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Subject: [theburmanetnews] BurmaNet News: August 15, 2000
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______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
An on-line newspaper covering Burma
_________August 15, 2000 Issue # 1597__________
INSIDE BURMA _____
*Dateline NBC: Aung San Suu Kyi?The Price of Freedom
*AP: Myanmar navy chief resigns from ruling military council
*MICB: SPDC amphetamine factory in Karen state of Burma?
*SHRF: People Forced to Grow Opium in Ho-pong and Loi-lem
REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _____
*Frontier Post (Pakistan): Women Sold like Animals
*Mizzima: Burma's recent relations with India and Pakistan
ECONOMY/BUSINESS _____
*AP: Myanmar's illegal lottery strikes a chord in glum economy
*Bangkok Post: Drugs-linked Shan state company raking in money
Xinhua: Burma-Singapore Bilateral Trade Drops in 1999-2000
OTHER _____
*Burmese Community Broadcasting Group: Program online
_____
The BurmaNet News is viewable online at:
http://theburmanetnews.editthispage.com
Correction: Yesterday's issue of BurmaNet mistakenly attributed the
article `Burma Refugees Without UNHCR Support in Delhi' to the Chin
Human Rights Organization. In fact, the Mizzima News Group authored
the article.
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
Dateline NBC: Aung San Suu Kyi?The Price of Freedom
Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League for Democracy
(NLD)
The price of freedom.
Aug. 13 (NBC TV News)
REPORTERS: HODA KOTBE
Announcer: From our studios in Rockefeller Center, here is Jane
Pauley.
"Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death " Patrick Henry's famous
ultimatum. How many of us have taken it to heart? This is the story
of an extraordinary woman whose dreams of liberty forced an
inconceivable choice between a life with her family or a fight for
freedom for her country. She could not have both. You'll find out why
in this exclusive story that 'Dateline NBC' went undercover to get
her first broadcast interview in 11 years. She may remind you how
precious freedom is and how high its price can be. Hoda Kotbe reports.
IT'S CALLED THE 'Golden Land,' with pagodas glinting under a
glowing
sun and smiling, gracious people. It's a kaleidoscope of searing
colors, an
exotic world where men wear skirts and women smoke cigars. This is
Burma,
where nothing is quite what it seems. Behind the golden land is the
other
Burma land of fear.
"There still are very many people in Burma who are very
frightened, so
they have to get over that fear," says Aung Suu Kyi.
Delicate, yet steely, Aung San Suu Kyi is seen in Burma as a
symbol
of hope an icon of unflinching courage who was forced into agonizing
choices in her struggle for Burmese democracy.
She has no doubts that the price she has paid has been worth
it. "I
don't look at it as a sacrifice," she says. "It's a choice. If you
choose
to do something then you shouldn't say it's a sacrifice. Because
nobody
forced you to do it."
Internationally, she's considered a legitimate leader of
Burma. But
here, she lives in a prison without bars the virtual captive of a
military
dictatorship the U.S. government calls brutal and repressive. It's a
regime
accused of slaughtering civilians and jailing an estimated 1000
political
prisoners.
In Burma, many of the universities once hotbeds of unrest
have
been closed for years. For most, the Internet is illegal even
owning a
cellphone, can mean jail time.
Here, Suu Kyi says, acting in any way the government
disapproves of
can make you a target. "You can be imprisoned for doing the right
thing,"
she says. "Even acting in accordance with the law can be a crime in
the
eyes of the authorities if they don't agree with what you are doing."
No foreign journalist can officially interview Aung San Suu
Kyi.
Many who've tried, have been interrogated, strip-searched and
deported. So
'Dateline NBC' went to Burma as tourists. Reaching her was like a
scene
from a secret agent movie: phone calls in code, decoy cars, hidden
tapes
only this was all too real.
Despite bringing only amateur videocameras, 'Dateline'
journalists
were still followed and photographed, and the army was always nearby.
'Dateline' met Aung San Suu Kyi at a secret location. Her phone
lines are cut. She can't receive mail. The military intelligence
keeps her
under constant surveillance.
"You know, they've closed off the road to my house," she says.
"There are barricades on either side of my garden. So I can't really
go out
without their knowing. And every time I do go out, I'm followed by
two cars
and two motorbikes. They're outside now sitting and waiting for me to
come
out."
She refuses to let the constant survelliance wear her down
mentally
however. "If they're trying to do that," she says, "they're not
succeeding."
