BurmaNet News, August 5, 2004

[Editor]

August 5, 2004, Issue # 2532


INSIDE BURMA
Japanese Economic Newswire: Myanmar to distribute 10 million free condoms
The Nation: Tourism make-over for pariah state, Marasri Boonroj
Narinjara: UNHCR field officer complains to Nasaka for child labor use

ON THE BORDER
Mizzima: Garments Seized in Assam
Kaladan: Tk. 1 crore-fertilizer Seized by Navy en-route to Burma

REGIONAL
AFP: Myanmar PM to visit Vietnam next week amid ASEM deadlock

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: 'Free Burma' radio may move from Norway to Ireland

OPINION / OTHER
Financial Times: Why we must help Myanmar escape poverty and not impose
sanctions - Sachs


INSIDE BURMA
______________________________________

August 5, Japanese Economic Newswire
Myanmar to distribute 10 million free condoms

In a bid to stem HIV transmission though heterosexual contact, Myanmar
will distribute 10 million free condoms and 30 million more at affordable
prices this year, the country's National AIDS Program manager Min Thwe
said late Wednesday.

Heterosexual intercourse is a major mode of HIV transmission in Myanmar,
Min Thwe told Kyodo News in Yangon.

'About 70 percent of the AIDS cases in Myanmar were due to heterosexual
contact,' Min Thwe said, adding the rest are caused mostly by drug use.

The condom distribution plan is part of an anti-AIDS campaign to promote
100 percent use of condoms in targeted townships, especially in border
areas and strategic towns in central Myanmar.

The campaign started with four townships in 2003 and had been expanded to
88 by June this year.

It will further expand to 100 townships before the year-end and to all 324
townships in the country by the end of 2008.

Min Thwe said the objective of supplying free condoms is to make using
condoms normal practice for sex partners.

'We cannot provide them (free) condoms forever. Our aim is to create an
awareness of the benefits so people will buy them for themselves in the
future,' Min Thwe said.

Min Thwe added that apart from supplying 10 million condoms free of
charge, the program will distribute the 30 million more at affordable
prices through international nongovernmental organizations.

Myanmar's junta estimates about 180,000 of the country's 53 million people
are infected with HIV/AIDS.

But UNAIDS country coordinator Eamonn Murphy said last month that up to
620,000 people aged 15 to 49 are believed to have HIV in Myanmar.

______________________________________

August 5, 2004 – The Nation
Tourism make-over for pariah state - Marasri Boonroj

Against considerable odds, a group of top Thai and Burmese tourism
officials believe they can shift the military-run state into becoming a
key tourist destination.

Leading tourism industry experts from both countries gathered in Rangoon
recently to exchange views over how that can be done for a country that
has been shunned by foreign visitors because of objections to the way the
country is run.

Though the forum did not touch on taboo issues here such as politics and
human rights, they were able to address the “nuts and bolts” industry
issues and came up with suggestions on how its tourism potential can be to
enhanced.

“In order to open up to the world market, its tourism must be developed to
include key areas such building a sustainable economy, a good environment
and quality of life,” said Thai human resources expert Professor Chira
Hongladarom, at the workshop which was attended by 60 Burmese tourism
officials.

Chira said Burma lacked adequate infrastructure and living accommodation
to take in a huge influx of foreign tourists. The country’s financial
sector must therefore be committed to supporting the move to expand its
tourism sector, he said.

He also urged an end to the two-tier exchange rates. The officially rate
offers seven kyats to the dollar while the black market rate fetches
between 930 and 940 kyats.

A Burmese participant, who asked not to be named, said many Burmese
tourist companies use the black market rate in the anticipation that the
kyat would rise in order to sustain a profit.

But the obstacles to cultural and environmental development will be a
tough nut to crack.

While Thailand has its tourism authority (TAT), which goes flat out to
attract visitors, Burma has yet to employ such a body to boost arrivals.

Chira suggested Burma forms two units – one to monitor the industry and
prevent the destruction of its environment and culture; and the other to
market the country abroad.

According to one government minister, Burma is not looking to go down the
same road as Thailand.

Burmese Deputy Minister for Hotels and Tourism Brig-General Aye Myint Kyu
warned that it was vital the industry’s expansion plan does not overlook
cultural sensitivities.

Myint Kyu says the country has more than 2,000 Buddhist temples as well as
many other important heritage sites.

“We have to keep in mind all that. The more we are developed, the more we
have to preserve our culture,” he said.

Chira suggested that Burma could consider a joint promotion scheme with
Thailand to sell the two countries as one destination.

Executive director of the TAT’s Human Resource Department La-iard Silanoi,
said that the joint promotion could be done as Thailand currently holds
cooperation ties with Indo-China. Given the call from the international
community to avoid Burma, accusing the military state of gross human
rights violation, such a scheme was likely to generated heated debate in
Thailand as well as abroad.

