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-------------------------------------------------------------- Burma Related News - February 23- 24,
2002. -------------------------------------------------------------- Headlines --------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - Expand ASEAN forum scope to
deal with security challenges: Singapore
Dow Jones - Thai PTT To Sell
Petroleum Pdts Worth THB900M To Myanmar
BBC - Burma releases captive Indian
guerrillas
VOA News - Burma Challenged on
Efforts to End Forced Labor
Bkk Post - Officials find more
lead-laced foodstuffs Concern over tainted prawns from Burma
Bkk Post - Judge jails 22 for
contempt Paid B1200 to pose as Burmese in court
Korea Post - Korea, Myanmar sign MOU on CDMA
Korea Post - Korea, Myanmar have many
things in common
Bkk Post - School, homes elude
thousands
Bkk Post - Crackdown on Wei gang to
carry on
The Nation - Wei 'aide' found dead
after raid
Xinhuanet - Myanmar, ROK Sign
Agreement on Avoidance of Double Taxation
Xinhuanet - Myanmar Fishery Fair Wins
Over 27 Mln Dollars' Contracts
Narinjara - Four Myanmar prisoners
released from Dhaka Central Jail while eight hundred more linger in prisons of
Bangladesh
NMG - Twenty-four Police personnel
arrived China to attend Anti-drug training
--------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday February 24, 8:01
PM
Expand ASEAN forum scope to deal with security challenges: Singapore SINGAPORE, Feb 24 (AFP) - Singapore Defence Minister Tony Tan called
Sunday for expanding the role of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) to deal with the
diverse security threats facing the Asia-Pacific region.
"The basic structure and mechanisms of the ARF (the
region's premier security body) are already in place, and a number of
confidence-building measures have been implemented," Tan said.
"There is scope for defence officials to play a more
active role in the ARF to improve the robustness of our responses to the
security challenges in the 21st century," said Tan in a keynote dinner speech
ahead of Monday's Asia-Pacific security conference.
He said the ARF "can be further developed to promote
dialogue and interactions that have greater utility in meeting the security
challenges of the future."
The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) is the core of ARF, the Asia-Pacific's only regional security forum
which meets annually.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
ARF members include Australia, Canada, China, the European
Union, India, Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea,
Russia, and the United States.
Stepping up his call for regional cooperation, Tan said it
was now more urgent than ever that countries in the Asia-Pacific pooled their
resources in order to deal effectively with the security threats.
The September terror attacks on the United States and the
uncovering of a vast terrorist operation in Southeast Asia allegedly linked to
Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network have exposed the region's
vulnerability.
"The security challenges we face in the Asia-Pacific
region are diverse and will not be easily overcome," he said.
"Now, more so than ever, international cooperation is
important and necessary. The international community has to work together," said
Tan.
Bin Laden has been named by the US government as the
mastermind of the September 11 attacks on Washington and New York but the
Saudi-born militant's actual whereabouts remain unknown despite a massive
manhunt by the United States.
--------------------------------------------------------------- Friday February 22, 7:58
PM
Thai PTT To Sell Petroleum Pdts Worth THB900M To Myanmar BANGKOK (Dow
Jones)--Thailand's oil and gas conglomerate PTT PCL (H.PTX) said
Friday it has signed petroleum sale agreements with Myanmar Petroleum Products
Enterprise worth a total of 900 million baht ($1=THB43.767).
PTT will supply diesel, gasoline and lubricant products
totaling 100 million liters to Myanmar's national oil company. The contracts
last one year, starting from February.
--------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - Saturday, 23
February, 2002, 16:02 GMT
Burma releases captive Indian guerrillas Release of the Indian separatists could
raise tensions
Subir Bhaumik
in Moreh on the India-Burma border Indian officials say Burma has released all the separatist
militants from the north-east Indian state of Manipur, who were arrested during
a Burmese military operation along the India-Burma border last year.
Sources in the Burmese border police say the last batch
was let out last week.
Officials of the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) say
that Burma turned down their request to hand over the Manipuri rebels to India.