It's this unshakable spirit that has given hope to millions of
her
countrymen. It's a sense of purpose instilled from birth. Her father
was
General Aung San, the founder of modern Burma. He had grand dreams of
democracy, but he was assassinated when Aung San Suu Kyi was only
two. Her
mother was a diplomat, known for her dedication to public service
which
she taught to her children.
At first it seemed their daughter had chosen to lead a private,
quiet, life. She fell in love with an Englishman, Michael Aris, a
professor. They married in 1972 and eventually settled in England.
The couple had two sons, Alexander and Kim. For 16 years she
was a
wife and mother.
"It was peaceful," says Suu Kyi. "It was academic. It was a
family
life. Just a normal life where you're free to do what you want to do."
But one day her quiet life would change forever with a phone
call
from Burma. Her mother had suffered a stroke. She returned home and
found a
country in turmoil. It was 1988, millions of Burmese, lead by
students,
took to the streets, calling for democracy.
The regime cracked down hard, firing on crowds of protesters.
Yuzana
Khin was one of them.
"We never thought the government would do that to us," says
Khin.
"You know, we always believed the military is for us."
It's estimated that thousands of civilians were killed. Aung
San Suu
Kyi was swept up in the demonstrations. The lessons taught by her
parents
came flooding back. Then with a speech remembering those who died,
this
wife and mother was transformed into political leader."When I was
watching
at her and listening to her my tears burst," says Khin. "I cried. I
knew at
once. Yes! Yes! She is the one we can work with. She is the one we can
trust."
Millions were there to see the change, but for Aung San Suu
Kyi,
life didn't stand still. Soon her family would have to return to
England to
resume work and school. She decided to stay behind. She couldn't have
forseen how long their separation would prove to be.
In Burma, she helped launch a political rebellion that would
put her
in great danger. The true-life movie 'Beyond Ragoon' depicted Suu
Kyi's
first confrontation with government troops. Standing defiantly in the
middle of the road, Suu Kyi refused to retreat.
"You really don't have much time to be frightened on on
occasions
like that," she says. "You have to think fast."
An officer and his line of men trained their guns on her and
her
group. She faced them down.
But in 1989 the ruling generals clamped down. They sentenced
Aung
San Suu Kyi to house arrest.
"I was supposed to have been a threat to the peace and
security of
the state," she says. "Or words to that effect."
She was locked up, confined to her house and garden. Guards
were
posted at her front door.
"They cut off my phone. They actually brought a pair of scissors and
cut
off the wires and carried my phone away," she says.
Internal pressure and international scrutiny prompted the
regime to
call a general election their first. Aung San Suu Kyi's party won
more
than 80 percent of the vote. But the regime threw out the results,
and she
wasn't released. Under house arrest, the weeks stretched into years.
"I was not allowed out of the house at all and nobody was
allowed
into the house to see me," she says. "I was completely cut off from
the
outside world."
She says malnutrition caused her hair to fall out. Back home in
England, her husband Michael Aris looked after their sons. "Obviously
in a
way, he was living a solitary existence," says Peter Carey, a family
friend
who lived nearby. "And I could feel the poignancy of that. The warm
heart
of the Aris household it was no longer there."
Her sons were only 12 and 16 when their mother was locked up.
"I hoped that they wouldn't miss me or need me," says Suu
Kyi. "They
support me but I think they have paid the price."
Carey knows having their mother so far away from them was
difficult
for the children. "When you have a trauma about homework or you want
to
discuss all the issues of being a teenager growing up, and your
mother is
miles away in Rangoon, obviously, it's tough," says Carrey.
Her youngest was allowed a visit. She hadn't seen him in more
than
two years.
"I didn't recognize him," admits Suu Kyi. "I would not have
recognized him if I'd met him on the street because a teenager looks
quite
different from a little boy."
Her family told 'Dateline' she finds the separation too
painful to
talk about.
But U Tin Winn notes that she had a choice. "She didn't want
to go
back to her kids," says Tin Winn, the Ambassador in the United States
of
the Union of Myanmar the name Burma is called by its military
government.
Tin Winn believes that the government has been more than fair
with
Suu Kyi. "She was under restriction in accordance with the existing
law,"
he says. "She have an easy life. I think as compare to being in the
prison
or in the solitary confinement it is very easy, a very lenient, and
even
convenient for her."
In 1991, still under house arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi was
awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize. Her son Alexander accepted on her behalf.
The government wanted her to leave the country. She refused.
Her
sentence stretched to six years, locked up inside her house. In all
that
time, her family was allowed only three visits.
