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BURMA RELATED NEWS - August 15,
2001.
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HEADLINES
------------------------------------------------------------------ AFP - Builders cash in on Brunei royal
sell-off
Asia Pulse - Taiwan's External Trade Council to
Tap Foreign Markets
The Star - Runcit
scheme to be introduced to more nations
Bkk Post - God's Army
duo ask to stay
Bkk Post - Cross-border drug fight tops meeting
Xinhuanet - Myanmar Increases Edible Oil
Import in First Quarter
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Wednesday August 15, 4:20 PM Builders cash in on Brunei royal sell-off BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Aug 15 (AFP) - Stocks of rare teak from Myanmar and ash
wood from the United States took the spotlight on Wednesday in Brunei's mammoth
auction of assets belonging to a bankrupt firm of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah's
disgraced younger brother.
About 50 people, mostly building contractors, turned up to bid for the
high-quality timber, some of which went for 20,000 Brunei dollarsper 100
tonnes.
Bits and pieces of mostly German-made machinery such as sawing and cutting
equipment were also being snapped up at prices between 500 and 1,500 Brunei
dollars.
A parallel auction of house fittings, including four jacuzzi bath-tubs
going for 400 to 500 dollars, also continued.
British auction house Smith and Hodgkinson has compiled 10,000 items to be
sold in the six-day event -- described by them as the "mother of all auctions"
-- which began on Saturday.
More than 3,500 items have been cleared since the auction started, with
more than two million Brunei dollars raised so far.
The 10,000-item catalogue comes from flamboyant Prince Jefri Bolkiah's
flagship company Amedeo Development Corp., which collapsed under a mountain of
debt three years ago.
Brunei filed a civil suit against Prince Jefri after discovering its
foreign reserves were being siphoned off to pay for his high living.
The prince reached a settlement with the government last year and agreed to
return all the assets he had acquired, including several hotels and high-end
properties, aircraft, and luxury yachts.
Court documents presented at closed-door hearings showed Prince Jefri spent
2.75 billion US dollars over a 10-year period on aircraft, yachts, motor
vehicles and jewellery.
While he was on trial on charges of misappropriating nearly 15 billion
dollars, the prince was allowed by the courts almost 300,000 US dollars a month
to support his four wives and 35 children.
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Wednesday August 15, 9:26 AM
Taiwan's External Trade Council to Tap Foreign Markets TAIPEI, Aug 15-ASIA PULSE In
order to tap foreign markets, the China External Trade Development Council
[CETRA] will implement a "trade point project" to expand Taiwan's foreign trade,
a CETRA official said Tuesday.
CETRA Secretary-General Huang Chih-peng presented a CETRA flag to six trade
"explorers" who will tap trade opportunities in five new emerging market --
Myanmar, Pakistan, Ukraine, Iraq and Kazakhstan.
The project will consist of two-member teams equipped with notebooks,
printers and digital cameras, who will visit the emerging market countries for
three-month stays to collect first-hand information on trade opportunities and
send regular and timely reports home to help local traders wishing to explore
these markets.
The trade promotion teams are expected to call on more than 200 trade
organizations, importers and exporters, chain stores and large enterprises and
write 150 articles on business news during their visits.
The information sent in by the teams will be available on the CETRA Web
site, the official added.
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The Star - August 15,
2001.
Runcit scheme to be introduced to more
nations
SEMARAK Alamiah Sdn Bhd, the organiser of an innovative bumiputra
entrepreneur development project, expects to introduce a similar scheme to other
countries by the end of the year.
“So far Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar and South Africa have already shown their interest in the project,’’ project chairman Mohd Shafi’e Jaffri said after the official launch of Projek Wawasan Peruncitan Bumiputra (Runcit) in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. He, however, declined to say if the countries involved would participate in
the project as part of a global e-commerce network or to have a modified scheme
implemented in their respective countries.
Shafi’e said the Runcit scheme was aimed at enhancing the role of
bumiputras in the retailing, franchising and construction industry through the
extensive usage of information technology (IT) in every aspect of managing a
business.
To date, Semarak Alamiah together with Compaq Worldwide and Wallet21 had
spent RM45mil to develop the IT infrastructure and an e-payment and financial
control application called Karung21 which is being implemented in the scheme.
Shafi’e said currently more than 1,000 vendors had agreed to participate in
the project.
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Bangkok Post - August 15,
2001.
God's Army duo ask to stay
Wassana Nanuam
Johnny and Luther Htoo, the twin boys who led the Karen God's Army ethnic
rebels, have decided to stay in Tak instead of migrating to the United States
under a refugee repatriation programme.
A Kanchanaburi-based Surasee taskforce source said the boys decided not to
leave despite passing repatriation interviews with the US embassy and the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The chain-smoking twins gave no reason for their decision but sought
permission to stay at Ban Ton Yang shelter in Tak, the source said.
The army wants the brothers and their family to resettle in the US so they
could benefit from better living conditions and education.
The boys were believed to have gained weight but were unable to quit
smoking.
They continue to keep their hair long in the belief it ensures their good
health.
They are currently at a border patrol police unit in Suan Phung district,
Ratchaburi, awaiting transfer to Ban Ton Yang shelter in Tak.
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Bangkok Post - August 15,
2001.
Cross-border drug fight tops meeting
Anucha Charoenpo
Thai and Burmese officials meet in Phuket today to strengthen cross-border
efforts against drugs trafficking from Burma to Thailand.
This would be the focal point of their fifth official meeting, said
Chatchai Suthilklom, deputy secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics
Control Board. Mr Chatchai, who takes 10 delegates to the two-day meeting with
Pol Maj-Gen Soe Win, Burma's police chief, and 12 Burmese officials, said
trafficking had reached a critical point.
Delegates were expected to exchange information on a list of suspects to
enable arrests.
Thai drug officials, he said, were worried about trafficking at sea and
would ask their Burmese counterparts to pay attention to this trend, which
originated from Burma.
Thai officials seized eight million methamphetamine tablets and 116
kilogrammes of heroin from two Thai trawlers off the Surin islands this
year.
The drugs came in from Burma and were destined, via Thai waters, for
Singapore and the world market.
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Myanmar Increases Edible Oil
Import in First Quarter
Xinhuanet 2001.08.15 10:21:10 YANGON, August 15 (Xinhuanet)
-- Myanmar imported 21.9 million U.S. dollars worth of edible oil including
vegetable oil and other hydrogenated oil in the first quarter of this
year, a 69.7-percent increase compared with the same period of 2000, according
to the latest figures issued by the country's Central Statistical
Organization.
Myanmar's increase in the edible oil import was seen as its bid to meet the
country's demand, while domestic production was low..
Meanwhile, Myanmar has been extending oil crops cultivation in the
country by private entrepreneurs, to whom more vacant and virgin lands
have been leased for the undertaking since early 1999.
Besides, the government encouraged the oil crop growers by providing
them with agricultural loans and advance payment for the purchase of the
crops.
According to official statistics, Myanmar cultivates 650,000 hectares
of oil crops, of which 450,000 hectares are covered by groundnuts and
200,000 hectares by sunflower, the two major oil crops in the
country.
In addition, cultivation of soy beans and oil palm is also being
extended for extracting edible oil.
The statistics also show that annual production of edible oil amounts
to 200,000 tons, while annual import stands at 100,000 tons.
Meanwhile, an edible oil industrial zone is being developed near
Yangon's Thilawa Port to boost the country's oil production.
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