29 September 2012
Burmas President asks help from the US to
consolidate reforms
By Zin Linn Sep 29, 2012 6:57PM UTC
President of Burma (Myanmar) Thein Sein made a speech to members of the Asia
Society at Asia Society Headquarters in New York on 27 September, the state-run
New Light of Myanmar said.
Sein showed his appreciation to those members of the Asia Society who came
personally to the Southeast Asian country to study reforms initiated by his
government. He also expressed thanks to those people who spoke in support of
his reforms to the international community.
Sein said that his governments would change one after another under the
democracy system and as a result the relations between the governments would
adjust depending on the incumbent governments.
Asia Society takes a very crucial role in cultivating mutual understanding
between Asian countries and the United States of America, he said.
But the friendship between the peoples residing in the two countries needs to
remain status quo regardless of which party is in office, he added.
President Thein Sein made a speech to members of Asia Society at Asia Society
Headquarters in New York.
Success would not be reached with the mere emergence of constitution and
parliament and by holding elections again. Hence, democratic traditions
which have been lost for a long time in the nations social order must be
restored , Sein said.
Since becoming head of state last year, the president started releasing some
political prisoners, relaxing press freedom by reducing censor rules and giving
political space for the democratic opposition and ethnic armed groups. But,
according to some analysts, a number of his military contemporaries have been
unwilling to amend their style.
At some point in his speech, Sein claimed his country is on the course toward
democracy.
He acknowledged the moment as critical to make concerted efforts on development
of democratic ethics in the hearts of citizens. Moreover, he said that it is
also the time to focus on emergence of a civilization that can accept
diversities and be in touch with one another.
He asked for help from Asia Society to form the country into a democratic
society, accepting the role of the civil society that can be helpful to his
government. He also asked Asia Society for support with the countrys general
public with suggestions, discussions and capacity building. Burma needs good
friends like the United States of America as the country starts building
democratic society, he concluded.
In August 2012, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) sent
a group of senior Asia specialists to Burma to explore the political, economic,
and social reforms launched by the new civilian government and develop policy
recommendations for the U.S. government.
In its findings CSIS says, Political and economic reforms launched by President
U Thein Sein and his allies and broadly supported by opposition leader Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi appear to be real, but the process for implementing and
institutionalizing those changes remains fragile and is not irreversible.
However, after nearly five decades of military rule, some of the hardest
political stumbling blocks remain, as well as a military that still seizes the
decisive command. For example, the eleven-member National Defense and Security
Council with the President keeps hold of the constitutional right to declare
emergency declaration at any time.
Under military dictatorship for decades, Burma has become known as a natural
gas and teak seller and its socioeconomic conditions have gone downhill under
the soldiers unprofessional management.
The military-monopolized economy leaves most of the public in poverty, while
military leaders and their cronies exploit the countrys abundant natural
resources. In 2010-11, state properties, especially real estate, were
transferred to relatives of military authorities under the guise of a
privatization policy. It created a wider gap between the military-backed
privileged first-class and the ordinary population.
In fact, human rights violations of Burmese soldiers in ethnic states are
serious breaches of international laws. It is also the duty of the current
government to provide humanitarian assistance to thousands of war refugees and
internally displaced populations in various ethnic states.
The biggest question in Burma is whether the armed forces will continue to
frecognize the truces with ethnic rebels made by their own
government.
http://asiancorrespondent.com/90135/burmas-president-asks-help-from-the-us-to-consolidate-reforms/
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Yangon regional MPs to tackle financial law bill
Published on Saturday, 29 September 2012 13:04
The fourth regular session of the Yangon regional parliament will discuss
proposals left unresolved from the last session including a financial law bill,
said Tamway MP Win Htein.
The new session will be held on September 27-28, October 1 and 2.
Other issues that are expected to be discussed include those relating to
pension and the police force, said Bahan MP Nyo Nyo Thin.
Thingangyun MP U Kyaw said he would raise questions regarding passenger bus
lines, billboards and building contracts. He also plans to propose building a
statute of General Aung San, Myanmars father of independence.