In early November last year, Burmese security forces
launched a major offensive against the Manipuri rebel bases around Tamu, the
Burmese town just opposite Moreh.
Nearly 200 rebels of three Manipuri separatist groups
active in India and based just across the border in Burma were arrested.
More than 1,600 weapons were seized, along with
substantial quantities of gold and cash in various currencies.
Those arrested included RK Meghen, chief of the United
National Liberation Front; Jibon Singh, the military commander of the Peoples'
Liberation Army, and four other senior rebel leaders.
Non-cooperation
The BSF says it made an immediate request to their Burmese
counterparts for handing the rebels over to Indian authorities.
When Burma refused, India requested detailed information
on the arrested rebels and their leaders.
The BSF's Manipur area commander BK Mishra told the BBC
that the Burmese stopped cooperating after initially agreeing to do so.
Instead, he said, the rebels were set free in batches this
year.
Sources in the Burmese border police in Tamu talked to the
BBC on conditions of anonymity.
They said the last batch of 27 Manipuri rebels was set
free from a prison in the western Burmese town of Kalemyo last week.
They said the rebels had now disappeared into the thick
jungles of Burma's Sagaing division.
It is not clear why Burma's military rulers, who started
the offensive against the Indian rebels in their territory last year, decided to
release them.
This release will surely upset India.
Earlier last year, following reciprocal visits by their
military commanders, the two countries had agreed to coordinate military
activities against separatist groups active along the border.
--------------------------------------------------------------- Burma Challenged on
Efforts to End Forced Labor
Dan Robinson Washington VOA News 23 Feb 2002 14:15 UTC
The third visit to Burma by a United Nations human rights
representative is spurring hopes for speeding up the political reconciliation
process in the Southeast Asian country. The Brazilian U.N. envoy, Paulo Sergio
Pinheiro, has spoken in positive terms about his latest efforts.
In just over a week of discussions and travel in Burma, Mr. Pinheiro met political prisoners, examined jail conditions, and focused on the overall human rights situation. Before departing Rangoon, he said he was satisfied with cooperation he received from the military government and was able to meet everyone he wanted to see. In a gesture to Mr. Pinheiro, the ruling State Peace and
Development Council, SPDC, freed 11 more political prisoners, more than have
usually been released each month since the U.N. mediation process began in 2000.
However, chief democracy figure Aung San Suu Kyi, who Mr.
Pinheiro met near the end of his visit, remains under restriction. And human
rights groups say as many as 1,500 political prisoners remain in Burmese jails.
Mr. Pinheiro went to Insein prison in Rangoon and a prison
hospital. He is reported to have spent almost nine hours in extensive
discussions with imprisoned members of the opposition National League for
Democracy, NLD party. A U.N. statement said he had confidential discussions with
a dozen detainees.
It's also reported that he saw U Win Tin, one of Burma's
best known journalists, who has been jailed for more than 13 years. However, it
is not yet known if Mr. Pinheiro was able to see Min Ko Naing, a leader of the
1988 democracy protests crushed by the army. Had Mr. Pinheiro managed to secure
freedom for Min Ko Naing, analysts and diplomats say he could have demonstrated
that his efforts were bringing results.
The pace of international mediation appears to be
quickening. As Mr. Pinheiro left Rangoon, a delegation from the International
Labor Organization, ILO, was arriving for more talks on forced labor, which it
says the military government has failed to stamp out.
The ILO has requested, but Rangoon has refused, permission
to set up a permanent office in Rangoon. The labor officials now visiting Burma
will focus on this and allegations of murders of people who provided information
about forced labor to human rights investigators.
Phil Fishman is a spokesman for the AFL/CIO, America's
largest labor organization. He says Burma's military is under pressure to show
it can end forced labor before an international labor conference later this
year.
"There is a priority being placed on the establishment of
a permanent ILO presence. I think there are elements within the ILO secretariat
itself and among member states that see that as being way beyond the current
stalemate in regard to the lack of progress to address the forced labor issue.
