Samak to Visit Burma

By SAW YAN NAING
The Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.org

Thailand’s premier, Samak Sundaravej, will visit Burma next week to witness the signing of an investment protection pact between the two countries, according to the Bangkok-based English-language daily, The Nation.

The Thai prime minister will pay the official visit to Burma’s new capital, Naypyidaw, on March 12, and will also encourage Thai businessmen to pay more attention to Burma, according to a Thai commercial counselor in Burma quoted by The Nation in its Wednesday edition.

The commercial counselor, Matyawongse Amatyakul, said “the draft on investment protection has been drawn up by both countries and is now waiting for the ministers to sign.”

The agreement will also increase cooperation between the two countries through trade and investment, said the report. Thai businessmen will be encouraged to invest more and set up businesses in Burma, which will benefit from higher employment and economic growth, added the report.

Burma is currently the target of US sanctions. The companies of Tay Za, a crony of the leader of the ruling regime, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, and Tun Myint Naing, one of the richest tycoons in Burma, are among those blacklisted by the US government sanctions.

Despite international pressure on the Burmese regime following its brutal crackdown on monk-led protests in September 2007, Thailand has shown little inclination to join Western countries and the United Nations in their condemnation. Instead, it has indicated that it will continue its business deals with the Burmese generals and seek new opportunities to invest in Burma.

After the September crackdown, Thailand’s former premier, Surayud Chulanont, proposed four-party talks involving China, India, the United Nations and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), including Thailand and Burma, to seek a resolution to the Burmese crisis. However, the proposal, based on a similar multiparty approach that successfully defused tensions over North Korea’s nuclear arms program, never got off the ground.

Meanwhile, Apiradi Tantraporn, director general of Thailand’s Foreign Trade Department, said the government has a clear policy to promote Thai investment overseas, especially in other Asean countries, as the region moves towards integration as a single economic community in 2015.

According to the Foreign Trade Department, Thailand ranked third among foreign investors in Burma, with investment reaching US $1.34 billion in 2007, while the United Kingdom and Singapore were identified as the first and second largest investors in Burma.

Thailand’s exports to Burma rose 14.6 percent to 33.06 billion baht in 2007, while imports increased 9.8 percent to 80.03 billion baht. Exports from Thailand to Burma are expected to surge 20 percent in 2008, according to The Nation.