The third regular session took place in February while special sessions were held
on April 24-25.
http://elevenmyanmar.com/politics/812-yangon-regional-mps-to-tackle-financial-law-bill
------------------------------------
Myanmar parliament to convene 5th session in
mid-October
Published on Saturday, 29 September 2012 13:05
Myanmar's parliament will convene its 5th session on October 18, according to
the state media.
The MPs are likely to discuss revisions on the new Foreign Investment Law
passed in September, replacing a similar law enacted in 1988.
The implementation of the new law has been delayed because President Thein Sein
wanted parliament to introduce some revisions.
Many saw the new law as the biggest attempt to draw foreign direct investment
to the country. The law allows 100 per cent ownership in certain industries but
investments in other sectors will be limited to protect nationals.
The parliament ended its 4th session on September 7, when it approved the
nomination of Nyan Tun as new vice president and the appointment of 13
officials to take up union-level posts.
http://elevenmyanmar.com/politics/813-myanmar-parliament-to-convene-5th-session-in-mid-october
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Burma Business Roundup (Saturday, Sept. 29)
By WILLIAM
BOOT / THE IRRAWADDY| September 29, 2012 |
Beijing Urges Smooth Progress on Projects Despite Dam Suspension
The Beijing government will continue to encourage Chinese enterprises to
make investment in the livelihoods of [Burmas] people, Chinas Vice President Xi
Jinping said.
China was particularly keen to assist in agricultural cooperation and ensure
the smooth implementation of major bilateral cooperation projects, the official
Chinese news agency Xinhua quoted Xi as saying.
The comments were made during the visit to China by Burmas President Thein
Sein, who last year ordered the suspension of a major hydroelectric development
project by Chinese companies on the Irrawaddy River at Myitsone.
The International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) confirmed earlier this year
that the Chinese state-owned China Power Investment is still active in the
project despite the suspension order.
ICOLD said the Chinese developer had called in foreign experts to reassess the
environmental impact of the huge hydro dam, which Thein Sein halted on environment
grounds.
Most of the electricity which would be generated by the dam was earmarked to be
pumped out of Burma into China.
Bangkok, Naypyidaw Agree to Keep Talking on Dawei Port Project
The Thai and Burmese governments have agreed to form a joint committee to
look at the Dawei port project but there remains no sign of any significant
investment.
Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and President Thein Sein discussed the
long-delayed project on Sept. 26 when they met in New York while attending the
UN General Assembly debates.
Their brief meeting came after two planned visits by Yingluck to Naypyidaw to
supposedly finalize Dawei were postponed.
The two governments tentatively agreed in July to in effect take over the
stalled project, which envisages an oil transhipment facility, petrochemical
plants and other industry, plus road and railway links into Thailand.
Bangkok construction firm Italian-Thai Development won a contract to develop
the special economic zone but has failed to make a start due to lack of
investment support.
Japanese Interest in Burma Investment is Feverish
Japanese business interest is Burma is feverish according to an official of
the Tokyo government-funded Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO).
Up to 200 businesspeople a month are passing through JETROs Rangoon office
compared with perhaps only 200 in a whole year previously, the agencys senior
researcher Toshihiro Kudo told a conference in Bangkok.
Kudo claimed that 50 percent of all foreign business delegations to Burma so
far this year had been Japanese.
The visit to Burma by US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton had changed the
perception of [Burma] for the Japanese from a pariah to Asias last frontier,
Kudo told the Bangkok meeting on Sept. 26.
Garment Industry to Benefit Most from End to US Import Ban
Burmas garment making industry is likely to benefit most from the lifting
of a US import ban on Burmese good and resources, said a leading Burmese
businessman.
The end of the ban would likely create more job opportunities for garment
factories workers, vice chairman of Yoma Bank Myat Thin Aung was quoted as
telling the AFP news agency.
The ban was imposed in 2003, although by then the US was importing only
textiles, hardwood and some gems from Burma with bilateral relations already
strained over the military regimes isolationist policies.
The share value of property developer Yoma Strategic Holdings and some other
Burmese firms registered on the Singapore Stock Exchange rose sharply on the
news of the lifting of the ban on Sept. 26.
Yomas shares jumped nine percent and Rangoon-based oil and gas firm Interra
Resources rose five percent.