If, in fact the Burmese regime agrees even in some general way to an ILO
presence and begins to implement it by the June conference, then I think there
will be an effort to try and ease ILO sanctions, ease the Article 33
resolution," Mr. Fishman says.
The next stage of U.N. mediation occurs In March when
Malaysian diplomat Razali Ismail makes his seventh visit to Burma as U.N.
special envoy. He is seeking a timetable for progress in the political talks.
Long-time Burma analyst Kavi Chongkittavorn is managing editor of The Nation
newspaper in Bangkok, and currently a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.
"I think at the moment the U.N. is losing patience,
because the U.N. would like to have an official sort of report of the progress
made from the past 15 months of effort, and you can see this very clearly. The
U.N. wants to proceed very quickly but yet, Razali could not, knowing that it
takes time - the so-called Asian way," Mr. Kavi says.
Although their mandates are slightly different, both Mr.
Razali and Mr. Pinheiro are working toward a common goal - to promote human
rights and the establishment of democracy in Burma. The United Nations announced
that Mr. Pinheiro stopped in Kuala Lumpur for talks with Mr. Razali before
leaving for Burma.
--------------------------------------------------------------- Officials find
more lead-laced foodstuffs Concern over tainted prawns from
Burma
Bangkok Post, Sat 23 Feb 2002 Supamart Kasem Supapong Chaolan Officials conducting a random survey in the Mae Sot
district of Tak province yesterday found pieces of lead stuffed into Burmese
freshwater prawns that could have serious health implications if
ingested.
The survey was conducted jointly by the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA), the Fisheries Department and the Public Health Ministry in
the wake of recent reports of traders stuffing prawns with lead weights in a
scam designed to increase the value of their goods.
The officials checked an imported consignment belonging to
Prasertsorn Co, comprising 3.83 tonnes of big freshwater prawns from Rangoon
valued at 1.5 million baht.
With the use of metal detectors, the delegation initially
found three lead pieces, each weighing 150 grammes, stuffed into two
prawns.
Two hours later, a total of 13 prawns had been found to
contain lead.
``The pieces of lead, the type of which are usually used
to weigh down fishing nets, were stuffed into the heads and bodies of the
prawns, one or two pieces per prawn,'' said Boonthiem Chokevivat, Mae Sot
customs chief.
The random checks would continue, Mr Boonthiem said,
thanking importers for their co-operation in providing the officials with metal
detectors.
Pharmacist Yongyut Losupakan, representing the FDA, said
the lead pieces could lead to the prawns becoming contaminated and recommended
consumers conduct their own checks before cooking prawns.
``If prawns stuffed with lead were to be cooked, the metal
would melt and accumulate in the body when eaten,'' he said.
``High levels of lead can be harmful to the brain, livers
and other organs,'' he added.
Mr Yongyut expressed confidence that importers would
continue to co-operate with the checks, saying that such action would assist in
helping protect the industry, which has an annual turnover running into hundreds
of millions of baht.
Piboonchai Trawanant of Prasertsorn said his company had
been buying prawns from Rangoon for more than three years.
Most of the firm's goods were obtained directly from
fishermen, but some purchases were handled by a middleman in
Rangoon.
Most of the prawns bought by the company were sent to
restaurants, Mr Piboonchai said, adding he had ordered his staff in Rangoon to
examine prawns thoroughly before clearing deliveries to Mae Sot.
A similar random check was conducted in Surat Thani
yesterday by Sathorn Luangpatiphat, president of the provincial consumer
protection association.
No traces of lead were found in prawns, but news of the
search resulted in low prawn sales.
Pimpan sae Pang, a 71-year-old fish vendor at the Surat
Thani municipal market, complained that sales of both prawns and fish had
dropped despite discounted prices.
``This is not a new problem,'' Mrs Pimpan
said.
``We used to get snappers from Burma, which were taken
ashore in Ranong and sent to Surat Thani, with stones, gravel and even rags
stuffed into their mouths to make them appear heavier,'' she said.
--------------------------------------------------------------- Judge jails 22
for contempt Paid B1200 to pose as Burmese in court
Bangkok Post, Sat 23 Feb 2002 Nucharee Raekroon Twenty-two local people have been jailed for contempt of
court after posing as Burmese defendants tried on illegal fishery charges in
August last year.
