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BURMA RELATED NEWS - January
20, 2002.
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HEADLINES
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - Drugs flowing into Thailand despite
Myanmar cooperation: report
AFP - Dynamite fishing attack sounds alarm for
Thailand's dive industry
AP - China Plans to Dam Mekond
River
Bkk Post - Red Wa
ready to boost production
Bkk Post - Third Army patrols 50km inside
border
Bkk Post - Army scrambles to control Doi Wawi
territory
Bkk Post - Seminars for villages plying
trade
Bkk Post - Dealer
takes own life as army calls
Xinhuanet - Chinese State Councilor Visits
Myanmar
Xinhuanet - Myanmar Crude Oil Production
Increases by 22.6 Percent in 1st 10 Months of 2001
Xinhuanet - Myanmar's Imports, Exports Up
in 1st 10 Months of 2001
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday January 20, 1:45 PM
Drugs flowing into Thailand despite Myanmar cooperation: report BANGKOK, Jan 20 (AFP) - Some
800 million methamphetamines pills are expected to flow into Thailand this year
from drug labs inside Myanmar, fuelling a huge addiction crisis, military
officials told the Bangkok Post Sunday.
Lieutenant-General Noraset Issarangkul na Ayudhya told the daily that the
drug trade was likely to increase in 2002 despite improving relations between
Thailand and Myanmar which should have facilitated anti-narcotics
operations.
Noraset, head of the Joint Operation Command Centre, said the Red Wa -- an
ethnic militia accused of controlling the trade -- were merely producing more
drugs to counter the increased suppression activities.
The group, which has signed a ceasefire with Myanmar's military junta, was
operating 61 drug factories and had 200 million pills hidden in border areas
awaiting distribution, he said.
To foil the increased surveillance on the border, drug gangs were replacing
bulk shipments with "ant armies" -- large numbers of drug mules who carry small
amounts into Thailand in backpacks.
"To combat drugs, cooperation in intelligence work is a must. We must not
keep information to ourselves but share it with concerned agencies for analysis
and use," Noraset told the Post.
A health ministry survey last year found that some 2.65 million Thais, or
4.3 percent of the population, are hooked on drugs -- the vast majority to
methamphetamines.
Yaaba has been found everywhere from primary schools to nightclubs. Thai
authorities estimate that more than 700 million methamphetamine pills were
trafficked into Thailand last year, while the United Nations already puts the
figure at 800 million tablets.
The drugs trade has been a perennial irritant to relations between Thailand
and Myanmar.
Tensions flared between the two countries last March when their armies
clashed after becoming embroiled in fighting between the Red Wa and another
ethnic army backed by the Thai military.
The incident sparked a six-month row that was defused when their two
leaders exchanged official visits over the last half of 2001.
However, Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai called for greater
efforts to control the narcotics trade earlier this month at the start of talks
with his Myanmar counterpart Win Aung.
Surakiart paid tribute to stronger links forged with Myanmar, and said
better cross-border coordination had led to "a series of arrests of major drugs
traffickers."
"We are asserting tremendous pressure on the drugs syndicates. But we still
have a long way to go in eliminating or even to see a clear reduction in the
volume of narcotic drugs that are threatening our societies," he said.
"Much more energy, resources and determination will still be required for
us in our war against the drugs menace."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday January 20, 12:17 PM
Dynamite fishing attack sounds alarm for Thailand's dive industry BANGKOK, Jan 20 (AFP) - Reefs
off Thailand's Lanta island took thousands of years to become coral-encrusted
havens for fish and divers alike. But it took only a single night of "dynamite
fishing" to blast them apart.
The attack that took place last month on Hin Daeng and Hin Muang reefs has
shocked Thailand's diving industry and sparked urgent calls for the nation's
precious underwater ecosystems to be better protected.
Dynamite fishing, with explosives used to stun or kill fish so they can be
easily scooped from the surface, has not been seen in Thailand for years,
although it still happens occasionally elsewhere in Southeast Asia.
So when dive boats motored towards Hin Daeng and Hin Muang one morning last
month, they were shocked to see dying fish struggling on the surface and tons of
dead creatures on the seabed alongside packs of unexploded dynamite.
