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BURMA RELATED NEWS - February
06, 2002.
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HEADLINES
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- OneWorld - Barbed-Wire Bras Help Squeeze
Companies Out of Myanmar
AFP - India, China, Bangladesh, Myanmar discuss
regional cooperation
Reuters - Asian neighbours meet in Dhaka to
discuss trade
Reuters - Thailand to crack down on illegal
workers
Reuters - Malaysia says it will whip illegal
immigrants
Reuters - China arrests 21, including 12 from
HK, in drug haul
AP - 1500 Pounds of Heroin Seized in
China
Bkk Post - Military, businesses to help fund
road project in Burma
Bkk Post - Burma army moves in on Shan bases
Thousands of troops deployed on frontier
Bkk Post - Misses and hits in Burmese oil and
gas
Bkk Post - Police
ordered to watch out for enterprising car thieves
The Daily Star - Ctg-Yangon flight from Feb
15
Xinhuanet - ASEAN Media Experts Explore Ways to
Promote Traditional Culture
Xinhuanet - Myanmar To Hold Annual Gems Emporium
Xinhuanet - Myanmar Increases Machinery Import
in 1st 10 Months of 2001
NSTP - Sectoral distribution of foreign
workers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Barbed-Wire Bras Help Squeeze
Companies Out of Myanmar
Tue Feb 5, 3:39 PM ET Daniel Nelson,OneWorld UK Encouraged by their success in pressuring two companies to pull out of
Myanmar (formerly Burma) during the last week, campaigners are planning to turn
the spotlight on a major United States oil company.
As part of plans for "the broadest civil society alliance to campaign
against investment in a country since apartheid in South Africa," U.S. activists
opposing the Burmese military dictatorship are looking at the possibility of
targeting oil and gas company Amerada Hess over its 25 percent shareholding in
Premier Oil, which is currently expanding production in Myanmar.
Discussions about a challenge to Amerada Hess are underway with several
trade unions and the New York City pension fund, which was active in supporting
efforts for disinvestment in apartheid South Africa.
The move comes after British-based lingerie giant Triumph International
last week bowed to a high-profile campaign featuring pictures of barbed-wire
bras and the slogan "Support Breasts, Not Dictators", and announced it would
stop manufacturing in Myanmar.
"Triumph were obviously taken by surprise by the strength of feeling about
doing business in Burma, having been inundated by customers pledging to boycott
their products," said Yvette Mahon, co-director of the Burma Campaign UK, which
ran the advertisements over two months. "This should serve as a warning to other
companies operating in Burma - get out now or you could be next."
Italian clothing company Diesel this week joined Triumph, Levi Strauss,
Apple, Pepsi Cola, Reebok, and other companies that voluntarily, or under
pressure, have taken the decision to withdraw. Diesel stated that it would no
longer source any of its clothes from Myanmar.
The company had been contacted by a customer in the English city of
Manchester who told anti-junta activists that labels in some of the company's
products were marked "Made in Myanmar."
"The money made from clothing exports is an important source of income for
the regime," said John Jackson, also of the Burma Campaign UK, "The decisions by
Triumph and Diesel show that effective campaigning and lobbying can really make
a difference."
The group has set a deadline of year-end 2003 to persuade every major
British clothing retailer not to source clothes from Myanmar, where garments are
one of the fastest-growing exports.
Acting with 12 other pressure groups, the campaign is on the verge of
launching the UK Sanctions Coalition to put pressure on the British government
to introduce legislation, like that introduced in the U.S., blocking investment
in Myanmar.
Former U.S. president Bill Clinton issued a federal order in 1997 banning
all new investment by U.S. businesses in Myanmar, amid calls by the leader of
the country's democratic opposition, Aung San Suu Kyi, for the international
community to stem the inflow of foreign capital because of its role in helping
to sustain military rule.
Companies approached for comment were unable to respond before
publication.
Wednesday February 6, 5:52 PM
India, China, Bangladesh, Myanmar discuss regional cooperation (AFP) - Increased cooperation
among China, India, Bangladesh and Myanmar -- including a potential free trade
zone -- could jump start the regional economy, officials and experts said at the
start of a conference here.
