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______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________

May 2, 2000

Issue # 1523


This edition of The BurmaNet News is viewable online at:

http://theburmanetnews.editthispage.com/stories/storyReader$371



NOTED IN PASSING:


(1) "There is evidence that Suu Kyi has contacts with dissidents and 
armed terrorist groups...[therefore] Suu Kyi and her accomplices 
could face the death penalty or life imprisonment'' SPDC commentary 
in Kyemon, (See AP: SUU KYI COULD FACE DEATH PENALTY)



(2) Forced labor related to the Yadana  pipeline is a form 
of  "public works" and "simply [does] not amount to 'slavery' under 
any meaningful sense of that term."

Unocal in an argument to a California court for why it should not be 
liable for forced labor related to its pipeline in Burma. (See 
WASHINGTON POST: UNOCAL 'SMOKING GUN' ALLEGED; BURMESE REFUGEES CLAIM 
CABLE SUPPORTS ABUSE CHARGES)


	
*Inside Burma

AP: SUU KYI COULD FACE DEATH PENALTY

KYODO: TOYOTA, AJINOMOTO QUIT OPERATIONS IN MYANMAR 

DPA: MYANMAR CLAIMS 10 PER CENT GROWTH IN 1999


*International

WASHINGTON POST: UNOCAL 'SMOKING GUN' ALLEGED; BURMESE REFUGEES CLAIM 
CABLE SUPPORTS ABUSE CHARGES

HART'S ASIAN PETROLEUM NEWS: MYANMAR GAS TO THAILAND BY 2001

KYODO: YANGON WOULD NOT OPPOSE PYONGYANG JOINING ARF: WIN AUNG  

AFP: MALAYSIAN FIRM SIGNS MILLION-DOLLAR BARTER DEAL WITH MYANMAR 
COMPANY

JIJI: JAPAN MIN. CALLS ON MYANMAR TO TAKE DEMOCRATIC STEPS
	
		
*Opinion/Editorials


*Other





__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
	



AP: SUU KYI COULD FACE DEATH PENALTY

May 2, 2000

 By GRANT PECK

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and 
her followers could face the death penalty or life imprisonment for 
high treason stemming from alleged links to outlawed rebel groups, a 
government newspaper said Tuesday.

A commentary in the Mirror daily accused Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 
Nobel Peace Prize, of being ``power crazy,'trying to block foreign 
aid and investment, and attempting to foment disunity among the 
country's
ethnic minorities.

The accusations came as the military regime played host to economic 
ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Japan, 
China and South Korea, its biggest diplomatic event since Myanmar was 
admitted
into ASEAN in 1997.

The government, often criticized by Western nations for human rights 
abuses, has recently arrested members of Suu Kyi's National League 
for Democracy for alleged links to rebel groups that maintain a 
fading armed struggle against the regime along Myanmar's border with 
Thailand.

``There is evidence that Suu Kyi has contacts with dissidents and 
armed terrorist groups,'' the commentary said. Hence ``Suu Kyi and 
her accomplices could face the death penalty or life imprisonment'' 
for high treason.

The newspaper also said people in Myanmar, also known as Burma, were 
losing confidence in Suu Kyi and wanted the government to take 
concrete action against her in the national interest.

Nearly all newspapers in Myanmar are run by the government. 
Editorials and commentaries often rail against Suu Kyi, who was 
vaulted to world prominence during a bloody, unsuccessful uprising 
against military rule
in 1988.

Suu Kyi was placed under what became six years of house arrest in 
1989, but a year later her party swept general elections. The 
military, surprised that parties it had supported lost, never allowed 
parliament to convene.

The National League for Democracy espouses nonviolence. According to 
international human rights groups, hundreds of its members have been 
jailed for their political views.

Last week, Aye Thar Aung, a senior party official responsible for 
issues related to ethnic minorities, was arrested and reportedly 
accused of connections to anti-government rebel groups.

The Mirror lashed out at Suu Kyi, whose activities are severely 
restricted, for smuggling videotapes out of Myanmar. It said they 
were sent to international conferences to discredit the government.

It accused Western embassies of abusing their diplomatic immunity by 
helping to smuggle tapes out.

In one interview smuggled out Thursday, Suu Kyi said military 
authorities arrested more than 40 NLD youth members in mid-April.

The government said a couple of NLD activists were being questioned 
for alleged connections with a ``terrorist demolition team'' near the 
Thai border.

