BurmaNet News: August 9, 1996

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The BurmaNet News: August 9, 1996
Issue #487

Noted in Passing:
============
		We would certainly have preferred the tendency to be 
		the opposite. On the other hand there is no ban on 
		trading with Burma,said Norwegian Foreign Ministry 
		spokesman Ingvard Havnen.
HEADLINES:
==========
NCGUB: STATEMENT ON 8.8.88
AP: BURMESE DEMOCRACY LEADER URGES BOYCOTT
VOA: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT ON BURMA
AP DOW JONES: SINGAPORE SEES OPPORTUNITIES
AP: NORWAY'S IMPORTS FROM BURMA UP 45% SAYS REPORT
FEER: INVESTORS HAVE STATE, INFRASTRUCTURE WOES
NATION: THAILAND, BURMA INK PACT FOR COOPERATION
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NCGUB: STATEMENT ON 8.8.88
August 8, 1996

NATIONAL COALITION GOVERNMENT OF THE UNION OF BURMA
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Statement on Eighth Anniversary of 8888 Pro-democracy Uprising
August 8, 1996

Today is the eighth anniversary of the august and prestigious day of 
the 8888 Pro-democracy Uprising on which the entire people of Burma, 
including Sanghas and students, demonstrated peacefully against the 
Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) military dictatorship which had 
been brutally and inhumanely ruling the country for more than 26 years, 
and demanded for democratic and human rights and abolition of the military 
dictatorship.  This was also the historic day on which the people thrust
their chests and sacrificed their lives, for the establishment of democracy in
Burma, in front of the gun barrels of the military dictatorship.

1. The SLORC military dictatorship which continues to rule Burma currently 
still employs the brutal means of arms to settle the demands of the people
for democratic and human rights.  For the perpetuation of military
dictatorship, it is still oppressively ruling against the will of the people 
by resorting to various kinds of trick and shamelessly using lies and deceits.  
It is a common knowledge to the world that the military dictatorship has 
been perpetrating wide-spread violations of human rights by the use of 
unjust laws, orders and powers, without any sense of justness.

2.  Up until now, the SLORC military clique is still in default of honouring 
the results of May 1990 elections and has been continuing, by force, its 
sham National Convention which is absolutely against the will of the 
people. Ruthlessly, the SLORC has been oppressing the National League 
for Democracy (NLD), out of spite, for boycotting its sham National 
Convention beginning from November 28, 1995.  Moreover, it has been 
arbitrarily arresting and torturing the NLD members of parliament-elect 
and refusing to take the offer made by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the 
NLD for political dialogue.

3.  Though the SLORC has concluded cease-fire agreements with 14 armed 
ethnic organizations and is attempting to reach similar agreements with
the rest, a case-fire, without a possibility to resolve the political problems
by political means, has no chance to lead to genuine and lasting peace in 
the country.  As it is done by the SLORC without the real intention of 
gaining national reconciliation but just to drive a wedge between the 
ethnic nationality and pro-democracy forces and to gain a temporary 
respite from the political crises it is facing, genuine national reconciliation 
is still out of sight.

4.  The SLORC's evil system of arbitrary market economy is benefiting 
only senior military officers, their relatives and a handful business people,
while the large majority of the people have to bear daily the affliction of
rising prices and raging inflation.

5.  As the ASEAN countries' relation with Burma after giving it an
observer status, in accordance with the constructive engagement policy, 
is like promoting the SLORC one-sidedly without benefiting the people 
in any way, the SLORC has become more efficient in perpetrating 
oppression and arbitrary acts. Moreover, it is now able more than ever to 
defy the international pressure.

6.  On behalf of the people of Burma, we would like to appeal to 
governments, the NGOs and international community:-
- To condemn the constructive engagement policy of the ASEAN;
- To make effort for imposing economic sanctions on the SLORC 
military junta;
- To abstain from making investment in Burma;
- To suspend financial assistance to the SLORC military junta;
- To boycott the visit Myanmar (Burma) Year.

