BURMA RELATED NEWS AUGUST 21, 2012.

Myanmar media push for more press freedom
Published: Aug. 21, 2012 at 6:30 AM

YANGON, Myanmar, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- Myanmar's journalists are demanding more press freedom despite the end this week of the country's 50-year-long practice of censoring publications before they go to print.

Myanmar's Ministry of Information announced the move to end immediately the need for publishers to get prior approval from the Press Scrutiny and Registration Department.

However, publishers still must submit articles to the PSRD to determine if publishing laws have been broken.

"It's a real improvement, but the 2004 Electronics Act, as well as the draconian 1962 Printers and Publishers Registration Act, should also be abolished in order for the fourth estate to enjoy full press freedom," Zaw Thet Htwe, spokesman of the Committee for Freedom of the Press, told the Irrawaddy news Web site, run by expatriate Myanmar journalists operating in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Zaw Thet Htwe also said the CFP, which was formed last month to call for an end to censorship, planned protests this week to demand more media freedom.

Thiha Saw, the editor of Open News Journal and Myanma Danna magazine, told Irrawaddy that some subjects including corruption -- something of which many of the country's top leaders have been accused -- will remain extremely sensitive for the government. Post-publication scrutiny is the PSRD's way of letting editors know the government is watching them.

Incurring the government's wrath could mean the withdrawal of a publication's license to print, a permit mandated under the Printers and Publishers Registration Act.

There also remains a myriad of regulations, orders and directives that have been imposed over the five decades of military rule, he said.

The head of the BBC's Myanmar Service, Tin Htar Shwe, said journalists are cautiously optimistic about the reforms, even though there remains many regulations under which journalists can be punished for writing material that angers or offends the government.

Tint Swe, head of the PSRD, said the move is a step in direction for allowing more private newspapers to publish.

More information on proposed media freedom will be available when the government submits a draft law to Parliament for approval, Tint Swe said.

Myanmar's latest freedoms don't include films, a report by the Mizzima news Web site, run by Myanmar expatriates in New Delhi, said.

The Mizzima report said journalists largely welcomed the dumping of pre-publication censorship -- applied to everything from newspapers to song lyrics, fiction, poems and even fairy tales.

It was one of the repressive methods of control used by the military junta before it handed over to an elected Parliament last year.

The foreign media in Myanmar remain under tight control, the Mizzima report said. Along with domestic reporters, they aren't allowed to travel freely in the country's ethnic regions.

Ko Ko Hlaing, general secretary of the union Myanmar Journalists Association -- officially sanctioned by the government -- said that media personnel must be more accountable for their articles under the new policy.

"There will be accountability, along with freedom of the press," Ko Ko told Mizzima.

"Under the freedom of press, if a story is written indiscriminately (not factually), there will be many problems," including lawsuits.
****************************************************
Aug 22, 2012
Asia Times Online - Myanmar sanctions defy logic
By David I Steinberg

WASHINGTON - It was inevitable. The US Congress was not about to let the sanctions on Myanmar, also known as Burma, die. The ritual of the annual renewal was held up in congress because it was attached to some legislation about Africa, on which there were disputes.

The renewal seemed set to lapse, but congress came through and on August 2 again approved sanctions on Myanmar imports into the US. President Barack Obama then signed the legislation, despite his government's earlier encouragement of the positive political changes underway in Myanmar under President Thein Sein's year-old administration.

So once again, and in spite of significant and applaudable progress on Myanmar policy, including a recent lifting of a ban on US corporations making new investments in the country, the US is still behind the reformist curve on Myanmar. Sensible foreign policy on Myanmar is being held partly captive to an arcane American internal political process.

The sanctions' renewal was strongly endorsed by Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, with whom the Obama administration arguably has many more important items to debate than Myanmar. Many Americans will comment that contradictory policies (improving international relations and pursuing opposite internal US policies) is nothing new. It occurs in so many instances, so why consider it important, or even consider it at all?
They would be right on the frequency, but wrong on the impact. The US pays far less attention to the effects of its policies abroad, which are usually not seriously considered, than to internal US considerations. Yet the impacts in the affected areas and on the image of the US as a significant world leader are often undercut. The US is now the only country in the world that has import sanctions against Myanmar.

The argument in support of such a policy position runs along these lines: sanctions forced Myanmar's former military rulers into reforms and internal political accommodations, including allowing for opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to win a seat in the new parliament, that have so far been made. So continuing some form of sanctions is a type of "insurance" policy that those instituted will be continued, and that others will follow.

Yet the reforms continue, including an official announcement on Monday that the government will end pre-publication censorship of the press and shift to a system of ex post facto reviews. This is a significant first, but still insufficient, step toward full liberalization of the media, until recently considered by press freedom and human-rights groups as among the most repressed in the world.

Even so, US sanctions can be re-imposed at any time. (The European Union "suspended" theirs for a year). Congress would be ever so willing to do so with a nod from Suu Kyi and others prominent in the opposition - so the "insurance" argument is specious. But the purpose of sanctions under both the Clinton and both Bush presidencies was not reform of the government in power, but rather regime change, a policy which clearly failed. Did the Myanmar people want the sanctions removed? Yes, in part because they believed the sanctions could not take down the military junta, and they were proven correct.

The continuation of US sanctions in any form is a public threat. Such public threats against nations often cause intense nationalistic responses, as they did for so many years in Myanmar under the previous military junta. But in the Myanmar case such threats are interpreted as a vibrant sign of something more subtle: a form of US arrogance. That is, that the state under such restrictions cannot be trusted to do what it has promised, and that only the US has the knowledge and power to force adherence to the rules of the game as defined by its most powerful player.

The Obama administration made important and positive changes to the US position on Myanmar, advocating "pragmatic engagement" that after over a decade of debilitating sanctions has proven to be effective. These changes were based on reforms instituted under Thein Sein and with the agreement of Suu Kyi, not only the world avatar of democracy but the long effective determinant of US policy toward that country, even while spending years under house arrest under the previous military regime.

The US's removal of certain restrictions aims to improve the lives of the Myanmar people by helping to alleviate their dire poverty and by allowing, among other things, US investment in labor-intensive industries that would provide badly needed jobs - many of which had been eliminated through past US sanctions that resulted in the closure of factories.

Although that goal is certainly appropriate, by not allowing Myanmar imports into the US (some US$356 million annually in garments before sanctions were imposed on imports) that were produced by tens of thousands of Myanmar workers, is the US not undercutting the very goals for which the engagement policy changes were designed? Since most of those so employed were women, are we not also hindering the US policy of trying to improve women's lives and livelihoods?

The US has recently made substantial progress on what it calls its "Burma" policy, and these changes have been welcomed by many who have some realistic appreciation of the country's history, the role of the military in that society, its complex ethnic composition, and its strategic location. That such progress is encumbered by unnecessary impedimenta diminishes both the significant changes recently seen in Myanmar and that the most effective US policy shift under the Obama administration in Asia.

David I Steinberg is Distinguished Professor of Asian Studies, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University.
****************************************************
Aug 22, 2012
Asia Times Online - Rocky road to World Bank re-engagement
By Carey L Biron

WASHINGTON - Following on calls by civil society, the World Bank has released a draft summary framework for its re-engagement with Myanmar over the next year and a half, with formal interim strategy slated to be ready by the end of October.

At the beginning of August, the World Bank, along with the Asian Development Bank, reopened offices in Yangon, following more than a year of widely watched though still disputed political and social reforms in the country. This marks the first formal engagement between the World Bank and Myanmar, also known as Burma, in 25 years, as well as the first ever entry of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank Group's private-sector arm.

Already the bank has pledged an US$85 million loan, also expected for approval in October, alongside a plan to restructure Myanmar's debt, worth some $400 million.

Now, the bank has released a draft summary of what is formally known as an interim strategy note (ISN), intended to help inform ongoing consultations on the draft ISN. But the move comes following urging by local and international NGOs and amidst ongoing complaints that the bank has not engaged in adequate consultation with local communities.

Indeed, there is still no local-language version of the ISN, though the bank says that this is under preparation.

To date, local organizations and communities have felt the World Bank's approach is non-inclusive, sparse on details, lacks transparency and, most worrisome, does not solicit input from the organizations and communities most affected by conflict and development to inform their decision-making process, Jennifer Quigley, with the Washington-based US Campaign for Burma, told IPS.

Just prior to the ISN release, four dozen Myanmarese NGOs sent a letter to the World Bank's headquarters, expressing their anxiety that "the Bank's re-engagement activities in our country ... have been rushed, secretive and top-down."

The letter's writers note having "initiated discussions" with the bank and others since early this year and admit that the current situation of flux and reform "presents opportunities for the World Bank to practice good governance". But they also characterize the ISN design process as "flawed".

"While there have been some informal meetings with World Bank staff and some civil society networks ... there was never any mention of the ISN, let alone formal consultations," the letter states.

"[N]o consultation approach, consultation materials, guide questions, location or timeline were ever disclosed. The outcomes of the consultation and the draft ISN are not even posted online."

This last point has now been rectified, and the bank is openly requesting emailed reactions to the draft ISN.

"The World Bank is and has been consulting widely," the bank's Chisako Fukuda told IPS. "From the ongoing consultations on the draft ISN, we have already heard important views from a range of people in Myanmar, from government, civil society, local and international NGOs working on Myanmar, development partners, UN agencies and the private sector, and we look forward to further discussion."

For their part, the NGO representatives offered a series of detailed suggestions to bank officials, both with regard to how to structure a stronger consultation process and on how to safeguard its re-entry into Myanmar.

These latter include a spectrum of economic, environmental and human-rights-related protections based on Myanmar's "history of rights abuses and corruption ... particularly in relation to infrastructure projects, coupled with the country's history of economic isolation".

Local complexities
According to the draft ISN, much of the bank's initial work over the year-and-a-half will revolve around assessments, evaluations and capacity-building, readying the ground for a full country program to follow.

The document also includes a pointed recommendation to "Move slowly and scale up gradually; invest in developing government's implementation capacity and fiduciary/safeguard systems", though this warning may be complicated by a separate reference to "generating quick and tangible impacts in people's daily lives".

Perhaps the most contentious section of the ISN will be the bank's plan to "support the peace process in border areas through community-driven development programs to promote the recovery of conflict-affected communities". According to Pamela Cox, World Bank vice-president for East Asia and Pacific, in a video released this week, this aspect of the bank's proposed work plan would receive about US$5 million in funding.

While a focus on these communities is undeniably critical, their engagement is also the most complicated. It is here that locals are most marginalized from the reforms process in Myanmar, most alienated from the state and most suspicious of "development", often seeing such projects as thinly veiled attempts to take over their resource-rich lands.

In late July, a network of ethnic Karen community-based organizations released a statement criticizing the Norway-led Myanmar Peace Support Initiative (MPSI), a high-level project working to assist in negotiating peaceful settlements among the ethnic conflicts still raging in several of Myanmar's border regions. (In June, the World Bank had pledged to support Norway's efforts.)

Worryingly, the Karen criticisms sound strikingly similar to those voiced more recently on the World Bank's ISN design process, decrying the effects of a "lack of transparency and community involvement" in the MPSI.

"Given those problems, we ask MPSI and other proponents of donor-driven peace funds not to undermine our peace process, but rather to move to a more inclusive and transparent process," the letter stated.

"MPSI should not take shortcuts or sow division within our leadership and our community in a bid to rush the deployment of funds. We understand your sense of urgency, but this process is too fragile to easily survive major mistakes that can be avoided."

Some groups have recently voiced concerns that international groups, partnering with the government, could effectively squeeze out community-led initiatives in the border areas.

"If the World Bank goes through the government, there are many questions that we need to ask - for example, will only registered groups get opportunities?" Paul Sein Twa, with the Karen Environmental and Social Action Network and one of the lead writers of the recent letter to the World Bank, told the Democratic Voice of Burma, a news website, last week.

