------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: January 6, 1996 Issue #315 HEADLINES: ========== BURMANET: THAI MERCHANTS AND THE DKBA BKK POST: SMUGGLERS BACK KAREN FORCES BKK POST: KAREN REBELS KILLED BY POLICE THE NATION: KARENNI BASE CAPTURED BANGKOK POST: SUU KYI IN NEW YEAR PLEA OVER DEMOCRACY INDEPENDENT REPORT: ADDITIONS TO YEAR IN REVIEW NLM: NEW YEAR GREETING TOTAL: RESPONSE LETTER NATION:SLORC TIGHTENING THE SCREWS ON OPPOSITION IN BURMA NATION: THE MYTH OF ASIAN-CONFUCIAN CULTURE BKK POST: ILLEGALS TO BE ALLOWED TO WORK LEGALLY BKK POST: MAIZE PRODUCTION AMONG CP VENTURES PLANNED BURMANET: BRIEF BUSINESS REPORTS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- BURMANET: THAI MERCHANTS AND THE DKBA BurmaNet Editor January 6, 1995 The KNU used to allow Thai businessmen to run several sawmills along the Moei River. The sale of teak provided a significant source of income for the KNU. After the KNU lost Manerplaw and Kawmoora, they also lost control of many of the sawmills. The DKBA have taken over some of these, and Thai merchants have been eager to continue doing business, no matter who is in charge. One small sawmill still in KNU hands has faced repeated attacks by the DKBA. Located west of Mae La camp on the Kawthoolei side, the sawmill has been attacked three times. The first time, the KNU guards there were caught unaware, and the DKBA captured some KNU arms. The second time, the KNU knew beforehand and shot at the DKBA as they came in. The DKBA troops radioed nearby SLORC troops for reinforcements, but the SLORC only shelled three mortars. (According to a KNU official, in previous attacks on Karen refugee camps, the SLORC has provided much more support than this.) Twenty DKBA troops launched a third strike around the 10th of December. A camp official in Mae La claims that a Thai merchant has made a deal with both sides in order to keep this sawmill running. He pays an equal sum to the KNU, who provide security, and to the DKBA, who with the SLORC, control much of the territory in that area. It seems that the DKBA are not satisfied with splitting the profits and are seeking full control of the sawmill. Several sources have reported that DKBA officers and soldiers often go to Mae Daan, a Thai border town near Sho Klo camp, to buy supplies. Although the DKBA have killed several Thais in the area in the past few months, it appears that Thai merchants just can't resist doing business with them. This puts the Thai military and police forces stationed along the border in a difficult position. How can they get tough with DKBA intruders when Thai merchants are happily doing business with them on both sides of the river? Some local Thais and Karens have suggested that certain Thai authorities themselves are engaged in commerce with the DKBA. It would seem that even from the Thai perspective, doing business with the DKBA should be considered destructive rather than constructive engagement. ******************************************************* BKK POST: SMUGGLERS BACK KAREN FORCES January 3 1996 By Suphamat Kasem An illegal is suspected of supporting the pro-Rangoon DKBA in return for protection of its log smuggling business. A Thai field military source in the Mae Sot District of Tak made the claims after DKBA troopers attacked a Thai Border Police patrol in a firefight which lasted about an hour on Saturday. The clash took place after a BPP patrol on the Moei River found a large quantity of teak logs and processed wood, and a big stove for brewing illicit liquor on three islands. Teak was found on the Burmese side of the river. Fearing arrest a group of illegal loggers on the island escaped in a long-tailed boat. Shortly after that, heavily armed members of the DKBA opened fire with mortars and machine guns on the BPP unit, said the army officer. (BP) ******************************************* BKK POST: KAREN REBELS KILLED BY POLICE December 31, 1995 Tak FOUR pro-Rangoon Karen troops are believed to have been killed in a clash yesterday morning with Thai Border Patrol Police on the border in Tha Song Yang District. A Border Patrol Police report said the fighting started about 10 a.m when members of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) opened fire with mortars and machine guns on a BPP unit patrolling the river. The gunfire damaged a BPP armoured car. ***************************************************************** THE NATION: KARENNI BASE CAPTURED January 4, 1996 Agence France-Presse BURMESE government troops have captured a rebel base in a military operation Against the ethnic Karenni of Burma's Kayah State, opposite Thailand's Mae Hong Son province, a Karenni source said yesterday. A Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) base at Doi Thi Sak fell to