07 November 2012
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Rebel leader warns Naypyitaw: No more ceasefire violations
Wednesday, 07 November 2012 10:56 S.H.A.N.
More violations by the Burma Army of the ceasefire agreement may end up in the collapse of the treaty, said Lt-Gen Yawdserk, leader of the Restoration Council of Shan State / Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) on Monday, 5 November.
The army and the government should not be at cross purposes, he said. They also need to do everything to help the people so they (the people) can get over the armys past excesses. Last but not least, political dialogues need to begin as soon as possible. That is how trust and peace can be built.
Lt. Gen. Yawdserk, left, leader of Shan State Army (SSA), and Gen. Soe Win, chief of Myanmar government negotiation group, shake hands during their meeting in Kengtung, eastern Shan State, Myanmar, Saturday, May 19, 2012. It was second round of peace talks between the government and Shan rebels. Photo: Khin Maung Win / AP
He saw not much progress since he first meet President Thein Seins Minister Without Borders U Aung Min in Chiangrai on 19 November 2011. We have been attacked 32 times during the past year, he said. 1,000 families of our fighters have been waiting to move into the Mongtaw-Monghta area for resettlement (as agreed in January). But 60 of our men sent to make preparations for the move have not been allowed to go anywhere.
On the drug front, no (practical) agreement had been reached at the Tachilek meeting (on 28 October).
He said since it was the government that had made the first call for peace, it rests primarily on the governments shoulders to make trust and peace a reality.
The picture is not altogether gloomy, according to his earlier statements. On the brighter side, all groups that have entered truce with the government have acknowledged the opening of liaison offices in sensitive areas, the holding of public consultations on the peace process and the freedom to call on authorities when there are problems have been useful.
Ceasefire and peace have always been shattered by the governments side, he pointed out. Just take a look at the fighting against the Shan State Army (SSA) North and Kachin Independence Army (KIA). They were not started by the SSA or the KIA, but by the governments side.
The two sides are due to meet again sometime this month. The venue may be Taunggyi (Shan State capital), he told SHAN. But the date is yet to be fixed.
On the other hand, U Aung Min, also Vice Chairman of the Union Peacemaking Work Committee, has always said his peace missions are not funded by the government, that they were from his own pockets. The first payment for his work, Euro 700,000, appeared to have come only during the visit of the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso last week. It will reportedly be followed by another 30 million euros for the countrys peace process in the upcoming year. http://www.english.panglong.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5054:rebel-leader-warns-naypyitaw-no-more-ceasefire-violations&catid=85:politics&Itemid=266
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Bangkok Post
Obama to visit Myanmar
Published: 7/11/2012 at 08:05 PM
Online news:
Newly re-elected US President Barack Obama will visit Myanmar's commercial capital, Yangon later this month, a Myanmar government official said Wednesday, in the latest sign of Washington's support for reforms in the former pariah state.
''Obama will come to Yangon on November 19. He will meet with the President and Daw (honoric) Aung San Suu Kyi here,'' the official told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding further details were unavailable because of security concerns.
Relations between the United States and Myanmanr have thawed significantly since President Thein Sein took the helm of a quasi-civilian regime last year and ushered in a period of sweeping reform.
Fresh from his re-election triumph, Mr Obama has a small window for foreign travel before Thanksgiving on Nov 22 and deliberations in Congress about averting a destructive budgetary arrangement known as the ''fiscal cliff''.
The White House has not confirmed any trip to Myanmar.
Mr Obama is also expected to travel to Phnom Penh to attend the East Asia summit, an annual gathering of leaders of Southeast Asian nations and regional partners including China and Russia.
``According to the plan, he will be arriving on the 18th,'' Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith told AFP, adding that he did not know how long Mr Obama would stay in the country. The summit ends on Nov 20.
The Obama administration has encouraged the political developments in Myanmar under the new regime that replaced half a century of military rule.
Thein Sein made a landmark trip to New York in September, becoming the first Burma leader to speak to the UN General Assembly, following a series of visits to Myanmar by US officials including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Mrs Suu Kyi also visited the US on a historic tour that coincided with the Myanmar leader's schedule and included a meeting with Mr Obama.
''We welcome his visit. We are also glad that he won the election. He met with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Washington during her visit and was very knowledgeable about Myanmar,'' Ohn Kyaing, a spokesman for the opposition leader's National League for Democracy, told AFP.
He said the party had ''heard he would come here but we did not know the date''.
``No American president has visited Burma in a long time... It's more than 50 years,'' he added, using the country's former name.
The opposition party of Nobel laureate Suu Kyi has been welcomed back into mainstream politics under the dramatic reforms, which have also included the release of hundreds of political prisoners and a series of tentative ceasefires with ethnic minority rebels.
In response to the reforms the US and other Western countries have rolled back sanctions, despite concerns about an ethnic conflict raging in northern Kachin state and a surge in communal violence in western Rakhine.
Washington lifted sanctions on American investment in Myanmar in July, enabling a major US trade delegation to visit the country.
Global corporate giants from Coca-Cola to General Electric have already begun to vie for a share of an expected economic boom in the long-isolated nation.
The US has also lifted 2007 sanctions on Thein Sein and parliament speaker Shwe Mann and announced it would ease a ban on imports. http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/320045/
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Myanmar vice president visits Thailand
Published on Wednesday, 07 November 2012 15:29
Myanmar Vice President Nyan Htun hopes his visit to Thailand, to streamline agenda for the Thai-Myanmar leaders meeting later this month, would pave way for further improvement in the bilateral relations.
While meeting with Thailands Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Nyan Htun, as chairman of the special economic zones in Myanmar, said that his country is open for foreign investment particularly investment from Thailand, which is now the second biggest foreign investor.
Leading a delegation of high-level officials, he is in Bangkok to join the 1st Thai-Myanmar senior official meeting, wherebydevelopment strategies in the Dawei special economic zone and related areas are discussed. Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong led the Thai delegation.
Yingluck reiterated Thailands readiness to support development in Dawei and expressed Thai investors interest in pouring investment in other areas. On Dawei, she said that it is necessary that the senior officials clearly prioritise development agenda.
Meanwhile, she suggested further cooperation in growing border trade. As Thailand is involved with the development of new linkage infrastructure, Myanmar is urged to provide security to Thai workers and officers. Myanmar is also urged to consider opening more permanent checkpoints.
To help address the power shortage in Myanmar which is hosting a number of international events in the next few years like World Economic Forum on East Asia and SEA Games, Thailand is delivering old gas turbines to Yangon.
Source: The Nation http://elevenmyanmar.com/politics/1207-myanmar-vice-president-visits-thailand
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MPs block amendments to 1982 Citizenship Law
Published on Wednesday, 07 November 2012 19:32
The Myanmar parliament will not tackle changes to the 1982 Burma (Myanmar) Citizenship Law after several MPs objected to the amendments.
Tin Mya of the Union Solidarity and Development Party submitted amendments to the body but Speaker Khin Aung Myint said the proposal will be kept only as a record after some MPs raised their objection.
The Burma Citizenship Law, enacted in 1982 , categorises citizen, associate citizen, naturalised citizen and foreigner.
The 20-year-old law also provides guidelines on those who can apply for naturalised citizenship including those with a foreign parent as long as the other parent is a citizen.
Others who are qualified to seek naturalised citizenship are those with parents who are an associate citizen and a naturalised citizen; an associate citizen and a foreigner; both naturalised citizens; and a naturalised citizen and a foreigner.
The law can protect nationals from the influence of illegal foreign migrants into the country. This law is essential for both Rakhine State and all nationals. If this law was updated, there would be some international pressures in the enactment process. If the new citizenship law was not firm, the people in Rakhine State will suffer, warned MP Kyaw Kyaw, who was one of those who objected.
MP Kyaw Oo of the Rakhine Nationals Development Party said the law was enacted to address Myanmars situation being bordered with a country where population is bursting. He said the law should only be amended once Myanmar enjoys peace and stability.
On the other hand, some MPs from ethnic political parties, said amendments to the law may be enough.
http://elevenmyanmar.com/politics/1225-mps-block-amendments-to-1982-citizenship-law
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Suu Kyi calls for tolerance on Rakhine conflict
Published on Wednesday, 07 November 2012 19:19
Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has urged for tolerance and emphasised the rule of law in addressing ethnic violence in Rakhine State.
In an interview with a BBC reporter in Nay Pyi Taw last week, Suu Kyi said it is not appropriate to promote the cause of one side without looking at the root of the conflict.
She was referring to riots between Rakhine locals and Bengalis in Rakhine State, west Myanmar.
Fighting began in June while the most recent violence occurred on October 21. The government reported that 84 people died and 29 others were injured while nearly 3,000 houses were burned down in the latest outbreak.
She said the rule of law should be a top priority and only after security is in place can other problems be addressed. She added that a proper solution could not be reached if people were locked in deadly fights and arson attacks.
Responding to criticisms over her lack of stand on the Rakhine conflict, Suu Kyi said it wont help the situation. She said she has been used to critical remarks in the past 20 years.
Suu Kyi blamed previous governments for policies that led to human rights violations and discrimination against Rakhine Buddhists. http://elevenmyanmar.com/politics/1223-suu-kyi-calls-for-tolerance-on-rakhine-conflict
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Cambodia says Obama to visit, raising Myanmar chances
ReutersReuters 3 hours ago
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Newly re-elected U.S. President Barack Obama will go to Cambodia on November 18 to attend an Asian summit, a Cambodian minister said on Wednesday, adding to speculation he may use the opportunity to visit nearby Myanmar.
Myanmar is opening up after almost half a century of military rule and the United States suspended sanctions on the country earlier this year in recognition of the changes under way.
In November 2011 Hillary Clinton became the first U.S. secretary of state to visit in more than 50 years.
Many U.S. companies are looking at starting operations in the country, located between China and India, with abundant resources and low-cost labour.
Officials in Myanmar, also known as Burma, have not confirmed an Obama visit.
Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said he did not know how long Obama would be in his country.
"We will have Obama and also (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and leaders from China and Japan," he told reporters.
The annual summit of the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is usually extended to take in meetings with leaders of partner countries. Preliminary details for this year show the event will run from November 15 to 20.
Local media have said Obama may visit Thailand, like Myanmar an ASEAN member, while he is in Asia, but that could not be confirmed.
(Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Editing by Alan Raybould and Jonathan Thatcher)
http://in.news.yahoo.com/cambodia-says-obama-visit-raising-myanmar-chances-092619987.html
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Foreign insurers enter Myanmar market with hope, caution
Agencies : Hong Kong, Wed Nov 07 2012, 15:30 hrs
The world's top insurance firms are setting their sights on Myanmar, steeling themselves for a fight with corruption and ghosts from the nation's political past.
