The summit of prime ministers of the four newer members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will be held on November 28, a day ahead of the annual meeting of ASEAN leaders in the Laotian capital.

An official involved in organising the summit, Mr Nguyen Hong Cuong, told a news conference in Hanoi on August 13 that most ASEM members had confirmed their attendance at the two-day summit, which begins on October 8.

Responding to Mr Powell’s criticism, a government spokesperson said Myanmar had embarked on a systematic, step-by-step approach in its democratic transition process to avoid “bloodshed, hardship and chaos”.

A TOTAL of 58 students in Mandalay Division received distinctions in all six subjects in the matriculation exams held last March, up from 11 in 2003, according to figures released by the divisional office of the Education Ministry.

THE relatives of victims of an explosion on a cargo ship in the Caribbean Sea off Colombia earlier this year have received millions of dollars in compensation payments.A total of US$2.1 million in compensation payouts was paid into the accounts of victims at the Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank earlier this month.

LAHORE – Security forces in the eastern Pakistan city of Lahore have arrested two more Al-Qaeda suspects, including a Myanmar national carrying “vital documents”, an official said on August 16.

THE Ministry of Transport will open an office in Singapore in late August in a bid to increase the number of shipping lines that fly the Myanmar flag, thereby boosting the country’s revenue, said a senior official at the ministry’s Department of Marine Administration.

The visit was aimed at studying Myanmar’s foreign, defence and economic policies, Pakistan’s ambassador, Mr Muhammad Nawaz Chaudhry, told Myanmar Times on August 19.

A MEMBER of a group of Americans who are driving around the world to focus attention on Parkinson’s disease said the highway between Lashio and Mandalay had been the highlight of their trip so far.

A copy of the film – Pay sat thu toe ei hnit lone thar (the hearts of the givers) – was taken back to China to consider for entry in the festival by a delegation from the Chinese Film Association headed by the organisation’s secretary-general, Mrs Lieu Xiuwen, following their visit to Myanmar in May.

“Album producers once relied on journals and television to advertise their releases, but they have come to use temporary billboards as an important medium,” said Ko Soe Wai Phyo, the marketing assistant at the Zomia Media Company, Ltd., advertising agency.

EFFORTS to preserve the endangered Ayeyarwaddy dolphin can be aided by bringing tourists to upper Myanmar to witness the rare cooperative relationship between the freshwater mammals and fisherman, said a freelance marine biologist.

“The Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr Goh Chok Tong, asked that the car rally end in his country, so we forwarded this request to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in India, which agreed to extend the length,” said Mr Rajive Kaul, a past-president of sponsoring Confederation of Indian Industry.

MIES principal Mr David Schaefer, who resigned as head of the board at the Yangon International Educare Centre less than six months ago, said the school was designed to provide children with an international standard of education.

The activities include competitions during August and September for essays, articles, photos, works of art and posters with a theme devoted to rice. The winners of the competitions will receive awards on October 16, World Food Day.

The aim of the association is to organise dairy farmers and milk product manufacturers from around the country to promote the industry, an official from the private-sector federation told Myanmar Times.

THE Ministry of Transport will upgrade its Institute of Marine Technology in Yangon next January to offer diplomas and bachelor degrees.The Myanmar Mercantile Marine Degree College will offer a four-year bachelor degree, a one-year advanced diploma and a two-year diploma courses, said U Win Thein, the principal of the IMT.

THE Myanmar Hotelier Association is planning to mark its second anniversary in October by launching a magazine aimed at publicising its activities.The magazine will cost about K1000 an issue and will be published every six months, said the association’s deputy administrator, Daw Ni Ni Aye.

A deputy general manager of the enterprise, U Tin Win, said 29 private companies, including 18 that started business early this year, applied for nearly one million additional acres of land in March.

WILDLIFE experts and environmentalists from ASEAN nations gathered in Yangon last week to discuss proposals to be submitted to a conference of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Bangkok in October.