Friday, September 6, 2013

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Burma and Japan to boost development ties

Posted: 06 Sep 2013 04:09 AM PDT

Burma and Japan have agreed to step up cooperation on development projects, with a special focus on tackling HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in the poverty-stricken country, state media reported on Friday.

A delegation of Japanese MPs met on Thursday with President Thein Sein in Naypyidaw, where they hashed out plans to boost development assistance for Burma's woefully neglected health care system.

Tuberculosis cases are estimated to be three times above the global average, while Burma has the third highest HIV infection rate in Asia.

The two countries also discussed strategies for Japan to support Burma during the 2013 Southeast Asian Games in December, and develop the joint Thilawa Special Economic Zone in Rangoon.

Japan has been one of the first developed countries to fully endorse Burma's democratic reform programme, including writing off nearly US$2 billion in debt in May. The move coincided with a historic visit by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Burma – the first made by a Japanese leader in 36 years – when fresh aid was also earmarked for the Thilawa project. Last year Tokyo cancelled an additional US$3.4 billion of Burma’s debt.

The Thilawa zone, which is located 25 kilometres south of Rangoon, will be jointly developed by Burma and Japan.

Analysts say Japan has been keen to rekindle its economic relationship with Burma, which is slowly emerging from decades of military rule and diplomatic isolation. Although it never imposed sanctions on Burma, the East Asian powerhouse has significantly stepped up its engagement over the past two years, which some have attributed to an easing of western pressure and a more stable investment climate.

Burma is the poorest country in Southeast Asia and spends less that 4 percent of its annual budget on health care. The Ministry of Health has pledged to scale up assistance for vulnerable patients, including those affected by drug resistant TB and malaria, but limited resources and poor infrastructure has hampered progress.

Business Weekly

Posted: 06 Sep 2013 03:49 AM PDT

Kyat settles

After rising slightly against other currencies in August, the Burmese kyat remained stable over the past week. The current buying rate is 965 kyat to the US dollar, while the selling rate is still 973.

China-ASEAN trade could double by 2020, says Chinese PM

TS-Li

Burma’s President Thein Sein (L) shakes hands with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on the sidelines of the China-ASEAN summit in Nanning. (Reuters)

China's trade with Southeast Asia could more than double to US$1 trillion by 2020, Li Keqiang told regional leaders at a China-ASEAN summit in Nanning this week. While downplaying simmering territorial disputes at the summit, the Chinese premier stressed a "common destiny" and called for an upgraded version of the free trade deal between the two sides.

Stock Exchange deadline looks risky

Burma is running behind schedule for starting a stock exchange by 2015 after delays in getting the legal framework in place, according to a report this week by Bloomberg which quoted a Japanese executive who is assisting with the project. "We're pressed for time," Koichiro Miyahara, a senior executive officer at Japan Exchange, reportedly said, and noted that the late approval of a capital markets bill had delayed the project.

New Rangoon airport shuttle

A 24-hour shuttle bus service to and from the Rangoon international airport was launched on 1 September. The eight commissioned mini-vans will each carry a maximum of 15 passengers, and the fare has been fixed at 5,000 kyat for foreigners and 3,500 kyat for locals.

Banks association wants to stand alone

The Myanmar Banks Association announced at a meeting on 30 August that it has decided to become independent of the Central Bank of Myanmar. Than Lwin, former deputy director of the Central Bank of Myanmar and now deputy-director of the private-owned Kambawza Bank, stressed that the association did not seek to break away from the Central Bank, but just wanted to become "conventional" as bank associations in other countries.

Finger on the pulse

Burma has earned over US$840 million from the export of beans and pulses this quarter, according to the Ministry of Commerce. The country exported a total of more than 1.39 million tonnes of agricultural products worth over $845.3 million from 1 April to 23 August during this 2013-14 fiscal year.

Van Heusen sets the trend

Top US menswear brand Van Heusen has launched its first outlet in Burma at the Parkson Departmental Store, FMI Centre, in downtown Rangoon. The firm says it also plans to open branches in Mandalay, Naypyidaw and other major cities. "We have come here to encourage Myanmar people's dreams to come true," said a VH spokesperson. Established in 1881, Van Heusen is a subsidiary of PVH Corporation which owns other clothing brands including Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein.

Calls are cheap, but SIM cards can cost a pretty penny in Burma. (Reuters)

Calls are cheap, but SIM cards can cost a pretty penny in Burma. (Reuters)

SIM pickings

Mobile phone SIM cards, originally sold for 1,500 kyat (US$1.50) each through a lottery system, are now trading for between 90,000 and 120,000 kyat on the black market in Burma.

Fuji Electric opens Rangoon branch

Tokyo-based Fuji Electric Holdings Co Ltd announced on 2 September that it had opened a branch office on Shwegondaing Road in Bahan Township in Rangoon. The Japanese firm said it aims to collect and analyse market trends for electric appliances while building ties with local and Japanese corporations based in Burma.