Koreas Daewoo Firm to Help Build an Oil Refinery?
South Korean government and industry representatives are discussing the possibility
of building an oil refinery and other energy projects on the back of Korean
industrial conglomerate Daewoo Internationals development of the Shwe offshore
gas field.
The representatives met Burmese Ministry of Energy officials to discuss a range
of issues at a joint cooperation committee session in Naypyidaw.
The South Koreans expressed interest in a new refinery and a hydroelectric
project which could use natural gas as a back-up fuel to keep generators
working when dam water levels were low.
Most of the 200 billion cubic meters of proven gas reserves under the sea in
the Bay of Bengal Shwe field are being bought by the China National Petroleum
Corporation (CNPC) and will be piped through Burma into Chinas neighboring
Yunnan Province.
Burma has inadequate oil refining facilities and must expensively import diesel
and other oil fuel products.
There are plans by the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) to build a small
56,000 barrels per day capacity refinery at Myotha in Mandalay Division which
would be supplied with crude oil to be set aside for Burma by China as part of
the agreement to allow CNPC to build its oil pipeline through the country.
The pipeline will transmit crude from a transhipment port on the central coast
brought by tanker from the Middle East and Africa and destined for Yunnan.
However, so far its not clear how MOGE will finance the refinery and reports
say the South Koreans and, possibly, Daewoo have been asked to help.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/15226
------------------------------
September 29, 2012 19:39 PM
First Team Of Humanitarian Mission To Myanmar
Departs Saturday
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 29 (Bernama) -- The first team of 14 volunteers
in the 1Malaysia Putera Club Myanmar Humanitarian Mission to help the Rohingya
ethnic minority left for the country at 5 pm Saturday.
The Club's president, Datuk Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim said the team's mission was
to provide information on the situation there and monitor the 40 containers
transported earlier by the Simar Birma vessel containing 500 tonnes of food,
medicine and other aid.
"On Monday, Oct 3, this team will inform us of the suitable time to fly
there," he told reporters here.
Abdul Azeez, who is also a member of the Umno Supreme Council, said the
mission's medical chief was Datuk Dr Alwi Abdul Rahman, media head, Ahmad Zaini
Kamaruzzaman and leader of the voluntary delegation, Md Farid Hassan.
Saying that the second team was scheduled to return on Oct 10 he added that the
aid would not be limited to the Muslim Rohingya minority but also to others who
needed it.
-- BERNAMA
-----------------------------------------
29 Sep, 2012, 02.49PM IST, PTI
India calls for immediate phasing out of sanctions
against Myanmar
UNITED NATIONS: India has called for immediate phasing out of
unilateral sanctions against Myanmar, emphasising that the international
community should extend all possible support to Yangoon's new civilian
government to help accelerate economic development in the country that had
faced economic isolation under years of military rule.
Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said as a "close and friendly"
neighbour of Myanmar, India remains committed to extending all possible
assistance and support to the process of national reconciliation and further
strengthening of the democracy in Myanmar.
"As Myanmar confronts multifarious challenges ahead the international
community as a whole needs to extend all possible support to the efforts of the
government in a spirit of trust and cooperation," he said during a meeting
of the 'Group of Friends' of the UN chief on Myanmar here yesterday.
Given Myanmar's political transition, Mathai said the UN agencies and
international financial institutions now have the opportunity to carry out an
entire gamut of developmental activities.
"We would also urge that unilateral sanctions should be immediately phased
out so that Myanmar's economic development can be accelerated. India has
consistently emphasized the path of engagement with Myanmar to encourage the
advancement of national reconciliation as well socio-economic
development," he said.
Following the implementation of political reforms by Myanmar, the US has been
gradually lifting sanctions against the country. It had lifted sanctions on American
investment in Myanmar in June and last week lifted long-standing sanctions on
President Thein Sein and parliamentary speaker Thura Shwe Mann.
It would also begin easing restrictions on imports of goods from the south east
Asian country in recognition of efforts by its government to bring the country
back on the road to democracy.
India would be facilitating parliamentary exchanges between the two countries
by sharing its experience. As many as 80 members would be participating in a
programme developed by India that will focus on introduction to and training on
parliamentary practices and procedures for members of the Myanmar parliament
and parliamentary Secretariat officials.
