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BurmaNet News: January 12, 2000




---------------- The BurmaNet News ----------------
January 12, 2000
Issue # 1438
----------------------------------------------------

Noted in passing:

==========
HEADLINES:
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Inside Burma-
THE STRAITS TIMES (SINGAPORE): MYANMAR'S NEW AIRPORT STILL EMPTY AFTER 
SIX MONTHS
NLD: REGIME CONSCRIPTS ADOLESCENTS IN GUISE OF "RED CROSS TRAINING"
NLD: REGIME HOLDS NLD MEMBERS DESPITE SERVING FULL SENTENCE 
NLD: REGIME TRANSFERS WIFE ACROSS COUNTRY FOR NOT DENOUNCING HUSBAND 

International-

ASIAWEEK: SENDING OUT FEELERS
TIMES (London): BURMA PRISONER FAMILIES FALL OUT
TIMES (London): BURMA PRISONERS--LETTER FROM RACHEL GOLDWYN 
ADB: FURTHER OPENING OF BORDERS, POVERTY REDUCTION KEY TOPICS AT MEKONG 
MINISTERS' MEETING




***********************************************
THE STRAITS TIMES (SINGAPORE): MYANMAR'S NEW AIRPORT STILL EMPTY AFTER 
SIX MONTHS
The Straits Times
JAN 12 2000 


Cost $250m, boasts 4.2-km runway, high-tech control tower, 36 check-in 
counters, but... 

The miracle cure for its economic ills has been thwarted by funding 
hitches and Western trade sanctions so far, but a Thai firm hopes to 
change that.

By JAMES EAST
IN BANGKOK 
STANDING on a plain outside Myanmar's second city sits the ghost town of 
South-east Asia's airline industry -- an empty gleaming US$150 million 
(S$250 million) international airport capable of handling three million 
passengers a year. 

Mandalay International Airport is a technological marvel in a country 
famed for its ox-cart transport, crumbling colonial buildings and its 
tin-pot economy. 

But despite being finished for six months, not one tourist plane has 
roared down its 4.2-km runway nor a single passenger passed through its 
glassed and golden-roofed terminal building. 

Few outside Myanmar know of the existence of the airport, built 35 km 
south-west of its second city and on the fringes of Pagan, the most 
exquisite temple complex in South-east Asia outside of Cambodia's Angkor 
Wat. 

Built with help from Thai construction firm Italian-Thai Development 
Company, the top of the range airport in Mandalay boasts a longer runway 
than Bangkok, a sophisticated control tower able to handle 45,000 
aircraft movements annually and a fully mechanised passenger terminal 
with 36 check-in counters. 

The pet project of Prime Minister Than Shwe, it was to have been a 
miracle cure for the country's economic ills, bringing in Boeing 747s 
full of tourists and millions of dollars of desperately needed foreign 
aid. 

But trade sanctions imposed by Western nations and funding difficulties 
have until now put paid to the government's dream. 
But this week, Thailand's Thai Airports Ground Services (TAGS) hopes to 
change all that. 

TAGS expects to win a 28-year operations concession to run the airport. 
TAGS president Anuphong Rojnuckarin says: "The airport is ready but they 
do not have the ground equipment. The airport hasn't opened because they 
don't have the capital or the know-how." 

Mr Anuphong knows the difficulties but adds: "I'm a gambler but a safe 
one." 
He believes his high level contacts with the government -- meeting 
Deputy Minister of Transport Kyaw Myint and Department of Civil Aviation 
chief Win Maung as well as gaining Myanmar Cabinet approval -- will help 
ensure the venture's success. 

In Thailand, the deal is being brokered by businessman Maung Maung Gyi 
Al Haj, a former classmate of Myanamar's most powerful man, military 
intelligence chief Khin Nyunt. 

Sitting at TAGS' headquarters at Bangkok International Airport, Mr Maung 
Maung says: "I don't think politics is a major issue at present. 
Compromise is what is needed. Let the people come in and naturally 
things will change." 

TAGS is now searching the world for the equipment needed to run the 
airport, having received a loan of US$2 million from Thailand's Exim 
Bank. 

