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BurmaNet News Deember 28, 1995
- Subject: BurmaNet News Deember 28, 1995
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 28 Dec 1995 05:37:00
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Date: Thu, 28 Dec 1995 05:23:20 -0800
------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------
The BurmaNet News: December 28, 1995
Issue #310
Noted in Passing:
Adopted sons and daughters of the colonialists, under
external influence, are attempting to cause the disintegration
of the union and the loss of independence. - Khin Nyunt
(see BKK POST: SUU KYI ACCUSED OF TRYING TO
BREAK BURMA)
HEADLINES:
==========
KNU REPORT: UPDATE ON THE CURRENT SITUATION
BKK POST: TWO INJURED IN DKBA ATTACK ON KAREN CAMP
FTUB(WB): INDIAN HOME SEC. IN RANGOON
DVB RADIO: MILITARY OPERATION NEAR INDIAN BORDER
ABSDF(MTZ): HARSH INVESTIGATION BEING HELD IN INSEIN PRISON
RADIO MYANMAR: DEFENCE SERVICES URGED TO BE VIGILANT
BKK POST: 273 BURMESE ARRESTED
BKK POST: SUU KYI ACCUSED OF TRYING TO BREAK BURMA
NATION: MANDALAY DEVELOPMENT
BKK POST: PM SUMMONS NSC ADVISE RS AS FISHING CONFLICTS
BKK POST: BURMA EASES BARRIERS TO MANUFACTURING
BUSINESS TIMES: S'PORE BANKS TO PLAY KEY ROLE IN MYANMAR
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: THE SLOW ROAD TO MANDALAY
BURMANET: BRIEF BUSINESS REPORTS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KNU: UPDATE ON THE CURRENT SITUATION
December 28, 1995
On 13 December 1995, a Karen National Union delegation left for Moulmein
and Rangoon in response to the SLORC's invitation to talk about arrangements
for cease-fire talks. The delegation returned on 23 December 1995 with no
spectacular results.
In the meantime, at 8:45am on 21 December 1995, when the official Karen
New Year ceremony at Wah Baw village was nearly finished, about 200
SLORC troops from the 106 Light Infantry Division led by San Lwin and
the 343 Light Infantry Division led by Major Nyunt Tin opened fire on the
civilians with small and heavy weapons. In the confusion, they beat Saw
Plaw Doh from Tanee Su village to death. They also shot and wounded Saw
Oo Yeh from Wah Baw village and Saw Pah Way from Klo Law village.
The troops then entered the village and looted and destroyed the villagersÕ
property. They ransacked each house taking whatever was useful. They also
took all the money they could find and stripped watches and necklaces off
the villagers. The costs of the damage and the property taken totalled 1 million
Kyat.
Also on 21 December 1995, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was stopped from
attending a Karen New Year celebration in Insein. After being detained, she
was sent home, while Khun Myint Tun and Tin Tun Oo, both youth members
of the NLD, Saw Tin Win, a member of the NLD's central committee in Pa-an,
and Mann Htay Shein, the patron of the Karen celebration, are still being held.
During the past few weeks, the SLORC-controlled DKBA has made a number
of armed attacks on Sho Klo refugee camp. They have stolen property and shot
refugees, resulting in several injuries and deaths.
************************************************
BKK POST: TWO INJURED IN DKBA ATTACK ON KAREN CAMP
December 27, 1995
Two people were seriously injured yesterday when some 30 men
from the Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army plundered a Karen
refugee camp on the Tha Song Yang-Mae Sariang road.
The men were armed with AK-47s, M16s and M79s. They raided
Sho Klo camp, which houses 9,405 Karen refugees, at about 1
a.m., firing at a shop before running off with cash and
valuables worth some 30,000 baht. Kae Sami, the shop's
owner, and his wife Nor Kae Pho were seriously injured.
A soldier in the area said the attackers were believed to be members
of the DKBA and crossed the border into Thailand from Bho Phaw
Hta in Burma, which is cross the border from the camp.
