BurmaNet News, Aug 24, 2004

[Editor]

August 4, 2004, Issue # 2545

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Shwe Mann Visits Thailand

ON THE BORDER
Mizzima: Confusion on crackdown on Northeastern militants

DRUGS
Mizzima: Heroin Seized in India-Burma Border
Deutsche Presse-Agentur: Laos cuts opium production by 45 per cent in 2004

BUSINESS / MONEY
Nation: Burma loan approved, junta opts for ShinSat
Xinhua: Singapore to help Myanmar export textile products

REGIONAL
AFP: Thai PM denies conflict of interest in telecom loans to Myanmar

INTERNATIONAL
BBC: Burma List 'shames' UK companies
BBC: Burma investors under scrutiny
Insurance Day: Insurers in firing line from UK pressure group over Burma

OPINION / OTHER

MEDIA RELEASE
BCUK: New Burma 'dirty list' companies named and shamed


______________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

August 24, Irrawaddy
Shwe Mann Visits Thailand

The Burma Army Chief of Staff Gen Thura Shwe Mann arrived in Bangkok on
Tuesday for a three-day official visit.

Gen Thura Shwe Mann, a member of the State Peace and Development Council,
or SPDC, the military junta that oversees the government of Burma, is due
to meet with Thai Foreign Minister Dr Surakiart Sathirathai on Tuesday
evening.

The talks are expected to cover drugs, trade and tourism issues, according
to the BBC World Service Burmese Section. No details are available on the
upcoming talks, said Sihasak Puangketkeow, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
spokesman.

Shwe Mann was accompanied by a 20-man entourage. He last visited Thailand
in 2002 as part of a delegation led by Burma Army Chief, Vice Sr-Gen Maung
Aye.

The Burma Army Chief of Staff was formerly Southwest Region Commander
based in Bassein, Irrawaddy Division. Both the deceased former junta
chairman Sr-Gen Saw Maung and current SPDC chairman Sr-Gen Than Shwe
served as commanders of the Southwest Region before being transferred to
Rangoon.

Shwe Mann became a powerful figure in the regime when he was appointed
Chief of Staff for the Army, Navy and Airforce in November 2001. Before
his appointment, each of Burma’s three military services had its own chief
of staff. The heads of the four Bureaus of Special Operations and the
Rangoon Military Region Commander also report directly to him.

_____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

Aug 23, Mizzima
Confusion on crackdown on Northeastern militants - Nava Thakuria

Confusion still prevails whether the Indian Army would crackdown on the
Northeastern militants based on the Indo-Burma border areas in the next
few days. The preliminary report from New Delhi disclosed that the Indian
Army was ready to launch a massive operation against the insurgents who
had based their camps inside Burma. But if you believe a defense source in
Manipur, the capital of Imphal, the required response from Burma forces
for the kind of operation was not visible on ground. "For a successful
anti-insurgency operation, we must have better coordination between the
two countries' forces, like it was extended by the Royal Bhutan Army
during a flash out operation last December. But Myanmar forces still have
not responded positively", told the defense source.  Northeastern armed
outfits like People’s Liberation Army (PLA), United National Liberation
Front of Manipur (UNLF), People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak
(PREPAK) with National Socialist Council of Nagalanda’s both Issak-Muiva
and Khaplang factions have their training camps on the border areas.
United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) and National Democratic Front of
Bodoland (NDFB) are reportedly getting shelter inside Burma with the help
of NSCN.

During the first week of August, the Indian army had decided to launch the
operation against the insurgents in which the border would have been
sealed during the operation. Even Burma’s Foreign Minister U Win Aung,
while visiting New Delhi during the period, assured India’s Foreign
Minister K Natwar Singh, that they would not allow NE Indian insurgents to
operate from their soil. But starting an operation against the militants'
camps on the Indo-Burma border has become even more complicated. The
Indo-Burma border areas are not used by the PLA, UNLF or PREPAK alone, but
also utilized by the NSCN groups. As both factions of the NSCN, who are
presently on the negotiation table with the government, have their camps
and cadres on the border areas, one cannot argue for such an operation, as
it would make NSCN very disturbed, added the defense source.

_____________________________________
DRUGS

Aug 24, Mizzima
Heroin Seized in India-Burma Border – Surajit Khaund

Despite a tight vigil of various security agencies, heroin trafficking in
India’s northeast is on the rise.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in association with the Assam
police seized 945 gm of heroin in Guwahati, the capital of Assam in
northeast India. The seizure has created a much sensation among the
concerned circle here.