Six fisheries officials, two local policemen and a
fish-pier owner face similar sentences for helping to bring about the deception.
The Nakhon Si Thammarat district court yesterday sentenced 22 men to four
months' jail each for appearing in court on August 24, 2001 as Burmese crewmen
who worked illegally on trawlers Kor Charnsin and Por Pattana 2 off Khanom
district.
The judge noticed that the men were Thais, not Burmese,
and found that they were paid 1,200 baht each to pose as the defendants so that
the Burmese workers would not be deported.
The court also sentenced six Fisheries Department
officials, two Khanom police officers and a fish vendor to four months in jail
for helping the defendants. The nine principal offenders are are Mongkolrat
Raekchamnong, Panya Manmana, Parat Ungpao, Chaleng Kesornsawat, Natthakorn
Saeng-on, Tharathip Watcharaniran, Pol Maj Suvit Phuttharat, Pol Sgt-Maj Komol
Inyao and Nopporn Chonsutham.
A warrant was issued for the arrest of a man identified
only Somphan who arranged hideouts for the Burmese while escaping.
The trawler owners, Somsong Wandee and Wisut Kijwirat,
were cleared for lack of evidence.
--------------------------------------------------------------- Korea Post Korea, Myanmar sign MOU on
CDMA
Sat Feb 23 14:11:00 UTC+0900 2002
Korea and Myanmar signed an MOU (memorandum of
understanding) in Seoul on Jan. 31 concerning Korea¡¯s supply of communications
equipment to Myanmar. The agreement was signed by President & CEO
Ghung-gum Park of LG Electronics¡¯ Information & Communications System
Company and General Manager U Tha Oo of Myanmar Posts & Telecoms (MPT) in
the presence of Minister Yang Seung-taik of Information & Communication of
Korea and Minister Thein Zaw of Communications, Posts & Telegrams of
Myanmar. This is the first time for a Korean electronics company to supply CDMA
equipment and service to Myanmar.
Under this agreement, LG Electronics will provide MPT with
CDMA (code division multiple access) WLL (wireless subscriber net) and CDMA
mobile telephone system through the use of Economic Development Cooperation
Fund. The initial allotment is expected to range between US$20 million and US$30
million.
Under this agreement, LG Electronics and MPT will form a
cooperative work relationship and will start commercializing CDMA mobile phone
service in Myanmar beginning in 2003.
LG Electronics is known to be preparing for the supply of
CDMA equipment also to Vietnam and Cambodia through its locally established
affiliates there and a number of other Korean IT companies.
LG Electronics¡¯ agreement with MPT for the supply of CDMA
equipment and service in Myanmar is considered a welcome development for Korea
as it will help further dissemination of Korean CDMA in other countries of
Southeast Asia.
The Union of Myanmar has a population of over 50 million
people in a country that is several times the size of Korea.
Myanmar is known to be an agriculture-strong country where
the distribution of wired and wireless phones is considered to be relatively
low, about 400,000 circuits, compared with other main industrial areas.
This offers great potential for both Korea and Myanmar to
increase their cooperation in the field of telecommunications for the promotion
of mutual benefit.
--------------------------------------------------------------- Korea Post Sat
Feb 23 14:11:00 UTC+0900 2002
Korea, Myanmar have many things in common To Minister Thein Zaw of Communications, Posts &
Telegrams of the Union of Myanmar, Korea is not a foreign country but one where
he finds so many things that are in common with his own country.
We believe in Buddhism like the Korean people do and we
have the same birthmark that the Korean babies have when they are born, said
Minister Zaw at an exclusive interview with The Korea Post at the residence of
Amb. U Nyun Maung Shein of Myanmar in Seoul on Jan. 1.
Myanmar, like Korea, was also invaded by foreign powers in
the past such as by Mongolians and Japanese.
Minister Zaw came to Korea on Jan. 30 for the conclusion
of an agreement on cooperation between Korea and Myanmar in the field of
telecommunications. (See related story on the preceding page.)
