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BURMA RELATED NEWS - May 10,
2001.
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HEADLINES
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reuters - Massive Myanmar Buddha to Be Ready by
End of May
FEER - Wish You Were Here?
AFP - ASEAN to upgrade workforce skills, urges
ILO not to punish Myanmar
AP - Wa Fighters Retreat From Hilltop After
Heavy Thai Assault
AP - SE Asian Govts Consider Ways To Save
Jobs
AP - SE Asian Labor Mins Urge ILO To
"Understand" Myanmar
AP - Thai F-16s Fly Along Border With Myanmar To
Show Strength
AFP - Vulnerable Asian
nations risk becoming new narcotics outposts: UNDCP
Reuters - Malaysia warns of growing
anti-globalisation protests
Reuters - O'Neill says no objection to Asian
currency network
The Daily Star - AB
Bank CEO meets Myanmar central bank governor
Hoover's online - Pakistan: Chief executive reports to cabinet meeting on Burma,
Vietnam visits
The Nation - AIR FORCE
ON ALERT: Air strikes possible as Wa troops hold
ground
The Nation - Wah
intruders retreat after air strikes
The Nation - WAR ON
DRUGS: Two helicopters to be enlisted next year
The Nation - Letters -
No friendly relationswith Burma without respect for
sovereignty
Bkk Post - Incursions not worth a war, says
Chavalit
Bkk Post - Battle sends villagers fleeing to
temple
Bkk Post - Verbal
attacks to be avoided to save ties
Bkk Post - Ministry to splash out on two
helicopters
Bkk Post - Thai firm
loses millions in Burma bushfire
Bkk Post - Burmese aid sought at Rangoon
meeting
Xinhuanet - Roundup: Myanmar Takes Measures to
Develop Fishery
Xinhuanet - Myanmar to Turn Northern Division
into Rice Bowl
Xinhuanet - ASEAN Countries Urge to Strengthen
Education
Kyodo News - Myanmar replaces communication
minister
Stockhouse Canada - Ongoing Development Expands
High Grade Gold Discovery in Myanmar
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday May 10 4:38 AM ETMassive Myanmar Buddha to Be Ready by End of May YANGON (Reuters) - A massive
white marble Buddha on the outskirts of Yangon, which Myanmar officials call the
biggest of its kind in the world, will be completed by the end of May, officials
said on Thursday.
Volunteers have been working around the clock to finish the statue, which
weighs more than 400 tons and is 37 feet tall, in time for a grand opening
ceremony planned for next month.
The military government has built an enormous temple to house the Buddha,
carved from a single block of flawless marble, on a hill overlooking the Maynmar
capital.
``The finishing touches to the image will be completed by the end of this
month,'' said one official working on the project.
``Work on the chamber and the decorative gateway to the temple will take
another two months,'' he told Reuters.
The rare chunk of marble was discovered by a Myanmar sculptor on a mountain
north of Mandalay about a year ago and transported with great difficulty to
Yangon where it has been carved into the Buddha.
``We had to make a specially crafted barge because this image is very
unusual,'' said Myanmar's Director General of Religious Affairs, Myo Myint.
``It's so heavy...the road couldn't withstand the weight, nor the bridges.
So the only possible way was to carry it on the river,'' he told Reuters.
Two temporary railroads were also 'custom-made' to carry the huge slab, he
said.
A crowd estimated to number 100,000 turned out to watch the marble slab
being raised from the mountain in Mandalay.
The Buddha, given the name ``Lawka Chantha Abhaya Lanha Muni,'' is now
being polished by dozens of craftsmen while others paint the intricate lattice
that adorns the open temple's corners.
``The title of the Buddha image...means happiness, it will make people
happy...it also means there will be no danger, for us or for anyone. Also it
will bring good luck to all the people of the world,'' Myo Myint said.
One local man, 87-year-old Kyaw Zan, said he has been up to see the
sculpture three times since it was mounted on the hill.
``When I come here I pray that everybody will be free from war...I pray for
peace and prosperity for the entire mankind,'' he told Reuters.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Far Eastern Economic
Review
Issue cover-dated May 17, 2001
TOURISM - Wish You Were
Here?
In the second of two articles looking at tourism issues in the region, we
examine the fierce debate over the rights and wrongs of visiting Burma
By Katherine Tanko/LONDON and Bertil Lintner/BANGKOK
FEW PUBLICATIONS have the power of the Lonely Planet series, the
phenomenally popular guidebooks that are so influential they can make--or
break--a hotel, restaurant or even a destination.
So when Lonely Planet Publications released its latest Burma guide last
year, concluding in the forward that it was better to visit the country despite
a four-year-old tourism boycott, Burma activists in the West were enraged. The
London-based Tourism Concern and Burma Campaign UK launched a campaign to
boycott Lonely Planet's publications in an attempt to force the publisher to
withdraw the book.
Twelve months on, Lonely Planet remains defiant--its Burma guidebook is
still on the shelves and tourists continue to visit Burma. The question, though,
of whether or not to visit Burma remains. Hardliners on both sides of the debate
often paint the issue in stark terms, but most other participants concede that
there are no simple answers. "Tourism to Burma is an issue with only grey
areas," says Oliver Hargreave, a guidebook writer based in Thailand.
Lonely Planet defends its Burma guide--the 7th edition of a book it has
been publishing since 1979--as one of the few readily available sources of
accurate information on the country. The company claims the guide--which
includes a two-page section titled "Should You Visit Myanmar?"--allows
travellers to make up their own minds whether to visit and gives tips on how to
minimize supporting the military government and maximize the positive benefits
for ordinary Burmese. Furthermore, it accuses British activists of practising
censorship and playing into the hands of Burma's junta.
"There is anger at the pretence of objectivity," says Yvette Mahon, a
director of the Burma Campaign UK. "The section 'Should You Go?' would be more
appropriately headed 'You Should Go'." That's rejected by Tony Wheeler,
publisher of Lonely Planet: "I'm not interested in encouraging people to go to
Burma," he says.
The book's editorial stance reflects a growing sentiment among tourists
that boycotting Burma is not the answer to that nation's political woes. With
the ruling State Peace and Development Council, or SPDC, firmly entrenched and
the National League for Democracy, elected in a landslide victory in 1990,
unlikely to assume power any time soon, some argue that isolating the country
only makes matters worse.
"I think tourism certainly benefits the average people in the street," says
Wheeler. "I think it is possible that visitors can serve a valuable purpose as
observers. Would anybody have known about Tiananmen Square if a similar event
had taken place in the years when China was totally isolated?"
Indeed, say opponents of the boycott, if you're going to blacklist Burma,
shouldn't you also boycott other countries with poor human-rights records? No,
says Mahon. "The argument is that Burma is a special case for a number of
important reasons: Because of the scale of human-rights abuses directly
connected to tourism, because tourism dollars are helping prolong the life of an
illegitimate regime, and because the country has an elected government which has
specifically asked all tourists to stay away."
That's a reference to Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for
Democracy, who has said that tourists should not visit Burma. Suu Kyi has
dismissed as "patronizing" suggestions that Burma's people can only benefit from
contacts with outsiders--and that Western tourists can help promote democracy by
spreading new ideas. "Burmese people know their own problems better than anyone
else," she wrote in Tourism Concern's In Focus magazine. "To suggest that
there's anything new that tourists can teach the people of Burma about their own
situation is not just patronizing--it's also racist." Such views are echoed by
other veterans of the Burmese opposition. "For the government, tourism is a
great PR exercise," says Aung Zaw, a Burmese journalist in exile in Thailand.