Third Army region Commander Lt Gen Thanom Vacharaphud said
the camp was an easy target for attack as it was only a
kilometre from the border. It was difficult to distinguish
the refugees from the intruders, as they were all Karens, he said.
He said that to prevent a recurrence, all refugees in Sho Klo camp would
be moved to Mae La camp, also in this border province. The issue would
shortly be discussed among the agencies concerned. He said foreign
intruders would be disarmed if caught inside Thailand. (BP)
******************************************
FTUB(WB): INDIAN HOME SEC. IN RANGOON
December 25, 1995 <burtu.atubdo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
NEW DELHI: Union Home Secretary K. Padmanabhaiah is expected
to discuss the issue of the AN-26 aircraft and arms dropping issue with
Myanmar Government. Mr. Padmanabhaiah is presently in Rangoon.
The Home Secretary left for Rangoon three days after the arms dropping
incident took place on DEC 18 in which an "unidentified" aircraft airdropped
a cache of sophisticated arms. He is expected to be back in the Capital on
December 27.
Mr. Padmanabhaiah has gone to Rangoon for the regular meetings that the
place between India and Myanmar over the issue of militants and insurgents
seeking refuge, training and arms route through neighbouring countries
into India.
While such exchange of views have been taking place over the last few years,
it is significant that the Home Secretary chose to go for the meeting after
the airdropping of arms had taken place. This in itself provides an
indication that Mr. Padmanabhaiah is likely to take up the matter with the
Government concerned.
Beside Myanmar, Thailand and Bangladesh are among the other groups seek
refuge after conducting their operations in India.
****************************************************
DVB RADIO: MILITARY OPERATION NEAR INDIAN BORDER
December 17, 1995
It has been learned that there has been an increased deployment of SLORC
State Law and Order Restoration Council troops along the 2,000 km long
India-Burma border where "Operation Aung Nameik" has been launched, and that 40
porters are being collected from each village in the Naga Hills. It has been
learned that the military operation was launched following the moving of border
posts 10 km inside Burmese territory by the Naga. The moving of border posts
automatically put the Naga from Burma inside Indian territory. The Naga living
on the Burmese side depend on India for all their needs and apparently the Naga
moved the border posts because they wanted to live inside Indian territory as
the Naga living on the Indian side are better off.
The SLORC troops are trying to recruit Naga youths into the army to establish
their foothold. For instance, the 52nd, 53rd, 223rd and 172nd Light Infantry
Regiments in Leshe Township are trying forcibly to recruit children from the
rural areas and are relocating and burning down villages that offer resistance.
Impoverished Naga 13-year old children were forcibly recruited into the army,
but many deserted because of language barriers, poor conditions and hardship.
According to an account given by a young soldier who fled from the SLORC
army, he was given only 70 kyat in salary although he understood the salary of
soldiers was 700 kyat. He said he deserted because of extremely poor conditions.
***************************************************
ABSDF(MTZ): HARSH INVESTIGATION BEING HELD IN INSEIN PRISON
December 26, 1995
from lurie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Harsh investigation being held in Insein Prison
------------------------------------------------
Professor Yozo Yokota gave the Slorc a copy of his report on
Burma that was submitted in the recent UNHCR meeting in Geneva.
Regarding the letters written by political prisoners which
were clandestinely sent to Professor Yozo Yokota, UN
rapporteur to monitor the human rights situation in Burma,
Slorc began a very brutal investigation into the case and have
been interrogating the prisoners in Insein Prison. Slorc would
like to find out which prisoners wrote the letters and who
helped them to send the letters out of the prison.
Water and food supplies have been denied during the
interrogation period since mid November. Prisoners were forced
to sleep on the concrete ground without mats or blankets. The
prisoners under interrogation were kept in the 'military dog
cells' which were tightly shut so that nobody could get access
to them. Permission to meet the prisoners has been refused
since the middle of November.
