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BurmaNet News March 5, 1996 #355



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------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News: March 5, 1996
Issue #355

Noted in Passing:

		Better brush up your ballroom dancing if 
		you want to invest in Myanmar.
		 - BUSINESS TIMES: LAST TANGO IN 
		MYANMAR

HEADLINES:
==========
ABSDF-DNA: TOTAL COMPOUND ATTACK IN BURMA
DAW AUNG SAN SUU KYI: LETTER FROM BURMA #14
ABSDF-DNA: SLORC THREATENS SSNA NOT TO WELCOME MTA FORCES
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: BURMA TO LURE BUSINESS
BUSINESS TIMES: LAST TANGO IN MYANMAR
NYT: LETTER - IN MYANMAR, FIGHT FOR FREEDOM HASN'T FADED
NATION: SLORC ATTACK ON KARENNI INTENSIFIES
BKK POST: JUNTA PLAYS THE RELIGION CARD
BKK POST: BANHARN VISIT 'TO BENEFIT SLORC'
BKK POST: TOP UN OFFICIAL HARD TO VISIT BURMA
BKK  POST: HEROIN OUTPUT STABLE DESPITE KHUN SA EXIT
AFP: ASIA ESCAPES LIGHTLY IN AMERICA'S DRUG SANCTIONS
NATION: SLORC'S DEMAND DUE TO BE MET
NATION: MEET TO SPUR REGIONAL THRUST
BURMANET: BRIEF BUSINESS REPORTS
ANNOUNCEMENT: POLITICAL POSTCARDS FROM TOURISM CONCERN
------------------------------------------------------------

ABSDF-DNA: TOTAL COMPOUND ATTACK IN BURMA
March 4, 1996
>From caroline@xxxxxxxxxx

Press Release March 4th, 1996 
Total Compound attacked in Burma on February 8th, 1996

(Editor's Note: This story was also reported in the BKK POST: BURMESE 
REBELS ATTACK FRENCH OIL FIRM'S OFFICE on March 5, 1996)

Burmese rebels a rocket launcher attacked the field office 
of the French oil company Total last month, reportedly 
killing four local staff and one Frenchman.

A report by the All Burma Students' Democratic Front also 
said five others were wounded in the attack on Feb 8. The 
attack took place in the Kan Bauk area where Total has set 
up its field office for the proposed pipeline to run from 
the Yadana gas field through rebel areas and into Thailand.

An unknown armed group using a 107 rocket launcher attacked the
field office of the French oil company TOTAL. Confirmed reports state that
four local staffs were killed in the attack and five other were wounded.
One French citizen was allegedly killed.  The attack took place in the Kan
Bauk area where TOTAL has set up its field office of the proposed
gas-pipeline that is due to run from the Yadana gas field, through ethnic
land and into Thailand.  

According to local sources on the 12th February, Slorc Light Infantry Battalion 
273 (LIB 273), entered the Karen village of Eindayaza close to where the attack 
occured and took 11 Karen civilians including the village headman and beat them 
to death. Two women were also taken by Slorc troops, stripped naked and tortured, 
one woman is now unrecognizable. Two other women and one man, Naw Ser Ser, 
Mugar Theh Ner and Saw Gon Ray have been arrested and are currently being held 
in the local Slorc jail. It is believed that these human rights atrocities have
been conducted as retaliation for the attack on the TOTAL field office.

There have been many substantiated reports of human rights abuses from the
pipeline area which is being recognized by the human rights community as a
result o the relationship between the French oil company and the Slorc
military who have been condemned by the international community for its
abuses against the many communities living in the area.  It was the second
attack to the TOTAL company by the unknown armed group. In the first week
of March, 1995, a group of TOTAL company staffs was attacked. Five were
killed and 11 were wounded.  

ABSDF News Agency ABSDF (DAWN GWIN)

********************************************

DAW AUNG SAN SUU KYI: LETTER FROM BURMA #14
Mainichi Daily News, February 26, 1996

BURMA MUST INVEST IN BETTER HEALTH CARE AND EDUCATION
"A BABY IN THE FAMILY"

A couple of weeks ago some friends of mine became grandparents for the
first time when their daughter gave birth to a little girl. The husband
accepted his new status as grandfather with customary joviality, while the
wife, too young-looking and pretty to fit into the conventional idea of a
cozily aged grandmother, found it a somewhat startling experience. The baby
was the first grandchild for the "boy's side" as well, so she was truly a
novel addition to the family circle, the subject of much adored attention. I
was told the paternal grandfather was especially pleased because the baby
had been born in the Burmese month of /Pyatho/, an auspicious time for the
birth of a girl child.