Mathai said India is also working closely with Myanmar on various infrastructure
and development cooperation projects, with particular attention to capacity
building and human resource development.
"We believe Myanmar could play a great role in expanding our engagement
into ASEAN. We look forward to Myanmar's planned Chairmanship of ASEAN in
2014," Mathai said.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/india-calls-for-immediate-phasing-out-of-sanctions-against-myanmar/articleshow/16601381.cms
---------------------------------------
About 75,000 Rohingyas in Myanmar camps: Refugee
International
DPA
Up to 75,000 Muslim Rohingyas are housed in temporary camps under poor
conditions, four months after violence broke out between Buddhist and Muslim
communities in western Myanmars Rakhine state, Refugees International said
Saturday.
There are somewhere between 65,000 to 75,000 Rohingyas living in camps in
Sittwe, said Sarnata Reynolds, programme manager for statelessness at the
advocacy group for refugee rights.
Although the camps in the state capital, located 500 kilometres north-west of
Yangon, are receiving humanitarian aid from the United Nations and Medicines
Sans Frontiers, sanitary and health conditions were bleak, it said.
We went to a school that has 1,800 living in it in one big room with two
latrines and no showers, Ms. Reynolds said. There is acute malnutrition and
some cases of tuberculosis. A Refugees International team was permitted last
week to visit eight camps for Rohingya refugees in Sittwe.
The refugees have been living in the camps since mid-June when communal
fighting in Sittwe forced the vast majority of the Muslim Rohingya population
to flee.
Out of the 12 Rohingya neighbourhoods previously in Sittwe, one remained. Its
estimated 8,000 residents have been barricaded into the neighbourhood.
This community was able to defend themselves during the violence, but now they
are restricted to their neighbourhood, Ms. Reynolds said. If they leave, they
face attack or arrest. An informal system of traders is providing the community
with food, she said.
Refugees International called on the Myanmar government to take steps towards
bringing the Rohingya displaced by the violence back to Sittwe and in the long
term to provide citizenship for the Muslim minority group.
The Rohingya, who number about 800,000 in the three northernmost Rakine
townships, have been legally discriminated against in Myanmar for decades.
Their statelessness dates to the 1982 Citizen Law, which identified 135 ethnic
minority groups in Myanmar. It excluded the Rohingya and stipulated that people
of Indian and Chinese descent who could not prove their ancestry predated the
1824-1948 colonial period were not entitled to citizenship.
The plight of the Rohingya came to world attention with the June clashes, which
left at least 89 dead and about 90,000 displaced.
About 3,000 Buddhist Rakhine were also displaced by the violence and they also
continue to live in temporary camps, Ms. Reynolds said.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/about-75000-rohingyas-in-myanmar-camps-refugee-international/article3948606.ece
----------------------------------------
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Thein Sein vows to resolve ethnic strife in
Myanmar
UNITED NATIONS: Myanmars President Thein Sein made an unprecedented
tribute to opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyis efforts for democracy and vowed to
resolve ethnic strife in a landmark UN speech.
Thein Sein, the first Myanmar leader to speak to the UN General Assembly, also
told the annual gathering late Thursday that he wants to completely end a
long-running war with ethnic rebels in Kachin state.
Thein Sein, a former junta general now driving through speedy reforms in his
impoverished state, spoke as Suu Kyi comes to the end of a triumphant tour of
the United States which some feared could overshadow the president. But he told
world leaders: This week she is also in New York. As a Myanmar citizen I would
like to congratulate her for the honours she has received in this country in
recognition of her efforts for democracy.
Less than two years ago, his comments would have been unthinkable. Suu Kyi, a
Nobel Peace laureate, spent 15 years under house arrest during the juntas rule.
She was freed in November 2010 and is now a member of parliament pressing for domestic
change as well as the lifting of international sanctions. The United States
eased its trade sanctions on Wednesday.
