------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: October 9, 1997 Issue #840 Noted in Passing: We are nobody's axe handles. We are the axes, handle and all. --see FBC CONFERENCE: U KYAW WIN'S KEYNOTE SPEECH HEADLINES: ========== BURMA INFORMATION GROUP REPORT: IMPRISONED ACTIVISTS THE NATION (US): SINGAPORE'S BLOOD MONEY THE IRRAWADDY: PROMINENT WRITER PERISHING IN PRISON BKK POST: RANGOON HAILS 'PRAGMATIC STEP' BKK POST: EL NINO AND HAZE GOOD FOR THAILAND BKK POST: PTT TO HALT PIPELINE WORK FOR TALKS WITH BKK POST: FISCAL WOES NO BAR TO HELPING NEIGHBOURS FBC CONFERENCE: U KYAW WIN'S KEYNOTE SPEECH SLORC: INFORMATION SHEET NO. A-0161(I) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- BURMA INFORMATION GROUP REPORT: IMPRISONED ACTIVISTS RECOVERING IN RANGOON HOSPITAL October 9, 1997 From: waddy A National League for Democracy [NLD] source inside Rangoon confirmed today that political prisoners Cho Aung Than, Aung Khin Sint, and U Win Tin are currently in Rangoon General Hospital. The health conditions of U Win Tin and Aung Khin Sint are no longer considered critical. Cho Aung Than's condition is not yet confirmed. Cho Aung Than, Aung Khin Sint, and U Win Tun are all over 60. The conditions they were hospitalised for are believed to be associated with their age, the unhealthy conditions prevalent in Burmese prisons, and insufficient and delayed medical treatment. Usually prisoners are only sent to hospitals when they are very close to death, and most prisoners are restricted to the prison hospitals, with scant supplies and substandard hygiene conditions leading to a high risk of HIV infection. The unusual nature of the transferral of Cho Aung Than, Aung Khin Sint, and U Win Tin from a prison hospital to a regular hospital suggests that approval must have been obtained from the Ministry of the Interior and high-ranking intelligence officials. Aung Khin Sint is a senior NLD member. He was arrested in 1993 for distributing anti-National Convention leaflets among delegates. He was released in 1995. As a prominent NLD politician and vocal critic of Burma's military regime, the State Law and Order Restoration Council [SLORC], Aung Khin Sint has been subject to frequent arrests. He was last rearrested in 1996. It is believed that he was given a 7 year sentence. Sixty-seven year old U Win Tin is a journalist and a founder of the NLD. Win Tin was imprisoned in October 1989, accused of being a member of the banned Communist Party of Burma. Win Tin has suffered from heart disease and spondylitis while in prison. Spondylitis is an inflammation of the vertebrae which is often exacerbated by poor nutrition. Win Tin is also in need of dental treatment, a condition which makes eating prison food difficult. Cho Aung Than, a cousin of the Nobel Peace laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, was arrested in June along with his sister and her husband as well as photographer Ko Sunny and U Hon Myint. In mid-August the Insein Special Court passed a ten-year sentence on Cho Aung Than, under the provisions of the Unlawful Associations Act and the Emergency Provisions Act. The junta accused Cho Aung Than of involvement in an opposition plot unveiled in a June 6 press conference entitled "Terrorism Committed by Certain Organizations Operating Under The Guise of Democracy and Human Rights". Secretary-1 Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt accused the NLD of participating in terrorist activities and accepting money from international organizations, allegations denied by the NLD. ******************************************** THE NATION (US): SINGAPORE'S BLOOD MONEY October 20, 1997 by Dennis Bernstein and Leslie Kean Hanging Drug Couriers But Investing With Their Suppliers Fridays, just before dawn, are hanging days in Singapore. Navarat Maykha, a Thai mother of two small children, awaited her turn as she prayed in her jail cell with her attorney, Peter Fernando, just a few days before her execution. An impoverished and uneducated woman, and also deeply religious, she swore until her death that she was unaware of the heroin that was hidden in the lining of a suitcase given to her by a Nigerian friend. Singapore - a tiny island nation of 3 million perched at the southern tip of the Asian continent - prides itself on its strict drug laws, which include a mandatory death sentence for anyone caught with as little as half an ounce of heroin. "It's heartbreaking sometimes," said Fernando during a recent interview from his office in Singapore. "If you are an addict, and you are simply sitting at home with more than 15 grams of heroin and you cannot prove with scientific accuracy that a portion of the drugs are for personal use, you will hang." The fiercely authoritarian government micro-manages all aspects of the secretive hangings, as it does everything else in this country. This efficiency allows for the possibility of multiple executions when drug offenders swell the prison. On September 27, 1996, six people were hanged in one morning. Four had been hanged the previous Friday, all for drug trafficking. According to Amnesty International, 1995 - the year Navarat was executed - was a busy year at the gallows in Singapore, when more than fifty people were hanged, the majority for drug offenses. In its March 1997 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, the U.S. State Department