____________________________________________________



KYODO: TOYOTA, AJINOMOTO QUIT OPERATIONS IN MYANMAR 

May 1, 2000, Monday 




YANGON, May 1 Kyodo 


Frustrated with slow economic reforms in Myanmar, Toyota Motor Corp. 
and Ajinomoto Co. have recently quit operations in the country, 
Japanese Embassy officials in Yangon said Monday.  

Ajinomoto, Japan's top seasoning manufacturer, built a factory for 
bottled products in Myanmar in 1997, but the company was forced to 
halt operations early last year because authorities imposed a ban on 
the import of materials, saying they were harmful, according to the 
embassy officials.  

Ajinomoto products are, however, imported illegally from Thailand and 
sold in stores in Myanmar, they said.  

Toyota opened a dealership in Yangon in 1998, based on the 
government's announcement that it would allow imports of automobiles 
in the near future. The policy has never been implemented, the 
embassy officials said.  

Ironically, the withdrawal by the two large Japanese companies was 
disclosed as 
Japanese International Trade and Industry Minister Takashi Fukaya 
visits Myanmar to discuss economic assistance to the country.  

A number of Japanese companies, particularly financial entities, have 
quit Myanmar since last year, the officials said.
  
There are about 90 Japanese firms still operating in the country, but 
frustrations are building up among them regarding matters such as 
sudden policy changes and the slow pace of deregulation, they said.  



____________________________________________________


DPA: MYANMAR CLAIMS 10 PER CENT GROWTH IN 1999 

Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
May 1, 2000, Monday

Yangon 

Myanmar's (Burma's) junta on Monday claimed it's economy grew a 
whopping 10 per cent last year, demonstrating that the pariah state 
was making its contribution to prosperity in the Southeast Asian 
region.  

"Preliminary figures show that Myanmar's economy grew by more than 10 
per cent during the fiscal year which ended 31 March," said 
Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, First-Secretary of the military-led 
State Peace and Development Council.  

Khin Nyunt's economic growth estimate was about double the estimates 
made by international development banks.  

"Myanmar will never become an obstacle or hindrance to ASEAN. With 
the emergence of the full economic potentials of the country, Myanmar 
will surely be a great asset to the Association," Khin Nyunt told 
visiting economic ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian 
Nations (ASEAN).  

Yangon is for the first time hosting the ASEAN Economic Ministers 
(AEM) retreat meeting and a follow-up powwow between ministers of 
ASEAN and China, Japan and South Korea on May 1-2.  

The two-days of talks have drawn ASEAN Secretariat Rodolfo Severino, 
Thai Commerce Minister Supachai Panitchpakdi and other senior 
commerce ministers.  

AEM, which meets Monday, will concentrate on Southeast Asian trade 
issues, while the "ASEAN plus three" talks Tuesday will focus on 
the "East Asian Economic Cooperation" plan first discussed at an 
informal ASEAN summit in Manila last November.  

Myanmar joined ASEAN in July, 1997, despite stiff opposition from 
western democracies who warned that the junta's inclusion would 
undermine their relations with the Southeast Asian bloc.  

Myanmar's military regime, which has ruled the country since 1988, is 
widely condemned for its poor human rights record, abuse of labour 
rights and failure to introduce democratic systems.  

But Khin Nyunt, the head of Myanmar's powerful Military Intelligence, 
told the AEM that "an ASEAN without Myanmar will not be ASEAN in its 
true sense."  

"We in Myanmar are convinced that Myanmar can make valuable 
contributions to peace, stability and prosperity of Southeast Asia."  

The general's claim that Myanmar's economy grew 10 per cent last year 
don't mesh with the estimates of most international observers and aid 
organizations.  

The Asian Development Bank (ADB), for instance, estimated Myanmar's 
real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in 1999 at 4.5 per cent.  

"Myanmar, does not rank particularly high it its socio-economic 
achievements compared with its Southeast Asian neighbours," said the 
ADB in its Asian Development Outlook 2000 report released last week.
  
The bank noted that Myanmar's inflation was high last year, suffered 
a current accounts deficit of 546 million dollars and had less that 
400 million dollars in foreign exchange reserves.






__________________ INTERNATIONAL ___________________
		



WASHINGTON POST: UNOCAL 'SMOKING GUN' ALLEGED; BURMESE REFUGEES CLAIM 
CABLE SUPPORTS ABUSE CHARGES  

William Branigin , Washington Post Staff Writer 



Attorneys for a group of Burmese refugees say they have discovered 
a "smoking gun" document supporting their claims that a major U.S. 
oil company should be held accountable for human rights violations 
related to construction of a natural gas pipeline in Burma.  