The CID sources in Guwahati told this correspondent that the consignment
of heroin was brought from Thailand through Burma across the Moreh
border.. “We have arrested David Th, a Manipuri youth, in this
connection,” the sources said adding that more people will be arrested
soon.

The CID sources told how David and his three associates had brought the
consignment from Moreh with the help of a section of Burmese people from
Tamu. On specific information, the CID personnel waited in Guwahati to
arrest him. The heroin, valued at Rs 1 crore on the international market,
was produced in Thailand. This was the third seizure of heroin within just
one month in northeast India. Recently, Indian enforcing agencies had
seized heroin in Dimapur and Jorhat in northeast India.

In relation to the frequent seizure of heroin in the region, the sources
held the view that Moreh-Imphal-Dimapur and Guwahati have become major
transit points for heroin smuggling in the northeast.

"According to our intelligence feedback, the traffickers are using the
route taking advantage of hilly terrain and lack of security forces," the
sources added.

They further stated that a huge quantity of heroin is smuggled from Burma
through Moreh trade point.

The Indian Government in a recent report said that drug trafficking in
northeast India has been dwindling due to constant vigilant of the
enforcing agencies. But frequent seizures of heroin in the region worry
the departments who are fighting hard to scale down the drug trafficking
problem in the region.

_____________________________________

August 24, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Laos cuts opium production by 45 per cent in 2004

Land-locked Laos has cut its opium crop cultivation by 45 per cent this
growing season from 12,000 hectares in 2003 to 6,600 hectares in the 2004,
the United Nations revealed on Tuesday.

"The total area under opium cultivation in the Lao PDR (People's
Democratic Republic) for the 2004 season was estimated to be 6,6000 ha,"
said the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in its
publication "Laos Opium Survey 2004," made available in Bangkok.

"This corresponds to a reduction of 45 per cent from the 12,000 ha in 2003
and indicates an acceleration of the downward trend from 1998, when the
opium poppy production peaked at 26,800 ha," said the report.

The government of Laos, which passed tough anti-drug legislation in 2000,
has vowed to eliminate opium cultivation by the year 2005.

Laos has for decades been the second largest opium producer in the "Golden
Triangle" - the tri-border area including parts of Thailand, Myanmar
(Burma) and Laos - which is one of the world's main suppliers of opium and
its derivative heroin.

According to UNODC executive director Antonio Maria Costa, the Golden
Triangle's long history in the opium trade may be coming to a close.

"Together with the parallel decline in opium cultivation in Myanmar, this
trend translates into an historical achievment, which, if sustained, will
end more than a century of opium production in the Golden Triangle," Costa
said in an introductory note to the Laos Opium Survey 2004.

Thailand stopped being an opium exporter more than three decades ago,
partly thanks to a successful crop-substitution programme that was heavily
subsidized by the international donor community.

Costa called on donors to be similarly generous in Laos.

"The donor community must match this achievement by helping Laos to
provide poor farmers, who are now giving up their income from opium, with
sustainable alternative sources of livelihood," he said.

Laos is consistently ranked among the world's poorest nations.

The UNODC survey noted that while opium cultivation in Laos has fallen in
2004, in part because of adverse weather conditions, the price of opium
has risen 27 per cent to 218 dollar per kilogram due to shortages in the
drug.

______________________________________
BUSINESS / MONEY

Aug 25, The Nation
Burma loan approved, junta opts for ShinSat

The Bt 600million loan for the Shin Satellite Plc’s controversial
broadband project in Burma has already been approved, the president of the
ExportImport Bank of Thailand (Exim) Sataporn Jinachitra said yesterday.

“The Burmese government signed the deal with the Shin Satellite on July
30. It proposed the project to Exim on August 5 and received approval on
August 9,” Sataporn said.

The Exim Bank statement contradicted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s
earlier remarks that the project was awaiting approval from the bank.

The controversy erupted following reports that Burma’s Ministry of
Communications, Posts and Telegraphs Union had indicated that ShinSat,
which is owned by the Prime Minister’s family, was the only “eligible
supplier” for the broadband satellite system.

The loan approved for the telecommunication project amounted to Bt600
million and not Bt962 million as reported earlier, Sataporn said.

The project is proposed under the Bt4billion credit line that Thailand
gave to Burma to help improve its poor infrastructure, with the condition
that materials be purchased from Thailand and loans repaid within 12 years
with interest of 3 per cent.