On Korea-Myanmar cooperation in IT and related fields, he
said, I feel very confident that the two countries can cooperate in the field of
communications for increased mutual benefit.
Concerning the area of cooperation, he said: We have a
great measure of confidence in the CDMAtechnology of Korea and, together with
various companies in Korea and supported by the Korean government, I am sure
that we can enter into mutually beneficial cooperative relations in the
CDMAtechnologies.
On the Korean companies engaged in Korean-Myanmar project,
he noted: Several Korean companies have started doing business with us in the IT
and they include LG, Daewoo and a number of others. Korean companies are already
well known to us in Myanmar.
Asked if there were any small- medium Korean enterprises
in venture business with Myanmar counterparts, he said that we do not have any
joint venture of business with Korean companies at this time, but, of course, we
import and buy a lot of equipment from Korean such companies. He disclosed that
in the communications sector, Korean companies are very well present in
Myanmar.
Asked what his view was of the Korean IT and related
industries, he replied that the Korean IT industry was very much
advanced.
On the IT industry in Myanmar, he said: We have several
companies. Under the ASEAN agreement on the IT technology, we already have a
private sector which is known as the Bagan Cyber Tech. We have also established
an ICT park in Yangon. But since it is also under the e-ASEAN framework, we
would also like the Plus 3 Countries to be in the work. Korea is one of the Plus
3, Countries apart from China and Japan.
Asked to explain about the present status of his country,
Minister Zaw gave the following answer:
First, we do not have to worry about food, shelter or
clothing in Myanmar. But we are not content with that much. We have to try our
best to become a modern and developed nation.
For our country to develop, we need to develop the energy
sector and the manufacturing industry. We are also trying our best to develop
our communications sector. We have huge potential in that area in Myanmar.
We have full and complete river systems in our country. We
have the river basins that are the results of these big rivers.
As you may be aware, our country is almost six or seven
times larger than South Korea. Now, the population is nearing the 52 million
mark. So these are our resources and potential of our country.
Although we have these material resources and other
potential, we need capital and technology to develop and exploit them and this
is where we can cooperate with Korea for mutual benefit.
--------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Sunday
24 February 2002
School, homes elude thousands Families drifting in search of jobs, hope Supamart Kasem Ma Thaunt Kya, 14, dreams of more than a factory job. The
girl from Kaw Chaung village in Pa-an, capital of Karen state, wants to complete
a university education and, if possible, become a doctor.
But the future looks bleak for the teenager after she
stepped on a landmine and lost her right leg. She now walks with the aid of a
crutch.
She does not have a father and her mother is away. Mae Tao
clinic, a non-governmental organisation for refugees and displaced people, looks
after her.
Her mother, Mu Baing, 34, left to work in Bangkok in 1999
and they talk on the phone once in a while.
Ma Thaunt Kya is not allowed to follow her mother to
Bangkok because she might not be able to take care of herself.
Once, she lived in Bangkok for a year to help a relative
raise a child. She went back home a year later to attend an ordination ceremony,
when she stepped on a landmine near the village.
Ma Thaunt Kya may have her dreams, but in truth education
opportunities are all but out of reach for children of refugees and displaced
people such as herself.
Out of 101,335 refugees in seven camps along the
Thai-Burmese border, 36,768 are children under 12.
Realising the importance of education, Mae Tao clinic came
together with other charity foundations and Burmese workers to set up the Burma
Migrant Workers Education Committee (BMEC).
BMEC has set up 20 schools in Mae Sot and Phop Phra
districts, serving about 1,000 children.
Ma Thaunt Kya studies in second grade at one of those
schools. Students are taught Burmese, English and Thai.
She is not sure whether she will get the chance to study
at secondary school, let alone university.
Some children do not have access even to basic
education.
More than 10,000 children wander from province to province
as their parents look for jobs, says Dr Cynthia Maung, who runs Mae Tao
clinic.
``Although we can arrange education for them they do move
around. Nobody knows how many children are out there,'' she said.
