Daily News- February 18 - 2003- Tuesday
  • Myanmar banks suspend credit card services
  • Myanmar to establish air link with Israel
  • Myanmar releases 19 acehnese fishermen
  • Thai-owned elephant steps on landmine in Myanmar
  • Yangon banks hit by rush of withdrawals
  • Russia: More aid to build a better Myanmar
  • Thailand Mulls Buying Agricultural Products From Burma
  • Thai PTT signs fuel distribution deal with Burma
  • Burmese refugees in India protest aid suspension


    • Myanmar banks suspend credit card services

    YANGON, Feb 17 (AFP) - Two of Myanmar's leading private commercial banks had suspended their credit card services by Monday after panic runs on deposits over the past two weeks and a third said it would follow suit.The three are the only private banks in Myanmar to offer credit cards.

    The leading Asia Wealth Bank announced the suspension of its credit cards on Monday, two days after Yoma Bank, the military-ruled country's second major bank, instructed its clients not to honour its credit card.

    "We will be making a similar announcement shortly," an official at the Kambawza Bank told AFP.

    The suspensions follow an order from the State Central Bank that private banks should only allow withdrawals totalling 500,000 kyats (80,500 dollars) a week.

    The order prompted businesses to stop accepting credit cards in case they would not be able to collect money owing to them.

    It came after worried investors rushed to withdraw their savings from the country's 20 private banks amid rumours that they were headed for collapse.

    "Some credit cards allow purchases of up to one million kyats and with the latest limit on bank withdrawals fixed by the Central Bank, businesses would have been unable to recover their money from the banks," a gold merchant who had refused to honour a Yoma credit card said.

    The rumours that the banks were vulnerable persisted despite assurances from the Central Bank governor a week ago that the public should have "complete confidence" in the banks as they were operating strictly in accordance with state financial laws.

    The panic runs appear to have been sparked by the failure of 14 financial services groups to pay investors. The groups were operating outside of government regulations and offering high returns of about 60 percent a year.

    Military authorities have charged that some elements were spreading false and malicious lies to deliberately create a monetary crisis.

    The credit cards are expected to be suspended until after a government investigation into credit card services, according to a bank official who requested anonymity.The investigation is expected to include checking if banks have overextended themselves by offering credit.

    To The Top

    Myanmar to establish air link with Israel

    Myanmar and Israel will establish air link between the two countries with two weekly flights planned to operate between Yangon and Tel Aviv, the Myanmar Times reported Monday.

    Quoting the Israeli embassy in Yangon, the report said the agreement on the flights was initially reached on Jan. 21 between the Myanmar Civil Aviation Authorities and Israel and detailed agreement will follow next month.

    The flights will be operated by the Myanmar Airways International, Arkia Israeli Airlines and El Al Israel Airlines.

    The Myanmar-Israel air link is made possible until now although Israeli airlines have been flying to Thailand, China and China's Hong Kong since 1993 passing through Myanmar airspace.

    According to the civil aviation authorities, foreign airlines that already have regular flights to Yangon include Thai Airways International, Biman, Royal Brunei Airlines, Air China, Malaysian Airlines System, Silk Air and Lauda Air.

    To The Top

    Myanmar releases 19 acehnese fishermen

    Banda Aceh, Aceh, 15 (ANTARA) - Myanmar has released a total of 19 Acehnese fishermen who had been held in Myeik and Kwathuang prisons for illegal entry into the country.The 19 fishermen were released on bail following negotiations between the Indonesian Embassy in Yangon and the Myanmarese government, secretary of the Aceh Customary Affairs and the Law of Sea Institute M. Adli Abdullah said on Saturday.

    The Acehnese fishermen had been sentenced to seven to eight years' imprisonment for poaching fish in Myanmarese waters.

    They were set free on condition that they would never again illegally enter Myanmarese territory and engage in activities detrimental to the interests of the country, he said quoting a statement from the Indonesian embassy.

    Although they had been set free, the fishermen could not be repatriated immediately since the embassy lacked the necessary funds, he said.

    "We hope the government, particularly the Acehnese provincial government could provide the funds to repatriate them," he said.Earlier, on Jan 5, Myanmar deported 4 Acehnese fishermen.

    To The Top

    Thai-owned elephant steps on landmine in Myanmar

    MAE SOT, Thailand, Feb 17 (AFP) - An elephant was badly injured after stepping on a landmine just across Thailand's border with Myanmar, the animal's owner said Monday, in the first such case reported this year.

    About 30 Thai elephants are injured by mines in Myanmar every year, according to veterinarians at the Elephant Hospital at Lampang province in northern Thailand.

    The 28-year-old female had been transporting logs since early February in the Mae Ramad district bordering Myanmar, the owner Kamthon Thongtongchana said in the border town of Mae Sot.

    After the work was done Sunday, the elephant and three others were let lose to find food. "She had crossed into Myanmar while finding something to eat when she stepped up on landmine," Kamthon said.

    Kamthon said the wound was so bad that it took a day to transport the elephant back into Thailand. The elephant was then transported to the Elephant Hospital, about 240 kilometres (148 miles) from Mae Sot, he said.The best known Thai elephant to have been hurt by a mine was Motala, a female elephant who stepped on a landmine in Myanmar where the military government is fighting ethnic rebels, about four years ago.

    She was treated for more than a year at the Elephant Hospital and given an artificial leg. Her case sparked calls from activists for more protection for the country's elephants.Thailand is home to some 4,200 elephants, including 2,257 in the wild, according to forestry department figures.