Aircraft tugs, tractors and loaders will be shipped to Myanmar's capital 
Yangon and trucked on to Mandalay. 

Mr Anuphong says Exim is anxious to see a return on the US$150 million 
loan it has already ploughed into the airport terminal. 
Once open, Mandalay will be Myanmar's main international airport 
challenging Bangkok, Malaysia and Singapore as a hub for South-east 
Asian and Chinese traffic. 

The old domestic airport at Mandalay will be shut and direct flights 
will be laid on from Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand, and Bangkok. 
Travel companies have already promised charter flights of French 
tourists and scheduled flights have been pledged by China Airlines, 
Japan's All Nippon Airways and Thailand's Angel Air. 

TAGS hopes to cater to 98 flights a week, rising by 20 per cent a year 
over the following four years. But human rights groups and exiled groups 
of students are certain to oppose any dealings with Myanmar and the 
opening of the airport. 
Bangkok-based pro-democracy group Alt-Asean-Burma coordinator Debbie 
Stothard says: "We have always opposed tourism because it benefits the 
regime more than the people." 
The ruling generals have no clue how to run the economy in a way that is 
attractive to foreign investors. "Many investors go wrong in a very 
short time in Burma," she warns.

 Discouraging visitors and investment 
TO WESTERN governments, Myanmar is a pariah state; its opposition leader 
Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi discourages foreign investment 
or visits by tourists; and the government is notoriously unpredictable 
in international relations. 

In a recent tiff with Thailand, Myanmar shut its borders and banned 
fishermen from its waters following Thailand's failure to capture a gang 
of hostage takers who fled after seizing the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok 
in October. 





***********************************************
NLD: REGIME CONSCRIPTS ADOLESCENTS IN GUISE OF "RED CROSS TRAINING"
National League for Democracy
No: (97/B), West Shwegonedine Road
Bahan Township, Rangoon

Statement 179 (12/99) (translation)


1. On the pretext that Red Cross training would be given, the township 
authorities have taken at least  2 or 3 adolescent boys from every 
village in Sin-baung-wei township, Magwe Division from the 1st of 
November 1999 and sent them to military camps for training. The cost for 
such training ( Kyats 20,000 to Kyats 30,000 per 100 boys) has to be 
born by the villagers. We have heard that Pay-le village has paid over 
Kyats 30,000 and Kan-chaung village over Kyats 25,000. Explanation given 
is that it costs Kyats 6000 per month per person for food and uniforms.

2. Sin-baung-wei town rallying points are Ko-bin and Aye-ka-rit police 
stations for the eastern side and Saung-chan-taung police station for 
the western side where training has commenced.  Every household from the 
villages on the eastern and western sides is required to pay Kyats 300 
to 400 causing great hardship for the people.

3.  Over and above that, cotton cultivators from Sin-baung-wei township, 
Magwe Division who in the past have relied on a group of people for 
advance payment are experiencing problems because on 31 October, 1999 
Kyats 8000 had to be paid for the above purposes.

4.  This illegal demand for money under the difficult circumstances that 
the people of Sin-baung-wei are facing is seriously opposed and 
denounced. We announce that those who are performing these unjust 
operations will be entirely responsible for the consequences.


Central Executive Committee
National League for Democracy
Rangoon

28 December 1999


***********************************************
NLD: REGIME HOLDS NLD MEMBERS DESPITE SERVING FULL SENTENCE

National League for Democracy
No: (97/B), West Shwegonedine Road
Bahan Township, Rangoon

Statement 180 (12/99) (translation)

1  Political prisoners U Tin Aye Kyu and U Tin Myint in the Mnadalay 
Jail have not been released despite having served the full term. Their 
prison term was extended on the orders of the Minister for Home Affiars 
under "Section 10 (a) of the Law to protect the state from disturbing 
elements" which was handed to them at the departure point in the jail. 
These two were not granted any reduction in the jail term for good 
behaviour which are mandatory rights provided in the Prison Law and 
Prison Manual.  In this way not only are the authorities violating the 
law but are resorting to devious ways of deliberately and  unjustly 
tormenting the minds and bodies of their captives.