"It demonstrates to the world and its foes that the country is safe and secure
because tourists are coming."
Tourists, indeed, are coming. In 1995, Burma received 117,000 tourists,
according to the World Tourism Organization, which defines tourists as overnight
visitors. By 1999, the most recent year for which figures are available, that
figure had risen to just over 198,000. Most of those came from Asia (see
chart)--with almost 33,000 from Taiwan. (That figure, however, may be inflated
by business people taking advantage of cheap tourist packages). So it's perhaps
ironic that the debate over the rights and wrongs of visiting Burma is seldom
raised by Taiwanese visitors.
According to Rolland Yang of Taipei's Hong Yi Travel Agency, most visitors
from Taiwan know little about human-right issues in Burma. Visiting the country
does little to change their perceptions, he adds, as tourists tend to find
Burma--at least on the surface--relatively calm and peaceful. Susan Su, of
Toshin Travel Services, agrees, and adds that visitors from Taiwan are usually
more concerned with whether Burma is safe and with what they can bring in and
out.
Such views, of course, are music to the ears of Burma's generals, who are
keen to promote the country's tourism business as a means of bringing in hard
currency. While economic data from Burma is notoriously unreliable, it's still
possible to get some sense of the value of tourism. According to the World
Tourism Organization, tourism receipts were worth $35 million in 1999. Exports,
by contrast, were worth 7.03 billion kyat--that's $1.2 billion based on the
official exchange rate for the kyat, but just $19.5 million based on the
then-prevailing blackmarket exchange rate. The hopes pinned on the tourist
business have led to over-expansion: Between 1995 and 1998, the number of hotel
rooms almost doubled to just under 14,000, the World Tourism Organization says,
and there's now a glut of space.
For many people, money is at the core of the Burma debate. According to
journalist Aung Zaw, "tourism revenue only lines the pockets of the generals."
He points to the existence of a range of state fees and charges levied on
tourists that make their way to the ruling SPDC. Lonely Planet's Wheeler,
though, rejects the "disinformation spread by some of the boycott movement" that
tourists must pay an entry charge into Burma, though he acknowledges that
tourists are still hit by a compulsory exchange that forces them to buy $200
worth of foreign-exchange certificates.
"That money from tourism helps finance the SPDC is without doubt," says
Hargreave, "but it also helps many Burmese make a living." While Hargreave has
his own reservations about the ethics of visiting Burma, he fears that a
dramatic decline of revenues would hit ordinary Burmese and force the state to
pursue other--possibly less acceptable--ways of raising money.
Both Wheeler and Hargreave agree that if visitors are concerned about
contributing revenues to the Burmese state, the best solution is simply to spend
as little as possible and try to avoid state-owned establishments. "It is ironic
that by spending less, a tourist is likely to benefit the general Burmese more,"
says Hargreave. "Whether the average Burmese would benefit more politically if
tourists were to spend nothing at all, however, is a question that is likely to
remain unanswered."
David Lu in Taipei contributed to this article
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday May 10, 6:32 PM
ASEAN to upgrade workforce skills, urges
ILO not to punish Myanmar
KUALA LUMPUR, May 10 (AFP) - Southeast Asian labour ministers agreed Thursday
to upgrade the skills of their workforces to counter the US economic slowdown
and urged the ILO not to punish Myanmar over forced labour.
Ministers at their annual meeting here believed "multi-skilling" of workers
would keep them employed amid recent downsizing by multinational corporations,
said Malaysian Human Resources Minister Fong Chan Onn.
"Most countries feel that the most effective way is to upgrade skills, to
further train and retrain our workers so that they have a broader set of skills
to meet the challenges," he told a press conference.
Fong said the impact of the US slowdown varied in each country, with
Singapore reporting "serious concerns" due to its focus on technology.
"We will see how best we can cooperate in training and retraining so that
our workers can then become much more multiskilled-based," he said.
Ministers hoped the impact would lessen towards the end of the year amid
reports that the US economy may recover by then.
The 10-member grouping, which will hold talks Friday with officials from
China, Japan and South Korea, would seek help from the three countries to
counter the US slowdown, Fong said.
"China is a big market, Japan has a lot of expertise... we will see what
they can do to help."
He said the region needed to "go full-scale" in moving towards becoming
knowledge economies as its advantage of cheap labour has been eroded by the
advent of new technologies.
Ministers also backed what they called Myanmar's move to ban forced labour
and urged the International Labour Organisation (ILO) not to impose punitive
actions.
Last November, the ILO called on its members to review relations with
Myanmar and to ensure that these ties did not help to continue or extend the
practice of forced labour.
Fong said Myanmar's labour minister Major General Tin Ngwe briefed the
meeting and told it that the ILO had sent two technical missions to
Myanmar.
"We feel that Myanmar has taken all the necessary legislative and
administrative actions to eliminate forced labour and therefore ILO should
consider that very positively and support those measures," Fong said.
"Our appeal is for ILO not to take any punitive actions."
Ministers also reaffirmed their opposition to any moves by western
countries and international organisations to link labour standards to financial
aid or trade, Fong added.
Earlier Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi warned
globalisation would become a "winner takes all" game for the rich West unless
ASEAN sheds its reputation as a cheap labour region and moves upmarket.
"Without improving the education, skills, productivity and innovation of
our workforce, we will not be able to escape the 'uncompetitive gap' once our
labour is no longer relatively cheap," he said.
Abdullah urged ASEAN members to be cautious about competing for foreign
investment. "We may be undermining each other's economies and the welfare of our
workers in order to give foreign investors their profits."
To counter the challenge of foreign investors shifting from one country to
a cheaper location, ASEAN must improve workforce skills and education.
Abdullah said average secondary school enrolment in Malaysia, Thailand, the
Philippines and Indonesia was 61 percent compared to 96 percent in the United
States and 100 percent in Japan and South Korea.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday May 10, 11:41 AM
Wa Fighters Retreat From Hilltop After
Heavy Thai Assault
BANGKOK (AP)--The Thai army
said Thursday it has driven out a group of Myanmar guerrillas from a disputed
strategic hilltop at the Thai-Myanmar border after heavy bombardment.
Fighters of the United Wa State Army withdrew from Hua Lone hill late
Wednesday, spokesman Col. Somkuan Saengpattaranetr said. Thailand officials have
said between 30 and 60 men had encroached on its territory.
It is the latest spat at the border between Thailand and Myanmar, whose
relations are at the lowest point in years after their armed forces clashed at
the border in February.
The United Wa State Army is a pro-Yangon group, which reached a cease-fire
with Myanmar military junta in 1989. It has virtual autonomy in a swathe of the
country's eastern Shan State.
According to Thai and U.S. narcotics experts, the Wa army is the leading
producer of illegal drugs in Southeast Asia's Golden Triangle. Myanmar denies
Thailand's contention that it uses the Wa army as its proxy and does little to
stop the drug trade.
Thailand had said the Wa soldiers were on Thai soil, 500 meters inside the
border, but Myanmar said the location of the hill was disputable as the two
countries use different maps.
There were unconfirmed reports of Wa casualties from the fighting in which
Thailand fired dozens of artillery and mortar rounds at the hill, located about
780 kilometers north of Bangkok.
Somkuan said soldiers have to make sure the area doesn't have land mines
before they reach the hill, "so I can't confirm the casualty report."