said that "the number of drug traffickers hanged in Singapore increased dramatically in the last two years." Amnesty International, also describing a "sharp increase in the number of executions" in a 1997 report, states that those executed are most often small-time addicts and couriers, usually poorly educated and economically vulnerable, "while those who organize and profit from the crimes frequently escape capture and prosecution." But that does not describe the worst of it. The Nation has learned that the highest levels of the Singaporean government, using the New York-based Morgan Guaranty Trust Company, a subsidiary of J.P. Morgan, as a custodial operative, are engaging in joint business ventures with one of the world's most notorious drug lords and with the drug-backed military dictatorship of Burma (Myanmar). This has been confirmed by corporate, government and legal documents from four countries and was contended by high-ranking U.S. narcotics and government officials in private interviews. Dual-Track Policy According to interviews with Singaporean lawyers and U.S. narcotics officials, the heroin found in Singapore comes mostly from Burma, one of the world's largest exporters of the highly profitable drug, with 1996 exports estimated at $1 billion. Since the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) takeover of Burma in 1988, illicit drug exports have more than doubled; French and U.S. satellite surveys have shown an explosion of poppy- growing in areas under the SLORC's direct control. In 1995 the Australian Parliament heard testimony on SLORC protection of the narcotics trade as a matter of policy, "in order to raise government revenue." And a report last year by the U.S. Embassy in Rangoon, based on the SLORC's economic data, concluded that exports of opiates "appear to be worth about as much as all legal exports" and that investments in infrastructure and hotels are coming from major opiate-growing and opiate-exporting organizations [see Bernstein and Kean, "People of the Opiate," December 16, 1996]. "Drug traffickers who once spent their days leading mule trains down jungle tracks are now leading lights in Burma's new market economy," said Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in a statement this past July. "We are increasingly concerned that Burma's drug traffickers, with official encouragement, are laundering their profits through Burmese banks and companies - some of which are joint ventures with foreign businesses," she said. It is with the SLORC, and allied organizations, that Singapore's hang-'em-high government is investing so heavily - in such ventures as hotels and infrastructure. This dual-track policy is condoned and encouraged at top levels of the Singaporean regime, including by Lee Kuan Yew, the country's undisputed strongman. Lee, whose antidrug policies are among the strictest in the world, is participating in the country's deepening business relationships with renowned heroin trafficker Lo Hsing Han of Burma and his son and business partner, Steven Law. Their operations in Burma, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the United States are now the focus of an ongoing U.S. government narcotics and money-laundering investigation, The Nation has learned. Lo Hsing Han, a Kokang Chinese from the opium-producing region of Burma's Golden Triangle, was convicted and sentenced to death in 1973 - not for drug trafficking, which had been carried out with the tacit agreement of the state, but for treason. After being released in a 1980 government amnesty, he returned to the Kokang region. As of 1994, Lo controlled the most heavily armed drug-trafficking organization in Southeast Asia. Today he rules with godfather status over a clan of traffickers, and his organization controls a substantial amount of the world's opium production, according to U.S. narcotics officials. A memo from the Thai government's Office of Narcotics Control Board states that Lo's trafficking activities are augmented through his link to Burma's military intelligence chief, Lieut. Gen. Khin Nyunt, described as Lo's "supporter." It says that in 1993 Lo was granted the "privilege from Lieut. Gen. Khin Nyunt to smuggle heroin from the Kokang Group to Tachilek [on the Thai border] without interception." Lo is chairman of Burma's Asia World Company Limited, managed by his son Law, who has achieved unprecedented success under the current dictatorship. "Law's power and connections are unparalleled," comments one U.S. official. "No other domestic investor in Burma can get an audience with a Cabinet member with one phone call. When Law got married, eight Cabinet members showed up." Law's multimillion-dollar business ventures seem to win all bidding wars in Burma's development race. (Law was denied a visa to the United States last year. "We have information that leads us to believe he is a trafficker in illicit substances," a U.S. government official told The Nation in explanation.) Business Is Business Wall Street Journal editors, in the 1997 Index of Economic Freedom, rated Singapore as the most business-friendly country in the world. Unfortunately, that friendliness has been extended to Lo Hsing Han, Steven Law and the narco-dictatorship of Burma. As Tay Thiam Peng, director of foreign operations at Singapore's Trade Development Board, bluntly put it in 1996, when it comes to