NEWS - Hong Kong delegation seeks M

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Subject: NEWS - Hong Kong delegation seeks Myanmar opportunities

Hong Kong delegation seeks Myanmar opportunities

  
YANGON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - A group of entrepreneurs from Hong Kong led
by pro-Beijing politician Tsui Sze-Man is seeking investment
opportunities in timber and real estate in military ruled Myanmar,
official media reported on Friday. 

Tsui Sze Man and his delegation met senior officials of the ruling
military council, including the powerful head of military intelligence
Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, officials said. 

They also met representatives of the Myanmar chamber of commerce and
Foreign Minister Win Aung. 

A chamber official said the delegation showed keen interest in investing
in timber and real estate during a meeting in Yangon on Thursday. 

Tsui Sze-Man, an ethnic Chinese businessman and publisher who was born
in Myanmar, is a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese
People's Political and Cultural Conference who has called for greater
control on the media in Hong Kong. 

With approved Foreign Direct Investment of $125.32 million for 21
projects, Hong Kong ranks 11th on a list of 24 foreign investor
countries in Myanmar. Most Hong Kong investments in Myanmar are in the
garment industry. 

Myanmar is subject to U.S. sanctions because of its human rights records
and its recent record on securing foreign investment has been dismal. 

It approved just $29.5 million of foreign direct investment in the
fiscal year to March, down from $777.4 million a year earlier and $2.8
billion the year before that. 

The visit of the Chinese delegation follows one earlier this month by
the Federation of Economic Organisations, or Keidanren, Japan's largest
big-business group. 

Japanese diplomats and analysts say Japan is concerned about losing
business and political influence in Myanmar to China. 

In its most recent report on Myanmar, the World Bank said the country
needed to improve its rights record, reform its two-tier exchange rate
system, lift wide-ranging restrictions on private-sector activity and
reform its inefficient state enterprise sector if it wanted to attract
more foreign investment. 

06:24 12-17-99