Among the prisoners Saw Nai Nai (elected representative from
Pazun Daung township in Rangoon Division), Mon Ywer Tin Shwe
were severely interrogated. In Insein Prison, U Win Tin's
health condition is bad. He is suffering from spondylitis.
The condition of political prisoners in Insein Prison is very
bad at the moment. U Win Tin (member of Secretariat of the
NLD), Myo Myint Nyein, Dr. Myint Naing (elected representative
from the NLD), Mon Ywar Tin Shwe (elected representative from
the NLD) and Saw Nai Nai (elected representative from Pazun Daung
township in Rangoon Division) were moved into the Military Dog Cells.
23 senior Burma politicians, including Bo Hmu Aung (Thirty
Comrade), Dr. Maung Maung Kyaw, Wi Du Ra Chit Maung and
Thakhin Khin Aung, have sent a joint letter to the Slorc
urging them to start a dialogue. Many students inside also
demanded in letters to the Slorc that they start a dialogue
with Aung San Suu Kyi and ethnic leaders.
U Tin Oo, Vice Chairman of the NLD has many times asked the Slorc
to release all political prisoners. But there has been no response yet.
The Slorc started to take measures against the crowds of
supporters that were gathering every weekend outside Suu Kyi's
home. Three students who were working with Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi after her release and asked the gate authorities to move
the barbed wire strands were also arrested on November 24 and
sentenced to two years' imprisonment. Despite the barbed wire,
increased security and the arrests of the students, over 5,000
people gathered that weekend to hear Daw Aung San Suu Kyi speak.
U Sein Hla Aung of Mandalay who distributed the NLD video
tapes was also arrested very recently. Khun Myint Tun, Tin Tun
Oo (both youth members of NLD), Saw Tin Win (Central committee
member of NLD), and Mann Htay Shein were arrested even more
recently for taking Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to a Karen new year
festival in Rangoon.
It is seems to be that the Slorc's plan is to first crush the
supporters of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and her later. The Slorc
is aware of the public relations boost the release of Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi has given them, and they will not throw this away
by re-arresting her immediately. Instead, they will cut off
her support base and try to marginalise her. Harassing and
arresting her supporters and party members is one way to do this.
The current situation in Rangoon is very tense. It seems
inevitable that if there is no progress or dialogue with the
Slorc, there will finally be some kind of confrontation
between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's supporters and the authorities.
The authorities have started this confrontation already, by
arresting NLD members and supporters.
Increased Gatherings
--------------------
After the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the gathering in
front of her residence has now increased to up to 6,000. The
gathering had only 100 people on the day after her release. Among
the people gathering outside her gate, most are intellectuals, monks,
nuns and foreigners.
Assistance to the political prisoners
-------------------------------------
The NLD has established a Social Aid Committee and provides
assistance to political prisoners.
[Information provided by sources in Rangoon and the NCGUB]
**********************************************************
RADIO MYANMAR: DEFENCE SERVICES URGED TO BE VIGILANT
AND ACTIVE December 21, 1995
Excerpts from editorial in the government newspaper Myanmar Alin' New
Light of Myanmar' entitled "Safeguard the interest of the entire nation; remove
those who mar and disturb" , broadcast in its press review programme by Burmese
radio
The Chief of Staff of the Army of the Ministry of Defence, Lt-Gen Tin U also
Secretary-2 of the State Law and Order Restoration Council held a meeting with
officers and other ranks of the Army, the Air Force and the Navy of the Defence
Services in the hall of the Ministry of Defence on 18th December. Lt-Gen Tin
extensively explained the situation regarding the state responsibilities being
borne by the Defence Services, the facts relating to the tasks of the members of
the Defence Services and the country's political, economic and social conditions
and judicial affairs.
Lt-Gen Tin U explained that we are systematically marching towards the set
goals and objectives. He said that while we are striving to develop the nation
by implementing the set political, economic and social objectives, efforts are
being made for the emergence of a firm state constitution, which is indispensable
for the nation...