forces of Burma's ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) on Monday and fighting continued in the area around Doi Sen, the KNPP source said. The junta's offensive followed the KNPP's renunciation on Dec 20 of a ceasefire agreement signed in March last year. Fighting broke out around Dec 24, he said. (TN) **************************************** BANGKOK POST: SUU KYI IN NEW YEAR PLEA OVER DEMOCRACY January 1, 1996 Rangoon, AFP AUNG San Suu Kyi has called for a collective New Year's resolution to make efforts towards achieving democracy and human rights in Burma. "Let us make a New Year resolution to work as much as we can to successfully bring democracy and human rights to the country," she urged hundreds of people who gathered outside the gates of her home on Saturday. Aunt San Suu Kyi's weekend appearances since her release from six years of house arrest have become a regular feature in Rangoon. Analysts say they have become an irritant to the military junta. They said it appears to have stepped up a media campaign singling her out for official criticism. The latest official commentary appeared in the English language New Light of Myanmar yesterday accusing her of being a "dictator," imposing her will on the people as well as members of her National League for Democracy (NLD). State-organised rallies calling for the successful conclusion of the constitutional national convention, which reconvened last month, receive daily coverage in the official press. In an apparent appeal to the military, which has refused to engage in dialogue with the opposition, Aunt San Suu Kyi called for "more mature thoughts and actions" in 1996. She said: "As we usher in the New Year we need to acquire new thoughts because, if we continue to stick to old ways and concepts, we ourselves will become stale. (BP) ******************************************** INDEPENDENT REPORT: ADDITIONS TO YEAR IN REVIEW January 3, 1995 from Michael Beer: mbeer@capaccess.org Couple of additions of varying import: 1. FECs are now exchangable in another attempt to entice IMF. 2. Massive Rice Harvest for second straight year. 3. Total has hired mercenaries for its pipeline. 4. Readership and listenership of New Era newspaper, Democratic Voice of Burma and Burmanet grew dramatically. 5. A mention of the ICRC withdrawal 6. 1995 Year of Tourism, a massive failure to reach 500,000. 7. Bumper opium crops. 8. Crack-down beginning in December reflects growing NLD threat. 9. The importance of Beyond Rangoon cannot easily be over-stressed, internally and externally. ********************************************* NLM: NEW YEAR GREETING Myanmar official paper the New Light of Myanmar carried an editorial wishing all a happy and prosperous 1996 and saying that the people of Myanmar and the SLORCcan look back withsatisfaction over the year just ended. The editorial said that foreign investments in the infrastructural sector alone have exceeded three billion US dollars and Myanmar offshore oil/gas exploration has been successful, withcommercial feasibility leading to the signing of a sales contract for gas across the border (to Thailand). "A record million tons of rice could be exported and the economy is taking off. Peace and tranquillity reigns, with 15 of the 16 armed groups having embraced the legal fold," added the paper. On the diplomatic front, it said, there has been an impressive record of achievements topped by SLORC Chairman and Prime Minister Senior General Than Shwe attending the Bangkok meeting of heads of state/government in conjunction with the fifth ASEAN meeting and signing the treaty declaring Southeast Asia a nuclear-weapons free zone, the paper emphasized. Than Shwe's meeting with several leaders from among the "SEA 10" is a signal positive achievement, the paper stated. Myanmar will be able to continue to make positive contributions toward peace, harmony and understanding in the region, it added. ******************************************** TOTAL: RESPONSE LETTER Translated by L.A. Campaign for a Free Burma January 3, 1995 Edith Mirante, Project Maje 14, Dartmouth Road CRANFORD NJ 07018, USA Dear Mrs. [sic] Mirante, You recently have written to a few members of the Administrative Council of Total, who forwarded your letters to us. You questioned us on the conditions of Total's presence in Burma (Myanmar). It seems useful us to provide you with a certain number of clarifications. Our project includes the development of a gas field situated in the Andaman sea and the construction of a pipeline from this offshore field to the Thai border. First, you need to know the construction of this pipeline hasn't started yet. Some preparatory reconnaissance, geared to define a final route, has been conducted between March and May of 1995. Some technical ["genie civil"] work has recently been launched since the return of the dry season. The installation of the pipeline itself will take place in 1996-97, to allow gas deliveries in Thailand starting July 1st of 1998. We emphasize these dates because we can only be stunned ["bitten"] by the total virulence of comments made relative to the conditions in which the labor will supposedly be done-- in reality, it hasn't even started. We can confirm to you that there is not and will not be, from the part of those who will build the pipeline, any recourse to forced labor. The pipeline will be installed under the operational control of Total who, as always in similar situations, will call upon specialized, internationally renowned companies. Those companies will employ the local manpower, which will clearly be voluntary and paid. The conditions with regard to the human and labor rights will be absolutely equivalent to the ones we apply everywhere else in the world. It is unimaginable that Total could resort, either directly or through a third party, to forced labor in any form. The method of work allegedly used to built the railroad linking the cities of Ye and Tavoy are sometimes denounced. It needs to be known that this railroad has nothing to do with the pipeline project: -- The railroad, follows a North-South route, whereas the future pipeline follows a West-East route. -- It should be finished no earlier than 1998, which is after the construction of the pipeline (1996-1997) -- Technically, its capacity will be incompatible with conveying the massive materials utilized in pipeline construction. For the construction of the pipeline, the equipment will be shipped by barge then transferred by trucks to the construction site. Some "forced relocation" of populations is also allegedly attributable to the pipeline construction. Since the closing of the first agreements relative to the development of gas in Yadana (1992), we have not known of any village displacement linked to our project. There would be no reason for such displacement since the pipeline route selected avoids villages. It could happen--as in any great undertaking throughout the world--that the pipeline crosses portions of cultivated land. In this case, of course, Total and its partners would indemnify people whose interests would be harmed. Moreover, and contrary to certain assertions, this project will not in any way endanger the ecological balance of the area. The terrestrial portion of the pipeline--which will be buried--will run across the country for a short distance: 60 km (about 40 miles). At the end of last year, Total sent multi-disciplinary teams to the region. They carefully evaluated several options for the pipeline route. The selected route is the one which best respects the environment. The zones traversed do not include primary forests, but rather slightly wooded zones. The only proposed logging will take place on the route's last 2-3 kilometers (1.5-2 miles), since it crosses a mountainous region; but this logging will be compensated by plantations, equivalent at the least. At last, to again place things in a larger context, Total considers that the project of development of Yadana gas field creates a historical chance for the people of Burma, since it will represent an important part of the country's exports. We hold the conviction that when a country possesses strong energy resources, it is in its best interest to open itself to the world, foster changes of society, obtain peace on its territory, to durably win the trust of international investors. The recent liberation of Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, which we are celebrating, comforts us in this conviction. Wishing that these clarifications will fulfill your expectations, we beg you to believe, dear madam, the assurance of our best feelings. [This is typical of closing salutations in French correspondance] Joseph DANIEL Director of Institutional Relations *********************************************************** NATION:SLORC TIGHTENING THE SCREWS ON OPPOSITION IN BURMA January 1, 1996 As the ruling junta solidifies its position it is growing increasingly intolerant of dissent, Aung Zaw writes. Last Sunday's warning to opposition groups by Lt Gen Khin Nyunt Secretary One of the State Law and Order Restoration Council, marks an ominous turn of events in Burma, analysts say. In a national address, Lt Gen Khin Nyunt accused opposition leaders of trying to break the country apart at the behest of unidentified foreigners. " Adopted sons and daughters of the colonialists, under external influence, are attempting to cause the disintegration of the union and the loss of independence," he said. While it was obvious Khin Nyunt was referring to Aung San Suu Kyi, he did not