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BURMA DISMISSES EU MOVE TO CUT PRIV
- Subject: BURMA DISMISSES EU MOVE TO CUT PRIV
- From: moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 04 Apr 1997 21:00:00
Subject: BURMA DISMISSES EU MOVE TO CUT PRIVILEGES
Myanmar dismisses EU move to cut privileges
YANGON -- Myanmar yesterday dismissed a decision by the European
Union (EU) to stop giving Myanmar concessional trade
privileges, saying
the move would not hurt its economy.
Myanmar official newspapers said: "They would think Myanmar people
would become bewildered and wide-eyed and come kneeling down and
be subservient. However, Myanmar felt nothing about it and did
not care
less and even did not blink eyes."
The EU on March 24 stripped Myanmar of special trading
privileges in
reaction to reports that it had used forced labour to help
boost exports.
The decision would deprive Myanmar of generalised system of
preferences (GSP) benefits that it had received for exporting
agricultural
and industrial products to the EU.
EU-Myanmar trade amounted to 41 million European currency units
(S$66.5 million) a year, about a quarter of which enjoyed
lucrative GSP
tariff breaks.
Stressing Myanmar's self-reliance, the commentary said the
country had
undertaken by itself many road, bridge, dam, power station and
factory
projects without foreign assistance.
"There was no one to lend a helping hand. They were built with own
strength. There is no one to thank about," it said.
An analyst said the loss of the GSP status might affect foreign
investment in Myanmar, especially in the export-oriented garment
industry.