Daily News- March 01 - 2003- Saturday
  • Labor protest planned for men's store opening
  • Rangoon fears run on deposits
  • Bangladeshi prime minister to visit Burma to bolster ties


    • Labor protest planned for men's store opening

    By Cathleen Ferraro -- Bee Staff Writer
    Sacramento Bee, CA

    Labor and community activists are expected to protest today at the debut of men's retailer Joseph A. Bank Clothiers in the Arden Fair mall.The group is objecting to what they say is the retailer's renewed practice of selling clothes made in Myanmar sweatshops.

    In an October 2001 letter, merchandise manager Paul D. Miller promised the Free Burma Coalition that Joseph A. Bank's "corporate direction is to source no goods from Myanmar."

    Now, according to human and labor rights groups, coalition partners have found menswear at Joseph A. Bank stores in New York City, Haverford, Pa., and Atlanta, Ga., bearing "Made in Myanmar" labels.

    Chief Financial Officer David Ullman said Joseph A. Bank has not sourced any products through Myanmar or intentionally sold any from there since its 2001 promise.

    Hampstead, Md.-based Joseph A. Bank operates 165 stores, mostly in the Midwest and East Coast. The chain's Arden Fair outlet is the company's first in California. Over the next three to five years the clothing chain expects to triple its size to roughly 500 stores nationwide.

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    Rangoon fears run on deposits

    Woranuj Maneerungsee
    Bangkok Post

    New restrictions on deposit withdrawals by Burmese banks will not affect border trade with Thailand, according to Panithi Tangphati, adviser to the Tak Chamber of Commerce.In general, traders did not deposit large amounts of money with commercial banks and the border trade did not rely much on banks, he said.

    The Burmese bank association two weeks ago announced a ceiling on withdrawals of 500,000 kyat (about 22,600 baht) per account per week to limit runs on deposits.

    The official exchange rate of the Burmese kyat is 6.20 to one US dollar. But in the black market on which most people rely for everyday transactions, the rate is now about 950 kyat to the dollar.Sources said many customers were in practice limited to only 100,000 kyat per week in withdrawals during the past week.

    Mr Panithi said reports that Burmese banks were in a weak financial position were groundless.Loan interest rates in Burma stand at about 12.5%, well below the inflation rate of 30%. This had prompted many businesses to borrow to invest in the property sector.But he said banks had been recalling their loans to ensure adequate liquidity.

    ``Personally, I think [deposit runs] are normal in countries that are opening their economies. Even Thailand has encountered this problem before.''

    However, he said, foreign businesses that relied on the domestic market might feel the impact since the purchasing power of locals would be depressed.

    A foreign investor, who declined to be named, said he was concerned about the situation in the capital Rangoon, as the military government might issue policies that affected investors.

    The Thai envoy in Rangoon said there had been an improvement in recent days. The envoy quoted a banking consultant as saying last Friday that the Burmese central bank had extended loans ranging from US$833 million to US$1.8 billion to banks that had suspended credit-card services.

    Officials yesterday were monitoring the situation to see what impact there would be on businesses' operations at the end of the month when workers' salaries are paid.

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    Bangladeshi prime minister to visit Burma to bolster ties

    Rangoon (AP) - Bangladesh's prime minister is expected to visit Burma later this month to strengthen trade and diplomatic relations between the neighboring countries, an official said.

    Prime Minister Khaleda Zia will visit March 19-20, becoming the first Bangladeshi leader to travel to Burma since the current government took power in 1988, a Burmese diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

    Zia will discuss establishment of a road link between the countries, improved trade ties and other issues, the diplomat said Friday.

    The state visit would come just three months after Burma's junta leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe traveled to Bangladesh for the first time in two decades.

    During the December 2002 visit, the two countries agreed to improve cultural exchanges and hold annual meetings between their foreign ministers to strengthen bilateral ties.

    Bangladesh and Burma have long had historical ties and conduct both informal and official trade, mostly in raw materials, agriculture products and consumer goods.

    Relations between the countries, which share a 256-kilometer (159-mile) border, were strained in 1991, when more than 2.5 million Muslims fled to Bangladesh from Burma's northwestern Rakhine state to escape alleged persecution by the junta. Western governments and human rights groups have accused the junta of widespread rights abuses.

    More than 230,000 Muslims have returned to Burma since 1993, when the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees began a repatriation program. About 22,000 Muslim refugees are still waiting to go back, according to the agency.

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