"Without regional cooperation we cannot take our people forward and achieve
our goals," Bangladesh's Foreign Minister Morshed Khan said Wednesday.
"If we can change the mindset of the people who execute different policies
then a new horizon of regional cooperation will open," he said.
Experts at the conference said greater trade among the four countries could
lead to billions of dollars in new investment.
Shao Qiwei, vice governor of China's southwestern Yunnan province, said the
countries should boost cooperation and could even form a free economic
zone.
Myanmar's chief of border trade, Nay Winn, said such a zone could be
expanded to include other countries.
The meeting of experts from the four countries is the third of its kind,
after similar conferences in China in 1999 and India a year later.
Debbapriya Bhattachary, executive director of Centre for Policy Dialogue, a
think tank which is hosting the conference, stressed that the region where the
four countries meet -- long wracked by violence and the drug trade -- was rich
with natural resources.
He said the four countries could expand cooperation in transportation,
infrastructure, tourism and other areas.
Wednesday February 6, 6:52 PM
Asian neighbours meet in Dhaka to discuss trade DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh,
China, India and Myanmar began a two-day meeting on Wednesday in Dhaka aimed at
fostering cooperation in trade, communication and investment.
"There are potentials in our countries that we could use and share without
wasting any more time for improving the life of millions of poverty-stricken
people," Bangladesh Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan told the third conference
on Regional Economic Cooperation (BCIM).
The first such conference was held in China in 1999 and the second in India
in 2000.
Khan said the respective governments must improve cooperation to ensure
greater development.
"There are blocks everywhere and we must clear those to march forward hand
in hand," said Khan.
He said the four should try and mirror the system that brought the unity
and prosperity among the European nations. He did not elaborate.
"Bangladesh cannot just ask for equal share (in trade and commerce) from a
big country like India, but we deserve at least equitable share from it," Khan
said.
Bangladesh has a trade deficit with India amounting to billions of dollars.
Nay Winn, Myanmar Director General of Border Trade, said countries needed
to focus on regional development.
"The economic problems of the 21st century are totally different from those
of the past. The economic trend has turned to solving the problems region-wise
or group-wise; and addressing the economic affairs in cooperation among
nations."
Pradyut Bordoloi, State Minister for Home of the Indian state of Assam,
told the meeting that the neighbouring countries which often share vast common
borders could revive existing road links to boost trade and commerce.
Wednesday February 6, 1:21 PM
Thailand to crack down on illegal workers BANGKOK, Feb 6 (Reuters) -
Thailand, with at least a million illegal immigrants from its poorer neighbours,
is to launch a nationwide crackdown on foreign labourers without papers this
week, officials said on Wednesday.
Despite regular crackdowns, Thai authorities have been unable to stop a
human tide of illegal immigrants seeking work. In the first half of 2001, police
said they arrested and deported about 120,000 illegal workers.
Paisal Pruthiporn, head of the labour ministry's office of alien workers,
said labour and security agencies would start carrying out raids on February 10.
"We will deploy police, soldiers, and labour ministry officers from
February 10 onwards to arrest illegal migrant workers nationwide," Paisal told
Reuters.
Thailand, far richer than most of its neighbours, is seen as a haven for
poor labourers from Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, China and Bangladesh.
Over the past decade, millions of people from Indochina have fled war and
poverty and found work in Thailand as housemaids, fishermen, construction
workers and farm labourers.
Last October, the labour ministry registered around 560,000 of an estimated
two million illegal workers in an effort to control the flow.
Paisal said illegal migrant workers who are arrested face a maximum jail
term of three months and a maximum fine of 5,000 baht ($113.60) followed by
deportation.
Employers found hiring illegal workers also face a maximum penalty of three
years in jail and a 60,000-baht fine.
The registration scheme, which ended last October, required employers to
register their foreign workers and pay an annual fee of 4,450 baht for each
migrant employee.
Wednesday February 6, 3:05 AM
Malaysia says it will whip illegal immigrants By Jalil Hamid KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) -
Malaysia said on Tuesday it will whip illegal immigrants and their employers to
deal with the growing problem of foreign aliens, and has also introduced a "hire
Indonesians last" policy.
