Democratic Voice of Burma

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• Shot Burmese migrant recovering in Bangkok hospital
• Health, education spending to increase in 2014
• DVB viewers treated to TV news blooper
• Jatropha fuel plan stalled on road to nowhere
• Risky business – Burma improving but still ranked low, say analysts

Shot Burmese migrant recovering in Bangkok hospital Posted: 09 Jan 2014 04:02 AM PST A Burmese migrant shot and injured three days ago in the midst of anti-government protests in Bangkok is still undergoing treatment at Ramathibodi Hospital in the Thai capital. Tun Tun Oo, 22, was shot on 6 January around 5am outside the bakery where he works, which is located close to a "Yellow Shirt" rally site. His mother Yin Htwe said it was unclear where the bullet came from. "My son was shot when he got off the truck to unload the goods – he didn't immediately realise he had been wounded until he tried to run away and couldn't breathe," she said. The migrant worker sustained a gunshot wound to the right side of his chest, but was said to be in stable condition. The Royal Thai Police found a bullet cartridge near the scene and promised to find the shooter, according to his mother. Related Stories 97 Burmese workers in hiding after Borneo shipyard brawl Most Burmese migrants want to go home, says IOM Burmese embassy warns migrants to avoid Bangkok protests Tun Tun Oo, a native of Karen State capital Hpa-an, has been working in Thailand for about two years. He was visited at the hospital by officials from the Burmese embassy who donated 5,000 baht (US$167) to him, according to Kyaw Kyaw Lwin, the labour attaché at the embassy. "We have made contact with his employer who pledged his full support," said Kyaw Kyaw Lwin. The Burmese embassy in Bangkok recently put out a warning to all Burmese nationals in Thailand warning them not to get involved in the protests.

Health, education spending to increase in 2014 Posted: 09 Jan 2014 03:11 AM PST President Thein Sein pledged to increase health and education spending during a budget meeting in Naypyidaw on 7 January. Addressing the Financial Commission at a 2014-15 fiscal year budget meeting, the president said that the education budget – allotted 5.43 percent last year – will be increased to 5.92 percent, while the health budget will increase from 3.15 to 3.38 percent, according to a statement on the website of the Office of the President. The government made several other proposals in the union budget draft, which will be submitted to the Union Parliament in the upcoming ninth session. Proposals included free education for mid-level students and increased benefits for civil servants. Among those benefits are a 20,000 kyat (US$21) salary increase, allowances and pensions. Budget for regional administrative deficits will more than double in the coming year. Aye Maung, chairman of the Rakhine [Arakan] Nationalities Development Party, lauded the new budget plan, saying, "We welcome the doubling of the budget, but it is crucial to spend the extra cash effectively, only on projects that are really necessary." "There has been expansion of schools and hospitals in ethnic regions, but just building structures will not be enough… they need to be equipped with the necessary facilities like furniture and teachers' quarters," he said. Burma's total tax revenue for the 2013-14 fiscal year was around 16 trillion kyat (US$16.6 billion), while total government spending reached 19 trillion kyat (US$19.7 billion), creating a significant deficit of nearly three trillion kyat. Estimated GPD for the coming fiscal year in Burma is around 66 trillion kyat (US$68 billion), according to government figures. Related Stories Jatropha fuel plan stalled on road to nowhere Will all Burma’s political prisoners taste freedom? Thein Sein indicates support for constitutional amendment