In societies where the birth of a girl is considered a disaster, the
atmosphere of excitement and pride surrounding my friends' granddaughter
would have caused astonishment. In Burma there is no prejudice against girl
babies. In fact there is a general belief that daughters are more dutiful
and loving than sons and many Burmese parents welcome the birth of daughter
as an assurance that they will have somebody to take care of them in their
old age.

My friends' granddaughter was only 12 days old when I went to admire her.
She lay swaddled in pristine white on a comfortable pile of blankets and
sheets spread on the wooden floor of my friends' bungalow, a small dome of
mosquito netting arched prettily over her.  It had been a long time since I
had seen such a tiny baby and I wast struck by its miniature perfection.  I
do not subscribe to the Wodehousian view that all babies look like poached
eggs.  Even if they do not have clearly defined features, babies have
distinct expressions that mark them off as individuals from birth.  And they
certainly have individual cries, a fact learned soon after the birth of my
first son.  It only took me a few hours to realize that the yell of each
tiny, vociferous inmate of the maternity hospital had its own unique pitch,
cadence range and grace notes.

My friends' grandchild however did not provide me with a chance to
familiarize myself with her particular milk call.  Throughout my visit she
remained as inanimate and still as a carved papoose on display in a museum,
oblivious of the fuss and chatter around her.  At one time her eyelids
fluttered slightly and she showed signs of stirring but it was a false
alarm.  She remained resolutely asleep even when I picked her up and we all
clustered around to have our photograph taken with the new star in our
firmament.

Babies, I have read somewhere, are specially constructed to present an
appealingly vulnerable appearance aimed at arousing tender, protective
instincts: only then can tough adults be induced to act as willing slaves to
demanding little beings utterly incapable of doing anything for themselves.
It has also been claimed that there is something about the natural smell of
a baby's skin that invites cuddles and kisses.  Certainly I like both the
shape and smell of babies, but I wonder whether their attraction does not
lie in something more than merely physical attributes.  Is it not the
thought of a life stretching out like a shining clean slate on which might
one day be written the most beautiful prose and poetry of existence that
engenders such joy in the hearts of the parent and grandparents of a newly
born child?  The birth of a baby is an occasion for weaving hopeful dreams
about the future.
	
However, in some families parents are not able to indulge long in dreams
over their children.  The infant mortality rate in Burma is 94 per 1,000
live births, the fourth highest among the nations of the East Asia and
Pacific Region.  The mortality rate for those under the age of five too is
the fourth highest in the region, 147 per 1,000.  And the maternal mortality
rate is the third highest in the region at the official rate of 123 per
100,000 live births.  (United Nations agencies surmise that the actual
maternal mortality rate is in fact higher, 140 or more per 100,000.)
	
The reasons for these high mortality rates are malnutrition, lack of access
to safe water and sanitation, lack of access to health services and lack of
caring capacity, which includes programs for childhood development, primary
education and health education.  In summary, there is a strong need in Burma
for greater investment in health and education.  Yet government expenditure
in both sectors as proportion of the budget has been falling steadily.
Education accounted for 5.9 percent of the budget in 1992-93, 5.2 percent in
1993-94 and 5 percent in 1994-95.  Similarly government spending on health
care has dropped from 2.6 percent in 1992-93 to 1.8 percent in 1993-94 and
1.6 percent in 1994-95.

Some of the best indicators of a country developing along the right lines
are healthy mothers giving birth to healthy children who are assured of good
care and a sound education that will enable them to face the challenges of a
changing world.  Our dreams for the future of the children of Burma have to
be woven firmly around a commitment to better health care and better education.