Prudential Plc, AIA Group Ltd and Manulife Financial Corp are among the global insurance giants preparing to enter Myanmar as the government rolls out a framework for the sector's development with the lifting of European and U.S. sanctions.
The opportunities are many. A large population, economic reforms and a natural resources industry could combine to create rising wealth among Myanmar's people. There is also money to be made by general insurers providing cover for the impending boom in construction projects.
A few years ago everybody needed to have a China story and India as well, said Michael Daly, a director and consulting actuary for the China and Southeast Asia life insurance practice at Milliman Inc. Now the attention has shifted to Southeast Asia.
Myanmar could produce $1.6 billion in annual premium revenues, according to Reuters calculations based on economic data and comparisons with neighbouring markets. That would less than 10 percent of what Singapore premiums bring in now, but in line with Vietnam's current insurance market.
With the opportunities come obstacles, including new rules governing foreign insurers that are yet to be tested.
In addition, the country's one sole established insurer - state-backed Myanma Insurance - is guaranteed certain contracts, effectively closing off portions of the market.
Other challenges include competition from a handful of regional players and corruption.
The country's political history may also pose problems for insurers looking to sell products to high net worth individuals who may have ties to the former junta or be on blacklists.
And yet the early enthusiasm among global insurers shows how tough things have become in their home markets and how crucial they see their position in Southeast Asia's growth story.
Southeast Asia
Global insurers have had their eyes on Southeast Asia, buying up assets and opening offices in Indonesia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Thailand as growth rates in the developing world far-outpaced developed markets.
Premiums in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are expected to rise an average of 7.9 percent next year, according to a report by Swiss Re, more than double the global life insurance average.
Myanmar is attractive to insurance executives as its population of nearly 60 million makes it one of the largest in the region. Per capita gross domestic product is also over $850, near the $1,000 mark that insurers say is the threshold where individuals begin buying insurance.
Tokio Marine Holdings Inc, Sompo Japan Insurance Inc, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co Ltd and United Overseas Bank Ltd have already established representative offices in Myanmar.
Before nationalisation in 1963, there were more than 70 local and foreign private insurance companies in Myanmar.
Myanmar is an economic rising star, said David Wong, who runs Manulife's Southeast Asian operations and who travelled to Myanmar this fall as part of a Canadian delegation. It's not far behind Vietnam.
Myanmar vs Vietnam
Analysts and executives interviewed by Reuters struggled to put an exact dollar figure on Myanmar's insurance market.
Using Vietnam as a model, Myanmar may eventually generate between $1 billion and $2 billion in premiums a year, according to a Reuters analysis, based on sources and economic data.
Vietnam last year had a GDP of $120 billion and generated just over $1.8 billion worth of premiums. That meant an insurance penetration of 1.5 percent of GDP.
If Myanmar's economy grows 7 percent annually in the next decade - the lower end of the rate estimated by the Asian Development Bank - it will double in size in 10 years' time to over $100 billion. If its insurance penetration matches or comes close to that of Vietnam, Myanmar could generate around $1.6 billion in premiums.
Singapore brings in around $19.5 billion in premiums, the highest in Southeast Asia.
Dark past, Local laws
The clearest obstacle for a foreign insurer in Myanmar is corruption.
Transparency International ranks Myanmar as one of the four most-corrupt nations, on par with Afghanistan and only half a point better than North Korea and Somalia.
Rampant corruption would make it nearly impossible for global insurers to run proper background and business checks on policies for individuals and corporations.
Even worse, corruption could get an insurer in trouble if the company backs a person or entity that later becomes a criminal liability, a not-too-distant possibility in a country such as Myanmar.
Many businessmen with close links to the military are now keen to reposition themselves as business friendly and compliant, said Richard Dailly, managing director at consulting firm Kroll Inc. However, many of them still appear on blacklists either because of their close link to the regime or their proximity to narcotics production.
Detailed market information is also hard to come by, with debt and equity analysts and ratings agencies yet to begin covering Myanmar's insurance sector. Performing due diligence is difficult, Dailly adds.
The laws governing Myanmar's insurance sector are loosely-worded and don't apply to the state's monopoly, though some parts of the law could be attractive to foreign insurers.
Insurers can get licenses from the Central Bank of Myanmar that allow them to write policies in foreign currencies. Other parts of existing laws could prove worrisome.
So far, government officials are saying foreign insurers will be kept at arms-length until around 2015. That's when they will be granted licenses and allowed to do business, the deputy minister of finance and revenue told Reuters in September.
For those who invest the time and energy and know-how to actually help it develop, those people are going to get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, said Ince & Co partner Iain Anderson, an industry lawyer who recently travelled to Myanmar. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/foreign-insurers-enter-myanmar-market-with-hope-caution/1028172/0
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Thailand, Myanmar throw weight behind Dawei zone
ReutersBy Amy Sawitta Lefevre | Reuters 3 hours ago
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Ministers from Myanmar and Thailand met on Wednesday to show their support for the struggling multibillion-dollar Dawei economic zone in Myanmar and to look for ways to drum up more private sector interest.
"Collaboration on Dawei is of the utmost importance to both our countries. The next step is to invite investment from the state and private sectors," Thai Finance Minister Kittirat Na Ranong said during a break in the meetings in Bangkok.
The $50 billion, 250 sq km (100 sq mile) complex was planned to include a deep-sea port, steel mills, refineries, a petrochemical complex and power plants.
However, Italian-Thai Development Pcl, Thailand's largest construction firm and the parent of Dawei Development Co, has struggled to find the $8.5 billion needed to finance infrastructure and utilities under the first phase.
On Wednesday, Thailand and Myanmar agreed to set up joint committees overseeing infrastructure projects, including a 132-km (83-mile) road stretching from Dawei to the Thai border, plus water and energy needs. Another committee will advise businesses on Myanmar's new foreign investment law.
A follow-up meeting will be held in Myanmar's capital, Naypyitaw, in December.
Funding for Dawei's first phase will be decided in the next three or four months, with Myanmar keen for construction to begin no later than April 2013, said Somchai Sajjapong, chief of the Thai Finance Ministry's fiscal policy office.
In September, sources said Thai banks, led by Bangkok Bank and Siam Commercial Bank, would provide short-term loans to keep the first phase afloat before an expected Japanese loan of up to $3.2 billion was secured.
"There is strong interest from international banking organisations keen to provide investment loans for Dawei," Finance Minister Kittirat said, adding Myanmar and Thailand had not discussed the involvement of a third country.
Thailand is keen to see Dawei get off the ground as it is ideally placed to provide its companies with a low-cost base for heavy industry.
Bangkok approved a $1.1 billion budget in May for Dawei-related infrastructure in Thailand. It included a four-lane highway linking towns in Thailand to Myanmar plus government offices at the border and housing for Thais who will work in the zone.
Dawei Development Co said last month it planned to invest more than 1 billion baht ($32 million) on infrastructure in the economic zone to promote light industry.
($1 = 30.7500 Thai baht)
(Additional reporting by Kittipong Thaicharoen; Editing by Alan Raybould and Ron Popeski)
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/thailand-myanmar-throw-weight-behind-dawei-zone-105438176--finance.html
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UN appeals for $11 million for Myanmar displaced
The Associated Press, Sittwe, Myanmar | World | Wed, November 07 2012, 8:32 PM
The United Nations food agency has issued an urgent appeal for $11 million to feed more than 110,000 people displaced by violence between Buddhists and Muslims in western Myanmar.
The UN World Food Program's Asia spokesman, Marcus Prior, says some people who fled from their burning homes are now living in impromptu shelters under trees and in rice paddies.
Prior said Tuesday that the money would help feed those displaced by the unrest between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state for the next six months.
The UN agency made its first emergency food deliveries to some of the latest wave of 35,000 displaced people last week and will reach most within the next few days by boat and truck.
The vast majority of the displaced are Rohingya Muslims.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/11/07/un-appeals-11-million-myanmar-displaced.html
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Analysis: Foreign insurers enter Myanmar market with hope, caution
Clare Baldwin Reuters
2:55 a.m. CST, November 7, 2012
HONG KONG (Reuters) - The world's top insurance firms are setting their sights on Myanmar, steeling themselves for a fight with corruption and ghosts from the nation's political past.
Prudential Plc , AIA Group Ltd and Manulife Financial Corp are among the global insurance giants preparing to enter Myanmar as the government rolls out a framework for the sector's development with the lifting of European and U.S. sanctions.
Ads by Google
The opportunities are many. A large population, economic reforms and a natural resources industry could combine to create rising wealth among Myanmar's people. There is also money to be made by general insurers providing cover for the impending boom in construction projects.
"A few years ago everybody needed to have a China story and India as well," said Michael Daly, a director and consulting actuary for the China and Southeast Asia life insurance practice at Milliman Inc. "Now the attention has shifted to Southeast Asia."
Myanmar could produce $1.6 billion in annual premium revenues, according to Reuters calculations based on economic data and comparisons with neighboring markets. That would less than 10 percent of what Singapore premiums bring in now, but in line with Vietnam's current insurance market.
With the opportunities come obstacles, including new rules governing foreign insurers that are yet to be tested.
In addition, the country's one sole established insurer - state-backed Myanma Insurance - is guaranteed certain contracts, effectively closing off portions of the market.
Other challenges include competition from a handful of regional players and corruption.
The country's political history may also pose problems for insurers looking to sell products to high net worth individuals who may have ties to the former junta or be on blacklists.
And yet the early enthusiasm among global insurers shows how tough things have become in their home markets and how crucial they see their position in Southeast Asia's growth story.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
Global insurers have had their eyes on Southeast Asia, buying up assets and opening offices in Indonesia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Thailand as growth rates in the developing world far-outpaced developed markets.
Premiums in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are expected to rise an average of 7.9 percent next year, according to a report by Swiss Re, more than double the global life insurance average.
Myanmar is attractive to insurance executives as its population of nearly 60 million makes it one of the largest in the region. Per capita gross domestic product is also over $850, near the $1,000 mark that insurers say is the threshold where individuals begin buying insurance.
Tokio Marine Holdings Inc , Sompo Japan Insurance Inc , Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co Ltd and United Overseas Bank Ltd have already established representative offices in Myanmar.
Before nationalization in 1963, there were more than 70 local and foreign private insurance companies in Myanmar.
