The New Light of Myanmar (Wednesday, 20 February, 2002)(1/3)

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The New Light of Myanmar (Wednesday, 20 February, 2002)(1/3)

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1. Senior General Than Shwe addresses USDA Special General
   Meeting (2002)
2. - Patron of the Union Solidarity and Development Association
     Senior General Than Shwe addresses the USDA Special General
     Meeting (2002)
3. Minister receives Malaysia guests
4. - Myanma buckwheat exported to Japan
   - Commander inspects construction of Loinanpha Dam
5. Minister tours Kachin State, Sagaing Division
Commander looks into construction of sluice gate
6. - Myanmar Fishery and Livestock Fair 2002 continues
   - Commander visits Pulp Factory Project
7. Pilgrim group of Mongmao region visit famous pagodas
8. - Wellwishers invited for sinking tube-wells
   - Collective donation of blood
9. - Myanmar trounces Vietnam 6-2
   - 2,933 drug-related cases exposed in 2001

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( 1 ) Senior General Than Shwe addresses USDA Special General Meeting (2002)

Yangon, 19 Feb-The first day session of the Special General Meeting of the
Union Solidarity and Development Association (2002) was held at the
Pyidaungsu Hall of the USDA Executives' Management Training Centre of the
Central Public Relations Unit in Hmawby, here, this morning, with an address
by Patron of the USDA Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council
Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Senior General Than Shwe.

Also present were members of the Panel of Patrons of USDA (Central)
Vice-Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Deputy
Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Commander-in-Chief (Army) General
Maung Aye and Secretary-1 of the State Peace and Development Council Lt-Gen
Khin Nyunt, members of the State Peace and Development Council,
Commander-in-Chief (Navy) Vice-Admiral Kyi Min, Commander-in-Chief (Air)
Maj-Gen Myint Swe, Chairman of Yangon Division Peace and Development Council
Commander of Yangon Command Brig-Gen Myint Swe, ministers, the
Attorney-General, the chairman of the Civil Service Selection and Training
Board, members of the Panel of Patrons of USDA (Central), the
Secretary-General, secretaries and CEC members of the USDA, deputy ministers,
senior military officers, members of the National Convention Convening
Commission, advisers to the State Peace and Development Council,
directors-general and managing directors, the rector of the Central Institute
of Civil Service (Lower Myanmar), members of the Work Committee for
Organizing the Annual General Meeting, members of respective subcommittees,
Myanmar Red Cross Society, Myanmar Maternal and Child Welfare Association,
the Myanmar National Working Committee for Women's Affairs, the Myanmar
Women's Sports Federation, representatives and officials of the Myanmar Women
Entrepreneurs' Association, dele-gates of State, Division, District and
Township USDAs and guests. Daw Tin Tin Nyo, Executive of Pyapon Township USDA
in Pyapon District, Ayeyawady Division, acted as master of ceremonies of the
morning session of the first day meeting together with Executive of Seikkan
Township USDA of Yangon West District Daw Thuzar Min. First, the master of
cere-monies announced the commencement of the morning session. Then, the
Senior General gave guidance on the occasion and the session took a recess at
10 am.

___________________________

( 2 ) Patron of the Union Solidarity and Development Association Senior
General Than Shwe addresses the USDA Special General Meeting (2002)

Nation-building task must be implemented continuously from one generation to
another

Wide range of opportunities created in private economic sector

Over K 22,852 million spent on border areas and national races development
between 1989-2001

Yangon, 19 Feb-The following is a translation of the address delivered by
Patron of the Union Solidarity and Development Association Chairman of the
State Peace and Development Council Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services
Senior General Than Shwe at the Special General Meeting of the Association
today.

First, I would like to extend greetings to all the members of the Union
Solidarity and Development Association including you who are present here at
the Special General Meeting. Moreover, I warmly welcome all of you who are
gathering at this Meeting to discuss and coordinate how the USDA can take
part in the national and rural development endeavours.