2. Eleven political prisoners in the Mandalay jail are Dr. Zaw Min, Dr. 
Nay Win, U Tin Aye Kyu, U Tin Myint (Processes milk), Ko Tin Aye, Ko 
Khin Maung Thant,  U Zarni Aung, U Thein Than U, U Kyaw Sein Aung, U 
Naing Myint,  U Htay Nyunt have all served their sentences but have had 
to remain imprisoned because of  the action under 10 (b) as shown above. 
 We give notice to all who are instrumental in this process of torment 
and illegal detention that 
you will be held entirely responsible for consequences that will flow 
because of such action.We vehemently condemn this illegal and unjust 
operation.


Central Executive Committee
National League for Democracy
Rangoon

29 December 1999






***********************************************
NLD: REGIME TRANSFERS WIFE ACROSS COUNTRY FOR NOT DENOUNCING HUSBAND

National League for Democracy
No: (97/B), West Shwegonedine Road
Bahan Township, Rangoon

Statement 182 (12/99) (translation)


1.  U Aung Myint Thein, parliamentarian elect of Constituency 2 Natmauk 
township, Magwe division, has been incarcerated at the 88th Light 
Infantry Division based at Magwe from 13 July 98.

2.  His wife, Daw Htay Aung is in charge at the Natmauk Auditor's 
office.  Her work is exemplary.

3.  To stage a demonstration of non-confidence against the elected 
parliamentarians of Natmauk township the relevant township authorities 
used the USDA and the education department teachers to get signatures on 
petitions. Daw Htay Aung was also asked to put her signature to the 
petition but she correctly as approved by law, refused to join in an 
operation that was going to declare non-confidence in her 
parliamentarian husband.

4. As a consequence, in the middle of October she received a transfer 
order to Sagaing Division and she left on the 1 December 1999.  She had 
never 
asked for a transfer.

5. The only reason for her transfer was the fact that she had refused to 
sign papers indicating non-confidence in her parliamentarian husband. 
She performed her duties beyond reproach. This is outright victimization 
for political reasons to destroy families.  These tactics are not only 
illegal and unjust but it is an indication of an overweening sense of 
authority and 
misuse of power. We strongly denounce this and ask that she be returned 
to her original place of work.


Central Executive Committee
National League for Democracy
Rangoon


31 December 1999



***********************************************
ASIAWEEK: SENDING OUT FEELERS
January 14, 2000 VOL. 26 NO. 1

Sending Out Feelers

Behind the fresh initiatives to woo Yangon

By ROGER MITTON 

Suddenly there is movement. And as with anything involving Myanmar, it 
is as surprising and unexpected as its outcome is unpredictable. Several 
countries have launched or are launching initiatives to engage Yangon's 
military junta. 
Will the diplomatic efforts lead to the regime lightening up? And how 
did they get started? To try to suss that out, it pays to track back a 
year. 

At that time, there was recalcitrance and inflexibility on all sides. 
The junta and the National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi 
were as far apart as ever. Internationally, Yangon and the West remained 
pitted against each other in seemingly intractable positions, while 
Yangon's more 
conciliatory ASEAN colleagues were still preoccupied with economic 
recovery. It was status immobilus. Then an event unrelated to the 
political impasse sparked a reappraisal by many governments which led to 
the present plans. 

The event was the February 1999 Interpol conference on battling the drug 
trade. Amazingly, the regime allowed it to be held in Yangon. Its 
anti-narcotics chief, Col. Kyaw Thein, recalls: "Interpol approached us 
to hold this meeting; we did not go to them. We are regarded as the 
major opium-producing country in this region, but we get no assistance 
from outside to fight this problem. We just get all the blame." They got 
even more, when - caught off-guard by Yangon agreeing to host the meet - 
Western nations put political posturing ahead of trying to solve the 
drug scourge and decided to boycott the conference. On the wacky grounds 
that their attendance might give credibility to the regime, the U.S. and 
U.K. wimped out - and stiff-armed 
other European states to do the same (much to Interpol's chagrin). But 
ASEAN members and 23 other countries did attend. Notes one expatriate 
professional in Yangon: "The way this was reported in Europe and America 
was nasty and dishonest, saying only 'minor nations' attended. Does that 
mean Japan, 
Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, South Korea, Switzerland, China are 
minor nations?" It was a seminal moment, for the nations who broke ranks 
with the fatuous Western-inspired boycott are now among those at the 
forefront of the new initiatives. 