However, U Moe Kyaw of the UMFCCI, said the two countries can work
together by taking one step at a time.

“I would like Thais to see that Myanmar [Burma] is not a dangerous place.
I want Thais to look, not at the country, but the people in it,” he said.

“I’m a firm believer that if you make Myanmar [Burma] rich, it would make
Thailand, our big neighbour, even richer,” he said.

Thai Ambassador Suphot Dhirakaosal said the Thai government remained
committed to helping the neighbouring country enhance its infrastructure
to help tourism and other industries.

Suphot said he sees Burma as a potential “strategic partner” in many
areas, including hydropower energy, saying strong relations with Rangoon
will also boost Thai ties with India and China.

Rangoon has over recent years drifted away from Asean (the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations) while strengthening its ties with China, India
and Pakistan, as part of a strategy to be less dependent on any one
country.

How this strategy is played out with Thailand and the rest of Asean
members seeking opportunities there remains to be seen.

The following are some facts about tourism in Burma courtesy of the Union
of Myanmar [Burma] Travel Association:
- There are currently 576 travel and tour companies in Burma (One foreign
firm, 18 joint ventures and 557 local firms).
- There are 10,275 employees working to service a total of 17,039 rooms at
563 hotels in Burma.
- There are 181 motor vehicles, three river cruise ships, 173 motorboats,
143 yachts and a hot-air balloon with operating licences.
- Tourist arrivals to Burma in 2003 numbered 205,610 and generating US$116
million (Bt4.8 billion) in receipts.

______________________________________

August 5, Narinjara News
UNHCR field officer complains to Nasaka for child labor use

Maungdaw: UNHCR field officer has complained to the Nasaka Border Force
Acting Commander, Myint Oo, for the wide use of child labor in Maungdaw
Township, a town in Northern Arakan State.

The complaint reportedly came out in a meeting between Nasaka officials
and a UNHCR field officer in the UNHCR field meeting room of Maungdaw, on
22 July.

According to our reporter, the UNHCR field officer, Ms Kyoko Yonizu,
requested that the commander take action against the rampant use of child
labor, in both the north and south of Maungdaw.

She did, however, praise the Nasaka commander for his recent action
against the use of child labour in Buthidaung Township. Under his command,
the use of child labor has almost ended in that township.

It is common, in the rainy season, for parents, who are busy with the
ploughing of paddy farms, to send their children in their place when the
local authority demands workers for labor projects.

Even though the Burmese Home Minister has ordered the cessation of forced
labor in Burma, a number of local authorities have ignored that order and
continue to use force labor in every township of the Arakan State, said a
source in Kyaut Taw.


ON THE BORDER
______________________________________

August 5, Mizzima News
Garments seized in Assam - Nava Thakuria

Guwahati: A huge quantity of ready made garments and synthetics from Burma
were seized by the custom officers in Khetri toen of Assam on Wednesday.

Following a specific tip of, the Guwahati division officers of
Anti-Smuggling unit of Indian Customs had seized the products, smuggled
from Tamu of Burma.

The garments were carried by a Shillong bound truck (Registration number
AS 25 B 5682) from Imphal, the capital of Manipur, a Burma bordering
Northeast State.

“ Our officers caught the truck on National Highway 37 and also arrested
four persons”, says M. Marbaniang, Assistant Commissioner, Custom
Division, Guwahati.

He also added that the arrested persons were  Manipuri origin and the
value estimated of the seized products was around Rs. 2500,000.

______________________________________

August 1, Kaladan Press
Tk. 1 Crore-Fertilizer Seized By Navy En-route to Burma

On July 29, 2004, Bangladesh Navy seized 24,000 sacks of fertilizer worth
Tk. one crore 8 million while seven engine boats en-route to Burma, on the
Bay of Bengal near Bhola Channel, according to the local news paper.

Acting on a tip of, Naval personnel challenged the boats carrying the
fertilizer near Char Tajmuddin, and they chased the smuggling boats and
seized all of them.

In fact, the fertilizer was being smuggled out to Burma. Navy detained all
the engine boats. Afterwards, all the boats have been brought to
Chittagong town. There all the goods were handed over to the custom
authorities.

Farmers of Burma depends on the fertilizer of Bangladesh because of the
rate of the fertilizer is very high there. So, the smugglers, hoping to
get high price in Burma, they smuggled fertilizer to Burma.

There are six fertilizer-producing factories in Bangladesh, which cover to
meet the domestic demand. However, since there is a big fertilizer
smuggling trade booming in Burma, the Bangladeshi farmers are also facing
short supply of fertilizer.



REGIONAL
______________________________________

August 5, Agence France Presse
Myanmar PM to visit Vietnam next week amid ASEM deadlock

Myanmar Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt will travel to Hanoi next week,
the Vietnamese foreign ministry said Thursday, for talks expected to focus
on the deadlock over October's Asia-Europe Meeting.