In Yangon Wednesday, Lt. Col. San Pwint, a senior military intelligence
officer, told reporters that the "ethnic militia" occupying the hill had
retreated Tuesday night. He didn't identify the militia.
Bilateral disputes over demarcation of the frontier are common, but
relations have become severely strained, principally because of the trafficking
of methamphetamines and heroin from border regions of Myanmar to Thailand.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday May 10, 7:30 PM
SE Asian Govts Consider Ways To Save
Jobs
KUALA LUMPUR (AP)--Warning that
severe job losses could batter the region this year due to a global economic
slowdown, Southeast Asian labor ministers launched talks Thursday on a blueprint
to boost cooperation and develop more competitive workers.
"I believe, without exception, the economies of our region will experience
a slowdown this year," Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi of Malaysia
said in a speech opening the two-day annual meeting of labor ministers from the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
"For those of us that are big exporters to the United States, we will see a
reduction in exports and even corresponding retrenchments," Abdullah said. But
he warned that the Southeast Asian nations "need to be careful about competing
with each other" to attract investment.
Tens of thousands of Southeast Asian workers have lost their jobs this year
as the U.S. downturn bites, Abdullah said. Among the worst hit have been nations
like Malaysia and Singapore that export electronics to the U.S.
Abdullah said "regional guidelines" must be drawn up on handling external
pressures to the regional labor market, which runs the gamut from highly
educated and high-tech Singapore to least-developed countries like Myanmar and
Cambodia.
"What remains most important is that we take the right steps in developing
work forces that are competitive, flexible and innovative," Abdullah said. "We
don't want to be renowned as the region with cheap labor."
Chinese Threat
Southeast Asia's traditional ability to lure Western investors by offering
low-cost labor has come into question in recent years as China's cheap labor
becomes a force in the world economy and high-tech workers are needed for
Asean's more advanced countries to move up the economic ladder.
Isa Ibrahim, the home minister of the sultanate of Brunei, urged American
investors to consider the impact of their country's slowdown on Asean, which is
the U.S.'s fourth-largest trading partner after Canada, Mexico and Japan.
"Many of us are still in the process of recovering from the Asian economic
crisis of 1997," Isa said.
The booming U.S. economy drew in Southeast Asian exports in the wake of the
crisis and spurred recovery, but the downturn is now drying up the market for
Asian goods and sapping growth rates.
The ministers will be joined Friday by senior labor officials from Japan,
China and South Korea. The Northeast Asian nations are increasingly taking part
in regional meetings and Asean hopes they will offer support for worker
development programs.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday May 10, 7:06 PM
SE Asian Labor Mins Urge ILO To
"Understand" Myanmar
KUALA LUMPUR (AP)--Criticizing
the use of sanctions, Southeast Asian labor ministers Thursday urged the
International Labor Organization to appreciate efforts by Myanmar's military
junta to stop the use of forced labor.
"We feel that Myanmar has taken all the necessary legislative and
administrative actions to eliminate forced labor," said Malaysian Human
Resources Minister Fong Chan Onn. "Our appeal is for the ILO not to take any
punitive actions."
Fong told reporters on the first day of an annual meeting of labor
ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that Myanmar's
minister had assured his counterparts that his government would "strictly
enforce laws" to stop forced labor.
Widespread evidence of forced labor, including the military forcing
civilians to work as porters in mine-strewn insurgency zones, prompted the ILO's
governing body in Geneva to vote overwhelmingly in November for unprecedented
sanctions against Myanmar.
The ILO has urged all 175 member nations to impose sanctions and review
their dealings with Myanmar to ensure they aren't abetting forced labor. But the
body left it up to individual governments, organizations and labor unions to
determine what they will do.
Myanmar's government last year issued a decree making forced labor illegal.
But the New York-based Human Rights Watch alleged that the decree was issued
only to avoid international criticism and cited refugees who claimed the
practice still existed.
Myanmar has long been assailed by the United Nations and Western nations
for suppression of democracy and its human rights record, which includes the use
of unpaid civilian labor on infrastructure projects.
Malaysia fought Western criticism and led efforts to bring Myanmar into
Asean in 1997, claiming that engaging the Myanmar military would be more likely
to soften the regime than using sanctions.
"In our subsequent meetings in ILO conferences, we will try our very best
to express the fact that Myanmar has taken the necessary actions, and therefore,
the ILO should reciprocate," he said.
Asean comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday May 10, 8:00 PM
Thai F-16s Fly Along Border With Myanmar
To Show Strength
CHIANG MAI (AP)--In a show of
strength, Thai F-16 fighter jets flew along the Thai-Myanmar border after the
army said Thursday it had driven out a group of ethnic guerrillas allied to the
Myanmar regime from a disputed hill.
Thai army officials said that jets flew sorties at two sensitive areas on
the more than 2,000-kilometer land border as a warning to Myanmar.
"We did this to warn the opposite side not to intrude onto our soil," Lt.
Col. Peeranet Kethem of Pha Muang border task force told the Associated Press.
The Thai military denied reports that they had launched airstrikes,
describing loud noises and shaking felt by local people where the sorties
happened as sonic booms of the F-16s.
Myanmar did not immediately comment.
One F-16 flew two sorties near where fighters of the United Wa State Army
withdrew from Hua Lone hill, about 780 kilometers north of Bangkok, late
Wednesday after coming under heavy bombardment from the Thai army.
Thailand claimed that between 30 and 60 men had encroached on its
territory. Myanmar said the location of the hill was disputed as the two
countries use different maps.
The Wa army reached a cease-fire with the Myanmar military junta in 1989.
It has virtual autonomy in a swathe of the country's eastern Shan State and is
widely believed to be a major producer of illegal drugs.
Two other F-16s flew over Tak province, about 400 kilometers to the south,
where pro-Yangon ethnic Karen guerrillas attacked a Thai military post and
village last week, killing three civilians and injuring five others.
Disputes between Thailand and Myanmar over demarcation of the frontier are
common, but relations have become severely strained, mainly because of the
trafficking of methamphetamines and heroin from border regions of Myanmar to
Thailand.
Striking a conciliatory tone, Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai
told reporters that the fighting was not a "government-to-government problem."
He said the Myanmar government has told Thailand that the fighting involved only
Myanmar ethnic groups.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday May 10, 3:00 PM
Vulnerable Asian nations risk becoming
new narcotics outposts: UNDCP
YANGON, May 10 (AFP) - More
Asian nations must join in the region's fight against the burgeoning narcotics
trade or risk becoming new outposts for traffickers, UN officials said
Thursday.
Senior officials from Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam
are holding talks here this week aimed at improving cross-border cooperation on
drug control strategies.
The United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) said the six nations
represented East and Southeast Asia's major trafficking and production centers,
responsible for more than 75 percent of the world's amphetamine seizures last
year.
But the agency's law enforcement advisor Yngve Danling said neighboring
countries were fast becoming new outposts of the narcotics industry.
Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines were being targeted under a new
plan to stamp out the illicit business, he said.
"We have to strengthen the capacity of vulnerable neighboring countries to
prevent domestic and regional trafficking."
Danling said the UNDCP would focus on improving the skills of key anti-drug
personnel and try to educate the general public in those countries, which he
said were also producers of chemicals used to manufacture illicit drugs.
"We've also learned recently that there is great interest for other ASEAN
countries (to cooperate)... Singapore and Brunei have expressed their interest,"
Danling said.