Highlighting recent elections, the release of political prisoners and the
ending of media censorship, Thein Sein stressed the mutual tolerance and
magnanimity that now marks politics in the country. In Myanmar, the state-run
New Light of Myanmar took the rare step of publishing an English-language
version of Thein Seins speech in full, with praise of Suu Kyi featuring on the
front page. Suu Kyi met with US President Barack Obama and received the
Congressional Gold Medal the highest honor of the US legislature during her
18-day tour of the United States. The opposition leader met Thein Sein at his
New York hotel on Tuesday and has expressed cautious optimism about the changes
under way. There has been change, not yet all the changes necessary to make
sure we are going to be a genuinely democratic society, but there have been
changes, she said in one speech this week.
The president stressed efforts being made by the nominally civilian government
to end ethnic strife in Myanmar and said he hoped to end the war with Kachin
rebels in the north. The rebels have been fighting government forces since the
countrys independence in 1948.
The president said agreement has been reached with 10 ethnic armed groups in
the country and that peace negotiations will continue to reach a final peace
agreement that would completely end the armed hostilities. afp
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\09\29\story_29-9-2012_pg14_6
------------------------------------------
Burmese President Praises Aung San Suu Kyi
VOA News September 28, 2012
Burmese President Thein Sein has offered rare praise for the country's
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, marking an apparent step forward in her
complicated relationship with the former military general.
Speaking at the Asia Society in New York, Thein Sein acknowledged that the
democracy leader, who spent years detained under Burma's former military
rulers, had played a crucial role in the country's reform process.
"She has been working with us in undertaking several reforms. She has been
a good colleague. And I am sure she will try to do what she can in order to
make the reform process complete. And I believe she will continue to work with
us to accomplish all the things that we need to achieve in the country,"
said Thein Sein.
Burma's President Thein Sein addresses the 67th United Nations General Assembly
at the U.N. Headquarters in New York, September 27, 2012.
Speaking earlier at the United Nations General Assembly, the president
congratulated the 1991 Nobel laureate on the honors she has received "in
recognition for her efforts for democracy."
It was the first time that Aung San Suu Kyi has been praised by the reformist
president, who served as a former general in the military that imposed a harsh
authoritarian rule over Burma for five decades.
Burma analyst Suzanne DiMaggio, who moderated the discussion with Thein Sein,
told VOA it was a landmark moment for the two rival leaders, who have sometimes
disagreed on how to proceed with reforms. But she says they now seems to be be
finding common ground.
U.S. President Barack Obama meets with Aung San Suu Kyi at the White House in
Washington, September 19, 2012.
"When we hosted Aung San Suu Kyi last week in Washington, she had a very
conciliatory tone toward the president and made it clear that they both are
working toward the same goal," said DiMaggio. "And he responded in
kind. I think it's clear that their relationship is involving and improving and
I think they recognize that their country needs both of them in order to
achieve the many things that they need to do."
Aung San Suu Kyi is currently on a high-profile, multi-week tour of the United
States, a trip that some fear could overshadow President Thein Sein's visit to
the United Nations.
Path to democracy?
Since taking power last year, Thein Sein's government has begun releasing
political prisoners, relaxing censorship and opening dialogue with the
democratic opposition and armed ethnic minority groups. But some of his
military colleagues have been hesitant to change.
On Thursday, Thein Sein insisted his country is on a path to democracy. But he
said there are conditions that need to be met in order to solidify the reforms
already made.
"First, there has to be stability and rule of law in the country. We'll
have to lay down a good foundation for the economy," he said. "If we
manage to do that, we will be able to establish a stable political system, a
stable democracy, and I don't think there will be any reversal in the political
transition."
Towards a common goal
But DiMaggio said the most important development this week is that both
President Thein Sein and Aung San Suu Kyi appear to now have, to a large
extent, the same goals for Burma.
"There may be some differences on how to get there and what priorities
should be," she said. "But nonetheless, I think they're really in
sync with each other on how to move forward and what needs to be done. So in
that sense, it gives me a great deal of optimism, because if the two of them
have a common agenda, it really is encouraging that a lot can be accomplished."
And many observers agree that there is still much that needs to be accomplished
in Burma, including the formation of a independent judiciary and amending a
constitution that effectively guarantees military control.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.+
http://www.voanews.com/content/burma-president-praises-aung-san-suu-kyi/1516496.html
