BurmaNet News, April 6, 2007

[Editor]

April 6, 2007 Issue # 3178


INSIDE BURMA
AP: Myanmar pro-democracy activists demand an end to discrimination
AFP: Myanmar threatens jail for overcharging doctors
Mizzima: Junta pins democracy activists to the wall
AFP: As Myanmar's new capital emerges, analysts question its true cost

ON THE BORDER
DVB: Burmese troops shell KNPP camps despite peace talks

BUSINESS / TRADE
AFP: Daewoo to explore for more gas in Myanmar: report
Xinhua: Myanmar absorbs 33 mln USD foreign investment in first half of
2006-07

INTERNATIONAL
IANS via Hindustan Times: Labour unions to form caucus to free Suu Kyi

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

April 6, Associated Press
Myanmar pro-democracy activists demand an end to discrimination

Yangon: Political activists in Myanmar have demanded an end to
discrimination against people seen as being anti-junta, citing
restrictions against lawyers, doctors and small businesses with perceived
links to the pro-democracy movement.

Myanmar's military government has closed down businesses, revoked business
licenses or refused to issue permits to people engaged in political
activities, said a statement received Friday from the 88 Generation
Students' Group, which includes leaders of pro-democracy demonstrations
held in 1988.

"Those who took part in the emergence of democracy in the country were
branded as political activists," said the statement, which was dated
Thursday. "They have been facing restrictions, pressure and discrimination
in their social and economic lives."

Many members of the group have been imprisoned for taking part in protests
or other political activities.

"We have suffered discrimination and persecution by authorities for more
than 18 years for engaging in politics," the statement said.

Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. The current junta was
installed in 1988 after authorities put down mass pro-democracy
demonstrations.

General elections were held in 1990, but the military refused to hand over
power after opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party, the National
League for Democracy, won a landslide victory.

"Doctors and lawyers who are party members and elected candidates of the
NLD have not been allowed to practice or some have their practicing
licenses revoked," said U Han Tha Myint, a spokesman for Suu Kyi.

He said that several NLD members were also prevented from opening
businesses such as tea shops.

The junta tolerates little dissent and harasses and detains critics. It
also keeps tight restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly.

Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has been in detention for 11 of the
past 17 years, and continuously since May 2003.

____________________________________

April 6, Agence France Presse
Myanmar threatens jail for overcharging doctors

Yangon: Doctors deemed by Myanmar's military rulers to be overcharging for
their services could face up to five years in prison under a law enacted
this week, official media said Friday.

Private doctors who overcharge their patients or who work without a
license now face unspecified fines and up to five years in prison under
the new law, which was signed by junta leader Than Shwe on Thursday, the
official New Light of Myanmar newspaper said.

The health minister Kyaw Myint in November had accused private hospitals
and clinics of overcharging for their services and had promised to take
action.

The report did not give details on what would be considered overcharging.

Myanmar, with one of the world's worst health care systems, has 20 small
private hospitals where only the very wealthy can afford to seek
treatment, mainly in its biggest city Yangon.

The vast majority of the population has only limited health care from
government clinics, in a country that the United Nations estimates spends
just 0.5 percent of its gross domestic product on health.

Myanmar's top leadership prefers to seek medical treatment overseas.

Than Shwe spent two weeks in Singapore for medical checks in January, and
Prime Minister Soe Win has been hospitalised in the city-state since
mid-March.

____________________________________

April 6, Mizzima News
Junta pins democracy activists to the wall - Ko Dee

Pro-democracy activists in Burma are slowly and steadily being pushed to
the wall by the military junta which has stepped up restrictions and
suppression both in economic and social terms, political dissidents in
Rangoon said.

The 88 generation students, a group of pro-democracy activists, in a
statement yesterday said, the junta, which grabbed power in 1988, after
brutally suppressing student and civil protestors, despite their promise
to install a democratic government, has continually suppressed political
dissidence.

"In reality, however, those who are trying to restore democracy are
marginalized from others as political activists, and have consequently
become victims of oppression against the free practice of their economic
and social rights," the statement said.

The 88 generation students issued the statement following the junta's
order to shut-down a business venture run by the family of a former
political prisoner and a second-rung leader of the 88 generation student -
Ko Mya Aye.

