The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- Suu Kyi Memorabilia to be Auctioned at $200k
- Italian Thai, Rojana to Sign $1.7b Dawei Deal in March
- Inside the Balthazar Building
- The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (Jan. 31, 2015)
| Suu Kyi Memorabilia to be Auctioned at $200k Posted: 31 Jan 2015 03:47 AM PST  Aung San Suu Kyi greets supporters at the gate in front of her residence in Rangooon. (Photo: Soe Nyunt / Facebook) RANGOON — The gate and house number plate that for decades stood between adoring supporters and Burma's formerly imprisoned democracy icon, Aung San Suu Kyi, will be auctioned off to help fund celebrations honoring her father during the centennial year of his birth. Bidding will begin at a staggering 200 million kyats (US$200,000) and will be underway before Feb. 13, Gen. Aung San's birthday. Since Suu Kyi's release from house arrest in 2010, the items have been in the possession of Soe Nyunt, a restaurant owner and close ally of the National League for Democracy (NLD). Soe Nyunt announced the auction via social media on Friday, stating that all proceeds would be given to the NLD through two channels: a committee fund for holding yearlong celebrations honoring the late Gen. Aung San, Suu Kyi's father and Burma's much-loved independence hero; and a separate fund that will contribute to the construction of a new NLD office in Rangoon. "I have kept [the artifacts] lovingly because they are historic resources. If this great door could speak, it would narrate the history of a 25-year struggle for democracy in Burma," he said in a Facebook post on Friday. Aung San Suu Kyi, chairwoman of the NLD, spent more than 15 years under house arrest confined within the gates of 54 University Avenue. The gate became a symbol of her imprisonment, and was the site of many historic speeches and public gatherings. Suu Kyi made a brief public appearance when Buddhist monks gathered outside her residence during the Saffron Revolution in 2007, and again met enormous crowds at the gate upon her release in November 2010. "When she was last released from house arrest, both the house and the garden were damaged," said Soe Nyunt, speaking to The Irrawaddy by phone on Saturday. "I took responsibility for landscaping and repairing her garden at that time." He said that due to his closeness with Suu Kyi and her estate, he was able to purchase the gate when the property was renovated. The nameplate fell down and was nearly lost among other detritus, but he kept that as well. "I knew that it would be precious someday," he said. Soe Nyunt now owns the Royal Rose restaurant, a favorite venue for NLD events, and serves as vice-chairman of the committee tasked with organizing events throughout the year celebrating Gen. Aung San. He said that he decided now was the time to sell the items because the committee will hold major events in Rangoon from Feb. 12-14, which will include art exhibitions and other entertainment to commemorate Burma's martyred hero. Gen. Aung San was assassinated along with several members of his cabinet in July 1947, just before Burma was formally granted independence from British rule. "I'm auctioning these [items] as a citizen, this does not concern the [NLD] party," he said. Local and foreign bidders will have equal opportunity to bid, he added. The historic gate was originally installed at Suu Kyi's residence around 1988, when she returned to Burma after years in the United Kingdom and formed the NLD. Its original color was sky blue, but it was painted yellow and red in 1995, when she was released from her first detention, according to her former chef, Pho Lay. It was last repainted in 2008. The post Suu Kyi Memorabilia to be Auctioned at $200k appeared first on The Irrawaddy. | |
| Italian Thai, Rojana to Sign $1.7b Dawei Deal in March Posted: 31 Jan 2015 03:37 AM PST  Laborers work on a new road through the forested Tanintharyi Mountains that connects the planned Dawei SEZ with nearby Thailand. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) Italian-Thai Development Pcl. and Rojana Industrial Park will sign a US$1.7 billion deal in March to develop the Dawei industrial zone in Burma, the Thai government said on Friday. Set to be Southeast Asia's largest industrial complex when complete, the ambitious and long-delayed Dawei project in southeastern Burma includes highway links to Bangkok and Thailand's eastern seaboard. "At the initial stage it will be an investment of around $1.7 billion," Deputy Transport Minister Arkhom Termittayapaisit told reporters after a meeting between Thai and Burmese officials in Bangkok on Friday. Italian Thai and Rojana will develop the first phase of the project, he said. The project will begin with construction of a 138-km (86-mile) road from Dawei to Kanchanaburi province, 119 km northwest of Bangkok. Thailand will provide soft loans to Burma, to meet a budget