· The biggest hotel in Inlay lake named ‘Haw Inlay’, will be opened in January 2005.
· An environmental research team comprises of 2 professors and 13 students, from Japan’s Meiji Gukoin University will visit Burma in December, said the general secretary of the environmental group FREDA.
· Burma and South Korea will co-operate in forestry programmes. Dry regions re-greening projects and forestry experts exchange programs are involved in the agreement.
· Asia-London air ticket prices are rising, said a Burmese living in London. Last year’s Bangkok-London air ticket cost was £650 and has risen to £850 this year, said the Burmese.
· Souvenir shops in the departure lounge in Rangoon Int’l Airport have to depend on the foreign tourists. Some shops could not make a single sale in some days in off tourist season, said a shop owner.
· Burma to form 10 special task forces for environmental conservation. The special task forces will include river conservation task forces for Chindwin, Irrawaddy, Sittaung and Than Lwin rivers, coastal region environmental conservation task force and northern forests, western forests, central forests, eastern forests, southern forests conservation task forces.
· Foreigners arriving in England find difficulties in English language and they should prepare in advance on speaking & listening skills before coming to England, said a Burmese living in London.
· Burma to co-operate with South Korea on Meteorological forecast and Korea offered Burma with modern technology & equipment said an official from Meteorological department. Burma currently uses old conventional methods and equipment.
· Burmese government’s livestock breeding & fisheries development bank will give loans to those shrimp farming trainees, who are interested in shrimp farming said Burma’s fishery federation chairman. Land plots & bank loans will be given to the trainees of the federation’s shrimp farming training, said the federation’s sources.
· Another big animal feed mill, a joint venture between Burma private owned Myanma Ahman Co., & Thailand’s CP group, will soon be established in Burma, said a businessman. The agreement was signed in October & the mill will start producing animal feeds in November. Currently, Burma has two big feed mills and the new mill will become the third biggest mill in Burma.
· Burmese movies are weak in postproduction works, such as editing, said a well-known movie director in Burma.
· Bagan Cybertech to host a Burmese language home page on the Internet, said an executive from the company.
· Burmese government owned Myanmar Economic Bank offers money transfer service by fax, between it’s 354 branches throughout the country. The fax transfer service is a major advancement for the bank, which is lacking behind the private banks in providing services for the customers.
· Japan’s JIXA has provided GIS (Geographic Information System) training for the Burmese government forestry department staff. The forestry department is using GIS system to track & study drying water wells in Burma.
· Myanmar Airways International (MAI) will fly to Japan, Quatar, France and Germany, starting next year, according to a travel industry source. The airline will use Boeing 757 airplanes.
· Burma to open National Management University in an old workers college campus in eastern Rangoon. The university offers three years courses of B.A (English for Professional Purpose) & BBM (Bachelor in Business Management).
· Burmese citizen private owned Mandalay City Hotel is targeting European travellers as its guests, said the hotel’s owner. The hotel is situated close to the Mandalay mote & the popular Zaycho market. The hotel’s landscape was done by the landscaping group, which built the well-known Pun Hlaing golf course. The hotel is the only international class hotel in Mandalay, owned by a pure Burmese citizen.
· Thailand buying fish paste from Burma, said a wholesale shop owner in Rangoon’s Bayint Naung market. Fish paste prices would go up when the Thai buyers arrive in the market said the shop owner.
· Car delivery drivers, who drive the illegally imported cars from the border to Rangoon, said they had to deposit kyats 10 mil for each car before delivering them to Rangoon. They received kyats 3 mil for a delivery to Rangoon, but total expenses along the way cost almost all their delivery fees and they receive only kyats 300,000 for a delivery, said a driver.
· Burma’s non-governmental Lawkata Sariya Foundation & Thailand based Spirit in Education Movement (SEM) have co-operated in building libraries and giving training in education, health, culture & environmental conservation to the needy underdeveloped rural people in rural Shan, Kachin & Karen states, said the founding monk of the monks foundation.
· Burma’s first meat processing plant is being built in Rangoon’s Shwe Pyithar industrial zone, with the assistance from a foreign farming company. The plant will process 400 pigs a day & will produce ham, bacon & sliced pork, and will be exported to Brunei, said a source in the farming industry.
· A joint research team, with researchers from Rangoon University zoology department & England’s Harrison Institute, find 9 new species of bats in Burma.
· Australian Agency for International Development (AUSAID) & Burma’s ministry of health are jointly drawing up a plan to fight iron deficiency & anaemia in Burma. Anaemia has been one of the leading health problems in Burma, said a statement from AUSAID.