"My choice had always been made you know my country first,"
says Suu
Kyi. "But I think people should not be made to choose between their
private
lives and their political beliefs."
But soon a tragedy in her family would put that choice to the
test.
In 1995 the regime finally released Aung San Suu Kyi from house
arrest, but
she was confined to Rangoon, the capital.
When she tried to leave the city, to meet with supporters, the
army
blocked her car. She spent six days on a bridge, refusing to move.
Finally,
she gave up, and returned to Rangoon. There, she defied the
authorities and
gave speeches over her garden wall. Rain or shine her supporters came.
"Some of them came with little bags with a change of clothes
in case
they were taken away to prison," Suu Kyi says.
They were always under the watchful eye of the military
intelligence. It was a war of nerves. Her very presence was a thorn
in the
side of the regime.
Then last year, tragedy struck. Her husband Michael Aris was
diagnosed with prostate cancer. Carey says the years of separation had
taken their toll. "He was very, very drained and tired by the burdens
which
he bore," says Carey, "and he bore it with great fortitude."
Michael Aris was dying. He applied for a visa to Burma. His
family
says he wanted to die in the arms of his wife. His visa was denied.
Instead
the military regime encouraged Aung San Suu Kyi to fly to her
husband's
side.
"The regime took this as an opportunity for trying to get me
out of
the country," says Suu Kyi. "Everybody knows that once they got me
out of
the country, they wouldn't have allowed me to come back in again."
It was a wrenching dilemna one she had eerily predicted in a
letter
to Michael Aris even before they married. "I ask only one thing," the
letter reads. "That should my people need me you would help me do my
duty
by them. Sometimes I am beset by fears that circumstances might tear
us
apart, just when we are so happy in each other."
Suu Kyi knew even back then that freedom could have its
price. "I
had been brought up by my mother with a very strong sense of duty
towards
my people and my country, so I was always aware of that," she says.
She never saw her husband again. Michael Aris died on March 27,
1999.
"I have been so fortunate to have such a wonderful husband,"
says
Suu Kyi. "Nothing can take that away from me."
She had made a heartbreaking choice in the name of democracy.
"Burma will be free," says Carey, "and Suu will be the
president of
Burma."
Despite all she has been through, Suu Kyi refuses to allow
frustration to take over.
"Democracy's not perfect," she admits. "I think you have to
keep
working at it. Unless my lifetime is unexpectedly short, I certainly
will
see democracy come to Burma."
Others disagree. U Tin Winn thinks Suu Kyi will never rise to
power
in her country. "She's just a housewife," he scoffs. "Just a
housewife.
Nothing more than that."
A housewife, maybe but one with a Nobel Peace Prize and who's
commanding the world's attention. A housewife, her supporters say who
will
lead a nation.
"We have a hope," says Yuzana Khin. "We have the future. She
will be
the leader. She is our leader."
Ominously, Burma's state-run newspaper reports Aung San Suu Kyi
could face the death penalty or life in prison for high treason.
Meanwhile,
she supports the economic sanctions the U.S. government is using to
try to
bring about change in Burma.
___________________________________________________
AP: Myanmar navy chief resigns from ruling military council
August 15, 2000
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ Myanmar's navy chief, Vice Adm. Nyunt Thein, a
member of the ruling military council, retired after reaching the age
of 60, the government said.
A statement was faxed to The Associated Press in Bangkok, Thailand,
in response to reports from diplomats in Yangon, the Myanmar capital,
saying Nyunt Thein had resigned for unknown reasons.
The government said Nyunt Thein was replaced by naval Chief of Staff
Rear Adm. Kyi Min.
Kyi Min also becomes a member of the State Peace and Development
Council, which consists of Myanmar's top five generals, the
commanders of 12 military regions and the navy and air force chiefs.
A number of SPDC members are older than 60, the official retirement
age.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been ruled by its military since
1962
___________________________________________________
MICB: SPDC amphetamine factory in Karen state of Burma?
August 13, 2000
Near SPDC porter-recruiting military camps of Myaing Galay, there are
some
under ground buildings with heavy military guards in Karen state of
Burma.
According to three porters who escaped to the Thai border on August,
1,
2000, the buildings are near Htee Ka Phaw village, Hlaing Bwe
township in
which machines were constantly in operation.
The three porters said that they had to carry ten bags of powder into
the
buildings and they thought that these buildings were amphetamine
production
factories.