"Myanmar is an economic rising star," said David Wong, who runs Manulife's Southeast Asian operations and who travelled to Myanmar this fall as part of a Canadian delegation. "It's not far behind Vietnam."
MYANMAR VS. VIETNAM
Analysts and executives interviewed by Reuters struggled to put an exact dollar figure on Myanmar's insurance market.
Using Vietnam as a model, Myanmar may eventually generate between $1 billion and $2 billion in premiums a year, according to a Reuters analysis, based on sources and economic data.
Vietnam last year had a GDP of $120 billion and generated just over $1.8 billion worth of premiums. That meant an insurance penetration of 1.5 percent of GDP.
If Myanmar's economy grows 7 percent annually in the next decade - the lower end of the rate estimated by the Asian Development Bank - it will double in size in 10 years' time to over $100 billion. If its insurance penetration matches or comes close to that of Vietnam, Myanmar could generate around $1.6 billion in premiums.
Singapore brings in around $19.5 billion in premiums, the highest in Southeast Asia.
DARK PASTS, LOCAL LAWS
The clearest obstacle for a foreign insurer in Myanmar is corruption.
Transparency International ranks Myanmar as one of the four most-corrupt nations, on par with Afghanistan and only half a point better than North Korea and Somalia.
Rampant corruption would make it nearly impossible for global insurers to run proper background and business checks on policies for individuals and corporations.
Even worse, corruption could get an insurer in trouble if the company backs a person or entity that later becomes a criminal liability, a not-too-distant possibility in a country such as Myanmar.
"Many businessmen with close links to the military are now keen to reposition themselves as business friendly and compliant," said Richard Dailly, managing director at consulting firm Kroll Inc. "However, many of them still appear on blacklists either because of their close link to the regime or their proximity to narcotics production."
Detailed market information is also hard to come by, with debt and equity analysts and ratings agencies yet to begin covering Myanmar's insurance sector. Performing due diligence is difficult, Dailly adds.
The laws governing Myanmar's insurance sector are loosely-worded and don't apply to the state's monopoly, though some parts of the law could be attractive to foreign insurers.
Insurers can get licenses from the Central Bank of Myanmar that allow them to write policies in foreign currencies. Other parts of existing laws could prove worrisome.
So far, government officials are saying foreign insurers will be kept at arms-length until around 2015. That's when they will be granted licenses and allowed to do business, the deputy minister of finance and revenue told Reuters in September.
"For those who invest the time and energy and know-how to actually help it develop, those people are going to get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said Ince & Co partner Iain Anderson, an industry lawyer who recently travelled to Myanmar.
(Additional reporting by Taiga Uranaka in TOKYO and Lawrence White in HONG KONG; Editing by Michael Flaherty and Ryan Woo) http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-insurers-myanmarbre8a60yl-20121107,0,7027358,full.story
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Myanmar pipeline fuels fighting, rights abuses in ethnic areas report
Wed, 7 Nov 2012 12:28 GMT
Source: alertnet
Ethnic Kachin people wave their hands at a ceremony on the International Day of Peace in Yangon Sept. 21, 2012. Hundreds of people joined the march against civil war REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun
BANGKOK (AlertNet) Myanmar government troops are still fighting Kachin rebels and ethnic groups are suffering persistent human rights abuses in areas affected by the controversial Shwe Gas and Oil Pipeline, problems ignored by those praising the governments reforms, a report by a Palaung youth group said on Wednesday.
Almost 3,000 members of the Palaung (locally known as Taang) ethnic group living in the northwest of Shan State in eastern Myanmar have been displaced by the clashes along the pipeline between the army and the Kachin rebels who are supported by Palaung rebels, the report said.
"Those refugees have no support, no shelter, and the U.N. doesn't know about them," said Lway Aye Nang of the Taang Students and Youth Organisation (TSYO) which published the report and the Palaung Womens Organisation (PWO).
"They are in urgent need of help now and the season is entering winter, she said, appealing to international aid agencies to help those newly displaced.
Foreign governments must keep pressing the Myanmar authorities on the continuing human rights abuses in the country and should not hold back for fear of harming the reform process, she said.
Fighting between government troops and the Kachin broke out in northern Myanmar in June 2011 and aid groups say around 75,000 people have been displaced since then.
The twin 2,800-km pipelines, due to start operating in 2013, will carry natural gas from Myanmars Bay of Bengal offshore reserves and oil shipped from Africa and the Middle East to southwest China. China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), both state owned, are leading the project.
Pipeline construction has resulted in land confiscation, forced labour, heightened drug use and security concerns for women and girls, in addition to fighting and displacement, the TSYO report said.
The government has deployed an additional 20 battalions about 6,000 soldiers to increase pressure on armed ethnic groups and provide security for the pipelines, which run northeast from the coast in Rakhine state to China through central Myanmar and Shan State, it said..
One rights group has said the project will provide Myanmar, one of the poorest countries in the world, with revenues of around $29 billion over the next 30 years.
REFORMS ABSENT IN ETHNIC AREAS
Myanmars reformist President Thein Sein, who took office in March 2011, surprised observers by freeing hundreds of dissidents, loosening restrictions on the political opposition and abolishing pre-publication censorship, reforms which led to an easing of Western sanctions.
The government also said it intended to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) to regulate an industry that has so far been opaque and has been accused of rampant corrupt practices.
Nang said the widely praise democratic reforms have not been reflected in the ethnic areas.
People living along the pipeline route have had their land confiscated, sometimes without prior consultation, and compensation has tended to be inadequate, the report said.
The distribution of compensation for loss of land, property and livelihood has been inconsistent, unfair and had no thought or planning for the future of those affected, it said. There has been an increase in the use of forced labour, with people in some areas forced to work on a continual basis and without receiving any payment.
The report said there had been many cases of sexual harassment and intimidation of local women by both Myanmar soldiers and Chinese workers brought in to work on the pipeline.
Drug use has soared with the arrival of Chinese workers, with drugs openly sold in the towns and villages without any intervention from government authorities, the report said.
The Burma army has no respect for human rights. They continue to act the same (as before), said the TSYOs Nang.
She urged world leaders to continue to press Myanmars authorities on rights issues.
We don't see world leaders talking about human rights atrocities that are still going on in the country any more because (they) don't want to harm the reform process, she said.
Everyone is praising the government, President Thein Sein but at the same time we need to continue raising this issue so we can improve the situation, she added. http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/myanmar-pipeline-fuels-fighting-rights-abuses-in-ethnic-areas-report
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No green light so far for private newspapers in Burma
By Zin Linn Nov 07, 2012 9:07PM UTC
Burmas Lower House session continued for 9th day at People Parliament Hall in Parliament Complex in Nay-Pyi-Taw on Tuesday, attended by Lower House Speaker Thura U Shwe Mann and 394 Members of Parliament. At Tuesdays session, six questions were replied; one proposal submitted; and one bill submitted, the state-run New Light of Myanmar said.
Out of six questions, the most interesting one was about the possibility of publishing private-owned daily newspapers. No private owned daily newspapers are allowed up to now. No independent radios or televisions are permitted thus far. MP Thein Nyunt of Thingangyun Constituency raised a question that private newspapers were allowed to print under the 1962 Printing and Publishers Registration Act even under the then military junta. So, he wanted to know whether the government has planned to give green light to publish private newspapers according to the Printers and Publishers Registration Law (1962).
Union Minister for Information Aung Kyi replied that some private newspapers were working during the period between 1965 and 1967 once in a while when the Printers and Publishers Registration Law (1962) was still in force. Green light will be given to publication of private newspapers soon. By this means, he said, a new media environment is being set up in cooperation with respective media. The Union Government would allow the publication of daily private newspapers at an opportune time, Aung Kyi replied.
Thein Nyunt asked further that he would like to know the more accurate time for publishing daily papers. The Information Minister said that it depends on the facts that how the remaining organizations including the Press Council would implement institutions without delay in the process of new media reforms. According to Aung Kyis answer, Government is not ready to make a decision giving fixed dates for private dailies.
However, Aung Kyi had an interview with the Myanmar Times Journal on 2 September, and he spoke in support of abolishing the 1962 Printers and Publishers Registration Law. He told Myanmar Times that it is essential for a democratic country to allow private-owned daily newspapers to operate and predicted that daily publishing licenses will be issued to the private sector early next year.
Information Minister Aung Kyi attended the meeting of creation of a new press council on 17 Sept. 2012.
Information Minister Aung Kyi attended the meeting of creation of a new press council on 17 Sept. 2012. (Photo:http://www.ministryofinformation.gov.mm)
Dr. Than Htut Aung, Chairman and CEO of Eleven Media Group, made a comment on this matter.
Two months ago, the information minister disclosed the publication of private newspapers would be allowed at the start of 2013. Both local and international media reported the news about it. The governments attitude towards the private media is not clear. It has no sincerity. Oppressing and controlling the independent media mean the government has no wish to exercise genuine democracy, Dr. Than Htut Aung highlights his view in the Eleven Media Groups web-page.
No idea of amending the 2008 Constitution means no idea of establishing national reconciliation, national consolidation and peace. (Only this point was highlighted at the peace dialogue with KIO.) Not having these two points will push the country backward direction and never bring peace. Everyone will no longer believe in the government, he remarked.
U Win Tin, a veteran journalist and former editor-in-chief of Hanthawady Daily, also told the EMG concerning the private dailies: The government talked about the publication of private newspapers variously. What they have said is not right yet when a new information minister was appointed. On one occasion, they said private newspapers could be published in early 2013. On another occasion, they said again that it was not possible. Anyhow, what we heard is who has been allowed to publish and who will be allowed. In that regard, the time has come to publish private newspapers. If possible, state-run newspapers should not exist. The Kyemon and Myanma Alin dailies were privately owned in the past. I think they should be privatized now.
Another thing is that they should assess who is appropriate and capable of publishing a private newspaper. It is rumoured that the government has handpicked some to publish private newspapers and that they are getting prepared and seeking new employees. I think it is not appropriate. I completely favour private newspapers. Even the Kyemon and Myanma Alin newspapers must be privatized. This is my opinion. Private newspapers must emerge. State-run newspapers should not exist, he criticized strongly.
Taking into consideration of Aung San Suu Kyis pragmatic political move, people believe that Burma is struggling at a crossroads with the intention of starting a political restructuring. While the majority population wishes a genuine chapter of democratic changes, the quasi-civilian government wants to maintain the country under limited or guided democracy. The disciplined democracy the regime used to say is no more than restricted freedom.
Above all, citizens are demanding freedom of expression and freedom of press while the Thein Sein government is reluctant to allow the basic rights of the citizens.
