Monday, 28 January 2013

BURMA RELATED NEWS - JANUARY 26-27, 2013

Myanmar rejects US criticism over ethnic conflict

By AYE AYE WIN | Associated Press – Sat, Jan 26, 2013
 
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar has rejected the latest U.S. criticism of its conflict with ethnic Kachin rebels, and deplores that Washington still calls the country by its old name, Burma, according to a statement published Saturday.
 
A Myanmar Foreign Ministry statement published in the state-run Myanma Ahlin newspaper "rejected" a news release issued Thursday by the U.S. Embassy that had expressed "deep concern" over the ongoing violence in Kachin state in northern Myanmar.
 
The U.S. statement also noted that according to media and NGO reports, Myanmar's army "continues a military offensive in the vicinity of the Kachin Independence Army headquarters in Laiza" despite the government's own unilateral cease-fire announcement on Jan. 19.
 
The exchange is a reminder that the rapprochement between the countries is still far from complete as Myanmar transitions from ostracized military state to a fledging democracy, even though Washington has eased most sanctions it imposed on the previous army regime because of its repressive policies.
 
The Foreign Ministry said it strongly rejected the U.S. assertions because they "could cause misunderstanding in the international community" and because they failed to mention anything about "terrorist actions and atrocities committed by the KIA" and mentioned only army actions.
 
The military has been actively engaging the Kachin in combat for 1 1/2 years, but fighting escalated recently when the government began using fighter planes and helicopter gunships in its attacks starting on Christmas Day. It says it was acting in self-defense because Kachin attacks kept it from supplying its forward bases, but the Kachin says they were seeking to stop the army from attacking their headquarters in the town of Laiza, near the border with China.
 
The Kachin, like Myanmar's other ethnic minorities, have long sought greater autonomy from the central government. They are the only major ethnic rebel group that has not reached a truce with Thein Sein's administration.
 
The government also upbraided the embassy for the use of the terms "Burma" and "Burmese Government" in its statement and pointed out that even President Obama during his visit here in November and in an address to a Southeast Asian-U.S summit meeting had referred to the country as "Myanmar."
 
The statement said Myanmar "strongly objects" to the use of "Burma" by the US embassy, saying that it is "unethical" and that government hopes the embassy avoids actions that may affect mutual understanding and cooperation that has recently been restored between the countries.
 
The then-ruling junta changed the country's name to Myanmar from Burma in 1988, a year after a failed pro-democracy uprising led to the installation of a strict military government. Pro-democracy activists mostly preferred to use the old name Burma to indicate their rejection of the legitimacy of military rule, a stance also taken by the U.S. and British governments.
 
Washington was the leading state critic of military rule, which ended in 2011 after a pro-military party won a general election and the junta's prime minister, retired Gen. Thein Sein took office as president. he has instituted political and economic reforms, but his critics feel that the civilian government is just a front for continued military domination from behind the scene.
 
The previous military junta frequently accuses Western powers of interfering in the country's affairs, and Myanmar's pro-democracy movement of collaborating with them.
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Myanmar's Kachin Rebels Lose Ground Near HQ
YANGON, Myanmar January 27, 2013 (AP)
 
A key outpost protecting the headquarters of ethnic Kachin rebels in northern Myanmar has fallen to government troops, a spokesman for the guerrilla group said Sunday.
 
The Kachin Independence Army spokesman said the hillside outpost at Hka Ya Bhum, near the guerrilla group's headquarters in the town of Laiza, was overrun Saturday afternoon.
 
"The army stormed the post using about 3,000 soldiers and air and artillery assaults," said the spokesman, who asked to be identified only as Joseph.
 
He said in a telephone interview that heavy attacks on the post began last week, despite a cease-fire unilaterally declared by the government. Over the past few weeks, the government has pushed toward Laiza, although it insists that it has no intention of taking the town.
 
"The government did not live up to their own promises and they continue their attacks even today. I think their target is to totally occupy our Laiza headquarters," he said. No casualty figures were available, he said.
 
The Kachin, like Myanmar's other ethnic minorities, have long sought greater autonomy from the central government. They are the only major ethnic rebel group that has not reached a truce with President Thein Sein's administration.
 
The military has been actively engaging the Kachin in combat for 1 1/2 years, but fighting escalated when the government began using fighter planes and helicopter gunships in its attacks starting on Christmas Day. It said it was acting in self-defense because Kachin attacks kept it from supplying its forward bases, but the Kachin say they were seeking to stop the army from attacking their Laiza headquarters, near the border with China.
 
The fighting has drawn concern from the United States, China and the United Nations.
 
On Saturday, Myanmar's Foreign Ministry criticized a recent statement by the United States about the violence.
 
In comments published in the state-run Myanma Ahlin newspaper, the ministry said it rejected the statement issued Thursday by the U.S. Embassy that expressed "deep concern" over the ongoing violence because it failed to mention anything about "terrorist actions and atrocities committed by the KIA" and talked only about army actions.
 
Relations between the two countries remain uneasy despite Myanmar's shift from an ostracized military state to a fledging democracy, although Washington has relaxed most sanctions it imposed on the previous army regime because of its repressive policies.
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Deal signed to clear Myanmar debt, allow new loans
World Bank announces plan to clear Myanmar debt, clearing way for new loans
Associated Press – 9 hrs ago
 
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- The World Bank on Sunday announced a long-awaited deal to allow Myanmar to clear part of its huge decades-old foreign debt, opening the door for new much-needed lending to jump-start its lagging economy.
 
The bank's Washington headquarters announced in a statement that the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, the country's overseas development bank, will provide a bridge loan to Myanmar to allow it to cover outstanding debt to the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, which totals about $900 million.
 