****************************************

ABSDF-DNA: SLORC THREATENS SSNA NOT TO WELCOME MTA FORCES
March 2, 1996
>From <caroline@xxxxxxxxxx>

        Slorc threatened on February 2, to the Shan State National
Army (SSNA) led by Sai Karnyord not to welcome the MTA members
who are still taking up arms and continuing to fight against the Slorc,
according to the sources in Shan State.
        Despite the fact that the cease-fire agreement was reached on February 5
between Slorc and Khun Sa's MTA, thousands of MTA members are
committed to continue their nationalist movement.   Over 3,000 forces are
under the command of Lt.Col Lwe Kayo, Maj. Khay Nyen and Maj.
Yok Sit in southern Shan State and another 1,00 forces are under Maj.
Sai Khan and Maj. Sai Lu in eastern Shan State. Both groups have not
surrendered their arms to Slorc and keep fighting for their nationalist
movement, according to the S.H.A.N, a Shan information group based
in Shan State.
        SSNA is a breakaway group who split from MTA forces in June 1995. 
Slorc threatened the SSNA concerning the MTA members who are still fighting 
against them.  They threatened SSNA not to welcome the MTA members 
who want to join SSNA. Slorc ordered the SSNA to transfer the MTA members 
to them with their weapons. The SSNA would face annihilation if they
fail to do so, the source said.
        On the same day, the fighting occured between  MTA led by
Maj.  Yok Sit and Slorc LIB 99 near Wangut Hokho village, Lin Khey
in southern Shan state. Casualties were unknown, but many Slorc
soldiers were wounded, MTA claimed.

ABSDF News Agency
ABSDF (DAWN GWIN)

******************************************************

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: BURMA TO LURE BUSINESS
February 28, 1996
by Denise Tsang

Burma is offering tax holidays, low labor costs and abundant natural
resources to Hong Kong investors in a bid to boost foreign investment.

Speaking at a Trade Development Council (TDC) seminar aimed at boosting
investment, Myo Myint, Burma's counsul-general, said Hong Kong investors
could enjoy three-year income tax holidays and incorporate in the form of
sole proprietership, partnership or limited companies.

In all, seventeen Hong Kong-funded projects worth US$64.4 million are in the
pipeline, making Hong Kong the fourth largest foreign investor in terms of
the number of projects.

"We can offer land and labor, while Hong Kong can provide capital and
technological know how," Mr. Myint said.

TDC economist Jackie Wu said Burma was ideal for labor intensive textile and
garment manufacturing.

"The monthly wage rate for a semi-skilled factory worker is about US$25,
which is half the wage in Vietnam," Mr. Wu said.

Garments exported to the EU are quota free, while only twelve categories of
garments shipped to the U.S. are subject to specific quota limits.

**************************************************

BUSINESS TIMES: LAST TANGO IN MYANMAR
February 27, 1996

Better brush up your ballroom dancing if you want to invest in Myanmar.  It
seems the powers that be in that land love a little jig before getting down
to business.  A Singaporean investor and his officials were rather
bewildered when they found themselves whisked off to a ballroom during a
courtesy call on a Myanmar minister recently.  After three hours of
tangoing, the investor and his colleagues were only too glad for the dinner
preceding the signing ceremony.  And in case you wonder, partners are provided.

**********************************************

NYT: LETTER - IN MYANMAR, FIGHT FOR FREEDOM HASN'T FADED
February 28, 1996

To the Editor:

Your Feb. 23 Mae Le Journal, "Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide: a Lost 
People Is Adrift in Thailand," on the ethinic forces fighting the military
dictatorship in Myanmar, seems to suggest the battle is lost.  This is not
the case.

The sprit of freedom in the former Burma, exemplified by the Nobel Prize
winner Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her millions of followers, can never be
extinguished, even by the most ruthless of despots.  As one young leader of
the ethnic forces told us during a visit to the United States, "Once you've
tasted freedom, you can never step back."

Americans can help the Burmese struggle for human rights.  The petroleum
giants Unocal and Total must be confronted again about the billion-dollar
pipeline they are financing in Myanmar, which is being built with slave
labor.  The money goes into the pockets of the dictatorship.

Tourist dollars must be diverted from tours of  "exotic Buma" that are
becoming popular with museums and alumni associations.  These tours delude
the traveler with a rosy view of an "unspoiled" country that doesn't exist.
 This is no the time to give up on Myanmar but to intensify the battle.