Asked if the process of government procurement was not transparent,
Sataporn said it was solely up to the Burmese government which suppliers
they choose.

“The Exim Bank has no duty to lay out guidelines for foreigners to
follow,” he said.

ShinSat has already jointly invested in satellite services with the Bagan
Cybertech Company, the sole Internet service provider in Burma, which is
owned by the son of Burmese Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, since 1998.

The proposed project would provide broadband Internet access and a
longdistance calling service in Burma via the iPSTAR satellite, which is
owned by ShinSat and due to be launched next year.

Kraisak Chonhavan, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs,
said that the government should offer an equal opportunity for all Thai
companies to bid for the project to make the process transparent.

It should also set political conditions for the loans – to pressure
militaryruled Burma to transform itself towards a democratic society,
otherwise Bangkok risked being blamed for strengthening the authoritarian
regime, he said.

Opposition whip and Democrat Party deputy leader Jurin Laksanawisit
yesterday demanded the government disclose the conditions of the loan
project, especially whether the loan contract requires any specific
equipment supplier.

Chairman of the opposition’s Counter Corruption Task Force, Alongkorn
Pollabutr, said the opposition would launch an investigation into the loan
project when Exim Bank representatives present the bank’s annual report to
Parliament on Thursday.

He said the opposition would also keep an eye on emerging cases of
conflict of interests in several development projects in neighbouring
countries.

Rungrawee C Pinyorat, Phermsak Lilakul

_____________________________________

Aug 24, Xinhua New Agency
Singapore to help Myanmar export textile products

Singapore will help Myanmar export textile and garment products in order
to face with the new international market challenges by next year, Myanmar
business sources said on Tuesday.

The lifting of the WTO quota system on January 1, 2005 is expected to
create upheaval in the global textile industry and increased competitions.

Representatives from the Singapore business community have visited Myanmar
recently and is exploring ways to improve transport links between their
garment industries and key international markets, offering Singapore ports
to Myanmar counterparts as gateway to the world.

The Myanmar business community has also expressed wishes to cooperate in
coping with the new challenge, seeing Singapore's channel as an
alternative for its garment export breakthrough.

Meanwhile, Singapore is also interested in such move with Vietnam and
Cambodia, utilizing its trade superiority and low production cost of the
two developing countries to gain development opportunities for itself.

In the past, due to the import quota of the United States set for Myanmar
was not much restricted, many countries and regions has invested garment
factories in the country.

However, the US has imposed a total import ban on textile and garment
products from Myanmar since 2001 for political reasons. The sanctions were
tightened in July 2003 on account of the year's May 30 bloody incident.

Due to the impacts of the sanctions, there remains now about 160 garment
factories in operation in Myanmar with a work force of more than 100,000
out of 400 such factories with 350,000 employees in 2000 when it produced
almost 35 million dozen garment batches with an export value of 397
million US dollars, garment industry sources disclosed, adding that the
garment factories' employment and productivity reduced by 20-50 percent as
the majority of their buyers were from the US.

The Myanmar industries are looking for new markets prospectively to Europe
in a bid to overcome the challenge of the sanctions, expecting to increase
the export to the region by 6 million dozen garments this year.

_____________________________________
REGIONAL

Aug 24, Agence France Presse
Thai PM denies conflict of interest in telecom loans to Myanmar

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Tuesday defended a proposed
multi-million dollar soft loan to Myanmar which could benefit the
telecommunications empire he founded.

Thailand's military-run neighbour has sought 1.2 billion baht (30.4
million dollars) in loans to overhaul its creaky telecoms infrastructure
through programmes reportedly focusing on broadband satellite, fibre optic
networks and an IT centre. It requires materials from Thailand's telecom
sector.

The loan request by Myanmar's ministry of communications, post and
telegraph, which needs approval from the Thai Export/Import Bank, includes
23.2 million dollars in soft loans and grants.

"It is a normal loan of money and like other borrowers it is up to Myanmar
how it spends the money," Thaksin said.

"Myanmar wants to use broadband because they want to get telephone lines
into remote areas."

Thaksin said the Thai Exim Bank had thoroughly checked the project and any
approval would be based on business viability and not political influence.

When asked by a reporter if the loans obligated Myanmar to deal with
specific Thai firms, Thaksin shot back: "If I really wanted the deal, I
could get it, no problem."