The 15 plaintiffs, representing thousands who fled to the Burma-
Thailand border in the early 1990s, charge that Unocal Corp. and the 
French oil firm Total SA, partners in the project with the Burmese 
government, were complicit in human rights abuses by Burmese forces. 
The abuses allegedly included the forced relocation of entire 
villages, the use of slave labor, and numerous deaths, beatings, 
rapes and property seizures. Unocal denies the charges.  

A federal judge in Los Angeles will hear arguments May 22 on whether 
the suits, the first such effort to hold an American corporation 
liable for human rights abuses abroad, can proceed to trial.  

Attorneys for the refugees say State Department cables obtained under 
the Freedom of Information Act contradict the company's denials. They 
cite a 1995 State Department cable of an interview with Unocal 
official Joel Robinson.  
"On the general issue of the close working relationship between 
Total/Unocal and the Burmese military, Robinson had no apologies to 
make," the cable said. "He stated forthrightly that the companies 
have hired the Burmese to provide security for the project and pay 
for this through the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise," the Burmese 
state oil company.  

Robinson was quoted as saying that three truckloads of Burmese 
soldiers typically accompanied project officials as they conducted 
survey work and that Burmese military officers were informed of the 
next day's activities so that soldiers could secure the area and 
guard the work perimeter.  

"I would call this cable the smoking gun, because it refutes 
everything they [the defendants] said about the relationship between 
Unocal/Total and the military," asserted Terry Collingsworth, a 
lawyer representing one group of plaintiffs. He said the existence of 
a "contractual relationship" with the Burmese military is also 
supported by other documents that remain sealed by the court. 
 
A Unocal lawyer, Edwin V. Woodsome Jr., said the cables are "not 
factually accurate." He insisted that "there is no evidence the 
military was hired by Unocal or Total or anybody else."  

The 416-mile, $ 1.2 billion pipeline starts at Burma's Yadana 
offshore gas field in the Andaman Sea and crosses 39 miles of the 
Tenasserim region, which traditionally has been inhabited by ethnic 
minorities including the Karen, who have been fighting for self-rule 
for more than 50 years.  

Construction began in 1992 and was completed in 1998. Limited amounts 
of gas have flowed through the pipeline because facilities on the 
Thai side of the border remain unfinished.  

The class-action suits, filed against Unocal and its partners in 1996 
by the International Labor Rights Fund, the Center for Constitutional 
Rights and other groups, seek more than $ 1 billion in damages from 
the giant California-based oil company. 
 
They are also aimed at setting a precedent that would deter U.S. 
firms from doing business with despotic regimes.  

In 1997, the Clinton administration prohibited new U.S. private 
investment in Burma, prompting some companies to pull out. Among them 
were Levi Strauss & Co., Eastman Kodak Co. and Hewlett-Packard Co. 
Levi Strauss acknowledged that its investment had been 
supporting "one of the leading violators of human rights in the 
world."  

In addition, four states and about 30 municipalities, including 
Takoma Park, have declared some form of boycott against Burma to 
punish the military junta that seized power in 1988 and brutally 
suppressed a democracy movement.  
A foreign trade group representing 580 corporations, including 
Unocal, has challenged a Massachusetts law that penalizes companies 
with Burmese investments. That case is now before the Supreme Court.  

In defending itself against the lawsuits, Unocal has consistently 
maintained it had nothing to do with alleged human rights 
violations.  

In a deposition last year, John F. Imle Jr., then president of 
Unocal, said he knew of no "contractual obligation" for the Burmese 
armed forces to protect the project. They did so, he said, "in the 
same way the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department would provide security 
for activities of any kind . . . in Los Angeles County."  

Independent human rights groups say the Burmese army routinely rounds 
up villagers and forces them to work on construction projects or 
serve as porters--sometimes, in effect, as "human minesweepers"--for 
military counterinsurgency operations.  
"Robinson acknowledged that army units providing security for the 
pipeline construction do use civilian porters" but said Unocal and 
its French partner "cannot control their recruitment process," the 
May 1995 cable said. It quoted the Unocal official as saying Total 
was responsible for ensuring porters were paid. He "admitted that 
villagers were not paid" for earlier work, including the arduous 
clearing of forest on both sides of an access road along the pipeline 
route.  