Khin Maung She
Coordinator
Democratic Burmese Students Organization
Santa Monica, Calif. Feb 26, 1996

*********************************************

THE NATION: SLORC ATTACK ON KARENNI INTENSIFIES
March 5, 1996

SOMCHIT RUNGCHAMRASMEE

MAE SOT - The Burmese army has moved in five extra battalions against 
embattled ethnic Karenni guerrillas in its drive for victory in the offensive 
before March 27, Burma's Armed Forces Day.

Sources from the Karenni National progressive Party (KNPP) 
in Mae Hong Son said yesterday that Burmese troops renewed 
their offensive on March 2 against a KNPP stronghold in 
Nonglong after a lull of several months. Nonglong is about 
24 kilometres northwest of Thailand's Mae Hong Son province. 
They said the Burmese army had suffered serious casualties 
and that at least 20 of their soldiers were killed during 
two heavy clashes since Saturday when the offensive began at 
7.10 am. The sources declined to reveal exact KNPP 
casualties, saying they had suffered very little because 
they were on the defensive.

The Burmese army has deployed heavy artillery, including 
120-mm, 81-mm and 60-mm mortars, and 75-mm recoilless rocket 
launchers, the sources said. They said about 500 mortar and 
rocket rounds were fired on Sunday.

So far, the Burmese troops have tried twice unsuccessfully 
to capture the Nonglong stronghold, the sources said.At the 
moment five Burmese battalions, made up of about 1,500 
troops, were engaged in the fighting after the KNPP struck a 
cease-fire deal with the Burmese junta last March.

The truce was broken after the Burmese army began moving 21 
battalions in June and began an unprecedented month-long 
offensive which led to the KNPP losing its headquarters and 
smaller outposts along the frontier with Thailand. The assaults drove 
thousands of villagers across the border into Thailand.

The sources said about 300 students from the All Burma 
Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF) have joined the Karenni 
to defend the strategic Nonglong stronghold.

ABSDF sources quoted wireless message intercepted from local 
Burmese commander Col Win Min as saying that the Burma Army 
has planned to deploy 27 battalions altogether in its military showdown 
with the KNPP, one of the smallest armed ethnic groups fighting Rangoon 
for greater autonomy after Burma's independence in 1948.

They said Win Min intended to completely wipe out the KNPP 
and capture all the Karenni-controlled territory by March 27. 

*************  

BKK POST: JUNTA PLAYS THE RELIGION CARD
Slorc gambles on Buddhism as a tool to placate an oppressed 
people
March 5, 1996
Report: Nussara Thaitawat, Rangoon, Bangkok

Faith in Buddhism remains as strong as ever in Burma but 
monks as a political force are fighting a losing battle 
against the State Law and Order Restoration Council.

Analysts said the Slorc's strategy to use Buddhism as a 
political tool, launched in 1990, could be paying off. The 
strategy is a combination of carrot and stick: senior monks 
are being courted by the Slorc with gifts and donations to temples.

Memories remain vivid, however, of 1990 when soldiers 
occupied hundreds of temples in Mandalay and Rangoon after 
pro-democracy monks said they would ex-communicate the 
military for refusing to honour the results of the general 
elections which saw the victory of the National League for Democracy.

The monks had said they would not perform religious rites 
for soldiers and their families, nor receive alms from them. 
"Unlike other communist or military states, for example 
Vietnam, the Slorc does not see Buddhism or religion as a 
threat, it sees monks as a threat and Buddhism as a tool to 
control the country," said a Burma watcher.

Another analyst based in Bangkok said the strategy has also 
been expanded to cover Islam and Christianity, the two main 
religions of ethnic minorities in Burma. Burmans are primarily Buddhist.

Since the tragic pro-democracy uprising in 1988 and the 
drive against Buddhist monks in 1990, Slorc leaders and 
their wives have been portrayed in the state-run media as 
devout Buddhists and patrons of Buddhism in the country. The 
media also encourages people to join in making donations to 
religious courses. People are given the freedom to practise Buddhism.

On any given day in Burma, from the Shwedagon temple in the 
centre of Rangoon to smaller temples around the street 
corner, hundreds of people, young and old, can be seen in 
deep prayer or in meditation.