mention her by name. With his speech, Lt Gen Khin Nyunt joins several other senior military leaders who have come out recently to warn opposition groups. Two weeks ago Lt Gen Myo Nyunt and Lt Gen Tin Oo vowed to "annihilate" those who mar the interests of the nation. The warnings have raised the likelihood that Suu Kyi and top opposition leaders may soon find themselves in the dock. "It is likely to happen," said Bertil Lintner, a leading Burma watcher based in Bangkok. At the beginning of December Burmese dissidents were speculating that there would be of a political crackdown after the Asean Summit. Senior Gen Than Shwe, Lt Gen Khin Nyunt and Foreign Minister Ohn Gyaw represented Burma at the summit, where it was made clear Burma could be a full Asean member by the year 2000. One day after visiting military leaders told Asean leaders that their country is progressing towards an open market economy that would lead to democracy, Sein Hla Aung, 45, was arrested in Mandalay. Sein Hla Aung is member of Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy. He was arrested for allegedly distributing video tapes of Suu Kyi's speeches. Sein Hla Aung was previously detained in 1990. It was also learned that Tin Oo, one of the senior leaders of the NLD, was preparing his bags to go to prison. He was released in March of this year. "It is not only U Tin Oo. Many other party members and Suu Kyi are ready to face the backlash," said one senior member of the NLD, which pulled out of the Slorc-sponsored National Convention in November. Hence, Slorc lost face as it has invested so much in it. Win Min, a former university student now in Bangkok pleaded for the international community and human rights watchdogs to monitor the current developments in Burma. "We have received information that inmates in Insein prison were transferred to upper Burma in order to make more rooms for newcomers," he said. "If it is true, Slorc is preparing to arrest some destructive elements". Since Suu Kyi's unexpected release earlier this year many people crossed their lingers hoping to see a historical handshake like the one that took place between the antagonists in the Middle East and South Africa. But Suu Kyi, who some have called Burma's Nelson Mandela, has found no Burmese de Klerk willing to work with her. Suu Kyi, in the eyes of generals, is a "destructive element," a "traitor," "malcontent," and "adopted daughter of colonialists." Suu Kyi's repeated requests for a dialogue with military leaders have been met with total silence. The door to dialogue is still shut. Analysts recalled the two significant meetings between Suu Kyi and military leaders in 1994 while she was under house arrest. The meetings led to speculation that there would be a power-sharing arrangement between the Suu Kyi-led opposition and the Slorc. Seemingly, the military leaders are not interested in sharing power. "At the moment, they have the upper hand so dialogue is impossible," says a senior member of the student army, the All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF) . The current ruling junta is in a strong position and has gained confidence over the past two years. This year one Slorc minister attended the conference of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the United States. Tokyo resumed its assistance to Burma in November. David Abel, minister for National Planning and Economic Development, said Burma had approved 160 foreign investment projects worth $3 billion through October 31 this year. The "Lady" at University Avenue has urged foreign investors to make a careful study on her country before they rush in with millions of dollars. She also expressed doubts over Asean's controversial constructive engagement policy with Slorc. But it seems as if Asean leaders and businessmen have ignored her too. Ironically, businessmen from the East and West saw Suu Kyi's release as a golden opportunity to invest in the country as it opens up. Like it or not, military leaders have plans to stay in power. Ostensibly, they will continue to ignore Suu Kyi and the opposition. "They know they have many cards to play this game but Suu Kyi has none," said Zaw Min, a former university student from Mandalay. He said dialogue was impossible unless the junta is under pressure or pushed into a corner. But the question remains, then what? Will it be just another photo-opportunity ceremony? Recently, Karen rebels sent a delegation to Rangoon, prompting analysts to predict that within six months a cease-fire agreement will be reached between the two sides.