"We would encourage them to see many of the unregistered and local groups working in the border regions as well. If the international NGOs don't understand the issues on the ground, there could be many problems."
****************************************************
Press Freedom
Deutsche Welle - One step closer to press freedom in Myanmar
Date 21.08.2012

Myanmar has abolished direct media censorship in a further step towards democratization. Observers, however, say there is still a long way to press freedom.

Analysts and human rights organizations welcomed Myanmar's announcement to abolish pre-publication censorship on Monday.

"The lifting of pre-publication censorship is a significant step towards press freedom and further liberalization in Myanmar," Marco Bünte from the Hamburg-based German Institute for Global Affairs told DW.

Johann Behr from Reporters without Borders also said it was an "important step" but made clear that "it does not mean censorship in Myanmar has been completely abolished."

'A double-edged sword'

A soldier patrols through a neighbourhood that was burnt during recent violence in Sittwe

Ethnic riots in Sittwe were not reported about in the Myanmar press

Behr also pointed out that the censors had been hard at work in recent weeks to ensure there was no reporting about the ethnic riots between the Buddhist majority and the Muslim Rohingya minority in the northwestern state of Rakhine.

"The past weeks have shown that the authorities are very, very vigilant regarding articles about inland security," Behr said.

"Press freedom can be a double-edged sword," added Bünte. "The media could fan hatred between ethnic groups and lead to violence continuing or even escalating."

He said that the Rohingya had been openly hounded on Myanmar's social media networks.

"However, restrictions should of course not be used to suppress reporting altogether," Bünte said, adding that there had to be a balance.

Reforms are urgent

Observers know that it will take some time before there is press freedom based on fundamental ethical standards in Myanmar. "The authorities will tell journalists that they have to bear responsibility," explained Bünte. "However, because of decades without any press freedom at all, journalists will be faced with difficult questions about what exact responsibility they have to bear."

President Thein Sein made the first step towards reforms in January 2011 when he announced an end to censorship after 47 years. Later on that year, pre-publication censorship was lifted for certain subjects, including sports, news, entertainment, health and science and technology. Since then the press laws have been revised and the creation of a press council has been announced.

"These are all steps in the right direction that enable the local media to regulate themselves," said Behr. "But it remains to be seen whether the planned press council will really be independent," he said skeptically, pointing out that the government was fickle in its attitude towards press freedom.

Bünte was more confident: "Because of the return of journalists who were in exile, there is a great potential to drive the democratization of Myanmar forward," he said.
Journalists participate in a protest along the streets of Yangon

Will such protests one day be unnecessary?

However, he did add that many journalists were critical of the new press laws, especially of the fact that they were based on the old ones.

Journalists operate in gray zones

It remains to be seen what kind of practical impact the abolishment of pre-publication censorship will have in Myanmar. Some fear the newly-won freedoms could lead to self-censorship because the legal framework remains unclear.

"Journalists know that pre-publication censorship has been abolished but they still don't know how far they can go as individuals - how independent they really are," said Behr.

This is especially true of controversial subjects. "This is the crunch. At some point corruption and conflicts, especially human rights abuses in the minority regions, will be exposed," said Behr.

For the time being, the risks involved remain unforeseeable.
****************************************************
8/21/2012 @ 12:44PM
Forbes - Myanmar Opens Up, Slowly
Mark Bergen, Contributor

The headlines from Citigroup’s Vikram Pandit interview with the Financial Times, snagged as he sailed through Hong Kong, focused on his refusal to endorse big bank break ups. But buried in there is another tidbit: Pandit’s admission that he sees a bulk of his company’s future growth in digitized transactions, made in the global south. Namely, in the cities of emerging market countries.

Perhaps, Yangon, the newest arrival. For U.S. and Asian companies, Myanmar is still in its “look-see” phase. Some, like Visa, are now dipping in, watching carefully to see if and how the nation unfolds its authoritarian grip. Yesterday’s news, that the nation is ending its overt media censorship, is likely how the unfolding will go. Encouragingly, but uneven and imperfect.

Cole Buerger, a consultant with expertise on Myanmar and a friend, is tracking the country’s leap from the gates. His take on the censorship change is a smart one:

Yet, decades of restrictions on freedom of the press remain, and the Ministry of Information will still ask that articles be sent to them in order to be monitored for criticism of the government. A Burmese journalist friend of mine based in Chiang Mai compared them to Thailand’s lèse majesté laws, except that in this case “all of the actions of the government in Naypyidaw are illegal to talk about.” He is exactly right in this instance. By lifting the overt censorship but retaining the threat of punishment for criticizing the government, they are simply asking the journalists and the outlets that employ them to censor themselves. One can hardly ignore the peer pressure that will be on journalists and editors from their colleagues to not publish anything that would jeopardize their jobs. Democratic Voice of Burma touched on this issue yesterday.

He also offers advice to companies eying corporate social responsibility there. I can’t speak to the scene on the ground there—but in India companies, both foreign and domestic, appear to be shifting from CSR done flippantly to a more intentional approach.

As it continues its reforms, Myanmar has serious humanitarian issues to address. The systemic abuse of the Rohingyas is clear and deeply troubling. But the nation also has equally clear economic potential:

The IMF said in January that it saw “high growth potential” for the country. Citing stronger commodity exports and higher investment, supported by robust credit growth and improved business confidence, it estimated economic growth of 5.5 per cent in the 2011-12 fiscal year and forecast a rise to 6 per cent in the current year to March 2013. The government recently raised its estimate to close to 7 per cent in the current fiscal year.
****************************************************
Washington Post - Burma is pressed to free remaining political prisoners
By Steve Finch, Updated: Tuesday, August 21, 3:30 AM

RANGOON, Burma — Saw Hlaing has been sentenced seven times by Burma’s military-style courts and has spent more than 14 years in jails across the country.

During his most recent term behind bars — some 6½ years — his wife died, as did his father, his son became a man, and his daughter gave birth to his first grandchild.

Ethnic violence between India’s Hindu Bodo tribespeople and its Muslim minority has prompted many to flee from major cities.

But the former right-hand man of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi says he is one of the lucky ones.

“There are many more people in prison, and they must be released immediately,” he said.

Since President Thein Sein took office in March of last year, more than 650 political detainees have been freed, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), a group that collects information on prisoners. The releases were a key factor in the U.S. decision last month to lift some investment and financial sanctions as Burma’s leaders begin to implement change after decades of often-brutal military rule.

But the United States, other Western governments, human rights groups and the opposition continue to demand an amnesty for all political detainees remaining in the country. The question is: How many, exactly, are there?

“It depends on the definition of a political prisoner,” said Naing Naing, whom Suu Kyi has tasked with maintaining a list of detainees from his shabby wooden desk at their party headquarters in Rangoon.

Many activists are still detained under draconian state security laws that remain despite the flurry of legal changes in Burma, also known as Myanmar. Others were jailed for more-innocuous offenses, such as owning a computer or a fax machine.

These cases are typically a front for underlying political persecution. But in others the opaque motives of the regime — past and present — have remained unclear, even in the few cases that involve foreigners.

More contentious among activists and opposition figures is whether former military intelligence officials jailed after a purge in late 2004 should be included on political-prisoner lists. Many in that group were directly involved in detaining activists.

Former prime minister and spy chief Khin Nyunt and his son were released in January, but many lesser operatives, business associates, friends and family members linked with this out-of-favor faction remain behind bars. Few, if any, of their names appear on prisoner lists drawn up by campaign groups.

Naing Naing estimates that at least 245 political prisoners remain in Burma but concedes that it is impossible to know. Many are held in remote prisons, and the government has maintained strict secrecy in terms of who they are and what exactly they may have done in some cases. Equally unclear is why some are released and others, sometimes convicted on lesser offenses, are not.

“We don’t have any idea how they make the lists of people they have released,” Naing Naing said.

Suu Kyi, the United Nations and Western governments have privately pressed Burmese authorities to collaborate on a mechanism to identify and release political detainees, but progress remains slow and difficult.

Derek Mitchell, the new U.S. ambassador in Rangoon, said authorities could start by making prison and court records public alongside a formal consultation process with political parties, Burma’s many ethnic groups and families of prisoners.

“Ultimately, we want the government to establish a structured, credible process to resolve disputed political-prisoner cases and close the book on this issue definitively,” he said.

Ethnic violence between India’s Hindu Bodo tribespeople and its Muslim minority has prompted many to flee from major cities.

The United Nations’ human rights envoy, Tomas Ojea Quintana, noted this year that the government classifies many as “convicted with irrefutable evidence,” while the International Committee of the Red Cross has not been granted access to a Burmese jail since 2005.

Meanwhile, authorities continue to make secretive arrests amid sporadic clashes between government forces and insurgents in the north of Burma and in the west, where sectarian violence between Buddhists and Muslims in Rakhine state broke out in June.

“If the government has a case to bring against someone for rioting or insurgent activity, it should make the case,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

The government has made only patchy progress on the treatment of prisoners after their release, according to those recently freed, another factor considered under sanctions.

Soon after Saw Hlaing was released from a prison far from his home — a tactic that keeps detainees from their families, another grievance of government critics — he was found to have liver cancer, a condition he attributed to years of terrible prison food and water poisoned by colonial-era lead pipes at the jail.

When doctors said he could not be treated in Burma, Suu Kyi and other well-wishers, as well as a hospital in Mandalay, donated tens of thousands of dollars so he could receive treatment abroad, but the authorities took three months to supply a passport, he said.

His 23-year-old son then donated half of his healthy liver, and Saw Hlaing said he spent six months in a New Delhi hospital recovering after a transplant operation. After he returned to Rangoon on Aug. 6, the government placed a restriction on his passport, preventing him from traveling abroad freely.

Burma has seen significant progress toward freedom for its citizens, Saw Hlaing said, grinning, “but the road is very rough.”
****************************************************
VOA News - Economists Warn Burma Against Breaks For Foreign Investors
Daniel Schearf - August 21, 2012

BANGKOK — Burma is drafting a foreign investment law to usher in a flood of foreign capital aimed at helping the country emerge from decades of poverty and isolation. But, economists warn the law, as drafted, has problems.

A half century of military rule, and mismanagement nearly destroyed Burma’s economy.

The civilian government that replaced military rule in 2010 is making efforts to restore growth by encouraging foreign investment.

But, Burma’s lawmakers this year have struggled to hammer out a new foreign investment law.

Unsure of what incentives were needed, initial drafts gave foreign investors full ownership of business ventures, eliminating the need for local partnerships but also the opportunity to learn from multinationals.

Newer drafts restrict full foreign ownership in certain sectors or ban their investment completely.

Sean Turnell, an economist with Australia’s Macquarie University, told the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand the draft foreign investment law was now facing a local backlash.

“There’s been a bit of a push back against some of the concessions granted to foreign investors,” said Turnell. "In particular, there seems to be a walling off of some of the sectors from foreign investors. Now, that’s a bit unfortunate because in a sense a much more open approach, particularly in sectors that are dominated by local conglomerates that you know dominate the economy, we really need an injection of competition on that front.”

Burma’s military and those close to it have controlled the economy, doling out monopoly contracts and concessions to friends and relatives.

Most current foreign investment in Burma is in extracting rich natural resources such as in gas, mining, and timber.

Burma’s reformist government hopes the new law will diversify and increase foreign investment, partly by offering several years tax-free.

But economists including Turnell say a tax holiday is an unnatural competitive advantage over local entrepreneurs.

“The country has been walled away for fifty years,” said Turnell. "There are incredible opportunities. That’s why the planes are full, that’s why the hotels are full. Foreign investors are worried about issues to do with stability, certainty over tenure, electricity, infrastructure problems. Not a single business person internationally I’ve spoken to has ever mentioned taxation.”

Turnell says the tax break for foreign business could also allow a loophole for Burma conglomerates. They could use their foreign subsidiaries to evade taxes that smaller business would still have to pay.