"They are trying to appease the people and win them back, 
they are also trying to white wash away their past deeds by making 
merit. Most people don't buy it but what can they do," he said.

An Asian diplomat based in Rangoon said the Slorc's strategy 
was paying off: "Look at 1988 and 1990, the monks and the Slorc 
were at extreme opposites, but it is not the case any more today."

In a recent interview with Inside Indochina, Aung San Suu 
Kyi conceded that while monks have a traditional role in 
Burmese politics, today it depended on circumstances, as 
memories of 1988 and 1990 linger.

"But I think there will be a continuing  tradition of monks 
taking interest in politics, but how active their interest 
is depends of course on the circumstances," she said. She 
said the tradition remained strong.

"You cannot wipe away a tradition in a matter of few years," 
she said. "This is a tradition which has survived over a 
number of generations; it's not going to be wiped away by 
few years of suppression. It may go underground but it does 
not mean it's gone," she said.

Mrs Suu Kyi said: "There is a lot of freedom of religion and 
people do take refuge in religion when upset or unhappy." 
But she said she had heard of claims of discrimination by 
certain ethnic groups.

The analyst pointed out the Slorc was counting on the 
Buddhist teaching of non-violence and tolerance on the part 
of the people. 

But Mrs Suu Kyi said these two beliefs should not be 
underestimated because non-violence and tolerance did not 
mean passivity. She highlighted two other key beliefs in 
Buddhism, that of impermanence and karma.

"Of course we believe that whatever you have done in the 
past, you can't get away from the results, it catches up 
some day, but that doesn't mean you sit and wait for the 
past to catch up with you. "There is also the present, you 
have to be doing, and if you're saying that you've done 
something in the past that is making you suffer, that gives 
you all the more reason to do something worthwhile at 
present," she said.The Slorc currently appears to be very 
strong; it has been able to conclude deals with all major 
ethnic groups which have been fighting for self-
determination against them for four decades. (SIC: There has been
no ceasefire agreement with the Karen, and the SLORC broke the 
Karenni ceasefire and are now engaged in battle with them.)
Even drug warlord Khun Sa, who led one of the strongest groups 
standing up to the Slorc, was dealt with.

More foreign investment and international aid is pouring 
into the country. Reuters reported last week that the 
Japanese government has extended a grant-in-aid of five 
billion yen ($48 million) in return for Rangoon's repayment 
of a five-billion-yen loan due in the second half of this year.

So far, some 112 foreign investment projects have been 
approved by the Burmese Foreign Investment Commission, with 
a total value of $3.5 billion. 

Burma is also expected to be officially admitted as an 
observer to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 
July at the annual meeting of foreign ministers in Jakarta, 
paving the way for further integration into the 
international community.

But the analyst pointed out that impermanence also applied 
to the Slorc, and while people seem to be suppressed under 
its military rule, they know that sooner or later past deeds 
will catch up with the generals.

Mrs Suu Kyi declined to comment as to why Slorc leaders have 
portrayed themselves as devout Buddhists in the state-run 
media. "I never like to comment on other people's religious 
activities, I think religion is very private," she said. "It 
is not for me to speculate why they are going to 
monasteries, it's for them to say," she said.

The analyst said Burmese military leaders are known to be 
strong believers in ya-da-yar (bad luck can be averted by 
offerings or rituals). "They believe in ya-da-yar but karma 
is stronger and eventually it will catch up with them." (BP)

**************************************************

BKK POST: BANHARN VISIT 'TO BENEFIT SLORC'
March 5, 1996

Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-archa's planned visit to Burma 
this month will only benefit the State Law and Order 
Restoration Council (Slorc), according to Action Group for 
Human Rights in Burma secretary-general John Aung.

This type of visit to discuss bilateral political and 
economic relations will only enhance the Slorc's power to 
continue oppressing the Burmese people, he said. He 
maintained that Slorc does not legally represent the Burmese 
people and urged Thailand not to deal with the military regime. 

