· Real estate market sluggish and land plots are selling with lower than prevailing prices. Prices have dropped about 45% and rental prices have dropped 50%.
· MAI (Myanmar Airways International expands its flights to New Delhi. Weekly regular flights to Delhi are on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Return flights to Rangoon are on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. MAI is flying twice a week to H.K and K.L, 5 flights a week to Singapore and 10 flights a week to BKK.
Cover Story: Internet and Burma (Colourful windows to the World)
The government should accept and admit that Burma’s IT industry is lacking behind in the international arena and should try harder to promote the industry, said a popular IT industrialist. The hindrances for IT developments in Burma are poor English language in young generation Burmese, high costs of telecommunication, limited market potentials in Burma and the lack of government support, said the industrialists.
Articles
· Construction businesses and furniture businesses in Burma are replacing teakwood with stainless steel products, due to increasing teakwood prices. Teak and stainless steel cost the same but stainless steel is stronger, last longer and more modernise than the teakwood, thus many construction businesses are turning to stainless steel.
· Articles about arts (paintings). Some Burmese painters are penetrating overseas markets and their paintings are starting to sell well in Singapore and Hong Kong.
· Article about fish farming in Burma. Fish farm areas have increased significantly since 1997, after the agriculture projects in the delta area failed. Gen. Than Shwe instructed the construction companies which took part in the agriculture projects to shift to fish farming after the failed projects. Fish farm acreage increased suddenly from 60,000 acres to 120,000 acres within a few years. Conventional fish farming of Rohu and carps are not profitable anymore, due to the increase in production and unstable export market. Fishmeal prices are also increasing due to higher demands from the fish farms. Thus, the fish farmers in Burma have to find new ways to earn profit from fish farming. They are turning to new high yield and high earning species such as sea bass and tilapia. But there are technical problem exits to raise high earning sea bass. Burma fish farming industry is still underdeveloped and there are no supporting industries. Burma fish farmers have to depend on low quality fishmeal, or even worse, fake fishmeal made out of rice husk instead of rice bran. The article wrote about fish farmers struggling with the problem face by fish farming industry in Burma.
· Pulses and beans market news. The market mainly depends on export market and if there are no exports, prices would drop and the farmers will face problems.
· Other articles not related to local economy.