The country, one of the wealthiest in Southeast Asia, is coming out of an
economic slowdown which has caused many people to lose their jobs in the
unofficial sector of the economy, and there has been a spate of violent
incidents involving illegals.
Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the government would amend
immigration laws next month to allow for tougher penalties against illegals and
those who harboured them.
"The penalties include whipping," he told reporters after briefing business
leaders on the government's new foreign labour policy.
The authorities had toyed before with the idea of whipping illegals, which
is practised in neighbouring Singapore, but dropped the plan after opposition
from rights groups.
But recent arrests of thousands of foreigners, mostly Indonesians, for
various immigration offences seems to have prompted a rethink.
Labour unions estimate the number of illegal immigrants at more than a
million, compared with Malaysia's overall population of 23 million.
Immigrants are attracted to Malaysia, which has a GNP per capita income of
more than $3,600, but they have become associated with social problems and
crime.
There are more 700,000 registered foreign workers -- mainly from Indonesia,
Bangladesh, the Philippines, Thailand and India.
Authorities have stepped up deportation of illegals, sending home 500 to
700 people a day last month and more than 170,000 last year. This compares with
nearly 90,000 in 2000.
Last week, police detained more than 200 Africans as part of an anti-crime
sweep in capital Kuala Lumpur. The Africans were from Liberia, Cameroon,
Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
Close to 150 escaped while being sent to a deportation camp, and
photographs of angry Africans were splashed across newspapers' front pages at
the weekend. They were later rounded up, but the incident embarrassed the
authorities.
HIRE INDONESIANS LAST
The thorniest problem for Kuala Lumpur is what to do about Indonesian
immigrants, previously favoured because of their ethnic and religious ties with
Malaysia's majority Muslim Malays but now bottom of the pecking order.
The government decided to halve the number of Indonesians working legally
in Malaysia after violent clashes between some Indonesian labourers and police
last month.
Abdullah said on Tuesday the government has introduced a "hire Indonesians
last" policy that would limit Indonesians to jobs in plantations and as domestic
maids, meaning no more work on construction sites and factories.
In announcing the new policy, Abdullah said companies could seek workers
from as far afield as Uzbekistan to fill jobs in construction, manufacturing and
service sectors.
He said workers from Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and
Philippines would be allowed to work in manufacturing, services, construction
and agriculture sectors.
Workers from India are only allowed to take up jobs in plantations,
Abdullah said.
But Bangladesh, one of the traditional suppliers of workers to Malaysia, is
not on the government's list.
There are around 200,000 Bangladeshis working in Malaysia, but a year ago
an unofficial ban on new immigrants was imposed due to recurrent problems,
notably Bangladeshi men abandoning local wives when they returned home.
Tuesday February 5, 5:41 PM
China arrests 21, including 12 from HK, in drug haul HONG KONG (Reuters) - China has
arrested 12 people from Hong Kong in connection with a huge seizure of heroin
which has been called the biggest drug case of its kind in Asia, Hong Kong
police said on Tuesday.
The 12 were among 21 suspects arrested by police in China in November.
Police in Yunnan province, which borders major heroin producing country
Myanmar, seized 672.9 kg of heroin, China's official Xinhua news agency said
last month.
They also confiscated nearly HK$2 million (US$251,400) and 2.65 million
yuan (US$320,200) in the bust, which was described by China's Minister of Public
Security Jia Chunwang as "the largest case of its kind ever recorded in Asia",
Xinhua said.
Late on Monday, the news agency said the trafficking ring was the biggest
ever found in the country.
A border check in Yunnan on November 8 last year uncovered 651 blocks of
heroin in two trucks transporting timber from Myanmar, the agency said.
Heroin has become an increasingly worrisome problem in China, where more
than 70 percent of China's known drug addicts are heroin users.
In the first nine months of 2001, China seized 8,000 kg (17,640 lb) of
heroin -- more than in all of 1998, and the most of any country for which the
U.N. has statistics.
Hong Kong reverted to Chinese rule in 1997 but it remains a highly
autonomous region, with tight control at the border between the territory and
the mainland.