"A big area of one dive site has been totally destroyed, and we're talking
about hard coral which takes a long time to recover," said Patrick Catellani
from Kon Tiki Diving, whose staff were some of the first on the scene.
Catellani said the reefs off peaceful Lanta island were famous for their
abundance of shy pelagic creatures like manta rays as well as schools of large
tuna and barracuda which are much sought-after by scuba-diving visitors.
"They are two of the best dive sites of the southern islands basically,
because the water is very clear, and you have a deep drop-off of 60 or 70 metres
(yards)," he said.
Another dive master with the firm, Bjorn Schneider, said all the large
marine life had been driven away by the bombing, and that nothing more than half
a metre in length was now in sight.
"There are not even any crabs or lobsters, there are no sea snakes and no
Moray eels," he said.
The Phuket-based Dive Operators Club is furious that the attack occurred
soon after dive firms were hit with huge rises in national park fees which they
believed should have funded better protection of prime sites.
"We've had a 400 percent increase in national park fees since November,"
said the club's president Alistair Beveridge.
"In the long term we don't mind that, but what we do mind is what is being
done with our money, and at the moment it's disappearing into a black
hole."
Beveridge said that while the industry heard occasional reports of
dynamite-fishing in Indonesia and Myanmar, attacks were rare in Thailand,
particularly in such well-frequented areas.
"People have asked me how long it will take for the reef to grow back, and
they're shocked when I tell them about 8,000 years," he said.
While basic coral formations will regenerate in three decades, complex reef
wall systems like Hin Daeng and Hin Muang take thousands of years to develop,
and the nearby Similan reefs are some 20,000 years old, he said.
As well as scaring away the manta rays and dolphins that made their home in
the reefs, the explosions risked driving away human visitors, said
Beveridge.
"It's isolated, but it just sends a kind of a negative shockwave through
the industry because tourists will read it and some will obviously say -- we
won't go there, they're dynamiting."
Dive operators are angry at the attitude of the Koh Lanta National Park
officials, who were dismissive about the damage done to the reefs.
"I went there to check the damage and found that, in fact, both Hin Daeng
and Hin Muang had not been damaged as badly as the newspapers reported," park
chief Suchai Horradee told the Phuket Gazette which broke the story.
"The damaged area at Hin Daeng covers about 50 square metres, about four
metres down, and the damage was done to hard coral, not soft coral or sea
anemones. At Hin Muang we didn't find any damage."
But the professional divers say some five percent of the reefs was
completely destroyed, and even a fraction of that would have been
unacceptable.
"Maybe I'm too sensitive, but I used to work in the Red Sea for many years
and I can see the difference in how they work," said Catellani. "There, they
even have rangers underwater to check what's going on."
"But the diving industry here is not so old and it takes a long time to
make people understand and be sensitive about the environment."
The Tourism Authority of Thailand office in Phuket is also frustrated about
the lack of response by national park authorities and their inability to force
any action.
"All we can do is report the damage to the national park, but it's not easy
because we are a government office also and we are supposed to be working
together," said diving manager Kanokporn Chantana.
"I think at Lanta national park this sort of thing may happen again, but if
the press emphasises this case then maybe the national parks will get serious
about it."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- China Plans to Dam Mekond
River
The Associated Press, Sat 19 Jan 2002 BEIJING (AP) â?? China will press
forward with plans to build six more dams on its stretch of the Mekong River
despite concerns in nations downstream about economic and environmental damage.
The official Xinhua News Agency said Saturday that preparations for the
dams are already well under way. Government officials and environmental groups
in other Mekong nations hoped Beijing would delay construction while their
concerns were addressed.
China says the dams will power economic development of its impoverished
southwest. Xinhua said the new dams, combined with two existing Chinese dams on
the Mekong, can generate 15.6 gigawatts of electricity per year.
But many fear the dams could permanently alter a river that 60 million
people in Southeast Asia depend on for food and livelihood.
China has said the dams will ease flooding during annual rains and add
water during dry seasons. But that's exactly what worries countries like
Cambodia and Laos, where traditional farming and fishing practices depend on
natural cycles.
Environmental groups are also worried the dams will filter out important
nutrients and block the migratory paths of rare Mekong species like the giant
freshwater catfish, which can weigh up to 650 pounds.