MUSLIM INFORMATION CENTRE OF BURMA
___________________________________________________
SHRF: PEOPLE FORCED TO GROW OPIUM IN HO-PONG AND LOI-LEM
SHAN HUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATION
SHRF MONTHLY REPORT -- JULY 2000
For the year 2000, people living within the area from Phra
Kao Su mountain to Loi Maw mountain range in Ho-Pong township are
being ordered to grow opium by the SPDC troops in the area. Every
household is required to grow it and the opium seeds are being
provided by the SPDC troops themselves. The land area in
which opium is to be grown is about 15 square-miles. No household is
allowed not to engage in this enterprise, all have been forced to do
so whether they like it or not. The growers are obliged to
pay, as ætaxesÆ, 30,000-50,000 Kyat to the military for each acre of
the land used to grow opium, and thus creating one more source of
extra income for the military.
About 30 square-miles of land between Loi-Lem and Murng Pawn
towns in Loi-Lem township are also being used to grow opium by the
military and about 3,000 civilian labourers would be needed to do the
job, from clearing the land up to harvesting the produce.
___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
Frontier Post (Pakistan): Women Sold like Animals
Peshawar, Pakistan
By Ahmar Mustikhan ~August, 2000~
Sale of women is taking place on a mass scale in Pakistan, and at
least one journalist who bared the faces of those involved in the
heinous crime has been murdered. The organisations dealing with human
rights also say that police have implicated innocent persons in the
journalist's murder case to protect the real culprits.
Human traffickers bring destitute Bangladeshi and Burmese women into
Pakistan on the promise of getting them decent jobs, but once here
they are sold to third parties, mostly for the purpose of
prostitution. These women are escorted all the way through India,
some distances on foot, to reach Pakistan.
One such thriving market is in the remote town of Thar, bordering
Indian Rajasthan, where at least one former minister and two members
of the disbanded parliament maintain huge stakes in the women-selling
business.
According to Shaheen Burney in the district of Thar, women were being
sold in a market much in the way that animals are sold in a livestock
market "where buyers literally scan and examine the women before
paying their prices humiliating, molesting and sexually harassing
these unfortunate women in the open market."The women include those
abducted from the province of Punjab. According to an NGO chief, once
their sexual utility was over for one buyer, these victim women were
resold to subsequent buyers.
"These women are compelled to live a miserable and humiliating life
afterwards, along with their illegitimate children, as those who
bought them usually resell them when they are no longer
required."Lawyers for human rights and legal aid chief Zia Awan said
the sale of women was not restricted to Thar alone.
"Visit any Bengali or Burmese slum in Karachi and you can buy women
there," he said. Nearly half of Karachi's 12 million people live in
slum areas, and according to government statistics, 2.5 million of
them are illegal aliens.
Awan said thousands of women are being sold in the underworld for the
purpose of either being a prostitute or a domestic servant for life.
He says that there is a tradition of selling women in the garb
of "bride money" in some tribal belts of Pakistan, where a man could
buy a girl one-third his age after paying the parents the money they
want. The sale of women also has an ominous international dimension.
"Innocent women who are sold in the underworld are also being used to
carry drugs to foreign destinations," Zia said. Zia said non-
governmental organisations working in the fields of women's and
children's rights in south Asia have coalesced to form a network
called Resistance, and a draft is awaiting signature by the
governments of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.
SAARC comprises India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal,Bhutan, Sri Lanka
and Maldives.
"This is a major breakthrough, as the SAARC government's signature
would mean the states acknowledge for the first time that trafficking
of women and children was a cross border problem that knows no
frontiers in South Asia," said Zia. Resistance has joined hands with
SANFEC (South Asian Network for Food, Ecology and Culture), said Zia,
as the sale and trafficking of women and children is directly linked
also to the issue of food sovereignty.
"Studies have shown that farmers driven to despair, either because of
mechanisation of agriculture, use of bio-technology or any natural
disaster, are forced to sell their women and children to save
themselves from starving to death," Zia explained.
The global Human Rights Watch has an ongoing campaign against the
business, saying, "Trafficking in persons - the illegal and highly
profitable recruitment, transport or sale of human beings for the
purpose of exploiting their labour - is a slavery-like practice that
must be eliminated."
___________________________________________________
Mizzima: Burma's recent relations with India and Pakistan
Mizzima News Group
August 15, 2000
The visit of Indian army chief to Burma in first week of July was part
of an excise by India to mend fences with the military junta in Burma.
