The Burmese military junta is now preparing to lease out 129,000 acres of land in Arakan State to Vietnam for rubber cultivation, according to a report in a local journal Hot News published on 13 August, 2010.

The report stated that the Burmese regime has already agreed to lease the land to a Vietnamese company, but did not mention the name of the company.

If true, most of the land located between Taungup Township and Ma Ei Sub-Township in Southern Arakan will be leased to the Vietnamese corporation in the near future. A survey of land in the two townships, including mountain ranges near Ma Ei Sub Township, was recently completed by the survey department.

A local source said officials from Arakan State's survey department in Sittwe travelled to the area along with several officials from the local survey department last week to inspect and survey the lands located in the eastern and western parts of Ma Ei Township.

In Arakan State, rubber plantation projects began several years ago in 1995, and there are now 2,231 privately-owned acres of rubber plantation as well as 978 acres owned by Industry Ministry 1.

The junta also agreed to lease 50,000 acres of farm land to Bangladesh in 2007, but the project has not yet been implemented for unknown reasons.