Khin Maung Nyo, a Rangoon based economist at the Center for Economic and Social Development, says 94 changes were made to the draft law so far, indicating a growing lack of confidence that smaller, local businesses can compete.

“[If] they enjoy foreign tax incentive or not, our local businessmen are not ready to compete with in terms, as I mentioned earlier, in terms of technology or in terms of management, or in terms of capital,” said Khin.

Economists say one of the bigger challenges for investors in Burma is getting access to credit to build a business.

Some farmers turn to loan sharks, paying as much as 10 per cent a month, and falling into deep debt.

Burma’s Eleven Media Group reports a new draft investment law for citizens of Burma could offer some relief.

The legislation would give local investors an exemption on income tax for five years, but only if they produce goods or services deemed necessary for the state.

The Eleven Media Group says the law, as drafted, would mainly benefit private firms contracted to operate state-owned businesses.

The draft foreign investment law is still being debated but could be signed into law as early as this month.
****************************************************
Japan Corporate News - Mitsubishi Corportion Establishes Nay Pyi Taw Office, Myanmar

Tokyo, Aug 21, 2012 - (JCN Newswire) - Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) is pleased to announce that it will establish a new office in Nay Pyi Daw, the capital city of Republic of the Union of Myanmar (Myanmar), on 1st September 2012.

Myanmar is rich in natural resources, and has the geographical advantage of sharing a border with China, India and other ASEAN countries. Its population of approximately 62 million forms a basis for further industrial development and carries high potential as a consumer market.

Democratization picked up pace in Myanmar during the course of last year and, since then, several countries have been removing existing economic sanctions. Consequently, rapid government-led infrastructural development, including power generation, telecommunications services, airports and road construction, is expected to take place on the basis of international support.

Since the establishment of an office in Yangon in 1954, MC has maintained a presence in Myanmar, thereby contributing to the local economy through the trading of a range of products such as fibers, food provisions, steel and machinery. By establishing the Nay Pyi Taw Office, MC will strengthen its information gathering function, together with the Yangon Office. With the two Offices, MC aims to further contribute to Myanmar's industrial development and sustainable growth, by focusing on infrastructure development projects, which will be funded through international yen loans and other sources.

Outline of Nay Pyi Taw Office

1. Official Name: Mitsubishi Corporation Nay Pyi Taw Office
2. Address: No. 129, Thiri Yadanar Shopping Complex, Nay Pyi Taw
NB: Operations will be carried out at the Aureum Place Hotel Office area until the end of September, 2012.
3. Representative: General Manager, Mitsuo Ido (concurrent; General Manager of Mitsubishi Corporation Yangon Office.)

About Mitsubishi Corporation

Mitsubishi Corporation (MC; TSE: 8058) is a global integrated business enterprise that develops and operates businesses across virtually every industry including industrial finance, energy, metals, machinery, chemicals, foods, and environmental business. MC's current activities are expanding far beyond its traditional trading operations as its diverse business ranges from natural resources development to investment in retail business, infrastructure, financial products and manufacturing of industrial goods. With over 200 bases of operations in approximately 80 countries worldwide and a network of over 500 group companies, MC employs a multinational workforce of nearly 60,000 people. For more information, please visit www.mitsubishicorp.com.

Contact:

Mitsubishi Corporation
Telephone: +81-3-3210-2171
Facsimile: +81-3-5252-7705
****************************************************
21 August 2012 | last updated at 08:54PM
New Straits Times - Indonesian killed after argument with Myanmar workmates

BUKIT MERTAJAM: An Indonesian factory worker was found beaten to death, following an argument with three Myanmar workmates at a shop in Jalan Permatang Rawa here yesterday.

The victim was identified as Purawadi, 24, who had a permit to work at the onion processing factory where he was employed for nine months.
The police have detained the factory manager and three workers to facilitate investigations into the murder.

State Criminal Investigation Department chief SAC Mazlan Kesah said today, Purawadi's assailants were armed with an iron pipe, knife and wood when they confronted him.

He said the victim was earlier, drinking at the shop with three Myanmar workmates before a quarrel broke out.

He said Purawadi fled from the shop before he was attacked in his room at a workers' quarters, about 80 metres away.
****************************************************
UK hails Myanmar move on press freedom

London, Aug 21 (PTI) Britain has welcomed Myanmar's move to remove the 48-year-old pre-publication censorship on the news media in the country, describing it as an important development as Yangon moves to the establishment of full democracy.

Reiterating Britain's view that Myanmar should set up an independent investigation into the violence against Rohingiya Muslims in the Rakhine state, Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt described this as an important time in the country's transition towards full democracy.
****************************************************
Asia News Network - Samsung widens business in Myanmar
Sithu Aung - Eleven Media Group
Publication Date : 21-08-2012

South Korean conglomerate Samsung has linked up with two more Myanmar companies as its authorized sale representatives in a bid to expand its market in the country, it was learned yesterday.

Samsung has reached agreements with Royal GK Pte Ltd and MT (Myo Thein) Electronic for ‘Business to Business’ (B2B) and retail sale in Myanmar while the AA Electronics Ltd., will continue wholesale in the country.

“We will open a showroom at the end September. All products, including the latest items, of Samsung will be available there,” said U Kyaw Soe, deputy General Manager of Gunkul Engineering Co., Ltd.

Samsung now has three local partners: AA Electronics Ltd, Royal GK Pte Ltd and MT (Myo Thein) Electronic.

Royal GK Pte Ltd is a Singapore-registered company and it is linked with Gunkul Engineering Co., Ltd and Zeya & Associates Co., Ltd., which are exclusive partners of Thai-based Gunkul Engineering Public Company Ltd.

MT Electronic is famous in Mandalay and upper Myanmar, and has just opened in Yangon.

Although Samsung has a large market share in Myanmar for mobile phones, tablet computers, TV sets, video players and refrigerators, it has small market share for other products like air conditioners, washing machines, digital cameras and microwave ovens.

In the first quarter of 2012, Samsung Electronics became the world's largest mobile phone maker by unit sales, overtaking Nokia, which was the market leader since 1998.
****************************************************
Asia News Network - Ancient edifices in Myanmar to be declared historical parks
News Desk- Eleven Media Group
Publication Date : 21-08-2012

Historic buildings, including ancient courts, moats and forts in Myanmar, will soon be declared historical, according to the Archaeology, National Museum and Library Department.

The buildings include Myanansankyaw Golden Palace and Moat in Mandalay, Shwebon Yadana Mingala Palace in Shwebo, Kanbawzathadi Palace in Bago, Hsinkyone Fort near Inwa, Thabyedan Fort near Inwa Bridge and the forts in Sagaing.

The department has invited tenders to foreign firms for upgrading the buildings and providing services.

U Kyaw Lwin Oo, director-general of the department, said: "Most people think the ancient regions will be turned into parks. It's absolutely not. We will only need to upgrade them to become parks.

"Other countries have their historical parks. Thailand has many. For example, Ayutthaya serves as a park. In parks, we need landscaping. When we carry out upgrading tasks with outside companies, we will adopt regulations in order that the styles of our ancient buildings cannot be affected."

Myanmar has seen a sharp increase in the number of tourists as it increasingly opened up to the outside world and introduced political and economic reforms.

About half a million tourists have arrived in the country as of July and the number is expected to reach 1 million before the end of this year.
****************************************************
TravelDailyNews Asia - AirAsia ready to become Myanmar’s second largest international carrier
Luc Citrinot - 21 August 2012, 10:32

With two additional daily flights to Yangon and the launch of weekly services to Mandalay, low cost carrier AirAsia will become this winter the second largest international carrier in Myanmar in seats capacity.

Myanmar’s opening to the world could not remain unnoticed for too long by strategic planners of Asia’s largest low cost airlines group, AirAsia.

The carrier has been flying now to Yangon for a couple of years offering for the time being two daily flights out of Bangkok and one daily flight out of Kuala Lumpur. Currently AirAsia offers on the Yangon market 10,800 seats per month with an Airbus A320, all-economy class. From October, the carrier group will step up its presence by adding a massive 13,656 additional seats: 2,856 seats will be attributed to the new route between Bangkok and Mandalay while one more daily flight will be offered out of Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok to Yangon.

This injection in seats will make AirAsia the second largest carrier to and from Myanmar. According to data from IATA SRS Analyser (reported planning on August 20, 2012) total seat capacities next November by AirAsia and Thai AirAsia will reach 28,776 seats on 167 flights.

The AirAsia Group will then come very close to the capacities offered by the country’s own international flagship carrier Myanmar Airways International. According to IATA SRS Analyzer, MAI will provide 28,800 seats on a monthly basis for 192 flights to six destinations next November.

AirAsia new KL flight will provide opportunity to fly for a day out of Malaysia and come back in the evening while the Thai AirAsia flight will provide possibilities to further connections in Bangkok, although the airline will move back to the old Don Muang Airport which will only welcome AirAsia international flights for the time being. Thai AirAsia was the first among AirAsia subsidiaries to fly the route, starting in 2006 while AirAsia Bhd in Malaysia opened its Kuala Lumpur frequency back to July 2010.

There is no confirmation or information provided by AirAsia about it. But looking at the strategy of the airline in the past and its recent difficulties to secure an affiliate in India or in Vietnam, the Red-white-tail budget carrier is certainly already studying opportunities to enter into the Myanmar air market with its own affiliate. It would then help AirAsia to secure its development towards Western Asia and integrate perfectly well into the group’s fast expansion…

Myanmar will see an influx of new air frequencies this winter season with Thai Airways, Vietnam Airlines, All Nippon Airways, Asiana, Eva Air, Qatar Airways, China Southern and BIMAN being back to Yangon. According to a study done by Routes, many other international carriers used to fly to Yangon in the past. It included Austrian Airlines (Lauda Air), Lao Airlines, Pakistan Airlines and Royal Brunei among others.
****************************************************

(ဆက္ဖတ္ရန္.......)

ေနရာတက်ျပန္ထားရင္ ပိုေကာင္းတာေပါ့...

BURMA RELATED NEWS AUGUST 20, 2012.

Myanmar government ends direct media censorship
By YADANA HTUN | Associated Press – 7 hrs ago

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar abolished direct censorship of the media Monday in the most dramatic move yet toward allowing freedom of expression in the long-repressed nation. But related laws and practices that may lead to self-censorship raise doubt about how much will change.

Under the new rules, journalists will no longer have to submit their work to state censors before publication as they for almost half a century. However, the same harsh laws that have allowed Myanmar's rulers to jail, blacklist and control the media in the name of protecting national security remain unchanged and on the books.

For decades, this Southeast Asian nation's reporters had been regarded as among the most restricted in the world, subjected to routine state surveillance, phone taps and censorship so intense that independent papers could not publish on a daily basis. President Thein Sein's reformist government has significantly relaxed media controls over the last year, though, allowing reporters to print material that would have been unthinkable during the era of absolute military rule — like photographs of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Information Ministry, which has long controlled what can be printed, made the announcement on its website Monday. The head of the ministry's Press Scrutiny and Registration Department, Tint Swe, also conveyed the news to a group of editors in the country's main city Yangon. The move had been expected for months but was repeatedly delayed as the government struggles to draft a new media law to overhaul the industry here.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland welcomed the announcement but urged Myanmar to abolish the censor board entirely.

Tint Swe previously said the censor board itself would be abolished when censorship ends. But Monday's announcement indicated the board will stay and retain the powers it has always had to suspend publications or revoking publishing licenses if they deem publishing rules are violated.

Nyein Nyein Naing, an editor from the Seven Day News Journal who attended Monday's meeting, said journalists will still have to submit their articles to the censor board. But now, she said, they will be required to do so after publication, apparently to allow the government to determine whether any publishing laws are violated.

Those laws, in place since a military coup in 1962, include edicts prohibiting journalists from writing articles that could threaten peace and stability, oppose the constitution or insult ethnic groups. Critics say some laws are open to interpretation and give the government enormous power to go after its critics. They have been used repeatedly in recent years to jail members of the press.

