawn: During the period
described in paragraph (1), goods entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for
consumption, originating in or imported from a country described in
subsection (a)(3) shall be subject to duty at the rates of duty specified
for such goods under column 2 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States.

SEC. 4. CERTIFICATION.

The sanctions of section 2 shall not apply upon the determination and
certification by the President to the appropriate congressional committees
that the following conditions are met:

(1) The Government of Burma has unconditionally released all political
prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi.

(2) The Government of Burma has fully implemented the results of the 1990
elections in Burma , including the transfer of power to civilian authority,
the protection of basic human rights, and guaranteeing the right of Burmese
citizens to participate freely in the political process, assuring freedom
of speech and the right of association and assembly.

(3) The Government of Burma has implemented an effective counternarcotics
effort.


SEC. 5. SANCTIONS AGAINST THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.

The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States executive
director of each multilateral financial institution to vote against any
loan or other utilization of the facilities of the respective institution
to or for the People's Republic of China until the President determines and
certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that the People's
Republic of China has terminated arms sales and other arms transfers to
Burma .


SEC. 6. SANCTIONS AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT OF THAILAND.

The President shall withhold all United States assistance to the Government
of Thailand until the President determines and certifies to the appropriate
congressional committees that the Government of Thailand is fully
cooperating in providing support and relief for Burmese exiles and refugees.


SEC. 7. REPORT.

Not later than 45 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the
President shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees
on--

 (1) the chemical and biological weapons capability of Burma ;

 (2) a plan to provide United States assistance in support of the democracy
movement active inside Burma ;

(3) the treatment by the Government of Thailand of Burmese students,
refugees, and exiles resident in Thailand; and

(4) the status of arms sales and other arms transfers to the Government of
Burma , including the amount of expenditures by the Government of Burma in
the acquisition of arms.

SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

As used in this Act:
 (1) Appropriate congressional committees: The term `appropriate
congressional committees' means the Committee on Appropriations and the
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on
Appropriations and the Committee on International Relations of the House of
Representatives.

(2) Investment: The term `investment' includes any contribution or
commitment of funds, commodities, services, patents, processes, or
techniques, in the form of--

(A) a loan or loans;
 (B) the purchase of a share of ownership;
 (C) participation in royalties, earnings, or profits; and
 (D) the furnishing of commodities or services pursuant to a lease or other
       contract.

(3) Humanitarian activities: The term `humanitarian activities' means the
provision of food, medicine, medical supplies, or clothing and does not
include cash transfers.

 (4) Financial institutions: The term `financial institutions' includes the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International
Development Association, the Asian Development Bank, and the International
Monetary Fund.

 (5) United States assistance: The term `United States assistance' means
assistance of any kind which is provided by grant, sale, loan, lease,
credit, guaranty, or insurance, or by any other means, by any agency or
instrumentality of the United States Government to any foreign country,
including--

 (A) assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (including programs
under title IV of chapter 2 of part I of the Act);

(B) sales, credits, and guaranties under the Arms Export Control Act (22
U.S.C. 2751 et seq.);

(C) sales under title I (7 U.S.C.A. 1701 et seq.) or III (17 U.S.C.A. 1727
et seq.) and donations under title II (17 U.S.C.A. 1721 et seq.) of the
Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 of nonfood
commodities;

(D) other financing programs of the Commodity Credit Corporation for export
sales of nonfood commodities; and

(E) financing under the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 (12 U.S.C.A. 635 et
seq.).