· 30 species of Resident Birds are found in Dala Township, opposite Rangoon River, said an executive from Burma’s bird watchers association. If all the Migration Birds are counted, they are about 160 species of birds in the township, said the executive.
· Mud crab exports to Thailand by border trade through Myawaddy border town has increased to 40 tons every two days, said the secretary of Burma’s Crab Merchant Association. Crab export market has moved to Thailand from China, said the executive. There are about 30 exporters exporting to Thailand, down from 250 exporters previously, said the executive.
· Green mung beans (green gram) yield in Burma will increase this year due to good weather for the crop, said the farmers in central Burma. The farmers are anticipating price drop due to uncertain export market and they want the government to intervene in controlling the price from dropping too low.
· The numbers of Burmese students studying in England have increased 58%, said the British Council, quoting a survey in 2003.
· Yee Ywa hydropower water dam will become the world’s third biggest dam, said a retired director of irrigation department. The water dam wall is 2060 feet long and 400 feet high and has projected capacity of 3316 million kilowatt of electricity. The director said Burma needs to apply Geophysics in considering in building water dams and there are many big dams, which have been damaged due to technical miscalculation. The retired director also said that Bantbway Gone dam in Magwe division in central Burma was damaged in an earthquake in 2003.
· Car prices slightly up in October, due to rumours that there will be bank loans in mid 2004 for big scale agriculture projects.
· Many Burmese students are interested in receiving scholarships from Thailand universities, which are extending their market to Burma. Thai universities held an education fair in Rangoon in late September to attract Burmese students.
· Many Burmese trainee workers in south Korea receive only pocket money about Won 6000 (about 5 US$), said a Burmese worker in Korea. Korean companies are hiring Burmese workers only as trainee workers and pay them only a third of normal pay and there is no security for the trainee workers, said the Burmese.
· An experienced gold smith said gold smith business is steady in Burma. (He explains the business in general.)
· Local branded garments gaining market shares in Burma and could compete with international brands, said a garment manufacturer, who makes the garments with his own brand name.
· There should be more information in Burma on GM plants & animals, discussed experts in a seminar held in September at the Burma’s Agriculture Enterprise. There are very few information in the Burmese media about the genetically modified plants & animals, said the experts. (The article gives information on Genetically Modified Organisms.)
· Article about tiger and environmental conservation in Kachin State. There will be a workshop on tiger & environmental conservation in Kachin state capital Myitkyina in December and both local people & int’l NGOs will participate in the project, wrote the article, quoting the information from Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)’s Tiger Coordinator Saw Htoo Thar Po. The workship will discuss tiger wildlife research works and other related issues among local people and the local & int’l NGOs. Burma has formed the ‘wildlife police force’ to enforce law in wildlife conservation & protection. There should be more environmental awareness programs for the local people, said the tiger co-ordinator.
· Article about ‘Air Pollution’. The long-term works require to control air pollution in Rangoon was discussed in the article. About 70% of the families in Rangoon use firewood & charcoal in their kitchens and that have increased the risk of TB and air pollution in the city, said a TB doctor. He said there is an increase in TB cases among the children under aged 5.
· Article about Burmese forests, environmental conservation and foreign exchange earnings. The article wrote about timber production, exports and environmental conservation in Burma. The article said about 2~8% of the Burmese forests are depleted every year, quoting different information sources. The expansions of agriculture land and firewood extractions are among the major causes for forest depletion, said the article.
· Article about environmental conservation through using recycled products. Recycle processes were discussed in the article.
· Article about wildlife smuggling and the future of environment. The article wrote about biodiversity and the dwindling wildlife population. The article also wrote about endangered species in Burma.
· Article about Global Warming.
· Article about Commercial Art in advertising business.
· Rangoon markets news.
· Article about international education market, which is expanding to Burma.
· Article about Burma’s Internet café business and franchise system in the business.
· Article about Burma’s Biodiversity & the needs for environmental conservation. Urgently needed to protect some of the endangered species, wrote the article.
· Article about water pollution and marine environmental conservation.
· Article about forest conservation.
· Article about Burma’s environmental conservation & business opportunities.
· Article about rural agriculture loans in Burma.
· Interview with FREDA general secretary U Ohn. “There are many works to be done in environmental conservation,” said the veteran environmentalist.
· Buyers guide.
· Burma Diary.
· Profiles of NCEA, WCS, FREDA& Myanmar Birds and Nature Society.
· Article about loving Burma’s natural environment.
Other articles not related to Burmese economy