· Barter trade system with neighbouring countries will be scrapped, said a ministry of commerce officer.
· Japan to give Yen 10 mil for the storm victims in Rakkhine state, said a Japanese embassy source.
· South Korea Daewoo to invest US$ 3 billion to build a liquid natural gas plant in western Burma Rakkhine state. The plant will liquidize the natural gas from the huge gas field in western Burma and export the LNG to India and other countries. The construction works for the plant will begin in 2005 and production will start in 2007, said the industry sources.
· Burmese government has sent 158 teachers from the government high schools to foreign countries for further studies between 2001 and 2003, said the education ministry. The teachers went to Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, India and Israel for further studies, the ministry said.
· A new society based drug rehabilitation centre opened in eastern Shan State in May. The centre is located about 5 miles to the west of Burma’s Tarcheikleik border town and the centre was sponsored by Burma’s Anti-drug Society and the military’s triangle command. The centre can accommodate 20 addicts at a time and the rehabilitation process takes about 1 month, said a donor at the centre.
· India will help US$ 30 mil to upgrade Burma’s Thanlyin crude oil refinery near Rangoon. The refinery’s capacity is 26000 barrels of crude oil per day. Current production is only 8000 barrels per day.
· Burma’s Arts and Science Society will publish ‘Who’s who in Art and Science in Burma.’
· Burma to form ‘Fresh water fish breeders association’, said a fish breeder.
· E-Trade Myanmar IT company will host ‘www.myanmar-industry’ web site, with information on Burma’s industries.
· Burmese government’s ministry of livestock and fisheries has dug 200 acres of shrimp ponds in southern Burma’s coastal region and the ponds will be transferred to private farmers. Previously, the ministry gave loans to entrepreneurs, who said they would breed shrimps, but most of the loans went for speculative investments in properties, cars and foreign currencies. Thus the ministry has decided to dig the ponds and transfer the ponds to entrepreneurs and shrimp farmers, who will actually breed shrimps.
· Palm Garden Hotel in Bagan has been transferred to Htoo Trading Group. The transfer is the third time for the hotel to change hands. Htoo is a giant private company, which is building the controversial Bagan Tower and got contracts from the government to rebuild the Bagan Palace.
· Htoo Trading receives permission from the government to develope Myeik Archipelago in southern Burma. Myeik archipelago consists of 800 islands and is rich in natural resources. There are no information on how the Htoo group will develop the area.
· There will be an air link between southern Burma Moulmein town and Thai-Burma border town of Maesod, said a businessman from Maesod. A Thai business group is conducting feasibility studies at the two twons, said the source.
· Bangkok Airways will soon fly between Mandalay and Thailand’s Sukohtai.
· Airport taxis in Rangoon will have to run with fix fares. Tourists will be charged US$ 5 from airport to downtown Rangoon at the airport taxi counter. Locals will have to pay kyats 4000 for the same route.
· University students in Burma will have to wear uniforms, said a professor from a university. Some professors, at the annual meeting of Burma’s Arts and Science Society, made the proposal for the students to wear uniforms. Computer colleges and universities under the ministry of science & technology have ordered their students to wear uniforms on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The uniform is white shirt and dark blue longyi(sarong), or trouser for men.
· Due to depleted forest caused by shifting cultivation, there are lower rainfalls in Kachin State said a veteran farmer in Kachin State.
· A new student team called Anawrahta is being formed in high schools all over Burma. Previously, the students were divided into four teams, Bayint Naung, Kyansittha, Bandoola, Alaungpaya, (all are the named after Burma’s well known kings).
· Computer sales have dropped 50% since the beginning of 2004 said KMD sales centre, a well known computer sales centre in Burma.
· Thai investors have requested the Burmese authorities in last week of May, to relax the import/export regulations at the border trading posts.
· Over 200,000 motorcycles imported illegally from China were registered during the recent registration period, said the market sources. Chinese motorcycles are gaining popularity in Burma due to their low costs and less license fees.
· One of the two hotel owners in western Burma Rakkhine State capital Sittwe said his hotel profits are less than the bank interests. There are only two hotels in Sittwe. The Shwe Thazin hotel owner said there are only a few visitors to the town and the fuel costs to run the hotel’s generator has depleted his profits.
· The government and military’s UMEHL have raised their cement prices. Cement produced by the government & the UMEHL are rationed to the ‘preferred businesses’. The government & UMEHL prices were raised to kyats 2200 per bag, from previous kyats 1600. The market price of cement is over kyats 4000 per bag.
· The Burmese government will form a new ministry for environmental conservation, said an official from National Commission of Environmental Affairs (NCEA).
· The NCEA will start conservation of rivers in Burma, said an official from NCEA. The first project will be the environmental conservation of Uru stream in Parkant mining area in northern Burma Kachin State, which has been seriously damaged by rampant mining of jade and gold in the area.
· Fishing rights fees for the fishing plots in Rakkhine State in western Burma have risen 3 times more than the previous year said a marine product businessman there. Fishing rights for 250 fishing plots were auctioned in April and some cronies won the rights in the government auction and resold the fishing rights with 3 times profits to the actual fishermen in the area.
· Burmese government’s NCEA and US based Smithsonian Institution will co-operate in conservation & protection of wild elephants in Burma’s forests. The Natinal Elephant Action Plan will be drawn up before 2007, said an official from NCEA.
· More and more children are attending the summer courses on computer and English, said a teacher from a private school.
· The US based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) will work on conservation and protection of the endangered Irrawaddy dolphins.