The controversy erupted Monday in Thai newspaper Matichon, which reported
details of the proposed deal that could see Myanmar buying products and
services from companies controlled by the Shinawatra family.

The daily said Myanmar's sole Internet service provider, the
state-affiliated Pagan Cybertech Company, was involved in the scheme. The
company provides services via the IPSTAR satellite owned by Shin Satellite
which was founded by Thaksin.

Shin Satellite released a statement defending the loans and the bidding
process for Myanmar's telecoms projects, saying the type of loan offered
to Myanmar "is standard practice globally".

"The process in choosing the winning supplier is made through a
competitive bidding process and is transparent," excecutive chairman
Dumrong Kasemset said in the statement.

Thaksin also flatly denied that a Tuesday visit to Thailand by Myanmar's
number four leader, General Thura Shwe Mann, had anything to do with the
loans.

Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said Myanmar had requested the
loans be included as part of a credit line to Yangon that was proposed
last November.

"Our cabinet has already approved the credit line of 4.0 billion baht (96
million dollars) for Myanmar to eradicate its poverty and increase
people's well-being and infrastructure," Surakiart said.

Thailand approved the credit line to Yangon on condition that materials
for the projects come from Thailand, the Nation newspaper reported.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

Aug 25, BBC
Burma List 'shames' UK companies

Rolls-Royce and Lloyd's of London are among 37 UK companies which have
been added to the Burma Campaign's annual 'Dirty List'.

The revised list of 95 contains companies which the Burma Campaign claims
directly or indirectly help finance Burma's military dictatorship.

The Campaign describes the regime as one of the most brutal in the world.

Firms including BAT, P&O, WPP, PwC and Ernst & Young have pulled out of
Burma in the past year following pressure.

'Minimal' business

According to the Campaign, Rolls-Royce has a contract to supply and
service aircraft engines for at least one Burmese airline.

"We believe foreign policy is a matter for government, not companies," a
spokesman for Rolls Royce said.

British companies alone have committed $1.4bn to the country over the past
10 years -
Burma Campaign

"Policy is set through export licensing regulations, and we adhere to
those. If we were denied an export licence, we would not trade," he added.

The Campaign claims that Lloyd's of London provides insurance and
reinsurance services through its members to companies investing in Burma.

It also insures Burmese companies such as Yangon Airways by working
through regime-owned insurers.

A spokesperson for Lloyd's of London said that Lloyd's did a "minimal
amount" of business in Burma and that it always complied with
international sanctions and international regulatory requirements.

Travel firm Abercrombie & Kent (A&K) was listed for continuing to offer
tours to the region.

A spokesperson for the company said that the UK branch no longer includes
Burma in its list of holiday destinations.

However, the US branch of A&K has several tours to Burma in its 2004-2005
brochure, according to the Dirty List.

The Burma campaign was founded in 1991 with the aim of establishing the
restoration of human rights and democracy in Burma.

_____________________________________

Aug 24, BBC
Burma investors under scrutiny - Myles Neligan

Sanctions have hit Burma's exports.  Even by the standards of military
dictatorships, the Burmese government has plumbed remarkable depths of
unpopularity.

The ruling junta, which has held onto power through force since losing
elections to the opposition National League for Democracy in 1990, has
been condemned by the US and the European Union, as well as the United
Nations.

The regime is frequently criticised over its treatment of opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for nine of the
last 14 years.

But it is also accused of grave human rights abuses, including the torture
of detainees, and the use of forced child labour.

The US and other industrialised countries have responded by suspending
economic aid to Burma, and imposing limited economic sanctions on the
country, also known as Myanmar.

Corporate cash

However, many private businesses in the West continue to see this
resource-rich nation of 42 million people as an attractive investment
opportunity.

Although Western governments - including the UK - have urged companies not
to invest in Burma, the flow of private funds continues unabated.

According to the pro-democracy Burma Campaign, British companies alone
have committed $1.4bn (£756m) to the country over the past 10 years,
making the UK its second biggest source of foreign investment.

In an effort to choke off what it sees as one of the regime's main
economic lifelines, the Campaign has for the past three years been trying
to 'name and shame' Western companies into cancelling their Burmese
investment projects.

The latest version of the list, published on Tuesday, features a total of
95 British, European and American companies, including 37 new entries.

Timber importers and tour operators, who have long had a presence in
Burma, are well represented once again.

But the updated list also features several well-known global
multinationals, including jet engine maker Rolls Royce, and the Lloyds of
London insurance market.

