Thursday, October 2, 2014

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Lion’s share of Burma’s new bank licenses awarded to Japan

Posted: 02 Oct 2014 05:41 AM PDT

Burma's Foreign Bank Licensing Committee awarded preliminary licenses to nine foreign banks on Wednesday, and Japanese banks were by far the biggest winners. The license application process was kicked-off in May when the Burmese government sent letters to 40 foreign banks inviting them to apply for a license—a coveted privilege that carries the potential to give foreign financial institutions a lucrative foothold in Burma's banking sector.

Japan's three largest banks—Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation; Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ; and Mizuho Bank—were among the nine lucky banks awarded licenses by the government, which reportedly conducted an extensive screening process led by a committee of Burmese government officials and foreign consultants. Given the high stakes involved, the process was extremely competitive, with 25 banks from 12 different countries eventually submitting applications.

Although some local banks and individuals are concerned that foreign banks will gobble up the local banking sector, there is also optimism among Burmese bankers and officials that foreign banks will promote the development of Burma's financial sector by transferring technical skills to local players and injecting much-needed liquidity into local banks in the form of kyat-denominated loans. In addition, the Burmese government is keen to modernize its banking system by incorporating the latest technology, a crucial factor which contributed to the success of Japanese financial institutions this week.

The Japanese banks that received licenses are also among the world's largest in terms of capital, and Burma is betting that Japanese banks will advance the government's goal of boosting liquidity and increasing the capital stock of Burma's thinly-capitalized financial system.

By contrast, China's state-owned banks might boast more capital on their balance sheets, but many of them are also dangerously exposed to China's shadow banking system and real estate bubble, which many economists predict will eventually saddle China's banking system with unsustainable amounts of debt.

When the Foreign Bank Licensing Committee announced the successful foreign banks on Wednesday the committee insisted that its decisions were based on “detailed quantitative and qualitative criteria.” However, it's quite possible that political imperatives played a determinative role in the committee's decision process. Anti-China sentiment is still running high in Burma, whereas Japan is still viewed as a more "friendly" country—not to mention the fact that Japan was Burma's largest source of foreign aid during the military era. Japan has also provided massive amounts of investment, foreign aid, and debt forgiveness to Burma since the country transitioned to a quasi-civilian government in 2011.

Indeed, Gwen Robinson's recent Nikkei Asian Review article indicated that some analysts believe that Japan's success this week may be connected to how Japanese officials felt snubbed by Burma's recent decision to award several big infrastructure contracts to non-Japanese companies.

In particular, officials in Tokyo were convinced that Japanese companies would easily win last year's bidding for a telecommunications license and the construction of Rangoon's new international airport, but in both cases their hopes were dashed—and to add insult to injury, the airport contract was awarded to a consortium from Korea, Japan's arch rival in many sectors.

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Apparently, Burma's bank licensing scheme is designed to support the country's banking sector by prohibiting foreign involvement in retail banking on the one hand, while also requiring foreign banks to channel their kyat-denominated commercial loans through Burmese banks.

That is, foreign banks cannot extend kyat-denominated loans directly to local companies, but they are allowed to provide kyat loans to local banks. As a consequence, foreign licensees will need to partner with local banks in order to access the lucrative market of extending kyat-denominated loans to local enterprises. In doing so, the Burmese government expects that foreign banks will transfer the skills and technology which local banks will need to stand their ground against foreign banks if the financial sector is further liberalized.

Indeed, among the most important criteria considered by the license selection committee was the willingness expressed by foreign banks to train local staff, transfer critical technology, and cooperate with local banks. In her article, Gwen Robinson said that "It is understood that the Japanese banks pledged various programs to assist local banks, including the provision of training and, in the case of MUFG, setting up an education institute for banking personnel."

The licensing system demonstrates that Burma is aiming to find a balance between enhancing the competitiveness of local banks and providing foreign banks with access to Burma's red-hot economy, which the IMF projects will grow 8.5 percent in the current fiscal year. If successful, the scheme is expected to benefit both sides by attracting badly needed foreign investment while providing local banks with the protection, support, and time they need to compete with experienced and well-capitalized international financial institutions.

It's unclear whether the selected foreign banks will focus on providing foreign-currency loans to foreign investors in Burma or devote more capital to indirectly providing kyat-denominated loans to local companies—partly because like many of Burma's new laws it's unclear how the licensing regime will work in practice. Moreover, regulations may be needed to implement the legal framework, which is governed by a recently-enacted Financial Institution Law that requires licensed foreign banks to hold at least US$75 million in capital and limits them to opening only one branch. The one-branch requirement is designed to alleviate concerns that foreign banks will monopolize the financial sector while encouraging foreign banks to cooperate with local and regional banks.