****************************************************

BKK POST: TOP UN OFFICIAL HARD TO VISIT BURMA
March 5, 1996

A top UN official has asked Thailand and other Asean 
countries along with Japan to help persuade Burma to let him 
visit the country this month. Rangoon has rejected Assistant 
UN Secretary-General Alvaro deSoto's request to visit the 
country this month, according to an Asean diplomat.

Burma has told Mr de Soto the government was not ready to 
host the visit at this time and would like him to re-arrange 
the trip for August at the latest, the diplomat said.

But August is too late for Mr de Soto, because the main 
purpose of his mission is to find facts to report to the UN 
General Assembly and the Human Rights Committee, which 
convenes on March 18.

Mr de Soto wants to hold talks with Foreign Minister Ohn 
Gyaw and secretary to the Slorc Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt. He has 
been in contact with Thailand, other Asean countries and 
Japan to try to change Burma's mind.

The diplomat said Burma might have said no to the visit 
because it was unhappy about a meeting in early February 
between the executive director of the UN Drug Control 
Programme, Giorgio Giacomelli, and Burmese opposition leader 
Aung San Suu Kyi. (BP)

********************************************

BKK  POST: HEROIN OUTPUT STABLE DESPITE KHUN SA EXIT
March 5,1996  (slightly abridged)

Two months after the surrender of heroin warlord Khun Sa, 
anti-drug officials say they have seen no letup in narcotics 
production or smuggling from the Golden Triangle.
The protection of Khun Sa by the Rangoon authorities also 
has increased the gap between Burma and other countries in 
the fight against drugs trafficking. Last week, the new US 
list of nations with narcotics smuggling and money 
laundering left Burma on a special blacklist of countries 
which allegedly are doing less than their best to cooperate.

 "If this was serious move, we would expect to see some 
disruption in the heroin trade at the very least," said one 
veteran officer. "But we haven't seen any changes at all. 
This thing (the surrender) hasn't made any difference we can see."

Khun Sa surrendered himself and his Mong Tai Army at a 
convivial ceremony featuring whisky toasts in Ho Mong on 
January 1. Most of the details of the surrender remain 
vague.Press reports have indicated Khun Sa received a villa 
in Rangoon, and said he had at least one senior Burmese 
general on his payroll for several years.

Rangoon has insisted it is dedicated to wiping out heroin 
trafficking, but opium crops, heroin production and drug 
smuggling all continue to increase from at least three major 
drug cartels in its section of the Golden Triangle.Burma is 
the only country in the area on the US blacklist. Malaysia 
was added to the list of countries where drug smuggling and 
money laundering occurred, but has continually won praise _ 
as has Thailand _ for pressing the battle against traffickers.

Countries on the blacklist, which now includes Colombia, 
become ineligible for US and trade benefits.

The Slorc also ignored or rejected as too expensive various 
suggestions from the United Nations and neighbours to 
eliminate opium crops. An internal report by the Office of 
Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) criticised lack of attention 
by Rangoon to villagers in the Shan State.

"Because the Burmese government is not providing financing 
to raise living standards, the people will continue to rely 
on the proceeds of drug dealing," the report concluded. 

********************************************

AFP: ASIA ESCAPES LIGHTLY IN AMERICA'S DRUG SANCTIONS
March 3, 1996  (abridged)

ASIA apparently escaped lightly Friday as the United States
imposed sanctions on nations linked to the international drug trade.
Just three states in Asian region were denied US certification as
countries fighting drug trafficking.

Afghanistan, Burma and Iran were decertified along with Colombia,
Nigeria and Syria.  But Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Laos, Malaysia, 
Pakistan, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam were spared despite US concern over
severe drug problems.

Those failing the list cannot receive US aid and trade benefits,
and will face US opposition to the release of loans from the
International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

In a review of anti-drug efforts worldwide, the State Department
said Burma, one of thee members of the infamous "golden
Triangle", produced 60 percent of the heroin seized on US
streets. Thailand and Laos, the other two members of the Golden
Triangle were granted certification.

Burma and Afghanistan, the world's largest producers of opium and
heroin, increased their output in 1995 and the trend does not
appear headed for a reversal, the State Department said.

Opium production in Burma increased by 15 percent in 1995 because
of good weather that provides a boon to the poppy harvest.

Anti-narcotics efforts in Burma have ben stymied by the ruling
council's cease-fire agreements with drug trafficking armies in
Shan State where most of the opium poppy is cultivated, the report said.

