DAP: The breaking news in Cambodia: “Cambodia to distribute 2.7 million mosquito nets by year end” plus 7 more

YANGON, Aug. 3 -- Tour operators and travel agencies in Myanmar are being tasked to improve the country's tourism industry, the official daily New Light of Myanmar reported Wednesday.

"Tour operators and travel agencies are still considerably reliable for tourists, so tour operators are invited to the meeting for seeking means for improving the tourism industry with their experiences and knowledge," Union Minister of Hotels and Tourism U Tint Hsan told a meeting of the ministry in Nay Pyi Taw Tuesday involving the private tourism sector.

"Myanmar is pursuing the objectives of improving the Myanmar tourism industry and making Myanmar a tourist's paradise," he said.

So far, 11 hotel zones have been established in Nay Pyi Taw for expediting the tasks for improving the tourism industry and marketing travel service, according to the minister.

According to statistics, the number of tourist arrivals in Myanmar reached over 140,000 in the first four months of 2011, up about 30,000 from over 109,000 in 2010 correspondingly,

Most of the tourists arrived through Yangon, Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw international airports as well as through Muse and Tachileik border points by road respectively.

Visitors from China stood top in Myanmar's tourist arrivals, followed by those from Germany, Spain, Norway, Thailand, Cambodia and India. (Xinhua)

YANGON, Aug. 3 -- Myanmar and India are stepping up bilateral cooperation in a number of health sectors, the official daily New Light of Myanmar reported Wednesday.

The cooperation talks were carried out between the Myanmar Union Health Minister Dr. Pe Thet Khin and Indian Ambassador to Myanmar Dr. Villur Sundararajan Seshadri in Nay Pyi Taw.

The negotiation covered upgrading of Yangon's Children's Hospital and Sittway General Hospital, provision of telemedicine for Yangon General Hospital, training specialists and other medical professionals for liver transplantation and other subjects, the report said.

In February, India held a pharmaceuticals exposition Yangon, showcasing pharmaceutical products and medical equipment of India.

With the aim of exchanging information about pharmaceutical industry and medical treatment and promoting trade between India and Myanmar, the Indian pharmaceutical expo-2011, jointly organized by the Myanmar-India Business Chamber and Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India, is participated by 31 Indian companies.

Pharmaceutical entrepreneurs of the two countries also held seminars on latest findings on obstetrics and gynecology.

Myanmar imported over 5,000 categories of pharmaceutical products from abroad annually and the import in the fiscal year 2009-10 registered a value of 147.7 million U.S. dollars, an increase of 17.4 percent from 2008-09, according to statistics..

According to official statistics, Myanmar-India bilateral trade reached 1.071 billion U.S. dollars in 2010-11, standing as Myanmar's fourth largest trading partner after Thailand, Singapore and China.

Of the total, Myanmar's export to India amounted to 876.91 million dollars, while its import from India was valued at 194.92 million dollars. (Xinhua)

HOUSTON, Aug. 2-- Twelve people have died from the heat in the U.S. city of Dallas this summer, as a record-breaking heat wave is scorching many U.S. states, officials said Tuesday.

Dallas, the third largest city in Texas, has had over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) for 32 straight days as of Tuesday, with 12 heat deaths confirmed since mid-June, according to the Dallas County Medical Examiner's office. Temperatures are expected to reach record highs this week in several major Texas cities, including Dallas, Austin and San Antonio.

Parts of at least 14 U.S. states have been suffering from extremely high temperatures, according to the National Weather Service.

Moreover, the blazing temperatures have caused dozens of deaths across the central United States, U.S. media reported.

For example, in Oklahoma, high temperatures have killed 11 people, CNN quoted a state health official as saying. An excessive heat warning has been issued until Friday for most of Oklahoma.

In Texas, a Level 1 Energy Emergency was declared Tuesday afternoon as the record heat across the state led to the second consecutive day of record power use.

The Energy Emergency Alert (EEA) procedures are a progressive series of steps that allow the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT) to use power from other grids if available. It begins with a Power Watch, which is Energy Emergency Alert Level 1.

The operator of the state's electric grid said it is purchasing electricity from Mexico and other states as extreme temperatures are forcing the state to set new electricity consumption records. (Xinhua)

YANGON, Aug. 3 -- Six countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) -- China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam will make discussions on introducing single visa for the member countries at GMS travel show to be held in Myanmar later this year, according to tourism circle Wednesday.

Organised by the Tourism working group of the GMS, the travel show will be held in the ancient city of Bagan for development of tourism as part of its economic cooperation in the subregion.

Food show will also be attached with the travel show.

The 4,500-km Mekong river originates from China's Qinghai and runs through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam down to South China Sea near Ho Chi Minh city.

Myanmar, a member of the six-country GMS, has worked for closer economic ties together with other members of the grouping.

According to statistics, the number of tourist arrivals in Myanmar reached over 140,000 in the first four months of 2011, up about 30,000 from over 109,000 in 2010 correspondingly,

Most of the tourists arrived through Yangon, Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw international airports as well as through Muse and Tachileik border points by road respectively.

Visitors from China stood top in Myanmar 's tourist arrivals, followed by those from Germany, Spain, Norway, Thailand, Cambodia and India. (Xinhua)

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 3 -- The first meeting of the ASEAN- India Eminent Persons Group (AIEPG) was held here on Wednesday to exchange experience and explore ways to develop economic and trade cooperation.

Cambodian secretary of state for foreign affairs Kao Kim Hourn, the eminent person for Cambodia, said in the meeting that the AIEPG aimed at taking stock of ASEAN-India relations in order to explore ways to widen and deepen existing cooperation between the ASEAN and India as well as to recommend measures to further strengthen ASEAN-India relations in the future.

"The group would identify the strengths and expertise of ASEAN and India, seek viable opportunity and recommend practical actions to deepen and broaden the ASEAN-India partnership with the view to enhance mutual trust, benefit and shared prosperity," he said.

The eminent person from India Isher Judge Ahluwalia, currently chairwoman of the Board of Governors of Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), said the meeting was a good chance for the ASEAN-India eminent persons group to meet and share ideas on ASEAN-India integration and economic future of prosperity.

According to the document presented in the meeting, India is the seventh largest trading partner and the sixth largest investor in the ASEAN.

In 2010, the total trade between the ASEAN and India was 53.4 billion U.S. dollars, a growth of 36.6 percent from 39.1 billion U. S. dollars in a year earlier. This accounted for 2.6 percent of the total ASEAN trade in 2010.

As for foreign direct investment (FDI), the inflow from India to ASEAN member states was 2.54 billion U.S. dollars in 2010, an increase of 207.8 percent from 826.18 million U.S. dollars in 2009. This accounted for 4.24 percent of the total FDI into the ASEAN.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) group Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.​ (Xinhua)