First, in May, the Swiss-based International Committee of the Red Cross 
began to visit prisons and other correctional facilities in Myanmar. Suu 
Kyi was unhappy about the move, saying it might be exploited by the 
regime, but she reserved judgment to see whether repeat visits would be 
allowed. They have 
been. Indeed, the ICRC has, in its own taciturn manner, been almost 
ecstatic about the access it has been given. European envoys say 
conditions for prisoners, including visiting rights, have improved and 
are even better than those in some ASEAN neighbors like Vietnam and 
Laos. 

Next came moves by Australia. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said "a 
more creative approach" to Myanmar was needed and revealed that his 
country's human-rights commissioner, Chris Sidoti, would travel to 
Yangon. Other visits to Yangon took place - a fact-finding European 
Union troika in July, followed by South Korean officials, and then U.N. 
representative Alvaro de Soto 
arriving in October for his fifth attempt to break the political 
stalemate. Again, he got nowhere - with not only the junta but also with 
Suu Kyi, who found him too soft on the military. 

De Soto's approach had been akin to the so-called "carrot-and-stick" 
line proposed by a group of nations that met at Chilston Park in 
southeast England in late 1998. There, the Yangon regime was reportedly 
offered up to $1 billion under a plan linked to the World Bank and U.N. 
- if it would make political concessions. Though it desperately needed 
money, the regime declined. Foreign Minister Win Aung told Asiaweek: 
"This is like offering a 
banana to a monkey and asking it to dance. We are not monkeys. We won't 
dance." 

Realizing that this Western-inspired tactic was going nowhere, the 
Japanese and South Koreans explored other possibilities. Having welcomed 
the ICRC 
initiative, and applauded Australia's moves, they now sought their own 
"creative approaches" to Myanmar. At November's ASEAN Informal Summit in 
Manila, Japanese PM Obuchi Keizo held a landmark meeting with junta 
leader Gen. Than Shwe and other key figures. Three hours later, Than 
Shwe and his entourage met with South Korean President Kim Dae Jung. 
Both encounters heralded future developments. 

The first came two days after the Manila summit when former Japanese PM 
Hashimoto Ryutaro visited Yangon. He held talks with Than Shwe and other 
leaders and was unexpectedly treated to a dinner by the Myanmar 
leadership. Next day, his group visited hospitals, the port, high 
schools and the University of Yangon - which they were surprised to see 
appeared open. 

Hashimoto made four points to the generals. First, they should use the 
police not the military to maintain order. Second, they should fully 
reopen all the universities, closed three years ago after student 
protests. (The regime says it will reopen all the University of Yangon's 
undergrad schools early this 
year.) Third, Hashimoto told Than Shwe the regime should quicken moves 
to a market economy, especially in promoting more privatization. He 
urged them to consider employing more foreigners as consultants, 
including Japanese technical experts. Lastly, he said the generals 
should not push Suu Kyi into 
a corner so that she becomes the heroine of a tragedy. Instead, they 
should keep a working relationship with her. Junta leaders listened to 
Hashimoto's proposals, appreciating the non-threatening way in which 
they were made. They told him they needed help in education, medical 
facilities, power supply and 
agriculture. Hashimoto said he would relay the message to Tokyo. 

Aware of the Japanese initiatives, Suu Kyi cautioned in her New Year 
message: "As the richest Asian country and as a democracy Japan has a 
duty to try to promote human rights and democracy in other parts of 
Asia." Notably in Myanmar, she inferred, but left unstated. 

Suu Kyi has a point. When dealing with Japan, the regime is clearly 
fishing for quid pro quo benefits of an upfront financial nature, while 
moves toward multiparty democracy are a secondary consideration. Says 
one professional familiar with the regime: "If the Japanese offer 
something new or undertake further debt forgiveness or grant something, 
then I would expect movement in 
the various Japanese-led projects. Perhaps the regime has learned 
lessons from North Korea - incremental progress for favors." 