Nyein Nyein Naing welcomed the government announcement, as did other journalists in Myanmar. But she added: "We have to be very cautious as (the state censor board) will keep monitoring us."

It was not immediately clear to what degree continued government scrutiny could lead to self-censorship. Some topics remain highly sensitive, like corruption and alleged abuses committed by army officers during the previous ruling junta. Overzealous authorities could use the threat of prosecution to prevent articles from being published or exact harsh punishments for material they don't like.

Late last month, the censor board wielded some of that power by ordering the suspension of two weekly magazines — The Voice Weekly and Envoy — for speculating on a still-anticipated Cabinet reshuffle. Those punishments have since been lifted, and the two magazines are due to begin publishing again on Aug. 18.

Shawn Crispin, the Committee to Protect Journalist's Southeast Asia representative in Bangkok, said that "if the government is sincere in ending pre-publication censorship, it would represent a significant step forward for press freedom in Burma." Myanmar is also called Burma.

However, if press laws are not reformed as well, "then all of these promises can be easily rolled back if they feel a free press threatens government security," Crispin said.

Since last year, when the nation's long-entrenched military junta ceded power to a nominally civilian administration dominated by retired army officers, censorship has ended on subjects such as health, entertainment, fashion and sports. Media outlets publishing such topics — deemed less sensitive — were allowed to publish without submitting their work to state censors beforehand.

Monday's announcement means the rest — more than 140 newspapers and magazines focused on things like politics and religion — will have the same freedoms.

Tint Swe said, however, that independent papers were not yet allowed to publish on a daily basis, despite the change. But he added: "That is coming soon."
****************************************************
Myanmar government abolishes direct media censorship
By Aung Hla Tun | Reuters – 5 hrs ago

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar abolished direct media censorship on Monday, the latest dramatic reform by its quasi-civilian regime, but journalists face other formidable restrictions including a ban on private daily newspapers and a pervasive culture of self-censorship.

Under the new rules, journalists no longer have to submit reports to state censors before publication, ending a practice strictly enforced during nearly half a century of military rule that ended in March last year.

"This is a step in the right direction and a good approach, but questions of press freedom will remain," said Aung Thu Nyein, a senior associate at the Vahu Development Institute, a Thailand-based think tank.

"We can expect the government to still try to assert some control, probably using national security to keep the media in check," he added.

Previously, every song, book, cartoon, news report and planned piece of art required approval by teams of censors rooting out political messages and criticisms of one of Asia's most repressive governments.

Changes have gathered steam since June last year when the Ministry of Information decided to allow about half of Myanmar's privately run weekly journals and monthly magazines to publish without submitting page proofs to a censorship board in advance.

On Monday, restrictions were lifted on the remaining 80 political and six religious journals, said Tint Swe, head of the press censorship board at the Ministry of Information.

Over the past year, Myanmar, also known as Burma, has introduced the most sweeping reforms in the former British colony since a 1962 military coup. A semi-civilian government, stacked with former generals, has allowed elections, eased rules on protests and freed dissidents among other changes.

Newspapers have since been testing the boundaries, often putting opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on front pages and giving coverage to government critics. Editors say this was unthinkable before the middle of last year.

The United States, which has quickly improved ties with Myanmar as the reforms gather pace, said the end of direct censorship was another positive step.

"That said, the Censorship Board itself has not been eradicated, which obviously is a step that we would like to see the government take," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told a news briefing.

REMAINING RESTRICTIONS

But while the authorities can no longer count on the same strictly controlled media that was ranked 169th of 179 nations last year in a global press freedom index by anti-censorship group Reporters Without Borders, significant restrictions remain.

Privately run daily newspapers are still not permitted, leaving a monopoly to state-run papers filled with propaganda. It was only last year that they dropped back-page banners attacking Western media for "sowing hatred".

Asked about the chance of ending a ban on private dailies, Tint Swe said: "We can say it has become closer than before. It could happen after enacting the necessary media law."

Journalists also said they still feared their reports could fall foul of various laws on the statute book, especially when covering issues deemed sensitive to national security.

In June, for instance, Reporters without Borders criticized a threat by Yangon chief minister Myint Swe to prosecute news media covering sectarian violence in the country's western Rakhine state, saying it highlighted "the fragility of recent improvements in media freedom".

"There will be more responsibilities on the editors since there are some existing laws under which action can be taken against journalists for their writing," said Wai Phyo, chief editor of the Weekly Eleven journal.

Remaining Orwellian laws include the Electronic Transaction Law, enacted in April 2004. It says "whoever receives or sends or distributes any information relating to secrets of the security of the state" can face up to 15 years in prison.

The definition of state secrets has been applied loosely in the past. At one point, it included any reference to the amount of money in circulation in Myanmar. Prominent activists such as Buddhist monk Shin Gambira were jailed under that law during a 2007 crackdown on monk-led protests.

With that law in place, media will still be choosing their words carefully, likely adopting the kind of self-censorship in place in other parts of Southeast Asia. In Singapore, for instance, media is usually careful to avoid displeasing the government and not falling afoul of strict libel laws.

Zaw Htike, a senior reporter and secretary of the Myanmar Journalists Network, which has more than 200 members, had a similar view, and added that journalists would now have to take more responsibility for what they wrote.

"I believe we also need to promote a code of ethics among journalists," he said.
****************************************************
US welcomes Myanmar end to censorship
AFP – 3 hrs ago

The United States on Monday welcomed Myanmar's announcement that it has abolished pre-publication censorship, but called on the nation to go further by abolishing its censor board.

"We welcome the announcement of the Burmese government that journalists are no longer going to need to pre-submit their articles to the ministry of information censor board," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters, using Myanmar's previous name of Burma.

"That's positive. That said, the censor board itself has not been eradicated, which is obviously a step that we would like to see the Burmese government take because they continue to monitor the press," she said.

Myanmar for decades had some of the world's most tightly controlled media, with officials checking everything from newspapers to song lyrics before release, but it has eased restrictions since it launched reforms last year.

Political and religious journals -- the last areas that required pre-publication checks -- were allowed to go to press without previous approval starting on Monday.

President Barack Obama's administration has put a priority on reaching out to Myanmar to encourage reforms. Last month, the United States suspended restrictions on companies investing in the former pariah nation.

Media rights groups also called on Myanmar to abolish the censorship board formally.

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said that if the decision truly results in the end of pre-publication censorship, "it will mark an historic break with half a century of strict government control of print media content."

But the group in a statement voiced reservations, saying the order should apply to all forms of media and voicing concern that "other, inappropriate measures will be adopted as an alternative form of post-publication censorship."

An information ministry official told AFP that film censorship remained in place and that television journalists will "self censor" by asking for instructions about sensitive news.

The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based advocacy group, also called on Myanmar to abolish its censorship board and revise its laws, saying that otherwise its announcement on Monday "is a half-measure at best."

"Until the Burmese government undertakes thorough reform, journalists are still at risk of censure and the free flow of information cannot be guaranteed," Shawn Crispin, the group's senior Southeast Asia representative, said in a statement.
****************************************************
Myanmar could be mid income nation by 2030: ADB
AFP – 14 hrs ago

Strong economic growth could lift Myanmar to the rank of middle income nation by 2030 if the formerly army-ruled country overcomes a host of reform challenges, the Asian Development Bank said Monday.

Myanmar's gross domestic product (GDP) has the potential to expand at an annual pace of 7.0-8.0 percent, while per capita income could triple over the next 18 years, the Manila-based multilateral lender said.

It called for greater investment in infrastructure, education, health and social services to put the country on a sustainable recovery path.

ADB Vice President Stephen Groff said there was "really quite strong potential for growth" in Myanmar.

In order to realise its potential, there needs to be a continuous strong commitment to reform," he added.

Decades of economic mismanagement under military rule saw Myanmar fall far behind its neighbours in terms of living standards.

Myanmar is currently one of just a handful of countries in Asia still considered a low-income nation, along with Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Nepal.

The World Bank classifies low-income countries as those with gross national income per person of $1,025 or less.

But in the future Myanmar could match economic growth enjoyed by fast-growing neighbours in the region, Groff said.

"This growth needs to be inclusive, needs to reach everybody from the middle class to the very poor," he added.

The ADB and the World Bank both recently opened offices in the impoverished country, which is emerging from decades of military rule under a new reformist government.
****************************************************
The Atlantic Wire - Myanmar's Journalists Can Now Censor Their Own Stories
By Dashiell Bennett | The Atlantic Wire – 7 hrs ago

The government of Myanmar is ending a 50-year practice of requiring journalists to submit all their stories to a censor board before publication, but there's a catch, of course. According to The Associated Press' Yadana Htun, the censor board still exists and will continue to monitor publications. It can also still suspend licenses and punish those who violate their laws. The difference is that now they'll be reviewing articles after they've already been published, putting the onus of self-censorship on the journalists themselves.

Even so, it's a major step forward for a country that has had essentially zero press freedom since a military takeover in 1962. Under those strict rules, all media — books, music, cartoons, art — had to pass by a government censor board lest they "threaten peace and stability." Since its first general election in 2010, however, the government has very slowly and cautiously relaxed some of its rules, even allowing opposition leader (and Nobel Peace Prize winner) Aung San Suu Kyi to leave her house arrest and the country to promote democracy abroad.

All great reforms don't happen overnight, however. Just last month, the government censors banned two weekly news magazines from publishing altogether, but the ban was lifted over the weekend and they were allowed resume publishing. Freedom press thing takes a little getting used to.
****************************************************
Myanmar to investigate violence in Rakhine
Published: Aug. 20, 2012 at 1:14 PM

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- The United Nations is ready to assist a 27-member panel in Myanmar tasked with investigating religious violence in Rakhine state, the secretary-general said.

The government in Myanmar established a 27-member coalition of national leaders to probe violence in Rakhine, near the border with Bangladesh.

Violence erupted along Myanmar's coastal area in June after the alleged rape and killing of a Buddhist woman. Buddhists retaliated by attacking Muslims. The United Nations estimates at least 78 people were killed during the clashes.

A statement attributed to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the world body was ready to assist with what he said would be a probe "integral to any reconciliation process" in the country.

Myanmar received praise from the international community for taking steps toward democracy. General elections were held in 2010, though concerns were expressed over human rights and national security in the country.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation had asked the U.N. Security Council to look into the government's handling of clashes in Rakhine.

A U.N. report released Thursday put the number of people displaced by the fighting in Rahkine at more than 68,500.

The government also announced Monday it was easing up on restrictions placed on journalists, who previously had to submit their reports to censors.
****************************************************
The Nation - ADB forecasts rapid growth for Myanmar; incomes to triple by 2030
Wichit Chaitrong, August 20, 2012 2:52 pm

Myanmar is expected to be a middle-income nation by 2030 if the country remains committed to ongoing reforms, according to Asian Development Bank .

Myanmar could follow Asia's fast growing economies and expand at 7 to 8 per cent a year, to become a middle income nation, the ADB said in a report released today in Bangkok. Its per capita income is set to triple by 2030, if the nation can surmount substantial development challenges by further implementing acrosstheboard reforms

Myanmar's strategic location, rich natural resources and abundant labour forces leave it perfectly positioned to prosper from Asia's dynamic economic growth, added Stephen Groff, ADB's vice president for East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

"Myanmar could be Asia's next rising star. But for this to happen, there needs to be a firm and lasting commitment to reform," Groff said at the press conference.

ADB's economists have warned that there are multiple constraints and risks involved, when the country liberalises its economy, for one, its greater volatility in capital flows, said CynYoung Park, assistant chief economist. She added that significant risks include impact of climate change, pollution from economic activities and tension from internal conflicts.
****************************************************
The Nation - Myanmar economy forecast to grow average of 7-8 per cent
August 20, 2012 3:11 pm

Myanmar is poised to become Asia's next "rising star" with a decade of average annual economic growth of 7 to 8 per cent and a tripling of per-capita income by 2030, the Asian Development Bank said Monday.