The senior officials are holding three days of preparatory discussions here
ahead of a meeting Friday of their home ministers who will approve new
drug-control strategies.
The six nations are all signatories to a 1993 pact which bound them to work
together in the war on drugs by reducing demand, boosting law enforcement and
encouraging crop substitution.
Their ministers meet every two years to evaluate the progress of
cross-border anti-narcotics projects and approve new initiatives devised by the
UNDCP.
UNDCP officials will unveil two new projects in Yangon this week. The first
hinges on cross-border law enforcement cooperation and improving nations'
capabilities to act against traffickers.
The second is a broad-ranging public awareness campaign, said UNDCP
regional representative Sandro Calvani.
Calvani said the awareness drive would publicise the gritty details of
regional drug trafficking while examining the drug problem without being quick
to pass judgement.
"We want to try to have a better awareness program, to get away from the
simplistic approach that drugs are bad and people should be punished, or in some
places that people should be hanged," Calvani told AFP.
"We want to show the complexity of the problem."
At the opening of the meeting Wednesday, Calvani said the scourge of
narcotics trafficking had spread from country to country and that a coordinated
response was necessary.
"You squeeze the balloon somewhere, it will reappear somewhere else. I am
confident that if we squeeze the balloon in all six countries, it will soon
deflate and the criminals' illicit business will collapse," he said.
He added that today's drug traffickers were "inventive, fast, innovative,
daring and have very clear ideas and objectives" and that anti-drug agencies
could not continue using traditional methods of fighting them.
Following the meeting on Saturday the Myanmar hosts -- who have been
roundly criticised for turning a blind eye to drug manufacturing within their
borders -- will incinerate a stockpile of drugs in a ceremonial burning.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday May 10, 2:17 PM
Malaysia warns of growing
anti-globalisation protests
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Anti-globalisation protests at international meetings will only get worse unless world leaders tackle the issues raised by demonstrators, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi said on Thursday. Speaking at the opening of a meeting of southeast Asian labour ministers,
Abdullah said the region was still paying the social and economic costs of the
1997-1998 financial crisis.
He blamed a lack of control over highly leveraged financial funds, flows of
"hot money" and overly rapid financial liberalisation as factors at the heart of
a crisis that debilitated many economies in the region.
"It was an example of bad globalisation. It demonstrated how a liberalised,
laissez-faire global economy could affect the lives of millions of people," he
told delegates from the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations
(ASEAN).
"If issues that arose out of the crisis are not addressed more seriously, I
am afraid that the revolt that has begun against globalisation that resulted in
violent demonstrations that began in Seattle, will grow bigger and bigger."
World Trade Organisation talks in the U.S. west coast city of Seattle ended
in acrimony and without agreement in December 1999 after days of street protests
by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) representing worker, environmental and
social groups.
"The ragtag group of NGOs have become more organised, militant and
knowledgeable about the issues. Their growing opposition is partly a reflection
of the bad aspects of globalisation," Abdullah said.
A slump in the Thai baht in 1997, fuelled by rampant debt and a balance of
payments crunch following years of rapid growth, triggered copy-cat crises among
its neighbours.
Stocks markets and currencies dropped as foreign investors pulled out,
leaving social upheaval and job losses in their wake.
Labour ministers from ASEAN, which comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia,
Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, are
due to discuss ways to cooperate on labour issues during their Kuala Lumpur
meeting.
They will be joined by representatives from China, Japan and South Korea on
Friday for wider regional talks.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday May 10, 12:19 PM
O'Neill says no objection to Asian
currency network
HONOLULU (Reuters) - U.S.
Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said on Wednesday that he did not object to a
planned Asian-wide currency safety network as long as it would not increase
instability in the rest of the world.
O'Neill was asked his view on ongoing talks to set up bilateral currency
swap agreements as part of the regional safety network and its monetary
integration perspective.
While O'Neill made no concrete reference to the plan, he said: "As long as
arrangements people are making bilaterally and multilaterally expand the
possibility of raising the standard of the people... and not at the expense of
someone else, I don't think why we would be against anything that would move us
to that kind of objective."
He made the comments at a news conference at the Asian Development Bank's
annual meeting in Honolulu.
The Tokyo-led plan, known as the Chiang Mai Initiative (CMI) after the Thai
city where it was conceived last May, aims to ward off future financial crisis
by creating a network of central bank currency swaps among the 10-strong
Association of South East Asian Nations plus Japan, China, and South Korea
(ASEAN+3).
ASEAN groups Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore,
Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.
Some analysts view that the CMI could eventually form the basis of an Asian
Monetary Fund, a Japanese proposal in the wake of 1997 Asian crisis that the
United States had strongly objected.
At that time, Washington feared a separate Asian financial facility could
undermine the IMF and weaken Asian countries' willingness to embrace tough
reforms advocated by the fund.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Daily Star - May 10,
2001.
AB Bank CEO meets Myanmar central bank
governor
C M Koyes Sami, President and CEO of Arab Bangladesh Bank Limited, along
with Arif Quadri, Vice President, recently visited Myanmar to oversee the
operation of the bank's representative office in Myanmar, says a press release.
They also called on Kyaw Kyaw Maung, Governor of the central bank of
Myanmar, to discuss business development between the two countries. Sami
apprised the governor that LCs generally opened in Bangladesh to import
commodities from Myanmar are usually advised by the banks in Singapore,
resulting in high cost of merchandise and loss of valuable time for the
Bangladeshi importers and as well as the exporters of Myanmar.
To overcome the situation, he emphasised allowing the bank's representative
office to handle LC advising and bill discounting facilities with approval of
the central banks of both countries.
U Than Lwin, Deputy Governor and Chief of Foreign Exchange of the central
bank, Myanmar, assisted the governor Mahmudur Rahman, Representative of ABBL in
Myanmar, was also present during this discussion.
Later in the evening, Sami attended a dinner party at a local hotel
arranged in honour of bankers and leading businessmen and elites of Myanmar.
Sami also placed some suggestions before Myanmar exporters regarding the
difficulties being faced by the importers of Bangladesh.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Hoover's online
Pakistan: Chief executive reports to
cabinet meeting on Burma, Vietnam visits
May 9, 2001 4:39pm 05/09/2001
Text of report by Radio Pakistan on 9 May
The chief executive, Gen Pervez Musharraf, has directed the Ministry of
Finance and Planning Commission to mesh-in the forthcoming federal budget with
the country's 10-year development strategy which should include water resource
management and development as the key area of focus. He gave this directive
while presiding over a meeting of the federal cabinet in Islamabad today.
Gen Pervez Musharraf said that the agriculture sector would remain the main engine of growth in Pakistan for the foreseeable future. The health and vitality of the agriculture sector depends on the availability of water. He explained and referred to the current crisis due to shortage of irrigation water, which had adversely affected the major crop targets which in turn have brought down the national GDP [gross domestic product]. Reviewing a presentation by the WAPDA [Water and Power Development
Authority] chairman, the chief executive emphasized that development of water
resources would also help the country to give the national economy the much
needed kick start. It would also concurrently generate large scale employment
and absorb the large number of skilled and even unskilled unemployed.
The cabinet approved a number of projects to enhance water resources and
raise power generation capacity to overcome the water shortage in the country.
