· Funds and donations for the education and water supply projects are insufficient, said an officer from the UNICEF in Rangoon. The ‘skills for life’ education programme, introduced by the UNICEF in Burma, could be taught only in schools in 122 townships out of 324 townships in the whole Burma due to a constraint in funds, said the officer.
· Internet chat room users are increasing rapidly in Burma said an Internet user in Rangoon.
· Burma will open more computer studies departments in the Universities and Colleges around Burma, said an official from the ministry of education.
· The big hotels in Burma are turning to part-time and vocational workers for their work force, said an employee at an international class hotel.
· Corn and sesame exports permits reopen after a temporary export ban said an official announcement.
· Natural gas exports from southern Burma’s Yetagon gas field will be increased due to an increase in production, from 145 mil cubic feet to 500 million cubic feet, said a statement from the Petronas Company.
· Marine product exports have increased this year compared to previous year’s exports, said an official statement. Burma fetched US$ 166.95 million, Euro 19.98 million and kyats 114483 mil from previous year’s exports.
· Burma formed ‘coastal conservation team’ led by deputy minister of the fishery department. The team will prevent water pollution caused by spilled oil from the oil tankers and the illegal fishing method of using explosives.
· Public health activities are weak because some doctors do not want to go to the rural areas, said the deputy health minister at a conference of medical professionals. The lack of medical doctors in rural areas causes difficulties to control HIV/AIDS and TB, said the deputy minister.
· Burma to form rubber manufacturer association under the UMFCCI, but the process will take some time, said a rubber plantation owner.
· Burma will join ASEAN-TAA (ASEAN Tourism Agent Association) in October, said an executive from Burma’s Tourism Entrepreneur Association.
· Burma to produce more fish fry in the coming years. Burma has 26 government owned fish hatcheries in 14 States and division. Marine products exports are the third largest exports from Burma, after natural gas & timber.
· Burma is exporting more and more cultured fish to India by border trade.
· UN to give aid worth US$ 7 mil to Burma for TB eradication projects. There are about 80,000 people infected with TB each year in Burma and Burma is among the 22 countries highly infected with TB.
· Sambur (a kind of wild deer) population has dwindled in Burma’s central mountain range, said an official from NCEA (National Council of Environmental Affairs). Sambur meat is popular with the Burmese people and there are more hunters hunting samburs for their meat. Conservation works are urgently needed to protect the samburs from extinction, said the official.
· Burmese fisheries authorities issue prohibitions on; fishing with trawl nets, bottom bobbin trawl, the use of explosives, extraction of coral, fish nets and traps smaller than 2” mesh, trap fishing in the waterways and shark hunting.
· Burma and Thailand plan to co-operate in Soya oil production. Thailand will provide Burma with technical know-how and the required machinery & plant.
· Burma faces shortage of newly hatched small chickens for the poultry farms. Burma is planning to import parent stock eggs from Thailand to fulfil the need for small commercial chickens.
· Burma’s ministry of livestock breeding & fisheries is negotiating with Malaysian agriculture ministry for continue exports of Burmese cattle to Malaysia. Burma’s private owned T & K Trading exported Burmese cattle to Malaysia’s Eursaia Int’l Co., between 1998 and 2001. Burma’s ministry of livestock & fisheries has set up a quarantine station in the coastal town of Mergue (Myeik) in southern Burma, to check the export cattle.
· About 160 term papers from post graduate & doctorate students were submitted annually to Burma’s Arts & Science Intellectual Society, to be published in the Journal of Myanmar Academy of Arts & Science. The poor usage of English is found in most of the term papers (thesis), and related department professors should edit the papers before they were sent to the Society for publishing, said a retired professor. The Society is formed since 1999 with a total of 678 retired professors and intellectuals from different fields.
· Healthcare services in the government hospitals have improved, said the patients who have been to the government hospitals recently.
· Burma establishes an archaeological training school near Prome in lower Burma. The school, together with invited with foreign teachers, will teach applied archaeological methods including underwater archaeology.
· The role of Township Civil Surgeon is most important in implementing Township Health System said the term papers submitted at the Symposium on Township Health System. The papers said that the township civil surgeons can have influence on the township’s authorities, but some of the township civil surgeons are not interested in the Township Health System. Some of them even exchange the medicines & drugs, supplied by NGOs and the major health projects, with less effective Chinese drugs & medicines. There is a need to train health workers & nurses, who can assist the township civil surgeons, said the papers.