Cooperation of the entire people is essential for the success of the
endeavours for all- round development of the nation. It is indeed heartening
to note that the members of the USDA  who are the new generation youths have
actively participated in the mass rallies sponsored by the State/Division
USDAs last month to support the national and rural development endeavours.

The mass rellies had unanimously welcomed and supported national and rural
development endevavours undertaken by the Government. It can be seen that the
mass rallies not only underlined the nation-building spirit of the new
generation youth, but also the opportunities and benefits available to the
peoples as a result of the development efforts.

 The nation-building project is a task which must be implemented continuously
from one generation to another. It is a task we had implemented it in the
past, are implementing at present and will continue to implement it in the
futureas well.  In this way, we are going to strive to build a better future
for the entire nation.

 In Myanmar history, the First Myanmar Empire was founded in Bagan period;
the Second Myanmar Empire, in Toungoo period; and the Third Myanmar Empire,
in Konboung period. A study of the history will show that the empires emerged
as the nation was fully equipped with the forces of unity and economic and
military strengths during the periods. In addition, the citizens were found
to be high in nationalism, and they were always trying to strengthen the
moral conduct. Hence, we were able to build a powerful nation of Asia for
three times in history. Because of these achievements in history, we, the
Myanmar people, were able to possess our own traditions and culture and the
independence and sovereignty with pride and glory. The British colonialists
launched three aggressive wars and occupied Myanmar which had stood as a
sovereign nation; thus, the nation lost her monarchy and sovereignty in the
19th Century. During the time when the nation was under the colonialist rule,
the people resentful of the servitude were awakened by the strong will to
regain independence. Because of the strong desire and firm unity of the
people, Myanmar was able to stand as an independent and sovereign nation
again in the mid 20th Century in 1948. The world's colonialist empires
disintegrated in the 20th Century, and the colonized nations were able to
free themselves from subjugation. Soon after Myanmar had set herself free
from colonial rule, there surfaced disagreements among the comrades, who had
striven together for independence, due to sectarian and ideological problems.

 The disagreements among the comrades had caused dissension among the
national races leading to breaking up of national solidarity. This was
followed by armed conflicts which led to dwindling of the national force to
maintain peace and unity. Under these circumstances, the nation was not able
to implement the development undertakings as she had expected before the
restoration of independence. The living standard of the people began to
decline. The people were longing for peace and stability and progress.

 After taking over the State's duties, the present government has made a firm
resolve to meet the strong aspirations of the people and to build a nation
with all-round  enhanced capabilities step- by step and in a systematic
manner.

Towards this end, the government first laid down plans and programmes aimed
at ensuring peace and stability of the State. In line with the experiences
and lessons learned from history, it has laid down and implemented the
national tasks of non-disintegration of the Union; non-disintegration of
national solidarity; and perpetuation of sovereignty. Our Three Main National
Causes is the indisputable national ideology of all our citizens.

National Ideology

 In all its activities since assumption of the State duties, the government
has always been guided by this national ideology of " Our Three Main National
Causes ". The first task that the government undertook was to restore the
rule of law and peace and stability. As peace and stability began to prevail
in the nation, the government held peace talks with the armed groups with a
view to ending armed conflicts that had afflicted the nation for nearly half
a century. As the government had concentrated its efforts on peace, amity and
unity, and had done so with patience, it had been able to rebuild mutual
understanding with 17 armed groups who have now returned to the legal fold
and joined hands with the government. With the restoration of peace and
stability, the government is now able to turn its attention to national
modernization and progress. In this present age, only a nation that can
transform itself into a modern one can expect to enjoy sustained development
in the long run. Thus, the government has set the emergence of a peaceful,
modern and developed nation as its goal and is striving towards this national
objective.