business, morality takes a back seat to profits. "While the other countries are ignoring Myanmar (Burma), it's a good time for us to go in," Tay stated. "You get better deals, and you're more appreciated... Singapore's position is not to judge them and take a judgmental moral high ground." As Burma's number-one business partner, Singapore now has fifty-three projects in Burma, which as of January totaled nearly $1.2 billion. "Since 1988...over half of [the investments from] Singapore have been tied to the family of narco-trafficker Lo Hsing Han,'' says Robert Gelbard, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. Most of these investments are in joint projects with Lo's family-controlled Asia World Company. Asia World includes a host of subsidiaries and three overseas branches in Singapore. U.S. narcotics officials say that these "overseas branches" are part of the ongoing money-laundering investigation. Asia World's 1996 company profile states that it began as a trader in agricultural and animal feed products but today "has emerged as one of Myanmar's (Burma's) fastest growing and most diversified conglomerates." Burma's largest private-sector enterprise, it has interests in trading, manufacturing, real estate, industrial investment, development, construction, transportation, imports and distribution. Asia World's operations now include the running of a deep-water port in Rangoon, the bus company Leo Express into northern Burma, and a $33 million toll highway from Burma's poppy- growing region to the Chinese border. The combination of the Burmese military's ability to protect shipments and production in the country and Asia World's ability to move product over land and sea completes a perfect marriage of convenience. In addition to these operations, U.S. narcotics officials say that Lo Hsing Han also runs a container business, shipping cargo out of Rangoon from a nondescript container yard the size of a city block. They suspect it of being a drug-shipping operation. Although it is a subsidiary of Asia World, the containerized cargo processing facility has no name, no sign and is not mentioned in Asia World's business profile. According to one official, some of the several hundred containers that have left this yard have gone to Singapore and the United States. In a June telephone interview from his headquarters in Rangoon, Law denied all allegations of drug trafficking. He laughed and said that Asia World operates under government regulations, "so if we do anything against government policy, we cannot do our business," Law said. "That's why concerning your point of any drugs in our city, I can say we haven't [been] involved." The Money Trail: The Myanmar Fund The Singapore government, in cooperation with Morgan Guaranty Trust Company, is directly connected to key business ventures of drug kingpin Lo through an investment group called the Myanmar Fund. The fund, which provides investors "with long term capital appreciation from direct or indirect investments in Myanmar (Burma)," is registered as a tax-free fund in Jersey, Channel Islands, according to documents provided to the Irish Stock Exchange. Singapore's largest government-controlled financial institution - the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (G.I.C.) - is listed in the documents along with Morgan Guaranty Trust Bank (a J.P. Morgan subsidiary separate from the Trust Company) as a core shareholder in the Myanmar Fund. A September 1996 G.I.C. business profile from the Registry of Companies and Businesses in Singapore shows that high-level Singaporean politicians are officers and directors of the G.I.C., including Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew; his son, Deputy Prime Minister Brig. Gen. Lee Hsien Loong; and Finance Minister Dr. Richard Hu. As a core shareholder, the G.I.C. helps determine how the fund's money is invested in Burma. Jean Tan, a spokesperson for the Singaporean Embassy in Washington, confirmed in a June interview that the G.I.C. holds a 21.5 percent share of the Myanmar Fund. As of last November, this investment was worth $10 million, according to the Singaporean government. The Myanmar Fund owns 25 percent of an Asia World subsidiary, Asia World Industries. In fact, the Myanmar Fund's 1997 first-quarter report features two pictures of Asia World factories on its cover. The Myanmar Fund has also heavily invested in a number of luxury hotels in Burma, including Rangoon's Traders and Shangri-La. The Asia World business profile describes the Traders and Shangri-La hotels as major investment projects for Lo Hsing Han's company. It says that the Shangri-La Hotel (and surrounding apartments and offices) will be "the biggest of all" Asia World's investments, with "$200 million...in appropriation of the project." In an official press release last November, the Singapore government stated that its investments in the Myanmar Fund were "completely open and above board" and that its investments in both the two luxury hotels and Asia World were "straightforward investments in bona fide commercial projects." However, the fund's operations are hardly straightforward and open. The operations of the G.I.C. itself are effectively a state secret. The government company is not required to file annual reports or report to Parliament. It has no public accountability, even though it uses public moneys