Together with the Japanese, Australian and ICRC actions, there is also 
movement on other fronts. From Jan. 10 to 15, Obuchi will visit 
Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, and his Myanmar initiatives will be on the 
agenda. In March the Koreans will host a so-called "Chilston-2" meeting 
in Seoul. Participants will try to build on the current momentum to 
bring Yangon in from the cold. South Korean Foreign Minister Hong Soon 
Young told Asiaweek: 
"One way is to isolate, antagonize and penalize. Another is to 
recognize, negotiate and eventually engage. You have to be tough when 
you say something to the Myanmar regime, but that does not mean 
pressuring them, because that verges on interference in their domestic 
affairs." 

Even among diehard anti-regime Western nations, there is a growing 
receptivity to new approaches. Recently, the envoys of several European 
and North American nations privately conceded that sanctions and 
ostracism are not working. But, given well-funded and efficient pro-Suu 
Kyi lobbies back home, they cannot risk publicly recommending policy 
changes. An official 
familiar with Hashimoto's visit says: "A more productive approach would 
be to promote economic reform, assist the Burmese to fight AIDS and 
drugs, and help them raise the living standards of the people. It would 
be the best way to bring democracy to Myanmar." The realization itself 
is a move forward, since in all prior discussions the welfare of the 
people has appeared to get the 
least attention. So that, at least, is progress.

***********************************************
TIMES (London): BURMA PRISONER FAMILIES FALL OUT
Jan. 10, 2000


THE father of James Mawdsley, the British pro-democracy activist serving 
a 17-year sentence in a Burmese jail, launched a highly critical attack 
yesterday on the parents of Rachel Goldwyn, a fellow activist released 
early from a Rangoon jail in November. 

David Mawdsley, who arrives in Burma today to visit his son in the 
notorious Kengtung prison, 400 miles northeast of the capital, spoke for 
the first time about the harm he believes that Ms Goldwyn and her 
parents have inflicted on the pro-democracy cause in Burma. 

Ms Goldwyn, 28, who was jailed in September for singing pro-democracy 
songs in the Burmese capital, was released from Rangoon's Insein jail 
after striking a deal with the military regime. She served only two 
months of a seven-year sentence. 

On the day that she returned to Britain, she announced that she intended 
to return to Burma to co-operate with its military regime on its 
"counter-narcotics" operations, a deal brokered by her parents, Edward 
and Charmian, during meetings with Rangoon officials. It included Ms 
Goldwyn signing an undertaking not to continue indulging in political 
protest in Burma. 

By contrast, James Mawdsley, 26, who shares a cell with rats, toads and 
bats, and two guards permanently noting down his every move, has refused 
to negotiate his way out of prison, and has not even appealed against 
his sentence. 

"The Goldwyns fell into the biggest propaganda trap ever set," Mr 
Mawdsley said. "What Rachel said on her return harmed the cause. When 
she got off the plane with her parents she was under incredible pressure 
and her parents more or less gave their views of what to do in Burma. 

"I have spoken to Mr Goldwyn. He has been round here and met my ex-wife 
and myself, and I told him that he was misguided, that he is wrong. 
"Rachel was totally exhausted when she got back and I think they more or 
less persuaded her to come out with views that she did not believe and I 
think she has tried to rectify that since." 

James, a committed Roman Catholic, only became involved in Burmese 
politics four years ago. After getting five A grades in his A levels at 
school in Lancashire, he went to Bristol University to study maths and 
physics, but soon became bored and dropped out. 

While backpacking in New Zealand he met a group of refugees from Burma 
who told him of their experiences of rape and repression at the hands of 
the ruling military junta. 

The Mawdsleys were last together as a family in Devizes, Wiltshire, on 
July 24, at the wedding of James's brother Jeremy, an Army captain. 
James, who was best man, had just announced that he was returning to 
Burma - and almost certain imprisonment. 