Myanmar stopped payments on its old loans about 1987, making it ineligible for new development lending.
 
The deal is a major breakthrough for Myanmar, with loans likely to go to upgrading its dilapidated infrastructure, including electricity and ports. The knock-on effect would be to bring in more foreign direct investment, already attracted by the country's relatively low-cost economy.
 
The deal is also likely to draw criticism, because it comes as Myanmar's army is pushing hard against ethnic Kachin rebels in the country's north, in an echo of the notorious counterinsurgency campaigns of previous military regimes.
 
A former general, Thein Sein, became the country's elected president in 2011 and began reversing almost five decades of military repression by instituting political and economic reforms.
 
He won the substantial easing of economic and political sanctions imposed against the junta by the United States and other nations. But some pro-democracy activists say his administration has been rewarded too much, too fast, allowing some abuses to continue, such as repression of ethnic minorities.
 
The World Bank had already made some exceptions to providing new aid.
 
In November, it approved an $80 million project to provide $25,000 grants to villages in 15 townships across the country, where community councils will identify the kind of help they want, such as roads, bridges, irrigation systems, schools, health clinics or rural markets. The bank reopened its office in Myanmar in August last year.
 
The bank was able to act because President Barack Obama earlier lifted a long-standing U.S. restriction on international financial institutions, such as the World Bank, lending to Myanmar after Congress passed legislation enabling that step. It was one in a series of steps by Washington to reward the Southeast Asian country for its democratic reforms.
 
The World Bank statement did not detail the mechanics of the new deal to clear the debt arrears.
 
It did say the bank's board on Jan. 22 approved a $440 million "Reengagement and Reform Support Credit to Myanmar."
 
It said the credit would support "critical reforms being implemented by the Government to strengthen macroeconomic stability, improve public financial management and improve the investment climate."
 
It added that its proceeds would "also help the Government meet its foreign exchange needs, including repaying (the) bridge loan" and that there are currently discussions with the government to identify priority needs.
 
Separately, the Manila-based Asian Development Bank announced it would extend a $512 million loan to Myanmar under the same sort of arrangement with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation ,
 
"Myanmar has come a long way in its economic transformation, undertaking unprecedented reforms to improve people's lives, especially the poor and vulnerable," the statement quoted the World Bank's Myanmar Country Director Annette Dixon as saying.
 
"Much work remains to be done. We are committed to helping the government accelerate poverty reduction and build shared prosperity. The Bank's engagement, together with the ADB, the Government of Japan and other partners, will help attract investment, spur growth and create jobs."
 
Myanmar had run up $8.4 billion in debt during the socialist regime of the late Gen. Ne Win between 1962 and 1988, and $2.61 billion of debt after a new military junta took over in 1988, making for a total of just more than $11 billion.
 
The largest creditor before 1988 was Japan, with loans of $6.39 billion, and the biggest post-1988 creditor was China, with $2.13 billion.
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AFP - Myanmar hosts rare international marathon
by Shwe Yinn Mar Oo | Agence-France Presse – 15 hours ago
 
Hundreds of runners streamed through Yangon on Sunday for Myanmar's first international marathon in decades, in another sign of the dramatic changes sweeping the former army-ruled country.
 
Gathering before dawn in the shadow of the iconic Shwedagon Pagoda, runners flashed victory signs as they pounded the streets of the former colonial capital, the scene of several bloody military crackdowns in the past.
 
Under a clear blue sky, they snaked past landmarks such as Yangon University -- a symbol of the junta-era democratic struggle -- and Inya Lake, overlooked by the mansion where Aung San Suu Kyi was locked up by the generals for years.
 
"I'm very excited," 25-year-old Saw Kyaw Soe Oo from eastern Karen State told AFP before the runners set off beneath a clear blue sky through the streets of Yangon, cheered on by supporters along the route.
 
"It was impossible to hold such an event in the past era. It wouldn't have been so easy to let many foreigners into the country," he said.
 
More than 1,000 participants were registered to take part in the event, which also included short-distance fun runs.
 
Kenyan runner Gitau Kariuki, 25, was first past the finishing line in the marathon category after two hours, 19 minutes and 10 seconds.
 
"It has been fantastic and especially (it's) my first time here in Myanmar. I promise to come here next year to defend my title," said Kariuki, who scooped the prize money of $2,500.
 
The marathon aimed to showcase Myanmar's budding sporting credentials as it prepares to host its first Southeast Asian Games in 44 years in December.
 
"I want to take part in many races like this," said 20-year-old Thaung Aye, who was the first Myanmar runner to cross the finish line, coming third after two hours, 27 minutes and 10 seconds -- a personal best.
 
"The more races I compete in, the more experience I gain," he added. "I expect to win the first prize in the Southeast Asian Games marathon in under two hours and 20 minutes."
 
Organisers said athletes from China and India as well as those from Britain, the United States, Ethiopia and Kenya were competing.
 
"This is the very significant event," Serge Pun, the executive chairman of co-organiser Yoma International Holding Ltd, said ahead of the race.
 
"For us to be able to showcase Yangon at this juncture of time when our country is undergoing monumental changes politically, economically and socially is a great honour."
 
Since taking power in early 2011, President Thein Sein's reformist government has overseen dramatic changes including the release of hundreds of political prisoners and Suu Kyi's election to parliament.
 
In response the West has begun rolling back sanctions against the former pariah state and foreign tourists have begun flocking to the long-isolated country.
 