Myanmar’s gross domestic product (GDP) was expected to grow 6 per cent this year and 6.3 per cent in 2013, the bank said.

"Inflation has been brought down to a single digit, and fiscal deficits are being kept at 4 per cent to 6 per cent of GDP," an ADB report said.

The bank opened an office in Yangon this month. It painted a rosy picture of economic prospects after five decades of military rule and isolation, as long as the government is committed to political and economic reforms it launched last year under President Thein Sein.
****************************************************
Calcutta News.Net - Myanmar moves a step closer to free media but restrictions remain.
Monday 20th August, 2012

YANGON - Myanmar announced Monday that it has ended direct media censorship in what is being described as a "positive step to a free press" and one of the most dramatic steps towards democratic reforms in the quasi-civilian ruled state.

But a slew of restriction on free expression remains in place even as the announcement means that journalists will no longer have to submit their work to state censors before publication as they did for almost half a century.

Earlier, every song, book, cartoon, news report and any piece of art required approval by teams of censors who would root out political messages and criticisms of one military government.

The announcement was made by Tint Swe, the deputy director general of the Press Scrutiny and Registry Division of the Ministry of Information to a meeting of editors in Yangon.

In June last year, the government allowed about half of Myanmar's privately run weekly journals and monthly magazines to publish without submitting page proofs to a censorship board in advance.

The restrictions were lifted on the remaining 80 political and six religious journals, said Tint Swe.

Nyein Nyein Naing, executive editor of the Myanmar newspaper 7 Day News, welcomed the move as a "positive step to a free press". But, he said, it is far from achieving the ultimate goal of absolute freedom of press.

"The Censorship and Press Scrutiny Board office still exists and will monitor whether we violate the law or other rules and regulations of the PSB," he said.

"The end of censorship doesn't mean we have freedom of press. Press freedom still has a long way to go."

The editor noted that drafting of the new press law would remain an incomplete task till local journalists were not involved in this process.

The government circulated a document that stipulated that stories critical of the state or the government should not be published which also include the article adversely affecting relations with other countries.

It also barred media organisatons from going ahead with new articles about corruption, manufacturing and dealing in illegal narcotic drugs, forced labor and child soldiers "without having source reliability".

Articles mentioning parts of the body that are "not appropriate to reveal according to Myanmar culture" are also banned.

This means that despite partially lifting curbs, some harsh laws that have allowed Myanmar's rulers to jail, blacklist and control media persons in the name of protecting national security remain unchanged.
****************************************************
Manila Bulletin - North Korea, Myanmar Attracting investors
A Global View
By DR. BETH DAY ROMULO
August 20, 2012, 4:55pm

THE word is out that Myanmar is ready to open its doors to the outside world and encourage foreign investment. This isolated country of 60 million people is said to be putting in reforms designed to attract foreign investors, including allowing the private sector to participate in the economy for the first time since a military coup took power in 1962. The list of needed reforms is challenging: Infrastructure is crumbling. The financial and legal systems are undeveloped. Power supplies are erratic. And the country's telecommunications system is outdated.

But Myanmar's president, former General Thein Sein, has a popular mandate to make needed changes and some reforms have already been implemented. Most important was tackling the restrictive foreign investment law which has now been amended to set up 100% owned companies. Some political reforms are also in place since free elections were held in 2010, which shifted the country to a more democratic form of government.

In response to these changes in Myanmar, the United States and the European Union have eased sanctions and the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank are re-starting operations in Myanmar. Before sanctions were relaxed, what little investment came into the country came from China, Thailand, and South Korea, most of which was in the oil, gas, and mining sectors. Outside investment is now coming in from other countries including the Philippines. Philex Mining, Splash Manufacturing, and San Miguel Brewery will all invest in Myanmar.

In North Korea, the new young leader, Kim Jon-un, who took power on his father's death six months ago, is sending out tantalizing signals about himself and his secretive nation. He allowed pictures of himself with an attractive young woman – who, after much speculation, turned out to be his wife of three years, the former opera singer, Ri Soi-ju. Since taking office, the young Kim has consolidated his power by dismissing the most powerful head of the military and replacing him with a veritable unknown. This is seen by analysts as Kim's way of reining in the powerful military, and signalling to the outside world that he is ready to promote peaceful diplomatic and trade relations with the outside world. The young smiling Kim (neither his grandfather nor his father ever smiled in photos) is clearly charting a more open course. In his first public speech since assuming office, he pledged to build a prosperous country and told a visiting Chinese delegation that his goal was to "develop the economy and improve people's livelihoods."

Although North Korea sent one of the smallest national delegations to the London Olympics, they won four gold medals and one bronze.
****************************************************
IRIN - MYANMAR: Rebels pledge no more child soldiers

CHIANG MAI, 20 August 2012 (IRIN) - Two ethnic groups in Myanmar recently became the first rebel fighters to sign a “deed commitment” with Swiss-based rights group Geneva Call, pledging to eliminate underage soldiers and protect children in armed conflict.

As signatories the Karenni National Progressive Party/Karenni Army (KNPP/KA) and the New Mon State Party/Mon National Liberation Army (NMSP/MNLA) must ensure that children aged under 18 are not recruited into or used by their armed forces. They are also required to meet obligations related to the well-being and rights of children affected by armed conflict, such as education and assistance for children in areas under their control.

Signatories must ensure that children aged under 18 are not recruited into or used by their armed forces, and are also required to meet obligations related to the well-being and rights of children affected by armed conflict, such as education and assistance for children in areas under their control.

“Our policy is to respect international humanitarian law in a military operation,” New Mon State Party spokesman Hong Sa told IRIN. “We fully welcome international monitoring.” In 1995 the Mon party signed a cease-fire agreement with Myanmar’s military government but tension remains after the Mon refused to lay down their arms in 2010 to join the government’s Border Guard Force.

“The action that they took by signing on to the document is the right way to go and we want to encourage that other non-state groups do the same,” said Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's (HRW) Asia division.

“I think it's significant, because it points in the right direction and re-emphasizes the commitment by some of the ethnic groups that, in fact, recognize that this is a problem that needs to be addressed,” Robertson noted.

In 2011 HRW documented the continued recruitment and use of child soldiers by all parties to Myanmar’s conflicts, in violation of international law.

Next steps

Observers are waiting to see if larger ethnic groups like the Karen, the Wa and the Kachin follow the example of the Karenni and the Mon.

“Regarding child soldiers, we have already signed deeds of commitment in 2007 with UN agencies and we no longer have any child soldiers among our troops,” said Karen National Union vice-president David Thakrabaw.

The Karen elder - who was a soldier at the age of 14, when the Karen conflict began in 1949 - commended Geneva Call’s initiative, but is sceptical about the military’s recent pledge to stop recruiting and using child soldiers. “We are interested in this process [of pledging not have children in the army] because the government side is still using child soldiers.”

Child soldiers refers not only to those who take up arms, but also children under 18 years who are a part of an armed force in any capacity, including cook, porter or messenger.

In June a group of UN agencies, headed by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), signed a joint plan with Myanmar’s Defence Ministry that set a timetable and actions needed to release and reintegrate children associated with government forces, as well as prevent any further recruitment.

“I would hope that the Tatmadaw [Myanmar Armed Forces] will recognize that there can be a mutual immobilization of child soldiers on both sides of these armed conflicts,” Robertson said.
****************************************************
August 20, 2012, 2:11 PM SGT
Wall Street Journal (blog) - Myanmar’s Growing, but Has a Long Way to Go
By Patrick Barta, UPDATED AT 7 P.M.

YANGON–Myanmar may be poised for years of explosive growth. If so, it has a long way to go before it comes close to catching up with its neighbors.

That tough reality is one of the themes that emerges in the latest Myanmar report by the Asian Development Bank, released Monday, which provides one of the most comprehensive pictures of the Myanmar economy in years.

The report, “Myanmar in Transition: Opportunities and Challenges,” predicts that Myanmar’s economy will grow by about 6.0% in 2012 and 6.3% in 2013 on the back of commodity exports and a pick-up in foreign investment – about as much as other fast-growing regional economies such as Indonesia. It also suggests that Myanmar could grow at 7%-8% per year for a decade or more, replicating the success of other Asian economies, if the government continues to push more reforms after giving residents more freedoms and floating the country’s currency over the past year.

But the depths to which Myanmar’s economy sunk during its years of military rule from 1962 to 2011 mean it could take years if not decades for it to start catching up to many of its regional peers.

Consider some of these factoids from the ADB report.

Only about 26% of Myanmar’s population had access to electricity in 2011, versus 100% in Malaysia and roughly 90% or more in the Philippines and Vietnam.

Only 1.26 people out of every 100 in Myanmar have fixed telephone lines, versus roughly 16 in Indonesia, while only 0.03 out of 100 have broadband Internet subscriptions, compared to about eight in Malaysia.

Roughly 30% of Myanmar doesn’t have access to safe water.

The list goes on. Myanmar has 40 kilometers of roads for every 1,000 square kilometers; Vietnam has 480. Myanmar has 18 vehicles per 1,000 people, while Thailand has 370.

Myanmar’s economy in some ways has changed little since the 1960s or otherwise fallen behind as Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam zoomed ahead. Agriculture accounted for 35% of Myanmar’s gross domestic product in 1965; in 2010, it was 36%. Its per capita income in 1960 was about $670, more than three times that of Indonesia and more than twice that of Thailand. By 2010 it had the lowest GDP per capita in Southeast Asia, at about $1,300 on a purchasing power parity basis.

There are some areas where Myanmar has made notable progress, the ADB said. Its infant and maternal mortality rates have dropped considerably since 1990, though they remain high, and adult literacy is now well above 90%. Rice yields have increased steadily despite a lack of irrigation and other infrastructure. Overall growth in recent years has helped boost Myanmar’s foreign currency reserves to help buttress the country against economic shocks, and policy makers have helped bring inflation to manageable levels.

But the ADB noted that many experts believe Myanmar’s official economic data may have exaggerated the growth that occurred in recent years. Myanmar reported an average of 12% annual growth from 2000 to 2010, but such figures “have been deemed overstated and rather unreliable” given the country’s poor statistical capacity, the ADB said. It cited International Monetary Fund figures that estimate growth averaged just 4.6% from 2002 to 2010.

Other data that tend to correlate with GDP growth was also far weaker than official GDP figures would suggest. Cement sales, for instance, only grew 1.8% per year from 2004 to 2009.

Ko Ko Hlaing, an adviser to Myanmar President Thein Sein, said in an emailed response to questions that it “may be true” that GDP figures from 2002 to 2010 were not reliable because the country’s currency had many values at the time, complicating calculations, and some regional authorities may have exaggerated growth to please superiors. He said it’s possible the actual rate of growth was somewhere between the IMF estimates and Myanmar’s calculations, “but one can never find the exact point.”

Part of Myanmar’s problem, no doubt, is that it has been subject to tough Western sanctions that prevented Western firms from buying Myanmar products or investing there, though economists believe policy mistakes and over-reliance on inefficient state enterprises also played a major role in the weak economy. Many experts believe one of the reasons Myanmar’s government is finally changing after years of military rule is that its leaders are disappointed in the country’s poor performance compared with other Asian countries, and want to do something about it.

Either way, Myanmar remains heavily dependent on just a few industries, with more than two-thirds of its exports coming from three products – natural gas, logs and legumes, the ADB said.

The country also faces major risks going forward, despite all the recent excitement over reforms there. As Western governments lift sanctions and more investors charge in, the country could run into an assortment of challenges that commonly bedevil frontier economies, including inflation, exchange-rate instability, hot money flows, and credit bubbles. Those risks are particularly acute in Myanmar due to its relatively under-developed regulatory environment and immature financial sector, with poor tax collection, an under-developed bond market, and widening fiscal deficits.