Nokking at the door

Thailand's Nok Air last week launched daily flights between the Thai border town of Mae Sot and Moulmein in Burma's Mon state. The flight takes just 25 minutes, a far cry from the bumpy six-hour journey it would normally take overland. The economy airline says it will also introduce Mae Sot – Rangoon flights from 1 October.

Myanmar Brewery corners a huge part of Burma's domestic beer market with manufacturing plants for Tiger Beer, Myanmar Beer, ABC Stout and Anchor Beer. (Reuters)

Myanmar Brewery corners a huge part of Burma's domestic beer market with manufacturing plants for Tiger Beer, Myanmar Beer, ABC Stout and Anchor Beer. (Reuters)

Beer war in Burma

Singaporean food and beverage conglomerate Fraser & Neave (F&N) has claimed that its Burmese partner is trying to oust it from a joint-

venture agreement in Myanmar Brewery, according to various news sources. F&N owns 55 percent of Myanmar Brewery, which corners a huge part of Burma's domestic beer market with manufacturing plants for Tiger Beer, Myanmar Beer, ABC Stout and Anchor Beer. The remaining 45 percent is held by state-owned Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd, a conglomerate run by Burma's Ministry of Defence.

 

DVB Debate: Is Burma ready for total press freedom?

Posted: 06 Sep 2013 03:22 AM PDT

This week's talk show, DVB Debate, asks the question: Is Burma ready for total press freedom?

At a time when Burma is navigating its way through a democratic transition, is it appropriate to give the press free reign or should the media be regulated until the country is more stable?

Panelists this week are: Pe Myint, editor for People's Age Magazine; Nwan Ja Thine, an author; and Tu Tu Tha, the editor of the Burma section at Irrawaddy Magazine.

Several studio guests suggest that, despite the fragility of the transition period, freedom of the press is an essential right. Others disagree and believe that the media, like all institutions, must be subject to regulations.

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Pe Myint claims that the existing laws that regulate the press are still suitable today.

"What we are saying is that a code of conduct and laws for journalists already exists. We don't need to come up with any new laws," he said.

"There are mature and immature journalists, and not everyone is ready yet. Therefore its better if we just continue with the way things are now," said author Nwan Ja Thine.

Studio guest and author Kyaw Htet Aung stepped in to disagree with Nwan Ja Thine's statement.

"We have to give complete media freedom," he said. "And complete media freedom means not controlling media by any laws or regulation."

Several voices in this studio debate believe that freedom of the press is a basic right and should be implemented immediately. Others urge patience, pointing to Burma's current period of transition and reform. And some are of the opinion that while the media and the public are hungry for press freedom, the government doesn't share their appetite.

Next week on DVB Debate: Has social media taken over our daily lives?

You can join the debate and watch the full programme at: www.dvbdebate.com

Burma’s draft association law: a smokescreen for further repression?

Posted: 06 Sep 2013 03:14 AM PDT

One of the main hopes for Burma's recent political reforms has been for a vibrant, open and flourishing civil society – a vital component of any healthy democracy and an enabling environment for sustainable development. For Burma's people to feel invested in its country's political, economic and social development, they must be allowed to participate and they must be empowered. Yet participation and empowerment cannot happen if there are onerous or arbitrary restrictions on the right to freedom of association.

It was therefore disheartening to see the draft Association Law, published by the Public Affairs Management Committee on 27 July in a state-run newspaper. The draft law violated constitutional and international standards of free association, with international law permitting only limited and narrowly defined exceptions. It also flouted accepted international standards for laws on associations or not-for-profit organisations. The draft law made registration compulsory rather than voluntary, with unregistered associations prohibited from operating and facing disproportionate and draconian penalties of up to three years in prison as well as hefty fines for establishing or even participating in an unregistered association. In fact, the law would have needed to have been almost entirely redrafted to comply with international standards.

As it is, the lower house issued a further draft on 19 August, before the close of parliament for the September recess. However, this draft makes largely cosmetic changes, which do not significantly alter the threat that the legislation poses to civil society. Despite the fact that the law is now called the "Association Registration Law", it avoids any explicit requirement for organisations to seek permission to form, and removes the draconian penalties mentioned above. But in reality many will be faced with no other legal option under the law.

First, under Chapter VI, all organisations are required to register anyway, unless they fall under an exemption, which many, including advocacy and human rights organisations, do not. Second, all organisations are required to register to avail themselves of "benefits" to which any legal person is entitled, such as initiating judicial proceedings, seeking funding, opening a bank account, or even having a logo. The draft law will mean that no organisation will be able to function viably unless they register. As before, registration involves seeking government approval, albeit with responsibility now shared between various different levels of the executive – perhaps in an effort to disguise the essence of this requirement.

What this draft does is raise a smokescreen: it gives the impression of taking civil society recommendations into account by pretending to remove compulsory registration, but in reality serves the same purpose as before, namely to perpetuate government control over civil society in Burma.