It approved in principle the construction of Gomal Dam, the Katchi Canal,
Thar-Rainee Canal, the RBOD [as heard] and the Mirani Dam to augment water
resources. The cabinet directed the Ministry of Finance to raise necessary funds
to enable WAPDA to undertake these projects beginning next financial year. WAPDA
was also directed to initiate feasibility studies of other projects in
consultation with the provincial governments to cater to water requirements for
the future. The cabinet also directed WAPDA to develop small hydropower projects
on small falls and barrages at different sites.
The cabinet also approved the recommendations of the Implementation
Committee on Agriculture Income Tax to harmonize provincial legislation on the
subject. As recommended by the committee constituted by the cabinet last year,
the provinces will issue notifications making only land-owners of 50 acres or
more to file a simplified two page agriculture income tax return. It will be
applicable to only those whose taxable agriculture income exceeds the exempted
limit of 80,000 rupees.
While stressing the need for exploitation of mineral resources, Gen Pervez
Musharraf directed that development of Thar coal mines should be expedited as it
could serve as the cheapest fuel for power generation.
The chief executive briefed the cabinet on his recent visit to Myanmar
[Burma] and Vietnam. He said that he had explained the Kashmir issue to both the
leaders of Myanmar and Vietnam. Now they understand the issue in its correct
perspective. They believe that Kashmir problem needs to be resolved through
dialogue between India and Pakistan. The chief executive said understanding of
Myanmar and Vietnam on Afghan issue is now realistic as a result of our
meetings. Describing the visit extremely successful, the chief executive
directed the Ministry of Commerce to identify areas of bilateral trade to
enhance the economic cooperation with both the countries.
Source: Radio Pakistan, Islamabad, in English 1600 gmt 9 May 01
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation - May 10,
2001.
AIR FORCE ON ALERT: Air strikes possible
as Wa troops hold ground
The Army yesterday continued its cat-and-mouse strategy in an effort to
dislodge some 50 Wa rebels from Hua Lone hill, but could change tactics if the
latter refuse a total withdrawal.
Army chief Surayudh Chulanont said ground troops backed by artillery and
mortar fire were able to retake some ground where the rebels had retreated, but
were still a long way from driving them off the hill, some 400 metres inside the
border of Fang district.
Surayudh said he was confident his troops would eventually retake the hill.
Col Chucheep Srisomboon, chief of the Pha Muang Task Force civil division,
said the army had to switch from using infantry to retake the hill as the
insurgents held the higher ground.
The Air Force, meanwhile, has put jet fighters on standby in case an air
strike is needed.
"At this stage we believe that the ground troops can handle the situation,"
said Royal Air Force commander ACM Pong Maneesilp.
Pong said that, if necessary, jet fighters from Chiang Mai-based Wing 41
will be used, supported by F-16s from Wing 4 from Nakhon Sawan, and Wing One
from Nakhon Ratchasima and F-5s from Ubon Ratchathani, Surathani and Lop Buri.
The Army has lodged a protest over the incident with the Burmese Township
Border Committee and the Burmese military attache in Bangkok but has not
received a reply.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Norachit Singhaseni yesterday urged Burma to
take responsibility for the insurgency at Hua Lone Hill.
Norachit cited the agreement, reached with Rangoon during Foreign Minister
Surakiart Sathirathai's trip last week, that the two sides would abide by the
facts in resolving any border flare-up.
He said Thailand had a legitimate right to use force to repel any
intruders.
The Pha Muang Task Force started to shell the rebels, who have held the
hill since Monday.
In a joint operation with Burmese troops last week, they successfully
retook nearby Hua Nok hill and other two bases from the Shan State Army (SSA).
No casualties have been reported in the area, which is about 780 kilometres
north of Bangkok.
The Army has accused Burmese troops of using artillery to support the Wa
fighters on Thai soil.
In Rangoon, Lt Col San Pwint, a senior military intelligence officer, said
Burmese troops had only fired warning shots. He claimed that the "ethnic
militia" occupying the hill had retreated on Tuesday night. He did not identify
the militia.
The Burmese side also said the location of the hill was disputable as the
two countries use different maps of the border.
"The incident has clearly shown that Burmese troops are supporting the Wa,
because the Wa rebels do not have such heavy artillery," said Col Somkuan
Saengpattaranetr, an Army spokesman.
In a related move, another group of Rangoon-backed ethnic rebels clashed
for a second time with Thai troops at Molithai village. An initial clash last
week resulted in the deaths of three civilians on the Thai side.
Border authorities said eight fighters from the Democratic Karen Buddhist
Army had entered the village in the Phop Phra district of Tak and headed toward
the military outpost.
The firefight lasted 10 minutes before the rebels retreated into Burma. No
casualties were reported. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wah intruders retreat after air strikes
Filed at 02 : 23 pm (THLD time)
CHIANG MAI, May 10 (The Nation)
-- The Third Army is expected later today to recapture a strategic hill that had
been occupied for a week by Wah ethnic guerrillas after the intruders retreated
to Burma following air strikes at their positions this morning.
Maj Gen Somboonkiat Sitthidecha, deputy commander of the regional army,
said on Thursday the air strikes by Air Force jetfighters took place at 10.30
and 10.45 am, involved dropping of bombs on positions held by the dug-in Wah
troops.
"Third Army ground troops are expected to recapture the Hua Nok hill later
today," Somboonkiat said.
The Third Army, in charge of security along border with Burma, had failed
to dislodge the Wah guerrillas, numbering about 40, from the strategic hill
despite earlier artillery bombardment and mortar shelling, as well as protest
notes submitted to Burma's Township Border Committee.
The Third Army has said it believed the Wah guerrillas had the support of
Burmese army.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation - May 10,
2001.
WAR ON DRUGS: Two helicopters to be
enlisted next year
Piyanart Srivalo
Tensions along the border with Burma are the result of Rangoon's inability
to control drug trafficking by Burmese minority groups, PM's Office Minister
Thamarak Isarangura said yesterday.
To facilitate its war on drugs, the Army has earmarked a special budget to
procure two helicopters next year. The helicopters will be equipped for night
navigation and rapid deployment in drug raids, Defence Minister General Chavalit
Yongchaiyudh said.
While stepping up drug-suppression activities, the Thaksin government will
seek to reassure Burma of its non-interference policy regarding Burma's ethnic
groups, in return for assurance from Rangoon that it does not condone drug
trafficking or production aimed at the Thai market, Thamarak said.
"The drug problem and Thai-Burmese border affairs are intertwined," he
said. "The exchange of gunfire along the border is often the result of drug
raids."
Thamarak, scheduled to attend an anti-drugs conference tomorrow in Rangoon,
said he would raise the dual issues of border security and drug trafficking with
his Burmese counterparts.
"I want to reiterate our policy of non-interference regarding the Burmese
minority groups and I also want clarification from the Burmese government that
it has no role in drug trafficking, which often spills over to Thailand," he
said.
Thamarak said he planned to propose the opening of drug-control offices in
the countries' respective embassies to facilitate cooperation on narcotics
suppression.
The minister said the Thailand-Burma border situation remained tense as
Thai soldiers tried to repel intruding United Wa State Army (UWSA) forces.
About three of the UWSA's eight or nine leaders are implicated in drug
trafficking and are acting beyond the Burmese government's control, said
Thamarak, who attributed the border tension to the Wa's involvement with illicit
drugs.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation - May 10,
2001.
Letters - No friendly relationswith
Burma without respect for sovereignty
Sunee - BANGKOK
While the Third Army Commander General Wattanachai Chaimuenwong has earned
a lot of respect from Thai people for his courage and straightforwardness toward
the recent border conflicts, his defence minister is performing an
unprofessional task by claiming that bilateral relations are the first priority
to be preserved.
