Sunday, June 21, 2015

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

‘People Have to See What We Are Talking About’

Posted: 21 Jun 2015 09:06 AM PDT

Thant Myint-U, chairman of the Yangon Heritage Trust. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

Thant Myint-U, chairman of the Yangon Heritage Trust. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

Thant Myint-U was on Friday announced as the winner of the 2015 Fukuoka Grand Prize, a prestigious Japanese award recognizing achievements in Asian culture. As chairman of the Yangon Heritage Trust, Thant Myint-U has sought to preserve Rangoon's architectural legacy. For the US-born, Cambridge-educated historian and author of two acclaimed books on Myanmar, this mission is just part of a much wider vision: the transformation of Rangoon into a modern city that cherishes its past and its natural environment as it accommodates the needs of business and ordinary citizens.

In this interview with The Irrawaddy from October 2015, Thant Myint-U discusses the challenges that Rangoon faces as it tries to avoid the development pitfalls faced by many other Asian cities.

Let's imagine the future. What is your vision of Yangon in a decade?

I'd like to see a Yangon that is both modern and also protects its very special heritage—and takes advantage of its natural position, as well. What we have right now is a city that goes back hundreds of years. We have ancient monuments like Shwedagon. We have a very special collection still of colonial-era architecture. We have a very green city. We have two lakes, we have parks, and we have this amazing waterfront.

At the same time we need more modern development—we need more roads, bridges, airports, infrastructure and electricity. We need high-rise buildings, shopping centers, everything. What I want to see is a vision and a plan that combines all these things in the right way, learning lessons from others' experiences and avoiding some of the mistakes that have been made by other cities in the region.

Do you think this vision is achievable?

I think it is a big challenge. I think the good thing is that the Yangon government is also very committed to trying to find the right way forward. They have been working very closely with the Japanese aid agency JICA in developing a master plan for the city, but mainly for the infrastructure, sewage, sanitation, transport, all of these issues. I think they are also very aware of the need to try to protect some of the colonial-era buildings and to protect the views of the Shwedagon as well.

Having said that, there are hundreds of challenges. Right now the market incentives are all wrong in terms of trying to protect a lot of the old buildings. And we're entering into this period where there's enormous pressure on land, where land ownership is unclear, where different government agencies own different pieces of land.

I think the last big challenge is for the poor people in this city. I think one thing is to protect the old architecture, one thing is to make this city work for business, but it also has to work for ordinary people. The trick is how do you combine all of these things—a city that works for ordinary people, a city that works for business, and a city that is beautiful and attractive, and that can be really a great city going forward, as well.

Earlier this year, you gave a presentation to President U Thein Sein, and his response was very encouraging. So far, how much have you done and what is the current status of your project?

We have been part of a committee that includes us, the city government, and people from other industries to craft a zoning plan for the city. It's the first zoning plan for Yangon in a long time. That is now finished. We hope very much that this will be officially adopted. We are also looking at the possibility of a conservation law.

Separately with the encouragement of the President's Office, we are also starting a system of landmark plaques around the city. It can help tourists, but we also want it to help Myanmar people and people living here to really appreciate what has happened in these buildings. They forget all the Myanmar history that has taken place in these buildings. We are also trying to work with travel agencies to develop a project in a way that will also benefit people downtown.

How can you educate people to preserve and appreciate the heritage buildings?

The most important thing to convince people is visualization. People have to see what we are talking about. We've talked about it. We can write about it. But what we want to do in the next couple of months are really high-tech visualizations of what Yangon can look like in the future.

What makes Yangon unique?

There are many Asian countries that had very special architecture in the past, but almost all of that has been destroyed. Look at Bangkok, look at Jakarta and Singapore. Lee Kwan Yu said one of the big mistakes that he had made was destroying all the colonial architecture of the city.