1500 Pounds of Heroin Seized in
China
The Associated Press, Tue 5 Feb 2002 BEIJING (AP) â?? Twelve people
from Hong Kong have been detained after China's biggest heroin seizure on
record, police said Tuesday, highlighting the growing role of Hong Kong
traffickers in the Chinese drug trade.
The Hong Kong suspects were among 21 picked up after police seized nearly
1,500 pounds of heroin in November in the southwestern province of Yunnan, said
Sun Dahong, deputy director of the provincial police.
The heroin was found in a joint raid by Chinese and Myanmar police, the
biggest seizure since a deal for cooperation against drug trafficking was signed
in August by China and Laos, Thailand and Myanmar â?? the three countries that
make up the heroin-producing ``Golden Triangle.''
People from Hong Kong have been implicated in a growing number of Chinese
drug cases. But the Yunnan seizure is a leap in the size and reach of Chinese
trafficking involving suspects from Hong Kong.
Yunnan is about 700 miles west of Hong Kong on China's border with the
Golden Triangle region.
In a separate case, Sun said police have killed a Chinese gang leader
accused of smuggling 1,100 pounds of heroin into Yunnan.
Liu Ming, 43, was killed Jan. 28 in a gunfight during a joint
Chinese-Myanmar raid, Sun said. He wouldn't give any details, but said a search
of Liu's home turned up machine guns.
Liu was regarded as a leader of the ``Golden Triangle'' drug trade and had
been smuggling heroin since 1993, Sun said.
China's drug trade boomed in the 1990s as the country relaxed social
controls and eased entry at its borders to encourage economic growth.
Anti-drug officials say Yunnan is the main entry point for heroin bound for
Chinese markets or for re-export to other countries.
The heroin seized Nov. 8 in Yunnan was found in a shipment of timber from
Myanmar, Sun said by telephone from Kunming, the capital of Yunnan. He said the
heroin was bound for Guangdong, a prosperous province that borders Hong Kong.
Police did not say how many addicts the heroin seized in November would
have served. In comparison, American customs agents confiscated 3,622 pounds of
heroin at the U.S. border in all of 2001. China releases few statistics on the
drug trade. Beijing said that there were 745,000 known heroin users throughout
the country as of the end of last year.
Hong Kong police went to Yunnan last month to question the suspects, a
spokeswoman for the territory's police told the South China Morning Post
newspaper.
The state-run China News Service identified one Hong Kong detainee as Lam
Yip-shing. Hong Kong police were not immediately available for comment, and Sun
didn't give any details about the other suspects.
Last month, three Hong Kong men were sentenced to death in Guangdong for
smuggling 400 pounds of heroin.
Hong Kong traffickers also have a place in China's growing trade in
methamphetamine. Six people were sentenced to death in December in Guangdong on
charges of trafficking 31 tons of the drug.
Military, businesses to help fund
road project in Burma
Bangkok Post, Wed 6 Feb 2002 Wassana Nanuam The military and the private sector have agreed to fund a road project in
Burma as part of transport and trade co-operation between Thailand and
Burma.
The agreement was made during a recent visit to a Burmese military base in
Myawaddy by Gen Phat Akkhanibut, adviser to Defence Minister Chavalit
Yongchaiyudh and chairman of the Thai-Burmese Cultural and Economic
Association.
Gen Sanan Khachornklam, secretary to the defence minister, said Gen Phat
told Myawaddy governor Lt-Col Kyaw Soe that Thailand would provide financial
support for the 400-km Myawaddy-Pang San-Rangoon road project.
He quoted Gen Phat as saying Thai businessmen would jointly make
contributions to the project.
Thailand has also reached an agreement with Burma on the planned
establishment of an industrial estate in Myawaddy, Gen Sanan said.
Under the agreement, the industrial estate would be located near the
Thai-Burmese border, opposite Tak's Mae Sot district.
The estate is expected to create jobs for Burmese refugees living in
Thailand once they return to their country. About 110,000 refugees are now under
the care of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
To facilitate cross-border trading, a Thai-Burmese co-ordination office has
been set up in Mae Sot.
