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Business Trip: Burma/Myarmar Forum



 .c Kyodo News Service    

BANGKOK, Oct. 10 (Kyodo) - Three former high-ranking U.S. officials will
visit Myanmar next week to discuss trade and investment in the country with
the ruling junta, a Thai diplomat said Friday. 

The diplomat, who requested that he not be named, told Kyodo News the trip
will be sponsored by the Washington-based Burma-Myanmar Forum, an
organization which played a vital role in lobbying Washington not to impose
sanctions on current American investment in Myanmar. 

The White House in April halted new U.S. investment in Myanmar as a
punishment for Rangoon's human rights violations. 

In Rangoon, the three retired officials will meet with high-ranking officials
of the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) to discuss
economic issues. 

The United States harvests much benefit from American corporations doing
business in Myanmar, such as oil companies Unocal and Texaco. 

The three retired officials -- Michel Armacost, former ambassador to the
Philippines and Japan, Richard Armitage, ex-senior assistant secretary of
defense for international security affairs, and Morton Abramowitz, former
ambassador to Thailand -- will leave the U.S. at the weekend and are
scheduled to visit Singapore Oct. 12-14, Myanmar Oct. 14-16, and Thailand
Oct. 17-18, said the diplomat. 

They will visit Thailand and Singapore to seek the two countries' advice on
the political situation in Myanmar. 

''The delegation would like to collect information on the political situation
in Myanmar from Thailand and Singapore's point of view to take as a factor
when considering doing business in Myanmar,'' the diplomat added. 

During their stay in Thailand, they will meet with Deputy Foreign Minister
Pitak Intharawittayanant and senior officials at the Foreign Ministry, while
in Singapore they will also meet with senior officials. They also plan to
seek meetings with U.N. representatives and nongovernmental organization
(NGO) officials in both countries. 

AP-NY-10-10-97 0938EDT