About half of the 3,025-mile waterway flows through China. The rest is
shared by five Southeast Asian nations â?? Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar and
Thailand.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - January 20,
2002.
Red Wa ready to boost production
Purachai orders tighter border security
Wassana Nanuam and Teerawat Kamtida
The improved relations between Rangoon and Bangkok has not benefited drug
suppression as the Red Wa is expected to increase production of methamphetamine
pills to 800 million this year.
Lt-Gen Noraset Issarangkul na Ayudhya, head of the Joint Operation Command
Centre 108, said it was estimated by the military, anti-drug and security
agencies that the drug situation would only get worse with the Red Wa's
increased production capacity.
The Wa just produced more methamphetamines to counter the military's
increased suppression activities at the border. As well as the 61 drug-producing
factories currently churning out vast amounts of methamphetamine pills, he was
also concerned about the 200 million pills hidden in border areas awaiting
distribution.
Drug gangs shifted from trafficking drugs in bulk _ millions of speed pills
per trip _ to hiring small groups of people to smuggle smaller amounts in
backpacks.
As well as using information from the Office of the Narcotics Control Board
and the US Drug Enforcement, the military was also gathering its own
intelligence information.
``To combat drugs, co-operation in intelligence work is a must. We must not
keep information to ourselves but share it with concerned agencies for analysis
and use. The military and the ONCB co-operate well,'' he said.
The government set aside 180 million baht this year for the Supreme
Command, 120 million baht for the army, 50 million baht for the navy, and 25
million baht for the air force for drug suppression.
But there were delays in budget allocations.
The Internal Security Operations Command said over 80 million speed pills
were seized in Thailand last year compared to 72 million in 2000, 42 million in
1999, 30 million in 1998 and 25 million in 1997.
Meanwhile, security has been stepped up at the Mae Sai-Tachilek border
checkpoint in Chiang Rai after 45kg of a drug precursor was discovered on Friday
night.
The seizure came on the same day as the checkpoint's opening hours were
extended to midnight to facilitate the Burma-Thailand Friendship Trade Fair
between Jan 18-27.
The substance was linked to the wife of Pol Sgt-Maj Banleng Panchakhan, a
former police officer who was last month sentenced to death for trafficking 11
million speed pills last year.
The substance, which can be used to produce almost three million
methamphetamines, was found in a 10-wheel truck travelling from Tachilek,
opposite Mae Sai district.
The truck, bearing the sticker ``Anchalee'', was stopped at the checkpoint
at about 8pm.
It carried a female passenger who disappeared into a crowd during the
search.
Police found 45 plastic bags hidden inside the truck's radio speakers and
seats.
Boomserm Nutchrak, 35, the driver, said he was hired by a woman of Chinese
origin in Burma to transport the substance to a customer in Ban Nong Waen, in
tambon Pong Ngarm, Mae Sai.
The suspect said he was promised 20,000 baht after delivery and he intended
to use the money to pay up instalments on his truck.
Interior Minister Purachai Piumsombun, who was on an inspection trip to
Chiang Rai, observed the questioning.
Mr Purachai ordered tighter security at the checkpoint after the seizure,
saying drug traffickers were seeking to exploit the trade fair.
Investigators said they were widening their investigation of Pol Sgt-Maj
Banleng's wife, Anchalee.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - January 20,
2002.
Third Army patrols 50km inside
border
New `defence line' deep inside territory The Third Army Region is expanding its crackdown on drugs to an area 50
kilometres inside Thailand along the border with Burma in the upper North.
Deploying a football analogy, commander Lt-Gen Udomchai Ongkhasingh said
victory depended not only on strikers but also on co-ordination from midfield
and defence players.
``To set up a defence line deep inside our area is militarily regarded as
the best defence strategy,'' said Lt-Gen Udomchai.
The campaign would include a military drive against armed drug traffickers
and seminars for drug addicts.
Wa drug traffickers and armed militia providing protection to drug caravans
had been chased out, but problems remained.
Trade from illicit drugs was still the main source of income for the United
Wa State Army, regarded as the biggest drug traffickers in the Golden Triangle,
where the borders of Thailand, Burma and Laos meet.
The UWSA was mainly responsible for the 700 million methamphetamine tablets
thought to have entered the country last year.
The government believes only 10% were seized.