[Besides its colonial architecture], Yangon has Shwedagon and Sule Pagoda [and other] great centuries-old monuments that will always be here. We still have a very green city, and then we have a city with rivers on three sides. We can make the waterfront not just an industrial area, but also a place that's accessible to people to walk and enjoy themselves.

The Yangon City Development Committee's heritage list includes about 189 buildings. Have you managed to update the list?

Actually I think it's 188. I think one's been destroyed over the past 10 to 15 years. The YCDC is committed to protecting the buildings on this list, but there is no law behind it. So the list needs to be updated, and it needs to be backed by law. Over the past year, we have been doing a survey of about 500 buildings downtown. We will try to decide what the criteria should be for including buildings on the list. Including public buildings is not too much of a problem—the issue will be how to include privately owned buildings and [deciding] what the regulations [should be] for privately owned buildings that are over 50 years old.

There is a national heritage law which covers structures over 100 years old. That is the only law. So in theory, the Secretariat, for instance, could be considered covered by that law, and there are penalties for anyone who damages these structures. But my understanding is that the law was really intended to cover archaeological sites, like Bagan, and not urban structures, which have special issues about them. So I think in the future, it would be good to move toward a national urban heritage law. But that will take years, I think.

So what we're hoping for is a local conservation law that [covers] both buildings on the list and buildings in conservation zones. Our zoning plan includes parts of downtown Yangon.

How confident are you that you will succeed?

I'm confident that we will at least achieve what we set out to do, which was to protect 30 or 40 iconic buildings. I'm quite confident that no one is going to destroy these buildings. And I'm quite confident that the views of Shwedagon will be protected. I think we've achieved that in partnership with the government. Whether we can protect many hundreds of other buildings, including privately owned buildings, remains questionable. Whether we can come up with a scheme that will benefit the poor and middle-income people living downtown and keep old communities intact is also a question mark. Whether we can integrate this work into a broader urban vision is still a work in progress. So I think we have a core achievement, but we still have to work very hard. And we still need to have very strong public support.

The post 'People Have to See What We Are Talking About' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Suu Kyi Vows Transparency With Candidates’ Asset Disclosures

Posted: 19 Jun 2015 11:06 PM PDT

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi speaks at start of the National League for Democracy party's executive committee meeting on Saturday in Rangoon. (Photo: Tin Htet Paing / The Irrawaddy)

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi speaks at start of the National League for Democracy party's executive committee meeting on Saturday in Rangoon. (Photo: Tin Htet Paing / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Aung San Suu Kyi said Saturday that every member of her National League for Democracy (NLD) who wishes to contest in Burma's upcoming general election will have to declare their assets, as the party seeks to exercise transparency in the highly anticipated vote.

In a speech opening the NLD's executive committee meeting over the weekend in Rangoon, the opposition leader said her party would finalize its candidate list after deciding whether or not to compete in the November election.

Senior NLD members have repeatedly sent mixed messages on the party's intentions vis-à-vis joining the election, which democracy advocates hope will be Burma's first free and fair nationwide vote in 25 years.

Suu Kyi said NLD candidates would need to submit their movable and immovable assets, as well as those of their spouses' and any similar wealth that might be under their children's names. The disclosures will include bank account information and business interests, she said.

Prospective candidates will also be required to make a pledge to collaborate with the party if it feels further investigation into a candidate's wealth is needed.

"We just want to show that the NLD has transparency. If they can't reveal their assets, how can people rely on them?" the 70-year-old democracy icon told the 112 senior members of her party gathered for the meeting.

"We will do this because people who are going to work for the country have to be free from corruption. I want to know that a candidate is not interested in the good of themselves and their families but only for the country," Suu Kyi said.

"We will select our candidates [based on] to what extent they can work for the interests of the country in the long term. We have to think about not only Election Day, but beyond that day, to make Burma flourish."

Suu Kyi also emphasized that the country's stability is important before the elections, echoing a mantra of President Thein Sein in recent months, while seeming to warn that "instability" should not be used as a crutch to justify postponing the poll.