It is very important for members of the Defence Services to take heed of the
speech and implement their tasks. The Defence Services - which were born out of
the Burma Independence army, BIA and formed to resist and fight the imperialists
and, with the people, to resist the fascists - has become a people's army on
which the nation relies. The Defence Services have discharged their assigned
national duties during national emergencies while crushing internal insurgency
and repulsing external aggression.
It is known to all how the Defence Services have had to shoulder their
political, economic, social and administrative duties in addition to their
defence duties. The Defence Services are striving to maintain their noble
traditions, while striving to develop into modern and strong Defence Services
through four major undertakings for training, administration, welfare and
morale. Members of the Defence Services are to strive to perfect the 12 noble
traditions and 10 strengths of the Defence Services. At the same time, they
should constantly strive to sharpen their military, organizational and
administrative skills. Therefore, members of the Defence Services should remain
especially alert in the area of security and resolutely take action against
those who undermine, mar and disturb national interests, and remove and
annihilate these elements.
******************************************
BKK POST: 273 BURMESE ARRESTED
December 26, 1995
(BurmaNet Editor's Note: Virtually every shop, restaurant, and factory
in Mae Sot uses migrant labor from Burma. A large proportion of
the market vendors are from Burma, and many houses have housekeepers
and cooks from Burma. The official population of Mae Sot is over
20,000, and the number of migrants may be as much as three times that
figure. This being the case, one wonders how the police chose which
houses to raid.)
Immigration officials arrested more than 270 Burmese people
for alleged illegal entry in Tak's Mae Sot district early
yesterday morning. A combined force of immigration and Border
Patrol Police searched various houses in Mae Sot municipality
and arrested 273 Burmese including 83 women and 36 children.
Provincial immigration chief Suthee Ariyakabutr said all illegal
immigrants would be repatriated through a safety zone.
*************************************************
BKK POST: SUU KYI ACCUSED OF TRYING TO BREAK BURMA
December 26,1995 Rangoon, Reuters (slightly abridged)
In the latest attack on democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi,
one of Burma's most senior ruling generals accused her of
trying to break the country apart at the behest of unidentified foreigners.
Military intelligence chief Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, in
a speech published in state-run newspapers yesterday, also
urged people to be aware of "subversive elements" trying to
alter the course laid down by the military for the future.
"Adopted sons and daughters of the colonialists, under external influence,
are attempting to cause the disintegration of the union and the loss of
independence," Khin Nyunt said in a speech on Sunday.
Although he did not use Suu Kyi's name, Khin Nyunt was
clearly referring to her and her political party when he
accused people of trying to disrupt a government-organised
convention, which has been meeting intermittently since
January 1993 to draw up guidelines for a new constitution.
"Without seeing to national well-being they are moving to
cause disruption to the national convention only for their
party's interest," he said. "It is necessary to be aware of
all attempts of internal and external subversive elements to
cause change of in the nation's path towards political,
economic and social objectives," he said.
Earlier this month a commentary in the rigidly-controlled state
media suggested Suu Kyi was a traitor and said she and her colleagues
would be "annihilated" if they tried to destabilise the country. (BP)
***************************************************
NATION: MANDALAY DEVELOPMENT
December 27, 1995 Kyodo
Chiyoda Corp will propose a development plan for the city of Mandalay,
Myanmar's second-largest city, a company official said. Under the plan,
the plant engineering company will propose about 60 projects with priority
orders as well as infrastructure improvement projects in a 150-page report
submitted to city authorities, the official said. The plan aims to develop
Mandalay into a larger city with a population of 3.5 million by 2020,
almost three times its current population, he said. (TN)
***************
BKK POST: PM SUMMONS NSC ADVISERS AS FISHING CONFLICTS
ESCALATE December 27, 1995 (abridged)
A Burmese attack on a trawler and the seizure of vessels by
Malaysia has prompted the Prime Minister to summon the
National Security council to discuss fishery disputes.