Troops from Task Force 399, specially trained for drug fight by US special
forces, would play a vital role in the border area.
``Task Force 399 is a strike force which will take the drugs fight to
traffickers,'' he said.
An intelligence officer from Pha Muang Task Force, which is in charge of
border security in the upper North, said around 35-40 drug plants were still
running in the border area inside Burma.
Some mobile plants had been moved to border areas inside Laos.
Lt-Gen Udomchai said tough action by the army also had forced the UWSA to
move its drug supply routes.
``They are now running further to the south and east,'' he said.
Improved ties between Thailand and Burma would lead to more co-operation at
the border, he said.
``I've told my men to strengthen ties and understanding with Burmese troops
posted along the border to ensure the situation there will not sour as it did
last year.
``Neither side would gain anything if the border situation turned violent.
So we have to try our best to avoid it,'' he said.
Last year, Burmese troops moved into Thai territory at Mae Fah Luang's Ban
Pang Noon military outpost in Chiang Rai, 500 metres from the border.
Burmese troops reportedly used the outpost as a springboard to attack Shan
rebels based across the border line.
The army opened fire to drive them out and many Burmese troops were
killed.
Lt-Gen Udomchai said the two countries almost went to war over the
incident.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - January 20,
2002.
Army scrambles to control Doi Wawi
territory
Militia runs amok in rugged terrain Armed militiamen of the United Wa State Army once freely roamed Doi Wawi
and used the rugged terrain as a transit point for millions of methamphetamines
bound for the world market.
It was an open secret for several years that the area was off limits to
local police forces.
About 25km from the border, the region covers the mountainous border area
of Chiang Mai's Mae Ai, Fang, Chaiprakarn districts and Muang, Mae Suay, Mae
Chan, Mae Fah Luang districts of Chiang Rai.
At least five border patrol police were wounded and killed while on drug
missions there in the past several years.
The latest incident took place last October, when a Border Patrol Police
officer was shot dead by armed militiamen while searching for drugs at Pan San
Jo village in tambon Wawi of Mae Suay. The village was suspected as a major drug
storage area.
A senior official from Mae Suay district admitted that drug trafficking in
Doi Wawi had reached a critical point and tough action was needed to remedy the
situation.
He said armed militiamen operating in Doi Wawi could easily overpower local
police forces since they were heavily armed.
The official said the area's rugged terrain made it difficult for local
authorities to keep drug traffickers in check.
``The area has been neglected by local officials for quite a long time.
This worsened the situation while drug traffickers could freely exploit the
area,'' the security officer said.
The Third Army has just concluded its ``Operation Pha Muang 1'', aimed at
re-establishing state power, hunting down key suspected drug traffickers and
lessening the UWSA's influence in the area.
Five leading Chinese Haw suspected of being drug traffickers in the area,
including Prasarn Rakrangsi and Apirat Ploytrakul, managed to flee Doi Wawi
across the border to a UWSA-controlled area after the Third Army Region launched
its operation, an intelligence officer said.
``The operation is part of the Third Army's preventive measures to counter
drug trafficking and other irregular activities in Doi Wawi,'' said Col Chavalit
Sirikij, commander of the Second Cavalry Regiment. He said the drug trade in the
area was very serious.
The operation was the largest drug operation ever conducted by the Third
Army, involving 1,300 soldiers and border patrol police.
The task force reportedly seized 120,000 pills, a number of illegal weapons
and questioned 30 suspected drug dealers during the two-week operation.
A company of elite forces from Task Force 399, specially trained for drug
suppression, also took part.
There were no reports of major clashes with UWSA's militia operating in the
area.
``They may have been aware of our operation and moved out a few days
earlier,'' a field officer said.
Doi Wawi has a population of 20,000-25,000 people. They are mostly Chinese
Haw, who were former Kuomintang soldiers from the now-defunct 5th division of
Chinese Nationalist Army, and their offspring.
``Many of them are known to have close ties with Chinese Haw who are
hardcore members in the UWSA, including Wei Hsueh-kang, a drug warlord and
leading UWSA commander,'' the intelligence officer said.
Other hilltribe people living in the area include the Akha, Muser and
Hmong.
