Japanese business group to help Bur

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BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific - Political
May 29, 2001, Tuesday

Japanese business group to help Burma develop IT software industry

SOURCE: Kyodo News Service, Tokyo, in English 1204 gmt 29 May 01
Text of report in English by Japanese news agency Kyodo

Yangon Rangoon , 29 May: The Japan Federation of Economic Organizations
(Keidanren) agreed Tuesday 29 May to help Myanmar Burma establish an
information technology (IT) software industry, a joint communique said.

In a joint communique issued at the close of a two-day Myanmar-Japan
joint economic conference, Japan's most powerful business organization
expressed its readiness "to offer any possible assistance to cooperate
and establish the software industry in Myanmar".

The communique said that both sides called for more cohesive economic
and technical cooperation among the developed and developing countries
of Asia to enable developing countries to benefit from globalization.

It said the Myanmar side "reiterated the importance of IT development
in the development process".

The communique noted that Keidanren urged the junta to improve
investment conditions.

It said that the junta promised to take steps to build investor
confidence "in every area of investment".

Foreign direct investment to Myanmar has fallen sharply since
the Asian economic crisis started in 1997.

The communique said that the Japanese side agreed to a
Myanmar request that the number of Myanmar students trained
in Japan be increased.

The conference was co-chaired by Iwao Toriumi, chairman of
Keidanren's Myanmar-Japan joint economic committee and Brig-Gen
David Abel, minister in the Office of the Chairman of the State
Peace and Development Council.