of around 3.9 billion baht ($119.23 million) for the road construction. "Today bilateral relations between Thailand and Myanmar [Burma] are at their best," Thai Deputy Prime Minister Pridiyathorn Devakula said in a statement. The success of the Dawei Special Economic Zone project would carry the two countries' cooperation to new heights, benefiting both as well as the region, he added. Besides the road-building, the first phase aims to complete within five years such infrastructure projects as a telecoms network, a small port and a reservoir, he said. Plans for Dawei Special Economic Zone complex envisage a 250-sq-km (100-sq-mile) deep-sea port, petrochemical and heavy industry hub on the Thai-Burma peninsula. The project has been stalled for years. Delays were largely blamed on Italian-Thai Development (ITD), which had failed to secure private investment and agree on a power source for the complex. Thailand and Burma seized control of the strategically located complex from ITD, Thailand's biggest construction firm, in Nov. 2013. Thailand's ruling junta pledged in October it would seek to advance the project. The industrial zone would be a potential boon for firms relying on the transport of goods around the crowded Malacca Strait, the world's busiest shipping lane. The post Italian Thai, Rojana to Sign $1.7b Dawei Deal in March appeared first on The Irrawaddy. | |
| Posted: 30 Jan 2015 04:00 PM PST  The birdcage elevator sits at the base of the elevator shaft, having fallen into disrepair decades earlier. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Built from solid red brick in 1905 by the Armenian trading company Balthazar & Son, the Balthazar Building in downtown Rangoon's Bank Street is an interesting and accessible insight into the city's slowly disappearing architectural heritage. Along with many of the surrounding buildings still standing from the period, tropical heat and rain has taken its toll on what was once a prestigious waterfront edifice. Since its glory days during the last decades of the British colonial era, the building has slowly perished under the weight of vegetative growth, rust, mold and humidity. Italian marble tiles have been battered and cracked on the floor of the foyer, while one of the building's most fascinating features, an original example of a birdcage elevator, has sat broken down and idle for more than 40 years. Wrought iron stairs and railings lead up to the third floor, where the sun leaks in through an old skylight and into the elevator shaft, itself slowly constricting through decades of built-up spider webs. The building is at least partially owned by Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Rural Development, and at present its three floors are occupied by small scale local law firms. The building has been listed with the Yangon Heritage Trust as worthy of protection and possible future restoration. The post Inside the Balthazar Building appeared first on The Irrawaddy. | |
| The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (Jan. 31, 2015) Posted: 30 Jan 2015 03:39 PM PST Huge Chinese-Backed Oil Refinery Planned in Dawei A huge oil refinery planned by a Chinese company for Dawei on Burma's southeast coast would be part of China's self-styled New Silk Road Economic Belt, according to Beijing state news agency Xinhua. Guangdong Zhenrong Energy is at an advanced state in negotiations to build a US$2.9 billion refinery with a production capacity of 5 million tonnes per year, Xinhua said. The refined oil products would be sold in Burma but also aimed at the export market. "Zhenrong Energy received the go-ahead for the [Burma] project from the [Chinese] National Development and Reform Commission in November and is currently applying for state approval from the authorities in [Burma]," Xinhua said. The refinery would be part of China's so-called One Belt One Road strategy "which is emphasizing future infrastructure connectivity with various countries," Xinhua quoted Xiao Yaofei, a professor with the School of Economics and Trade, Guangdong University as saying. "Xiao said Zhenrong Energy's [Burma] project should also pave the way for other petrochemical-related investments by other Chinese firms, such as those engaged in chemicals manufacturing, for instance, and its support industries," Xinhua said. The refinery, to be fed by imported crude using a 150,000-ton oil dock, would dwarf Burma's existing refineries, but analysts note that Dawei is far from the country's main industrial growth areas where demand for fuel is highest. Beach Holiday Resort Proposed on Pristine Mon State Coast The Burmese firm Aurum is negotiating for permission to build a multi-million dollar holiday resort on the coast of southeast Burma in Mon State. The resort is proposed for a stretch of beach near the town of Ye, north of Dawei, said Myanmar Business Daily. Aurum said its plans for the Kanbyar