Business (March - April 2009)
| By THE IRRAWADDY | MAR — APR, 2009 - VOLUME 17 NO.2 |
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Malaysia to Build Budget Airline Terminal
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| An employee of budget carrier AirAsia walks past a model plane at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal in Kuala Lumpur in January. (Photo: AFP) |
Thailand Plans to Double Burma Cross-border Trade Points
The new Thai government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has proposed doubling the number of official cross-border trading points to Burma to six. It is also offering financial support for the creation of a so-called east-west trade corridor. The proposals were presented to the Burmese military government during a visit to Burma in March by a Thai trade delegation led by Abhisit’s special adviser, Photipong Lamsam. Bangkok media reports suggest that the Abhisit government envisages greater trade opportunities after the proposed 2010 election in Burma, but diplomatic sources told The Irrawaddy that the latest impetus is more likely to have been the global economic slump, which is now beginning to bite in Thailand.
World Bank Says Global Economy Will Shrink in 2009
The World Bank predicts the global economy will shrink this year for the first time since World War II, with trade at its lowest point in 80 years. The World Bank also said the growing global financial crisis will create a multibillion-dollar financing shortfall for poor and developing nations. A group of 129 countries face a shortfall of US $270 to $700 billion this year, the World Bank said—adding that only one-quarter of the vulnerable countries will be able to ease the impact of the economic downturn through job creation or “safety net” programs.
Chinese Labor to Help Build Irrawaddy Dam
Preparations to house thousands of Chinese migrant laborers are being made along the upper reaches of the Irrawaddy River and its tributaries in northern Burma in readiness for construction of two large hydroelectric dam projects. The dams will be built by the Chinese state firm China Power Investment Corporation (CPIC) and the Burmese junta-linked private firm Asia World. CPIC sources said up to 15,000 Chinese could be drafted to work on the two dams, according to the Kachin News Group. The two projects will eventually have an installed generating capacity of more than 5,000 megawatts—far more than the whole of Burma currently has. Most of the power will be delivered to China’s Yunnan Province, starting around the middle of the next decade.
Modest Growth in Burmese Exports
Burmese exports recorded modest growth in the first 10 months of last year, despite a dramatic year-on-year decline of 14.1 percent in the period from January to September 2008, according to the latest report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Demand for natural gas, Burma’s largest export, and other commodities remains weak owing to the global economic downturn. Sales of natural gas to Thailand, currently the only market for Burma’s energy exports, fell 22.1 percent year-on-year in value terms in January-October 2008, according to the EIU report. Other exports were also down in the same period: pulses fell by 8.3 percent, hardwoods by 4.5 percent and garments by 3.6 percent. According to an EIU report published in February, overseas orders for fish fell by 50 percent year-on-year in the first nine months of the current fiscal year. The report also indicates that inflation has slowed slightly, from 26.2 percent year-on-year in September to 25.1 percent in October.
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