Runners take off at the start of Myanmar's first international marathon in decades in Yangon, on January 27, 2013. Hundreds of runners streamed through Yangon on Sunday for Myanmar's first international marathon in decades, in another sign of the dramatic changes sweeping the former army-ruled country.
 
Graphic showing the route of the Yangon marathon, Myanmar's first international marathon in decades. Hundreds of runners streamed through Yangon on Sunday for Myanmar's first international marathon in decades, in another sign of the dramatic changes sweeping the former army-ruled country.
 
Kenya's Gitau Kariuki, 25, celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win Myanmar's first international marathon in decades, in Yangon, on January 27, 2013. Hundreds of runners streamed through Yangon on Sunday for Myanmar's first international marathon in decades, in another sign of the dramatic changes sweeping the former army-ruled country.
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AFP - Suu Kyi hopeful on ending Myanmar presidency ban
By Shaun Tandon | AFP News – Sun, Jan 27, 2013
 
Myanmar opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi has voiced confidence that the country's powerful military will support changes to the constitution that would allow her to become president.
 
The Nobel Peace Prize winner, who spent most of two decades under house arrest until recent reforms, said she was hopeful that parliament will approve constitutional revisions even though the army controls a vital number of seats.
 
"I am not unduly worried by it. I think that the members of our military, like the rest of our nation, would like to see Burma a happier, stronger, more harmonious country," she said, referring to Myanmar by its former name.
 
"Because of that, I do not rule out the possibility of amendment through negotiated compromise," Suu Kyi said Friday at the East-West Center on a visit to the US Pacific state of Hawaii.
 
President Thein Sein, a former general, surprised even critics by launching a slew of reforms after taking office in 2011 -- including freeing political prisoners, easing censorship and permitting Suu Kyi to enter parliament.
 
Thein Sein has said he would accept Suu Kyi as president if her National League for Democracy wins the next elections in 2015, but some activists question whether hardliners would be willing to let the army leave power.
 
Under the 2008 constitution, the presidency cannot be held by anyone whose spouse or children hold foreign nationality. Suu Kyi was married to the late British academic Michael Aris, with whom she has two children.
 
"I do not think it is right for any constitution to be written with anybody in mind -- whether it is written to keep anybody in office for life, or whether it is written with the intention of keeping anybody out of office for life," said Suu Kyi, who has previously voiced willingness to be president.
 
"It's just not acceptable, it's not democratic, and it's not what a constitution is all about," she said.
 
Suu Kyi enjoys respect among some officers, as her father Aung San created the army and led the struggle against British colonial rule.
 
Suu Kyi also hoped to amend the constitution to recognize the "aspirations" of minorities. Fighting has persisted between the Burman-dominated army and ethnic rebels despite calls by Thein Sein for reconciliation.
 
"Unless we can meet those aspirations, we can never hope to build a true and lasting union based on peace and harmony," she said.
 
Suu Kyi was visiting Hawaii as part of an initiative by the US state to share its values. In a scene that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago, Suu Kyi spoke fondly about dining with friends on Honolulu's sun-kissed Waikiki beach.
 
Suu Kyi has toured Europe and North America since her release from house arrest. US President Barack Obama paid a landmark visit to Myanmar in November, hoping to encouraging reforms.
 
Myanmar's foreign ministry on Saturday criticized the United States for raising concerns over unabated fighting in northern Kachin state, where tens of thousands of people have been displaced since June 2011.
 
The statement also said Myanmar "strongly objects" to the use of the name Burma by the United States, urging the two nations to avoid actions that could go against "mutual respect."
 
But Suu Kyi vigorously defended calling her country Burma in English, saying that the name Myanmar was imposed by the military leadership.
 
"The assertion that we have to get rid of the name because it was a colonial legacy I find narrow, and I think it reflects lack of self-confidence rather than anything else," she said.
 
Suu Kyi noted that Japan, China, India, Indonesia and the Philippines also used names that were legacies from foreigners.
 
"It's not the name that makes the country; it's the country that makes the name," she said.
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AFP - Myanmar's Suu Kyi 'fond' of army that detained her
By AFP – 12 hours ago
 
Myanmar's opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi remains "fond" of her country's army despite claims that it has recruited child soldiers and used rape as a weapon, she said in an interview broadcast Sunday.
 
The Nobel Peace Prize winner, who was herself held under house arrest by the military for most of the last two decades, told the BBC radio show "Desert Island Discs" she hoped the army could redeem itself for "terrible" things it has done.
 
She confirmed that she wants to become Myanmar's president after elections in 2015 -- but she will not be eligible for the post without constitutional reforms that need military backing.
 
"It's genuine, I'm fond of the army," the 67-year-old told the show, which was recorded last month at her home in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw.
 
"People don't like me for saying that. There are many who have criticised me for being what they call a poster girl for the army... But I think the truth is I am very fond of the army, because I always thought of it as my father's army."
 
Suu Kyi's father Aung San, considered the father of modern Myanmar, created the army and led the struggle against British colonial rule.
 
"I was taught that my father was the father of the army, and that all soldiers were his sons -- and therefore they were part of my family," Suu Kyi told the BBC.
 
"It's terrible what they've done and I don't like what they've done at all. But if you love somebody, I think you love her or him in spite of and not because of, and you always look forward to a time when they will be able to redeem themselves."
 
Rights groups have accused Myanmar's army of serious rights violations including rape, torture and the recruitment of child soldiers.
 
The military remains locked in an escalating conflict with rebels in the northern Kachin state -- where tens of thousands of people have been displaced since June 2011 -- despite the announcement of unilateral ceasefire this month.
 
Suu Kyi said she was happy to admit that she wants to become Myanmar's president, and dismissed politicians who pretend they are not hungry for power.
 
