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Hong Kong delegation seeks Myanmar



Subject: Hong Kong delegation seeks Myanmar opportunities

Hong Kong delegation seeks Myanmar opportunities

  
YANGON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - A group of entrepreneurs from Hong Kong led by
pro-Beijing politician Tsui Sze-Man is seeking investment opportunities in
timber and real estate in military ruled Myanmar, official media reported on
Friday. 

Tsui Sze Man and his delegation met senior officials of the ruling military
council, including the powerful head of military intelligence
Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, officials said. 

They also met representatives of the Myanmar chamber of commerce and Foreign
Minister Win Aung. 

A chamber official said the delegation showed keen interest in investing in
timber and real estate during a meeting in Yangon on Thursday. 

Tsui Sze-Man, an ethnic Chinese businessman and publisher who was born in
Myanmar, is a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's
Political and Cultural Conference who has called for greater control on the
media in Hong Kong. 

With approved Foreign Direct Investment of $125.32 million for 21 projects,
Hong Kong ranks 11th on a list of 24 foreign investor countries in Myanmar.
Most Hong Kong investments in Myanmar are in the garment industry. 

Myanmar is subject to U.S. sanctions because of its human rights records and
its recent record on securing foreign investment has been dismal. 

It approved just $29.5 million of foreign direct investment in the fiscal
year to March, down from $777.4 million a year earlier and $2.8 billion the
year before that. 

The visit of the Chinese delegation follows one earlier this month by the
Federation of Economic Organisations, or Keidanren, Japan's largest
big-business group. 

Japanese diplomats and analysts say Japan is concerned about losing business
and political influence in Myanmar to China. 

In its most recent report on Myanmar, the World Bank said the country needed
to improve its rights record, reform its two-tier exchange rate system, lift
wide-ranging restrictions on private-sector activity and reform its
inefficient state enterprise sector if it wanted to attract more foreign
investment. 

06:24 12-17-99