· Only the high school graduates will be accepted for ‘diploma in nursing’ courses at the nursing schools in Burma, starting from 2004 semester. There are 43 nursing schools in Burma and accepting students who passed the entrance exams. The nursing school graduates will have to work only in the states & divisions where they graduated and will not be allowed to work in the other states and divisions, said the dean of nursing academy.
· Fertiliser imports from Bangladesh have reduced to half, compared to last year imports, said a fertiliser trader. The decline in fertiliser imports is due to the decline in export earnings of salt & ziziphi seeds, said the trader. Bangladesh fertilisers are widely use in the whole Burma.
· Salt export to Bangladesh may be allowed in 2004~2005 fiscal year, said a trader in Arakan State. Burma earned US$ 2.338 mil from border trade with B’desh in 2003~04, a decline from 5.6 mil in 2002~03. The decline in export is due to the ban of rice & salt exports. There are big quantities of surplus salt in Burma, said the border traders.
· Burma needs more than 200,000 clean blood bags annually and the national blood bank can provide only 50% of the requirement, said the head surgeon from the national blood bank.
· E-commerce system in Burma is still under developed and faces many challenges, said an executive from Burma’s Computer Entrepreneurs Association. Among the obstacles for the development of e-commerce are; 1/ low household income, 2/Less awareness about e-commerce, 3/Poor infrastructure, 4/Few access devices, 5/ Low human capacity & skills, 6/ Limitations in legal & regulatory framework, 7/The lack of financial institutions and culture & lifestyle in Burma & so on.
· UNICEF is implementing SHAPE projects, the programme that teaches health education and education on HIV/AIDS prevention at the nation-wide schools. The UNICEF project manager said sex education & HIV/AIDS prevention are taught early from second standard, because many Burmese children leave school after 4th standard. Although the funds for health projects are sufficient, funds for education programmes are still insufficient, said an officer from the UNICEF.
· Thailand proposed Burma to jointly produce bamboo shoots with modern technology from Thailand, for marketing in Thailand markets. Bamboo shoots are popular food in Burma and the other Asian countries and Burma has the potential to become one of the big suppliers of bamboo shoots to international market.
· Burmese architects should consider the past, the present and the future in their designs, said a senior engineer from the ministry of construction. Many of the designs are copied from abroad and they are not suitable for Burma’s needs, said the engineer. Most of the real estate projects in Burma need to improve their quality, said the senior engineer.
· Cover Story: Urban Development; the article discusses the requirements to develop Rangoon into a modern city. Current city plan has to be modernised to be able to cope with the growing population in Rangoon. Sewage system has to be upgraded. High rise buildings should not be built in Rangoon, according to experts. Rangoon roads should be upgraded.
· Article about urban transportation.
· Article about urban development and earthquakes.
· Article about new buildings in Rangoon and the requirements for waterproofing. Substandard new buildings in Rangoon face the problem of water dripping.
· Modern real estates in Burma and their management practices.
· Pharmaceutical market: Traditional Burmese medicines are getting popular and could compete with western medicine in household medicine market. Burma’s medicine market is most active in May, June, October, November and in February, when the changing weather causes some seasonal sicknesses.
· Article on health care in Burma. Western health care expenses are the main burden for most of the ordinary Burmese people and they have to resort to cheaper traditional Chinese & Burmese medicines.
· Rangoon wholesales market: Pulses and beans market at brisk since early September. Pulses & beans prices are up abruptly due to demands for export market. Rice prices are up and the market is active in September because of the buying for border trade export. Others consumer’s goods prices are stable and sales are slow.
· Introduction to private LCCI courses and computer aided accounting courses.
· Article about marketing Asian places.
· From high rise to high standard buildings: article about Rangoon’s condominiums.
· Article about the requirement for ‘population policy’ in Burma.
· Article about Burma’s economy & GDP. The requirements for economic developments in Burma are discussed in the article.
· Urban Land Management & the use of modern GIS (Geographic Information System) in Burma.
· Buddhist Economics
· Article about art galleries & Burmese paintings