During the visit, Indian army chief General Ved Prakash Malik met
BurmaÆs head of state and SPDC chairman, General Than Shwe and
reportedly discussed a number of issues including on border management
and counter insurgency measures.
In January last, General V.P Malik visited Mandalay and that was
reciprocated by a trip to India by General Maung Aye, the second
ranked
leader of SPDC on January. The two delegates met at Shillong, the
headquarters of the eastern command of the Indian Air Force and
discussed enhanced cooperation between the two countries. Apart from
coordination along the 1,643 kilometer-long India-Burma border, the
two
sides agreed to promote bilateral trade.
This was General MalikÆs second visit to Burma in six moths and
apparently had aimed to finalize the plans, which were discussed and
agreed at the Shillong meeting. However, army and foreign ministry
officials in New Delhi were tightlipped on the result of the visit.
Definitely, however, General Malik would have sought more assistance
from the Burmese junta to flush out Indian insurgents from Burmese
territory.
What an embarrassment for the Indian army chief was that while he was
on
official visit in Burma, the countryÆs influential intelligence chief
Lt. General Khin Nyunt was out in Pakistan, an arch rival of India,
establishing closer ties between Burma and Pakistan. ôI am sure Khin
Nyunt being in Pakistan with strong delegation of 20 people is
definitely a matter of concern here. People are watching carefully and
want to know what is going to happen during these deliberations,
especially as I said earlier because relationship is military oriented
that definitely means that India must keep its eyes and ears clearly
open..ö, said Dr. Swaran Singh, a research fellow at Delhi-based
Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA).
Some observers view that China is actually behind the close ties
between
Burma and Pakistan as a part of its policy of containing India from
outside. And for Burma, it seems that the generals are trying to play
well-calculated "diplomacy" card between its two big neighbors China
and
India.
_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
AP: Myanmar's illegal lottery strikes a chord in glum economy
August 15, 2000
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ From the third to the ninth of every month
Myanmar takes an unofficial holiday. Businesses halt and office work
slackens as people indulge in what has become a national pastime,
even obsession: the ``two-digit lottery.''
Hoping to get rich quickly in one of the world's poorest countries,
more and more people are turning to the hottest _ and illegal _ game
of chance. Hundreds of thousands of people pay clandestine visit to
roadside food-stalls, coffee shops, betel-nut shops and markets where
the tickets are sold under the counter.
Before putting their money on the line, many visit temples to
consult Buddhist monks on lucky numbers; others try to predict the
jackpot number by interpreting dreams and incidents.
Playing the lottery is simple: punters have to bet on a two-digit
number of their choice. They win 80 times their investment if the
number tallies with the last two digits of the winners in the
official lottery run by the Finance Ministry every month from the
third to ninth.
Myint Aung, a major operator of the two-digit lottery, said he hires
``several boys'' to sell tickets. Sales remain open until 8:30 a.m.,
thirty minutes before the results of the official lottery are
announced, he said.
``My man waiting at the state lottery office in downtown Yangon
calls my mobile phone as soon as the results come out,'' said Myint,
a 51-year-old ethnic Chinese man.
Since it was started last year by a few enterprising businessmen,
the two-digit lottery, or ``na lone ti'' has gained immense
popularity. It is cheaper, promises a quicker payoff and offers
better odds than the official lottery, where the winning ticket has
to match a long number with two alphabets followed by six digits.
Occasional police raids on ``na lone ti'' dens, the risk of arrest
and potential three-year jail sentence has failed to deter operators
and bettors alike. Prizes are collected from the seller's shop, or in
the case of bigger pay-outs, delivered to the winner's home.
The official lottery holds draws every day for seven consecutive
days, announcing regular small prizes before revealing the jackpot.
The ``na lone ti'' follows the draws and hands out prizes
corresponding to the winning official lotteries.
Multiple winners are possible since the last two digits could have
been picked by many people.
The government lotteries cost 50 kyats (14 U.S. cents). The ``na
lone ti'' can be bought for as little as five kyats (1 U.S. cent).
The most expensive ticket is for 300,000 kyats (dlrs 857), which
promises a possible prize money equivalent to dlrs 68,560, a big
fortune for most people. A mid-ranking government employee earns
about 7,000 kyats (dlrs 20) a month.
The ``na lone ti'' tickets are 2-by-3 inch pieces of white, blue or
pink paper with the bettor's number scribbled on it. The seller keeps
a carbon copy of the ticket for verification later.
Nyunt Lwin, a bus driver who earns 10,000 kyats (dlrs 28.57) a
month, said he won 20,000 kyats (dlrs 57.14) this month.