If the government is sincere enough regarding democratic reforms, the media must be free along with the inauguration since free speech and access to information is fundamental to a healthy democracy. But, there is no sign of permission for daily newspapers in Burma until now.
Even though, Information Minister has immediately responded the question in his website (http://www.ministryofinformation.gov.mm) today. He said that he will not fail to keep his promise and he has been doing his best to accomplish the emergence of the daily newspapers. He also made a call to the media circle to help implementing respective institutions urgently at the heart of new media reforms. http://asiancorrespondent.com/91729/no-green-light-so-far-for-private-newspapers-in-burma/
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30,000 Dawei Villagers Forced Out by June
By NYEIN NYEIN / THE IRRAWADDY| November 7, 2012 |
The forced relocation of more than 30,000 villagers by southern Burmas Dawei deep-sea port project will take place before June next year, says Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Support Team Chairman Tin Maung Swe.
A total of 16 villages in Yaybyu and Longlon townships in Dawei Province of Tanintharyi Division will be moved to three new locations, he told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.
Tin Maung Swe explained that two new villages are under construction and some will start moving before the next academic year, which begins in June.
The new residential zones are being built in accordance with the development of a town plan and the villagers will be moved after electricity, water supplies and telecommunication are in place, he said.
We will complete a total of 500 new homes in Bawar Village, which is the new place where five villages from the Nabulae area of Yaybyu Township will first be relocated this month, said Tin Maung Swe. So far we have completed building 343 houses.
Another 10 villages in Yaybyu Township will be moved near the Industrial Zone in Pugawzun Village and the remaining settlement of Nyungpinseik, in Longlon Township, will be moved to nearby Bantaninn Village.
The Dawei project started in 2010 with the first stepsroad construction, site preparation, an industrial zone for small and medium enterprises, a 33 megawatt gas-fueled power plant and new towns for displaced localsset to be completed before 2014, despite concerns of some foreign investors regarding the slow pace of progress.
Site preparation has just begun for the Ministry of Industrys palm plantation area in Pagawzun Village where the light industrial zone will be based, said Tin Maung Swe. He added that local residents will be helped to reestablish their livelihoods near their new homes and will be provided with agricultural materials for small plantations as well as new houses.
But Dawei residents told The Irrawaddy that they worry about losing their jobs as farmers. Local people currently grow rubber, cashew and palm and their plantations will be destroyed by the project.
We have already lost some plantations due to road construction, said a monk at Thabyayzun Village. Some people also have not accepted compensation as it is too low.
But Tin Maung Swe disagrees. Some people just did not accept the standard compensation as they want more, he said, adding that their money is waiting in the bank and will be paid as soon as villagers agree to standard terms.
Meanwhile, Burmese Vice-President Nyun Htun discussed the establishment of the Burma-Thailand Joint Committee for the Comprehensive Development in the Dawei SEZ and its related projects during a bilateral meeting in Bangkok on Wednesday.
The committee will oversee the entire project, which is led by Italian-Thai Development Company. Earlier reports that President Thein Sein would attend the meeting proved to be inaccurate. http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/18278
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Govt Accused of Ongoing Abuses at Shwe Pipeline
By CHARLIE CAMPBELL / THE IRRAWADDY| November 7, 2012 |
A catalogue of ongoing human rights abuses have been documented along the path of the Chinese-backed Shwe Gas and Oil Pipeline which transects Burma, according to a new report.
Pipeline Nightmare, released by The Taang Students and Youth Organization (TSYO) on Wednesday morning, illustrates how the project has resulted in the confiscation of land, forced labor and an increased military presence affecting thousands of people.
Moreover, the report documents human rights violations in six target cities and 51 villages committed by the Burma Army, police and militias taking responsibility for security during construction.
Even though the international community believes that the government has implemented political reforms, it doesnt mean those reforms have reached ethnic areas, especially not where there is increased militarization along the Shwe Pipeline, increased fighting between the Burmese Army and ethnic armed groups, and negative consequences for the people living in these areas, said Mai Amm Ngeal, a member of TSYO.
Once completed, the project will transport oil and gas across from the Bay of Bengal in western Burmas Arakan (Rakhine) State to Chinas southwestern Yunnan Province across the border from Shan State. Sources close to the project suggest it could be completed as early as next May.
The government has deployed additional soldiers and extended 26 military camps in order to increase pressure on ethnic armed groups and provide security for the pipeline project and its Chinese workers, claims the report.
Last month, an alliance of 12 civil society groups in Burma called for the suspension of the Shwe Gas pipelines until the project had been properly assessed and existing problems solved.
Tin Thit, a spokesman for the Myanmar-China Pipeline Watch Committee, told The Irrawaddy that there needs to be a solution to the environmental and social problems. Therefore, we urge the authorities to suspend the project until these issues are solved.
Double the amount of land has been used to accommodate the pipelines than the contractors promised the landowners who, in turn, have received less compensation than they should expect.
The Shwe Gas project is a joint venture between China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and the former junta-linked Myanmar Oil & Gas Enterprise (MOGE). The oil and gas pipelines pass through 21 townships as they span 800 km (500 miles) across the country.
Local sources report daily fighting along the pipeline route between government troops and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Shan State ArmyNorth and Taang National Liberation Army in Namtu, Mantong and Namkham, where there are more than 1,000 Taang (Palaung) refugees.
Wong Aung, the coordinator at the Shwe Gas Movement, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that the TSYO report is consistent with earlier research conducted by his group regarding clashes between the Burmese military and ethnic people.
Especially with the KIA, the ongoing conflict is driving people from the construction, he said. The TSYO report is important as there has been a lot of positive developments inside the country and interest from foreign investment yet the ongoing crisis with the pipeline is directly related to foreign investment. There are clashes as they lack a proper investment mechanisms and legal framework.
Although CNPC and MOGE have signed agreements for the Shwe Pipeline, TSYO claims neither company has conducted any Environmental Impact Assessments or Social Impact Assessments while the Burmese central government is set to earn an estimated US $29 billion from the project over the next three decades.
The government and companies involved must be held accountable for the project and its effects on the local people, such as increasing military presence and Chinese workers along the pipeline, both of which cause insecurity for the local communities and especially women. The project has no benefit for the public, so it must be postponed, said Lway Phoo Reang, Joint Secretary (1) of TSYO.
The TSYO report urges President Thein Seins administration to postpone the Shwe Gas and Oil Pipeline project, withdraw the military from Shan State, reach a ceasefire with all local ethnic armed groups and address the root causes of the armed conflict by engaging in political dialogue. http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/18259
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November 6, 2012 2:10 pm
Group breaks away from Suu Kyi party
By Gwen Robinson in Yangon
Turmoil within the party of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has prompted a breakaway group from her National League for Democracy to establish its own political organisation, amid growing criticism of the partys leadership and threats of further resignations.
About 130 NLD members in the Ayeyarwady region of western Myanmar resigned from the party and last week established a group called Democracy Network to focus on helping the local community although some members hope the group will eventually become a political party.
The walkout was triggered by disputes over the selection process for local delegates to the NLDs first national convention, which will be held in December or January.
In a rare public outburst, three of the NLDs longest-serving members in Pathein, an Ayeyarwady township, accused the partys central executive committee of undemocratic practices.
At a recent press conference, they said long-time members had been pushed aside by the central headquarters in the delegate selection process. In response, the NLDs executive committee dismissed the three members and the partys local headquarters was closed.
A national NLD spokesman denied the party was being undemocratic and told local media that delegate positions were being assigned to the people who are the most capable.
But the partys harsh response to dissent has prompted political analysts and diplomats to question the NLDs tactics, given the partys own history of persecution under previous military regimes, including the 15-year house arrest of Ms Suu Kyi, the partys founding leader.
Its ironic that even as reformers leading this government are soliciting dissenting views and reaching out across the political divide, the NLD is behaving in this way; even more ironic that the NLD was the one to complain the loudest about lack of political freedoms, said an academic who is working in Myanmar.
In disputes that have engulfed at least 10 NLD branches around the country including in Thone Kwa district of Yangon members have accused NLD membership of high-handed tactics and alleged favouritism in the selection process.
However, such internal arguments have crystallised growing tensions between the NLDs leadership and its vast network of local branches, say local analysts and diplomats. Party members are increasingly complaining about the NLDs strict, hierarchical structure and the autocratic approach of its central committee, they noted.
In all cases, however, dissenters have avoided directly criticising Ms Suu Kyi, who distanced herself from daily party leadership when she entered parliament in April.
Members have also complained privately that Ms Suu Kyi is focusing on her parliamentary role and international travels while neglecting her grassroots support base.
The NLD hopes to double its current membership of 400,000 by the 2015 national election, in which the party hopes to contest all available parliamentary seats. The convention is being planned to discuss strategies for that contest.
One-quarter of the 664 seats in the bicameral legislature are reserved for the military, leaving 498 seats dominated by the ruling Union Solidarity and Development party up for grabs in 2015.
While analysts still believe the NLD, which holds 43 seats, will sweep the 2015 polls, they warn that growing internal dissent could imperil the partys machine.
Some consider that the problem in the party is a battle for power between old and new party members and activists, but it is also indicative of the [NLD] headquarters weaknesses, U Ko Ko Aung, a long-time NLD member, recently told the Myanmar Times, the English-language weekly.
Ms Suu Kyi has said only that it would take time to solve conflict between dedicated members and self-interested people in the party. However, Mr Ko Ko Aung and others have urged her to intervene. All that is needed is for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to say that the process should be democratic . . . [because] its probably right to say about 90 per cent of people join the NLD because they love [her], he said. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/29297a4c-2812-11e2-ac7f-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2BXjeRZxq
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Burma to host Green Economy forum
Wednesday, 07 November 2012 16:02 Mizzima News
Burma will host its second forum on green economy and sustainable growth from November 13 to 15 in Naypyidaw where some 80 environmental experts from foreign countries and about 20 domestic experts are expected to attend.
The conference will be followed by a roundtable seminar in Rangoon on November 16.
According to a report by Xinhua, delegates will discuss 18 different topics including low carbon development, energy, water, food security, forests, and responsible tourism.
The first Green Economy and Green Growth Forum (GEGG) was held in Naypyidaw in November last year, organized by former UN Assistant Secretary-General Dr. Nay Tun in cooperation with governmental agencies and NGOs.
In June last year, Burmese Vice-president Dr. Sai Mauk Kham addressed the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he said that President Thein Seins government is committed to seeking economic development in parallel with the environmental conservation, and has called on all its citizens and social organizations to actively take part in this task.