Nyunt will arrive on Monday for a one-day official visit at the invitation
of Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai. During his short stay he will
meet with other senior leaders of the communist nation, a ministry
official said.

Vietnam and Myanmar, both authoritarian regimes and targets of Western
criticism over their human rights records, retain close political links.

The Communist Party's Nhan Dan newspaper, which announced Nyunt's visit,
gave no details on the reasons behind it or the topics up for discussion.

Diplomats, however, said the wrangling over the October 8-9 Asia-Europe
Meeting (ASEM) would be high on the agenda.

The meeting of heads of state or government has been put at risk as a
result of the European Union's insistence that military-ruled Myanmar
should not attend.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), however,
says that if Myanmar cannot take part, neither can the 10 nations that
joined the European Union on May 1.

An ASEM finance ministers' meeting scheduled for last month and a
September gathering of the group's economy ministers have already been
cancelled over the dispute.

The EU is demanding "a signal" that Myanmar's military, which has ruled
the nation since 1962, is prepared to allow a degree of democratic
opening, including releasing opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house
arrest.

Vietnam has strongly opposed intervention in Myanmar's internal affairs,
insisting that ASEAN maintain its basic principles of non-interference.


INTERNATIONAL
______________________________________

August 5, Agence France Presse
'Free Burma' radio may move from Norway to Ireland

The Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) radio station that currently operates
from Norway may move its broadcasting base to Ireland, a spokesman said on
Thursday.

"We at DVB feel that working from within an EU country with a strong
commitment to human rights and education would be of even greater benefit
to us," Deputy Director of DVB, Khin Maung Win, said.

"The people of Ireland have always shown great solidarity for the plight
of the people in Burma and we hope that an agreement can be arrived at,"
he added on a visit to Ireland.

DVB broadcasts an hour of programmes twice daily into Burma, now named
Myanmar, presenting the views of the opposition National Coalition
Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) and the Democratic Alliance of
Burma (DAB).

Khin Maung Win said the radio had been operating from Oslo for 12 years
and they were grateful for the Norwegian government's support.

"With an aim of strengthening our operation as a professional radio, DVB
is looking for a new host country," he added.

Part of the strategy of Trocaire, the overseas development agency of
Ireland's Roman Catholic Church which has supported DVB's move, is to back
Myanmar's government in exile.

Last year the charity backed 16 projects at a cost of more than 300,000
euros (360,000 dollars) both inside the country and in the refugee camps
on the Thai/Myanmar border.

"Burma has been ruled by a brutal military government for over 40 years,"
said Trocaire's director Justin Kilcullen.

"With the absence of free press, no other political parties can express
their views or disseminate their political ideas and programmes," he said.

Four years ago, Myanmar's imprisoned democratic opposition leader, Aung
San Suu Kyi, was conferred in her absence with the freedom of Dublin, the
city's highest accolade.

She was given the award for her "bravery in standing up for democracy and
the fact that they had won the election and had not been allowed to lead
the government of the country".


OPINION / OTHER
______________________________________

August 4, Financial Times
Why we must help Myanmar escape poverty and not impose sanctions, Jeffrey
Sachs

Sir, In challenging my critique of economic sanctions on Myanmar, Nyan
Lett (Letters, August 2) writes that "the regime managed to spend more
than 60 per cent of gross domestic product on expansion of the military .
. .". This is a good example of emotion overtaking reason regarding
Myanmar. The authoritative Stockholm International Peace Research
Institute (Sipri) puts Myanmar's military spending at 2.1 per cent of
gross domestic product in the year 2000 (the most recent datum), and at an
average of 3.0 per cent of gross domestic product during the period
1990-2000.

John Jackson (Letters, July 30) describes Myanmar as having "one of Asia's
largest armies" but according to Sipri the armed personnel were about 1.4
per cent of the labour force in 1999 (the most recent datum), about the
same as Norway, lower than France, Greece and Italy, and not very high for
a country with multiple internal armed insurgencies. South Korea reported
8.8 per cent of its labour force under arms that year.

I am not condoning the lack of democracy, and certainly not blaming
Myanmar's problems mainly on the sanctions. I am saying that the sanctions
are counter-productive when solutions are needed to much deeper economic,
ethnic, political and ecological problems faced by one of the poorest
countries in the world. We should be helping Myanmar to get out of its
current poverty and political trap, not pushing it in further by
sanctions.

To help, we should heed the words of Derek Tonkin (Letters, August 3) when
he tells us: "Many Burmese will tell you that Aung San Suu Kyi,
pro-democracy leader, is their only hope. But most will also tell you that
she is wrong on sanctions."

Jeffrey D. Sachs, Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY
10027, US