7.  For the achievement of democracy, we would like to urge the entire
people of Burma to make utmost effort for:-
- The realization of the results of May 1990 elections;
- Opposing the SLORC's National Convention;
- Supporting in all possible ways, the NLD led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi;
- Working together with us for the early emergence of a political dialogue 
participated by the pro-democracy forces led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, 
the forces of ethnic nationalities and SLORC.

8.  We, the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, would
like to affirm, on this occasion of the Eighth Anniversary of the 8888
Uprising, that we will eternally respect and honour the heroes of 
democracy who had valiantly sacrificed their lives and the people who 
had bravely participated in the pro-democracy uprising, and pledge that 
we will struggle on, without rest, until democracy is achieved for Burma.

Council of Ministers
NCGUB

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AP: BURMESE DEMOCRACY LEADER URGES BOYCOTT
August 8, 1996

CANBERRA -- Burmese democracy leader Dr. Sein Win Thursday urged 
businesses to withhold investment from his homeland until the military 
junta restores civilian rule and ends human rights abuse, reports The 
Associated Press.

Win joined about 200 protesters outside the Burmese Embassy on the 
eighth anniversary of the democratic uprising against military rule in 
Burma.

'We appeal to the international community not to invest in Burma at this 
time,' said Win, who heads the National Coalition Government of the Union 
of Burma, a government-in-exile based in Washington. 'Stop the 
investment, it is time to stop the suffering in Burma.'

The coalition claims to be the legitimate government of Burma, where 
power has been held by the State Law and Order Restoration Council since 
it canceled the 1990 election of the National League for Democracy led by 
Aung San Suu Kyi.

Win is Aung San Suu Kyi's cousin.

A report released by Amnesty International this week claimed the Burmese 
military was responsible for widespread human rights violations against 
the country's ethnic minorities, including summary executions, torture 
and rape.

The spirit of the Aug. 8, 1988 uprising that was overthrown by generals 
loyal to the government gave birth to the organized movement for 
democracy, he said. Thousands of protesters were killed when the military 
suppressed the uprising.

Win will meet Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and Deputy Prime 
Minister Tim Fischer later this month to discuss Australia's stance on 
Burma's military regime.

'What we would like to see is that Australia leads in human rights and 
democracy,' Win said.

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

VOA: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT ON BURMA
August 8, 1996

Thursday marked the eighth anniversary of an uprising against military rule 
in Burma. The issuance of a new report of human rights abuses  in burma 
coincides with Thursday's anniversary.

A new report by Amnesty International accuses Burma's ruling military 
of widespread persecution of ethnic minorities.

In its report, the London-based human rights group says ethnic 
minorities continue to be subjected to torture, rape, and summary
execution, despite government truces with ethnic guerrilla 
groups. Amnesty international says thousands of people have been 
driven from their homes and pressed into forced labor during the 
burmese military's counterinsurgency operations in the eastern 
shan and mon states and in the southern tenasserim division.

The report takes its accounts from interviews with Burmese 
refugees who fled to Thailand.  The 14-page report was issued in 
conjunction with the eighth anniversary of the popular uprising 
against military rule in Burma.

According to these accounts, forced labor is a common practice in
minority areas.  The report says civilians, including young girls
have been forced to work as porters for the soldiers.  It says 
they were tortured and mistreated if they could not carry the 
heavy loads of supplies and ammunition.

It also alleges there has been an increasing use of forced labor 
on public works projects, such as rail lines.

Various ethnic groups have been fighting for autonomy
ever since Burma's independence in 1948.  Ruling governments, 
including the current military junta in Rangoon, have tried with 
little success to bring the ethnic insurgences under control.  
however, the current government says it has reached ceasefires 
with most of the rebel groups. 

There has been no direct comment from the Rangoon government on 
the Amnesty International report.  However, a commentary in 
state-run newspapers Wednesday said there is no forced labor in 
Burma, only what was described as "work contribution."  The 
commentary was issued in response to a US embassy economic 
report in Rangoon, which also alleges a sharp rise in the use of 
unpaid labor.

Accusations of human rights abuses in Burma continue to plague 
the economic sector eight years after the 1988 uprising. 

