Democratic Voice of Burma |
- Business weekly
- Suu Kyi warns weak Rule of Law may scare off investors
- Nuclear Burma – a chance to cut the red tape
| Posted: 21 Sep 2013 09:45 PM PDT
Ups and downs The Burmese currency fell slightly against the US dollar this week: the buying rate was 971 kyat to the dollar compared to 969 the week before. The dollar was also up two kyat from last week, selling at 978.
Japanese firms unite to modernize Burmese aviation Five Japanese multinational companies concluded an agreement with Burma's aviation authorities on 20 September to modernize the country's outdated airport infrastructure, according to Tokyo daily Asahi Shimbun. The five firms were named as: Sumitomo Corp; NEC Corp; NEC Networks & System Integration Corp; Toshiba Corp; and Morita Corp. The Japanese companies are to assist Burma procure modern radio, flight systems, security and communications control equipment for major airports, such as Rangoon, Mandalay, Nyaung U, Heho, Sandoway and Tavoy, the report said.
Suu Kyi calls for 'responsible investment' Speaking in Singapore on Saturday, Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Burma needs "responsible investment" of foreign capital as it seeks to accelerate economic development, according to an AFP report. She also said that the country needs to improve its rule of law and democratic reforms "soon" – not by 2015 when general elections are held. Establishing a firmer rule of law will include changes to the constitution, she reportedly said, without giving details.
NZ Embassy opens in Burma New Zealand has opened its first embassy in Burma, saying that Wellington now recognises the political and economic reforms in the country. NZ Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully said last week the bureau in Rangoon will host a number of ministerial and official level meetings next year. New Zealand has recently increased its development assistance to Burma, with major commitments to dairy cooperation and capacity building. And the African nation of Angola has signed an accord with Burma to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries, its official news agency Angop reported on Friday.
Railway head office to be converted into 5-star hotel The railway head office in Rangoon is to be converted into a five-star hotel, Xinhua reported on Wednesday, citing Burmese officials. The new hotel will aim to accommodate foreign tourists with 154 suites and 450 staff, the report said. There are currently five other five-star hotels in the former capital.
Private jets for hire State-owned Myanmar Airways International is offering business jets for sale or hire to private businessmen, according to a report in the Myawaddy Daily Newspaper on 20 September. Quoting the airline's Mandalay senior officer Zaw Win, the report said that an unspecified number of Gulfstream G450 aircraft will be available, and that the service will allow business tycoons to charter aircraft for urgent business matters.
Kyaukphyu: Bright lights, big city Residents of Kyaukphyu and 21 surrounding villages began enjoying the benefits of 24-hour electricity as from 15 September when small-scale gas turbines began turning at the Shwe Gas pipeline terminal. According to a retired electricity official in the city, some 20 million cubic feet of compressed natural gas per day is now providing power to the town and its satellite villages. He said the price of electricity is 35 kyat per unit for home use and 75 kyat per unit for industrial purposes – the standard price across Burma. Read more: http://www.dvb.no/news/kyaukphyu-lights-up-burma-myanmar-shwe-gas-pipeline/32586
Pegu real estate soaring Land prices in the city of Pegu are soaring amid the construction of various development projects in the area, including the Hantharwaddy International Airport, industrial zones and suburban housing estates. According to local residents and real estate agents, the price of land in the choicest areas of Pegu, previously valued between 200,000 and 300,000 kyat (US$200-$300) per 80x100ft plot, has skyrocketed to over 100 million kyat (more than US$100,000) – a breathtaking 500 times the price of just two or three years ago. Read more: http://www.dvb.no/news/32611-burma-myanmar/32611
KBZ is highest taxpayer in Burma, says Finance Ministry The Kanbawza Bank (KBZ) has been declared the highest payer of income tax in Burma for the 2012-13 fiscal year, according to a list of the top 500 taxpayers in the country released by the Ministry of Finance and Revenue. Chaired by Aung Ko Win, KBZ has more than 2,000 employees and its main source of revenue is from its transfer and loan services. Min Htut, director-general of the Ministry of Finance and Revenue, said KBZ earned over 10 billion kyat (US$10 million) last fiscal year with tax levied at 25 percent on net profits.