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/8364-burma-to-host-green-economy-forum.html
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Rebel leader warns Naypyitaw: No more ceasefire violations
Wednesday, 07 November 2012 10:56 S.H.A.N.
More violations by the Burma Army of the ceasefire agreement may end up in the collapse of the treaty, said Lt-Gen Yawdserk, leader of the Restoration Council of Shan State / Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) on Monday, 5 November.
The army and the government should not be at cross purposes, he said. They also need to do everything to help the people so they (the people) can get over the armys past excesses. Last but not least, political dialogues need to begin as soon as possible. That is how trust and peace can be built.
Lt. Gen. Yawdserk, left, leader of Shan State Army (SSA), and Gen. Soe Win, chief of Myanmar government negotiation group, shake hands during their meeting in Kengtung, eastern Shan State, Myanmar, Saturday, May 19, 2012. It was second round of peace talks between the government and Shan rebels. Photo: Khin Maung Win / AP
He saw not much progress since he first meet President Thein Seins Minister Without Borders U Aung Min in Chiangrai on 19 November 2011. We have been attacked 32 times during the past year, he said. 1,000 families of our fighters have been waiting to move into the Mongtaw-Monghta area for resettlement (as agreed in January). But 60 of our men sent to make preparations for the move have not been allowed to go anywhere.
On the drug front, no (practical) agreement had been reached at the Tachilek meeting (on 28 October).
He said since it was the government that had made the first call for peace, it rests primarily on the governments shoulders to make trust and peace a reality.
The picture is not altogether gloomy, according to his earlier statements. On the brighter side, all groups that have entered truce with the government have acknowledged the opening of liaison offices in sensitive areas, the holding of public consultations on the peace process and the freedom to call on authorities when there are problems have been useful.
Ceasefire and peace have always been shattered by the governments side, he pointed out. Just take a look at the fighting against the Shan State Army (SSA) North and Kachin Independence Army (KIA). They were not started by the SSA or the KIA, but by the governments side.
The two sides are due to meet again sometime this month. The venue may be Taunggyi (Shan State capital), he told SHAN. But the date is yet to be fixed.
On the other hand, U Aung Min, also Vice Chairman of the Union Peacemaking Work Committee, has always said his peace missions are not funded by the government, that they were from his own pockets. The first payment for his work, Euro 700,000, appeared to have come only during the visit of the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso last week. It will reportedly be followed by another 30 million euros for the countrys peace process in the upcoming year. http://www.english.panglong.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5054:rebel-leader-warns-naypyitaw-no-more-ceasefire-violations&catid=85:politics&Itemid=266
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Bangkok Post
Obama to visit Myanmar
Published: 7/11/2012 at 08:05 PM
Online news:
Newly re-elected US President Barack Obama will visit Myanmar's commercial capital, Yangon later this month, a Myanmar government official said Wednesday, in the latest sign of Washington's support for reforms in the former pariah state.
''Obama will come to Yangon on November 19. He will meet with the President and Daw (honoric) Aung San Suu Kyi here,'' the official told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding further details were unavailable because of security concerns.
Relations between the United States and Myanmanr have thawed significantly since President Thein Sein took the helm of a quasi-civilian regime last year and ushered in a period of sweeping reform.
Fresh from his re-election triumph, Mr Obama has a small window for foreign travel before Thanksgiving on Nov 22 and deliberations in Congress about averting a destructive budgetary arrangement known as the ''fiscal cliff''.
The White House has not confirmed any trip to Myanmar.
Mr Obama is also expected to travel to Phnom Penh to attend the East Asia summit, an annual gathering of leaders of Southeast Asian nations and regional partners including China and Russia.
``According to the plan, he will be arriving on the 18th,'' Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith told AFP, adding that he did not know how long Mr Obama would stay in the country. The summit ends on Nov 20.
The Obama administration has encouraged the political developments in Myanmar under the new regime that replaced half a century of military rule.
Thein Sein made a landmark trip to New York in September, becoming the first Burma leader to speak to the UN General Assembly, following a series of visits to Myanmar by US officials including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Mrs Suu Kyi also visited the US on a historic tour that coincided with the Myanmar leader's schedule and included a meeting with Mr Obama.
''We welcome his visit. We are also glad that he won the election. He met with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Washington during her visit and was very knowledgeable about Myanmar,'' Ohn Kyaing, a spokesman for the opposition leader's National League for Democracy, told AFP.
He said the party had ''heard he would come here but we did not know the date''.
``No American president has visited Burma in a long time... It's more than 50 years,'' he added, using the country's former name.
The opposition party of Nobel laureate Suu Kyi has been welcomed back into mainstream politics under the dramatic reforms, which have also included the release of hundreds of political prisoners and a series of tentative ceasefires with ethnic minority rebels.
In response to the reforms the US and other Western countries have rolled back sanctions, despite concerns about an ethnic conflict raging in northern Kachin state and a surge in communal violence in western Rakhine.
Washington lifted sanctions on American investment in Myanmar in July, enabling a major US trade delegation to visit the country.
Global corporate giants from Coca-Cola to General Electric have already begun to vie for a share of an expected economic boom in the long-isolated nation.
The US has also lifted 2007 sanctions on Thein Sein and parliament speaker Shwe Mann and announced it would ease a ban on imports. http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/320045/
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Myanmar vice president visits Thailand
Published on Wednesday, 07 November 2012 15:29
Myanmar Vice President Nyan Htun hopes his visit to Thailand, to streamline agenda for the Thai-Myanmar leaders meeting later this month, would pave way for further improvement in the bilateral relations.
While meeting with Thailands Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Nyan Htun, as chairman of the special economic zones in Myanmar, said that his country is open for foreign investment particularly investment from Thailand, which is now the second biggest foreign investor.
Leading a delegation of high-level officials, he is in Bangkok to join the 1st Thai-Myanmar senior official meeting, wherebydevelopment strategies in the Dawei special economic zone and related areas are discussed. Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong led the Thai delegation.
Yingluck reiterated Thailands readiness to support development in Dawei and expressed Thai investors interest in pouring investment in other areas. On Dawei, she said that it is necessary that the senior officials clearly prioritise development agenda.
Meanwhile, she suggested further cooperation in growing border trade. As Thailand is involved with the development of new linkage infrastructure, Myanmar is urged to provide security to Thai workers and officers. Myanmar is also urged to consider opening more permanent checkpoints.
To help address the power shortage in Myanmar which is hosting a number of international events in the next few years like World Economic Forum on East Asia and SEA Games, Thailand is delivering old gas turbines to Yangon.
Source: The Nation http://elevenmyanmar.com/politics/1207-myanmar-vice-president-visits-thailand
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MPs block amendments to 1982 Citizenship Law
Published on Wednesday, 07 November 2012 19:32
The Myanmar parliament will not tackle changes to the 1982 Burma (Myanmar) Citizenship Law after several MPs objected to the amendments.
Tin Mya of the Union Solidarity and Development Party submitted amendments to the body but Speaker Khin Aung Myint said the proposal will be kept only as a record after some MPs raised their objection.
The Burma Citizenship Law, enacted in 1982 , categorises citizen, associate citizen, naturalised citizen and foreigner.
The 20-year-old law also provides guidelines on those who can apply for naturalised citizenship including those with a foreign parent as long as the other parent is a citizen.
Others who are qualified to seek naturalised citizenship are those with parents who are an associate citizen and a naturalised citizen; an associate citizen and a foreigner; both naturalised citizens; and a naturalised citizen and a foreigner.
The law can protect nationals from the influence of illegal foreign migrants into the country. This law is essential for both Rakhine State and all nationals. If this law was updated, there would be some international pressures in the enactment process. If the new citizenship law was not firm, the people in Rakhine State will suffer, warned MP Kyaw Kyaw, who was one of those who objected.
MP Kyaw Oo of the Rakhine Nationals Development Party said the law was enacted to address Myanmars situation being bordered with a country where population is bursting. He said the law should only be amended once Myanmar enjoys peace and stability.
On the other hand, some MPs from ethnic political parties, said amendments to the law may be enough.
http://elevenmyanmar.com/politics/1225-mps-block-amendments-to-1982-citizenship-law
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Suu Kyi calls for tolerance on Rakhine conflict
Published on Wednesday, 07 November 2012 19:19
Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has urged for tolerance and emphasised the rule of law in addressing ethnic violence in Rakhine State.
In an interview with a BBC reporter in Nay Pyi Taw last week, Suu Kyi said it is not appropriate to promote the cause of one side without looking at the root of the conflict.
She was referring to riots between Rakhine locals and Bengalis in Rakhine State, west Myanmar.
Fighting began in June while the most recent violence occurred on October 21. The government reported that 84 people died and 29 others were injured while nearly 3,000 houses were burned down in the latest outbreak.
She said the rule of law should be a top priority and only after security is in place can other problems be addressed. She added that a proper solution could not be reached if people were locked in deadly fights and arson attacks.
Responding to criticisms over her lack of stand on the Rakhine conflict, Suu Kyi said it wont help the situation. She said she has been used to critical remarks in the past 20 years.
Suu Kyi blamed previous governments for policies that led to human rights violations and discrimination against Rakhine Buddhists. http://elevenmyanmar.com/politics/1223-suu-kyi-calls-for-tolerance-on-rakhine-conflict
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Cambodia says Obama to visit, raising Myanmar chances
ReutersReuters 3 hours ago
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Newly re-elected U.S. President Barack Obama will go to Cambodia on November 18 to attend an Asian summit, a Cambodian minister said on Wednesday, adding to speculation he may use the opportunity to visit nearby Myanmar.
Myanmar is opening up after almost half a century of military rule and the United States suspended sanctions on the country earlier this year in recognition of the changes under way.
In November 2011 Hillary Clinton became the first U.S. secretary of state to visit in more than 50 years.
Many U.S. companies are looking at starting operations in the country, located between China and India, with abundant resources and low-cost labour.
Officials in Myanmar, also known as Burma, have not confirmed an Obama visit.
Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said he did not know how long Obama would be in his country.
"We will have Obama and also (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and leaders from China and Japan," he told reporters.
The annual summit of the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is usually extended to take in meetings with leaders of partner countries. Preliminary details for this year show the event will run from November 15 to 20.
Local media have said Obama may visit Thailand, like Myanmar an ASEAN member, while he is in Asia, but that could not be confirmed.
(Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Editing by Alan Raybould and Jonathan Thatcher)
http://in.news.yahoo.com/cambodia-says-obama-visit-raising-myanmar-chances-092619987.html
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Foreign insurers enter Myanmar market with hope, caution
Agencies : Hong Kong, Wed Nov 07 2012, 15:30 hrs
The world's top insurance firms are setting their sights on Myanmar, steeling themselves for a fight with corruption and ghosts from the nation's political past.