Gen Sanan said Adm Narong Yutthawong, the supreme commander, would make a
two-day official visit to Burma on Feb 7-8 to strengthen ties between the two
countries.
He would meet Gen Than Shwe, chairman of the ruling State Peace and
Development Council, and Gen Maung Aye, vice-chairman of the council and supreme
commander.
Burma army moves in on Shan bases
Thousands of troops deployed on frontier
Bangkok Post, Wed 6 Feb 2002 Subin Khuenkaew Thousands of Burmese troops have been deployed along the border, opposite
Mae Fah Luang in Chiang Rai, and appear poised for an assault on the Shan State
Army, security sources said.
Targets were likely to include the Shan army's major command post at Gor
Wan.
Several thousand troops, with artillery, had been reported moving south
from Tachilek to the area opposite Ban Pang Noon.
``This year's reinforcement is quite unusual since only a few hundred Shan
troops have been operating at the border area,'' a military observer said.
Last year's clashes between Thai and Burmese forces occurred after an
incursion during a Burmese assault on Shan forces at nearby Gor Wan base.
About 200 Burmese troops seized the Third Army's border outpost at Ban Pang
Noon for use as a springboard for the assault on Gor Wan.
Army assistant commander Gen Wattanachai Chaimuanwong, who was then Third
Army chief, drove them out with a sustained artillery barrage.
``It is unlikely the Burmese could seize Gor Wan unless they use the same
tactic they employed last year,'' said a security official.
The Burmese had moved artillery into the area near Gor Wan, an army source
said.
``It is quite clear they are determined to overrun all the SSA bases in
this area.''
The Shan army has four other outposts opposite Mae Fah Luang.
Maj-Gen Nakorn Sipetchphand, Phamueng Task Force commander in charge of
border security in the upper North, said Ban Pang Noon was a most sensitive area
and could touch off a new round of border tensions.
``Any intruding forces will be pushed back,'' he said, but unnecessary
clashes with accidental intrusions would be avoided.
Bangkok Post - February - 06,
2002.
Misses and hits in Burmese oil and
gas
Success in finding oil and gas in Burma has been patchy, with more misses
than hits in the 12 years since the country rolled out the welcome mat for
foreign exploration firms.
Few Western companies have had the stomach to invest in the junta-run
country, which has been isolated politically and economically since 1990.
Even those companies that are willing to operate in Burma have to overcome
a series of hurdles ranging from a lack of capital and technology to difficult
and costly terrain.
Bangkok Post - February 06,
2002.
Police ordered to watch out for
enterprising car thieves
Anucha Charoenpo
Police stationed in border provinces have been told to keep an eye out for
thieves smuggling stolen vehicles to neighbouring countries.
The warning followed a Bangkok Post report on Monday that thieves were
employing a successful new tactic to smuggle cars.
They pay a deposit to rent or buy vehicles, insure them and then drive them
over the border. The cars are delivered to customers in Burma, Laos and
Cambodia.
The drivers then return to Thailand and file a missing-car complaint.
Insurance companies foot the bill.
Pol Gen Amnuay Petchsiri, a deputy police chief who oversees eastern,
northeastern and northern border provinces, said he was aware of the
problem.
He ordered police to keep a close watch on the movements of known and
suspected gangs operating in border provinces.
In the East and Northeast, Sa Kaeo, Chanthaburi, Buri Ram, Surin and Trat
were channels for vehicles smuggled to Cambodia, Pol Gen Amnuay said. In the
North, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai were the major routes to Burma, and stolen
vehicles heading to Laos went through Loei, Nong Khai and Ubon
Ratchathani.
Pol Gen Amnuay said expects updated reports on the gangs and their tactics
by Friday.
Most of the smuggled vehicles were stolen in Bangkok and its surrounding
provinces, but some were smuggled from Malaysia.
Pol Gen Charnchit Phienlert, a deputy police chief who oversees Bangkok and
central provinces, said he repeatedly asked neighbouring countries to tackle the
problem, but to no avail. The gangs had close connections with gangs in the
three countries. The Daily Star - Mon. February 04,
2002
Ctg-Yangon flight from Feb 15 BSS, Dhaka Biman Bangladesh Airline, will start operating flights from Chittagong to
Yangon, the capital of Myanmar, from February 15.