- Karen insurgents are the only armed group currently outside the "legal fold". If the Karens make a deal with Slorc it is commonly held that Burma's democracy groups will face a harder-line from the junta. "If the Karen go, they [Slorc leaders] are ready to knock down a peg or two," Zaw Min warned. Since her release Suu Kyi has been increasingly marginalized. When she attempted last week to visit a Karen new year festival her car was intercepted and taken to military headquarters for a warning. It is a strong indication that she cannot leave her fortress. The military authorities still tolerate the :Suu Kyi's weekend speeches at her gate but residents in Rangoon are asking how long that will last? Unlike 1989, Suu Kyi has declined to respond to the junta's accusations and warnings this time. As the military leaders ignore her, she has done the same except for her repeated calls for a dialogue. One veteran reporter in Rangoon said: "We hear nothing about a possible dialogue, when we read the newspaper it seems as though the officials are getting tough. She enjoys talking to them, people like to listen to what she says," said the reporter. He stressed more people are coming to listen to Suu Kyi's speeches each week. This week more people will be coming because people want to listen to her new year speech he said. The year of 1995 is almost over. As the military leaders ignore her Suu Kyi is going her way. ***************************************************************** NATION: THE MYTH OF ASIAN-CONFUCIAN CULTURE January 1, 1996 People are being forgotten as governments draw their legitimacy from economic growth figures, Chao-Tzang Yawnghwe writes. It is fashionable nowadays to sing the praises of authoritarianism, portraying it as an efficient instrument that delivers the economic goods. However, given the bad rap it has accrued from association with the likes of Hitler, Stalin, and Pol Pot, those who laud authoritarianism have been careful to subsume it under the cloak of non-Western, Asian-Confucian "culture". The main frame of the pro-authoritarian argument is that democracy (and associated rights of individuals and minorities) are not only Western (and hence alien), but that they encourage sloth, disorder, and are, besides, a luxury which only affluent societies can afford, or that they impede the serious business of "national development" (and filling empty stomachs or clothing the naked). To buttress the argument, the economic woes of India and the Philippines are trotted out as examples of the inefficacy of democracy. As well, the breakdown of family, rampant crime, drug use, and the rotting core of cities in the West are presented as resulting from too much human rights, democracy, and overly liberal attitudes and policies. The point to note, however, is that the social problems mentioned are universal. To digress, it is only in Singapore that we do not find much signs of social dysfunction _ mainly because it is an island city-state (apart from its tough laws and efficient police methods). Singapore is a unique phenomenon, and using it as proof of the superiority of Authoritarian Capitalism is like using Monaco to argue the superiority of hereditary rule over other post-feudal systems, and is hence clearly problematic. Social problems are universal and their complexity correlates with changes in the economic structures in which social structures and values are embedded. For example, in olden times, or in a non- monetarized, isolated rural community social problems would be almost non-existent, . The father or grandfather ruled not only over the family but also managed the family-cum-production unit. Paternalistic authority (and dependent submission), ascriptive hierarchy, family ties and personal loyalties, personalized and reciprocal dependency (and interactions)‹the core of what is now packaged as Asian-Confucian values _ fitted the requirements of production, consumption, exchange, and the keeping of harmony of the time. i.e. in pastoral-rural civilizations. (Incidentally, the Asian-Confucian type of values was prevalent in ancient despotism, and as well in Scarlett O'Hara's plantation America). With the advent and entrenchment of a sophisticated mode of economic activity which covers a much larger area, requires more complex organizations, and where there is formed impersonal markets driven by the logic of money-rationality; and where competition for profit is at the heart of economic activities, the efficacy of the rural-pastrol (Asian-Confucian) values are not capable of alleviating problems stemming from the destruction of rural-pastoral civilizations by impersonal and increasingly global, economic forces (in money-based, industrializing civilization). In looking at the phenomenon of NIC-dom (aspired to and/or achieved), how one assesses it very much depends on what one prefers to see. Looking at statistics, the near-double digit rate of growth achieved annually for a decade by, for example, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia (and even by Burma, as claimed) is impressive. However, the question to ask is: why have the standards and quality of life in these countries not caught up with the West where the rate of growth is by comparison, dismal (a lot less than S per cent)? In this regard, Singapore is provides a good example. That is, its cost of living is higher than Vancouver's, but the quality and standard of life are much lower (perhaps only slightly above Bangkok's). Statistics show that Authoritarian Capitalism, propped up by Asian-Confucian values (imposed, propagated and reinforced by the state), does deliver the economic goods _ but to whom? This is the question that needs asking. The irony of the Asian-Confucian success story can be seen in the scrambling of its beneficiaries _ the "Winners" _ to transplant themselves and their families in societies condemned as being too indulgent, liberal, economically inefficient. etc. Why is this so? The preference of the "winners" of Authoritarian Capitalism for the way of life in societies that run on the principles and structures of Democratic Capitalism, is clearly not without meaning. What is the message? The message may be that, 1/ capitalism without democracy is a potential timebomb in that it depends on a set of rural-pastoral (Asian-Confucian) cultural values to solve serious economic, socio-political problems inherent in modern, and increasingly global, capitalism; 2/ that it does not really deliver any goods to society as a whole: 3/ that it merely facilitates short-term profit-making for those positioned to do so: and 4/ it destroys whatever potential there is for sustained growth and genuine development (especially of human resource and community). To be sure, Democratic Capitalism is not perfect, mainly because capitalism is centered on competition and governed by cold, often harsh, profit-maximization rationality. However, the harshness of capitalism is moderated in Democratic Capitalism by the principle that ordinary man _ instead of extraordinary men _ is at the centre of the economy and polity. Man is given the opportunity to grow to adulthood, to question and challenge his "superiors and betters", construct or deconstruct cultures and values, reject or dissect received/given knowledge, and most importantly, he is empowered to constrain the exercise of both economic and political power. Man in Democratic Capitalism is his own master, and those who exercise power over him are but "temporary tenants of power". Whereas in Authoritarian Capitalism (buttressed by Asian-Confucian values), man is prevented from attaining adult maturity. He is impelled, besides bearing the cost of "development" (i.e., wealth-making), to submit, like infantile adults, to paternalistic superiors and compelled to sacrifice for "community", or "the nation" _ as defined unilaterally by a few who hold power and aspire to permanently occupy it. If capitalism (and "economic development") is to make good on its promises, serious thought should perhaps be given to the question of what is, or should be, the constituency of capitalism: Man, or such abstractions as the "national economy, growth rate, and gross national product", to the detriment of Man and his community and environment. Given the- nature of capitalism which necessarily produces a minority of "winners" at the expense of a large portion of "losers", the failure to locate man and his well being at the centre of economy and polity, will invariably lead to the unravelling of the bonds that hold men together. (With acknowledgement of, and in appreciation of Robert D Kaplan's "The Coming Anarchy". The Atlantic Monthly, Feb 1994). Chao-Tzang Yawnghwe is a son of the late Sao Shwe Thaike, Burma's first independent president from 1948-1952. Sao Shwe Thaike, also known as the respected Sawbwa of Yawnghwe, died in military custody shortly after the coup in 1962 by Gen Ne Win. This article was contributed to The Nation. ***************************************************************** BKK POST: ILLEGALS TO BE ALLOWED TO WORK LEGALLY January 4, 1995 ILLEGAL immigrants will be allowed to work legally in Thailand to solve the country's labour shortage Secretary for Labour and Social Welfare Nithas Theerawit said. The new move was agreed in principle yesterday at a meeting of officials from the ministry, the National Security Council and other state agencies seeking ways of solving the labour shortage. In principle, illegal immigrants will have to report to the immigration police first. They will then be registered by the Labour and Social Welfare Ministry before being taken on by their employers, Mrs Nithas said. Their employers will have to take responsibility for any wrongdoings by their workers. The ministry