Prudential Plc, AIA Group Ltd and Manulife Financial Corp are among the global insurance giants preparing to enter Myanmar as the government rolls out a framework for the sector's development with the lifting of European and U.S. sanctions.
The opportunities are many. A large population, economic reforms and a natural resources industry could combine to create rising wealth among Myanmar's people. There is also money to be made by general insurers providing cover for the impending boom in construction projects.
A few years ago everybody needed to have a China story and India as well, said Michael Daly, a director and consulting actuary for the China and Southeast Asia life insurance practice at Milliman Inc. Now the attention has shifted to Southeast Asia.
Myanmar could produce $1.6 billion in annual premium revenues, according to Reuters calculations based on economic data and comparisons with neighbouring markets. That would less than 10 percent of what Singapore premiums bring in now, but in line with Vietnam's current insurance market.
With the opportunities come obstacles, including new rules governing foreign insurers that are yet to be tested.
In addition, the country's one sole established insurer - state-backed Myanma Insurance - is guaranteed certain contracts, effectively closing off portions of the market.
Other challenges include competition from a handful of regional players and corruption.
The country's political history may also pose problems for insurers looking to sell products to high net worth individuals who may have ties to the former junta or be on blacklists.
And yet the early enthusiasm among global insurers shows how tough things have become in their home markets and how crucial they see their position in Southeast Asia's growth story.
Southeast Asia
Global insurers have had their eyes on Southeast Asia, buying up assets and opening offices in Indonesia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Thailand as growth rates in the developing world far-outpaced developed markets.
Premiums in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are expected to rise an average of 7.9 percent next year, according to a report by Swiss Re, more than double the global life insurance average.
Myanmar is attractive to insurance executives as its population of nearly 60 million makes it one of the largest in the region. Per capita gross domestic product is also over $850, near the $1,000 mark that insurers say is the threshold where individuals begin buying insurance.
Tokio Marine Holdings Inc, Sompo Japan Insurance Inc, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co Ltd and United Overseas Bank Ltd have already established representative offices in Myanmar.
Before nationalisation in 1963, there were more than 70 local and foreign private insurance companies in Myanmar.
Myanmar is an economic rising star, said David Wong, who runs Manulife's Southeast Asian operations and who travelled to Myanmar this fall as part of a Canadian delegation. It's not far behind Vietnam.
Myanmar vs Vietnam
Analysts and executives interviewed by Reuters struggled to put an exact dollar figure on Myanmar's insurance market.
Using Vietnam as a model, Myanmar may eventually generate between $1 billion and $2 billion in premiums a year, according to a Reuters analysis, based on sources and economic data.
Vietnam last year had a GDP of $120 billion and generated just over $1.8 billion worth of premiums. That meant an insurance penetration of 1.5 percent of GDP.
If Myanmar's economy grows 7 percent annually in the next decade - the lower end of the rate estimated by the Asian Development Bank - it will double in size in 10 years' time to over $100 billion. If its insurance penetration matches or comes close to that of Vietnam, Myanmar could generate around $1.6 billion in premiums.
Singapore brings in around $19.5 billion in premiums, the highest in Southeast Asia.
Dark past, Local laws
The clearest obstacle for a foreign insurer in Myanmar is corruption.
Transparency International ranks Myanmar as one of the four most-corrupt nations, on par with Afghanistan and only half a point better than North Korea and Somalia.
Rampant corruption would make it nearly impossible for global insurers to run proper background and business checks on policies for individuals and corporations.
Even worse, corruption could get an insurer in trouble if the company backs a person or entity that later becomes a criminal liability, a not-too-distant possibility in a country such as Myanmar.
Many businessmen with close links to the military are now keen to reposition themselves as business friendly and compliant, said Richard Dailly, managing director at consulting firm Kroll Inc. However, many of them still appear on blacklists either because of their close link to the regime or their proximity to narcotics production.
Detailed market information is also hard to come by, with debt and equity analysts and ratings agencies yet to begin covering Myanmar's insurance sector. Performing due diligence is difficult, Dailly adds.
The laws governing Myanmar's insurance sector are loosely-worded and don't apply to the state's monopoly, though some parts of the law could be attractive to foreign insurers.
Insurers can get licenses from the Central Bank of Myanmar that allow them to write policies in foreign currencies. Other parts of existing laws could prove worrisome.
So far, government officials are saying foreign insurers will be kept at arms-length until around 2015. That's when they will be granted licenses and allowed to do business, the deputy minister of finance and revenue told Reuters in September.
For those who invest the time and energy and know-how to actually help it develop, those people are going to get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, said Ince & Co partner Iain Anderson, an industry lawyer who recently travelled to Myanmar. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/foreign-insurers-enter-myanmar-market-with-hope-caution/1028172/0
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Thailand, Myanmar throw weight behind Dawei zone
ReutersBy Amy Sawitta Lefevre | Reuters 3 hours ago
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Ministers from Myanmar and Thailand met on Wednesday to show their support for the struggling multibillion-dollar Dawei economic zone in Myanmar and to look for ways to drum up more private sector interest.
"Collaboration on Dawei is of the utmost importance to both our countries. The next step is to invite investment from the state and private sectors," Thai Finance Minister Kittirat Na Ranong said during a break in the meetings in Bangkok.
The $50 billion, 250 sq km (100 sq mile) complex was planned to include a deep-sea port, steel mills, refineries, a petrochemical complex and power plants.
However, Italian-Thai Development Pcl, Thailand's largest construction firm and the parent of Dawei Development Co, has struggled to find the $8.5 billion needed to finance infrastructure and utilities under the first phase.
On Wednesday, Thailand and Myanmar agreed to set up joint committees overseeing infrastructure projects, including a 132-km (83-mile) road stretching from Dawei to the Thai border, plus water and energy needs. Another committee will advise businesses on Myanmar's new foreign investment law.
A follow-up meeting will be held in Myanmar's capital, Naypyitaw, in December.
Funding for Dawei's first phase will be decided in the next three or four months, with Myanmar keen for construction to begin no later than April 2013, said Somchai Sajjapong, chief of the Thai Finance Ministry's fiscal policy office.
In September, sources said Thai banks, led by Bangkok Bank and Siam Commercial Bank, would provide short-term loans to keep the first phase afloat before an expected Japanese loan of up to $3.2 billion was secured.
"There is strong interest from international banking organisations keen to provide investment loans for Dawei," Finance Minister Kittirat said, adding Myanmar and Thailand had not discussed the involvement of a third country.
Thailand is keen to see Dawei get off the ground as it is ideally placed to provide its companies with a low-cost base for heavy industry.
Bangkok approved a $1.1 billion budget in May for Dawei-related infrastructure in Thailand. It included a four-lane highway linking towns in Thailand to Myanmar plus government offices at the border and housing for Thais who will work in the zone.
Dawei Development Co said last month it planned to invest more than 1 billion baht ($32 million) on infrastructure in the economic zone to promote light industry.
($1 = 30.7500 Thai baht)
(Additional reporting by Kittipong Thaicharoen; Editing by Alan Raybould and Ron Popeski)
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/thailand-myanmar-throw-weight-behind-dawei-zone-105438176--finance.html
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UN appeals for $11 million for Myanmar displaced
The Associated Press, Sittwe, Myanmar | World | Wed, November 07 2012, 8:32 PM
The United Nations food agency has issued an urgent appeal for $11 million to feed more than 110,000 people displaced by violence between Buddhists and Muslims in western Myanmar.
The UN World Food Program's Asia spokesman, Marcus Prior, says some people who fled from their burning homes are now living in impromptu shelters under trees and in rice paddies.
Prior said Tuesday that the money would help feed those displaced by the unrest between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state for the next six months.
The UN agency made its first emergency food deliveries to some of the latest wave of 35,000 displaced people last week and will reach most within the next few days by boat and truck.
The vast majority of the displaced are Rohingya Muslims.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/11/07/un-appeals-11-million-myanmar-displaced.html
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Analysis: Foreign insurers enter Myanmar market with hope, caution
Clare Baldwin Reuters
2:55 a.m. CST, November 7, 2012
HONG KONG (Reuters) - The world's top insurance firms are setting their sights on Myanmar, steeling themselves for a fight with corruption and ghosts from the nation's political past.
Prudential Plc , AIA Group Ltd and Manulife Financial Corp are among the global insurance giants preparing to enter Myanmar as the government rolls out a framework for the sector's development with the lifting of European and U.S. sanctions.
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The opportunities are many. A large population, economic reforms and a natural resources industry could combine to create rising wealth among Myanmar's people. There is also money to be made by general insurers providing cover for the impending boom in construction projects.
"A few years ago everybody needed to have a China story and India as well," said Michael Daly, a director and consulting actuary for the China and Southeast Asia life insurance practice at Milliman Inc. "Now the attention has shifted to Southeast Asia."
Myanmar could produce $1.6 billion in annual premium revenues, according to Reuters calculations based on economic data and comparisons with neighboring markets. That would less than 10 percent of what Singapore premiums bring in now, but in line with Vietnam's current insurance market.
With the opportunities come obstacles, including new rules governing foreign insurers that are yet to be tested.
In addition, the country's one sole established insurer - state-backed Myanma Insurance - is guaranteed certain contracts, effectively closing off portions of the market.
Other challenges include competition from a handful of regional players and corruption.
The country's political history may also pose problems for insurers looking to sell products to high net worth individuals who may have ties to the former junta or be on blacklists.
And yet the early enthusiasm among global insurers shows how tough things have become in their home markets and how crucial they see their position in Southeast Asia's growth story.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
Global insurers have had their eyes on Southeast Asia, buying up assets and opening offices in Indonesia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Thailand as growth rates in the developing world far-outpaced developed markets.
Premiums in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are expected to rise an average of 7.9 percent next year, according to a report by Swiss Re, more than double the global life insurance average.
Myanmar is attractive to insurance executives as its population of nearly 60 million makes it one of the largest in the region. Per capita gross domestic product is also over $850, near the $1,000 mark that insurers say is the threshold where individuals begin buying insurance.
Tokio Marine Holdings Inc , Sompo Japan Insurance Inc , Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co Ltd and United Overseas Bank Ltd have already established representative offices in Myanmar.
Before nationalization in 1963, there were more than 70 local and foreign private insurance companies in Myanmar.