"I would like to be president," she said.
 
"If you're a politician and you're the leader of a party then you should want to get government power in your hands, that you may be able to work out all these ideas and visions that you've harboured so long for your country."
 
Like all guests on "Desert Island Discs", the longest-running show on British radio which celebrated its 70th birthday last year, Suu Kyi was asked to choose eight songs she would like to bring to a mythical island as a castaway.
 
She asked friends and family to choose many of the songs, which included "Imagine" by John Lennon and "Green Green Grass of Home" by Tom Jones.
 
She confessed that she does not have "a talent for music" but that her younger son Kim has tried to educate her musically, introducing her to reggae legend Bob Marley and the US rock band Grateful Dead.
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AFP Myanmar bridles at US unrest concern as army advances
AFP News – Sun, Jan 27, 2013
 
Myanmar's army captured a key strategic outpost in an escalating conflict in northern Kachin state, rebels said Saturday, as the government issued a rebuke to the US over its concerns about the fighting.
 
Bloody unrest has continued despite a government announcement of a unilateral ceasefire earlier this month, with fighting edging ever closer to the rebels' headquarters in the busy town of Laiza on the Chinese border.
 
The Myanmar foreign ministry said a US embassy statement, which was issued on Thursday and said the United States "strongly opposes the ongoing fighting", had implied the army was the sole aggressor.
 
Myanmar said the US release "could cause misunderstanding in the international community", in a response printed in the state-run English language newspaper New Light of Myanmar.
 
Tens of thousands of people have been displaced in Kachin state since June 2011, when a 17-year ceasefire between the government and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) broke down. The conflict has resulted in civilian casualties, although the exact number killed is unknown.
 
The KIA said a major strategic post had fallen to the Myanmar military on Saturday after it came under heavy artillery fire from multiple directions.
 
"That was the reason it collapsed. Finally we have to abandon that area, that mountain," James Lum Dau, the Thailand-based spokesman for the KIA's political wing, told AFP.
 
He said it was not clear whether the fighting would now move further towards Laiza -- where thousands of civilians are thought to be taking shelter -- but vowed that if "Laiza falls, (it) does not mean KIA falls, absolutely".
 
Some civilians had already started to move, he added, but was unable to give further details.
 
Beijing this week urged an end to the fighting after vice foreign minister Fu Ying visited Myanmar for talks with President Thein Sein. China's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the pair had agreed to maintain peace and stability on their shared border.
 
Chinese state-run media has reported that China's Yunnan province is planning camps for 10,000 people in case large numbers flee across the frontier.
 
In its response to the US on Saturday, Myanmar blamed the rebels for reigniting the unrest.
 
The statement also railed against Washington's continued use of Burma, the country's former name.
 
"Myanmar strongly objects the usage of the words 'Burma', 'Burmese Government' and 'Burmese Military' in the US Embassy's press release", it said, urging the avoidance of actions that could affect "mutual respect" between the nations.
 
The Southeast Asian nation's official name was changed two decades ago by the former junta, which said the old term Burma was a legacy of British colonialism and implied that the ethnically torn land belonged only to the Burman majority.
 
Many opposition figures, including veteran activist Aung San Suu Kyi, continue to call the country Burma.
 
US President Barack Obama broke with tradition and used both names during his landmark visit to Myanmar in November,as he sought to encourage further reforms in the former pariah state.
 
Myanmar's quasi-civilian government has reached tentative ceasefires with a number of ethnic rebel groups since taking power in early 2011 at the end of decades of military rule. But several rounds of talks with the Kachin have failed to bear fruit.
 
The rebels, who are fighting for greater autonomy, say any negotiations should also address their demands for more political rights.
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ADB, World Bank to step up work in Myanmar after arrears paid
Reuters – 11 hrs ago
 
(Reuters) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Monday it was resuming operations in Myanmar with a $512 million loan for social and economic projects that would help the country build on reforms since a military government stepped down in 2011.
 
In a separate statement, the World Bank said its board had approved a $440 million credit for Myanmar and that, as with the ADB, it was now fully able to support the country's development because debt arrears had been cleared with the help of Japan.
 
Myanmar President Thein Sein, who heads a quasi-civilian government, has freed political prisoners, unmuzzled the media and begun to reform the economy with a new foreign investment law and an exchange rate determined more by market forces.
 
In response, Western countries have eased sanctions imposed on the military regime. International financial institutions have offered mostly technical help but have been constrained until now by debt arrears accumulated under the military.
 
The Manila-based ADB said in a statement that bridge financing provided to Myanmar by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) this month allowed the government to pay off arrears to the ADB of about $500 million.
 
The World Bank, in its statement from Washington dated January 27, said its loan would be used in part to "help the government meet its foreign exchange needs", which included repaying the JBIC's bridge loan.
 
The World Bank arrears had been put at about $400 million. Japan, whose government and companies have been particularly active in the former Burma since it opened up, had said it would help with the arrears, which were preventing international bodies from offering fresh loans.
 
The ADB, which reopened an office in Yangon, Myanmar's commercial capital, in April 2012, said the clearing of arrears allowed it to provide its first loan to the country in more than 30 years.
 
Thein Sein's government has had to start practically from scratch in developing a modern economy. Reflecting that, the ADB said it would focus on "the building blocks for stability and sustainability".
 
Among other things, it would look at improving public finances and developing the finance sector.
 
The loan would be used to "finalize arrears clearance and sustain government efforts to revamp the national budget process and modernize tax administration", the ADB said.
 
"In rural areas, where development has been hindered by lack of infrastructure, restrictions on land usage, poorly developed support services and limited access to financial services for farmers, ADB funding will help develop a strategy to make banking services more widely available," it said.
 