The good news, ADB said, is that Myanmar is taking some important steps to address some of its problems. After years of miserly spending on health and education – it has been the only developing Asian country that spends more on defense than education and health combined – it is boosting health care and schools spending significantly, to 7.5% of government expenditure in fiscal year 2012-13, from 5.4% a year earlier. The budget for education is more than doubling in nominal terms in fiscal year 2012-13.

Having the ADB back in Myanmar may also help. The ADB, along with the World Bank, recently opened an office in Myanmar after suspending lending to the country years ago after Myanmar became an international pariah because of allegations of human-rights violations. The changing environment in Myanmar means multilateral institutions can work there again, though ADB officials stress Myanmar still needs to make good on $504 million of arrears to the bank before more money can flow.

An important question is whether Myanmar’s government will institute the kinds of financial-sector and other reforms needed to ensure it can continue to afford its spending, including boosting its tax haul and ensuring the country’s central bank has enough independence to properly manage the economy. Growth may indeed take off in Asia’s newest frontier market, but it’ll take a while to see whether its leaders have the skill to manage it.

And here’s one other final, sobering statistic: If Myanmar’s economy does manage to grow 7%-8% per year for a long stretch, it might still only hit GDP per capita of $2,000–$3,000 by 2030. To many economists, this is good news, since it would put Myanmar safely into the ranks of middle-income countries, ADB said. But it’s still a far cry from its peers. Malaysia’s GDP per capita in 2010 on a purchasing power parity basis was nearly $15,000.
****************************************************
Last updated: August 19, 2012 11:54 pm
The Financial Times - Myanmar starts flights between big cities
By Gwen Robinson in Bangkok

An air shuttle service is to provide the first daily flights between Myanmar’s former capital, Yangon, and the burgeoning new capital of Naypyidaw, ending the 12-hour return trip over bumpy roads, as the country takes another step towards opening up to the global economy.

The service will “revolutionise” life, according to one Yangon-based executive, for government officials, foreign diplomats, business executives and Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader, who regularly make the 660km round trip.

The operator, First Myanmar Investment, is set to announce the service this week, offering four flights a day from September 9. Up to now, the only alternative to travelling by road has been an erratic, occasional air service that is often cancelled at the last minute.

Although the service will immediately benefit VIP visitors to Naypyidaw, the government and private sector see it as a critical addition as Myanmar prepares to host the Southeast Asian Games and other gatherings such as the World Economic Forum next year, and to chair the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2014.

Serge Pun, one of Myanmar’s most influential businessmen and chairman of First Myanmar Investment, said he decided to lease the aircraft and start the service because of the time he was spending on the road journey. “I am not in the airline business but I always wanted to do this. I hate that 11-hour journey – and clearly, it is something the market needs.”

Naypyidaw, built in relative secrecy on a sparsely populated site in central Myanmar under the former military regime in the early 2000s, has expanded rapidly in size and importance since it opened in 2006. It has grown from a skeleton population of about 300,000 bureaucrats, military personnel and villagers to almost a million, and visitors have increased from a handful to several thousand a week.

The city hosts the country’s sprawling, combined houses of parliament, its ministries, military headquarters, some branches of foreign offices including embassies, and most recently the Asian Development Bank, which opened its Naypyidaw office this month.

As well as all the infrastructure for the SEA Games, more than 20 hotels are being built or have just opened, and many more will come, according to tourism officials. Yangon runs frequent flights to tourist destinations such as Mandalay, but no operator has set up regular flights to Naypyidaw because of a lack of capacity, the consultant Vriens & Partners noted in a recent report on Myanmar’s investment opportunities.

All that is now changing, particularly after western governments eased sanctions this year, noted Vriens. “Sanctions prohibited airlines from properly maintaining and upgrading aircraft… Flights are infrequent to many destinations but schedules are growing to meet new demand from both tourists and local citizens.”

At present, budget travellers to and from Naypyidaw can take coach services to Yangon for Kt13,000, or about $15. But for VIPs, both foreign and domestic, cars are the only option, and many make the trip four or even five times a week. One government adviser, who lives in Yangon but is frequently in Naypyidaw, described it as the “most unproductive, costly use of time and energy”. As Myanmar lacks 3G networks, “you can’t even sit in a car or bus and do your emails”, he said.

The new service, under the name FMI Air Charter, offers two aircraft, a 44-seat twin turboprop ATR 42 and a 16-seat Beechcraft, that will ply the route in 50 minutes. Although the flights will cost $160, nearly three times the amount charged for the local airline’s occasional flights, Mr Pun says it is a small price to pay. “I am very optimistic, I think everyone who goes to Naypyidaw on business – or vice versa – needs this.”
****************************************************
NDTV - India to raise issue of morphed online images in North-East scare with Pak
Reported by Sudhi Ranjan Sen, Edited by Abhinav Bhatt | Updated: August 19, 2012 12:30 IST

Bangalore: Morphed images circulated online that fuelled panic and fear among people from the North-East originated in Pakistan, Home Secretary RK Singh said on Saturday evening. The government is expected to raise the issue with Pakistan soon.

"We have got a hold on the wrong messages, false images... Photos of people who had died in cyclones etc. were circulated as victims of violence in Myanmar and Bodoland... We want people to know that bulk of this was done from Pakistan. We will raise this issue with Pakistan. I am certain they will decline it but our technical team is certain," he said, while addressing a press conference in New Delhi.

"A total of 76 websites were identified where morphed images were uploaded and bulk of these were uploaded in Pakistan," Mr Singh told PTI. "He said these websites have been blocked.

Seven people have been identified out of which three have been arrested for spreading rumours that spread quickly through the north-eastern communities of cities like Hyderabad and Bangalore, the Home Secretary added.

Starting Wednesday, the SMS-es threatening students and professionals from the North-East convinced thousands to board special trains from Bangalore and Pune, both cosmopolitan cities, to Guwahati.

The Centre, on Friday, banned bulk SMs-es and MMS-es, so the same text message or video cannot be sent by phone to more than five recipients.

The governments of Karnataka, Assam and the Centre have been urging people not to be swayed by rumours or online videos that are inflammatory. The government has ordered websites and social networks to identify incendiary posts and take them down.

The text messages and online videos, designed to provoke tension and often urging violence, link themselves to recent violence in Myanmar and Assam, where 80 people have died in ethnic violence in the last month.

In Assam, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is trying his best to convince those returning to the state from Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune that they should go back to the cities they work in as soon as possible.

"I am telling everyone who is coming back to return. The government of Karnataka has assured full protection. I want all of them to go back as soon as possible. We will arrange for special trains from here to southern states whenever they want," he said.

But this may offer little assurance to the thousands of North-East citizens who arrived in Guwahati this morning after a long journey from cities like Hyderabad and Bangalore.

"I was in Bangalore for nine months. I won't go back, even if I don't get any work in Assam," says Albert, one of the boys. "We have the right to stay anywhere in the country. What is happening is not right," says another.

Most of the boys who've returned are from remote parts of Assam - Lakhimpur, Majuli, Sibsagar. For many, the lack of employment opportunities in their home state means staying back is not an option. "When it calms down, we will have to go back. Don't know how long we will stay here because we have to think of the future," says Abhijit.
****************************************************

(ဆက္ဖတ္ရန္.......)

ေနရာတက်ျပန္ထားရင္ ပိုေကာင္းတာေပါ့...

BURMA RELATED NEWS AUGUST 14, 2012.

Asia News Network - Myanmar journalists slam gov't-appointed Press Council
News Desk
Eleven Media Group
Publication Date : 14-08-2012

The government’s formation of the Myanmar Core Press Council (MCPC), which was announced on Friday, provoked criticism from journalists who claimed its formation without approval from local media can lead to complications and cannot safeguard freedom of press.

The government has announced a 20-member core press council which has been formed to protect media persons, compile journalism ethics and settle press disputes.

The council will be chaired by retired Supreme Court judge U Khin Maung Aye, and retired principal of the United Nations System Staff College Dr Aung Tun Thet and retired Myanmar Language Professor Dr Khin Aye will serve as vice chairmen.

‘’The formation of the core press council can be considered to replace Myanmar notorious censorship board, and I don’t think the council will guarantee freedom of press which have been fought by the Myanmar media for ages,’’ a veteran journalist said.

The Eleven Media Group and other journalists’ associations have issued statements that they do not believe the council can promote journalism ethics, protect journalists and safeguard freedom of press.

“The formation of the council without common consent of media can lead to complications, and restriction on the media will make a U-turn of democratisation process in the country. And enjoying immunity from criminal or civil prosecution against members of MCPC Council would be tantamount to putting them above the law,” the Eleven Media Group said in its statement.

“Some members of the council have records of breaching journalism ethics. So how could they work for journalism ethics? And some are publishers so there will be conflicts of interest in the future,” an editor of a weekly journal who asked not to be named said.

The formation of the core press council came a week after a protest by journalists to demand more press freedom. Myanmar journalists staged a protest after the Press Scrutiny and Registration Department suspended the publication of two private news journals, the Voice and Envoy, for having violated regulations. The two journals are expected to resume publication by next week.

“There are many problems as the government has callously formed the Myanmar Core Press Council and the draft press media law without revealing them to the journalists. For example, in some countries, a judge is appointed to be a chairperson of a press council. That country has a good judicial system, and the judges are respected and influential people. Here, the judicial system has been corrupted for about 40 years, and most of the judges are not in this position. It goes wrong as they've imitated this. There will also be problems if the press media law is (being drafted) with force. The press council should not stand with authority and order. It should stand firmly and powerfully with strong policies and the ethics and dignity of the members. Even though we cannot participate, we will not hesitate to support it if it is formed with respected people who can guarantee freedom of press. The reason why there is a conflict between the government and the news media is because of a particular government official who is drafting the press media law and wants to make a U-turn (of democratisation process),” Dr. Than Htut Aung, CEO of Eleven Media Group said.

“The government's announced that they have formed the press council. It was formed without electing so how can the group have freedom? How can it be a group that protects us – the newsmen and media persons? We need to think about this. They do not represent the press. They are not going to work for the benefit of the press and seems as they want to control the press. Moreover, there are people in the group who are not related to the press business. I think it shouldn’t happen like this. It will be a joke to write the press ethics by them,” Veteran journalist U Ko Ko Gyi (Kyaemone) said.

The council will discharge duties until it is handed over to the Myanmar Press Council to be formed in line with the Press Media Law after it has been approved by the parliament.

The draft press media law is currently being compiled by the Ministry of Information.
****************************************************
The Nation - Myanmar Airways plans Mandalay-Bangkok flights in October
Deutsche Presse Agentur August 14, 2012 2:02 pm

Yangon - Myanmar Airways International plans to launchflights from Mandalay to Bangkok, and Gaya, India, in October, reports said Sunday.

The Mandalay-Bangkok route will include a stopover in Yangon,the national carrier’s commercial executive Aye Mra Tha told the Myanmar Times.

Thai AirAsia, a low-cost carrier, also plans an October launch fordirect flights between Bangkok and Mandalay, the main commercial hubfor upper Myanmar and a leading tourist destination.

"We will also start direct flights to Gaya, India, from Mandalayin October," Aye Mra Tha said. Gaya is the closest airport toBodhagaya, the place where the Buddha obtained enlightenment and apopular destination for Buddhist pilgrims.

"We have four aircraft now and two more aircraft will be addedbefore the end of August. After that it will be possible to startthese two routes from October," she said.

Myanmar has become a hot destination for tourists since the 2010general election, the first in two decades. The new government hasintroduced politcal and economic reforms that have helped it to shedits pariah status among Western democracies.

But the country faces a chronic shortage of hotels and flights toaccommodate the sudden influx of tourists
****************************************************
Bangkok Post - Myanmar seeks help to build 21st century grid
In country where only 25% of people have access to electricity, newly emboldened citizens are starting to vent their frustration over shortages.
Published: 14/08/2012 at 02:48 PM
Newspaper section: Asia focus

Myanmar has started discussions with foreign companies in a bid to transform its dilapidated national electricity grid, a vital component of the country’s economic reforms.