Col Chavalit said the Third Army focused its military push on four villages
of Pang Kru Amnuey, Pang San Jo, Pang Klang 1 and Pang Klang 2 in tambon Wawi of
Mae Suay district, widely suspected as storage areas for illicit drugs from
Burma.
The colonel said drugs from Mong Yawn, UWSA's southern headquarters built
with drug money, is moved through Doi Samsao, which straddles the Thai-Burmese
border. It is left in Doi Wawi before being shipped deep inside the
country.
``From Doi Wawi, the yaa baa could be easily transported down to the
plateau,'' Col Chavalit said.
The Uttaradit-based commander's forces were deployed along the Thai-Burmese
border area of Chiang Mai.
An intelligence officer said the Third Army was considering a proposal to
set up a military outpost on the rugged hill.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - January 20,
2002.
Seminars for villages plying
trade
Almost every family was trafficking pills Suspected drug traffickers and former addicts are being urged to take part
in army seminars on the evils of drugs.
The Third Army is targeting villages like this one where nearly everyone
was once selling or taking drugs.
A seminar was held here last weekend. The villagers are all Akha hilltribe
people.
``Almost every household was involved in some form with drug trafficking.
The situation was much more serious than the outside world would have thought,''
said Ekaphon Jue-tao, village headman.
The Akha were able to make a quick buck with little risk of being caught.
Police were an unusual sight.
Now, with the Third Army campaign under way, villagers say they hope the
presence of troops will keep the place clean.
Former village chief Sorapong Thainurak, or Ar-jorng Juepoa, was a
suspected drug trafficker who killed himself last November rather than submit to
army questioning.
``Drugs are having a bad effect when even the village chief is known widely
as a leading drug trafficker. The army had to move in to relieve the problem,''
said Col Pairath Thongjatu, chief of the Third Army Region's civilian
division.
Seminars would be held for 120 border villages in the upper North known to
have traded in drugs, in a campaign called ``Participation for the
Country''.
``The seminars are part of a campaign to assemble people from all walks of
life in a common fight against drugs,'' said Col Pairath.
Villagers at the Ban Saen Jai seminar were told about the dangers of drugs
and the penalties traffickers faced.
They were also told how to live a decent life and were taken on inspections
to see how drug addicts live and are rehabilitated in prison.
Third Army commander Lt-Gen Udomchai Ongkhasingh told villagers he hoped
the programme would build a united community free of drugs.
On the last day of the seminar, villagers took an oath, swearing to keep
off drugs, to show their gratitude to the motherland and His Majesty the
King.
Michu Juetor, 35, said villagers were delighted with the Third Army's
campaign to get tough on the spread of yaa baa.
``This is a good sign and we are hopeful that in the near future our
village will be a drug-free village,'' said Michu.
``Sorapong [the former village chief] used to boast that he could bribe
local police to turn a blind eye,'' said Ms Michu. She said the village now
banished members if they were caught with drugs.
Poo Terh, a former drug addict who took part in the seminar, said she hoped
the presence of soldiers in her village would deter drug traffickers from
roaming about freely.
``I want the soldiers to look after our village so armed drug traffickers
would not dare to come here to sell their drugs as they once did,'' said Poo
Terh.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - January 20,
2002.
Dealer takes own life as army calls
Headman was aide to Wei Hsueh-kang
Undoubtedly it was fear that drove a powerful village head and a trusted
aide of drug lord Wei Hsueh-kang to take his own life when an officer from the
Third Army called.
Sorapong Thainurak, chief of Baan Saeng Jai hilltribe village in Chiang
Rai's Mae Fah Luang district, was widely suspected to be a key drug
trafficker.
Third Army officers showed up at his house on Nov 2 as part of a crackdown
on drugs. ``We just wanted to question him, but he refused to come out,'' said
Maj Orachai Boonsukjitseri.
``I don't really know why he shot himself. He was probably afraid that his
crimes would catch up with him,'' he said.
Nimitr Thainurak, Sorapong's father, conceded his son was afraid _ but of
Wei, not of the soldiers around his home.
Sorapong owed the druglord 20 million baht for 400,000
methamphetamines.
He sold the drugs to his wife's relatives, but they took off before paying
him. ``He knew he couldn't hide. Wei Hsueh-kang would come after him,'' his
father said. Seeing the armed troops, Sorapong cracked and shot himself.