Whether or not General Chavalit is trying to pursue his personal interests
with the Burmese junta, as widely alleged, one thing has been questioned: does
he really know anything about "international relations"? The latest conflict
between the US and China on the spy plane is a good example in which bilateral
ties are crucial, but not before national sovereignty; and friendly relations
cannot be established without respect from the other side.
If Thai-Burmese relations are shaken by the recent border conflicts, it was
because our national sovereignty was violated in the first place, not because
the Third Army has tried to respond.
Chavalit should stop what he is trying to do, playing the role of foreign
minister. Moreover, if PM Thaksin fulfils Chavalit's wish by stopping the Third
Army commander from doing his task, things will come close to a real situation
comedy, a kind of comedy in which you have to get your staff to make the
applause since the real story is not funny at all.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - May 10,
2001.
Incursions not worth a war, says
Chavalit
Military determined to push them back Wassana Nanuam and Subin Khuenkaew
The defence minister confused and frustrated front line troops yesterday,
saying repeated incursions by Burmese and Red Wa soldiers on Thai soil were a
very small matter and should not be taken seriously.
Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh said insurgents who occupied Hua Lone hill saw it
as a vantage point in the defence of Takhi outpost in Burma against the Shan
State Army, and should be allowed time to withdraw.
Soldiers along the border said they did not understand how the defence
minister could even suggest Thai soil was not worth fighting for.
Army chief Gen Surayud Chulanont insisted the military would force the
intruders off Hua Lone hill and back across the border.
"The hill belongs to Thailand and we have to push them out regardless of
whatever reasons they might have [for the intrusion]," he said.
"We have a duty to fight, while our superiors have a duty to negotiate and
take diplomatic action. "Fighting can take place while negotiations go on," he
said.
Gen Chavalit said if the intruders did not retreat, the township border
committee in Burma would be notified. If they remained on Thai soil after a
given period, then Thai soldiers could open fire and drive them out-after
notifying the nearest Burmese military unit.
Gen Surayud said a protest had already been passed to Burma's township
border committee and to the Burmese military attache in Bangkok.
Burmese and United Wa State Army soldiers have occupied Hua Lone hill near
Ban Norlae in Fang district of Chiang Mai, remaining put despite an artillery
bombardment.
Following Gen Chavalit's remarks, an all-out attack to drive them out,
planned for yesterday, was put on hold and the shelling of the hill came to a
halt.
Gen Chavalit said there was no doubt the army was ready for combat. But the
intrusion by 20-30 soldiers a couple of hundred metres into Thailand was of
little significance because relations between Thailand and Burma had
considerably improved.
"People became excited after reading the news and seeing pictures. In fact,
it was nothing," he said.
Asked if the repeated intrusions by ethnic minority soldiers, allies of
Rangoon, was with permission from Burma, Gen Chavalit said: "With such
permission or not, no matter what, we have to try to prevent such occurrences.
We have to resort to negotiations."A settlement could be reached in just a few
days, and the tensions that had arisen since Feb 7 might just go away as if
nothing had ever happened.
On Feb 8, Burmese soldiers moving against Shan State Army rebels seized a
Thai ranger outpost near Ban Pang Noon in Chiang Rai's Mae Fa Luang
district.
The military responded by shelling the outpost and dislodged the Burmese,
inflicting heavy casualties.
The Burmese retaliated by shelling Mae Sai border town with mortars,
killing three Thai civilians. Following the incident, border checkpoints in
Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Mae Hong Son and Tak provinces were closed.
Gen Chavalit recalled a Thai-Burmese dispute over Hill 419 in Chumphon
district many years back. The two sides exchanged artillery fire for nearly
seven days for nothing, he said-implying it was not worth it for both sides to
resort to violent action.
Third Army soldiers yesterday expressed frustration at Gen Chavalit's
comments.
One officer said he was disappointed with Gen Chavalit. He was surprised
that the defence minister, who was once the army commander, could make such
remarks. It would certainly demoralise soldiers on the front line.
"We've not fired a single shot today because we are professional soldiers
and are taught to obey the orders of our commanders," said the Pha Muang task
force officer.
The Third Army's planned offensive against the intruding forces at Hua Lone
hill was called off yesterday pending further instructions from Bangkok.
The Pha Muang task force, which is in charge of security along the border
area opposite Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, had planned to launch a full scale
offensive to dislodge the Burmese forces from the hill.
Another junior officer said it was his duty to protect the country. He said
he and his men were disheartened by Gen Chavalit's comments.
"We were taught we must sacrifice our lives for the country if need be, and
not to give an inch of our land to the enemy," he said.
"But our defence minister is trying to convince us that the seized
territory was not worth fighting for.
"As a defence minister how could he make such a remark?"Col Chucheep
Srisomboon, the Third Army spokesman, said the intruding forces were still
occupying Thai territory.
It was the army's duty to dislodge them.
He declined to comment directly on Gen Chavalit's statement.
"What I can say is that Red Wa soldiers who are supported by the Burmese
military are still occupying our land and we have to push them back," Col
Chucheep said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - May 10,
2001.
Battle sends villagers fleeing to
temple
Thai soldiers clash with Karen rebels Supamart Kasem
More than 150 people were moved from a border village to a temple in Phop
Phra district yesterday following a gunbattle between security forces and Karen
guerrillas.
A military source said residents of Ban Muen Ruechai on the Moei river bank
fled to Wat Phop Phra Nua after 443rd infantry battalion soldiers clashed with
at least 15 guerrillas of the pro-Rangoon Democratic Karen Buddhist Army.
The fight erupted when the Karen tried to cross the river into Thai
territory, about 500m north of Ban Muen Ruechai.
Security troops opened fire with mortars, rocket-propelled grenade
launchers and assault rifles, forcing the intruders to retreat after about 15
minutes of fighting.
There were no reports of casualties.
Some of the villagers returned home after the situation went back to
normal.
One villager said they had been warned by military officers to prepare for
an evacuation following the Karen threat to attack Ban Muen Ruechai.
Sources said the closure of all border crossings in Phop Phra district had
resulted in shortages of food and other basic goods in several Burmese
towns.
Charas Kanthawong, assistant district chief, said the crossings at Ban Muen
Ruechai, Ban Morkerthai, Valley Nua and Valley Tai, would remain closed at the
request of the Fourth Infantry Regiment's task force.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - May 10,
2001.
Verbal attacks to be avoided to save
ties
Thailand will not trade verbal attacks with Burma to prevent relations from
plunging further, the Foreign Ministry spokesman said yesterday.
Reacting to fresh Burmese allegations that the military was aiding the Shan
State Army, Norachit Sinhaseni said the two governments had agreed to let the
township border committee serve as a main forum for settling border
problems.
So far, he said, Rangoon has made no response to a proposal by Foreign
Minister Surakiart Sathirathai for a joint study on the possible environmental
impact of a coal-fired power plant to be built in Burma close to the Thai
border.
The proposal was made during the minister's visit to Rangoon two weeks ago
following protests in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai, by local people who feared emissions
from the power plant, to be built in Burma's Tachilek town, would damage the
environment.
The proposal was made during the minister's visit to Rangoon two weeks ago
following protests in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai, by local people who feared emissions
from the power plant, to be built in Burma's Tachilek town, would damage the
environment.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - May 10,
2001.
