Billions of dollars atstake

[tinkyi@xxxxxxxxx]

BILLIONS OF DOLLARS ATSTAKE
Massachusetts law on Myanmar hit
( The Japan Times, February 2, 1997 )

BOSTON (AP) Japan has complained to the U.S State Department about a
Massachyusetts law denying state contracts to companies doing business in
Myanmar.
        More than 30 Japanese companies, including the Bank of
Tokyo-Mitsubishi and Sony Corp., are on the list of firms to which contracts
cannot be given. Mas- sachusetts agencies award billions of dollars in
contracts every year.
        The law has led U.S. companies such as Apple, Eastman Kokak,
Hewlett-packard and Philleps Electronics to cut ties with Myanmar, according to 
The Boston Globe. Massachusetts is the only state with such a law. 
        "It's had an unbelievevable effect, "said state Rep.Byron Rushing,
who s- ponsored the bill.
        Japan is concerned that other states may follow suit and is worried
about a similar law introduced in the state Legislature to deny
Massachusetts co- ntracts to companies doing business in Indonesia because
of its repression in East Timor.
        The japanese government belives the law involving Myanmar violates a
new World Trade Organization rule about government purchasing. It said the
sanctions are not fair to Japanese companies and extend American law outside
the country.
        A spokesman for the japanese consulate, who spoke on condition  of
anony- mity, told the newspaper that Japan has asked the Clinton
administration for a legal opinion.
        The spokesman said Massachusetts exports more than $1.5 billion in
goods to Japan every year, more than to any ohter country except Canada. He
said 13,000 U.S. citizens are employed by the 126 Japanese companies in
Massachusetts. And Japanese tourists spend money in the states. 
        Japanese government officials met with representatives of the
Massachusetts Office of International Trade and Investment on Jan. 8.
        "They obviously had some serious concerns about the effect on
Japanese companies, and they are worried that other states could pass
similar laws, " said Kathleen Molony, the office's Asia director.
        "This is a battle between the corporate interest and the democratic
process, " said Simon Billenness, a senior analyst at Franklin Research in
Boston and coordinator of the Massachusetts Burma Round Table, a human
rights group and advocate of the bill.
        "This law was approved with overwhelming bipartisan support, " he
said. "who is Japan to say that Massachusetts can't spend its money how it
wants?"

Information Committee
Burma Youth Volunteer Association-Japan