State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Mir Mohammad Nasiruddin said
this while Myanmar Ambassador to Bangladesh U Ohn Thwin called on him at his
office yesterday.
They also discussed matters of mutual interests. They hoped that the
existing ties between Bangladesh and Myanmar would be strengthened further in
the days ahead.
Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism Shafiqul Islam and Mya
Tun, counselor and Deputy Chief of the Mission, embassy of Myanmar were
present.
ASEAN Media Experts Explore Ways
to Promote Traditional Culture
Xinhuanet 2002-02-06 17:58:51 ã??ã??BANGKOK, February 6 (Xinhuanet) -- Some 50 experts from the media sectors of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)'s 10 member countries kicked off a seminar here Wednesday, discussing strategies on how to promote traditional culture amid the trend ofmedia globalization. ã??ã??"Our region is well-known for its diversity and richness in traditional
culture, which represents our national identities and solidarity. However, as
the media globalization brings in western culture and values, some people,
especially the young generation, are starting to ignore their traditional
culture," Suchart Suchatvejapoom, chief of Thailand's Public Relations
Department said in his opening speech.
ã??ã??"Although the media sector of some ASEAN members have already initiated
projects to protect and promote the traditional culture,there is a lack of
effective and pro-active strategy," he said.
ã??ã??Therefore, there is an urgent need to have a concerted strategyand
practical guidelines for ASEAN media as a whole in promoting understanding and
appreciation of the young generation towards thetraditional culture, said
Suchart, who chairs the seminar.
ã??ã??During the three-day meeting, participants, including those from radio,
TV, film and video sectors, will assess how the western popular culture
influenced ASEAN's young generation physically and mentally, and exchange their
experience in promoting traditional culture.
ã??ã??They are also expected to work out a cultural theme and a practical
common strategy for effective use of various media meansto draw attention of the
young people to their respective nationalculture.
ã??ã??Thailand, the host of the meeting, will be responsible for the
coordination in implementing the strategy.
ã??ã??ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Myanmar To Hold Annual Gems
Emporium
Xinhuanet 2002-02-06 10:43:00 ã??ã??YANGON, February 6 (Xinhuanet) -- Myanmar will hold its 39th annual
gems emporium from March 4 to 12 this year to put on sale locally-produced
quality gems, pearl and jewelry through competitive bidding, tender and at fixed
price, according to the Myanmar Ministry of Mines Wednesday.
ã??ã??In addition to making arrangements for foreign gem merchants toattend the
forthcoming nine-day emporium, the Myanmar mining authorities will also allow
local gem traders to buy gems and jewelry at the emporium.
ã??ã??Besides the annual events taking place every year in March since 1964,
Myanmar also used to hold mid-year ones in October to boost the country's gems
sale.
ã??ã??At the 38th annual and 10th mid-year Myanma gems emporiums heldduring
2001, 10.12 million and 9.556 million U.S. dollars were fetched respectively.
ã??ã??Each emporium attracted hundreds of merchants from over a dozencountries
and regions, mostly from China, the Hong Kong SAR, Japan,Singapore and Thailand.
ã??ã??Myanmar, a well-known producer of jade, ruby and sapphire in the world,
has earned a total of 339.834 million dollars of foreign exchange from its 38
annual and 10 mid-year gems emporiums,according to official statistics.
ã??ã??Myanmar enacted the New Gemstone Law in September 1995, allowing national
entrepreneurs to mine, produce, transport and sell finished gemstone and
manufactured jewelry at home and abroad.
ã??ã??Since April 2000, the government has reportedly started mining of gems
and jade in joint venture with 10 private companies under profit sharing
basis.
Myanmar Increases Machinery Import
in 1st 10 Months of 2001
Xinhuanet 2002-02-06 10:31:55 ã??ã??YANGON, February 6 (Xinhuanet) -- Myanmar's import of machinery
equipment was valued at 744.38 million U.S.dollars in the first 10months of
2001, up 44.2 percent compared with the same period of 2000, according to a
latest data published by the country's Central Statistical Organization.