The World Bank said its credit would support reforms to strengthen macroeconomic stability and to improve public financial management and the investment climate.
 
It said that, over the past year, it had opened an office in Yangon and brought in technical experts to help the government develop a broad development program. The government put a detailed program to a big aid donors' conference in the capital, Naypyitaw, on January 19-20.
 
The World Bank said it had already provided an $80 million grant for improvements to rural infrastructure, including schools, health clinics, roads and irrigation schemes in about 640 villages across Myanmar over six years.
 
The International Monetary Fund said on January 17 the government had asked for its help to pursue reforms and craft economic policies so that Myanmar could become part of the global economy.
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Myanmar gets total debt relief of $6 billion; aid flows set to rise
Reuters – 19 mins ago
 
(Reuters) - Myanmar has cleared its arrears to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank and secured a huge debt write-off by creditor countries grouped in the Paris Club, clearing the way for aid donors to step up work to support the government's reforms.
 
Since taking office at the head of a quasi-civilian government in 2011, Myanmar President Thein Sein has freed political prisoners, unmuzzled the media and begun to reform the economy with a new foreign investment law and an exchange rate determined more by market forces.
 
In response, Western countries have eased sanctions imposed on the previous military regime.
 
International financial institutions have offered technical help but have been prevented from doing more by debt arrears accumulated under the military, which, under their rules, stopped them offering new loans.
 
However, on Monday, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said the arrears owed to it had been cleared with the help of Japan, so it could resume operations in Myanmar. It offered a $512 million (324.8 million pounds) loan for social and economic projects.
 
The World Bank said Myanmar had also paid the money owed to it, again with the help of Japan, and it had responded with a $440 million credit.
 
The government said in a statement it had met creditors grouped in the Paris Club on January 25 and they had agreed to cancel half of the arrears Myanmar owed them in two stages, rescheduling the rest over 15 years, with seven years' grace.
 
On top of that, Norway had cancelled all the $534 million owed to it, while Japan was cancelling more than $3 billion, it said.
 
"These agreements result in total debt relief of around $6 billion, that is, more than 60 percent of total debt," the government said.
 
Finance Minister Win Shein said in the statement this marked "an era of new relationships in which Myanmar is committed to fully cooperate with all members of the Paris Club". He promised that resources freed up by the debt relief would be used for development projects and poverty reduction.
 
JAPANESE BACKING
 
The Manila-based ADB said bridge financing provided to Myanmar by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) this month allowed the government to pay off arrears to the ADB of about $500 million.
 
The World Bank, in its statement from Washington dated January 27, said its new loan would be used in part to "help the government meet its foreign exchange needs", which included repaying a JBIC bridge loan used to clear arrears.
 
The World Bank arrears had been put at about $400 million.
 
Japan, whose government and companies have been particularly active in the former Burma since it opened up, had said it would help with the arrears.
 
The ADB, which reopened an office in Yangon, Myanmar's commercial capital, in April 2012, said the clearing of arrears allowed it to provide its first loan to the country in more than 30 years.
 
Thein Sein's government has had to start practically from scratch in developing a modern economy. Reflecting that, the ADB said it would focus on "the building blocks for stability and sustainability".
 
Among other things, it would look at improving public finances and developing the finance sector.
 
The loan would be used to "finalise arrears clearance and sustain government efforts to revamp the national budget process and modernise tax administration", the ADB said.
 
"In rural areas, where development has been hindered by lack of infrastructure, restrictions on land usage, poorly developed support services and limited access to financial services for farmers, ADB funding will help develop a strategy to make banking services more widely available," it said.
 
The World Bank said its credit would support reforms to strengthen macroeconomic stability and to improve public financial management and the investment climate.
 
It said that, over the past year, it had opened an office in Yangon and brought in technical experts to help the government develop a broad development programme.
 
The government outlined a detailed programme at a big aid donors' conference in the capital, Naypyitaw, on January 19-20.
 
The World Bank said it had already provided an $80 million grant for improvements to rural infrastructure, including schools, health clinics, roads and irrigation schemes in about 640 villages across Myanmar over six years.
 
The International Monetary Fund said on January 17 the government had asked for its help to pursue reforms and craft economic policies so that Myanmar could become part of the global economy.
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Myanmar rebukes U.S. for calling it "Burma"
Reuters – Sat, Jan 26, 2013
 
YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar took a swipe at the United States on Saturday for calling the country Burma, urging it to use its official title and avoid harming improving ties between the two former foes.
 
In a response to a press statement issued by the U.S. embassy in Yangon on the conflict in northern Kachin state, the Foreign Ministry said Washington should be following most countries and the United Nations and call it Myanmar.
 
The issue has struck a chord with the civilian-led government, which has won the recognition of the international community following political, social and economic reforms introduced after it replaced an oppressive military junta in March 2011.
 
"Myanmar strongly objects to the usage of the words 'Burma', 'Burmese government' and 'Burmese military' in the U.S. embassy's press release and not using the name recognized by the United Nations and the whole international community," the ministry said in a statement carried in state-controlled newspapers.
 
It said U.S. President Barack Obama had called the country Myanmar during his landmark visit late last year, so the embassy should follow his example.
 
After decades of bitterness, ties between Myanmar and the United States have started to thaw since the new government embarked on reforms and freed hundreds of political prisoners.
 
The United States has suspended most sanctions and even engaged with Myanmar's military, which has been accused of corruption and human rights abuses that include rape, torture, forced labor and recruitment of child soldiers.
 