Democracy activists, including Aung San Suu Kyi, continue to urge
foreign businesses to resist inducements by the Rangoon 
government to invest in Burma, and have called on tourists to 
boycott the campaign to visit Burma.  

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

AP DOW JONES: SINGAPORE SEES OPPORTUNITIES
August 8, 1996

 SINGAPORE -- Singapore trade officials reckon the divestment by 
multinational corporations from Burma offers up a short-term 
investment opportunity for Singapore companies.

 'A lack of foreign competition (in Burma) is helping Singapore 
companies,' said a senior trade officer at the Singapore Trade Development 
Board (TDB), the government's trade promotion arm, in a recent telephone 
interview with AP-Dow Jones.

 'It gives a bigger chance to smaller players,' the officer said.

 U.S. and European companies like Pepsico Inc. and Heineken NV have 
already pulled out of Burma, which is threatened by an economic boycott 
because of the military government's human rights record.

 But in the long run investment and economic growth in Burma will take 
off only if there is major investment from multinational corporations to 
upgrade the country's infrastructure, the Singapore TDB says.

 'The question of providing the supporting infrastructure remains,' the 
trade officer said.

 Singapore, the second biggest investors in Burma after the U.K., will have 
sunk around U.S.$700 million into the country by the end of the year, the 
officer said. Singapore has invested U.S.$604 million in Burma to date.

 The Singapore government hopes to boost investment further and remains 
committed to a policy of constructive economic and political engagement 
with the Burmese government, in line with approach of fellow members of 
the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean).

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

AP: NORWAY'S IMPORTS FROM BURMA UP 45% SAYS REPORT
August 8, 1996

OSLO -- Norway's imports from Burma increased by 45% in the first half 
of  1996, in spite of Norway's sharp criticism of Burma's military junta, 
a  newspaper report said Tuesday.

Norway's total imports from Burma amounted to 5.1 million kroner, 
mostly  timber, cork and furniture, and will reach 13 million kroner by 
the end of the  year, said the newspaper Aftenposten.

'We would certainly have preferred the tendency to be the opposite. On the  
other hand there is no ban on trading with Burma,' Foreign Ministry  
spokesman Ingvard Havnen was quoted as telling the paper.

The government has, however, urged Norwegian businesses to sever all  
contacts with Burma.

Norway has for years supported the Burmese opposition politician Aung 
San  Suu Kyi, who in 1991 was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize by the Nobel  
Committee, which is appointed by the Norwegian parliament.

Official relations with the Burmese regime reached a state of nearly  
freezing when a former Scandinavian honorary consul in Burma, James  
Leander Nichols, died in prison in June. Nichols was a close friend of Suu 
Kyi.

Norwegian officials and human-rights organizations contend he died as a  
result of brutal treatment in prison.

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

FEER: INVESTORS HAVE STATE, INFRASTRUCTURE WOES
August 8, 1996 (Far Eastern Ecconomic Review) 
by Gordon Fairclough

KANBAUK, Burma -- French oil company Total SA's rain-soaked base 
camp in southern Burma is ringed with guard posts and double 
barbed-wire fences. In the center are two underground bunkers. 'In case of 
rocket attack,' explains operations manager Jean-Claude Ragot. 'We lost 
five people last year. We have to be careful.'

The workers were killed by guerrillas fighting Rangoon's military 
government. Now, crews travel with army escorts as they lay the 
groundwork for a 670-kilometer pipeline that will carry natural gas 
from wells in the Andaman Sea to a power plant in Thailand.

The troops won't protect Total against attacks from another direction, 
though: Europe and its human rights groups, who say pipeline revenues 
will prop up Burma's repressive regime, reports the Far Eastern 
Economic Review in its latest edition published Thursday.

The French oil company faces more than political risks as it builds 
Burma's biggest foreign-investment project. Its odyssey also reveals the 
myriad daily challenges that crop up as companies do business in one of 
Asia's least developed countries. Total has had to build its own roads, 
airfield and wharf. It has also had to bridge two large rivers in order to 
bring in its heavy equipment and supplies.

