ADB's Forecast For Asian Economies in 1998-99 MANILA (Nov. 27) XINHUA - The following are projections and forecast of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for growth rates of gross domestic product (GDP) in developing Asian economies in 1998 and 1999, which was released here Friday. 1997 1998 1999 Newly Industrialized Economies 6.0 -1.8 1.3 Hong Kong, China 5.2 -5.0 -2.0 Korea, Rep. of 5.5 -6.5 0.0 Singapore 7.8 0.0 1.0 Taipei, China 6.8 5.0 5.2 China & Mongolia 8.8 6.5 6.0 China 8.8 6.5 6.0 Mongolia 3.3 4.5 5.0 Central Asian Republics 7.8 0.9 1.2 Kazakstan 2.0 1.5 1.0 Kyrgyz Republic 10.4 4.5 4.0 Tajikistan 3.4 4.0 Uzbekistan 5.2 0.0 1.5 Southeast Asia 3.9 -6.9 -0.4 Cambodia 2.0 3.0 4.0 Indonesia 4.6 -16.0 -3.0 Laos 7.2 6.0 6.5 Malaysia 7.5 -6.0 -2.0 Philippines 5.1 0.2 1.0 Thailand -0.4 -7.0 0.5 Vietnam 9.2 5.0 6.5 South Asia 4.8 5.1 5.1 Bangladesh 5.7 5.0 5.5 India 5.0 5.0 5.2 Pakistan 3.1 5.4 4.3 Sri Lanka 6.3 5.2 6.2 Pacific Islands -4.1 2.1 2.2 Fiji -1.0 1.0 0.5 Papua New guinea -6.5 2.5 2.9 Average Projections 6.1 1.8 3.5 Roundup: Myanmar, Laos Further Boost Ties By Duan Tingchang YANGON (Nov. 26) XINHUA - The official visit by Lao Prime Minister Sisavath Keobounphan to Myanmar from Monday to Thursday will further strengthen the bilateral ties between Myanmar and Laos and bring their cooperation including that in trade and economy to a new stage, Myanmar officials here said Thursday. Sisavath left for home Thursday afternoon after visiting Nyaung Shwe, Shan state of the country. He earlier toured Yangon, capital of Myanmar, Mandalay and Bagan. Sisavath, invited by Senior-General Than Shwe, chairman of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council and prime minister, came for the first time to Myanmar since he became prime minister in February this year. Sisavath was also the fifth leader of an ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member country to visit Myanmar this year after those of Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Vietnam. Sisavath was accompanied by his wife Khamla Keobounphan, Vice-Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Somsawat Lengsavad, Commerce and Tourism Minister Phoumi Thipphavone and two other vice ministers. During Sisavath's visit, an agreement on mutual visa exemption for holders of diplomatic and official passports of the two countries' citizens was signed. Another agreement on cooperation between the state-run Myanmar News Agency and the Lao official news agency Khaosan Pathet Lao was also signed. The two sides also discussed economic cooperation. The bilateral relations between Myanmar and Laos have developed markedly in the last few years. In June 1994 and May 1995, Than Shwe and then Lao president Nouhak Phoumsavanh visited each other's country respectively. During the latter's visit to Myanmar, three agreements on trade and agricultural cooperation and the agreed minutes of the first meeting of the Myanmar-Laos Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) were signed. The two countries also exchanged ratification instruments regarding their agreement on the fixed international boundary in the Mekong river. In March 1997, then Lao Prime Minister Khamtay Siphandone (now the president) visited Myanmar and two agreements on drug control and border areas management and cooperation were signed. An agreement on tourism cooperation was also endorsed in May that year when Lao Deputy Minister of the Prime Minister's Office Cheuang Somboumkhanh visited Yangon. In August 1997, Lao Foreign Minister Somsavat Lengsavad met then his Myanmar counterpart U Ohn Gyaw in Yangon and co-chaired the third meeting of the two countries' JCBC, during which a wide range of bilateral issues were discussed. In September last year, Lao Vice Foreign Minister Phongsavath Boupha visited Myanmar and had discussions with Myanmar officials on the implementation of the two countries' agreement on border areas management and cooperation. This month, the two sides held the First Meeting of Border Authorities at the Central Level in Yangon. Myanmar and Laos, in an effort to facilitate the two countries' transport and communications, established air links in December 1995, with the Lao Aviation Co. flying between Vientiane and Yangon. The two countries, which have a bilateral cooperation agreement on drug control, are also among the six signatories to the 1993 New York Memorandum of Understanding on control of illicit trafficking and abuse of narcotic drugs in the region. In July 1997, Myanmar and Laos, together with Thailand, agreed in Vientiane at the third ministerial conference of the three nations on cooperation in eradicating opium poppy cultivation in border areas and combating trafficking of chemicals and materials for the production of narcotic drugs. In that month, Myanmar and Laos were simultaneously admitted into the ASEAN and since then the two countries have been receiving technical assistance from the grouping for the fulfillment of their obligations to the ASEAN Free Trade Area.