Billions of dollars atstake (r)

[thaung@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

At 08:06 AM 2/2/97, you wrote:
>BILLIONS OF DOLLARS ATSTAKE
>Massachusetts law on Myanmar hit
>( The Japan Times, February 2, 1997 )
>
>BOSTON (AP) Japan has complained to the U.S State Department about a
>Massachyusetts law denying state contracts to companies doing business in
>Myanmar.
>        More than 30 Japanese companies, including the Bank of
>Tokyo-Mitsubishi and Sony Corp., are on the list of firms to which contracts
>cannot be given. Mas- sachusetts agencies award billions of dollars in
>contracts every year.
>        The law has led U.S. companies such as Apple, Eastman Kokak,
>Hewlett-packard and Philleps Electronics to cut ties with Myanmar,
according to 
>The Boston Globe. Massachusetts is the only state with such a law. 
>        "It's had an unbelievevable effect, "said state Rep.Byron Rushing,
>who s- ponsored the bill.
>        Japan is concerned that other states may follow suit and is worried
>about a similar law introduced in the state Legislature to deny
>Massachusetts co- ntracts to companies doing business in Indonesia because
>of its repression in East Timor.
>        The japanese government belives the law involving Myanmar violates a
>new World Trade Organization rule about government purchasing. It said the
>sanctions are not fair to Japanese companies and extend American law outside
>the country.
>        A spokesman for the japanese consulate, who spoke on condition  of
>anony- mity, told the newspaper that Japan has asked the Clinton
>administration for a legal opinion.
>        The spokesman said Massachusetts exports more than $1.5 billion in
>goods to Japan every year, more than to any ohter country except Canada. He
>said 13,000 U.S. citizens are employed by the 126 Japanese companies in
>Massachusetts. And Japanese tourists spend money in the states. 
>        Japanese government officials met with representatives of the
>Massachusetts Office of International Trade and Investment on Jan. 8.
>        "They obviously had some serious concerns about the effect on
>Japanese companies, and they are worried that other states could pass
>similar laws, " said Kathleen Molony, the office's Asia director.
>        "This is a battle between the corporate interest and the democratic
>process, " said Simon Billenness, a senior analyst at Franklin Research in
>Boston and coordinator of the Massachusetts Burma Round Table, a human
>rights group and advocate of the bill.
>        "This law was approved with overwhelming bipartisan support, " he
>said. "who is Japan to say that Massachusetts can't spend its money how it
>wants?"
>
>Information Committee
>Burma Youth Volunteer Association-Japan
>
Dear Ko Tin Kyi,
It's a good great news for us. Thank you for putting on the net.
uthaung>