Total, and other companies investing in Burma, are pioneers braving one 
of the region's last commercial frontiers. Infrastructure is antiquated and 
inadequate, and there's little hope that multilateral lenders will finance 
improvements if Burma's politics don't change. The country's 45 million 
people are among the world's poorest and least educated - only one in four 
children completes primary school. National income is less than $300 per 
person. And the government continues to dominate much of the economy - 
despite assurances that it has abandoned socialism for the free market.

Investors plunge in anyway, although many find there's more pain than 
gain. Among the intrepid are Western oil companies and mining firms, 
staking their claims to the country's natural riches. Southeast Asian 
businessmen have put their money into hotels, real estate and light 
manufacturing. Japan's big trading companies have also set up shop, 
gambling that Burma will become the next low-cost production base for 
their country's labour-intensive industries.

What spurs them on? 'The country has potential,' says Satoru Takahashi, 
chief representative in Rangoon of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi. 'They have 
many natural resources and cheap labor.' Indeed, Burma used to be one of 
Asia's wealthiest countries. The fertile Irawaddy Delta was the region's 
rice bowl. The country also has gas, teak and minerals. But the generals 
who rule Burma drove the economy into the ground during 26 years of 
socialist isolation.

Now, they've reversed themselves and opened the doors to foreign 
investors. 'We can't industrialize without the help of the developed 
countries,' says Set Maung, an economic adviser to the government. 'We 
need their technology. We need their capital. That is why we are trying to 
attract as much foreign investment as possible.'

To that end, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc), as the 
junta calls itself, promulgated a liberal foreign-investment law in 1989. 
It has approved more than $4 billion in investment projects, much of it in 
oil and gas. It has also allowed private commercial banks to set up shop, 
and says the banks may form joint ventures with foreign partners. The 
generals have also given more economic freedom to Burma's farmers and 
small-time entrepreneurs.

The resulting uptick in economic activity has created thousands of new 
jobs. High-rise buildings are springing up in downtown Rangoon, where 
the streets are clogged with private cars and taxis. New shops, restaurants 
and hotels abound. But there are nevertheless serious doubts about whether 
Burma is on its way to becoming an Asian tiger.

The World Bank and Asian Development Bank say recent reforms don't go 
far enough. And a U.S. Embassy report released in August says Burma's 
economic growth 'may prove unsustainable in the medium and long terms' 
unless investment in infrastructure and education rises.

The country's policies certainly don't seem to be putting it on a trajectory 
toward improvement. The fiscal conservatism, high investment and small 
state sectors that characterize Asia's success stories are nowhere to be 
found. Private investment as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) has 
been declining since 1990, and only a tiny number of state enterprises 
have been privatized. Burma's government keeps spending far more than it 
earns. The deficit in the year ending March 31, 1995, was more than 6% 
of GDP.

The generals spent more than 45% of the 1995 budget on defense. And that 
doesn't include purchases of foreign hardware, such as Chinese tanks and 
artillery, which aren't accounted for in government statistics. Meanwhile, 
the proportion of spending which goes to education, health and other social 
services, at 22.8%, has been falling since 1991.

The government pays for its spending spree by printing money, running up 
the arrears on its foreign debt, and borrowing from domestic banks. In 
fact, Burmese banks lend more than 80% of their money to the government 
and state enterprises. Private borrowers are crowded out.

'There's still a socialist mentality,' notes one Sino-Burmese businessman 
who has returned to the country. He and his family fled in the 1960s after 
the military government nationalized all they owned.

The state firms get better access to utilities and government permits. In 
addition, state firms and government agencies dominate Burma's 
international trade.

The state sector accounts for more than half of Burma's exports and more 
than a third of its imports. The government already monopolizes trade in 
rice, teak and many minerals. And these days, foreign exchange-hungry 
state agencies are buying up Burma's beans and pulses - among the main 
agricultural exports - to sell overseas. Private traders, whose work was 
made legal in 1989, complain they're being forced out of business. 
'Government ministries and departments have an easier time getting the 
export licences,' says one elderly trader. 'They are the traders now.'

