Burma Update from DVB(15-06-96)

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15Jun96 MALAYSIA: ASIAN OFFICIALS GRAPPLE WITH MEKONG PROJECT FUND. 
KUALA LUMPUR, June 15 (Reuter) -


 Senior Asian officials discussing development of the Mekong basin said on
Saturday they were grappling with the thorny issue of financing, a
challenging task given the region's unequal economic conditions.
Representatives from 11 Asian countries began meetings here on Friday to
thrash out ideas on how to develop the mighty Mekong River basin, a largely
underdeveloped area shared by six nations. While officials agree on a Mekong
Fund for projects in the 2.3 million sq mile (5.95 million sq km) area, they
said many questions on the mechanics of raising the financing remained.
Countries like Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines are still developing,
noted Asmat Kamaludin, secretary general of Malaysia's Ministry of
International Trade and Industry. "If we make it a kind of subcription
obviously there will be some differences," he told reporters on Saturday.
Following this week's senior officials' meeting, ministers will gather on
Monday where the issue of financing would be discussed, Indonesia's foreign
minister Ali Alatas said. Countries such as Laos or Cambodia might not be
able to match financing commitments from other countries such as Japan, the
national Bernama news agency quoted Alatas as saying. At their meeting
ministers are expected to approve the proposed fund, which covers projects
in an area shared by Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and southern
China. The officials also said on Saturday that private companies would be
encouraged to participate in the projects. "We welcome (their) participation
on how to mobilise," Indonesia's Rahardjo Jamtomo, who is director general
of the National Secretariat of ASEAN (Association of South East Asian
Nations), told reporters on Saturday.  


(c) Reuters Limited 1996 
REUTER NEWS SERVICE







15Jun96 THAILAND: US ENVOYS SAY ASIANS FEAR POSSIBLE BURMA VIOLENCE. 13:25 GMT  
By Rajan Moses

 U.S. envoys touring Asia to coordinate a response to tensions in Burma said
on Saturday that leaders in the region were concerned about possible
violence and bloodshed in that country. "We came to consult and found
understanding and shared concerns over the current situation there. A strong
desire the situation should not deteriorate into bloodshed and violence,"
ambassador William Brown told a news conference. Brown and security expert
Stanley Roth, sent to Asia by President Bill Clinton, also said their
mission had been misunderstood from the outset and denied they had come to
Asia to tell countries in the area what to do.
"Contrary to what we read and saw in some of the media we found large areas
of consensus, firstly shared concerns about the possibility of unrest and
violence in Burma," Brown said. Earlier, he met Thai foreign Minister Amnuay
Viravan.
The two envoys have also visited leaders in Tokyo, Manila, Jakarta,
Singapore and Kuala Lumpur over the past week. They were desptached by
Clinton after heightened tension between Burmese opposition leader Aung San
Suu Kyi and the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) over
her latest efforts to seek more democracy in Burma. The SLORC late last
month detained more than 250 of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy
(NLD) party activists ahead of a party congress. Most have been released.
Official Burmese media over the last two days carried foreign news agency
reports  on the U.S. envoys' visit to the Southeast Asian capitals but
without any comment. Brown said the U.S. wanted to work with members of the
seven-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as they took
various steps to foster national reconciliation between the military and Suu
Kyi's democracy movement. ASEAN groups Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia,
Singapore, Philippines, Brunei and Vietnam. Burma is in the process of
trying to become an ASEAN member. But diplomats and political analysts said
there were no signals from any of the places the envoys visited which showed
they would join the U.S. in coordinating a solid Burma response. "The U.S.
has done the right thing on the Burma issue by sending the envoys to Asia
but it is more symbolic," said political scientist Kraisak Choonhavan. In
Tokyo, the envoys were told the two countries differed on concrete measures
despite sharing similar concerns. Brown said the U.S. did not object to
ASEAN's policy towards Burma, but added: "My government has absolutely no
objection to constructive engagement provided it is engagement that is
constructive and produces results." ASEAN nations have preferred
constructive engagement with Burma to help it settle domestic problems
rather than embark on confrontational measures. "We came to demonstrate the
seriousness of our goverment to those in Burma, including the SLORC, the
democratic oposition and the ethnic minority groups," Brown said. But an
ASEAN diplomat here said the envoys' visit seemed more like an election ploy
by Clinton with emphasis on human rights in Burma, which appealed to the
American electorate. Brown hoped that any future Burma association with
ASEAN as a member of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) would not in any way
tarnish current high standards maintained by the group. Burma, he alleged,
was heavily involved in narcotics production and trafficking. "Ninety
percent of the production of opium in Southeast Asia occurs in Burma. Over
half of world opium production occurs in Burma. Sixty percent of heroin
consumed in the U.S. comes from Burma," he said.  REUTER NEWS SERVICE
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