Nation-building task

The nation-building task is enormous and arduous. For a developing nation
like Myanmar, the tasks that lie ahead are numerous and extensive. To
accomplish these tasks, the entire Myanmar society must be peaceful and
united and national strength, enhanced. We need to possess sufficient
economic infrastructures, and to raise the economic and social strength of
the nation. Thus, the government has laid down the 12 objectives to realize
the goals in the political, economic and social sectors. While the government
was giving priority to restoring stability and consolidating national
solidarity during the three-year-period from 1989-90 to 1991-92, it also laid
down and implemented plans to halt the economic downturn and to stabilize the
economy. The private sector was provided with a wide range of opportunities
to realize its full potential. As a firm infrastructure is required in
building the political, economic and social systems, the government has made
efforts with greater momentum to build the economic infrastructure after
achieving peace and stability in the nation.

Agriculture & Irrigation



Up to now, Myanmar is still an agro-based nation, and agriculture plays a
pivotal role in the nation's production sector. Since the availability of
adequate water for agricultural purposes is essential for increased
agricultural production, special attention is paid to increase the area under
irrigation. The government has built new dams, made arrangements to store
water fed by the watershed areas, to fully utilize it and install river water
pumping stations. Clusters of dams have emerged in the nation as the State
has utilized a great deal of financial resources as well as the available
machinery and equipment in building them. Moreover, it can be proudly stated
that these facilities have been constructed by local engineers. Since 1988,
the government has built 129 new dams. Consequently, the irrigated area now
covers 4.9 million acres, an increase of 2.4 million acres since the
irrigated areas amounted to only 2.5 million acres in the past. One of the
dams constructed is the four and a half mile long Thaphanseik Dam, making it
one of the longest earth dams in Southeast Asia. The surface area of the
reservoir of the said dam is twice the area of Inlay Lake and will be of
great benefit to agriculture as well as to environmental conservation. In
addition to the construction of dams, the government has also undertaken the
building of 262 river water pumping stations, tapping of underground water
and digging wells to bring safe drinking water to the rural areas. These
projects are now supplying drinking water to 15.15 million people of the
rural areas. Thirty-two dams are under construction and another 44 are in
planning stage. Thus, more dams will be completed one after another in the
coming years. Due to extension of irrigation facilities, total sown acreage
of the nation has reached 37.14 million acres as compared to 23.8 million
acres in 1988.

Construction



New motor roads, bridges, railroads, port development and airport projects
have been implemented and the existing facilities have been repaired or
extended with added momentum to help develop the infrastructures of other
sectors. To develop and upgrade the transportation linkages is the main
sector to be addressed. The network of roads and bridges, on which the
government has spent huge sum of money, not only constitutes economic
infrastructure but can also be considered as socio-economic structures for
the national races to extend relations between each other. As the roads and
bridges are the strength of the nation, a large number of transport projects
have been implemented during the period of over ten years. Special priority
has been given to further improving transport network in order to promote
trade and production sectors as well as to uplift the socio-economic life of
the people. In the past, the main transport links between the north and south
of Myanmar lies on the east bank of Ayeyawady River. The strategy has now
been laid down to extend motor roads and railroads to link all the parts of
the nation, between east and west and between north and south. In addition,
large bridges spanning the rivers have been built at all necessary places.
The new roads include:

* Mandalay-Myitkyina motor road on the west bank of Ayeyawady River;

* Mandalay-Bhamo motor road on the east bank of Ayeyawady River;

 * Myitkyina-Putao motor road;

* Hpa-an-Zathabyin- Ma-lamyine motor road;

* Taunggyi-Ywangan-Han-myintmo motor road;

* Pyinmana-Pinlaung motor road;

* Sittway-An-Minbu motor road;

* Kawthoung-Bokpyin-Dawei-Mawlamyine motor road;

* Taungup-Maei-Kyauk-phyu motor road; and

* Monywa-Hkamti motor road.