"Myanmar is an economic rising star," said David Wong, who runs Manulife's Southeast Asian operations and who travelled to Myanmar this fall as part of a Canadian delegation. "It's not far behind Vietnam."
MYANMAR VS. VIETNAM
Analysts and executives interviewed by Reuters struggled to put an exact dollar figure on Myanmar's insurance market.
Using Vietnam as a model, Myanmar may eventually generate between $1 billion and $2 billion in premiums a year, according to a Reuters analysis, based on sources and economic data.
Vietnam last year had a GDP of $120 billion and generated just over $1.8 billion worth of premiums. That meant an insurance penetration of 1.5 percent of GDP.
If Myanmar's economy grows 7 percent annually in the next decade - the lower end of the rate estimated by the Asian Development Bank - it will double in size in 10 years' time to over $100 billion. If its insurance penetration matches or comes close to that of Vietnam, Myanmar could generate around $1.6 billion in premiums.
Singapore brings in around $19.5 billion in premiums, the highest in Southeast Asia.
DARK PASTS, LOCAL LAWS
The clearest obstacle for a foreign insurer in Myanmar is corruption.
Transparency International ranks Myanmar as one of the four most-corrupt nations, on par with Afghanistan and only half a point better than North Korea and Somalia.
Rampant corruption would make it nearly impossible for global insurers to run proper background and business checks on policies for individuals and corporations.
Even worse, corruption could get an insurer in trouble if the company backs a person or entity that later becomes a criminal liability, a not-too-distant possibility in a country such as Myanmar.
"Many businessmen with close links to the military are now keen to reposition themselves as business friendly and compliant," said Richard Dailly, managing director at consulting firm Kroll Inc. "However, many of them still appear on blacklists either because of their close link to the regime or their proximity to narcotics production."
Detailed market information is also hard to come by, with debt and equity analysts and ratings agencies yet to begin covering Myanmar's insurance sector. Performing due diligence is difficult, Dailly adds.
The laws governing Myanmar's insurance sector are loosely-worded and don't apply to the state's monopoly, though some parts of the law could be attractive to foreign insurers.
Insurers can get licenses from the Central Bank of Myanmar that allow them to write policies in foreign currencies. Other parts of existing laws could prove worrisome.
So far, government officials are saying foreign insurers will be kept at arms-length until around 2015. That's when they will be granted licenses and allowed to do business, the deputy minister of finance and revenue told Reuters in September.
"For those who invest the time and energy and know-how to actually help it develop, those people are going to get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said Ince & Co partner Iain Anderson, an industry lawyer who recently travelled to Myanmar.
(Additional reporting by Taiga Uranaka in TOKYO and Lawrence White in HONG KONG; Editing by Michael Flaherty and Ryan Woo) http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-insurers-myanmarbre8a60yl-20121107,0,7027358,full.story
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Myanmar pipeline fuels fighting, rights abuses in ethnic areas report
Wed, 7 Nov 2012 12:28 GMT
Source: alertnet
Ethnic Kachin people wave their hands at a ceremony on the International Day of Peace in Yangon Sept. 21, 2012. Hundreds of people joined the march against civil war REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun
BANGKOK (AlertNet) Myanmar government troops are still fighting Kachin rebels and ethnic groups are suffering persistent human rights abuses in areas affected by the controversial Shwe Gas and Oil Pipeline, problems ignored by those praising the governments reforms, a report by a Palaung youth group said on Wednesday.
Almost 3,000 members of the Palaung (locally known as Taang) ethnic group living in the northwest of Shan State in eastern Myanmar have been displaced by the clashes along the pipeline between the army and the Kachin rebels who are supported by Palaung rebels, the report said.
"Those refugees have no support, no shelter, and the U.N. doesn't know about them," said Lway Aye Nang of the Taang Students and Youth Organisation (TSYO) which published the report and the Palaung Womens Organisation (PWO).
"They are in urgent need of help now and the season is entering winter, she said, appealing to international aid agencies to help those newly displaced.
Foreign governments must keep pressing the Myanmar authorities on the continuing human rights abuses in the country and should not hold back for fear of harming the reform process, she said.
Fighting between government troops and the Kachin broke out in northern Myanmar in June 2011 and aid groups say around 75,000 people have been displaced since then.
The twin 2,800-km pipelines, due to start operating in 2013, will carry natural gas from Myanmars Bay of Bengal offshore reserves and oil shipped from Africa and the Middle East to southwest China. China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), both state owned, are leading the project.
Pipeline construction has resulted in land confiscation, forced labour, heightened drug use and security concerns for women and girls, in addition to fighting and displacement, the TSYO report said.
The government has deployed an additional 20 battalions about 6,000 soldiers to increase pressure on armed ethnic groups and provide security for the pipelines, which run northeast from the coast in Rakhine state to China through central Myanmar and Shan State, it said..
One rights group has said the project will provide Myanmar, one of the poorest countries in the world, with revenues of around $29 billion over the next 30 years.
REFORMS ABSENT IN ETHNIC AREAS
Myanmars reformist President Thein Sein, who took office in March 2011, surprised observers by freeing hundreds of dissidents, loosening restrictions on the political opposition and abolishing pre-publication censorship, reforms which led to an easing of Western sanctions.
The government also said it intended to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) to regulate an industry that has so far been opaque and has been accused of rampant corrupt practices.
Nang said the widely praise democratic reforms have not been reflected in the ethnic areas.
People living along the pipeline route have had their land confiscated, sometimes without prior consultation, and compensation has tended to be inadequate, the report said.
The distribution of compensation for loss of land, property and livelihood has been inconsistent, unfair and had no thought or planning for the future of those affected, it said. There has been an increase in the use of forced labour, with people in some areas forced to work on a continual basis and without receiving any payment.
The report said there had been many cases of sexual harassment and intimidation of local women by both Myanmar soldiers and Chinese workers brought in to work on the pipeline.
Drug use has soared with the arrival of Chinese workers, with drugs openly sold in the towns and villages without any intervention from government authorities, the report said.
The Burma army has no respect for human rights. They continue to act the same (as before), said the TSYOs Nang.
She urged world leaders to continue to press Myanmars authorities on rights issues.
We don't see world leaders talking about human rights atrocities that are still going on in the country any more because (they) don't want to harm the reform process, she said.
Everyone is praising the government, President Thein Sein but at the same time we need to continue raising this issue so we can improve the situation, she added. http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/myanmar-pipeline-fuels-fighting-rights-abuses-in-ethnic-areas-report
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No green light so far for private newspapers in Burma
By Zin Linn Nov 07, 2012 9:07PM UTC
Burmas Lower House session continued for 9th day at People Parliament Hall in Parliament Complex in Nay-Pyi-Taw on Tuesday, attended by Lower House Speaker Thura U Shwe Mann and 394 Members of Parliament. At Tuesdays session, six questions were replied; one proposal submitted; and one bill submitted, the state-run New Light of Myanmar said.
Out of six questions, the most interesting one was about the possibility of publishing private-owned daily newspapers. No private owned daily newspapers are allowed up to now. No independent radios or televisions are permitted thus far. MP Thein Nyunt of Thingangyun Constituency raised a question that private newspapers were allowed to print under the 1962 Printing and Publishers Registration Act even under the then military junta. So, he wanted to know whether the government has planned to give green light to publish private newspapers according to the Printers and Publishers Registration Law (1962).
Union Minister for Information Aung Kyi replied that some private newspapers were working during the period between 1965 and 1967 once in a while when the Printers and Publishers Registration Law (1962) was still in force. Green light will be given to publication of private newspapers soon. By this means, he said, a new media environment is being set up in cooperation with respective media. The Union Government would allow the publication of daily private newspapers at an opportune time, Aung Kyi replied.
Thein Nyunt asked further that he would like to know the more accurate time for publishing daily papers. The Information Minister said that it depends on the facts that how the remaining organizations including the Press Council would implement institutions without delay in the process of new media reforms. According to Aung Kyis answer, Government is not ready to make a decision giving fixed dates for private dailies.
However, Aung Kyi had an interview with the Myanmar Times Journal on 2 September, and he spoke in support of abolishing the 1962 Printers and Publishers Registration Law. He told Myanmar Times that it is essential for a democratic country to allow private-owned daily newspapers to operate and predicted that daily publishing licenses will be issued to the private sector early next year.
Information Minister Aung Kyi attended the meeting of creation of a new press council on 17 Sept. 2012.
Information Minister Aung Kyi attended the meeting of creation of a new press council on 17 Sept. 2012. (Photo:http://www.ministryofinformation.gov.mm)
Dr. Than Htut Aung, Chairman and CEO of Eleven Media Group, made a comment on this matter.
Two months ago, the information minister disclosed the publication of private newspapers would be allowed at the start of 2013. Both local and international media reported the news about it. The governments attitude towards the private media is not clear. It has no sincerity. Oppressing and controlling the independent media mean the government has no wish to exercise genuine democracy, Dr. Than Htut Aung highlights his view in the Eleven Media Groups web-page.
No idea of amending the 2008 Constitution means no idea of establishing national reconciliation, national consolidation and peace. (Only this point was highlighted at the peace dialogue with KIO.) Not having these two points will push the country backward direction and never bring peace. Everyone will no longer believe in the government, he remarked.
U Win Tin, a veteran journalist and former editor-in-chief of Hanthawady Daily, also told the EMG concerning the private dailies: The government talked about the publication of private newspapers variously. What they have said is not right yet when a new information minister was appointed. On one occasion, they said private newspapers could be published in early 2013. On another occasion, they said again that it was not possible. Anyhow, what we heard is who has been allowed to publish and who will be allowed. In that regard, the time has come to publish private newspapers. If possible, state-run newspapers should not exist. The Kyemon and Myanma Alin dailies were privately owned in the past. I think they should be privatized now.
Another thing is that they should assess who is appropriate and capable of publishing a private newspaper. It is rumoured that the government has handpicked some to publish private newspapers and that they are getting prepared and seeking new employees. I think it is not appropriate. I completely favour private newspapers. Even the Kyemon and Myanma Alin newspapers must be privatized. This is my opinion. Private newspapers must emerge. State-run newspapers should not exist, he criticized strongly.
Taking into consideration of Aung San Suu Kyis pragmatic political move, people believe that Burma is struggling at a crossroads with the intention of starting a political restructuring. While the majority population wishes a genuine chapter of democratic changes, the quasi-civilian government wants to maintain the country under limited or guided democracy. The disciplined democracy the regime used to say is no more than restricted freedom.
Above all, citizens are demanding freedom of expression and freedom of press while the Thein Sein government is reluctant to allow the basic rights of the citizens.