President Thein Sein earlier this year identified electricity generation and supply as a key component of a “second phase” of reforms which included providing power to 75% of the population within the next decade.

For electricity-starved Myanmar, this represents a hugely ambitious project that would require expanding generating capacity from 1,100 megawatts last year to more than 16,500 MW by 2022 at an estimated cost of up to US$20 billion. Currently, only about a quarter of Myanmar’s population of 60 million has an electricity supply, according to UN data.

“It means building a power plant with a generation capacity from 500 to 1,000 megawatts yearly,” said Thein Sein.

He identified hydropower, gas and coal plants as the main sources, adding that Myanmar would seek to import electricity in what appeared to be a major departure from the country’s recent policy on energy.

During protests in Yangon, Mandalay and other big cities in May in which people voiced their dissatisfaction with the lack of power, demonstrators criticised the government for building dams that would be used to sell electricity to other countries in the region.

In June’s policy speech, the president made regular references to the need for foreign help to overhaul its woefully inadequate power-supply sector as a host of overseas companies have visited Nay Pyi Daw to discuss potential projects.

In June, Somboom Arayaskul, the acting president of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat), met with Myanmar’s minister of electric power supply, Khin Maung Soe, to discuss plans to move two Mitsubishi gas turbine generators from Thailand to Myanmar.

The New Light of Myanmar, a state-run daily, reported that Egat presented a report to the Myanmar government outlining sites for the turbines, which were not identified, and a tentative schedule for their installation.

Myanmar technicians were reportedly due in Thailand to examine the turbines ahead of their relocation. Egat did not respond to questions when contacted.

Takashi Ikeda, the regional CEO of Sojitz Corporation, held meetings with the Myanmar government on the same day as Egat, during which the Japanese company proposed installing a 500-kilowatt power grid and a sub-power station.

The Canadian company SNC-Lavalin is already consulting for the Myanmar government as part of assessments to see whether it may invest in the power supply sector.

“It is just a very high level discussion for the moment with no particular projects identified yet,” said Leslie Quinton, a company spokesman.

Meanwhile, General Electric has agreed a deal to provide power-generating equipment to a hospital in Yangon and has held talks with the government to supply portable gas turbines.

The problem for Myanmar, though, is funding this rapid and costly investment. Having spent only $3.3 billion of state funds on electricity generation and supply between 1988 and the end of the 2011 financial year in March last year, Myanmar must now invest the same amount roughly every 18 months for the next decade if it is to meet its own ambitious targets.

Thein Sein identified foreign aid and investment, likely backed by low-interest foreign loans, as the main sources of capital to fund these projects given a lack of state funds.

Whether or not Myanmar meets its targets will not only have a major bearing on economic growth, it will also affect social harmony in a country that saw widespread demonstrations in May from ordinary people fed up with routine blackouts.

Wai Muu Thwin, who was among the first protesters to join the “candlelight demonstrations” in Yangon, said that in the first week of May his apartment in the centre of the city was only receiving six hours of electricity per day. That has since risen to between 10 and 12 hours, he added.

His home, which features a flat-screen television and DVD player powered by a car battery, has only ever received round-the-clock electricity during the three-month period prior to the November 2010 election, a sign the government has used power supply as a political weapon, said Wai Muu Thwin.

It is time for the government to improve its record on supplying power, he said, not only for the people of the country, but for small businesses and the overall health of the economy.

“The government should have a Plan B,” he said. “Without electricity there is nothing we can do.”
****************************************************
August 14, 2012, 6:32 pmComment
New York Times - Visiting Myanmar’s Threatened Rohingyas
By ROBERT MACKEY

Despite official obstacles barring most observers and aid workers from western Myanmar, two months after dozens were killed in sectarian clashes and tens of thousands of Muslims were forced from their homes into “resettlement camps,” a television crew from Britain’s Channel 4 News managed to report from the region on Tuesday.

As my colleague Thomas Fuller reported in June, Myanmar declared a state of emergency that month after violence between the Buddhist majority and a minority Muslim population known as Rohingyas swept Rakhine State, along the border with Bangladesh. The rape and murder of a Buddhist woman in May led to revenge attacks on the Rohingyas, who were blamed for the crime. In the following weeks, up to 60,000 Rohingyas were driven from their homes and a whole section of the regional capital Sittwe was burned to the ground.

The British crew managed to film at a camp for displaced Rohingyas outside Sittwe, and also interviewed Buddhists in the town who claimed, implausibly, that the Muslims had set their own homes on fire. The Buddhists also complained to the reporters that the United Nations and international aid groups are biased in favor of the Muslims.

Myanmar denies citizenship to the about 800,000 Rohingyas who live in the country, on the disputed theory that their ancestors arrived there after the start of British colonial rule in the 19th century. The government even proposed expelling them en masse last month. That has led some Rohingyas to try to find refuge across the border in Bangladesh.

According to Moshahida Sultana Ritu, an economist at the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh who wrote a New York Times opinion piece on the crisis in July, fears of an influx of refugees “have aroused anti-Rohingya sentiment among some Bangladeshis, and initially Bangladesh’s government tried to force the refugees back without assisting them.”

Ms. Sultana Ritu also said Myanmar’s government used its security forces “to burn houses, kill men and evict Rohingyas from their villages.” The attack on the Rohingyas, the professor said, “is not sectarian violence; it is state-supported ethnic cleansing.”
****************************************************
Sky News Australia - Aust gives $5m aid for Burma mums, kids
Updated: 05:22, Wednesday August 15, 2012

Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr says Australia will provide $5 million aid to help prevent the deaths of mothers and children in Burma.

Senator Carr says the money will fund a program of immunisations, paediatric and emergency pre-natal care for more than 320,000 mothers and newborns in the Asian nation.

He says Burma is one of the poorest nations in Asia, with an infant death rate 10 times higher than in Australia.

Around one in 14 Burmese children die before their fifth birthday, with the cause of death often a preventable condition like pneumonia, diarrhoea or malaria.

'We will be working to save the lives of women and infants through immunisation and medical supplies, and through funds for better delivery rooms in remote Myanmar villages,' Senator Carr said in a statement on Wednesday.

Senator Carr says the aid will be delivered immediately to teams from the World Health Organisation and United Nations working with mothers and newborns in around 3000 villages.

The money will go to immunisation programs to protect 140,000 expectant mothers in remote villages against tetanus and 182,000 newborns against diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus. Funds will also be provided to treat 60,000 women with malaria, and to train paediatricians and health clinic staff in advanced and basic newborn care.
****************************************************
Indiana's NewsCenter - Local Burmese Activists Petition for Visit from Suu Kyi
By Scott Sarvay
August 14, 2012 Updated Aug 14, 2012 at 11:12 AM EDT

Fort Wayne, Ind. (Indiana’s NewsCenter) - Local Burmese activists are hoping the Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, will be available to visit the Summit City in late September.

Suu Kyi, 67, had spent much of a quarter-century under house arrest by the Myanmar’s ruling military. In 2010 she was freed and elected to a seat in the nation’s year-old parliament.

In 1991 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

According to the 2010 census, the majority of the state’s roughly 7,900 Burmese are residents of either Allen or Marion counties.
****************************************************
Rediff.com - UK offers help to end violence in Myanmar
August 14, 2012 19:33 IST

Expressing 'serious concern' over recent violence in Myanmar, Britain on Tuesday offered assistance to the trouble-torn country's government to help end the unrest and to support an 'inclusive political settlement'.

Foreign Secretary William Hague supported a recent statement by United Nations human rights envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana who reportedly called for the Myanmar government to undertake a 'credible' investigation into the violence against Rohingiya Muslims after a recent visit there.

Quintana's statement is seen by Myanmar's parties as supporting the Rohingiya Muslims, and have called for his dismissal.

Hague said, "The United Kingdom, as ever, stands ready to assist the government of Burma in its efforts to develop Rakhine State, to share our knowledge and experience of tackling the many complex and long-standing issues to be overcome and, as Burma (Myanmar) continues its path towards establishing full democracy, to support an inclusive political settlement that protects the rights of all members of the local population."

Expressing serious concern 'about the nature and extent of the recent violence', Hague urged the Myanmar government to resolve the crisis in accordance with international human rights law.

He said, "We join Mr Quintana in stressing the need to end the violence; to grant full and unhindered humanitarian access to the areas affected; to allow the affected communities to safely return to their homes; and to support the restitution of property that was seriously damaged or destroyed."

Hague added, "We encourage the government to ensure that it treats the affected communities fairly and equitably and to ensure that the authorities prevent any further bloodshed.

There is also a need to seek a long term solution to the problems they face in a manner which recognises their human rights, including their right to nationality, and to take effective steps which prevents any further forced or involuntary displacement and which does not leave them permanently displaced."

Britain, the foreign secretary said, joined Quintana in calling for the release of people who had been arbitrarily detained, irrespective of their ethnic background. Hague also expressed the need for the Myanmar government to carry out 'an independent, fair and prompt investigation in to the violence, in particular the allegations of seriouS crimes within the communities and human rights violations by the security forces'.

Human rights groups have accused Myanmar's security forces of opening fire on Rohingya, as well as committing rape and standing by as rival mobs attacked each other.
****************************************************
International Business Times UK - Myanmar: 13 Dead in Fresh Sectarian Clashes Between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims as Conflict Shifts to Kyauktaw Township
Clashes between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims erupt in tit-for-tat arson attacks and targeted killings in western Myanmar
By Gianluca Mezzofiore
August 14, 2012 2:35 PM GMT

The conflict between Buddhists and Muslims in western Myanmar has moved to the rural township of Kyauktaw.

Thirteen people have been killed and seven injured in Kyauktaw over the last five days, while more than 300 homes have been torched in tat-for-tat arson attacks, according to reports.

Some 3,000 people are thought to have been affected by the violence, which allegedly began when a group of Rohingya Muslims set fire to a bus depot in the heart of the township.

Kyauktaw is situated in the westerly state of Rakhine, which has witnessed widespread sectarian fighting over the past two months. However, the small township has hitherto seen little conflict.

Following the rapid escalation of violence, the authorities have imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in Kyauktaw. Six other towns around Rakhine have already received such restrictions.

Official state figures now suggest that 90 people have died across Rakhine since the sectarian conflict began in June. A further 116 people have been injured, and over 65,000 have been displaced.

International solidarity

With the violence continuing to escalate, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation has urged the international community to take action to help the Muslim minority - which it believes is being persecuted.

The Rohingya have never been granted citizenship in Myanmar (previously known as Burma), and a 1982 law excluded them from the list of officially recognised minorities. It is widely believed within the Islamic community that the Myanmar government has acquiesced in, and even actively supported, the recent violence against the Rohingya.

"We are deeply concerned about the appalling conditions of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar whose members are denied citizenship rights and are considered stateless people; a situation that requires a firm decision," said a statement by the OIC.

In a separate development, a group of prominent Muslim Americans has gathered to launch Burma Task Force USA, a collective advocacy group which aims to highlight alleged atrocities and human rights violations against Myanmar's Islamic population.

"We demand that those responsible for the mass rapes and mass murder of thousands of Rohingyas be charged with crimes against humanity and genocide by the International Court of Justice," Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid, chairperson of Burma Task Force USA, said.

The organisation also vowed to "hold [Aung San] Suu Kyi accountable" for her part in the ongoing conflict.

Suu Kyi, an internationally renowned journalist and former political prisoner, promised to support the citizenship of the Rohingya Muslims back in 2005, and has apparently held talks with Myanmar's president, Thin Sein, since being freed from house arrest in November 2010. However she has refused to discuss the subject publicly when asked directly.
****************************************************
Channel 4 News - Inside Burma's forbidden camps
Tuesday 14 August 2012
Exclusive: As members of Burma's Muslim Rohingya minority are forced into camps after violent clashes, the government bans international observers - but Channel 4 News gains access.