"Let me warn you, including the people and our party members, please don't try to derail the elections by reasoning that there is instability," she said.

"We want stability after the elections to allow our people's hopes to materialize."

The NLD's executive committee meeting will wrap up on Sunday.

The 2015 general election is expected in early November and will pit the NLD—if it ultimately decides to contest—against more than 80 parties in races for the Union Parliament and 14 regional legislatures. The NLD is likely to face its stiffest competition from the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), as well as parties representing the interests of ethnic minorities in regions where they represent large constituencies.

The post Suu Kyi Vows Transparency With Candidates' Asset Disclosures appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Coffee Country

Posted: 19 Jun 2015 05:30 PM PDT

Click to view slideshow.

PYIN OO LWIN, Mandalay Division — Standing outside his home an hour's drive from the northern town of Pyin Oo Lwin, Ye Myint looks out on a view of rolling hills and imagines a greener, more prosperous future.

"This region could be the coffee capital of Myanmar," said the fifty-something who is banding together with other farmers in the north to try to take Myanmar's coffee profile to the next level.

Myanmar has grown coffee since the British introduced Arabica plants to Shan State. Today coffee plants are grown in numerous locations throughout the country, from Kachin State in the north to Mon State in the south, but on a relatively small scale and largely at the lower end of the business.

"It's a sad reality that we have fine raw materials here, but we're not producing many high-quality products," said Ye Myint.

Much of the country's coffee output consists of lower-grade Robusta beans for instant coffee and export. Better quality Arabica beans grown in Shan State and other locations are mainly sold to traders at the Myanmar-China border and elsewhere for low prices.

In order to try and kick start a new era, Ye Myint and other coffee farmers in Pyin Oo Lwin and Moe Gote in Mandalay Region, and Naung Cho and Ywar Ngan in Shan State, formed the Myanmar Coffee Association (MCA) last year.

Its members want to increase home-grown processing of beans to create higher-grade finished products, including specialty coffees.

They also hope that more coffee associations will spring up throughout the country, including in locations such as Kayin, Kachin and Kayah states, to help boost the industry, raise livelihoods and encourage competition.

This year, however, the MCA is trying out taking joint action among its members to protect prices. In 2014, the price for beans fell to 300 kyat per 0.65 kilogram, which did not cover some farmers' costs. Some didn't even bother to collect their harvest. So in 2015 the association members have agreed to set a standard price of 500-700 kyats per 0.65 kilo for their beans.

Moving forward in the emerging sector still involves a lot of trial and error.

Ye Myint was a farming novice when he began growing coffee using organic methods 16 years ago on 200 acres of land near Pyin Oo Lwin.

He has seen a lot of setbacks over the years, from his plants failing to thrive, to fires on the plantation. With some help from the state agricultural arm, he has conducted continuous testing of growing methods and plants.

The fact that the venture has often made losses hasn't dimmed his passion for the business.

"I just have to keep trying," he said, while walking amid some of his planted saplings that are tended to by migrant workers who earn between 2,500 and 5,000 kyat a day, depending on their qualifications.

MCA secretary Min Hlaing, who has a 40-acre coffee farm, estimates that the Pyin Oo Lwin area has around 5,000 acres under coffee, including some in tiny 5-acre plots owned by locals who also grow produce like strawberries and flowers.

That's still far short of the portion envisaged by the former military government when in 2002 it launched a plan to plant around two hundred thousand acres of coffee throughout the country, mainly in highland areas. Large swathes of land were seized or reallocated for the purpose, much of it still unused.

Last year Tin Maung, a union lawmaker from a constituency in Mandalay, said in parliament that about 18,000 acres are under coffee nationwide. Around Pyin Oo Lwin, much land earmarked for coffee remains idle in the hands of former military figures, a local said on condition of anonymity.

Deforestation in the area, including for the production of quick lime, is also taking a toll as the climate becomes hotter and drier.

Coffee growers say their businesses can help the environment, as they plant larger trees to provide shade for the coffee shrubs.

