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Reuters-Myanmar minister woos Thai



Myanmar minister woos Thai cooperation on gems 
08:53 a.m. Sep 09, 1998 Eastern 

BANGKOK, Sept 9 (Reuters) - The commerce minister of cash-strapped Myanmar
called on Wednesday for Thai help to develop his country's gemstone
industry. 



Brigadier General Kyaw Than said in a speech at the opening of the biannual
Bangkok Gems and Jewellery Fair that cooperation in the industry would be
mutually beneficial. 



``You will be well aware that the best jade, the best rubies and the best
pearls come from Myanmar,'' he said. 



``As we are the main supplier of gems, jade and pearls it would be
beneficial for both Myanmar and Thailand to cooperate with each other,
because you have an export market already. 



``Myanmar is very rich in natural resources, but we are in need of
technology, which you can provide us and you have expertise in marketing,''
he said. 



``If we cooperate with each other, it would be beneficial for both
countries -- for the private sector here and the government sector and the
private sector in Myanmar also.'' 



Myanmar's military government is desperate for foreign funds to help shore
up an ailing economy. 



Diplomats and economists in Yangon, the capital of Myanmar, say its foreign
reserves were recently estimated to be as low as $100 million, or one month
of imports. 



The government is wrestling with soaring inflation, a plummeting currency
and an increasingly assertive opposition movement. 



Last Friday the World Bank, one of the world's lenders of last resort, said
it would not consider giving Yangon any more money because it had defaulted
on repayments of past loans.