He had already been arrested twice in Burma on previous visits, and the 
second time, in 1998, he had been sent to Insein after being tortured 
for 15 hours. He was caught handing out stickers and playing 
pro-democracy songs on a tape recorder. Sentenced to five years, he 
served 99 days in solitary confinement in an 8ft by 6ft cell, suffering 
scabies and ear infections, before being deported. 

For his last visit, Mr Mawdsley drove his son to Heathrow airport. On 
August 31, three days later, James was caught distributing pro-democracy 
leaflets in the northeastern town of Tachilek. At his trial on September 
1, he was convicted of illegal entry and sedition. 

"For quite some time I discussed at length with him different ways of 
doing it. We all knew what he was going to do. But James is a very 
determined, honest, decent young man. Once I realised he wasn't going to 
be dissuaded, I went with him and supported him all along." 

James, who gets 20 minutes' exercise a day out of his tiny cell, 
completed a one-week hunger strike on December 23 over the treatment of 
fellow prisoners. "He has made absolutely no concessions," Mr Mawdsley 
said. "The jail authorities are in absolute fear of James. He is so 
positive, so strong, and I am so proud of him. 

"People ask me and Diana [James's mother, who is divorced from his 
father], isn't James being selfish putting us through this? Well, the 
regime disgusts me. They have committed murder. They have committed 
genocide. They torture people. There are 45 million Burmese who are 
living their lives in fear. James is willing to put his life on the line 
to raise people's awareness." 
Ms Goldwyn told The Times last night: "I was in a confused state when I 
got back to Heathrow. Generally, the Burmese community worldwide have 
been really understanding of what I've been through. I have no intention 
of returning myself


***********************************************
TIMES (London): BURMA PRISONERS--LETTER FROM RACHEL GOLDWYN
Burma prisoners 

BODY: 


>From Ms Rachel Goldwyn 

Sir, In your interview with David Mawdsley (January 10) he criticises my 
family's handling of my release from prison in Burma. The Mawdsleys and 
my parents have very different perspectives. My family made my release 
their immediate and sole objective, terrified that I would be tortured 
and beaten like other political prisoners in Burma. 

James and his family do not currently want to fight for his release. 
They were involved in his planning, my family weren't involved in mine. 

I have the utmost respect for the Mawdsleys and James especially. He 
wants to use his incarceration to highlight the suffering of the 1,500 
other political prisoners in Burma. He is an incredibly brave and 
principled young man. 

We will never know what it was that secured my release; there have been 
so many people in the UK and beyond who worked hard towards it, but 
there was no "deal". 

I was in a terribly confused state when I returned to the UK; this was 
my first encounter with the junta who worked intensively to undermine me 
in jail. But I now know that it would be dangerous and foolish to return 
to Burma, and I have no intention of doing so. 

British business supports this illegitimate, cruel regime. Until there 
are economic sanctions on Burma, all of us Britons have blood on our 
hands. 

Yours, 

RACHEL GOLDWYN 

(Prisoner 0678/c, Insein jail), 

c/o SOAS Registry, 

University of London, 

Thornhaugh Street, WC1H 0XG. 

January 10. 
***********************************************
ADB: FURTHER OPENING OF BORDERS, POVERTY REDUCTION KEY TOPICS AT MEKONG 
MINISTERS' MEETING

January 12, 2000

JAN 11, 2000, M2 Communications - A further opening-up of borders and a 
new emphasis on poverty reduction will top the agenda at the 9th 
Ministerial Meeting of the Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation 
Program to be held at the Asian Development Bank headquarters, Manila, 
on 13 January 2000.


Ministers from the six countries bordering the Mekong River - People's 
Republic of China (Yunnan Province), Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, 
Thailand, and Viet Nam - will press for further cross-border 
liberalization following the precedent-setting accord signed in 
Vientiane on 26 November 1999. The agreement, inked by the governments 
of Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam, easesthe cross-border movement of 
goods and people on the East-West Corridor linking Thailand, Lao PDR and 
Viet Nam.

Cutting red tape and other barriers will do as much to spur trade and 
investment as the joint projects being promoted under the Greater Mekong 
Subregion (GMS) initiative in transport and communications, energy, 
health and education, environment and tourism.