``I will continue to bet. It is fun as well as profitable,'' he
said.
Many ardent bettors flock to monasteries, famous for pointing the
believers in the right direction.
Khin Hla, a woman in her late 40s, said she consults a monk the
first week of every month, at a monastery in Hlegu, 30 kilometers (19
miles) north of Yangon.
``The monk does not give the number directly. We have to watch the
gestures of the monk closely. Correct interpretation of the monk's
movement is the key,'' she said. ``If the monk shows a thumbs-up
gesture, the winning number for the day could be 41 or 14 _ thumbs
denoting number one and the remaining four fingers representing
number four.''
But asked if she has ever won the clandestine lottery, Khin Hla
replied dejectedly that luck has not been on her side yet.
____________________________________________________
Bangkok Post: Drugs-linked Shan state company raking in money
August 15, 2000
Its other businesses are doing very well
Chewin Sattha
Shan State South Company, suspected of involvement in
methamphetamine production, is enjoying success in various other
businesses in Burma's Shan state, according to an informed source
from Ho Mong.
The firm is run by a Rangoon-appointed six-member committee to rule
Ho Mong, former stronghold of the Mong Tai Army led by former drug
kingpin Khun Sa.
The source said SSS was successful in its operation of
interprovincial buses, construction of a power plant in Nong Luang
and a hydropower dam in Lang Kher district, and gems trade.
Its businesses were doing quite well this year with many Taiwanese
and Hong Kong
investors also co-investing in establishing teak furniture
factories and exporting cattle
from the Shan state to Thailand, the source said.
According to the source, SSS has sought concessions from Rangoon to
operate transport and passenger boats in the Salween river, develop
a Tha Sop Teng-Ban Hat road into a transport route, and run mineral
and granite mining operations in the state. Rangoon has allowed the
firm to import 250 four-wheel-drive pick-up trucks from a
neighbouring country for use in its businesses and agreed to provide
it with 5,000 gallons of petrol per month for its trucks.
It was reported the firm has at least two methamphetamine factories
in Ho Mong which have so far produced more than three million speed
pills meant to be smuggled by Wa National Army troops into Thailand
for sale.
SSS was established in April last year after the Ho Mong
administration committee members met Burma's State Peace and
Development Council first secretary-general Lt-
Gen Khin Nyunt to seek permission to run 13 different businesses in
nine Shan state towns.
The six-member Ho Mong ruling panel is made up of Chao Muang Khon,
Chao Ja Mai, Khun Sa's son Chao Jam Hueng, Chao Suwan, Chao Sai Daed
and Maha Ja.
Bangkok Post (August 15, 2000)
____________________________________________________
Xinhua: Burma-Singapore Bilateral Trade Drops in 1999-2000
Rangoon (Aug. 14) XINHUA - Bilateral trade between Burma and
Singapore amounted
to 883.1 million U.S. dollars in fiscal year 1999-2000 which ended in
March,
dropping by 10 percent compared with 1998-99, according to the latest
data
issued by Burma's Central Statistical Organization.
Of the bilateral trade in the fiscal year, Burma's import from
Singapore was
worth 748.9 million dollars, reducing by 115.7 million or 13.38
percent compared
with 1998-99, while its export to Singapore was valued at 134.2
million dollars,
increasing by 17. 3 million dollars or 14.79 percent compared with
the previous
fiscal year.
The Burma-Singapore bilateral trade accounted for 23.15 percent of
Burma's
total foreign trade.
Singapore stood as Burma's largest trading partner in the fiscal year,
followed by China (400 million dollars), Thailand ( 393.83 million
dollars),
Japan (321.92 million dollars), South Korea (262.12 million dollars),
Malaysia
(255.41 million dollars) and Indonesia (139.5 million dollars).
Singapore, in addition to being Myanmar's largest trading partner, is
also the
country's largest investor, so far injecting 1.504 billion in 69
projects since
Myanmar opened to foreign investment in late 1988.
_____________________ OTHER ______________________
Burmese Community Broadcasting Group: Program online
On 13.8.00 we had a program including interview with former prime
minister
U Nu conducted by U Maw Thiri, Discussion by Brigadier General Zaw
Tun,
Deputy Minister for National Planning at a seminar on Myanmar economy
(which
you will find rather interesting) and 8.8.88 told by the poems.
Please
listen and enjoy it at
www.bcbgaust.org
U Aye Kyaw
Convenor
Sydney, Australia
14.8.00
____________________________________________________
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