Mr Nimitr had tried to dissuade his son from the illicit business, but to
no avail. ``The villagers knew. The authorities also knew. But he was too big to
listen to me.''
Sorapong's wooden house, the largest in the village, was impounded after
his death.
His three sons, especially 12-year-old Amorndej, often ask their
grandfather if they will be allowed to keep it.
Mr Nimitr tells them to hope for the best and not to follow their father's
footsteps.
``I've told them to stay away from drugs or they will end up like their
dad,'' said Mr Nimitr.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chinese State Councilor Visits
Myanmar
Xinhuanet 2002-01-20 19:59:18 YANGON, January 20 (Xinhuanet)
-- Chinese State Councilor and Secretary-General of the State Council Wang
Zhongyu and his party arrived here Sunday afternoon to begin a four-day official
visit to Myanmar at the invitation of First Secretary of the Myanmar State Peace
and Development Council Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt.
It is the first leg of Wang's three-nation tour. After his Myanmar visit,
he will proceed to Cambodia and the Philippines.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar Crude Oil Production
Increases by 22.6 Percent in 1st 10 Months of 2001
Xinhuanet 2002-01-20 10:32:32 YANGON, January 20 (Xinhuanet)
-- Myanmar produced a total of 3.91 million barrels of crude oil in the first
ten months of 2001, 22.6 percent more than the same period of 2000, according to
the latestcorrected data issued by the country's Central Statistical
Organization (CSO).
During the period, the country yielded 7,332.51 million cubic-meters of
natural gas, up 12.5 percent from the corresponding period of 2000.
Meanwhile, during the 10-month period, the country imported 209.89 million
U.S. dollars worth of crude oil to meet its domestic demand, increasing by
247.67 percent from the same period of 2000.
The CSO figures also show that Myanmar exported 5,138.97 million cubic
meters of natural gas in the first 10 months of 2001,up 347.88 percent from the
corresponding period of 2000 and the export earning went to 477.89 million
dollars, 359.9 percent more than the same period of a year earlier.
Other official statistics show that since Myanmar opened to foreign
investment in late 1988, such investment in the oil and gas sector coming from
oil companies of Australia, Britain, France,Indonesia, Japan, Thailand and the
United States has reached 2.355 billion dollars in 51 projects, taking up 31.8
percent of the country's total contracted foreign investment by sector.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar's Imports, Exports Up in
1st 10 Months of 2001
Xinhuanet 2002-01-20 11:02:01 ã??ã??YANGON, January 20 (Xinhuanet) -- The value of Myanmar's imports and exports totaled 4,306 million U.S. dollars in the first ten months of 2001, up 28.72 percent from the same period of 2000, the country's Central Statistical Organization (CSO) said in its latest data. ã??ã??Of the total, imports were valued at 2,416.7 million dollars, increasing
by 20.59 percent, while exports amounted to 1,889.3 million dollars, rising by
40.99 percent.
ã??ã??However, the trade deficit stood at 527.4 million dollars during the
period, 20.57 percent less than that in the same period of 2000, the CSO said.
ã??ã??During the period, the import value of intermediate goods, capital goods
and consumer goods accounted for 39.89 percent, 33.54 percent and 26.57 percent
of the total imports respectively.
ã??ã??The data show that there are 14 countries and regions in the world with
which Myanmar is mainly trading. Of them, Thailand had the largest bilateral
trade volume with Myanmar during the ten-month period with 744.53 million
dollars, followed by Singapore (694.9 million), Malaysia (431.25 million), Japan
(379.81 million),India (329.24 million) and Republic of Korea (328.61 million).
ã??ã??The statistics also show that Myanmar's bilateral trade with five member
countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN) -- Thailand,
Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines -- totaled 1,978.23 million
dollars in the first ten months of 2001, up 49 percent from the same period of
2000.
ã??ã??The regional bilateral trade accounted for 45.86 percent of Myanmar's
total foreign trade during the ten-month period with itsimport from these ASEAN
members representing 1,109.62 million dollars and its exports taking up 868.61
million dollars.
ã??ã??The figures also indicate that Myanmar's private sector accounted for
1,479.89 million dollars or 61.23 percent of the total import value, while it
made up 940.44 million dollars or 49.57 percent of the total export value in its
foreign trade during the period.
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