Banharn Silpa-archa's move followed a Fisheries Department report
yesterday that a trawler was set ablaze by a Burmese ship on Monday. The
Choke Monrudee, from Samut Sakhon, was three-five miles off Koh Chang,
Ranong, when it came under fire from a Burmese naval vessel.
The trawler's oil tank took a hit and the vessel caught fire. The 15
crew jumped overboard and were plucked from the sea by other trawlers.
One crewman, a Burmese, was missing and feared lost.
******************************
BKK POST: MORE INCENTIVES ON OFFER TO ATTRACT FOREIGN
INVESTMENT December 26, 1995
Burma eases barriers to manufacturing
WITH THE International Monetary Fund expected to reach an agreement
on future loans to Burma soon_ at least according to Burma's Minister of
National Planning and Economic Development _ a rapid expansion of the
country's manufacturing base may not be very far behind.
However, the sector still has some steep hills to climb if it is
to realise its full potential. Manufacturing accounted for only
9.4 percent of the country's gross domestic product and 8.2
percent of employment in 1994, and investment lags far behind
tourism and natural resources exploitation.
Since the State Law and Order Restoration Council, the ruling
junta, started soliciting foreign investment in 1988, fewer than
50 manufacturing enterprises have been approved worth a mere
US$175 million, compared to total approved foreign investment of
$2.6 billion as of March 31 this year, and the vast majority of
these are small, labour-intensive cottage industries or larger
investments in agricultural production and oil refining.
Yet things are looking up, partly because of a government which
is so eager to attract foreign investment that it has even been
willing to modify laws to accommodate individual eases.
Manufacturing investment applications doubled to $76.3 million in
1994-95, compared to the previous year. The figures include only
investment. approved by the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC)
and do not include a considerable bulk of Chinese investment or
the roughly $400 million which has been invested mainly by
Thailand and Singapore under the Companies Act.
Investors who have taken the plunge are generally happy with
MIC's incentives, which include extendable exemptions on income
tax and duty-waivers on imported machinery, and the over-all
operating environment. The Burmese state enterprises which are
often partnered with foreign investors, are generally praised for
keeping the wheels of commerce turning, although they are
sometimes accused of nit-picking at the expense of profits.
Firms connected to the government or the military generally enjoy
privileged access to raw materials, permits and domestic credit.
The state-owned Myanmar Textiles Industry (MTI) has been
instrumental in securing rental levels as low as $2 per square
metre for its clients.
There have also been few complaints about corruption, although
bribery is common practice where the issuing of import and other
business permits is concerned and is picking up generally.
As for the main sticking point, the 20-times overvaluation of the
currency at the official rate and a stipulation that foreign
investors must pay income tax on expatriate income in hard
currency, the recent establishment of exchange centres in Rangoon
will alleviate some of the difficulties by permitting the free
exchange of Foreign Exchange Certificates at market rates.
The strongest attraction for investors is the enthusiastic,
plentiful and economical work force. Basic wages range from
$15-40 a month, beating both Bangladesh and Vietnam, even if
total wage bills are often inflated by the need to import technicians.
Small, export-oriented garment factories from South Korea and
Hong Kong are the most common manufacturing enterprises. Although
fabric has to be imported, customs formalities are generally
smooth, and, like hotels, they are allowed to earn kyat to pay
local expenses by selling 10% of production domestically. In
addition, only men's shorts and trousers are restricted by US quotas.
However, there have been several setbacks, including the
withdrawal of several US labels for mainly public relations
reasons. Most recently Victoria Group from Hong Kong, which runs
four . factories valued at a total of $8 . million including a
higher value added knitwear plant which it V built from scratch,
has been- thrust on the defensive by American human rights
activists. As a result, the firm says it may have to halve its
workforce of 3,500 workers, which ironically will t punish the
very people the rights groups purport to protect.
Meanwhile, manufacturers serving the domestic market have their
own problems. Because o the exchange rate conundrum the 150% tax
imposed on imported products is the equivalent of just 7.5%.