Ministry to splash out on two
helicopters
Wassana Nanuam Two Black Hawk helicopters will be purchased for night patrol operations on
the border. Defence Minister Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh said the helicopters
would help move troops around and tackle drug trafficking.
Defence Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh examines gun and mortar shells
during a visit to the Ordnance Department yesterday. He was accompanied by army
commander Gen Surayud Chulanont and Deputy Defence Minister Yutthasak Sasiprapa.
_ APICHART JINAKUL
The army had not acquired any new helicopters for more than 20 years. The Black Hawks, costing 900 million baht, would be purchased from a
tied-over fund with payments spread from 2002 to 2006.
Part of the defence budget would be spent on replenishing weapons
stockpiles and petrol. Speaking during a tour of the Ordnance Department, Gen
Chavalit said armed forces should make the most of available weaponry.
Budget constraints have forced the ministry to recondition and modernise
old armaments. The ministry would encourage joint research and development
between private companies and the armed forces and artillery production
centralised, he said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - May 10,
2001.
Thai firm loses millions in Burma
bushfire
A bushfire in Burma destroyed a thousand logs worth millions of baht owned
by a Thai firm, border sources said.
The fire spread across the forest opposite Ban Mae Ngao in Khun Yuam
district and burned down timber owned by Polpana Co.
The commander of the 337th battalion, told to guard the timber, is under
investigation. The logs were among those left stranded in Burma after the
Salween logging scandal.
Polpana Co, FA Pharmaceutical, B&F Goodrich and Thai-Korean Veterans'
Welfare Co have been trying to haul back the timber since 1996.
The fire is another financial blow to log importers who have already lost
more than one million baht from the delays.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - May 10,
2001.
Burmese aid sought at Rangoon
meeting
Yuwadee Tunyasiri A four-day anti-drugs conference that starts in Rangoon today could bring
about more co-operation between Thailand and Burma in tackling the narcotics
menace, said Prime Minister's Office Minister Thammarak Issarangkura na
Ayutthaya.
Gen Thammarak, who oversees the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, said
he will seek opportunities to discuss drug problems, rather than border problems
with Burmese authorities.
The meeting has been organised by the United Nations International Drug
Control Programme and will be attended by UNDCP delegates from China, Burma,
Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
Three issues to be discussed are how to cut demand and supply, how to
eradicate precursors and how to increase co-operation to combat drugs.
Regarding China, Thailand and Burma's collaboration in drug suppression, he
said China had agreed to exchange officials with Thailand but Burma is yet to
give an answer.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roundup: Myanmar Takes Measures to
Develop Fishery
2001.05.10 10:08:16 YANGON, May 10 (Xinhuanet) --
Myanmar is rich in fishery resources and the fishery sector has become one of
the productive mainstay of its economy.
Formation of fishery federation is one of Myanmar's measures taken in
developing fishery. The Myanma Fisheries Federation (MFF) was established in
1994 and was reformed in December 1999.
At present, the number of branch organizations at state and division
level under the MFF has come to seven, while that at district level 26 and
that at township level one. Up to now, 1, 318 individuals and 267
companies have already become members of the MFF.
Another measure in developing fishery is that it strengthened
cooperation with foreign countries in the sector of fishery. The MFF has
become a member of the Fisheries Federation of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and is enhancing cooperation and
coordination with ASEAN fellow members in conservation of fishery
resources, exchange of information in the sector, exploration of new
market for marine products and sustainable development of
fishery.
The Myanmar government allows and encourages foreign countries to
invest in the fishery sector. According to the latest data released by the
country's Central Statistical Organization, since Myanmar opened to
foreign investment in 1988, foreign companies coming from Bangladesh,
China, Germany, Japan and Thailand have injected 197 million U.S. dollars
in the sector of fishery.
In addition, Myanmar government has also worked out a fishery
development plan, encouraging the private enterprises to engage in the
sector.
Accordingly, the government laid down a three-year fishery
development plan in 2000, encouraging private entrepreneurs to set up fishery
joint ventures with government, private sector and foreign
companies.
Up to now, the number of those who are engaged in fishery business
has reached over 100,000. The government has leased out or sold the
majority of the state-owned fishery ponds to the private sector for
business operation.
Myanmar annually produces over 910,000 tons of fish and prawn, the
export of which covers 49 countries and regions with nearly 60, 000 tons,
earning about 150 million U.S. dollars.
Fishery sector is the third productive mainstay of Myanmar's economy
after agriculture and forestry, contributing 7.3 percent to the country's
gross domestic product. The sector is also Myanmar's third largest foreign
exchange earner.
The annual per capita consumption of fish and prawn of Myanmar people
is 18 kilograms.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar to Turn Northern Division
into Rice Bowl
2001.05.10 12:28:23 YANGON, May 10 (Xinhuanet) --
Myanmar is striving to turn the country's northern Sagaing division into
another rice bowl next to the Southern Ayeyawaddy division by implementing more
river pumped- water projects.
According to the Myanmar Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, river
pumped-water projects are now irrigating 392,850 hectares of crops at
present.
At the time when all the projects in the division are completed, they will
irrigate up to 469,800 hectares of the crops.
Meanwhile, sown area in the division at present is 573,885 hectares,
up from 506,250 hectares in the past.
According to official statistics, irrigated area of Myanmar covers
nearly 2 million hectares, accounting for 21 percent of its cultivated
land.
The country's cultivable land stretches 18.22 million hectares, of which
9.31 million hectares have been utilized with 8.91 million hectares
remaining to be reclaimed.
The statistics also show that Myanmar exported a total of 141, 600 tons of
rice in 2000, up 122 percent from 1999.
The country's agriculture shares 37 percent of its gross domestic
product and 25 percent of the export value.
To promote agricultural development, the Myanmar government has exempted
the import duties of agricultural implements including fertilizer,
pesticide, improved variety and machinery.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASEAN Countries Urge to Strengthen
Education
2001.05.10 16:58:53 KUALA LUMPUR, May 10 (Xinhuanet) -- ASEAN countries should place
emphasis on the education of its people to face the challenges of a
knowledge-based economy (K-economy), in the future, Malaysian Deputy Prime
Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Thursday.
In facing future challenges, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) must focus on building its workforce where talent would be the
most important factor that would determine the success of any transition
towards K-economy, Badawi said at the opening ceremony of the 15th meeting
of the ASEAN Labor Ministers.
"Without improving the education skills, productivity and innovation
of our workforce, we will not be able to escape the non- competitive gap once
our labor is no longer cheap," he said.
At present the educational standards of ASEAN member countries were
far behind developed nations. Only 61 percent of children enroll in
secondary schools in Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia, compared
to 96 percent in the United States and 100 percent in Japan and South Korea,,
Badawi said "the lower standard of education translates into less
flexible and productive workforce and these workers will find learning new
skills more difficult."
ASEAN needs to strengthen training and retraining of workers as
knowledge-intensive industries demand a shift in human resources
development strategy to one which promotes continuous training and retraining,
both on and off the job.
In ensuring a more competitive workforce, he stressed ASEAN must
ensure that disputes, especially industrial disputes were
minimized.
In the Malaysian context, he added the country always practiced a
consultative relationship with its workers.
"We are most fortunate that our workers fully supported the measures
that were undertaken to protect our economy from the financial contagion
in the region," he said.
He hoped that this consultative relationship was strengthened to
avoid any unnecessary unilateral action that could disrupt production and
portray a negative image to the international financial
community.
