iPackets Sees Continued Growth in China in Light of the Chinese Government's Decision to Spend $60 Billion on Safety Over the Next Five Years
Monday September 18, 9:45 am ET
VANCOUVER, BC--(MARKET WIRE)--Sep 18, 2006 -- iPackets International, Inc. ("iPackets") (Other OTC:IPKL.PK - News), a developer and provider of wireless communications solutions for the global mine-safety industry, announced today that the recent announcement by the central Chinese government to spend $60 billion over the next five years on safety will have a direct impact on iPackets' continued efforts in the mine-safety industry in China.
According to State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) official, "the money will be spent in nine areas, ranging from coal mine accident prevention, checking for potential accidents, technological innovations and rescue efforts to enforcement of regulations and laws as well personnel training." During its August 31, 2006 meeting, SAWS laid the foundation for underground miner tracking system standards. The standards can be viewed on SAWS' web site www.chinasafety.gov.cn (Chinese language only).
Recently the province of Shanxi, the largest coal mining province in China, passed a regulation that requires all coal mines in the province must install an underground miner monitoring and communication system. This is similar to the U.S. MINER Act of 2006 that was signed into law by President George Bush in June 2006.
iPackets president and CEO commented: "The global mining industry is enjoying a rapid growth and mining operations are under pressure to enhance mine-safety measures. The recent announcement of the Chinese central government to increase its spending on safety measures will provide state-owned mines with the required funding to acquire mine-safety solutions, such as our iPMine system. With respect to the Shanxi province recent mine-safety mandate, iPackets has recognized the importance of the coal mining industry in Shanxi and in May 2006 successfully demonstrated its iPMine system to the 7th largest coal mining operation in China, based in Shanxi. These two announcements will have a significant impact on our growth and quest of being the premium two-way wireless mine-safety solution servicing the mine-safety industry globally."
About the Mining and Mine Safety Industries in China
China comprises more than 280,000 mining enterprises, of which 80,000 are state-owned. There are over 25,000 state-owned coal mines in China, of which over 700 are classified as large mines. Mine safety has been a major issue in the Chinese mining industry, with more than 6,000 miners killed in mining-related accidents in China last year; independent estimates say the real figure could be as high as 20,000. According to Chinese government statistics, more than 12.2 million people were employed as miners in 2005, and approximately 7.0 million of these were coal miners.