ã??ã??Of the import, the value of electric machinery apparatus amounted to
168.91 million dollars, a 17.68 percent increase fromthe same period of 2000,
while that of the non-electric and transport equipment reached 575.47 million
dollars, up 54.41 percent from the corresponding period of 2000.
ã??ã??The country's import of machinery accounted for 30.8 percent ofthe
2,416.7 million dollars' total import during the first 10 months of 2001.
ã??ã??According to official statistics, Myanmar imported 628.05 million
dollars' worth of machinery equipment in 2000.
ã??ã??Myanmar, an agriculture-based country, has to depend on import for the
majority of different machinery equipment in need. Meanwhile, the country is
striving to transform its traditional farming to a mechanized one for its
agricultural development.
The New Straits Times Press - February
05, 2002.
Sectoral distribution of foreign workers By Firdaus Abdullah PUTRAJAYA, Tues. â?? The Government today announced sectoral distribution of
foreign workers in a bid to reduce the dependency on them, but excluded
Bangladeshis from the list.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the improved
measures not only provided room for workers from "fresh" countries but also
specified sectors which were allowed to employ foreign workers.
"With immediate effect, the intake of foreign workers will be based on
these measures," Abdullah told a Press conference at the Home Ministry after a
dialogue session with members of the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers this
morning.
The dialogue was also attended by Minister of International Trade and
Industry Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz and Human Resource Minister Datuk Dr Fong Chan
Onn.
Under the new ruling, workers from Indonesia were confined to the
plantation sector and as domestic maids while those from India are only allowed
to work in the plantation sector.
Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and the Philippines have
been allowed to provide labour for the manufacturing, services, construction,
plantation and other agricultural sectors.
Employers from the manufacturing, services and construction sectors could
also bring in workers from Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan as
substitutes to the Indonesians and Bangladeshis whom the Government feels have
somewhat flooded the job sector.
From now on the Home Ministry will only give priority to applications for
foreign workers for the export-oriented manufacturing, construction, plantation
(including food cultivation, livestock breeding, flower farms, aquaculture and
deep sea fishing) and services (including cooks and general workers at
restaurants in big cities and State capitals) sectors.
Cleaning services, cargo handling, welfare homes, laundrettes, golf courses
and holiday resorts are other service industries where foreign workers can be
employed.
Under the revised scheme, unskilled foreign workers would only be allowed
to work in Malaysia for a maximum of five years.
Abdullah said the foreigners could work for three years with the initial
permit, after which they are required to renew their permits annually.
"Work permits beyond five years are only for skilled workers, and they have
to be certified as skilled by the National Vocational Training Council.
"If required, they may need to sit for certain tests before their work
permit is approved," he explained, adding that pre-employment medical screening
at the workers' country of origin would also be strictly scrutinised now.
With immediate effect, foreign workers must also undergo a medical test on
an annual basis. Touching on his dialogue with the FMM, Abdullah said he had
suggested the FMM should look into ways and means of reducing the dependency on
foreign labour.
He said that the expansion of businesses or operations should not
necessarily mean additional workers as automation and robotics should be
promoted.
At the same Press conference, the Home Minister also announced impending
amendments to the Immigration Act which would allow for stiffer punishment for
those who enter the country illegally.
The amendments, which are expected to be tabled in Parliament in March,
would include whipping for those who employ or protect illegal immigrants.
In a related matter, Abdullah urged Minister in the Prime Minister's
Department Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim to furnish information on the latter's
allegation that corruption was one of the reasons why the authorities failed to
check the influx of foreigners.
"I'm sure Rais would not have said something which was baseless, but he
should give whatever information he has to me ... so we can act accordingly,"
Abdullah said.
He gave the assurance that strict action would be taken if the allegations
could be proven.
He also urged the various government agencies as well as the general public
to assist enforcement authorities in clamping down on illegal immigrants.
"It is a mistaken perception that the responsibility lies solely with the
immigration department and the police," he replied to a query.
Earlier in the morning Abdullah attended the Home Ministry's Excellent
Service Award presentations where he presented certificates and tokens of
appreciation to ministry
staff. |