For now, the main challenge is to improve the product and find new markets. Ye Myint is completing a new processing plant for that purpose.

His fellow MCA member Soe Hlaing manages the 100-acre Myanmar Coffee Plantation company, which began its own processing in 2010.

After its products garnered interest at a food trade fair in South Korea, it is increasing yearly production of 13 tons by some 50 percent.

"Japanese and Korean dealers bought our products last year and liked them, so this year we aim to produce 20 tons," said Soe Hlaing.

This article originally appeared in the June 2015 issue of The Irrawaddy magazine.

The post Coffee Country appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (June 20, 2015)

Posted: 19 Jun 2015 05:00 PM PDT

Danish wind company Vestas signed an agreement with local firm Zeya & Associates to explore the possibility of wind farms in southeastern Mon State. (Photo: Bogdan Cristel / Reuters)

Danish wind company Vestas signed an agreement with local firm Zeya & Associates to explore the possibility of wind farms in southeastern Mon State. (Photo: Bogdan Cristel / Reuters)

Danish Turbine-maker in Wind Farm Plan for Mon State

Burma could soon add more renewable power to its energy mix, as the world's largest producer of wind turbines signed an agreement with a local company to explore a wind farm project in Mon State.

Myriad plans for new power generation are being touted as Burma looks to meet rising demand for energy, with domestic industries expanding and electricity consumption increasing among the general population.

Some new gas-fired power plants have already come online, and more are in the works, taking advantage of the country's supply of natural gas from offshore fields. Other plans for hydroelectric dams and coal-fired power plants have garnered considerable resistance from local activists and environmental campaigners, however.

According to a statement from the Danish Embassy in Rangoon on Monday, new renewable energy could be coming to Mon State in the form of wind turbines. The statement said that Danish wind company Vestas signed an agreement with local firm Zeya & Associates on June 11.

"The partnership will initially focus on the development of wind energy in the south eastern region of Myanmar's Mon State and will establish the foundation for a long-term cooperation between the two partners," it said.

Few details were given about the project, and Vestas—which Bloomberg has called the largest wind turbine producer in the world—provides turbines for both offshore and onshore wind power projects.

"The country is facing the challenge of a rapidly increasing power demand and wind energy can provide a sustainable solution to energy security and at the same time a sound business case for investors," the statement added in a quote attributed to Vestas head of marketing for the Asia-Pacific and China.

The project's local partner, Zeya & Associates, is headed by Zeya Thura Mon, a Burmese businessman who is the local distributor for Thailand's Gunkul Engineering—which has also been linked to wind-power plans in Burma. Zeya Thura Mon's firm has branched out into importing consumer electronics and medical devices, and operates the Hlawga Power Plant, providing electricity to Rangoon.

According to UK-based consultancy the Oxford Business Group, the Burmese government is actively promoting wind energy, and has been seeking investment to develop the sector. However, current energy generation from wind is small, according to the group's The Report: Myanmar 2015.

"Among the small wind farms currently in operation are a 1.2-kW wind turbine in Kyauske Township, a 1.2-kW plant at the Government Technical High School in the Ayeyarwaddy region and a 3-kW wind turbine that belongs to the Ministry of Science and Technology," the Oxford Business Group said.

"In late 2013 power producers from China and Thailand revealed that they were doing feasibility studies for generating windmill-generated electricity in nine locations across Myanmar. According to MOEP, Thailand’s Gunkul Engineering Public Company will generate 2930 MW in its plants while Three Gorges Corporation of China aims to have a capacity of 1102 MW. The farms are expected to be operational in 2015 and will reach their maximum capacity by 2018."

Draft Companies Law Published for Consultation

Burma's Directorate of Investment and Companies Administration (DICA) has invited feedback on a new draft law intended to modernize business registration regulations in the country.

DICA has published a draft of the new Myanmar Companies Law on its website in both Burmese and English.