The country's name has long had two forms in the Burmese language: Myanmar is the formal name while Burma has traditionally been used in informal conversation.
 
In 1989, the then ruling junta deemed that the country should be officially known in English as Myanmar, a move it said was to appease minority non-Burman ethnic groups.
 
Opponents of the military, including Nobel laureate and lawmaker Aung San Suu Kyi, ignored the change and continued to refer to the country as Burma. She still calls it Burma today, an issue that has riled the government.
 
The embassy issued a statement on Thursday objecting to the fierce fighting between the Myanmar military and Kachin Independence Army and urged the government to protect civilians and allow humanitarian access to the area.
 
The Foreign Ministry criticized the embassy for not mentioning "terrorist" acts by the Kachin Independence Army.
 
It said it hoped the embassy would "avoid in future actions that may affect mutual respect, mutual understanding and cooperation".
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New York Times - In Myanmar, Sports Choices Raise Concerns
By THOMAS FULLER
Published: January 27, 2013
 
BANGKOK — It has been promoted as a showcase for the new Myanmar, a regional sporting event in December that will celebrate the country’s embrace of democracy and the end of a hermetic and oppressive era.
 
But the Southeast Asian Games, which will be held in Myanmar’s capital, Naypyidaw, and other sites throughout the country, is causing acrimony long before a single athlete has competed.
 
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, which all intend to participate in what are known as the SEA Games, have sent separate letters to Myanmar protesting the way the event is being organized, according to Gen. Yuthasak Sasiprapha, the president of the National Olympic Committee of Thailand.
 
“These games are supposed to bring unity, but they are causing divisions instead,” General Yuthasak told the Thai news media last week.
 
The main complaint is that Myanmar, formerly Burma, has stacked the competition with obscure sports that Myanmar’s athletes have a good chance of winning.
 
Charoen Wattanasin, the vice president of the Thai National Olympic Committee, said in an interview that the SEA Game regulations allowed for 8 traditional sports but that Myanmar had put 14 on the roster.
 
“Nine out of the 14 are martial arts,” he said, struggling to describe them. “They are — well, I can’t even remember their names.”
 
One is called chinlone, a traditional Burmese game that mixes dancelike acrobatic movements with what might be described as soccer juggling skills. There is no opposing team, and competitors are scored in a manner similar to those in gymnastics.
 
Myanmar has dropped tennis and table tennis from the games, even though both have been played in all SEA Games since the competition began in 1959. Gymnastics is out, as is badminton, Thai and Philippine officials said.
 
The Singaporeans are lamenting the loss of water polo, in which they do well, and the Philippine Olympic Committee has threatened to send a threadbare delegation if the roster is not changed. Malaysia and Indonesia, which have strong badminton traditions, are urging that the sport be reinstated.
 
The Nation, a Thai daily newspaper, reported Sunday that Myanmar had also dropped beach volleyball because “the sport’s outfits were not suitable for Myanmar culture.”
 
Myanmar circulated the roster of events to representatives of participating countries last week and for now is defending its selection.
 
“Every host country has the authority to decide which competitions should be included and excluded,” U Htay Aung, a director in Myanmar’s ministry of sports, said in an interview on Sunday.
 
Mr. Htay Aung said he recalled previous games in which Myanmar’s requests “were ignored.”
 
“There are always complaints at these games,” he said. “Myanmar will make the final decision.”
 
Myanmar will hear from the 11 countries competing in the games at meetings in Naypyidaw on Monday and Tuesday to discuss preparations.
 
“If they continue to push through this proposal, it’s worthless to hold the games,” Mr. Charoen, the Thai official, said.
 
Myanmar’s ability to organize the games smoothly will be closely watched by officials in the region, because in some ways it will be a test run for a much more ambitious project. Next year, Myanmar will hold the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a responsibility that involves playing host to countless regional meetings and dealing with thousands of visiting diplomats and journalists.
 
It is a challenging task for a government that is only now breaking from its inward-looking, military past and its history of antagonistic relations with the outside world.
 
Myanmar appears eager to reassure its neighbors that it is ready to host the games. U Naw Tawng, a Burmese official quoted on Myanmar’s official SEA Games Web site, predicted that the games would be better than those held in 2011 in Indonesia.
 
Myanmar has played host to the games twice — in 1961 and 1969 — but this is the first time the games are to be held there since the brutal suppression of the democracy movement, including a bloody crackdown in 1988.
 
The country is in the middle of a wrenching transition from military rule to democracy led by President Thein Sein, who heads the country’s first civilian government in five decades.
 
Poypiti Amatatham contributed reporting from Bangkok, and Wai Moe from Yangon, Myanmar.
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Bloomberg - Myanmar Clears ADB, World Bank Overdue Debt With Japan Help
By Daniel Ten Kate - Jan 27, 2013 9:24 AM PT
 
Myanmar cleared about $1 billion in overdue debt with the Asian Development Bank and World Bank using a bridge loan from Japan, opening the door for increased lending as the country seeks to overhaul its infrastructure.
 
The ADB announced a $512 million loan, its first to Myanmar in more than 30 years, while the World Bank separately said it would lend $440 million to the Southeast Asian nation. The funds will be used to pay back the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, which this month provided financing to Myanmar to clear arrears with the government-backed lenders.
 
“This is a historic tipping point for Myanmar,” Stephen Groff, an ADB vice president, said in a statement. “To be sure the country is best positioned to benefit from the resumption of donor aid, we are focusing first on the building blocks for stability and sustainability.”
 