If such a law must be enacted, registration must be genuinely voluntary, thereby allowing civil society individuals and organisations the space and the right to freely associate. It must protect the basic rights of citizens and must be in line with constitutional and international legal and human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Furthermore, any legislation must be drafted following full and transparent consultation with civil society and the public, and take account of any recommendations. While the 27 July draft was accompanied by a notice soliciting recommendations, a deadline of just two weeks was imposed, rendering the process almost meaningless. However, civil society reacted quickly by publishing a statement endorsed by 87 organisations that rejected the draft and called for any discussion in parliament to be suspended in order to allow sufficient time for broad and meaningful consultation.

While in the right environment, an associations law can be beneficial to civil society and the public in general, in a fragile political context such as Burma's nascent democracy – barely two years old and still with a lot to prove – such a law is fraught with danger and can easily be abused to curtail citizens' rights to freedom of association and expression rather than protect them. The government's recent cosmetic changes to the law add weight to this argument and fan the flames of suspicion.

In fact, there is no need for such a law, and it would be better to do without for the time being. If, in time, Burma is ready for an associations law that might for example allow for such benefits as tax allowances for organisations, then such legislation can be re-considered when the political climate is more stable, transparent and mature. Until that point, any discussion and approval of the current draft legislation should be suspended. The right to freedom of association – so long denied to the people of Burma – must be preserved and protected at all costs. Otherwise, not only will human rights, democracy, rule of law and accountability be compromised, but essential services such as welfare, education and health may also suffer. The people of Burma deserve better than that.

 

Khin Ohmar is the Coordinator of Burma Partnership, a regional network of NGOs working to promote human rights and democracy in Burma. She is a former student activist and member of the All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF), who played a leading role in the 1988 pro-democracy uprising. 

Farmers warned against ‘fragmentary’ new law

Posted: 06 Sep 2013 02:00 AM PDT

The Myanmar Farmers Network met with local farmers in Kachin state's Namtee township on 5 September as part of a nationwide tour where they have been spreading warnings to rural townsfolk about the Law to Protect Farmers' Interests, which was recently approved by the union parliament, and which the Network deems "fragmentary".

The group says it has been touring the country to raise awareness among local farmers about the law and address questions.

Network leader Tin Ko Linn told DVB that about 100 local farmers attended the Namtee meeting. He said although farmers were mostly unaware of the ruling, they showed interest in hearing about its pros and cons.

"We explained the nature of the law and pointed out several irregularities, such as a lack of provisions for farming in mountainous areas," he said. "These issues are crucial to highland farmers who need to be aware of the need to protect their rights. The law is rather vague when defining the difference between barren land and pasture."

Thursday marked the group's first meeting in Kachin state. Previously, they held similar public forums with farmers in Arakan state and Mandalay division.

Tin Ko Linn said the group is looking to draft an alternate farmers' law with input from farmers across the country as well as legal experts.

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Attorney Ko Ni of the Myanmar Lawyers Network said the current law is flawed, and that it was drafted and approved in a "hurried manner" by the parliament.

"There are a lot of complications at this juncture because the country is going through a transition period and the parliament has enacted quite a few new pieces of legislation relating to farmers' rights and land ownership," he said. "First they passed the Farmland Law, then the Vacant Lands, Fallow Lands and Virgin Lands Management Law, and now this so-called Law to Protect Farmers' Interests.

"Instead of proceeding this way, it would be more practical and astute for parliament to commission legal experts to study the situation and draft a law based on their recommendations," said Ko Ni.

"I think farmers are becoming despondent because these laws are being rushed through parliament with such little input from experts," he added.

For example, the 2012 Farmland Law allows the government to arbitrarily confiscate land from villagers if it is deemed to be in “the national interest”. Critics say this will fuel a land-grabbing "epidemic" as Burma continues to emerge from decades of military rule.

The Rohingya – a forgotten people?

Posted: 05 Sep 2013 10:47 PM PDT

Burma's Rohingya Muslims have been described as the world's forgotten people. Stripped of citizenship by the former military junta in 1982, many thousands have been stuck in limbo along the Bangladeshi border in northwestern Burma for decades.

Last year two bouts of vicious communal clashes thrust an international spotlight on their plight. Over 200 people were killed and some 140,000 people, mostly Muslims, were ripped from their homes. Displaced Rohingyas, who are considered illegal Bengali immigrants in Burma, are now isolated in dreary camps and ghettoes, with limited access to food, sanitation or healthcare. Buddhist nationalists and extremist groups have been blamed for stirring up hate-speech against the group, while local police and security forces have been accused of participating in the violence, described by human rights groups as a "systematic" campaign of ethnic cleansing.

Journalists Matt Rains and Alia Mehboob travelled to Arakan state in August 2012 to document the lives of Rohingya Muslims in the wake of last year's violence.
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