for its investments. Furthermore, according to fund documents, in late 1994 - only weeks after being listed on the Irish Stock Exchange - the G.I.C.'s shares disappeared from the stock exchange register and were re-registered under the name of Ince & Co. The Singaporean government acknowledged in November that Morgan Guaranty Trust Company is the custodian for the G.I.C. securities, and that Ince & Co. was set up by Morgan to hold the shares in its custody. Morgan Guaranty Trust Bank, investing yet other funds on behalf of clients, is the largest core shareholder (followed by the G.I.C.) of the Myanmar Fund at 42 percent, according to a fund report. This means that together, the Singaporean regime's G.I.C. and Morgan Guaranty Trust Bank have been in control of 63 percent of the Myanmar Fund and its co-investments with the corporation chaired by drug baron Lo Hsing Han. (The G.I.C. shares re-listed as Ince & Co. have shifted hands once again. In a February document obtained by The Nation, the fund reported transfer of the Ince & Co. shares to another company, Hare & Co. In telephone interviews, spokesmen for the Myanmar Fund, the G.I.C. and Morgan Guaranty refused to provide information about the identity or purpose of the new custodial company.) Dining With the Devil Singapore's dealings with Lo Hsing Han and Steven Law continue to expand unabated. Singapore's G.I.C. investment in the Myanmar Fund increased by 4.3 percent in 1996. In Rangoon, the Traders Hotel celebrated its official opening last November. At the opening ceremony, attended by Singapore's Ambassador and graced with an appearance by Lo himself, the presiding SLORC minister publicly thanked both Steven Law and the government of Singapore for paving the road for a smooth business partnership. "I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the government of Singapore," he said, "without whose support and encouragement there would be very few Singaporean businessmen in our country." Since then, ground has been broken on the construction of Sinmardev, a new, $207 million industrial park and port on the outskirts of Rangoon. A Singaporean consortium is the leader in a joint venture with the SLORC, the Myanmar Fund, Lo's family company and a slew of international shareholders. The Myanmar Fund holds a 10 percent interest in Sinmardev. Singaporean entrepreneur Albert Hong, head of Sinmardev, described the project as the largest foreign investment in Burma outside the energy field. "Singapore is more involved with Lo than any other country, because that's basically where Steven Law is functioning out of when he's not in Burma," observes a U.S. narcotics official. Singapore's rulers continue to deny any wrongdoing in connection with their relationship to Asia World. "It is fairly far-fetched, trying to link the Singaporean government and drug traffickers," said embassy spokesperson Jean Tan. "Nonsense," says Singapore's former Solicitor General Francis Seow, now a research fellow at the East Asian Legal Studies Program of Harvard Law School. The former close associate of Lee Kuan Yew says he knows "through personal experience" that Lee micro-manages every aspect of Singaporean political, economic and social policy. Dr. Chee Soon Juan, secretary-general of the Singapore Democratic Party and a leader of Singapore's political opposition, was labeled a traitor for raising the drug issue in Singapore. "Drug peddlers are routinely hanged in Singapore for carrying heroin," wrote Chee, in a rare and courageous act of public protest in response to a documentary that aired on Australian television last year, Singapore Sling. "And where are all these drugs coming from? Drug lords like Lo Hsing Han are the big-time pushers aided by the SLORC generals." "Is this not hypocrisy at its worst?" he asked. "The Singapore government knows it's having dinner with the devil, and sharing a very short spoon," says Seow. "And it is a terrible double standard. Drug moneys are being laundered apparently by the same drug lords who supply the heroin for which small-time drug dealers are hanged. We are reaping profits as Burma's biggest investor, but we're being paid with blood money." *************************************** THE IRRAWADDY: PROMINENT WRITER PERISHING IN PRISON September 1997 From: waddy Irrawaddy Vol.5 NO.6 Inside Story Hanthawaddy U Win Tin is still languishing in notorious Insein prison, but his spirit remains upright and unwavering. Most prominent Burmese writers are no longer active members of Burmese civil society. Intellectuals who spoke out against the regime have escaped Slorc's severe censorship by going into exile. Many that remained were incarcerated. One of them is U Win Tin, an Insein Jail inmate since 1989. Win Tin won renown for his articles on painting, world literature, politics and journalism. Win Tin was actually hand-picked by General Ne Win as chief editor of the Mandalay-based Hanthawaddy newspaper. In the mid-1970s the Burmese Socialist Programme Party instituted new laws to stifle dissent in journalism. In 1978, a paper critical of the Burmese Way to Socialism was read at the Saturday Reading Circle of which Win Tin was a leading member. As a consequence he was dismissed from his job and the newspaper was shut down. Win Tin was forced to earn his living as a freelance writer and translator. In 1988, Win Tin joined the National