On March 30, the municipal authorities in Rangoon ordered the closure of
the Rangoon-Mandalay Thamadi Carrier Service headed by Maung Maung Aung, a
younger brother of Mya Aye. A letter from the municipality directed the
office to be closed and informed the authorities to cancel the license to
operate or action would be taken.

While no reasons were given as to why the order was passed, activists
viewed it as an attempt by the junta to muffle the voices of dissidence.

Nyan Win, the spokesperson of Burma's main political opposition party -
National League for Democracy, said, "I agree with what the students said
in the statement. It is not only the students who are targeted but also
other political activists. Doctors have had their license withheld, and
business ventures are being close-down."

Htay Kywe, another 88 generation student and former political prisoner,
had to resign from the post of member of directors in his family-run
company due to pressure exerted by the government.

Authorities withheld the license of Dr. Win Naing, who is secretary of the
Rangoon division of the NLD organising committee, and he was barred from
practicing medicine citing ethical violations in 1998.

"It is true. I have been pointing to this fact in my articles. For
activists and politicians, the junta will continue to disturb any business
venture. They [the junta] will suppress the rights of activists," said a
self-styled nationalist - U Win Naing.

In 2000, the junta without any reason closed down the printing press run
by U Soe Win, who is an elected Member of Parliament in the 1990 general
elections from Pegu Township in central Burma.

"Such suppression has prevailed throughout U Newin's Burma Socialist Party
Programme and it is being repeated now. I think this is a cowardly act,"
said Mya Aye.

"What we want is to fight back politically. It is cowardly to resort to
suppression, restrictions and torturing the opposition," he added.

Myint Aye, a human rights defender, said because of the junta's action on
political dissidents, they are abandoned socially and economically by
their family and even by society.

"Friends, family and society start avoiding them, [political dissidents]
because they are scared that authorities might come down on them and
disturb their businesses. I have been avoided by my family and society
because they are afraid that their little business that keeps them going
will be disturbed if they maintain relations with me," said Myint Aye.

"Mya Aye is a political activist, so in order to break him the authorities
have closed down his brother's business which may be a support base for
him. This is pure human rights violation. Lives in Burma are not secure.
We oppose every human rights violation," Myint Aye added.

____________________________________

April 6, Agence France Presse
As Myanmar's new capital emerges, analysts question its true cost -
Charlotte McDonald-Gibson

Naypyidaw: Myanmar's vast new capital has many oddities in an otherwise
poor country, such as smooth multi-lane highways, luxury cars and new
apartment blocks seemingly modelled on Western suburbia.

The growth of the sprawling city of Naypyidaw from the scrub of central
Myanmar has raised questions about how the military is financing such a
grand scheme in this impoverished nation formerly known as Burma.

In late 2005, the ruling junta began moving its offices 400 kilometres
(250 miles) north of the existing capital Yangon to this remote location,
where it had secretly built a city around what was a sleepy logging town.

"If you look at the land it is just scrub ... it is inhospitable,
non-fertile land," said one western diplomat, who was speaking on
condition of anonymity, which most foreigners working in Myanmar insist
on.

"To build a capital there is quite a challenge," he told AFP.

Myanmar is one of the poorest countries in the world with per capita gross
domestic product (GDP) well below that of nearby Cambodia, Laos and
Bangladesh. UN figures show the junta spends just 0.5 percent of GDP on
health.

Despite sanctions by Europe and the United States, imposed for the
detention of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other human rights
abuses, Myanmar can still splash out on mega-projects because of a wealth
of natural gas which feeds power-hungry neighbours such as China, India
and Thailand.

Gas exports are thought to be filling the military's coffers, while the
junta also exploits other natural resources such as gems and timber.

Taxing companies that wish to take a cut of the country's riches, some
experts say, was one of the ways Myanmar paid for their so-called "abode
of kings", where electricity runs 24 hours a day and fairy lights
illuminate grand ministries.

"They have done it at the expense of companies operating in their
country," said one senior diplomatic source in Yangon.

"If you want to export timber, (work in) mining, you can afford one or two
ministries, a stretch of road," he added.

As well as taxing businesses, diplomats claim the junta offered
concessions to companies in lieu of payment for construction work.

Because of the murky nature of the funding, most are reluctant to
speculate on how much Naypyidaw cost.

But an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report obtained by AFP estimates
that "about 1-2 percent of GDP has been spent in the last few years by the
government on the move (to Naypyidaw)".