U.S. District Judge Richard Paez has dismissed Total and the Burmese 
government as defendants in the case. Woodsome said Unocal is 
confident that its summary judgment motion "will dispose of this case 
in its entirety."  

According to excerpts from the company's motion, most of which 
remains sealed, the company says U.S. courts have repeatedly ruled 
that the 13th Amendment prohibition against slavery does not prevent 
state and federal governments from compelling citizens to "perform 
certain civic duties" such as road building. The Burmese villagers' 
alleged forced labor consisted of "public works" activities that do 
not violate U.S. law and "simply do not amount to 'slavery' under any 
meaningful sense of that term," the motion argues.  

Moreover, it says, Unocal cannot be held liable for the actions 
of "indirect" subsidiaries. Among these is Unocal Myanmar Offshore 
Co., which holds Unocal's interest in the Yadana gas field.  

Besides, Unocal says in a report published on its Web site, Total was 
responsible for "day-to-day operations" on the pipeline, "including 
hiring all labor."  

Robinson, who has since retired from Unocal, gave a sworn deposition 
last year, before the State Department documents were released. Thus, 
he was never asked about the meeting with embassy officials. He 
declined to talk about the case.  

Unocal attorney Woodsome denied that any villagers were relocated or 
that any forced labor was used in the pipeline construction.  

Collingsworth said most of the "dirty work" of forced relocations and 
slave labor was done before the pipe-laying phase. The oil companies' 
later insistence on paying the workers was a charade because soldiers 
confiscated the money, he added.  

Even if some workers were paid, they were still forcibly recruited in 
the first place, he argued. He pointed to another U.S. Embassy cable, 
dated January 1996, that quoted Total briefing materials as saying 
local villagers were "hired by the army" and incorporated 
in "battalions."  

The cable said a Unocal consultant on the scene "claimed that the 
rate at which these workers run away has decreased sharply since the 
start of the project."  
Woodsome maintained that villagers in the area appreciated the 
employment opportunities the oil companies provided. "People who live 
there are delighted this pipeline project was done," he said.  

____________________________________________________


HART'S ASIAN PETROLEUM NEWS: MYANMAR GAS TO THAILAND BY 2001

May 1, 2000 
SECTION: Vol. 4, No. 17 






A TotalFinaElf-led consortium plans to transport 525 MMcf/d of gas 
from  its Yadana field in the Andaman Sea, off Myanmar, to Thailand 
through a pipeline  from the beginning of 2001.
 
The French conglomerate has tied up with a 2,800 MW power plant set 
up by  the Electric Generating Authority of Thailand at Ratchaburi, 
southwest of  Bangkok. 

"Eventually, the gas could be used to supply other Thai consumers 
upon  completion of a gas pipeline being built by PTT that will 
connect Ratchaburi to  the existing Thailand gas pipeline grid," a 
TotalFinaElf official told APN.  TotalFina is the operator of the 
Yadana gas field with a 31.24% interest.  The other investors are: 
Unocal (28.26%), Thailand's state-owned PTT Exploration  & Production 
Public Co Ltd (25.5%), and state operator Myanmar Oil & Gas  
Enterprise (15%). The consortium has already laid the pipeline from 
the Yadana offshore gas  field to Ratchaburi. The pipeline project 
involved the installment of a 36-inch  diameter, 412km long pipeline -
 mostly subsea with the final 63km crossing the  Tenasserim region of 
southern Myanmar and stretching to Ban-I-Tong at the  Myanmar-
Thailand border.
 
The Thai portion of the pipeline, from the border to the Ratchaburi 
power  plant, is the responsibility of the Petroleum Authority of 
Thailand (PTT), which  is purchasing the Yadana gas. For this 
purpose, the promoters have floated a  separate company - Moattama 
Gas Transportation Company. Besides gas sales to  Thailand, the 
promoters have signed a separate sales agreement with Myanmar  
government for supplying 125 MMcf/d of gas for domestic use.  The 
Yadana pipeline is part of the field development project, which  
included construction of four offshore platforms with 14 wells. The 
US $1.2 Bn  estimated cost of the Yadana project represents the 
investment required to build  and install four offshore platforms, 
related seaport facilities, the onshore and  offshore sections of the 
pipeline, and all other necessary equipment and  facilities. The 
Yadana gas field - in Block M5 and M6 - lies at a water depth of  
150ft, 69km offshore Myanmar in the Andaman Sea. The field contains 
more than 5  Tcf of gas and is considered one of the largest gas 
reserves of the world.  However, the development - the first major 
cross-border energy project in  South East Asia - has become a 
controversial with human right activists accusing  the promoters for 
developing the project despite the sanctions imposed by  countries 
like the US and European Union. 