League for Democracy and became one of the secretaries of the executive committee. Considered a major architect of NLD policy along with Tin Shwe, Win Tin was arrested before the elections in June 1989. Burma's military intelligence accused him of having pro-Communist sympathies. Officials raided his house, searched his personal possessions, and confiscated all his books. His books were subsequently displayed in one of Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt's special press conferences which are designed to instill fear into those opposing the regime. Win Tin's colleagues maintain he was detained under trumped up charges of harboring an offender for whom a warrant had been issued. Initially, Win Tin received a three-year prison term but it was later extended to 11 years. In 1995, he and 27 other political prisoners were accused of breaking prison rules and it is believed that his prison term was again extended. In 1994 and 1995, US Congressman Bill Richardson and former UN special rapporteur to Burma Dr. Yozo Yokota visited Win Tin in Insein prison. Win Tin has been suffering from various ailments including heart disease, a condition requiring constant medication. He is also in need of dental treatment. But, according to a former political prisoner, Win Tin never received dental treatment although he was unable to eat even boiled rice. The authorities also refused him porridge. Former fellow prison inmates and friends who visited Win Tin claim that his mind is as clear and active as ever, but his health condition continues to deteriorate. Win Tin has gained the respect of the political prisoners due to his commitment to the democracy movement. Although he was branded a "Red" or "Communist" by Slorc, Win Tun actually opposes all forms of authoritarian regimes. When problems and conflicts arose among the political prisoners Win Tin often intervened. According to one former political prisoner, Win Tin no longer considers himself a member of the NLD. "I'm just a democrat in the movement," Win Tin was quoted as saying, although he openly admires Aung San Suu Kyi. Win Tin's individualism placed him above party politics. "All rightists and leftists in the prison admire him as he is able to patch things up." Win Tin was offered special privileges such as a bed, newspapers, and walking exercise. He refused the offers, insisting on officials treating him in the same manner as other political prisoners. Unfortunately, Win Tin has not been offered the medical treatment which should be the right of every prisoner. Yet, despite his health condition, Win Tin has preserved his dignity and intellectual freedom by creating a democratic space in jail. He continues to act as an educator and mediator, appealing to younger inmates with his uncommon humility and impartiality. Contributed by staff writers. ******************************************* BKK POST: RANGOON HAILS 'PRAGMATIC STEP' [abridged] October 8, 1997 Europe resists calls to beef up sanctions AFP --The European Union (EU) has taken a pragmatic course in deciding not to beef up its sanctions to include a ban on new investment in military-run Burma, a senior Rangoon official said yesterday. The EU has looked to the interests of its members countries by not following the example of the United States, which has tried to use economic measures to pressure the military regime into reforms. "We see the EU decision as a pragmatic step the EU has taken for the benefit of their own countries," the official said in a statement received here from the Burmese capital. "If it does not serve EU interests by following [the] US investment sanctions policy, why implement it?" "The EU has its own interest to serve. We do not believe in the policy of a nation having to sacrifice its national interest just to please another nation," the official said. Meanwhile, Britain said yesterday it was considering a national campaign to discourage tourists from visiting Burma. "We need to keep up pressure on the Slorc to improve their record, particularly as many hundreds of prisoners are still being held in Burma's jails," said European Affairs Minister Doug Henderson. ****************************************************** BKK POST: EL NINO AND HAZE GOOD FOR THAILAND [abridged] October 8, 1997 Uamdao Noikorn Thailand will benefit economically from the El Nino phenomenon and the Indonesian haze because it is least affected in the region, said an agricultural expert. The ocean current-warming El Nino, believed to be the worst in 150 years, has flooded South American countries and delayed rainfall in Asia. Crop yields in countries including Australia, Brazil, Burma, India, Indonesia and Malaysia are predicted to be cut by less than half. Deephrom Chaiwongkiat, of Ka-setsart University, said: "The good thing is those countries are our export rivals and major trade partners. The loss will boost crop prices for a few years and Thai products will sell like hot cakes." Even Burma, a major rice producer, is suffering from the phenomenon, with extensive flooding in the Irrawady basin, the country's biggest rice-farming area. The loss will force Burma to import rice from Thailand for the first time, he said, and Thai rice importers such as Vietnam might increase their order. ****************************************************** BKK POST: PTT TO HALT PIPELINE WORK FOR TALKS WITH OPPONENTS