Rolls Royce and Lloyds told the BBC that their activities in Burma
complied with all existing national and international regulations.

Backfire

Supporters of foreign investment in Burma say severing investment links
will serve only to deprive the Burmese people of jobs, inflicting further
economic hardship on a nation where average annual income stands at just
$1,900 per head.

We have serious reservations about companies we are invested in operating
in Burma
Melissa Gamble, Morley Asset Management

They also argue that by tying Burma more closely into the world economy,
foreign investment could be a force for political liberalisation.

There is some evidence that the trade sanctions imposed by the US last
year have hit ordinary Burmese hard, while doing little to undermine their
military rulers.

Last year, American officials estimated that a ban on Burmese textile
imports had cost 40,000 employees their jobs, forcing many of them to work
in the sex industry instead.

But the Burma Campaign says it is acting in response to a call from the
Burmese opposition to develop sanctions targeted at key sectors -
including oil, gas and timber - which provide an important source of
revenue for the military regime.

It stresses that such sanctions do not affect the Burmese people, as the
bulk of these revenues are ploughed straight into military spending.

"Those arguing against sanctions are not the Burmese people," says the
Campaign's John Framaner.

"It's big business that tends to argue that sanctions will hurt."

Reputational risk

The Burma Campaign says about 20 of the companies featured on last year's
list - including cigarette maker British American Tobacco, advertising
group WPP, and accountancy firm PwC - have since pulled out of Burma.

But political pressure groups such as the Burma Campaign are not alone in
questioning whether investing in Burma is appropriate.

Major City investors are also highly dubious, although their concerns are
not solely ethical.

One group of UK-based fund managers, controlling investments worth some
£400bn between them, believes that investing in Burma is so risky that it
is probably best avoided altogether.

The group, which includes Morley Fund Managers, Henderson Global Investors
and Jupiter Asset Management, has urged businesses whose shares it owns -
which include many of the UK's biggest listed companies - to be highly
cautious when contemplating a deal in Burma.

"We have serious reservations about companies we are invested in operating
in Burma because of the reputational and security risks," says Melissa
Gamble, an analyst at Morley Fund Managers.

"Burma is quite unusual in that the democratically elected government has
asked us not to go there."

According to Ms Gamble, companies that do get involved in Burma risk a
backlash from consumers and shareholders, and could also face penalties if
the country's democratic opposition replaces the military regime.

The group has urged companies involved in Burma to avoid forming
partnerships with state agencies known to have committed human rights
abuses, and to make sure that international labour standards apply
throughout their local manufacturing operations.

_____________________________________

Aug 24, Insurance Day
Insurers in firing line from UK pressure group over Burma

LLOYD'S, along with global brokers Aon and Willis, has been put at the
head of a new list designed to name and shame companies doing business in
troubled Asian state Burma.

Burma Campaign UK's annual Dirty List, of which this is the third, is
designed to expose companies it feels are directly or indirectly helping
finance Burma's military dictatorship, which has been chastised for its
human rights record by governments and the United Nations.

The key players in the international insurance market hit back by saying
their business interests in the country are "minimal" and are in
compliance with global trade standards.

But the pressure group said that in light of Burma's deteriorating human
rights situation, these explanations "will not wash". "If their
involvement is minimal, then good it makes it easier for them to cut ties
with Burma," said Burma Campaign UK spokesman Mark Farmaner. "It may be a
small amount of business to them but in terms of the size to the economy
it could be a high level of investment."

Burma Campaign UK director John Jackson added: "Foreign investment and
trade doesn't help the people of Burma, it hurts them. The regime spends
half its budget on the military and just 19p per person per year on
health."

The campaign said Lloyd's companies provide insurance and reinsurance for
international firms operating in Burma as well as Burmese companies such
as Yangon Airways. It said because Burmese companies are not permitted to
buy cover from overseas companies, Lloyd's works through "regime-owned"
insurance companies and noted that Lloyd's agent in Burma is the Myanmar
Port Authority, which is affiliated with the military government. It said
so far Lloyd's has not given any response to its letter requesting a
withdrawal from Burma.

In response to the Dirty List, Lloyd's did issue a statement saying:
"Lloyd's does a minimal amount of business in Burma it's about 0.5% of our
business in Asia. Lloyd's is a market, made up of 66 independent companies
that make individual decisions about how and where they do business. They
always comply with international sanctions that are in place as well as
international regulatory requirements."