The Thai education system shares the burden. Almost 4,000
displaced children study at Thai primary and secondary schools, including 3,365
at primary schools under the Primary Education Office and 366 at private
schools.
Veera Yomkerd, Mae Sot education chief, said the ministry
tried to provide education to children of all nationalities.
Private schools, however, did not qualify for funding if
they took displaced children.
At one private school in Mae Sot, more than half of the
420 students are displaced children whose parents cannot afford tuition
fees.
``The Private Education Office has to absorb the expenses
because funding is for public schools only,'' he said.
Mae Sot district chief Samart Loyfa, meanwhile, said he
was worried about the future of displaced people.
Even if they get access to education, they may not qualify
for Thai citizenship.
A cabinet decision last August granted citizenship to
people of nine tribes and displaced people in 20 provinces who arrived in
Thailand before Oct 3, 1985.
The provinces are Kanchanaburi, Kamphaeng Phet, Chiang
Rai, Chiang Mai, Tak, Nan, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Phayao, Phitsanulok,
Phetchaburi, Phetchabun, Phrae, Mae Hong Son, Ratchaburi, Lampang, Lamphun,
Loei, Sukhothai, Suphan Buri and Uthai Thani.
Applicants put in a request to a district
chief.
Requests are considered by a local 10-member panel before
going to a provincial panel and the Interior Ministry.
--------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Sunday
24 February 2002
Crackdown on Wei gang to carry on Forty to 50 men in network still at large Yuwadee Tunyasiri Drug suppression agencies will continue their drive to
destroy Wei Hsueh-kang's drug smuggling operations and take stern action against
anyone found working for the drug warlord, said PM's Office Minister Thammarak
Issarangkura na Ayuthaya.
Authorities believe there are still 40 or 50 people in
Wei's drug network who have yet to be caught, but won't say what new campaigns
are planned.
Five of Wei's close aides were rounded up in separate
raids in Fang, Hang Dong and Chai Prakan districts in Chiang Mai on
Thursday.
The Eagle 45 operation followed the seizure in December of
Wei's assets worth about 200 million baht.
Gen Thammarak, who oversees the Narcotics Control Board,
said he would try to find out how the five managed to get their hands on fake ID
cards and round up local officials who were in cahoots with the Wei
gang.
On suggestions foreign forces could retaliate against the
suppression drive by hitting Thai units along the border, Gen Thammarak said
soldiers and police were duty-bound to protect the country's
sovereignty.
He said drug traffickers were smuggling drugs through the
Lao border because of Rangoon's co-operation in blocking the Burmese
border.
Drug trafficking routes have also been shifted to Laos and
Cambodia.
Thailand, China, Burma and Laos have stepped up drug
suppression co-operation and a joint working group for drug suppression along
the Mekong river has been set up.
The campaign is expected to be more effective after China
sets up a liaison office in Thailand to co-ordinate suppression
efforts.
Gen Thammarak said the crackdown would continue in 34
provinces considered worst hit by drugs.
--------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation
NARCOTICS: Wei 'aide' found dead after raid Published on Feb 24, 2002 Man slain because of what he knew, police suspect a man
reportedly linked to fugitive drug baron Wei Hsueh-kang was shot dead yesterday
in Chiang Mai's Muang district, just days after a team led by the Anti
Money-Laundering Commission (AMLC) searched his mansion.
Police believe that Mana Siridamrongkij, the owner of
Chiang Mai Damrongsuk Limited Partnership, might have been killed in a bid to
prevent ongoing investigations from getting closer to others involved in Wei's
drug-trafficking network.
Wei, 49, is leader of the United Wa State Army, an ethnic crime syndicate widely regarded as one of the world's biggest producers of heroin and methamphetamines. Convicted of drug trafficking in Thailand in 1987, he jumped bail pending an appeal, and has remained at large. Mana, 48, was the subject of last week's AMLC raid after
evidence indicated that Wei used his relatives and close aides to run business
in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai to launder drug money.
Last week's search, however, did not turn up anything
suspicious at Mana's mansion. Chiang Mai Damrongsuk Limited Partnership runs a
major cotton and silk-clothes shop in the province.