Participants will also discuss concrete actions to stop environmental 
degradation - especially deforestation - illegal logging and trafficking 
in wildlife, drugs and prostitution. The ADB is already working towards 
this with other institutions such as the UN Drug Control Program.

The national delegations will be headed by H.E. Chhay Than, Minister of 
Planning, Cambodia; H.E. Jin Liqun, Vice Minister, Ministry of Finance, 
People's Republic of China; H.E. Phao Bounnaphol, Minister of 
Communication, Transport, Post and Construction, Lao PDR; H. E. Brig. 
Gen. David Abel, Minister, Office of the State Peace and Development 
Council, Myanmar; H.

E. Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi, Deputy Prime Minister, Thailand; and H.E. 
Tran Xuan Gia, Minister of Planning and Investment, Viet Nam.

Although details still have to be worked out, the East West Corridor 
cross-border agreement was a milestone in spelling out principles and 
directions such as non-discriminatory treatment and transparency of 
regulations and procedures. As Toru Tatara, head of the ADB's GMS unit, 
notes: "The agreement adds a new dimension to the GMS program and augurs 
well for significant initiatives in other sectors." Now a timetable 
needs to be discussed for extending the agreement to the whole GMS 
subregion. At the same time, countries are looking at ways to ease trade 
restrictions and simplify customs procedures. Such developments will 
underpin the 
infrastructure sector which, in turn, will drive growth.

The GMS countries and the ADB and other donors also want to see key road 
projects fast-tracked to accelerate the recovery of the subregion from 
the Asian economic crisis. Many of the civil works associated with the 
US$350 million, 400 km East West Corridor project linking northern 
Thailand, central Lao PDR and eastern Viet Nam, are due for completion 
at the end of 2003. The East West Corridor is expected to see container 
traffic double to 1.6 million metric tons by 2000 and double again by 
2010.

The main commodities moving between the three countries are construction 
materials, fuel, timber and wood products, machinery and equipment, 
foodstuff, textiles, marble and livestock.

Ministers are also expected to call for fast-tracking of the North-South 
Corridor joining Chiang Rai in northern Thailand, Lao PDR and Kunming in 
Yunnan Province, PRC. This project is expected to result in significant 
expansion of trade between PRC and Southeast Asia.

Looking further ahead, Ministers will also discuss progress on building 
"economic corridors" along the major highways. The meeting will 
determine ways in which GS countries can coordinate investment policies 
and incentives to encourage private sector enterprise along these 
transport corridors..

New initiatives for collaborating in poverty reduction and environmental 
protection will also be discussed, including ways in which governments 
can work together for more effective management of natural resources. 
For example, the GMS program includes projects to address poverty 
reduction and environmental management in remote GMS watersheds; health 
and education needs of ethnic minorities; and the protection and 
management of critical watersheds in the Lower Mekong Basin.

One prevailing problem is that hill tribes, especially in PRC's Yunnan 
Province, Cambodia, Lao PDR and Viet Nam, subsist through slash-and-burn 
agriculture and cut trees for fuelwood. Such practices erode valuable 
watersheds. "We need to persuade hill communities that it's in their 
best 
interests to conserve rather than exploit natural resources by 
encouraging 
community participation in ventures such as eco-tourism. They can 
discourage 
poachers and illegal loggers and operate ecologically sound tourist 
facilities," says Warren Evans, manager of the ADB's Environment 
Division. 
"We also need to identify and develop other sustainable use of 
resources. 
For example, work is being done in Yunnan to show small-scale farmers 
the opportunities of breeding and cultivating medicinal and other 
high-value crops outside the protected areas from which they originate."

Participants will also discuss agriculture as the key to developing 
economic corridors. "Agriculture has considerable potential for 
collaboration in fields such as extension services and seed adaption, 
especially in the border areas, and it is the lifeblood for up to 80 
percent of the GMS population," notes David Husband, an ADB consultant 
economist on the GMS program.

Also under discussion will be joint ways to improve telecommunications 
linkages, share energy resources, enhance health and education services, 
increase labor market mobility and promote tourism

***END***********************


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