· JICA (Japanese International Co-operation Agency) donates 30 motorcycles worth US$ 60,000 to Burmese forestry department for central arid region greening project. Between 1974 and 2002, JICA has provided aid worth US$ 232.37 million to Burma. Burma is JICA’s ninth biggest recipient country, said a JICA report.
· Burma Birds watchers association will provide environmental awareness lectures to the schools in Mt. Poppa area in central Burma and Inlay lake area in eastern Burma’s Shan state.
· Some co-operative societies are under liquidation in Burma because they can not compete in the market anymore, said an officer from Directorate of Co-operatives. The recent co-operative trade fair organised by the ministry of co-operative, swayed widely from its objectives of import substitution and export promotion, because the Thai products were promoted at the fair, said the media sources.
· The ministry of hotels and tourism is arranging package tours for the local tourists to remote destinations in Burma, said a ministry source.
· Sesame seeds production in central Burma’s Magwe division will be dropped this year, because of heavy rains and storms in the area in early monsoon, said the residents there. Magwe division was reckoned as the edible oil pot of Burma.
· Small hydropower projects for villages are being utilised in Kachin state, said a departmental official. The giant power projects under construction in Burma will be able to supply only to the big cities and smaller villages will have to depend on such small independent projects in the future, said the official.
· Burma to station some labour officials in Thailand to help clear the problems of Burmese migrant workers in Thailand, said the news from Thailand.
· Burma pulses and beans exports to Singapore have increased in May, said an exporter. The Singapore buyers are picky on the quality but their payment is good, said the exporter. Indian buyers are not reliable on payments, said the exporter. Burma earns 40% of its export earnings from pulses and beans exports.
· Burma-Thai border tourism promotion discussed in May. The discussions include tours to eastern Burma’s Shan State Taunggyi area from Thailand’s Maehon Song, and to inland Burma from southeast Burma’s Karen State Myawaddy-Maesod entry point. Myawaddy entry point has the highest potential, because the India-Burma-Thailand three countries highway will enter Burma from Myawaddy.
· The advertisements for foreign studies have increased in the Burmese media, said a student. Most of the students who want to study abroad are interested to study in Singapore’s polytechnics. Some want to study in the US and Europe, but there is the difficulty with visa, said the students.
· Food additives and colouring are found in excess of safety limits in traditional pickled tealeaves, said a report from the government’s food and drug research team.
· All the wooden factories and wood based industries in Rangoon will have to moved to Wartayar industrial zone out off Rangoon.
· Paddy farmers in Burma delta area are turning to direct seeds planting method, instead of the traditional transplanting the plants from the nurseries, to reduce the transplanting costs. Direct seeds spreading method reaps less paddy than the transplanting method, but the farmers could not afford to pay the increasing transplanting costs, said a farmer in the delta area.
· The Burmese government reduced the Internet and e-mail charges, from 3 FEC per hour to 1 FEC per hour.
· Burmese traditional dance tropes are facing difficulties to survive because of the high taxes imposed on them by the government, said a popular dance trope’s executive.
· Competitions for passengers on Rangoon-Bangkok air route become fierce between the airlines said an airline source. Thai Airways, which dominates the route with the biggest market share on ticket sales, is facing declining passengers, said an employee from the airline. Budget airlines are entering Burma routes and competition gets fierce since the entry of the budget airlines, said the industry source.
Short articles
· There is no difference in the teachings of English by native speaker teachers and local teachers, said the British Ambassador at a seminar for English Teachers in Rangoon. About 400 English teachers attended the seminar. (Article about the seminar.)
· Marine product productions in Rakkhine State, have the potential to increased this year because of the recent storms that passed through the state. Fish catches always increase after the storms, said a marine products businessman there. There are news that Japan has resumed ordering marine products from Burma. Japan stopped buying marine products from Burma in recent years due to the low quality of marine products from Burma, said the businessman. Europe has also stopped buying from Burma, due to the same reasons, said the businessman. Marine products businesses were hard hit by low regional fish prices last year, and many labourers were laid off from their jobs in Rakkhine State. There are also potentials for salt exports, said a businessman in the state. Salt export has been banned in Burma, although there are huge salt surplus in the country, said the businessman.
· Articles on translated literatures in Burma.
· Article about English language literatures and publications in Burma. Some info on ‘The Light’ and ‘English For All’ magazines, publish by a small publishing house named ‘Su’. The article highlighted the importance of translated literatures for the young generation in Burma.
· Another article on the importance of English language for the Burmese youth, to be able stays afloat with the global currents.
· Article on industrial developments in Burma. Industrialisation process of Burma and the basic theories for industrial development.
· Article on market economy and public services.
· The popularity of occult literature was discussed in the article about translated literatures in Burma. The article stressed the importance of more academic and knowledge literatures for the Burmese readers.
· Article about Burma’s media. Public relation channels in Burma were mentioned in the article.
· Rangoon’s market news for June. (Pulses and beans prices up, rice prices down, Onion traders face losses due to over supplies, chillies prices up, edible oil prices down due to lower demands, consumers goods prices down. In general, prices are down in raining season.)
· Complaints from the consumers of private health care services. High prices but low quality service, wrote the article about private hospitals in Rangoon.
· Article on palm oil plantations in Burma.
· Article on multi-level developments and Internet access in Rakkhine State.
· Buyers guide.
· Interview on anti-tobacco projects in Burma.
· Introducing Burmese Fonts in computers. Article on IT.
Other articles not related to Burma’s economy.