The Global New Light of Myanmar reported that the new law marked "the modernization of the country's century-old Companies Act 1914" and said the Asian Development Banks had assisted with the drafting.

"The DICA has sought consultation from businesspeople and members of the public to provide input on modernization of the new legislation by email, post or fax to its offices in Yangon, Nay Pyi Taw and Mandalay, as well as Shan and Mon states," the state-run newspaper said.

Of interest to overseas investors will be how the law deals with foreign ownership of companies. Currently, foreign companies—defined as any company with a foreign national holding any shares—are blocked from operating in certain sectors, and their ability to own land in Burma is highly restricted.

The draft says that foreign companies are those in which "an overseas corporation or other foreign person (or combination of them)" have a specific amount of ownership, suggesting that some foreign ownership of local companies will be allowed.

However, the current draft does not specify how much of a company may be foreign owned before the company is considered foreign under the law.

Daewoo Sell Off Denied, Despite CEO Walkout

South Korea's Daewoo International Corp insists it is not selling off its assets in Burma, according to an industry report, despite the company's CEO leaving the company this week after criticizing the touted sale.

Rumors of a sell-off swirled in the South Korean press amid a restructuring of Daewoo International initiated by its parent company, the massive steelmaker POSCO, also from South Korea.

Daewoo International has stakes in two offshore oil and gas blocks in Burmese waters, including the Shwe field, which began producing gas in 2013 and feeds the Chinese-built Shwe Gas Pipeline linking the Arakan State coast with China's Yunnan province.

The site Rigzone reported this week that the company is insisting the sale is no longer on the cards. The industry news site quoted an unnamed Daewoo International official saying: "It’s not going to happen. POSCO have decided not to sell the gas fields [in Burma]."

Reports have said the parent company hoped to make some $1.3 billion from the sale. However opponents, including Daewoo International's CEO, Jeon Byeong Eal, argued that the company was better off holding on to the project, which reportedly earns Daewoo International some $350 million annually.

According to website Business Korea, the company announced that Jeon would be replaced by Vice President Choi Jung-woo following a board meeting Tuesday.

The Korea Herald newspaper reported that Jeon explained that he resigned as he felt his opposition to the plan had led to a loss of confidence among shareholders.

"Having thought about what would be the future-oriented measure for the group, the company and all those concerned, I concluded that resigning is the quickest way to end the situation," Jeon said, according to the Korea Herald.

Workshop Hopes to Extend Credit to Burma's SMEs

The growth of Burma's small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is being restricted by a lack access to finance, according to the Asian Development Bank, which is running an event to address the issue in Rangoon this week.

"SMEs are the backbone of the private sector in Myanmar—accounting for over 90% of companies and over 70% of employment," said a statement marking the start of the four-day workshop run by the ADB in collaboration with the Myanmar Banks Association.

"However the sector has been hampered by a lack of access to finance, partly because of restrictive collateral requirements, but also because of a lack of capacity among local banks to assess and manage operational and credit risks for smaller businesses."

The workshop is intended to encourage Burma's banks to lend more to SMEs, with staff from 19 local banks, as well as from the Central Bank, expected to attend.

"Participating bank loan officers and risk managers will gain practical insights into formulating credit policy, assessing loan applications, and monitoring loan portfolios more effectively," the statement said.

US Real Estate Firm Eyes Burma Expansion

United States-based real estate company Re/Max may soon have a presence in Burma, according to a statement.

The company headquartered in Denver, Colorado, says it operates in nearly 100 countries worldwide through a franchise network in which offices using the Re/Max brand act as local real estate agents. A statement June 17 said that the company was offering new franchise opportunities across Asia, including in Burma.

"RE/MAX in Asia currently consists of operations in China, Guam, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mongolia, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Thailand," the statement said.

"It is currently seeking franchise candidates for each of these countries, as well as Hong Kong, Macau, Myanmar, Taiwan and the Federated States of Micronesia."

The post The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (June 20, 2015) appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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