Beach Resort include beach bungalows surrounding a hotel with 120 rooms and would cost US$12 million. No timetable for project has been given and the firm is in talks with the Mon State government in order to obtain planning consent. With its pristine beaches, Mon State is the focus of other proposals for holiday resorts as Burma bids to raise the number of foreign tourists while lacking facilities in many places. Last June, the Myeik Public Corporation announced plans for a US$4 million resort on Kadan Island in the Mergui Archipelago. Myeik said then it was targeting the project in the first quarter of this year. Thai, Burmese Ministers Discuss Border Trade Plans The trade ministers of Burma and Thailand met at the border crossing between Myawaddy and Mae Sot this week to discuss cross-border trade expansion linked to Bangkok's plans for a special economic zone on the Thai side. "Cross-border trade, particularly with [Burma], should grow significantly due to the first special economic zone linking Thailand's Tak [Province] and [Burma's] Myawaddy being established this year," The Nation newspaper quoted Thai minister Chatchai Sarikulya saying. The minister led a Thai trade group to Mae Sot as part of government efforts to promote the economic zone, which will be the first of several planned on Thailand's borders, including opposite Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia. Chatchai's visit to the border zone coincided with a week-long trade fair in Mae Sot to which Burmese businesses and traders were invited. "The Board of Trade of Thailand and the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry have signed an agreement to expand cooperation between the countries’ private sectors in trade, investment and logistics, as well as support the special economic zones and facilitate tourist arrivals between the countries," The Nation reported. "Tak Province officials have also signed three memorandums of understanding with three states in [Burma] – Myawaddy, Hpa-an and Mon – in a bid to promote trade, investment, logistics and tourism growth between the two sides." Mekong Dams 'Threaten Livelihoods' of Riverside Burmese Campaigners against hydroelectric dams being built in Laos and Cambodia have warned that communities in northeast Burma living alongside the River Mekong will suffer economically if the projects are completed. The dams will undermine fishing on the Mekong on which many communities depend for food and income, the campaigners said. They blamed the Mekong River Commission (MRC) for failing to act to stop the dams. Burma is an observer on the commission whose main members are Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. A meeting of the MRC has just failed to agree on action to stop preparation work on the Don Sahong dam in Laos, while disagreement continues over another at Sesan in Cambodia. The Don Sahong, which would have an electricity generating capacity of 260 megawatts, is being built by a Malaysian firm, Mega First Corporation. "The Lower Sesan 2 dam is predicted to cause serious harm to fisheries, local economies and livelihoods across the entire Mekong River Basin," the legal consultant for EarthRights International in the US, Maureen Harris, told The Irrawaddy this week. "Added to this is a cascade of 11 proposed dams along the Mekong mainstream that will affect all Mekong countries, including a 100 kilometers stretch in [Burma]. The MRC ongoing failure to ensure an adequate process for consultation and agreement between Mekong countries for projects with regional impacts threatens a loss of up to 35% of all migratory fish in the river and potentially US$476 million a year [in community livelihoods], according to an MRC commissioned report," Harris said. Absent a Stock Market, Burma's Wealthy Invest in Land Many of the seemingly timeless paddy fields which still fringe Rangoon are in fact on borrowed time, waiting to become part of the commercial capital's growing urban sprawl and industrial landscape, The Economist newspaper said. Many of the fields are zoned for manufacturing have lain fallow for want of industry, but this is now changing, it said. "Land acquisition and disposal are governed by archaic laws, barely enforced, which hinder investment. Yet land prices in [Rangoon] and across the country are soaring, partly because speculators are holding out for huge pay outs, but also because, with no functioning stock market and a shaky banking system, [Burma] offers few other places for the wealthy to park their cash," The Economist said. Rangoon's population is now 7.4 million and the city is crying out for a sensible development plan, the paper said in a report on Burma's economic expansion since 2011. The post The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (Jan. 31, 2015) appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
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