With little in the way of capital and few opportunities to take advantage of, 
prospective Burmese businessmen don't have much of a chance to rise. 
That's bad news for foreign investors who might have sought independent 
partners. 'The private sector is very small. So most negotiating is done 
with the government,' says Kosuke Ito, Rangoon general manager of 
Japanese trading company Nissho Iwai. 'The government says it will 
privatize, but is still seeking its own business, so there is a conflict.'

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

NATION: THAILAND, BURMA LINK PACT FOR COOPERATION
August 8, 1996

RANGOON - The joint signing of a memorandum to the third
Thai-Burmese Joint Commission attests to the tireless effort that
resulted in mutually-acceptable solutions being reached on some
issues of common concern, Burmese Foreign Minister U. Ohn Gyaw
said yesterday.

However, he added, both sides should not be content with what has
been achieved but should give attention to further enhance the
two countries' potential.

He said he was confident that of ficials concerned will continue
their contacts and work together to explore new areas of
cooperation. He hoped that such cooperation will be a benefit to
the people as well as lead to greater regional cooperation.

Deputy Prime Minister Amnuay Viravan said that his meetings with
the Burmese leadership have confirmed the store of goodwill and
friendship that will pave the way for expansion of neighbourly
cooperation between the two countries.

Amnuay, also foreign minister, hoped that the issues both had
agreed to continue pursuing will be implemented and that the new
areas of cooperation, identified during the meeting, will be
pursued for the benefit of both sides. Amnuay and U Ohn Gyaw
concluded their three-day meeting by signing the memorandum,
which covered cooperation in culture, tourism and tourism
promotion in border areas.

Also covered is technical and economic cooperation that includes
training courses for future members of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations that will be organised by the Thai
Foreign Ministry in September, and finance, transport and
communication linkages between the two coumtries. The memorandum
also includes the issue of border checkpoints. The second meeting
of the Thai-Burmese Joint Working Group on Border Checkpoints
held in Rangoon from July 31 to Aug 1 concluded with an agreement
that key border checkpoints would soon be upgraded to
international crossing points once the Agreement on Border
Crossings between the two countries becomes effective.

Other issues of cooperation includes investment, forestry,
energy, narcotics, aviation, banking and others.

On the issue of fisheries, the Thais proposed that Burmese
officials participate in the Thai-Burma Coordination Office in
Ranong province, which was recently established umder the
supervision of the Supreme Command to solve problems related to
illegal fishing in Burmese waters.

Thailand also asked Burma not to use force against Thai fishermen
illegally fishing in Burmese waters and to promptly inform Thai
officials of any arrests. However, Burma will maintain the use of
force but only under stringent rules and procedures and only when
there is no other alternative.

The meeting also made significant progress on many issues, such
as the restoration of the Moei-Thaungyin river bank, on which
they expect to reach a solution through a flexible rpproach.

Amnuay had earlier said that he asked Burmese officials to be
flexible in their approach to solving various issues.

Burma has been concerned that extending the river bank by Thais
would affect the flow of the river and cause increased erosion on
the Burmese side.

Amnuay said that both sides could engage in work on their river
banks to prevent soil erosion but should inform one another
before starting any work.

Both also agreed to open the border checkpoint at Mae
Sot-Myawaddy on a permanent basis for trade and tourism.

Thailand hoped that the Tachileik Kyaington Road improvement
project, for which the government has offered a soft loan of
Bt300 million, will be implemented soon.

During a bilateral meeting betweenAmnuay and Burmese leader Gen
Than Shwe, the prime minister and president of the ruling junta,
known as the State Law and Order Restoration Couneil, the general
encouraged Thailand to develop the Dawei deep sea port. According
to an official, the Italthai Company recently signed a memorandum
of understanding to conduct a feasibility study, which is
expected to be completed in six months.

On border issues, a working group comprised of officials from
both countries will meet to address the problem of undefined
borders in order to prevent future conflicts. Both share a common
border of 2,400 kilometres.

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