******************************************************

NATION: SLORC'S DEMAND DUE TO BE MET
March 3, 1996
Somchit Rungchamratrasmee

MAE SOT - Thailand has capitulated to Burma's repeated demands
that it dredge the Moei River channel and remove a reclaimed area
along the Thai riverbank, a move likely to spark a new round of
local protests.

The Interior Ministry has quietly ordered the Highway Department
to prepare to move in heavy equipment to dredge the Moei River in
Tak's Mae Sot district and remove the riverbank extension. The
work is scheduled to begin before Prime Minister Banharn
Silapa-archa's planned visit to Burma on March 18.

People here, who have opposed the Burmese demands and were not
consulted before the latest decision was made, have strongly
criticized the government for attempting to please the Burmese
junta even though there are national interests at stake.

But Thailand's move to dredge the waterway and remove the soil is
no guarantee the SLORC will be satisfied and respond by reopening
its frontier and completing construction of the Moei River
bridge, said the intelligence officers.

Mae Sot people, especially traders who set up souvenir stalls or
handicraft and gems shophouses on the land reclaimed by Mae Sot
authorities, are upset with the Thai government's submission to
please the SLORC.

They have staged several protests over the past several months
against Thailand's many concessions to Burmese demands, including
the removal of their stalls and other structures erected on the
reclaimed land.

Mae Sot authorities and local people were recently upset when
Burmese officials in Myawaddy started filling in the Moei River-
bank and erecting several weirs to prevent the water from eroding
the Burmese bank.  Myawaddy authorities have reclaimed 6 to 10 
metres of land over a 200 metre stretch of the river bank on the border 
opposite Mae Sot.

The Burmese move has prompted several official protests by local
Thai authorities and angered Thai people who accused the Burmese
side of lacking sincerity in resolving bilateral problems.

Burmese officials said the refilling of the land was done by
local Burmese people and that the authorities could not intervene.

***********************************************

NATION: MEET TO SPUR REGIONAL THRUST
March 3, 1996  (abridged)
by Rita Patiyasevi

Mekong basin development targeted

THE development of the Greater Mekong Subregion will draw closer
to realization when 60 leading business executives from Asia,
Europe and North America convene in Hanoi on March 31 to discuss
the region's prospects with regional experts and the Asian
Development Bank, according to the World Economic Forum.

The second WEF special trip covering Hanoi, Phnom- Penh and
Rangoon is timely in view of Asean's interest in the Greater
Mekong Subregion and the positive momentum Laos and Cambodia,
riparian states in the Mekong basin, have received with their
scheduled participation in Asean by 1997.

In Phnom Penh, the group will be briefed on the state of
Cambodia's economic reform and areas of priority for investment
and partnership as well as the legal framework, security issues
and new investment laws. Deputy Prime Minister Ing Kieth will
talk on Cambodia's role in the Greater Mekong Subregion and later
Norodom Ranariddh and Hun Sen, Cambodia's first and second prime
ministers, will deliver keynote speeches at a dinner hosted by
the government.

In Rangoon, David Abel, minister for national planning and
economic development, will give an overview of the present
economic, political, financial and social environments.

Deputy Prime Minister Maung Maung Khin will speak on strategies
for the next five years, Minister of Finance and Revenue Win Tin
will talk on the banking and financial sectors and Foreign Minister Ohn 
Gyaw will highlight Burma's preparation to enter Asean.

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BURMANET: BRIEF BUSINESS REPORTS
March 5, 1996
Information provided by C. Schlenker and compiled/abridged by BurmaNet

FOOD MANUFACTURING JOINT VENTURE

Mamee-Double Decker (M) Bhd has entered into a joint venture agreement with
Myanmar Golden Star Group for the establishment of a food manufacturing
operation in Myanmar.  A new joint venture company will be set up with
Mamee-Double Decker holding the majority 65 percent stake to manufacture
instant noodles, snacks, confectionary, biscuits and other related food
products under the brand name "Mamee" and "Double Decker."  Mamee-Double
Decker said in a statement yesterday that the joint venture company, to be
known as Mamee-Golden Star Ltd, shall have an authorized share capital of
US$10 million and and initial paid up capital of US$5 million.  The company
said a piece of land has been identified for the operation, and construction
of the factory is expected to start in April, while commercial production is
expected to begin at the end of December next year.
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U.S. COMPANY TO INSTALL AUTO TELEPHONE SYSTEM 

