Ms C Studham
SEAD
FCO
BRITISH EMBASSY
181/15 RECEIVED IN PEGISTRY
16 MAR 1993
80 Strand Road, Rangoon Burma
DESK OIL COR Telephone 81700-8170281703, 81708 Telex 21216
FAB 18011
11 MAR 1993
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Dear Clare,
MYANMAR AIRWAYS INTERNATIONAL
1.
On 19 February Myanma Airways and Highsonic Enterprise Pte Ltd of Singapore signed an agreement to form a Joint Venture to be called Myanmar Airways International. The agreement was signed by Myanma Airways Managing Director, U Khin Soe, and the Managing Director of Highsonic, Mr Wong Fong Fui. The signing ceremony was attended by the Minister for Transport, Lt-Gen Thein Win, and the Minister for National Planning and Economic Development, Brig-Gen Abel.
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2. We have no details of the terms of the Joint Venture but we believe that the new company will take over all of Myanma Airways international routes. The plan appears to be for Highsonic to provide the finance, rumoured to be US$ 10 million, to enable the new company to utilise more fully the landing rights belonging to Myanma Airways under various Air Services Agreements, including some that are currently lying dormant. return for all of this investment it would seem that Highsonic will have operational, if not managerial, control of the new company. The Joint Venture will almost certainly have to lease additional aeroplanes, possibly Boeing 757s, to meet their planned extension of services. For the Burmese any increase in the number of flights into the country is welcome as it will mean more tourists thereby generating much needed foreign exchange.
3.
At a recent meeting with the Department of Civil Aviation to discuss a Hong Kong/Myanmar Air Services Agreement (ASA) the Burmese side tentatively raised some questions obviously related to the Joint Venture, of which they were not prepared to give any details. But they were obviously concerned about the Joint Ventures landing rights in Hong Kong and from the subsequent discussion it became apparent that the terms of the Joint Venture may fall foul of the current UK/Burma ASA, that includes