The nine lucky foreign banks now have 12 months to open a branch which complies with the Financial Institution Law, and if Burma's Central Bank determines that a foreign bank has satisfied the law's requirements within this time-frame it will receive a "final" license.

The five other foreign banks which obtained preliminary licenses this week included the following: Thailand’s Bangkok Bank; China’s Industrial and Commercial Bank of China; Malaysia’s Malayan Banking (Maybank); Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ); and two Singaporean banks—United Overseas Bank and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation.

Bullet Points: 2 October 2014

Posted: 02 Oct 2014 04:08 AM PDT

On today's edition of Bullet Points:

You can watch Bullet Points every weeknight on DVB TV after the 7 o'clock news.

Unity journalists’ sentences reduced on appeal

Posted: 02 Oct 2014 03:25 AM PDT

Magwe Regional Court on Thursday reduced the sentences of five members of the now defunct Unity Journal to seven years following an appeal.

The five individuals— CEO Tint Hsan and reporters Lu Maw Naing, Sithu Soe, Aung Thura and Yazar Oo—were initially given a 10-year jail sentence in July after being found guilty of "exposing state secrets" following the journal's publishing of an article alleging the existence of a secret chemical weapons factory in central Burma.

According to the wife of convicted reporter Lu Maw Naing, the regional court reduced the sentences on Thursday morning. However, she said, the five have vowed to lodge another appeal in Burma's Supreme Court in Naypyidaw because "their sentences are not in line with freedom of the press".

The decision to reduce the defendants' sentences to seven years came after a two-month-long appeal process.

Lawyer Robert San Aung, who represents the four Unity reporters but not CEO Tint Hsan, told DVB on Thursday that "The sentences were reduced from ten to seven years after a successful appeal process."

The lawyer said that his argument on appeal was that the original sentences constituted a breach of right to free speech enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.*

Robert San Aung also told DVB that he still hasn't received a certified copy of the court judgment.

"As soon as I get the court judgment I will file an appeal for a 'criminal revision' at the Supreme Court in Naypyidaw. That should be in another two weeks' time," he said.

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"Once again I will base our appeal on the human rights charter."

DVB asked Robert San Aung why the sentence was only reduced by three years on appeal.

"I believe the divisional administration has undue influence over the court," he responded.

The Unity Journal article, which the government contended was an illegal exposure of state secrets, has attracted international attention. In June, the Italian town of Sala Baganza awarded honorary citizenship to the four journalists and Unity Weekly's former CEO.

Speaking to DVB in June, the Italian town's mayor Cristina Merusi said: "Freedom of information is the basis of democracy in a free country. To support this freedom that we have through journalism and those who practice it, we decided to honour the five journalists of Unity Weekly in Burma through an act which for us is very important— honorary citizenship of our town."

 

*Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; the right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers.

Irrawaddy news site hacked following Wirathu article

Posted: 02 Oct 2014 01:43 AM PDT

The English website of The Irrawaddy was brought down on Thursday by activists calling themselves the Blink Hacker Group.

The hackers appeared to target the independent Burmese news group on the grounds that The Irrawaddy is comprised of "supporters of jihad and radical Muslims".

The news website, which covers Burma and Southeast Asia, recently ran an article covering Burma's controversial nationalist monk Wirathu, who last week visited likeminded Buddhist organisations in Sri Lanka.

The Irrawaddy's editor-in chief Aung Zaw said on Thursday that following the media group's reportage of Wirathu’s visit to Sri Lanka their Facebook sites "received hundreds of hate mail and very abusive messages within hours".

"It shows that they are working as a team," he said.

Aung Zaw said that The Irrawaddy had already tightened its internet security following crippling denial of service attacks by hackers in 2008. However, this time they believe their server was penetrated.

"It is criminal, but they are cowards," he said.

In addition to hacking the newspaper's server, The Irrawaddy said that someone called their office in Rangoon two days ago and threatened reporters in connection with the Wirathu article, saying that they would raze or bomb the news group's office.

The threats came just days after The Irrawaddy founder Aung Zaw was presented with a 2014 International Press Freedom Award by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

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"We are happy to receive this award," he told DVB on Thursday. "This award is not for me but for my committed team members and those who defend press freedom and promote independent media. This award belongs to them all, including the late U Win Tin and several veteran journalists who were unjustly locked up in prisons. This award is a reminder to those who continue to muzzle the press and insist on running a propaganda machine while embarking on a farcical reform process and launching a 'public media service'—all [of which is] nonsense."

Aung Zaw confirmed that the cyber-attack began immediately after his journalism award was announced.

"We could see a steady stream of incoming abusive messages in the hundreds over the last four or five days – and then an attack!" he said.

