1st big trade fair held in Myanmar since 1988<\/p>\n
By Dan Thomas<\/p>\n
YANGON (Reuter): The colorful leather jacket made from barking
\ndeer hide and snakeskin was definitely more Mandalay than Milan.<\/p>\n
Red and brown blotches on a light tan coat fringed in rough
\ngreen and black boa constrictor skin may not be everybody's idea
\nof style, but it drew a lot of attention at Myanmar's first major
\ntrade fair this month.<\/p>\n
\"We call this our three-color flower design,\" explained Myint
\nThan, chairman of the Mandalay-based Nila Leather Jerkin Product
\nCooperative.<\/p>\n
\"My 15-year-old son invented this unique technique while
\nplaying around with different dyes. The inspiration comes from
\nAllah,\" he said with an engaging waggle of the head.<\/p>\n
Surrounding his stall were hundreds of other displays by
\nMyanmarese businessmen and civil servants hawking everything from
\nplastic buckets and handwoven textiles from the Golden Triangle
\nto vast tracts of farm land and a new brand of cigarettes.<\/p>\n
Foreign businessmen and curious tourists joined thousands of
\nlocal residents for a stroll along the aisles as eager salesmen
\ninvited them to take a closer look at their wares.<\/p>\n
Formerly Burma, politically and economically shunned by all
\nbut a few nations since its ruling generals crushed a pro-
\ndemocracy movement in 1988 and renamed the country Myanmar, has
\nrecently been opening up in a bid to boost its economy.<\/p>\n
Organized by the ministry of trade, Myanmar Trade Fair '94 was
\npart of a relatively new drive by the ruling State Law and Order
\nRestoration Council (SLORC) to attract investment and win export
\norders.<\/p>\n
The only problem was that almost all participants at the show
\nwere new to the export game.<\/p>\n
\"We are beginners. We haven't any customers. Now that the
\ngovernment has opened the economy this is our first chance to
\nfind exporters,\" said Myint Than.<\/p>\n
Opening the fair, which ran from April 1 to 12 under the
\nslogan \"Export expansion -- the national strength\", Trade
\nMinister Lt. Gen. Tun Kyi said one of the main aims was to get
\ninternational exposure for Myanmar's exportable goods.<\/p>\n
\"The government is therefore giving top priority to export
\npromotion,\" he said at the opening ceremony attended by leading
\nmembers of SLORC, diplomats, local and foreign businessmen and a
\nbevy of beautiful Myanmarese models.<\/p>\n
Of the 203 stalls, 33 were taken by state-owned corporations,
\n18 by government joint ventures, 60 by cooperatives and the rest
\nby private enterprises.<\/p>\n
Thein Win, chairman of the Myanmar Industry Association and a
\nsuccessful Myanmarese entrepreneur himself, was busily looking
\nfor buyers for his new brand of cigarettes, Polo Nine, which he
\nhoped to be able to export to Russia and China.<\/p>\n
The cigarettes, which wholesale at just US$2.50 for a carton
\nof 200, were made locally from the purest Myanmarese Virginia
\ntobacco by the Myanmar Glacier Tobacco Ltd -- a joint venture set
\nup one year ago with backing from South Korea's Glacier Tobacco
\nLtd, he said.<\/p>\n
\"A lot of people believe the game polo was invented in Burma
\nand everybody here considers the number nine to be lucky, hence
\nthe name Polo Nine,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Asked if he thought SLORC's poor human rights record might put
\noff potential buyers and investors, he said Myanmar was better
\nthan China \"in a political sense\" and that China didn't seem to
\nhave any problems selling its goods.<\/p>\n
\"Just because of the human rights situation, do I have to stop
\nmy work?\" he demanded to know. \"My people need work, politics is
\na different issue.\"<\/p>\n
Beneath a large sign inviting foreigners to \"grab the golden
\nopportunity now\", civil servant Myo Myint from the ministry of
\nagriculture was on the lookout for foreign businessmen to
\npersuade to invest in farming, plantations and food-processing.<\/p>\n
He said the government had identified 1.55 million hectares
\n(3.83 million acres) of fallow land and 8.23 million hectares
\n(20.33 million acres) of culturable wasteland which would be
\nsuitable for joint ventures.<\/p>\n
\"This is the first time we have been to a trade fair to invite
\nforeign investment,\" he said excitedly. \"Come and sit down.\"<\/p>\n
American businessman Scott Montgomery, who has lived in Yangon
\nfor just over a year, said amidst the bustle that the Myanmarese
\ngovernment was trying to follow China by encouraging state-owned
\nenterprises to play a leading role in building up the economy.<\/p>\n
\"It is getting more and more open but it isn't a free market
\nyet,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Back at the Nila Leather Jerkin Cooperative stand, Myint Than
\nwas trying to interest Ecuadorean tourist Gustavo Chabes in his
\nmulticolored jacket.<\/p>\n
\"They certainly have their own sense of style,\" said Chabes as
\nhe made his excuses and left.<\/p>",
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