October 8, 1997 First direct talks held in 18 months The Petroleum Authority of Thailand has agreed to suspend all activities of its gas pipeline at disputed sections for talks with opponents. For the first time since opposition to the construction began 18 months ago, the two sides met for direct talks, with an academic acting as mediator in an attempt to resolve their differences. The suspension will cover the first 5Okm of the 260-km route which goes through forest areas as well as four residential areas. It will be in effect from noon today until Friday, when both sides will hold another round of talks to consider long-term solutions and settle other contentious issues. Suwanunt Chatiudomphunth, PTT's senior vice-president for planning, said: "The PTT has yet to lay the pipeline in the forest areas. As a result, we have no problem in halting all activities." Mr Suwanunt led PTT senior officials overseeing the construction sites in the province to the unprecedented talks mediated by the Institute for Dispute Resolution from Khon Kaen University. The PTT is duty-bound to abide by environmental impact mitigation measures which bar any construction in the forest until the end of the rainy season. However, it has been transporting gas pipes, to sites near the forests. Opposition groups have requested that construction be suspended in residential areas of Wang Kra Chae, Pu Ong Ka and Phu Takien in Sai Yok district and Jorakhe Pheuak in Dan Ma Kham Tia district. They said the works diverted natural water flow and damaged houses. However, the PTT could continue laying the gas pipes with residents' consent. The PTT also pledged to reveal details of the contracts it made with the Burmese government to clarify the issue of fine estimated- at 40 million baht a day if delivery of gas from the Yadana and Yetagun fields does not start by July 1 next year. Phibhop Dhongchai, a democracy advocate and an opposition leader, said the suspension was needed as a level playing field for negotiations because re-routing is at issue. Continuation of the project would have put the PTT in an advantageous position, he said. Dr Wanchai Wattanasap, director of the institute, declared the first round of talks a success as the-two sides expressed a desire to reach solutions which were never made in previous forums. The meeting has set, up ground rules for further talks and. both sides have promised to abide by them. However, persons with full authority still have to be drawn into the talks. The opposing grassroots and conservation groups wanted representatives from various concerned ministries and agencies, including Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and Industry M Korn Dabbaransi, to join the talks. ****************************************************** BKK POST: FISCAL WOES NO BAR TO HELPING NEIGHBOURS [slightly abridged] October 8, 1997 Budget cuts unlikely to affect loan schemes Deputy Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra today is expected to address Thailand's continuing commitment to strengthening economic cooperation with countries, despite budget cuts in the wake of economic difficulties. The group is scheduled to discuss the Industry Ministry's proposal to establish special industrial zones in Mae Sot-Myawaddy and Mukdahan-Savannakhet and the University Bureau's plan to set up a network of universities in the Mekong subregion for human resource development, according to sources at the National Economic and Social Development Board. "The agenda concerns mostly proposals submitted since the mobile cabinet meetings of a few months ago, including roads and bridges projects in Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son," the sources said. The government has trimmed its budget for technical cooperation, via the Department of Technical Economic Cooperation, and for financing infrastructure in four neighbour countries, through the Neighbouring Economic Cooperation Fund. Parliament endorsed the former budget cut for fiscal 1998, starting this past October 1, from 539 million to 339 million baht, and allotted no money for the latter. Another 15 percent is to be trimmed from the budget in accordance with the International Monetary Fund's requirement that surplus equals one percent of gross domestic product. "We just hope that there will be no further big cut, because this assistance is a kind of infrastructure investment in software. Our neighbours have yet to develop to the point where they become our great potential export markets," the sources said. With or without budget cuts, the Department of Technical Economic Cooperation has yet to ease support for new projects and focus on human resources development. "That 339 million baht will be spent mainly on supporting neighbouring countries," the sources said. 'Cambodia will be the second country, after Vietnam, to come under the three-year assistance plan, and at the same time we will focus on projects along the border through the Skilled Labour Development Institute and Rural Development Centre." Nor does the Neighbouring Economic Cooperation Fund expect budget cuts to affect proposed, yet to be earmarked expenditures of 200 million baht or a planned 300 million baht grant for Burmese roads. ****************************************************** FBC CONFERENCE: U KYAW WIN'S KEYNOTE SPEECH [excerpts] October 4, 1997 From: U Kyaw Win