Therefore the household appliances assembled by Daewoo are only
20-30% more price competitive than imports, while battling the
perception that locally made products are not as good.
Worse, the high imported component in locally assembled TV
disqualifies them from the General System of Preferences, making
them uncompetitive in export markets. If Burma joins the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations, components sourced within
the group will qualify as local content. Meanwhile, the going is tough.
The food processing and beverage sector fares best domestically
and the most successful of all is the $15 million Pepsi-Cola
venture which produces 900,000 bottles a day and is diversifying
and expanding with a second factory in Mandalay. Its only major
challenge is distribution made difficult by the poor infrastructure.
*****************************************************************
BUSINESS TIMES: S'PORE BANKS TO PLAY KEY ROLE IN MYANMAR
December 18, 1995 by Loh Hui Yin in Bangkok (abridged)
DBS Bank, UOB said to be forming ventures as banking sector is opened up
SINGAPORE banks look set to play a major role in Myanmar's impending
move to liberalise its banking system. DBS Bank and United Overseas Bank
are said to be forming joint venture banks with local partners, with the proposed
DBS venture likely to start first.
Banking sources say Myanmar's gradual opening up of its protected banking
industry will be patterned on Thailand's offshore banking scheme, known as the
Bangkok International Banking Facility (BIBF).
This means joint ventures will initially lend in foreign currency, usually US
dollars, to finance investments in cash-hungry Myanmar.
The liberalisation should spur foreign investments into Myanmar and also
facilitate the repatriation of earnings by foreign companies there.
Although DBS Bank and other foreign banks already lend to foreign projects in
Myanmar through their headquarters or branches in Bangkok, a joint venture is
seen as a stepping stone to a full banking licence. "We are positioning ourselves
for that day," said a foreign banker.
DBS Bank, the first Singapore-owned bank to have a representative office in
Myanmar, is likely to take a majority stake in its joint venture. Among the
projects DBS Bank has financed are renovations to two major hotels, The Strand
and Inya Lake.
Bilateral relations will be strengthened next month when a Singapore
ministerial delegation visits the country.
**********************************************************
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: THE SLOW ROAD TO MANDALAY
December 21, 1995
BYLINE: The Burmese Government's drive to attract foreign money and tourism
cannot hide the country's oppression, writes William Barnes
Burma's generals are showing an unusual interest in archeology - olive green
uniforms can frequently be seen stomping around what has been described as the
most remarkable religious city in the world: Pagan.
The city that stretches 12 kilometres along the Irrawady river - a day's
journey by slow boat from Mandalay - took 200 years to build before being
abandoned forever ahead of Kublai Khan's tartar hordes in 1287.
Pagan's founder, King Anawrahta, united Burma politically; the country's
current rulers claim to have achieved much the same.
We don't know how many visitors Anawrahta had - though thousands of captured
people were turned into slave labour to work on his grandiose city. Today's
rulers also use "voluntary labour" to refurbish some of their country's historic
attractions, though less as monuments to their glittering achievements than as a
means of attracting tourists.
For the tourist industry has become a key part of the army's plans to retain
its grip on power. If foreigners pour into the country for Visit MYANMAR Year
1996, then the quick injection of money may stave off demands for more competent
government.
The beauty of tourism is that it provides quick returns at a time when many
parts of the economy are still stuttering and before the millions of dollars
from gas sales to Thailand become payable in mid-1998.
There is also the spinoff that gawping foreigners crawling over the country
might convince the local population that outsiders have finally accepted that
the army's three decades of rule has some legitimacy.
The regime has been prepared to make sacrifices for the sake of tourism and
the promise of rich rewards: other peoples' sacrifices; their rewards.
Mandalay residents have complained bitterly about being forced to scoop mud
out of the city moat. Elsewhere villages deemed to lack aesthetic appeal have
been peremptorily moved from sensitive areas, and the classic signs of economic
pick-up are showing in traffic jams and environmental destruction.