"This level of spending is expected to continue in 2006/07 before
declining," it added.

The IMF estimates GDP for 2005/06 at 12.2 billion dollars, putting the
annual cost of Naypyidaw between 122 and 244 million dollars -- a figure
one economics expert working in Yangon said was likely roughly correct.

"It can cope with that kind of outlay ... it is not a case for going
bankrupt," the expert said, adding he thought rising commodity prices were
also funding the new capital.

Myanmar claims it is financing the building by selling old ministries that
they deserted in Yangon.

"How much it cost is not that important," information minister Kyaw Hsan
told foreign reporters in Naypyidaw last week. "What is important is not
to have a budget deficit."

A western diplomat, however, said some in the military leadership might be
realising the financial enormity of the task ahead of them.

"The chances of it becoming a black hole are very good ... It is a
continuous investment for 15 to 30 years before it becomes viable. That's
money that will not be channelled into health and education," the diplomat
said.

Businessmen are already grumbling about having to make the lengthy commute
to dusty, half-finished Naypyidaw at least once a month, but when it comes
to valuable natural resources, analysts say companies operating here will
jump through all the hoops placed in front of them.

Foreign embassies are not so compliant, with none publicly considering a
move to Naypyidaw, although embassy officials say China or India would
likely be the first.

Aung Naing Oo, a Myanmar analyst based in Thailand, said the international
community risked being left out of the loop if they remained in Yangon.

"If the military remains in charge for the next 10 to 15 years, the
embassies will have to decide whether to relocate," he said, adding that
he did not think the junta cared whether diplomats moved or not.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

April 6, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burmese troops shell KNPP camps despite peace talks - Than Win Htut

The Burmese military is still shelling the Karenni National Progressive
Party’s stronghold in Nyamu, near the Thai-Burma border, according to the
group’s general secretary Raymond Htoo.

The attacks started on March 27, after KNPP and Burmese military
representatives held a series of peace talks in the Shan border town of
Tachileik.

“When we asked our Burmese contacts, they said that the attacks were
happening because their lower-ranking people didn’t know about [the peace
talks] . . . They attacked us with 81mm and 84mm shells . . . It is not
good,” Raymond Htoo told DVB.

He said the number of clashes each month had risen to about 10. The KNPP
signed a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese military in 1995, but the
pact fell through after Burmese troops entered the Karenni group’s control
area.

“It would be better if they did not carry out these kinds of acts of
intimidation, because it is very hard to keep full faith in them,” Raymond
Htoo said.

Fresh attempts at peace talks between the rebel group and the Burmese
military have failed in the past 10 years, with the last round of
discussions abandoned after the former prime minister and military
intelligence leader general Khin Nyunt was placed under house arrest in
October 2004.

_____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

April 6, Agence France Presse
Daewoo to explore for more gas in Myanmar: report

Yangon: South Korea's Daewoo plans to begin exploring for more natural gas
off Myanmar's coast, in an area that has attracted intense interest from
both China and India, state-run media said Friday.

Daewoo E Myanmar, working with state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise
(MOGE), will launch a new survey on April 17, the Burmese-language Mirror
newspaper said.

The project is set to wind up on May 30, after surveying areas known as
blocks A-1 and A-3, which are in the Bay of Bengal near the border with
Bangladesh, it said.

The newspaper gave no further details but Daewoo has already found up to
10 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the A-1 block. Volumes in the A-3
block are still being confirmed by independent appraisers.

The initial discovery sparked enormous international interest in exploring
the rest of Myanmar's western coast.

The military government awarded a series of exploration contracts earlier
this year to companies from China, Malaysia and Singapore, as well as a
firm with links to Russia.

Both China and India have been vying for the right to buy the gas produced
from the A-1 block.

Indian media reported last month that the junta had decided to award a
contract to China although no official announcement has been made.

The two energy-hungry countries, as well as other Asian nations, have been
jockeying for a share of Myanmar's vast energy resources, weakening the
impact of a patchwork of US and European sanctions on the military ruled
nation.

According to official figures, South Korea has invested about 34.9 million
dollars in Myanmar's oil and gas sector since 2003.

Daewoo in February was awarded another contract to explore for natural gas
in a deep-water block next to the latest project.

According to 2006 official figures, 13 foreign oil companies are working
on 33 projects in Myanmar.