According to police, Mana was on his way to run an errand
in his pickup truck when he was shot twice, in the neck and ear.
The shooting occurred at about 4pm just 100 metres from his house. Three bullet shells were found at the scene. Sudarat Siridamrongkij, an ethnic Chinese Haw woman, aged
44, weeping after the death of her husband, allowed police to search their
mansion on a one-rai plot of land. Police took some documents including Mana's
car registration, household registration and bank passbooks for further
investigation.
A source quoted Mana's neighbours as saying that a group
of unknown men were seen driving cars and motorcycles past the victim's mansion
a number of times after the AMLC search. The neighbours said that Mana and his
family rarely talked with them.
"Mana and his family went in and out of their mansion all
the time but they kept a distant relationship with those living in the same
area," one neighbour said.
--------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar, ROK Sign
Agreement on Avoidance of Double Taxation
Xinhuanet 2002-02-23 11:14:14 YANGON, February 23 (Xinhuanet) -- Myanmar and the Republic of Korea (ROK) have reached an agreement on avoidance of double taxation and prevention of avoidance of paying income tax between the two countries. The agreement was signed here on Friday by Myanmar
Minister of National Planning and Economic Development U Soe Tha and visiting
Minister of Trade of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of ROK Hwang
Doo-Yun, Saturday's official newspaper the New Light of Myanmar reported.
In addition, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between
the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Korean
International Trade Association (KITA) on Myanmar-Koreabusiness partnership was
also signed on Friday to boost business cooperation between the two countries,
according to another reportof the paper.
Following the signing of the MOU, 14 industrial and
export-import companies of ROK and 77 companies of Myanmar discussed matters
relating to bilateral trade.
According to official statistics, ROK has poured in 153.11
million U.S. dollars in 26 projects in Myanmar since the country opened to
foreign investment in late 1988.
Bilateral trade between Myanmar and ROK in the first ten
monthsof 2001 amounted to 328.61 million dollars, accounting for 7.61 percent of
Myanmar's total foreign trade during the period.
ROK is one of Myanmar's main trading
partners.
--------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar Fishery
Fair Wins Over 27 Mln Dollars' Contracts
Xinhuanet 2002-02-23 10:33:31 YANGON, February 23 (Xinhuanet) -- The week-long Myanmar Fishery and Livestock Fair, which ended here on Friday evening, won a number of contracts worth a total of 27.25 million U.S. dollars. The sale contracts were signed between 19 local livestock
and fisheries companies and 14 foreign companies from Australia, America, China,
China's Hong Kong and Macao Special AdministrativeRegions, Britain, Japan, New
Zealand and Singapore for purchase ofa total of 7,823.73 tons of fish and prawn.
The fair, jointly sponsored by the Myanmar Ministry of
Commerceand the Ministry of Livestock and Fishery, began on last Saturday and
was participated by 135 foreign and local companies with a wide range of
products related to livestock and fishery displayed which include livestock
feedstuff, veterinary medicine, live shrimp and materials for cold storage.
The fair was aimed at raising international awareness of
the country's fishery and livestock products, finding more markets, attracting
foreign investment and getting technical expertise.
According to official statistics, in the fiscal year of
2000-01,Myanmar produced 1.28 million tons of fish and prawn, of which 140,000
tons were exported, fetching 218 million dollars of foreign exchange. It is
expected that production for the current 2001-02 fiscal year ending March will
reach 1.37 million tons and more export earnings will be brought about as it has
reportedly earned 180 million dollars in the first three quarters of the fiscal
year.
Other official statistics show that since Myanmar opened
to foreign investment in late 1988, foreign companies coming from Bangladesh,
China, Germany, Japan and Thailand have injected 197 million dollars so far in
the sector of fishery.
Meanwhile, the Myanmar government has also worked out a
three-year fishery development plan starting 2000, encouraging the localprivate
enterprises to engage in the sector by setting up fishery joint ventures with
the government and foreign companies.