Burmese-Thai businesses try speed dating An event called the Myanmar-Thai Business Matching will be held at the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry office on 4 October to promote bilateral trade, Thailand's Commercial Office announced on Friday, adding that some 49 Thai companies – representing import and export, health, technology, cosmetics, food and cold storage interests – are expected to attend. |
| Suu Kyi warns weak Rule of Law may scare off investors Posted: 21 Sep 2013 08:34 PM PDT Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi warned Saturday that communal violence and weak “rule of law” could scare off investors despite the country’s rapid pace of political and economic reform. The democracy icon told a business conference in Singapore that a stalemate in resolving protracted insurgencies, inter-ethnic conflicts and lack of robust laws posed the biggest challenges to development in the former pariah state. “Although we have achieved ceasefires, we have not really achieve d a peace settlement… In addition to that, we have communal tensions and communal outbreaks of violence,” Suu Kyi said in a keynote address at the high-level conference. “Unless we get these sorted out, we are not going to get the kind of stable, peaceful society where people would be happy to invest in.” Resource-rich Burma has been shaken by recent religious violence that has exposed deepening national faultlines despite the reforms launched by President Thein Sein in the formerly military-ruled nation. About 250 people have been killed and more than 140,000 left homeless in several outbreaks of violence since June 2012, mainly minority Rohingya Muslims who have been the target of riots and a nationalistic campaign led by radical monks. “We have to start with rule of law, that is what I have always said, and people are not satisfied with the answer because it is not exciting enough,” the 68-year-old said, responding to a question after her speech about ending the country’s ethnic violence. Related StoriesWhile she is venerated for her struggle for democracy, some human rights activists have now accused the Nobel Prize laureate of failing to clearly condemn anti-Muslim actions in the Buddhist-majority nation. “If people are frightened that they will be killed, if people are frightened that their goods will be taken away from them or if their houses will be burned down above their heads, you will not be able to persuade them to sit down to sort out their differences,” she said. Suu Kyi said the international community could help by “giving us your understanding (and) by trying to go deeper into the reasons why communal conflicts have been taking place”. “Please study the situation in depth, please don’t take a superficial look at it, and try to condemn one community or another.” Suu Kyi, who has said she will run for president in 2015, also said investors should continue to make inroads in Burma, even if they have concerns about cronyism and the lack of an independent judiciary. “I wouldn’t advise you to draw out, I would like you to continue with your investments but to make them as responsible as possible,” she said. Suu Kyi told investors to exercise “cautious optimism” about the sweeping political and economic reforms under President Thein Sein. “It is not by painting an over-optimistic picture of our country that you can help us, it is only by being realistic about what we need to do that you will be able to help us,” she said. |
| Nuclear Burma – a chance to cut the red tape Posted: 21 Sep 2013 07:14 PM PDT On 17 September Burma took the long awaited step of signing a new agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA. Burma promised to do this in late 2012 and has now followed through on the occasion of the IAEA General Conference in Vienna. The new agreement is called an Additional Protocol and it provides for more access for IAEA to any declared activities in Burma and removes obsolete provisions of an older agreement. The General Conference is a traditional time for states to make important announcements and Burma has continued that trend. This is a very welcome development, one that is consistent with many positive signs that Burma is really trying to change its image. Many problems remain in Burma: an ethnic war in the north and oppression of the Rohingya, but this is greatly offset by the release of political prisoners, fairer elections and opening of the country to the rest of the world. As difficult as times remain, one would have to be a real miser not to acknowledge there is change, positive change and hopeful change. Allegations of past hidden nuclear activities in Burma are a small but troubling remainder of the former military government. If there were undisclosed nuclear activities the current government can quickly dispel any doubts. Unfortunately the signing of the Additional Protocol is but the first of three steps in the process of opening up Burma's nuclear secrets, and diplomatic bureaucracy could add many more years before Burma even begins to comply. Burma must now ratify the president's signature in the legislature. The 10-month delay between the announcement of intent to sign and the actual signature gives some idea how slow this process can be. Then Burma must put in place an internal administrative structure. This structure needs to poll all stakeholders in Burma who have any nuclear materials or activities and then produce declarative reports for IAEA to investigate and verify. This process can take many years. We should not have to wait so long. Burma can unilaterally cut the red tape itself. On the authority of the president, Burma should immediately inform the IAEA that they are ready to allow certain inspections immediately to clear up allegations from defectors and analysts that have been supported by documentary evidence. Burma should immediately grant access to the small mine and conversion plant at Thabeikkyin and a number of military facilities in the area which are well known to the IAEA and other analysts. Secondly, Burma should grant immediate access to two machine tools factories that have been implicated in nuclear chemical industry work (see picture). As part of this access, they need to provide access to chemical equipment that has been extensively photographed and described here in the pages of the Democratic Voice of Burma and elsewhere. This access needs to be granted no matter where the equipment is located today and should include access to manufacturing drawings, data and current use. The equipment is very well-documented and it clearly exists. Unrestricted access will either silence critics of Burma or give the regime a chance to explain itself. Finally, there are several other sites related to nuclear development that are not so well known and access should be given to those sites as part of the package. All of these activities could be carried out in a few weeks from now if all parties cooperate. Then the more routine part of establishing a normal nuclear materials verification regime could begin. Why should this be done now? There is a common misunderstanding that the Additional Protocol with the IAEA, ratified and brought into force allows "snap inspections", "anywhere and anytime" in the state.This is simply not true.The Protocol only allows short notice inspections of declared sites in Burma, and Naypyidaw has already said they have no activities or sites to declare.It is possible that we could wait years for Burma to reach the point of making a formal declaration of activities, and then state simply: "We have nothing to declare."Then the waiting will be for naught because the IAEA can only ask for access to declared activities and there are none. True, there are arrangements for highly intrusive "special inspections". Such inspections would require military force if the state does not voluntarily agree and a further stalemate could go on for years as it has in some other countries. The best way to avoid this dilemma is for Burma to volunteer to clear the issues immediately and cooperatively. Burma has taken the first step and should be heartily congratulated and encouraged to take the next steps as quickly as possible and not delay from eight to 10 years like several other ASEAN member states. The IAEA and others can help this process. But the delay from signing intent to actual signing is a worrisome indicator that the president does not control the consultative process or at least gives it a low priority. The international community should give Burma clear signs that a voluntary opening of key suspect sites is in its best interest and give Burma and the IAEA every assistance to close the books on this chapter once and for all. For more background: http://www.dvb.no/news/expert-says-burma-%E2%80%98planning-nuclear-bomb%E2%80%99/9527 Dr Robert Kelley is a former Los Alamos weapons scientist, and was an IAEA director from 1992 to 1993, and again from 2001 to 2005. He has conducted weapons inspections in Libya, Iraq, and South Africa, and compliance inspections in Egypt, Turkey, South Korea, Taiwan, Syria, Tanzania, Pakistan, India and Congo, among others. The views expressed in this article are the author’s and do not reflect DVB editorial policy.
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