Myanmar has now resolved about 70 percent of $11 billion in bad debt from decades of military rule that left the country among Asia’s poorest. President Thein Sein’s moves to modernize the country’s financial and physical infrastructure after years of neglect have lured private equity funds and companies such as General Electric Co. and Norway’s Telenor ASA. (TEL)
 
Japan, Myanmar’s largest creditor, agreed last year to settle $6.6 billion in arrears. The 19-member Paris Club group of creditor nations -- including the U.S., Australia, Canada, Japan, Russia and 14 European nations -- has invited Myanmar to hold talks on resolving the remaining $3.5 billion in overdue debts, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Debt Sustainability
 
“The authorities recognize that a successful arrears resolution is essential for Myanmar to re-engage with the international community and ensure debt sustainability,” the IMF said in a report this month. The IMF called on Myanmar to limit non-concessional external borrowing to financing energy and infrastructure projects, and cap it at $2 billion for 2013.
 
Thein Sein’s moves to dismantle a fixed exchange rate and modernize the banking system are starting to boost the economy, the IMF said. Gross domestic product may grow 6.3 percent in the fiscal year ending March 31, up from 5.5 percent a year earlier, and reach about 7 percent over the next five years if reforms continue, the IMF report said.
 
The ADB and World Bank opened offices in Myanmar last year and had planned to increase lending once arrears were cleared. The ADB returned to the country for the first time since 1988, when military leaders suppressed demonstrators pushing for democracy. The World Bank opened an office for the first time.
‘Work Remains’
 
The World Bank approved $80 million in aid for Myanmar last year and pledged to lend $165 million when overdue debts are cleared. The $80 million grant will go to local communities for roads, bridges, irrigation systems, schools, health clinics or rural markets, according to the bank.
 
“Myanmar has come a long way in its economic transformation, undertaking unprecedented reforms to improve people’s lives, especially the poor and vulnerable,” Annette Dixon, the World Bank’s Myanmar country director, said in a statement. “Much work remains to be done.”
 
ADB assessments of seven Myanmar sectors released last year found that a quarter of the population lives in poverty, agriculture accounts for 70 percent of employment and about three in four people don’t have access to electricity. Myanmar has about 18 vehicles for every 1,000 people, compared with 250 in Indonesia and 370 in Thailand, it said.
 
Myanmar last week attracted at least four expressions of interest for telecommunications licenses, including from Telenor and Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (ST), Southeast Asia’s biggest phone company. The government aims to boost telecom coverage to as much as 80 percent of the country by 2016 to improve upon a 9 percent penetration rate, one of the lowest in Asia.
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Times of India - Myanmar envoy job for Suu Kyi sympathizer?
TNN | Jan 28, 2013, 01.22 AM IST
 
NEW DELHI: The government might be "sounding out" former governor of West Bengal and Indian envoy to South Africa, Gopal Gandhi as the next Indian envoy to one of India's most important neighbours—Myanmar. Quite apart from the fact that it might take away an ambassadorial post from the IFS, there is some disquiet within government over the possibility.
 
India's investment in Myanmar is now at an all-time high, and sources said the Indian envoy would have his hands full pushing India's economic, political and strategic linkages in Myanmar. India has identified Myanmar as its gateway into southeast Asia, and to many strategists India's growing presence in Myanmar is seen as a counter-balancing force to growing Chinese influence there. India also has huge security interests inside Myanmar, and over the years, the Myanmar government has worked silently with Indian security forces to target anti-India insurgent groups.
 
The Indian ambassador's job is therefore, very crucial to not only push Indian interests in that country, but also to walk a very delicate political line. This attribute has become important for the government after the Indian high commissioner in Maldives was accused of taking sides in domestic politics. While the official line is he was only pushing Indian interests, post-facto assessment in the government is more sobering.
 
Successive Indian governments have built a deep relationship with the military government in NayPyiDaw. Beyond the national interest it is also based on the fact that India believes the military will be there for a while, and that confidence lies behind the military's comfort-level with the Indian government.
 
Gandhi is known to have sympathies with Aung San Suu Kyi. Despite India's almost personal connections with Suu Kyi, India has officially been careful to keep protocol in view, in 2012, when Prime Minister manmohan Singh visited Yangon, he was careful to ask Suu Kyi to visit him at his hotel. All other visiting dignitaries have travelled to her lake-side home to see her.
 
India's ambassador to Afghanistan, Gautam mukhopadhyay, generally regarded as one of India's finest diplomats had reportedly been considered for the job, one that has acquired higher profile in recent years.
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Myanmar troops near Kachin headquarters
Published: Jan. 26, 2013 at 1:33 PM
 
YANGON, Myanmar, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- Myanmar government troops captured a hilltop close to the border with China Saturday that is outside the headquarters of ethnic Kachin rebels, observers said.
 
The action marks significant progress in the governments' long campaign against the rebels as Myanmar moves toward democracy, The New York Times reported.
 
A spokesman for the government could not confirm the hilltop, Hkayabum, had been taken by government forces, but said "heavy fighting is ongoing."
 
Tens of thousands of people have been displaced in the government's running battles with the Kachin Liberation Army.
 
Myanmar declared a cease-fire with the rebels a week ago, but Ryan Roco, an American photographer covering the fighting from the front lines, said the cease-fire never went into effect.
 
"It's been a nonstop barrage, " he said.
 
On Thursday, the U.S. embassy in Yangon said in a statement it "strongly opposes" the continued fighting, saying the conflict had "undermined efforts to advance national reconciliation."
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Bangkok Post - Myanmar drops SEA Games sports
Published: 28 Jan 2013 at 10.05
Online news: Sports
 
Myanmar has dropped popular Olympic sports from the SEA Games in December, and hopes to pack the competition with less well-known sports where its athletes are likely to win medals.
 