The fishery sector is the third productive mainstay of the
country's economy after agriculture and forestry, contributing 7.5percent to the
gross domestic products.
--------------------------------------------------------------- Narinjara news
Four Myanmar prisoners released from Dhaka Central Jail while eight hundred more linger in prisons of Bangladesh Reported by Shwe Lin Yun Dhaka, 23th February 02: Five foreign nationals including four from Myanmar were
released last Tuesday from the Dhaka Central Jail.
These foreigners were held in prison for periods ranging
from two to seven years after the expiry of their prison terms. Officials of the
Bangladesh Society for Enforcement of Human Rights (BSEHR) received them at the
Dhaka Central Jail.
Four of the released foreigners are Myanmarese while one
is an Indian. None of the five intends to go back to their respective countries.
In this regards, the High Court has issued an order that, if political asylum
cannot be granted to them within two months of their release in Bangladesh, they
should be handed over to a third country within six months.
In compliance with the High Court order the officials of
the BSEHR took them to a house in Dhaka rented by the organization where they
will be provided with bed and board. Later moves will be taken to avail
political asylum for them. If the Government of Bangladesh is not willing to
grant political asylum to them, measures will be taken to seek the help of a
third country.
The released foreigners are Ramzan Ali (24), Nurul Huq
alias Nyunt Han (30), Khaing Kaung (40), Tin Aung (40), from Myanmar, and Sanjib
Dev Varma of India. The four from Myanmar were fleeing the persecution by the
State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) junta in a fishing trawler. On way
when their trawler sank near Mongla port, the Bangldesh Coast Guards arrested
them in April 1994. The Magistrate in Bagerhat Court awarded each of them
sentences for periods varying from three to five months and a fine of taka two
hundred each for illegally entering into Bangladesh. For failure of realizing
the fine the court ordered 14 more days of imprisonment.
Sanjit entered illegally into Bangladesh through the
border of Srimangal in north-eastern part of Bangladesh to meet with his
relatives in Bangladesh. He had connections with the separatist movement in
India. Sanjit was also arrested for illegal entry into Bangladesh by the
Chittagong Metropolitan Police. He was sentenced for 1 year and 4 months by the
Chittagong Metropolitan Magistrate on 24th February 1999.
Earlier, Advocate Sigma Huda of the BSEHR filed a writ
petition and the division bench comprising Justice Hamidul Haque and Justice
Nazmun Ara Sultana issued on January 27 a Rule Nisi upon the government asking
it to explain why the five foreign nationals shall not be set at liberty, said a
press release Monday.
Last August five Myanmarese prisoners, who were kept
behind bars for five years after the expiry of their prison terms as the SPDC
junta refused to receive their own nationals, were set at liberty when UNHCR
(Bangladesh chapter) interfered.
According to a Myanmarese national released from the
prison there are about eight hundred Myanmarese nationals (ethnic Karen,
Rakhine, Chin, Mon, Mrung and Muslim) who have been denied recognition by the
SPDC junta as Myanmarese nationals, lingering in the prisons of Bangladesh. He
added that, complications arise when the authorities in Bangladesh want to set
the prisoners at liberty after the end of their prison terms but either the
Myanmarese Embassy in Dhaka or the SPDC junta in Yangon never bother to
recognize them as the nationals of Myanmar, or take very long to reply to the
requests by the Government of Bangladesh. A human rights activist commented
that, this type of behaviour on part of the Myanmar SPDC junta is another kind
of human rights violations outside its country.
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Twenty-four Police personnel arrived China to attend Anti-drug training Mae Hong Son, February 24. Twenty-four police personnel from Burma arrived China on
February 22 to attend the training against illicit drugs as part of Sino-Burma
joint drug control program, said a source on Sino-Burma border.
Although the arrival date was fixed at February 19, the
police personnel from Burma reached Muse, a Burmese border town with China, only
on February 22.
They will take part in training on illicit drug control at
Yunnan Peoples' Security College in China.
Burmese police personnel will be allowed to wear Burmese
police forces uniforms during the training. Chinese authorities will award the
certificates to the Burmese police who finished the training.
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