The activists have alleged that the TotalFinaElf-led consortium has 
been  collaborating with the totalitarian government in Myanmar, 
which denies basic  human rights for its civilians. Interestingly, 
the Yadana development project  includes a $6m socio-economic 
development programme in places close to the  pipeline. The 
consortium claims that the socio-economic development initiatives  
have brought significant, long-lasting benefits to the 35,000 
villagers living  in the remote region through which the pipeline 
passes. 
The promoters say the Yadana project would give impetus to Myanmar's  
economic development. The project will give Myanmar the opportunity 
to develop  its natural resources, including the eventual delivery of 
electric power to the  regions of Yangon and Tenasserim. 

____________________________________________________


KYODO: YANGON WOULD NOT OPPOSE PYONGYANG JOINING ARF: WIN AUNG  

Varunee Torsricharoen 

YANGON, May 1 Kyodo 

Foreign Minister Win Aung said Monday he would not oppose North 
Korea's entry into the Asia-Pacific region's main security forum 
despite the fact that the two countries' ties have been suspended 
since 1983.  

'We have no problem accepting North Korea's participation' in the 
forum. 'We separate bilateral issues from regional ones,' Win Aung 
told Kyodo News on the sidelines of a meeting of economic ministers 
of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 
here.  

The ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) is the Asia-Pacific region's premier 
consultative body on security issues. ASEAN has been the core of the 
forum since its creation in 1994. Currently, the group comprises 22 
members -- the 10 members of ASEAN plus Australia, Canada, China, the 
European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand, 
Papua New Guinea, Russia and the United States.  

This year's ARF ministerial meeting is scheduled for July 27 
following an ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting July 24-26 in Bangkok, 
according to the Thai Foreign Ministry.  

Myanmar suspended ties with North Korea in 1983 after an 
assassination attempt in Yangon on then South Korean President Chun 
Doo Hwan, who was leading a South Korean delegation.  

Chun narrowly escaped with serious injuries, but four of his cabinet 
members and 13 senior officials in his delegation were killed. Yangon 
blamed the attack on North Korean agents.  
Myanmar has said it wants an apology from Pyongyang. 

Win Aung said Monday he told Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan 
last month when they met on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement 
ministerial meeting in Cartagena, Columbia, that Yangon would not 
stand in the way if ASEAN decides to admit North Korea into the 
security forum.  

He indicated that Pyongyang should be admitted to the forum as 
security on the Korean Peninsula has been part of its agenda for 
years.  

Last month, North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun told Surin 
that Pyongyang is 'very keen' to join the ARF. Surin subsequently 
told reporters in Bangkok that ASEAN was considering inviting Paek to 
join the ARF ministerial meeting in July.
  
Senior officials of the ARF member countries are scheduled to meet in 
Bangkok on May 17-19. North Korean representatives are expected to 
participate in the meeting to discuss procedures for North Korea's 
admission.  

Pyongyang has submitted a formal request to join the ARF once before -
- in 1994, before the death of the late President Kim Il Sung in July 
of that year.  

But when ARF members decided to admit Pyongyang in 1996, North Korea 
withdrew its application, saying the forum's members did not 
understand the situation on the Korean Peninsula and that it did not 
have diplomatic relations with all ASEAN members.  

Pyongyang currently has no diplomatic relations with the Philippines. 
But Paek is expected to visit Manila in July to establish ties before 
his visit to Bangkok for the security forum.  

____________________________________________________


AFP: MALAYSIAN FIRM SIGNS MILLION-DOLLAR BARTER DEAL WITH MYANMAR 
COMPANY


   KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 (AFP) - A Malaysian firm said it signed 
Tuesday a barter trade deal worth one million dollars with a company 
in military-ruled Myanmar.

   Padiberas Nasional Bhd (Bernas) said it would supply rice milling 
machinery, equipment and spare parts to Myanmar Agricultural Produce 
Trading (MAPT).

   Bernas group managing director Mohamad Ibrahim Noor, in a 
statement from the Myanmar capital Yangon, said it would receive 
commodities including rice and other vegetables in exchange.