The Games, to be held in Nay Pyi Daw and other locations, will not have table tennis, tennis, gymnastics or badminton.
 
Instead, Myanmar sports authorities have put 14 "traditional sports" on the schedule for December, eight of which are played almost exclusively in Myanmar.
 
One is chinlone, which a newspaper described as a mix of "dance-like acrobatics mixed with soccer juggling skills".
 
Tennis and table tennis have been sports at every SEA Games since the first competition in 1959. Dropping gymnastics and badminton is just as controversial.
 
"These games are supposed to bring unity, but they are causing divisions instead," said Gen Yuthasak Sasiprapha, president of the National Olympic Committee of Thailand, in a report by Singapore's AsiaOne on Monday.
 
The report quoted Singapore Olympic officials as saying the final list of SEA Games sports is not yet final, and could be changed in upcoming talks.
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Intensified Philippines-Myanmar Bilateral Cooperation
Manila Bulletin – 17 hours ago
 
The Philippines and Myanmar are stepping up bilateral relationship, particularly in business and the economy, following a meeting between Vice President Jejomar C. Binay, representing President Benigno S. Aquino III, and Myanmar President Thein Sein, at the sidelines of the Associations of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-India Commemorative Summit held on December 20-21, 2012 in New Delhi, India. The Philippines agreed to assist in the development of Myanmar's agriculture sector, through the introduction of rice and banana technologies.
 
In the 2nd ASEAN-India Business Fair and Conclave, held simultaneously with the Summit, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry discussed trade and investment partnership with the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI). The two parties are working out details of the agreement.
 
The Philippines and Burma are both members of the ASEAN. They established diplomatic relations on September 29, 1956, followed by the opening of the Philippine Embassy in Yangon on August 25, 1958. The present government of Myanmar is opening up its economy and intensifying its economic cooperation with its ASEAN neighbors. The two countries agreed to work together in various fields - political cooperation, trade and investments, education, agriculture and forestry, tourism, culture and information. Areas of cooperation were discussed during the second meeting of the Manila-Yangon Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC), held in Manila on June 14-15, 2012.
 
The two countries backed the creation of a Philippines-Myanmar Parliamentary Friendship Association for exchange of visits, information, and ideas between the two countries. They agreed to boost trade through organizing and participating in each other's trade fairs, exchanging information on economic and investment laws, discussing the creation of a joint trade commission, and establishing formal contacts between the two countries' chambers of commerce. They committed to implement the 1998 Cultural Cooperation Agreement through an Executive Program on Cultural Exchanges.
 
We congratulate Republic of the Philippines H.E. President Benigno S. Aquino III and Vice President Jejomar C. Binay, in their pursuit of programs to strengthen the Philippines' diplomatic and bilateral relationships with its neighbors in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. CONGRATULATIONS AND MABUHAY!
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Monday January 28, 2013
The Star Online - Myanmar men charged with people smuggling
 
ALOR SETAR: Eight Myanmar nationals have been charged in the Sessions Court here with smuggling 474 of their countrymen into Malaysia.
 
Teh Oun, 52, Aung Win, 45, Ton Lil, 30, Tan Win Mow, 29, Tun Tun Ni, 25, Til Wen, 25, Ah Hin, 20, and Lia Min Tong, 20, are alleged to have committed the offence at Pantai Kok in Langkawi at about 10.20am on Dec 30.
 
They were jointly charged with transporting the group of people who were without any valid travelling document.
 
The charge under Section 26J of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Immigrants Act carries a jail sentence of up to five years upon convition.
 
Offenders can also be fined up to RM250,000.
 
No plea was recorded owing to the unavailability of an interpreter yesterday.
 
Judge Mohd Rosli Osman fixed March 4 for mention. The accused were all unrepresented.
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The Independent - I didn’t come into politics to be popular,’ Suu Kyi tells Desert Island Discs
Charlotte Philby, Sunday 27 January 2013
 
Listeners tuned into today’s special edition of Desert Island Discs, recorded at the home of Burma’s pro-Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, could hear the excitement of the programme’s famously unflappable presenter Kirsty Young as she introduced the Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights campaigner “known in Burma simply as ‘The Lady’”.
 
What followed was a frank and at times playful interview, recorded last month when Young travelled to Naypyitaw. For only the second Desert Island Discs to have been recorded outside the UK, Ms Suu Kyi wore yellow roses in her hair and a red dress and spoke candidly of her desire to rule Burma, turning heads at Oxford, and why she considers her country’s military “family”.
 
“It is terrible what [the army has] done and I don’t like what they’ve done at all but if you love someone I think you love her or him despite of, not because of,” she told Radio 4. “Don’t forget my father was a politician and his assassination was arranged by another politician, I didn’t come into politics to become popular.”
 
Ms Suu Kyi, who chose a mythical rose bush whose flowers change colour on a daily basis as her luxury item, spoke of her days at Oxford where she studied philosophy, politics and economics, and met her future husband Michael Vaillancourt Aris who died in 1999 while she was under house arrest.
 
“I suppose I turned a few heads… it’s difficult not to be aware of that,” she conceded, confirming she had “tried alcohol once” in the bathroom at the Bodleian library, “to see what it was like” – she wasn’t impressed.
 
Young, who sounded awed to be in such a presence, gasped at the directness with which her interviewee answered a question about her political ambitions: “I would like to be president,” Ms Suu Kyi said. “Now, people always like to be very, very modest and say, ‘well I don’t  particularly want to be the president but if the people’... I think that’s a load of nonsense… If you are a politician and you are the leader of a party then you should want to get government power in your hands”.
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