    To The Top

    Yangon banks hit by rush of withdrawals

    YANGON, Feb. 18 (Kyodo) A panic to withdraw deposits at Yangon's 20 private banks escalated Tuesday, with the banks deciding to limit withdrawals to 200,000 kyats ($32,200), down from a limit of 500,000 kyats last week.

    The rush on the banks began with the collapse of some private financial services groups operating outside government financial regulations, which triggered rumors the banks were at risk as well.

    Ironically, an expression of confidence in the private banks by the central bank governor Feb. 10 actually exacerbated the run on the banks because many account holders wondered why the central banker was even bothering with such a statement.

    So far, the ruling junta has not intervened to alleviate the crisis, which has seen massive withdrawals from the 20 banks, but no new deposits, in recent days.

    To The Top

    Russia: More aid to build a better Myanmar

    XINHUA

    A Russian envoy to Myanmar urged the international community to extend more aid to Myanmar, according to the Myanmar Times Tuesday.

    Russian ambassador to Myanmar Oleg Kabanov said the move would bring about a better Myanmar for stability in the region.He noted that Russia-Myanmar bilateral relationship had always been friendly without disagreements.

    Aid to Myanmar from his country include the Yangon Technical University, Inya Lake Hotel and Taunggyi Hospital in the 50s and 60s, he noted.

    In 2001, he added, Russia signed an agreement on the building for Myanmar a nuclear reactor in principle. Also it endorsed a contract on sale of 10 MIG-29 fighter jets worth 130 million US dollars to the host country.Moreover, 300 Myanmar students are studying and getting training in Russia currently, he said.

    To The Top

    Thailand Mulls Buying Agricultural Products From Burma

    Bangkok, Feb. 18 (Dow Jones) - The Thai government wants to buy from Burma 2,000 metric tons of soybeans and 2,000 tons of animal-feed corn, along with other agricultural commodities, under a bilateral trade agreement, according to Rachane Potjanasuntorn, director-general of Thailand's Department of Foreign Trade at the Commerce Ministry.

    Thailand's decision follows a trade committee meeting among government officials from both countries, said Rachane, who led the Thai delegation at the meeting. Burma's director-general of trade directorate at the Ministry of Commerce led Burma's delegates, Rachane said.

    Rachane didn't reveal the value of the commodities Thailand is seeking.

    At the meeting, Burma also expressed interest in buying from Thailand construction materials such as roof tiles, floor tiles and machinery used in construction and agricultural activities, Rachane said.

    The purchases will be made under an "account trade" system that Thailand and Burma agreed to create in March last year to facilitate bilateral trade, Rachane said.

    Under this account trade system, cash is used only to cover the difference in the value of products bartered between the countries. The two countries won't have to exchange goods at the same time, they only need to settle their accounts at agreed times, within three months for this purchase, Rachane said.

    "The deal will hopefully be concluded next month," Rachane said.

    The state-owned Public Warehouse Organization will make purchases on behalf of the Thai government, Rachane said.

    Thailand also expects to trade goods with Laos in a similar manner, Rachane said.

    To The Top

    Thai PTT signs fuel distribution deal with Burma

    source : TNA (Thai News Agency)

    Bangkok, Feb 18 - PTT Plc has signed a deal with the state-owned Myanmar Petroleum Product Enterprise (MPPE) to distribute fuel worth one billion baht a year through two border passes in Burma.

    Apisit Rujikeatkamchorn, senior executive vice president of PTT, said the company would supply the fuel worth around one million baht a month through the two petrol stations in Song Island opposite the southern province of Ranong and Tha Khelex opposite Mae Sai District of Chiang Rai.

    “The fuel supplied by PTT will include gasoline, diesel and lubricant oil. We will become a single distributor of fuel in the border passes. The deal will strengthen ties of the two oil companies and add value to products of each other.”

    He said PTT also had plan to negotiate to supply fuel in other areas in Burma where the demand for oil has gradually increase in tandem with the country’s development.

    Still, PTT did not intend to set up service stations in the country yet because it was rather difficult for the company to oversee its petrol stations established overseas.

    He said the PTT’s service station in Tha Khelex would be under the management of the Burmese government.

    To The Top

    Burmese refugees in India protest aid suspension

    source : NDTV (India)

    Burmese refugees who have sought asylum in India are protesting the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' (UNHCR) decision to stop their subsistence allowance of Rs 1400.

    The refugees say that their food, clothes and rent all depend on this allowance, but UNHCR officials say they are stopping the allowance to help the refugees help themselves.

    "One should not look at it as stopping the subsistence allowance. I think we are talking about empowering refugees to stand on their own feet and to be self-sufficient. I don't think it is dignified for people to live on handouts for the rest of their lives," said Wei Meng Lim Kabaa, Deputy Chief of Mission, UNHCR.

    The UN says it's prepared to teach them skills such as welding, tailoring and using computers with which they can get jobs. But without a work permit, these skills would be of little or no use.

    "How do they expect these people to work in India when they don't have work permits because you know India is not signatory to the 1952 convention. So these people are undesirable aliens," said E Deenadayalan, General Secretary, The Other Media.

    In fact, unlike their Tibetan or Sri Lankan counterparts, these refugees are not recognised by the Indian government - something the Burmese say, makes them even more vulnerable without the UN's support.

    To The Top