Burma risks losing part of its unique charm under a rash of jazzy new hotels
that have already carved a swathe through the Edwardian terraces of colonial
Rangoon.
More serious are the sometimes clumsy attempts at restoration that horrify
foreign experts who say that sympathetic preservation is overshadowed by the
need to impress visiting generals.
But with dollars in their sights, Burma's generals are as likely to heed
such warnings as they are to curb the excesses of hotel building in Rangoon.
Yet what real benefits will the man-in-the-street gain from the sharp
reversal of the long policy of isolation?
For just as what can be seen in Pagan is a fraction of what the mostly
wooden city was like in its prime, it can only be imagined what Burma's economy
might be like unfettered by army control.
The 1996 tourist "boom" will certainly be slimmer than the military originally
hoped, yet thousands will come: drawn by the lure of an exotic, long locked -away
country, despite the pleas of foreign human rights groups to stay away.
But most of the money tourism brings will ultimately be funnelled into the
hands of the military and its civilian partners.
The bigger hotel projects are usually part-owned by the military or by one
of the new business elite growing fat on favours from the army.
The economic activity - the government claims the economy grew 6.8 per cent
over the 1995 financial year - has stoked inflation to between 20 and 60 per
cent over the last five years.
People on fixed incomes or in poor rural situations are in dire straits.
"Malnutrition is the number one health hazard," said one Burmese attached to the
health ministry. "Prices are going up tremendously - even 1988 (when price rises
fuelled mass protests for democracy) was not as bad as now."
The old middle class of doctors, teachers and civil servants has been under
great financial pressure.
"It is very, very hard - sometimes I don't even have the eight kyats to buy
plain tea to talk to my friends in a tea shop," said one government clerk.
Doctors may make a mere 2,000 kyats (about HK$ 128 at the unofficial rate) a
month; half the price of a night in a modest Rangoon hotel room.
"They have destroyed the middle class - pushed them down to a much lower
level," said one former general now sympathetic to the opposition.
The United Nations Development Fund calculates that two-fifths of rural folk
don't even have the 1.2 hectares of land necessary to scratch a subsistence
living. Many of them cut firewood to survive; which makes matters worse by
adding to highly destructive deforestation.
A Harvard University study has warned that a country once dubbed the rice
bowl of Asia is poorly positioned to cope with a population that has doubled
in 30 years.
Bank lending (which might help farmers boost their yields with, say,
fertiliser) is grossly inadequate, as might be expected in a country where
hardly anyone trusts savings to banks for fear of government theft and inflation.
The spurt of economic activity that has taken place since the regime
abandoned the disastrous Burmese way to Socialism in 1988 can be put into
perspective by noting that manufacturing accounts for just 14 per cent of GDP
and that it took Thailand 30 years of seven per cent GDP growth before its
agricultural workforce began to fall.
With only one in four children going even to primary school it is hard to
see any government finding it easy to lift the millions living outside the
privileged Rangoon-Mandalay axis into a comfortable mode of existence.
The State Law and Order Restoration Council, as the junta styles itself, is
especially ill-favoured because it lacks - thanks to its appalling human rights
record - access to international institutional lending to revamp its minimal
infrastructure.
Most roads outside the Rangoon-Mandalay corridor remain impassable for much
of the year; in 1994-95 the government spent only US$ 10 million (at unofficial
exchange rates) on public health.
The army does spend plenty on itself: the defence ministry currently
consumes a third of the government budget for its newly expanded force of more
than 300,000 soldiers.
The weapons and the soldiers are used to terrorise much of the population:
especially the ethnic minorities.
Foreign investors willingly take part in the hotel boom partly because guests pay
in dollars which isolates them from the grossly overvalued official currency.
But money is only being drip-fed into other sectors by overseas investors,
despite talk of Burma starting to look good next to excessively corrupt and
communist Vietnam.