A U.S. company will install auto-radio telephone system in two cities of
Myanmar, Mandalay and Mawlamyine.  The Interdigital Communications
Corporation is to install 250 auto-radio telephone lines each in the two
cities under a contract signed here Tuesday between the state-run Myanmar
Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) of the Ministry of Communications, Posts
and Telegraphs, and the American firm, according to today's official paper,
the New Light of Myanmar.  This is the second contract between the two
parties, the first one signed last July for the installation of 500 lines in
Yangon, the capital of Myanmar.  The later installation contract will help
regional development in the Mon State, the report said.  Foreign companies
that signed contracts with Myanmar last year to install auto-radio telephone
system include those from Israel and Japan, whereas cellular phones are to
be installed by an Australian company, according to a contract signed here
last month.  Official figures show that over 50 towns in Myanmar have
already had auto-telephones, while there are about 100,000 ordinary
telephones across the country.
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APG TRADING ACTIVITIES IN BURMA

APG is investing in Burma, but instead of the specialized area of construction, 
it is into trading.  Its trading activities are already estimated at about US$10 
million (S$14 million) a year.

These include a computer sales and service company and a joint venture in
the music and electronics business.  Its partners in the latter venture are
Yamaha Asia's subsidiary Music Plaza and a local partner.  The venture
currently runs Myanmar's first modern showroom for Yamaha musical
instruments, audio and video equipment.

The joint venture's future plans include a larger showroom and a music
school, as well as manufacturing facilities for musical instruments for
other Yamaha dealers in the region. APG is also working on a food court
in Rangoon.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

E&O US$15 MILLION VENTURE

Eastern & Oriental Express is now operating one luxury cruise ship on
the Irrawaddy River and planning to add another one in two years.

Venice Simplon Orient Express, which owns the world famous luxury train in
Europe and Eastern & Oriental (E&O) are part of London based Sea Containers
shipping and leisure group.  E&O, which operates the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur-
Bangkok train, is a joint venture between Sea Containers, Thailand's construction 
firm Italian-Thai, and Malaysia's Landmarks and YTL.

E&O brochures on the Road to Mandalay evoke a sense of romance and
nostalgia of the river journey, with warm, richly-hued photographs and
old-fashioned maps.

The five or six-day package includes two days in Yangon and a cruise on the
Road to Mandalay to the former northern capital of Mandalay and historic Pagan.
----------------------------------------------------

HK BANK CONDUCTS FOREIGN EXCHANGE COURSE IN MYANMAR

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation of Hong Kong recently 
conducted a bill and foreign exchange course in Rangoon.  The five-day course,
co-sponsored by the Central Bank of Myanmar included fifteen trainees each 
from Myanmar state banks and four local private banks.  Hongkong Bank opened
 its representative office in Myanmar last February. So far, 32 foreign bank 
representative offices have been granted licenses in Myanmar, of which 24 have 
been opened for operation. There are also 15 local private banks, six state
banks and two state private banks in Myanmar.

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ANNOUNCEMENT: POLITICAL POSTCARDS FROM TOURISM CONCERN

If we all tend to be concerned about our own rights and welfare as tourists,
consider the people who have been displaced by the world's biggest industry
in Burma, in East Africa, and throughout the Third World.

In East Africa, the displacement is a gunpoint, while farmers have been
imprisoned for resisting such appropriation in the Philippines.  The cause?
Not civil war, nor oil, nor logging, nor mining, but our holidays, according
to the London based organization Tourism Concern.

Tourism Concern provides supporters with their own holiday postcards.
For instance, the immortal Kipling lines for Burma are accompanied by a caption to 
the effect that forced labor and forced relocations are commonplace in the lead up 
to "Visit Myanmar Year 96."

For your political postcards and further information, contact Tourism
Concern at Southlands College, Wimbledon Parkside, London SW19 5NN; tel.
0044-181-944-04641, fax 944-6583. 

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