Labor ministers of the ASEAN members, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia,
Laos,Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam,
attended the meeting.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar replaces communication minister
YANGON, May 10 Kyodo -
Myanmar's ruling junta replaced Communications, Posts and Telegraphs Minister
Brig. Gen Win Tin with Brig. Gen. Thein Zaw, government radio and television
said Thursday. (23 :43)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
StockHouse Canada
Ongoing Development Expands High
Grade Gold Discovery in Myanmar
5/10/01 IVANHOE MINES LTD ("IVN-T;IVHMF-0") - Ongoing Development Expands High-Grade Gold Discovery in Myanmar Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.'s Chairman, Robert Friedland, and President, Daniel Kunz, are pleased to provide an update on the company's current development program at its high-grade gold discovery on the Modi Taung Project, in central Myanmar. The Modi Taung Project is situated in the southern part of the Block 10
concession, approximately 150 kilometres southeast of Mandalay. The project
includes five known parallel zones of mineralized vein structures, each between
500 and 800 metres long. These vein systems remain open-ended and are not closed
off anywhere in the 1,000 accumulative metres of underground development. The
textural characteristics of the mesothermal veins remain unchanged over a
vertical distance of 300 metres.
Since discovering the gold vein system in late-2000, Ivanhoe Mines has
explored the project area with a series of trenches, adits and crosscuts. Very
high-grade gold assays (maximum 3,475 g/t in a surface sample across 1.3 metres/
111.2 oz/t across 4.3 feet) have been recorded from trenches as well as
multi-ounce gold values (maximum 321.7 g/t across 0.75 metres/ 9.99 oz/t across
2.5 feet) in the quartz veins sampled in the adits. Gold appears to be
restricted to the quartz veins and is both of primary and secondary origin,
occurring as free gold and in direct contact with pyrite.
Development activities have been concentrated on SW Zone 3, a long, sloping
hillside area containing a high-grade, mineralized vein structure (a pdf version
of this release containing sections and pictures is available on the Ivanhoe
Mines website). Work to date, encompassing six adits and 26 trenches, has
outlined a vein system with a strike length of at least 600 metres and a
vertical interval of at least 300 metres. Vein widths of up to three metres have
been intersected.
DGSE Laboratories in Myanmar assayed all the samples. Two internationally
accredited laboratories, MAS Laboratories, of Bangkok, Thailand, and Analabs, of
Perth, Australia, conducted check assays on the preliminary surface samples and
pulps and have verified the initial high-grade gold results. The most recent
results from two veins channel sampled in Adit 6 include:
Sample
Sample Width Weighted Average
Gold Assays
Location
(grams/tonne and ounces/tonne)
Adit 6 - vein 1 1.6 metres (5.2 ft) 198.5 g/t (6.15 oz/t) Adit 6 - vein 1 0.52 metres (1.7 ft) 119.3 g/t (3.70 oz/t) Adit 6 - vein 2 0.77 metres (2.5 ft) 31.5 g/t (0.98 oz/t) Adit 6 - vein 2 0.75 metres (2.5 ft) 321.7 g/t (9.99 oz/t) Complete assay results are available on the Ivanhoe website. Previously reported results from trench and adit samples include: Sample Sample Width Weighted Average Gold Assays Location
(grams/tonne and ounces/tonne)
Trench 4 0.4 m (1.3 ft) 1,200 g/t (38.4 oz/t) Trench 7 6 metres (19.9 ft) 40.3 g/t (1.29 oz/t) Trench 8 8 metres (26.2 ft) 69.8 g/t (2.23 oz/t) Trench 11 10 metres (32.8 ft) 88.3 g/t (2.83 oz/t) Trench 12 10 metres (32.8 ft) 152.5 g/t (4.88 oz/t) Trench 16 2 metres (6.6 ft) 62 g/t (1.98 oz/t) Trench 18 1.3 metres (4.3 ft) 3,475 g/t (111.2 oz/t) Adit 1 12.5 metres (41.0 ft) 14.2 g/t (0.45 oz/t) Adit 2 3.4 metres (11.2 ft) 13.4 g/t (0.43 oz/t) Adit 3 6.6 metres (21.6 ft) 73 g/t (2.34 oz/t) Adit 4 1.1 metres (3.6 ft) 69 g/t (2.21 oz/t) Adit 1 is being driven parallel to the vein structure near the creek
bottom, providing the lowest access to date to the vein. This adit will be
between two and four hundred metres in length. Crosscuts driven from Adit 1 will
provide access to the vein for sampling and will allow establishment of drill
stations for future underground drilling.
The Modi Taung Project is located in a mesothermal slate belt setting
similar to the famous multi-million ounce Bendigo gold mines in Australia. The
project covers an area approximately three kilometres long and 1.5 kilometres
wide containing five, steeply dipping, northwest trending, gold-bearing,
mesothermal shear quartz veins. The veins are approximately 200 metres apart and
hosted by low-grade metasediments. The main quartz veins are remarkably and
unusually consistent. Field mapping has shown that additional parallel gold vein
systems are present.
The characteristics of the Modi Taung veins are similar to mesothermal
deposits worldwide. Such deposits are formed near the brittle-ductile transition
and require deep-sourced, structurally controlled, channeled and focused fluid
flow that typically gives rise to vertically extensive (one to three kilometres)
gold-bearing intervals.
Mesothermal gold deposits are notoriously difficult to sample due to
irregularly distributed coarse gold. Sampling of the Modi Taung veins shows
highly erratic gold values and a combination of channel sampling, bulk sampling,
panning and visible gold observations are being carried out by Ivanhoe's
geologists. The present underground exploration provides a cost- effective and
superior method of evaluating the economics of this unusually high-grade gold
prospect.
The structural features on both the regional and local scale are positive
for the depth continuity of the Modi Taung mesothermal veins and for the
discovery of further mineralized veins.
During the monsoon season from late-May through mid-September, Ivanhoe's
crews will continue with the underground development work. A 10,000-metre
combination RC and diamond-drilling program will commence when the monsoon
season ends. A regional exploration campaign is also planned. While it is
unknown at this time whether future exploration will confirm the existence of an
economic mineral resource on the project, Ivanhoe Mines' geological team is
highly encouraged by the multi-ounce gold mineralization discovered to date.
Ivanhoe's wholly-owned subsidiary, Ivanhoe Myanmar Holdings, has an 83%
interest in a joint venture to explore and develop the Block 10 concession.
Ivanhoe's joint-venture partner is the Myanmar Department of Geological Survey
and Mineral Exploration.
Douglas Kirwin, Ivanhoe Mines' Senior Vice President, Exploration, is an
Ivanhoe qualified person and oversees the company's exploration programs.
Ivanhoe is also developing a high-grade gold-silver project in South Korea, and
has commenced its second-phase of drilling on a large copper and gold project in
Mongolia. Ivanhoe will release additional information on its exploration
projects as results become available.
Ivanhoe is a public company whose shares are traded on the Toronto and
Australian stock exchanges under the symbol IVN.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains certain forward-
looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact,
included herein, including, without limitation, statements regarding future
exploration, production and expansion plans of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. are forward-
looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no
assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and
future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.
Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
Ivanhoe's expectations are disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors", and
elsewhere, in Ivanhoe's documents filed from time to time with the Toronto Stock
Exchange and other regulatory authorities. Forward-looking statements are based
on the estimates and opinions of management on the date the statements are made,
and Ivanhoe does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking
statements should conditions, or management's estimates or opinions,
change.
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