One Asian ambassador to Rangoon said the generals showed their hopeless
naivety in calculating their original Visit Myanmar Year 1996 target of 500,000.
"They told me Thailand got six million tourists a year so it was reasonable
for them to expect 10 per cent of that - my goodness," he said.
"They go by instinct - they don't think with their heads."
The target was recently halved to save embarrassment; the airports alone
would have collapsed under the original numbers.
**********************************************************
BURMANET: BRIEF BUSINESS REPORTS
Information supplied by M. Beer and abridged by BurmaNet
JIJI PRESS TICKER SERVICE: HONDA TO SET UP REP OFFICE IN YANGON
December 21, 1995
Honda Motor co. plans to set up a representative office in Yangon in 1996, in a
move aimed at collecting information on market trends and industrial policies in
Myanmar. The Indochinese country is billed as one of the world's most promising
auto markets, however, Honda's exports to Myanmar are expected to remain under
100 vehicles for 1995. But increased penetration of foreign businesses into the
Myanmarese market is raising the prospect of a jump in demand for passenger cars,
particularly for corporate-use vehicles. The Tokyo-based automaker will use
first-hand information collected by the representative office to chart out a sales
strategy, the officials said. Honda's move apparently reflects the growing desire felt
among Japanese carmakers to get into the potentially lucrative myanmarese auto
market so as not to miss a good opportunity for profits in the future. Mitsubishi
motors co. recently started marketing jeep-type recreational vehicles and other
models in Myanmar, while Nissan motor co. plans to begin the sale of its sunny
small cars and pickup trucks there next spring. Toyota motor corp. opened a
service center in Yangon in early december to offer repairs, inspections and
other after-sales services.
KYODO: FUJI BANK TO OPEN REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE IN MYANMAR
December 20, 1995
Fuji Bank will open a business representative office in Yangon on Friday,
officials of the bank said Wednesday. It is the second office of a Japanese
bank in the city, following one by the Bank of Tokyo.
The officials said the office is to gather information in Myanmar where the
economy has rapidly improved since 1988, when the government changed policies to
introduce foreign investment and develop a market-oriented economy.
REUTERS: ISRAEL'S KOOR TO SEEK BUSINESS IN ASIA
December 21, 1995
Senior executives from Koor Industries Ltd, Israel's largest industrial
concern, will visit Burma in February to seek out trade and
business opportunities.
XINHUA: MYANMAR TO INTRODUCE MICRO-ORGANISM FERTILIZER
December 21, 1995 Yangon
Myanmar is planning to introduce effective micro-organism (em) fertilizer to
boost the yield of crops, said Myanmar Minister for Agriculture Lieutenant
General Myint Aung. When meeting with the Japanese professor Teruo Higa here on
Wednesday, Myint Aung said em fertilizer will be widely used throughout Myanmar
beginning 1996-1997 monsoon. They discussed plans to produce em on
commercial scale in Myanmar for boosting the yield of crops without affecting
the environment, according to today's the New Light of Myanmar. The paddy
yield in the 1994-1995 fiscal year was recorded at 900 million baskets (over
18 million tons) and it is targeted at 1 billion baskets (about 20.9 million tons)
in the 1995-96 fiscal year beginning April with rice export of over 1 million tons.
COMLINE: MITSUI JOINS MYANMAR GOVERNMENT IN FEASIBILITY
STUDY ON FERTILIZER IMPORTS December 22, 1995
Mitsui & Co. [8031] has joined Myanmar's Ministry of Agriculture in
conducting a feasibility study regarding the expansion of fertilizer
imports. The feasibility study calls for the import of 200,000 to 300,000
tonnes of fertilizer per year and the construction of packaging, storage
and distribution facilities throughout the nation, which could become
operational in early 1997. Agricultural production accounts for 50% of
Myanmar's GDP and employs 65.5% of its work force. If the fertilizer
supply system goes into effect as planned, Myanmar's importance as a
fertilizer procurement base could increase significantly.
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