There is a part of Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State in Burma, that people still refer to as Narzi. But if you travel there, as Channel 4 News did recently, you will not find much to look at. In fact this substantial section of town, until recently the bustling home of 10,000, no longer exists.

Instead, you will find a post-apocalyptic world of rubble and burnt-out tree trunks. Personal effects are left scattered on the ground. It seems an incongruous scene in a country that claims to be remaking itself as modern, democratic state. Spend five minutes in Narzi, however, and you start to wonder whether Burma has really changed at all.

Until a month ago, Sittwe was home, in almost even proportions, to two different ethnic groups – the Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims.
It seems an incongruous scene in a country that claims to be remaking itself as modern, democratic state.

There have long been tensions between the two, and the recent violence started with an allegation that three Rohingya men had raped and killed a young Buddhist woman. After the distribution of inflammatory pamphlets, ten Muslim pilgrims were pulled out of a bus and beaten to death. The immediate consequence was chaos. Hate-filled mobs from both communities went on the rampage, burning homes and settling scores.

'Resettlement'

Narzi and many other communities were lost in the storm. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) estimate that some 100,000 people were displaced in the fighting. The government puts the death toll at 78, a figure human rights groups call "a gross underestimate".

In an effort to regain control, Burma's government sent in nine military regiments to Rakhine and implemented a policy of strict separation. In Sittwe, this meant moving 60,000 Rohingya out of the city, and "resettling" them in a series of camps located some distance from the city.

We were told by humanitarian agencies that conditions in these camps were "desperate", but access is strictly controlled, even to aid workers. Through our contacts however, we managed to reach several of these sites.

The camps were located on soggy pastures, squeezed between paddy fields. When our vehicle stopped, we were surrounded by residents desperate to communicate. The adults looked thin and many of the children were clearly malnourished. I asked a woman with three children how much food she was getting. "We’re living on rice and beans," she said. "It's not enough. We haven't got blankets. When we were in town, we could buy food for the kids, but now we can't."

Restrictions

Young men in the camp told me they were dreaming of escape. One young man told me: "I am from Sittwe, but I don't want to stay (in the camp). I want to go to Bangladesh. We are really suffering here."

In truth, he has few options. The Bangladeshis do not want the Rohingya - and they have long been treated with indifference and hostility in Burma. The United Nations has for some time called them "one of the most persecuted groups in the world". They are subjected to restrictions on marriage, employment and education, and they were denied in citizenship in 1982.

We're living on rice and beans. It's not enough. We haven't got blankets. When we were in town, we could buy food for the kids, but now we can't. Rohingya camp resident

Now they are in the camps, another weighty constraint has been added – they can't leave. Sittwe is now off-limits, and it seems unlikely its former residents will be able to return.

It is the cause of great anxiety here, for few people here can support themselves. One woman told us: "We have no jobs and our kids can't work. I use to run a shop in Sittwe, but I came here in the rain with nothing but my bare hands. No money, nothing."

International NGOs and the United Nations are struggling to provide assistance to the camps, with their efforts hindered by a determined campaign of obstruction by local Buddhists. Aid workers have been threatened and some shipments have been blocked. Local doctors have refused to treat Rohingya and businessmen have declined to provide humanitarian organisations with services like warehouse space – crucial for the storage of food, for example.

'Favouritism'

When we sought the views of local Buddhists, they told us that the UN and International NGOs engage in favouritism. Much sought after jobs with the agencies "always" go to the Rohingya, we were told. When I put these complaints to one NGO official, he was unapologetic however. "We go to where the need is greatest," he said.

Burma's government has been accused by international human rights organisations of doing little to stop the violence after the first clashes took place - and of siding with the local population when troops and military policemen were moved in. The UN Special Rapporteur for Burma, Tomas Quintana, told Channel 4 News that he had received allegations of mass arrests, torture and killings and the hands of the security forces on a recent visit there.

There is much justified excitement with the reforms currently being undertaken by Burma's new government. But the president, Thein Sein, has offered little on the issue, other than to suggest that a third country may be persuaded to take in the Rohingya. The opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi has also said, and done, little. When asked about the situation by one Muslim during the initial period of violence, she replied: "Yes, I understand, but I am not the government. I can't do anything. Only the government [can] do something."

There are many Rohingya Muslims – like the former residents of Narzi - who would beg to differ with that.
****************************************************
WANE-TV Fort Wayne - Fort Wayne's Burmese hoping for Suu Kyi visit
Published : Tuesday, 14 Aug 2012, 9:04 AM EDT

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) -- Activists in Fort Wayne's Burmese community are trying to arrange a visit to the city by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.

The group hopes that the democracy advocate from their native Myanmar will travel to Fort Wayne as part of her September trip to the United States, during which she will receive the Congressional Gold Medal in Washington.

Members of a 70-person Suu Kyi welcoming committee tell The Journal Gazette they've been in contact with her representatives and are working with city officials on preparations.

Suu Kyi spent years under house arrest as a political prisoner for her struggle against military rule in her homeland.

Some 4,000 Burmese live in the Fort Wayne area, one of the country's largest concentrations.
****************************************************
Asian Correspondent - Burma’s President urges to stop bribery for clean government
By Zin Linn Aug 15, 2012 12:54AM UTC

Chairman of Planning Commission President U Thein Sein addressed second meeting of the commission at the meeting hall of the President Office on Monday in Naypyitaw, the New Light of Myanmar newspaper said Tuesday.

Present at the meeting were Vice-President Dr Sai Mauk Kham, Union Ministers, the Union attorney-general, the Union auditor-general, the chairman of Union Civil Services Board, Region/ State chief ministers, chairmen of Self- Administered Division/ Zones.

In his opening speech, President U Thein Sein said that the meeting concentrated on drafting city plan, town plan and village plan as a fundamental requisite for practical implementation of reform strategies. It would also comprise city plans of Yangon and Mandalay, he said.

According to the President, such kind of plans must be drafted considering guaranteeing civilized living, adequate supply of electricity, availability of clean water, better transportation and sanitation. Additionally job opportunities must be created in all parts for improvement of all citizens, he explained.

More than six-million population of the country lives in Yangon. International airport and ports which are fabricated the country’s economic forces are in Yangon. Besides, products from upper and lower parts of the country get together in Yangon. So, Yangon is the potential mega city in Asia in future, President said.

Similarly, Mandalay is a commercial hub of the country as it has been trading with China and India. As 20 per cent of the whole population lives in Yangon and Mandalay, the two cities made 30 per cent of Gross National Product, he said.

President directed to form urbanization working committee for development of the towns. In accordance with the constitution, fiscal distribution and taxation must be carried out in Regions and States and foreign loans and aids would also be distributed equally to each Region or State, he said.

He suggested that regional governments have to strive for growth of their own area. The grassroots should be made powerful to vote for the competent village administrators who can control themselves from corruption and are ready to add the good to the village in line with the law. They are also responsible to take care of economic, education and health affairs and to ensure the rule of law, the president explained.

It was remarkable that the President has a good knowledge about the bribery which has been deep-rooted in every level of the governmental mechanism. He pressed the officials to tackle the issue seriously.

“Bribery is morally wrong and scandalous act for both official and civilian of the bribe. Deep-rooted bribery system must be stopped by way of strict actions. The practice is not only damage the dignity of the government but also the country’s reputation,” the President underlined.

He urged his senior officials to clear the paying-off practice to guarantee the clean government. He said that the heads of every society must be accountable for what their subordinates do and must deal with the bribery successfully. In addition, he emphasized that stability, social security and the rule of law are vital for development of each constituency of the country.

Burma has a big problem of corruption which deeply rooted among its bureaucrats and especially with military elites.
****************************************************
UN News Centre - Myanmar: UN envoy welcomes mission to area affected by ethnic violence
14 August 2012 –

The recent mission of the Turkish Foreign Minister and senior officials of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to Myanmar’s state of Rakhine – which recently experienced deadly ethnic clashes that displaced thousands of people – was welcomed today by the top United Nations envoy to the Southeast Asian country.

“Such positive steps will help support Myanmar’s ongoing process of democratization and reform,” the Special Adviser of the Secretary-General, Vijay Nambiar, said in a statement on the fact-finding visit led by the Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoðlu, undertaken at the invitation of the Government of Myanmar.

Recent tensions between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in the western state of Rakhine have left at least a dozen civilians dead and hundreds of homes destroyed, as well as at least 64,000 people displaced.

The Turkish delegation visited the camps of both Muslims and Buddhists displaced by the violence, where humanitarian aid provided by Turkey was distributed, representing the first such assistance accepted by Myanmar outside that provided by the UN, according to Mr. Nambiar’s statement.

“This has demonstrated the willingness of the Myanmar Government to cooperate with the international community to alleviate the suffering of its people,” Mr. Nambiar said, adding that he and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had been in continuous contact with authorities on the matter.

Last week, at the end of four-day mission to Myanmar, the Director of Operations for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), John Ging, warned of the rapidly growing needs faced by over half a million internally displaced persons in the Asian nation, and called on the Government to give aid agencies access to all areas of the country.

A series of democratic reforms in Myanmar, begun last year and led by President Thein Sein, culminated in April elections in which pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi won a position in the lower house of parliament and which Mr. Ban, in a visit soon after, called “a historic moment.”
****************************************************
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
i On Global Trends (Weblog) - Myanmar: Statement of Myanmar National Human Rights Commission on its trip to the Kachin State
This is a press release by the Government of Myanmar

The Secretary of the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission and two members of the Commission visited Myitkyina and Waingmaw of the Kachin State from 23 to 27 July 2012 and carried out the following tasks of the Commission:- Visited 16 relief camps, met with the people of the camps and expressed words of encouragement to them.

Summoned and examined the witnesses in connection with the complaints, assumed to involve the violations of human rights in the Kachin State.

Met with the Chief Minister and the Ministers of the Kachin State Government and exchanged views on the prevailing situation in the Kachin State.

Based on the activities and the findings of the Commission team, the following recommendations are made:- on studying and examination of the camps that the Commission team visited, it was found that although over one year has elapsed, the basic needs of the peoples of the camps were able to be fulfilled as before. The departments and the organizations concerned are urged to supply additional medicines required for the provision of health care for and treatment of ailments caused by seasonal changes.

The people at the relief camps expressed that they wished to return to their villages and that land mines in the surrounding areas of the villages be cleared.

To carry out mine clearance before the resettlement work is commenced, there should be cooperation among the armed groups and the relevant domestic and foreign organizations. The villagers should be educated about land mines.

According to the statements of the witnesses made in connection with the complaints, it was found that there were certain violations of human rights of the populations of the villages by the armed groups.

Therefore, it is strongly urged not to violate human rights under any circumstances and to act in accordance with human rights standards.

According to the statements of the witnesses from the Tarlawgyi village of the Myitkyina Township, there were instances of forced recruitment of soldiders from villagers of Tarlawgyi by the KIA. It was learnt that 53 villagers of Tarlawgyi who were serving as the people’s militia of the KIA have returned to the legal fold. It is urged that no armed group should engage in forced recruitment of soldiers in any area.

it was learnt that the Tatmadaw arrested and interrogated two villagers of Tawlawgyi in early January 2012 and they were prosecuted by the authorities concerned under the existing laws. In order not to adversely affect the rights of the persons concerned, the court proceedings should be expeditiously concluded.

the Commission does not wish to make any comment on the interrogation of the suspects by security forces for security reasons and on their prosecution in accordance with the law. However, torture during the interrogation constitutes violation of human rights and must be avoided.

The Government has received encouragement and support from within and outside the country in establishing a democratic state. Similarly, the Government has made historic accomplishments in its efforts to bring about lasting peace. Under these circumstances, concerted efforts should also be made by all to establish peace in the Kachin State in accordance with the desire of the people.

The Myanmar National Human Rights Commission
****************************************************

(ဆက္ဖတ္ရန္.......)

ေနရာတက်ျပန္ထားရင္ ပိုေကာင္းတာေပါ့...