____________________________________

April 6, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar absorbs 33 mln USD foreign investment in first half of 2006-07

Myanmar absorbed 33 million U.S. dollars' foreign investment coming from
Russia in the first half (April to September) of the fiscal year 2006-07,
according to the latest figures released by the Central Statistical
Organization (CSO).

The Russian investment in the oil and gas sector represented the only
foreign investment during the half-year period, said the CSO under the
Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development.

The Russian investment was referred to part of the engagement by the JSC
Zarubezhneft Itera Oil and Gas Company in oil and gas exploration at block
M-8 in Myanmar's Mottama offshore area in partnership with the Sun Group
of India and the state-run Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).

The trilateral production sharing contract was initiated in September 2006.

Myanmar absorbed a contracted foreign investment of 6.065 billion U.S.
dollars in 2005-06, registering the highest annual foreign investment that
the country had drawn since 1988.

The 2005-06 foreign investment mainly came from Thailand with 6. 03
billion dollars injected into a major power project, the 7,110- megawatt
Tar-hsan hydropower project on the Thanlwin River in eastern Shan state's
Tachilek.

Other investments during the year included 30.575 million dollars from
India in oil and gas, 4.4 million dollars from Thailand also in oil and
gas and 700,000 dollars in mining from China, the CSO figures indicate.

Sectorally speaking, oil and gas accounted for 34 percent, manufacturing
20 percent, real estate 13.7 percent and hotels and tourism 13.3 percent.

Other sectors include mining, livestock and fisheries, transport
communication, industrial estate, construction and agriculture.

Myanmar enacted the FDI Law in late 1988 when it started to adopt a
market-oriented economic policy. The energy sector which comprises of oil
and gas and hydropower is seen as standing the main contributor to the
increase in FDI in Myanmar in the future.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

April 6, Indo-Asian News Service via Hindustan Times
Labour unions to form caucus to free Suu Kyi

Labour unions from all over the world have pledged to fight for the
release of detained Myanmarese leader Aung San Suu Kyi at a two-day Burma
Conference in Kathmandu.

Spearheaded by the International Trade Union Federation (ITUF),
International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Global Union Federations,
nearly 40 trade unions from the Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America
held the 4th International Trade Union Conference on Burma in Kathmandu
this week.

The two-day conference, also attended by exiled Myanmarese leaders and
trade unions, is asking for the release of Suu Kyi, Nobel laureate and
leader of the National League for Democracy who remains under house arrest
despite her party winning the election in 1990.

"The Burma Conference condemns the continuing detention of Suu Kyi and
detention and abuse of over 1,000 political prisoners, many of whom have
died as a result of ill treatment in detention," the conference
declaration on Thursday said.

The trade unions said they would step up the campaign to persuade
companies engaged in Myanmar to stop all economic and trade relations and
investments until democracy is established and forced labour eradicated.

Currently, countries like China, India and the US have increased new
investments in Myanmar, ITUF general secretary Guy Ryder said.

The labour campaign will especially target multinationals operating in
oil, gas, mining, dams and infrastructure and ask financial institutions
to terminate lending.

It is also asking insurance companies to terminate their coverage in Myanmar.

Priority will be given to forming parliamentary caucuses on Myanmar,
especially in the SAARC region.

The Burma Conference said the military junta was practising widespread and
systematic violation of human rights, committing routine rape and
promoting trafficking of women and drugs.

India along with China came under strong condemnation at the conference
initially.

"The Burma Conference condemns the increasing political and economic
support provided to the regime by China and India," the first draft of the
declaration said.

However, after trade unionists from India said that might harden the
India's government's stance, it was changed to "the neighbouring
countries" instead of China and India.

According to Indian trade union INTUC, New Delhi once actively supported
the pro-democracy movement in Myanmar during the government of Rajiv
Gandhi.

It says the present government should be reminded of that and persuaded to
press the regime to start talks with Suu Kyi's party.

In 1988, an army general, Gen Saw seized control of the government,
replacing it with a new body, the State Law and Order Restoration Council.

In 1990 the junta allowed the first multi-party election in three decades,
when Suu Kyi's opposition coalition won a landslide victory, but it
refused to hand over power.

While Suu Kyi remains under house arrest, 34 of her MPs are in exile and
13 in prison.

Two were assassinated outside Myanmar and over 100 MPs living in Myanmar
were forced to resign.