These facilities have emerged as the Union highways to further strengthen
amity and unity among the national races. New motor road facilities such as
Minbu-Seikphyu-Pakokku-Monywa motor road and Minhla-Thayet-Pyay motor road
have been built on the west bank of Ayeyawady River which has only limited
transportation facilities. Monywa-Kalewa motor road; Pyinmana-Taung-dwingyi
motor road, Pyawbwe-Natmauk-Magway motor road; and Toungoo-Pyay motor road
have been built to connect the east and the west of Myanmar. At present there
are 17,874 miles of motor roads in the nation, an increase of 4,239 miles
from 13,635 miles in 1988-89. Many more roads linking the northern and
southern regions or eastern and western sectors of the nation are under
construction at present. New railroads have also been built in the states and
divisions where railroads did not exist in the past to improve the transport
sector and to develop economic and social sector.

Extension of railroads


 The new railroads are Pyay-Aunglan-Taung-dwingyi railroad which passes
through the central Yoma mountain range; Pakokku-Kyaw railroad which cuts
through Pondaung-Ponnya mountain range; and Shwe-nyaung-Taunggyi-Hsaik-kaung
railroad across the Shan Yoma mountain ranges.

Pakkoku-ChaungU and Budalin-YeU-KhinU railroads have to be constructed across
major rivers. Completion of the Pyay-Aunglan-Taung-dwingyi-Kyauk
padaung-Bagan-NyaungU-Myin-gyan-Mandalay railroad section has led to
emergence of a railroad linking Yangon with Bagan-NyaungU, Myingyan and
Mandalay. Namhsam-Mongnai, Nyaungshwe-Yaksawk, Aungban-Loikaw, Ye-Dawei,
Yemyetni-Gangaw-Kale railroads have ensured smooth and easy transport in the
places which were difficult to access. At present, about 998 miles of new
railroads have been built, over 164 miles of railroads are under construction
and 515 miles of railroad are in planning stage. The State has spent over US$
398 million and over K 36,005 million on building the facilities of the
Myanma Railways since 1988; it has also used US$ 336 million and K 93,634
million in building motor roads and bridges. Major bridges spanning rivers
have been built at all necessary places in implementing motor road and
railroad projects. There were only four bridges spanning the nation's major
rivers, the Ayeyawady, the Chindwin, the Sittoung, and the Thanlwin, before
1988. Nine new river-crossing bridges have been built during the period from
1988 to January 2002. The six new facilities, Magway, Dedaye and Mandalay
bridges spanning Ayeyadwady River, Monywa bridge on Chindwin River,
Shwekyin-Madauk bridge across Sittoung River, and Mawlamyine bridge crossing
Thanlwin River are under construction.

Transport

As progress in the transport sector will lead to promotion of the socio-
economic situation of the people, special priority has therefore been given
to development of this sector. The transport sector is the nation's strength
as well as one of the main economic infrastructures. Even as motor roads and
railroads have been built in the entire nation to develop the road
transportation sector, efforts are also being made to upgrade the other
transport sector as well. New private airlines have been permitted to operate
while new airports have been constructed and the existing facilities
upgraded. The Mandalay International Airport was built at a cost of over US$
151 million and over K 6,543 million. The Hanthawady International Airport is
still under construction. There are now 12 airports, which can handle jet
aircraft compared with only six before 1988. Six more airports are under
construction at present. In addition, more jetties are being constructed in
the nation to develop the shipping sector. Six container yards have been
built at Yangon Thilawa port; two at Ahlon jetty; one at Bo Aung Kyaw wharf;
and two at Botahtaung wharf. It can be seen that the purchase of new
commercial aircraft and ships, and the construction of new airports,
shipyards and jetties have led to the emergence of efficient and smooth
transportation linkages in the nation.