As of Thursday afternoon, the problem had been solved and the news site resumed online.

President’s speech raises eyebrows, ire

Posted: 02 Oct 2014 12:17 AM PDT

Several leading political stakeholders in Burma reacted negatively to President Thein Sein's monthly radio address on Wednesday—not to the president's call for vigilance in the face of terrorism, but to his indication that signing a nationwide ceasefire agreement and initiating a political dialogue process are necessary pre-conditions to holding next year's general election.

"Only if we can sign a nationwide ceasefire agreement can we begin the political dialogue which will lead the political future of our country," Thein Sein said in his address to the nation, which was broadcast across Burma by radio. "I want you to note that we can only ensure political stability, the holding of the 2015 elections, and a subsequent smooth political transition only if this [political dialogue] process is commenced."

The government has been pushing Burma's armed ethnic groups to sign a nationwide ceasefire, but negotiations between the two sides have been bogged down for months and many analysts doubt an agreement will be reached any time soon.

In response to the president's announcement, Kachin State Democracy Party Chairman Dr. Tu Ja told DVB that the 2015 elections should not be postponed under any circumstances.

"Next year's elections cannot be postponed. It's a five-year term, so it must last five years," he said. "Otherwise, the public will get the wrong impression. They may think the government wants to maintain its grip on power. Even if we are unable to reach an agreement on a nationwide ceasefire, this should not affect the general election. It should still go ahead."

Rangoon MP Dr. Nyo Nyo Thin, an upper house lawmaker representing the National Democratic Force, responded to the president's speech by saying that Thein Sein's proposed course of action is unconstitutional.

"The election must be held by December 2015 at the latest, according to the constitution," she said. "But now the president is apparently suggesting that the ceasefire agreement is related to the constitutionally-mandated elections. This is not the case."

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Dr. Salai Lian Sakhong, a Chin leader and senior negotiator for the NCCT—the team of armed ethnic group leaders that has been negotiating with the government on behalf Burma's armed ethnic groups—said the delay in signing a ceasefire agreement is essentially due to intransigence on the part of the government.

"We didn't refuse to discuss even a single point on the agenda proposed by the government proposed," he said. "However, the government delegation blocked the debate on items that we raised. To resolve the impasse, we need the government to show goodwill. This is the first key point."

He continued: "Secondly, both sides already agreed to amalgamate our security forces. But when we met in September the government proposed to re-visit this issue during the political dialogue phase. This in itself is a barrier to progress—not just in terms of political dialogue, but it's also a barrier to the nationwide ceasefire agreement. We are concerned that the government expects us to lay down our arms before we are given any political guarantees. The president and the commander-in-chief of the army should seriously consider whether they wish to continue pursuing this approach. That’s what I think.”

Shan alliance talks on the agenda at Bangkok parlay

Posted: 01 Oct 2014 08:17 PM PDT

Leading representatives of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP), the Shan State Army- South (SSA-S), and the Shan State Army- North (SSA-N) are set to meet in Bangkok for talks on Thursday.

The objective of the meeting among the rival Shan groups is to establish common ground on various issues with a long-term goal aimed at unity, said SNLD spokesman Sai Leik.

"The agenda will be to firstly analyse the current peace process; secondly to discuss how we will approach the 2015 elections; and thirdly, the two political parties will discuss their proposed amendments to the electoral law," he told DVB. "A final step would be the agreed coalition of both armed groups and both political parties."

He added: "All [Shan] leaders realise that unity is now a necessary step. Many grassroots organisations have urged the sides to settle their differences and look towards a merger."

The meeting was set for Bangkok because some Shan representatives expressed difficulties in travelling to Rangoon, he said.

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The SSA-S was recently involved in an armed clash with the Pa-O National Liberation Organisation over a territory dispute. Both sides sat for talks on 11 September at the SSA headquarters in Loi Taileng, but no conclusive agreement was made.

The SSA-S has long said that it will not fully adhere to any nationwide ceasefire agreement, but would instead work towards a separate peace deal with the Burmese government.

The SSA-N, on the other hand, signed a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese government in January 2012. Despite this truce, clashes have continued between SSA-N forces and Burmese troops to date.

In May, the SNDP and the SNLD – the two major political parties in eastern Burma's Shan State – reached a preliminary agreement at a merger.

Sai Maung Tin, a lower house parliamentarian representing the SNDP, told DVB at the time that the two parties still had some differences in policy, but were optimistic that an agreement would be reached in time to contest the 2015 elections.

"We are seeing a merger on the horizon – both parties have principally agreed on the plan – but implementation will have to be done step by step," he said. "We still need to negotiate on policy, mainly on the structure of the Union — whether we will support an eight-unit or a 14-unit federal union."
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