   Malaysia's International Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz, visiting 
Myanmar for a meeting of trade ministers of the Association of 
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), witnessed the signing.

   "With the capital goods, MAPT will be able to upgrade its rice 
mills and reprocessing plants which in turn will improve the quality 
of rice intended for export to international markets," Ibrahim said 
in the statement carried by Malaysia's Bernama news agency.

   He said his firm would also buy commodities from the Myanmar firm 
in excess of the value of the barter deal.

   Ibrahim said the barter trade was a crucial first step towards 
minimising US dollar transactions for both parties and would also 
strengthen bilateral and regional trade relations.

   ASEAN says it prefers "constructive engagement" with the military 
regime rather than sanctions imposed by the West in protest at human 
rights violations.


____________________________________________________


JIJI: JAPAN MIN. CALLS ON MYANMAR TO TAKE DEMOCRATIC STEPS  

Jiji Press Ticker Service 
May 01, 2000, Monday 


Yangon, May 1 


Japanese Minister of International Trade and Industry Takashi Fukaya 
Monday called on Myanmar to make moves toward democracy and a market 
economy.  
Fukaya proposed in his meeting with Khin Nyunt, first secretary of 
the State Peace and Development Council, the decision-making body of 
Myanmar's military junta, that the country reopen its colleges in the 
near future and take other clear steps to promote democracy and human 
rights.  

Fukaya is in Yangon, the Myanmarese capital, to attend a conference 
Tuesday of economic ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian 
Nations member states, Japan, China and South Korea. He is the first 
Japanese cabinet minister to visit Myanmar in 17 years.  

The Myanmarese official told Fukaya that there are differences 
between industrial and developing nations and that Yangon is striving 
to bridge the gap. He urged Fukaya to understand that Myanmar is 
making efforts to build a peaceful and safe society.  
Calling on Myanmar to improve the investment environment quickly, 
Fukaya offered Japanese assistance for the promotion of small and 
midsize firms, human resource development in the information 
technology sector and the construction of agricultural chemical 
plants, among other things.  


____________________________________________________


XINHUA:  MYANMAR LEADER PRAISES WORKERS' EFFORTS

May 1, 2000, Monday

YANGON, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar leader Senior-General Than Shwe 
Monday praised workers in the country for their efforts in the nation-
 building, saying that their earnest efforts have brought about 
favorable conditions in the economic sectors such as industry, 
energy, forestry, mining, livestock and fisheries, and trade.  

In his message on the occasion of May Day, Than Shwe, chairman of the 
Myanmar State Peace and Development Council and Prime Minister, said 
the government has given serious attention to fulfilling the 
aspirations of the blue and white collar workers.  
"As success has been achieved in the short-term plans laid down and 
implemented by the government, the value of gross domestic products 
and services has now increased resulting in the rise in per capita 
income of the citizens," he noted.  

Accordingly, he added, wages and salaries of the workers engaged in 
the commodity production and service enterprises have been duly 
enhanced.  

He warned against attempts by "neo-colonialists" and others to 
tarnish the image of Myanmar through false accusations not relevant 
to labor affairs at a time when favorable conditions for national 
progress have been created and the standard of living of workers has 
been enhanced accordingly.  

He urged the workers in the country to strive for the realization of 
political, economic and social objectives of the nation; the speedy 
success of economic projects being implemented; and the raising of 
the productivity and the services in the state, cooperative and 
private sectors.  



_______________


Acronyms and abbreviations regularly used by BurmaNet.


AVA: Ava Newsgroup.  A small, independent newsgroup covering Kachin 
State and northern Burma.

KHRG: Karen Human Rights Group.  A non-governmental organization 
that  conducts interviews and collects information primarily in 
Burma's  Karen State but also covering other border areas.

KNU: Karen National Union.  Ethnic Karen organization that has been 
fighting Burma's central government since 1948.

NLM: New Light of Myanmar, Burma's state newspaper.  The New Light of 
Myanmar is also published in Burmese as Myanmar Alin.

SCMP: South China Morning Post.  A Hong Kong newspaper.

SHAN: Shan Herald Agency for News.  An independent news service  
covering Burma's Shan State.

SHRF: Shan Human Rights Foundation

SPDC: State Peace and Development Council.  The current name the  
military junta has given itself.  Previously, it called itself the  
State Law and Order Restoration Council.


________________


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