But Mr Farmaner said the campaign will continue to put pressure on Lloyd's
in the media and through the political lobby.

There is strong support in the UK government as well as the Conservative,
Liberal Democrat and other parties for sanctions against businesses
operating in Burma, he said, and the campaign is pushing to have this
turned into legislation, as has been introduced in the US.

The US financial sanctions make it more interesting that Chicago-based
broker Aon continues to have two offices in Burma, said Mr Farmaner, who
added that Aon has so far chosen not to respond to Campaign Burma UK.

As Insurance Day went to press, Aon had not commented on the list but a
spokesman said the company will be seriously looking into the matter.

Fellow broker Willis, which the campaign said has replied to its
correspondence, responded to being placed on the list by issuing a
statement reading: "Willis Group does not have an office or any employees
located in Myanmar (Burma). Willis is not a political organisation and
makes no political donations. Willis is a commercial organisation that
complies with the laws that apply to it. In particular, Willis ensures its
activities comply with the sanctions that are applicable to any of its
operations that may be imposed, from time to time, by the United Nations,
the EU or specific countries in which it operates. Willis considers that
these organisations are well placed to judge the situation and effect of
any imposed restrictions. To the extent that sanctions are extended or new
sanctions are imposed then Willis will of course comply with such terms."
In the coming year the Burma Campaign UK, in partnership with the
Federation of Trade Unions Burma, is planning an initiative to persuade
the insurance industry to end its involvement in Burma after getting a
successful response from the clothing industry to cut trade with Burma.

The country's National League for Democracy has asked them to write to
insurers asking them to withdraw support for business in Burma. Mr
Farmaner said the campaign has agreed to keep confidential discussions
with other firms that have recently decided to withdraw from writing
Burmese business and that media exposure remains its key weapon.

Some 20 companies on last year's list have since pulled out or ended their
involvement in Burma, including British American Tobacco, PwC and Ernst &
Young. Japanese insurer Mitsui was also on the 2004 list.

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

MEDIA RELEASE

Aug 24, Burma Campaign UK
New Burma 'dirty list' companies named and shamed

Lloyd's of London, Rolls Royce, Ericsson, Alcatel, Swift & Maersk among
new companies on list


37 new companies have been added to the 'Dirty List' published today by
the Burma Campaign UK. A total 95 companies feature on the list. The
'Dirty List' exposes companies that are directly or indirectly helping to
finance Burma's brutal military dictatorship.

Other major companies named and shamed include Total Oil, DHL, Orient
Express, Schlumberger, Lonely Planet, Daewoo, Austrian Airlines and
Hutchison Whampoa, whose subsidiaries include Superdrug and 3 Mobile.

"These companies are helping to keep Burma's military dictatorship in
power," said John Jackson, Director of the Burma Campaign UK. "Foreign
investment and trade doesn't help the people of Burma, it hurts them. The
regime spends half its budget on the military and just 19p per person per
year on health."

The 37 new companies added to the list are mainly the result of new
information, rather than any significant surge of investment or trade with
Burma in the past year. However, the number of British companies still
involved in Burma highlights the failure of British government policy. The
government has called on companies not to invest or trade with Burma, and
in June 2003 Prime Minister Tony Blair renewed that call. But since Labour
came to power imports from Burma have more than tripled, rising from
£17.3million in 1998 to £62.2m in 2003.

Around 20 of the companies on last year's 'Dirty List' have since pulled
out or ended their involvement in Burma, including British American
Tobacco, PwC, Carnival/P&O, WPP, and Ernst & Young. Many of these
companies now feature on the updated 'Clean List' of companies who have
pulled out or have policies not to trade with Burma.

Announcing that Ernst & Young no longer had any involvement in Burma,
Chairman Nick Land told the Burma Campaign: "I would also add that I share
your disgust with the regime in Burma and applaud your efforts and those
of other organisations in helping stimulate international pressure for
change."

"In the absence of strong European sanctions it is significant that so
many European companies refuse to get involved in Burma," said John
Jackson. "We will be increasing pressure on those companies that remain.
No British or European company should be funding a regime whose soldiers
rape women and children, which imprisons and tortures political opponents,
and that ruthlessly persecutes ethnic minorities."

For more information and a copy of the Dirty List, contact Mark Farmaner,
Media Officer, on 0207 324 4713, Mobile 0794 123 9640.

Please visit: http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/dirty_list/dirty_list.html
for the dirty list