will issue the illegal aliens work permits valid for two years and the permits may be extended by ministry officials. There are about 500,000 illegals immigrants working in Thailand at present, most come from Burma. The NSC is to work out regulations and procedures. (BP) *************************************************** BKK POST: MAIZE PRODUCTION AMONG CP VENTURES PLANNED January 2, 1995 Nussara Sawatsawang (abridged) THAI CONGLOMERATE Charoen Pokphand is moving into Burma after successful ventures in China ,and Vietnam. Within two weeks, a technical team will conduct a survey for the right location to grow DK888 _ the group's best maize hybrid single cross _ to supply feedmills the group plans to open soon. The survey follows a trip by CP representatives to Rangoon in mid-November, as part of the delegation of Foreign Minister M.R. Kasem S. Kasemsri. During the visit, the minister mentioned the company's intention to contribute 10 tons of DK888 worth 800,000 baht to the Burmese leader Gen Than Shwe, chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council. The CP group said it hoped this gesture would improve mutual understanding between the two countries and benefit Burma as well as the company. The technical team is expected to survey an extensive area in three divisions and two states in central, western, northern and northeastern Burma: Pegu, Magway and Mandalay divisions, and Arakan and Shan states. Adirek Sripatak, vice-president of CP Agro-Industry (Thailand) Co, said last week the group planned to spend about 100 million baht to build an animal feed manufacturing plant, slaughter house and on chicken raising in Burma. The project would be 100 percent CP owned. Construction of the plant, on 200 rai in Rangoon, is likely to start midyear after the Burmese authorities approve the project. Montri Congtrakultie the CP Trading Group's vice-president in Crop Integration, who was in M.R. Kasem's delegation to Burma, said the company planned to start soybean farms and raise prawns. In addition to investing in Burma, Mr Montri said CP group would provide two weeks' to one month's training in Bangkok for Burmese officials from the ministries of trade, agriculture and fisheries and livestock to get acquainted with the company's technology. Two years ago, maize plantation experiments were carried out in Mandalay. In 1994, a CP chain import-export trading company was established in Rangoon to explore opportunities and collect information and establish connections with local partners. Former premier Gen Suchinda Kraprayoon, honorary chairman of Telecom Holding a CP Group subsidiary, visited Rangoon in August to pave way for the company's business there. Since the aim was to sell in Burma, the short-term plan was to raise the buying power of its people. The company might establish a bank and a fund for local communities to extend loans to Burmese, along the lines of its ventures in north-eastern Thailand, Mr Montri said. ***************************************************************** BURMANET: BRIEF BUSINESS REPORTS Information from various wire services, provided by M. Beer and abridged by BurmaNet. BURMA OWES MONEY TO CZECH GOVERNMENT The Czech Republic is owed nearly 150bn Czech crowns (5.6bn dollars) by other countries, the Czech news agency CTA reported on 28th December quoting a Finance Ministry spokesman. Regarding debts owed directly to the government, Nicaragua, Syria and BURMA are the biggest convertible currency debtors. CHINA AND BURMA: AGRICULTURAL DEAL China and Burma signed an agreement for China to supply machinery, equipment and spare parts to an agricultural machinery factory in Burma. The agreement was signed by Chinese ambassador to Myanmar Chen Baoliu and Myanmar minister for national planning and economic development Abel. According to the agreement, DIELTHELM TRAVEL OPENS BRANCH OFFICES Diethelm Travel has opened branch offices in Mandalay and Pagan to cope with an increase in tourism to Burma. Dielthelm expects to handle at least 2,500 visitors to Burma in the six months ending March, 27% more than in the same period last year. MYANMAR CULTURAL FESTIVAL TO BE HELD IN SINGAPORE A 10-day Myanma cultural festival will be held in the Santosa Resort Garden of Singapore from January 5 to 14. A 30-member Myanma troupe will take part in the festival to exhibit the country's culture and art. MYANMAR MAKES OVER 1.8 MILLION US DOLLARS AT JADE SALE According to Myanmar state-run radio, over 1.889 million US dollars was made at the interim jade sale held at the Myanma gems emporium hall up to now. At the 3-day interim sale, a total of 189 jade lots worth 1,784,021 US dollars on competitive bidding and lots of gems, jewelry and jade figurines worth 105,818 US dollars at fixed prices were sold off.