Business (October 2009)

Junta’s Gas Profits Stashed in Singapore Banks: ERI

Security guards gesture to the photographer to stop taking pictures of a DBS bank. (Photo: Reuters)

The Washington-based advocacy group EarthRights International (ERI) has issued a report stating that two Singapore-based banks—Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation and DBS Group—function as “offshore repositories” for Burmese junta revenues accrued from the Yadana gas project. The report said that by using an outdated exchange rate that calculates revenue at just 6 kyat to the dollar when the de facto rate is closer to 1,000, the junta declares a fraction of revenues to the state budget, enabling it to siphon the rest off. Quoting a confidential International Monetary Fund report obtained by ERI, it said that gas revenue “contributed less than 1 percent of total budget revenue in 2007/08, but would have contributed about 57 percent if valued at the market exchange rate.” The report said the rates allow the regime to list a mere US $29 million of the Yadana earnings, leaving around $4.8 billion unaccounted for, which ERI believes to be lodged in the Singapore banks. The banks, however, issued a statement denying they hold money for the junta.

Kokang Conflict Disrupts Sino-Burmese Border Trade

The fighting in the Kokang area near the Sino-Burmese border in September disrupted trade and caused shortages of Chinese goods in markets as far away as Rangoon and Mandalay. The shortages led to price rises, according to local traders. Seventy percent of the consumer goods in Burmese markets come from China. According to traders, supplies of Chinese-made formula milk powder, biscuits, dry noodles, medicine and electronic equipment dropped by one-third in August and September. Cross-border trade in the Kokang capital, Laogai, came to a standstill, while trading at two other border checkpoints decreased. According to Chinese official statistics, China-Burma bilateral trade amounted to US $2.6 billion in 2008. Of this, China’s exports to Burma accounted for $1.98 billion.

Tea Plantation near Mount Popa Raises Environmental Concerns

The Htoo Trading Company, owned by Tay Za, one of the junta’s favorite businessmen, has cleared timber in the reserve forest of Mount Popa, reportedly for a tea plantation, raising concerns among environmentalists, who said cutting the large hardwood trees and logging could affect the Mount Popa watershed, which provides water to the Kyat Mauk Taung reservoir. “Forests are being cut for a tea plantation, and it’s not right,” said U Ohn, who led an effort to replant forests around Mount Popa from 1982 to 1986. Under the name “Popa Mountain Park,” the forests are in protected areas. The Popa watershed at one time had 36 tributaries. Many streams have ceased to flow because of deforestation.

Jewels Stolen in Bangkok Heist

Three men posing as customers stole US $1.7 million worth of jewels from a Bangkok gems fair in what police called the biggest heist in recent memory in Thailand. The men entered a booth at the Bangkok Gems & Jewelry Fair and asked the vendor to open a display case containing nearly 100 items with a reported value of 56 million baht  ($1.7 million), then distracted her and made off with the jewels, according to police. Thai police arrested three men, two from Mexico and one from Peru, but none of the stolen jewels have been retrieved. Police said the suspects were positively identified by the vendors and video footage from security cameras appeared to show the same men at the gems fair. The suspects told a police news conference in Bangkok they were in Thailand for tourism and were innocent.

Indian Government to Finance Burma Dam Study

The Indian government is reportedly spending at least US $1.5 million to finance feasibility studies for two potential hydroelectric dams in western Burma. Reports from India said the money will be used by the Indian state-linked engineering firm National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) to conduct tests on the Chindwin River at Tamanti, the site of a stalled dam project. NHPC managing director S.K.