and other smaller parties
Political pressure groups and leaders: All Burma Student Democratic Front or ABSDF; Kachin Independence Army or KIA; Karen National Union or KNU; National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma or NCGUB [Dr. SEIN WIN] consists of individuals legitimately elected to the People's Assembly but not recognized by the military regime (the group fled to a border area and joined with insurgents in December 1990 to form a parallel government); several Shan factions; United Wa State Army or UWSA
International organization participation: ARF, AsDB, ASEAN, CCC, CP,
ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO,
IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador U LINN MYAING consulate(s) general: New [1] (202) 332-9044 chancery: Diplomatic representation from the US: Permanent Charge d'Affaires Priscilla A. CLAPP embassy: 96546 telephone: [95] (1) 282055, 282182 FAX: [95] (1) 280409
Flag description: red with a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing, all in white, 14 five-pointed stars encircling a cogwheel containing a stalk of rice; the 14 stars represent the 14 administrative divisions
Economy Burma
Economy - overview: Burma is a resource-rich country that suffers from abject rural poverty. The military regime took steps in the early 1990s to liberalize the economy after decades of failure under the "Burmese Way to Socialism", but those efforts have since stalled. Burma has been unable to achieve monetary or fiscal stability, resulting in an economy that suffers from serious macroeconomic imbalances - including an official exchange rate that overvalues the Burmese kyat by more than 100 times the market rate. In addition, most overseas development assistance ceased after the junta suppressed the democracy movement in 1988 and subsequently ignored the results of the 1990 election. Burma is data poor, and official statistics are often dated and inaccurate. Published estimates of Burma's foreign trade are greatly understated because of the size of the black market and border trade - often estimated to be one to two times the official economy.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $63 billion (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 2.3% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,500 (2001 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 42% industry: 17% services: 41% (2000 est.)
Population below poverty line: 25% (2000 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.8% highest 10%: 32.4% (1998)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 20% (2001 est.)
Labor force: 23.7 million (1999 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 65%, industry 10%, services 25% (1999 est.)
Unemployment rate: 5.1% (2001 est.)
Budget: revenues: $7.9 billion expenditures: $12.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $5.7 billion (FY96/97)
Industries: agricultural processing; knit and woven apparel; wood and wood products; copper, tin, tungsten, iron; construction materials; pharmaceuticals; fertilizer
Industrial production growth rate: NA%
Electricity - production: 4.766 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 83.3% hydro: 16.7% other: 0% (2000) nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption: 4.432 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2000)
Agriculture - products: rice, pulses, beans, sesame, groundnuts, sugarcane; hardwood; fish and fish products
Exports: $1.8 billion (f.o.b., 2001)
Exports - commodities: apparel 55%, foodstuffs 18%, wood products 13%, precious stones 2% (2000)
Exports - partners: US 27%, India 16%, China 7%, Japan 6%, Singapore 6% (2000 est.) note: as narcotics, teak, and gems - or the largely unrecorded border trade with China and Thailand
Imports: $2.2 billion (f.o.b., 2001)
Imports - commodities: machinery, transport equipment, construction materials, food products, textile fabrics, petroleum products
Imports - partners: China 26%, Singapore 23%, South Korea 15%, Japan 10%,
Taiwan 10% (2000 est.)
Debt - external: $6 billion (FY99/00 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $99 million (FY98/99)
Currency: kyat (MMK)
Currency code: MMK
Exchange rates: kyats per US dollar - official rate - 6.8581 (January 2002), 6.7489 (2001), 6.5167 (2000), 6.2858 (1999), 6.3432 (1998), 6.2418 (1997); kyats per US dollar - black market exchange rate - 435 (yearend 2000)
Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March
Communications Burma
Telephones - main lines in use: 250,000 (2000)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 8,492 (1997)
Telephone system: general assessment: meets minimum requirements for local and intercity service for business and government; international service is good domestic: NA international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 3, shortwave 3 (1998)
Radios: 4.2 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 2 (1998)
Televisions: 320,000 (2000)
Internet country code: .mm
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1 note: as of September 2000, Internet connections were legal only for the government, tourist offices, and a few large businesses (2000)
Internet users: 500 (2000)
Transportation Burma
Railways: total: 3,991 km narrow gauge: 3,991 km 1.000-m gauge (2000 est.)
Highways: total: 28,200 km paved: 3,440 km unpaved: 24,760 km (1996)
Waterways: 12,800 km note: 3,200 km navigable by large commercial vessels
Pipelines: crude oil 1,343 km; natural gas 330 km
Ports and harbors: Bassein, Bhamo, Chauk, Mandalay, Moulmein, Myitkyina,
Rangoon, Akyab (Sittwe), Tavoy
Merchant marine: total: 35 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 382,386 GRT/582,084 DWT note: includes some foreign-owned