Electric power

 One of the main areas which contribute to development of the national
economy is the electric power sector and efforts are being made to generate
more power in the country. A total of 2,225 million kilowatt-hours of
electricity was distributed in fiscal 1988-89. Altogether, thirty-two new
power plants 26 hydel power stations and six gas-fired and combined recycle
power plants  have been built in the nation after 1988 and power generation
in fiscal 2000-2001 reached over 5,024 million kilowatt hours of electricity.
Plans are under way to generate 2,000 more megawatts of electricity during
the coming five-year period to meet the growing power demand by the
agriculture sector, industrial sector, major projects and the public. The
plans cover Paunglaung Hydel Power Project which will generate 280 megawatts
of electricity; and Yeywa Hydel Power Project of 780 megawatts capacity.

Oil and gas

Oil and gas exploration has been conducted with greater acceleration to
fulfill the requirements of all the sectors to build a modern nation. During
the period of over 10 years, oil and gas exploration projects have been
expanded through the utilization of our own financial resources and
technology as well as with the cooperation of the foreign oil companies in
accordance with the Foreign Investment Law. The Myanmar Oil and Gas
Enterprise has invited foreign companies to participate in finding new oil
and natural gas fields at 47 inland blocks and 25 offshore blocks at Mottama,
Taninthayi and Rakhine coastal areas in Myanmar waters. Up to now, 15
joint-venture contracts have been signed with foreign companies to jointly
explore offshore fields and 34 contracts for inland fields. The foreign
investment in the sectors amounted to over US$ 2,563 million. Due to these
efforts, 7 new oil and gas fields have been found at inland blocks including
Kyauk-Khwet and Letpando. Similarly, new gas fields Ñ Yadana and
Sein-Hninh-Padamya Gas fields  in Mottama offshore area; and Yetagon Gas
field off Taninthayi Coast; have also been discovered. Over 1,735 miles of
new gas pipe lines, which are the main infrastructure of the energy sector
have been laid, both onshore and offshore. At the end of fiscal year
2000-2001, the nation's natural gas production reached about 300,000 million
cubic feet and crude oil production exceeded 4.1 million barrels. The
combined output of gas and oil equals to over 54 million barrels of crude
oil. Thus, there was a 376 percent increase in the oil production when
compared with 11 million barrels of crude oil produced in 1988-89. Up to
January in fiscal year 2000-2001, the energy sector earned US$ 376 millions
and will continue to earn foreign exchange for another 30 years.

Communication

Communication infrastructure also plays a vital role in developing the
nation's sectors including economic and social fields. The government has
therefore endeavoured for the progress of the communication sector since its
assumption of the State duties. There are now 569 telephone exchange stations
and over 280,000 phones in operation in the entire nation, up from 245
stations and over 67,000 phones in 1988. Furthermore, modern digital-auto
phone exchanges have replaced the communication system of the past.
Two-hundred and five microwave stations and over 33,000 microwave lines have
been installed to extend and develop trunk calls in the whole nation
including Yangon and rural areas. To bring modern telephone communication to
the outlying areas, rural telephone system has been initiated in 250 villages
in the various states and divisions. To ensure smooth transport and
communication with towns which are remote and difficult of access, local
satellite communication was introduced in 1990. Local satellite ground
stations have been set up in Yangon, Hkamti, Tamu, Buthidaung, Myawady and
Kawthoung. Modern satellite communication system has been installed at
Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan, Mogok, Kunlong, Putao, Mongla, Mindat, Ngwehsaung,
Panwa, Myeik and Papun, thereby extending the communication network. In
addition, such modern communication system as cellular telephone system,
radio telephone system and CDMA telephone system have been installed, and the
new GSM telephone system is being installed. Data sending/receiving system
has been installed in Yangon and Mandalay, and computers are also being used
at banks, transport services, hotels and department stores to facilitate
communication. As a result, the network of telephone, telegraph, postal and
communication services can now cover the entire nation including far-flung
border areas. What I have already said is chiefly concerned with construction
of economic infrastructure. As establishment of economic infrastructure is
improving, short-and medium-term plans have been implemented to consolidate
the economic strength of Myanmar.

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to be continued ...