If the government is sincere enough regarding democratic reforms, the media must be free along with the inauguration since free speech and access to information is fundamental to a healthy democracy. But, there is no sign of permission for daily newspapers in Burma until now.
Even though, Information Minister has immediately responded the question in his website (http://www.ministryofinformation.gov.mm) today. He said that he will not fail to keep his promise and he has been doing his best to accomplish the emergence of the daily newspapers. He also made a call to the media circle to help implementing respective institutions urgently at the heart of new media reforms. http://asiancorrespondent.com/91729/no-green-light-so-far-for-private-newspapers-in-burma/
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30,000 Dawei Villagers Forced Out by June
By NYEIN NYEIN / THE IRRAWADDY| November 7, 2012 |
The forced relocation of more than 30,000 villagers by southern Burmas Dawei deep-sea port project will take place before June next year, says Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Support Team Chairman Tin Maung Swe.
A total of 16 villages in Yaybyu and Longlon townships in Dawei Province of Tanintharyi Division will be moved to three new locations, he told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.
Tin Maung Swe explained that two new villages are under construction and some will start moving before the next academic year, which begins in June.
The new residential zones are being built in accordance with the development of a town plan and the villagers will be moved after electricity, water supplies and telecommunication are in place, he said.
We will complete a total of 500 new homes in Bawar Village, which is the new place where five villages from the Nabulae area of Yaybyu Township will first be relocated this month, said Tin Maung Swe. So far we have completed building 343 houses.
Another 10 villages in Yaybyu Township will be moved near the Industrial Zone in Pugawzun Village and the remaining settlement of Nyungpinseik, in Longlon Township, will be moved to nearby Bantaninn Village.
The Dawei project started in 2010 with the first stepsroad construction, site preparation, an industrial zone for small and medium enterprises, a 33 megawatt gas-fueled power plant and new towns for displaced localsset to be completed before 2014, despite concerns of some foreign investors regarding the slow pace of progress.
Site preparation has just begun for the Ministry of Industrys palm plantation area in Pagawzun Village where the light industrial zone will be based, said Tin Maung Swe. He added that local residents will be helped to reestablish their livelihoods near their new homes and will be provided with agricultural materials for small plantations as well as new houses.
But Dawei residents told The Irrawaddy that they worry about losing their jobs as farmers. Local people currently grow rubber, cashew and palm and their plantations will be destroyed by the project.
We have already lost some plantations due to road construction, said a monk at Thabyayzun Village. Some people also have not accepted compensation as it is too low.
But Tin Maung Swe disagrees. Some people just did not accept the standard compensation as they want more, he said, adding that their money is waiting in the bank and will be paid as soon as villagers agree to standard terms.
Meanwhile, Burmese Vice-President Nyun Htun discussed the establishment of the Burma-Thailand Joint Committee for the Comprehensive Development in the Dawei SEZ and its related projects during a bilateral meeting in Bangkok on Wednesday.
The committee will oversee the entire project, which is led by Italian-Thai Development Company. Earlier reports that President Thein Sein would attend the meeting proved to be inaccurate. http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/18278
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Govt Accused of Ongoing Abuses at Shwe Pipeline
By CHARLIE CAMPBELL / THE IRRAWADDY| November 7, 2012 |
A catalogue of ongoing human rights abuses have been documented along the path of the Chinese-backed Shwe Gas and Oil Pipeline which transects Burma, according to a new report.
Pipeline Nightmare, released by The Taang Students and Youth Organization (TSYO) on Wednesday morning, illustrates how the project has resulted in the confiscation of land, forced labor and an increased military presence affecting thousands of people.
Moreover, the report documents human rights violations in six target cities and 51 villages committed by the Burma Army, police and militias taking responsibility for security during construction.
Even though the international community believes that the government has implemented political reforms, it doesnt mean those reforms have reached ethnic areas, especially not where there is increased militarization along the Shwe Pipeline, increased fighting between the Burmese Army and ethnic armed groups, and negative consequences for the people living in these areas, said Mai Amm Ngeal, a member of TSYO.
Once completed, the project will transport oil and gas across from the Bay of Bengal in western Burmas Arakan (Rakhine) State to Chinas southwestern Yunnan Province across the border from Shan State. Sources close to the project suggest it could be completed as early as next May.
The government has deployed additional soldiers and extended 26 military camps in order to increase pressure on ethnic armed groups and provide security for the pipeline project and its Chinese workers, claims the report.
Last month, an alliance of 12 civil society groups in Burma called for the suspension of the Shwe Gas pipelines until the project had been properly assessed and existing problems solved.
Tin Thit, a spokesman for the Myanmar-China Pipeline Watch Committee, told The Irrawaddy that there needs to be a solution to the environmental and social problems. Therefore, we urge the authorities to suspend the project until these issues are solved.
Double the amount of land has been used to accommodate the pipelines than the contractors promised the landowners who, in turn, have received less compensation than they should expect.
The Shwe Gas project is a joint venture between China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and the former junta-linked Myanmar Oil & Gas Enterprise (MOGE). The oil and gas pipelines pass through 21 townships as they span 800 km (500 miles) across the country.
Local sources report daily fighting along the pipeline route between government troops and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Shan State ArmyNorth and Taang National Liberation Army in Namtu, Mantong and Namkham, where there are more than 1,000 Taang (Palaung) refugees.
Wong Aung, the coordinator at the Shwe Gas Movement, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that the TSYO report is consistent with earlier research conducted by his group regarding clashes between the Burmese military and ethnic people.
Especially with the KIA, the ongoing conflict is driving people from the construction, he said. The TSYO report is important as there has been a lot of positive developments inside the country and interest from foreign investment yet the ongoing crisis with the pipeline is directly related to foreign investment. There are clashes as they lack a proper investment mechanisms and legal framework.
Although CNPC and MOGE have signed agreements for the Shwe Pipeline, TSYO claims neither company has conducted any Environmental Impact Assessments or Social Impact Assessments while the Burmese central government is set to earn an estimated US $29 billion from the project over the next three decades.
The government and companies involved must be held accountable for the project and its effects on the local people, such as increasing military presence and Chinese workers along the pipeline, both of which cause insecurity for the local communities and especially women. The project has no benefit for the public, so it must be postponed, said Lway Phoo Reang, Joint Secretary (1) of TSYO.
The TSYO report urges President Thein Seins administration to postpone the Shwe Gas and Oil Pipeline project, withdraw the military from Shan State, reach a ceasefire with all local ethnic armed groups and address the root causes of the armed conflict by engaging in political dialogue. http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/18259
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November 6, 2012 2:10 pm
Group breaks away from Suu Kyi party
By Gwen Robinson in Yangon
Turmoil within the party of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has prompted a breakaway group from her National League for Democracy to establish its own political organisation, amid growing criticism of the partys leadership and threats of further resignations.
About 130 NLD members in the Ayeyarwady region of western Myanmar resigned from the party and last week established a group called Democracy Network to focus on helping the local community although some members hope the group will eventually become a political party.
The walkout was triggered by disputes over the selection process for local delegates to the NLDs first national convention, which will be held in December or January.
In a rare public outburst, three of the NLDs longest-serving members in Pathein, an Ayeyarwady township, accused the partys central executive committee of undemocratic practices.
At a recent press conference, they said long-time members had been pushed aside by the central headquarters in the delegate selection process. In response, the NLDs executive committee dismissed the three members and the partys local headquarters was closed.
A national NLD spokesman denied the party was being undemocratic and told local media that delegate positions were being assigned to the people who are the most capable.
But the partys harsh response to dissent has prompted political analysts and diplomats to question the NLDs tactics, given the partys own history of persecution under previous military regimes, including the 15-year house arrest of Ms Suu Kyi, the partys founding leader.
Its ironic that even as reformers leading this government are soliciting dissenting views and reaching out across the political divide, the NLD is behaving in this way; even more ironic that the NLD was the one to complain the loudest about lack of political freedoms, said an academic who is working in Myanmar.
In disputes that have engulfed at least 10 NLD branches around the country including in Thone Kwa district of Yangon members have accused NLD membership of high-handed tactics and alleged favouritism in the selection process.
However, such internal arguments have crystallised growing tensions between the NLDs leadership and its vast network of local branches, say local analysts and diplomats. Party members are increasingly complaining about the NLDs strict, hierarchical structure and the autocratic approach of its central committee, they noted.
In all cases, however, dissenters have avoided directly criticising Ms Suu Kyi, who distanced herself from daily party leadership when she entered parliament in April.
Members have also complained privately that Ms Suu Kyi is focusing on her parliamentary role and international travels while neglecting her grassroots support base.
The NLD hopes to double its current membership of 400,000 by the 2015 national election, in which the party hopes to contest all available parliamentary seats. The convention is being planned to discuss strategies for that contest.
One-quarter of the 664 seats in the bicameral legislature are reserved for the military, leaving 498 seats dominated by the ruling Union Solidarity and Development party up for grabs in 2015.
While analysts still believe the NLD, which holds 43 seats, will sweep the 2015 polls, they warn that growing internal dissent could imperil the partys machine.
Some consider that the problem in the party is a battle for power between old and new party members and activists, but it is also indicative of the [NLD] headquarters weaknesses, U Ko Ko Aung, a long-time NLD member, recently told the Myanmar Times, the English-language weekly.
Ms Suu Kyi has said only that it would take time to solve conflict between dedicated members and self-interested people in the party. However, Mr Ko Ko Aung and others have urged her to intervene. All that is needed is for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to say that the process should be democratic . . . [because] its probably right to say about 90 per cent of people join the NLD because they love [her], he said. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/29297a4c-2812-11e2-ac7f-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2BXjeRZxq
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Burma to host Green Economy forum
Wednesday, 07 November 2012 16:02 Mizzima News
Burma will host its second forum on green economy and sustainable growth from November 13 to 15 in Naypyidaw where some 80 environmental experts from foreign countries and about 20 domestic experts are expected to attend.
The conference will be followed by a roundtable seminar in Rangoon on November 16.
According to a report by Xinhua, delegates will discuss 18 different topics including low carbon development, energy, water, food security, forests, and responsible tourism.
The first Green Economy and Green Growth Forum (GEGG) was held in Naypyidaw in November last year, organized by former UN Assistant Secretary-General Dr. Nay Tun in cooperation with governmental agencies and NGOs.
In June last year, Burmese Vice-president Dr. Sai Mauk Kham addressed the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he said that President Thein Seins government is committed to seeking economic development in parallel with the environmental conservation, and has called on all its citizens and social organizations to actively take part in this task.
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