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.
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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.
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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."
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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.
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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