Myanmar’s badly conceived agricultural policies are compounding the country’s already dire food situation.
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Residents of the former Burmese capital Rangoon said the government is selling food to victims of Cyclone Nargis, but the prices remain too expensive for destitute survivors to afford.
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The cyclone that has devastated Burma is not only set to push world rice prices higher but may have jeopardised the country’s long-term ability to feed its own population, Asian food experts say. (more…)
Aung Aung has never left military-ruled Myanmar, though he is beginning to feel he has no choice but to say goodbye to his family and try to forge a better life overseas. (more…)
PTT suspends the transmission of natural gas from Burma’s Yetagun Field, following the leakage of the pipeline. (more…)
Myanmar is deliberating to designate Singapore dollar and Chinese Renminbi yuan as main currencies in its foreign trade transactions in order to facilitate such undertakings of the country, leading local weekly the Yangon Times reported Wednesday. (more…)
EU expands economic Sanctions against Junta
Economic sanctions against Burma’s military government by the European Union were expanded when EU foreign ministers met this week. (more…)
Owners of beauty and massage parlours in Rangoon are the latest to face pressure from the city authorities to vote Yes in the upcoming referendum, according to Rangoon residents. (more…)
Myanmar is deliberating to designate Singapore dollar and Chinese Renminbi yuan as main currencies in its foreign trade transactions in order to facilitate such undertakings of the country, leading local weekly the Yangon Times reported Wednesday. (more…)
Burmese Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein began an official three-day visit to Thailand on Tuesday which will focus on business deals and closer ties between the two neighboring countries, analysts say. (more…)
The Myanmar Airways International (MAI) has temporarily suspended again its international flights to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur since its last flights to the two destinations in the past week, the leading local news journal Myanmar Times reported in this week’s issue. (more…)
Myanmsr exported 352,652 tons of marine products, hitting 561 million US dollars in the fiscal year of 2007-08 which ended in March, the local Weekly Eleven News quoted the fishery department as reporting Monday. (more…)
While Burma’s top brass continue to line their pockets with kickbacks and self-bestowed financial rewards, the country’s government is facing a burgeoning debt crisis. (more…)
Malaysia’s Astral Asia Bhd (AASB.KL: Quote, Profile, Research) has terminated a memorandum of understanding with two other companies to jointly cultivate 170,000 acres (68,000 hectares) of oil palm plantations in southern Myanmar, Astral said on Friday. (more…)
Tales of the junta’s extravagances trickle down to average citizens, many of whom lack basic items. In a country where electricity is available only a few hours a day and those with a job can barely afford the bus ride to work, Burmese pack the teahouses here and gossip about the decadence of the top brass. (more…)
A successful bid by Thailand to develop a deep-sea port at Dawei on the Andaman Sea coast would complete three development deals by Burma’s most influential neighbors to upgrade the military junta’s seaways. (more…)
A growing number of impoverished farmers in the Wa region on the Sino-Burma has been calling on the Wa authorities to allow a return to poppy culture that was suspended almost 3 years ago, according to both official and unofficial sources. (more…)
Chinese businessmen in Namtu Township in northern Shan State have been exploiting children. Children in Man Jak village in Namtu are being made to work but are being paid very little, a source said.
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Interests of local residents in the coal mining areas have to be given
topmost priority in finalizing coal policy, said Dr M Tamim. “Bangladesh
has to swift to other power sources as natural gas is about to exhaust.
Coal is most likely the next option but its extraction strategy must have
to ensure interests of local livelihood,” said the Special Aide to Chief
Adviser for the Ministry of Power and Energy. (more…)
Bangladesh will conduct an assessment on Chinese and Thai contract farming
practices at Myanmar to introduce it in case of Bangladesh, official
sources said.
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