Weekly Business Roundup (November 23, 2007)

The Tasang hydrodam is the largest of several planned along the Salween, which is one of the last large free-flowing rivers in Southeast Asia.

Dhaka Seeks Access to Shwe Gas

Bangladesh has asked Burma for access to some of the gas deposits of the huge offshore Shwe field in the Bay of Bengal.

Dhaka said it would use the gas to fuel a factory to make fertilizer, some of which it planned to send back to Burma in exchange for the gas.

The proposal was made at the first meeting for three years of the Bangladesh-Myanmar Joint Trade Commission, in Dhaka.

Bangladesh Commerce Secretary Feroz Ahmed told the Bangladesh Times that although the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry said Burma could build a fertilizer plant itself, “Bangladesh has greater expertise, infrastructure and resources for the project”.

Bangladesh is also seeking a lifting of restrictions on the free movement of Bangladeshi citizens by making visa requirements less bureaucratic.

Ahmed said this would help to improve cross border trade between the two countries.
Several other ideas discussed at the joint meeting included a joint pharmaceutical venture, increased rice sales by Burma and more sea-borne trade.

However, more detailed talks have been suspended because of the cyclone emergency in Bangladesh.