Asian states in Burma expo

Asian states in Burma expo

YANGON (AFP): Some 50 companies from five Asian nations are
taking part in a four-day exhibition of consumer and industrial
products that opened here yesterday under joint Singapore-Myanmar
sponsorship.

Companies from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and
Japan are displaying more than US$1 million worth of electronic
and consumer products, apparel and textiles and building
materials and equipment.

Organizers said they expected some 20,000 visitors from
Myanmar and other Asia-Pacific nations.

The Myanmar International Expo '94 is aimed at promoting
opportunities to tie up with Myanmar's public and private sectors
on agency and joint-venture projects, organizers said. Myanmar is
the official name of Burma.

Introducing the exhibition at a news conference late Tuesday,
the minister for national planning and economic development,
Brigadier General David Abel, said the trade show heralded a new
phase in relations with Singapore.

Singapore is currently Myanmar's leading trade partner, with
investments of around $500 million out of total investments in
Burma of $1.2 billion in the past five years.

Trade between Singapore Burma is increasing about 20 percent
annually, Abel said.