DVB viewers treated to TV news blooper Posted: 09 Jan 2014 02:50 AM PST Followers of DVB TV were treated to an unexpected surprise on Wednesday evening when presenter Moe Myint Zin was caught in a TV "blooper". Reading aloud from her news script without realising she was still on air, the news anchor exclaimed dah bae! – meaning "that's it!" – and removed her microphone and ear piece as the cameras rolled on. While the news segment was not shown live, it was recorded late Wednesday at 8:30pm, and the technician on duty in the editing room had to rush to prepare the segment for the evening reel. Following a report on a helicopter disaster in the UK, the final news item on Wednesday was about World War II sex slaves, which presenter Moe Myint Zin narrated from a script as a "voice-over" while the footage rolled. Unfortunately, no one in the studio realised the footage had ended and the presenter was left reading aloud, at one point stopping to clear her throat and repeat a line. As the show wasn't live, the voice-over should have been edited, but in the rush to broadcast no one noticed the oversight. "I was a little bit shocked when I saw it," said Moe Myint Zin with a laugh. When the blooper was caught the next morning, embarrassed technicians scrambled to re-edit the news footage and a revised edition was broadcast on Thursday, showing Moe Myint Zin resumed in a poised position. DVB records six hours of programming daily, which are rotated so that each is broadcast four times in 24 hours. DVB has an average of five million viewers every day in Burma, plus several thousand outside the country. News is broadcast by satellite from the DVB studio in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, as electricity, communications and technical support are usually superior to those in Burma. To view DVB News Blooper, click here. Related Stories Burmese Academy Awards threatened by media boycott Burmese govt attacks Sun Rays journal Burma amends controversial publishing law

Jatropha fuel plan stalled on road to nowhere Posted: 09 Jan 2014 01:33 AM PST Farmers coerced to grow jatropha by Burma's former military junta are now suffering enormous losses after the new government abandoned the project with no apparent exit strategy. In 2005, Snr-Gen Than Shwe launched a nationwide initiative to promote the production of jatropha, commonly called 'physic nut,' a plant that can be refined into biofuel. Over the following years state media ran an ongoing propaganda campaign urging all citizens to farm the shrub in any unused space, calling it a "national duty". The initiative was meant to be a quick-fix for the nation's dire fuel shortage. Residents of Rangoon's South Dagon Township said that their jatropha farms, which they began cultivating in 2006 by order of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), are now producing the plant in abundance – but it is economically barren because the government dropped the biofuel scheme, leaving farmers with a wealth of crops that have no other practical use. "We are making no profit at all – [the SPDC] told us to grow jatropha plants and build refineries to produce oil, which we did," said Nu Nu Yi, a farmer in South Dagon Township. "They said we would be rich," she added. Related Stories Health, education spending to increase in 2014 Rangoon journalists rally for imprisoned colleague Rangoon protestors show support for constitutional reform The jatropha scheme was administered by several members of the new reformist administration, including President Thein Sein, previously a senior military commander. "My farm was opened in a ceremony by [now-president] Thein Sein, who planted the first shrub. The ceremony was also attended by Maj-Gen Hla Htay Win [now Military Chief of General Staff], and Rangoon Division Governor Myint Swe [now regional Chief Minister]," said U Sint, another jatropha farmer in South Dagon Township. The farms in Rangoon were originally managed by the Department of Human Settlement and Housing Development, later to be handed over to the Yangon [Rangoon] City Development Committee, which now plans to replace them with the Irrawaddy Low-Cost Housing Project. The farmers were never officially notified of the scheme's dissolution. "We were never informed about suspension of the project, for which we were given 45-year tenant permits. Now they [Rangoon Region Government] are planning building projects with construction companies without negotiating with us," said U Sint. The farmers, hoping to be compensated, met with municipal authorities in August 2013, but no action ensued to address their losses. The 2005 initiative was implemented by employing antiquated clauses of Burma's land management laws, which have since been reformed. However, even the revised land laws of 2012 preserve the government's right to mandate how land is used if deemed to be "in the long-term national interest of the State".

Risky business – Burma improving but still ranked low, say analysts Posted: 08 Jan 2014 09:58 PM PST Burma has been singled out as the most-improved country in the global business environment for 2014 by UK-based risk analyst Maplecroft in its annual Legal and Regulatory Environment Risk Atlas (LRERA). The firm said that strides have been made through reforms to address issues such as corruption, rule of law, the regulatory framework, respect for property rights, and corporate governance. Maplecroft also identified Senegal, Guatemala, Mozambique and Rwanda along with Burma as among the countries with best performance over the last five years, taking into account analysis of 21 risk indices which the London firm says were developed to enable companies and investors to monitor the ease of undertaking business in 173 countries. "In the last year, the only country to significantly improve its risk profile is Myanmar [Burma], which moved up more than 10 percent in the LRERA scoring system," Maplecroft announced on 8 January. "The government's resolve to improve the business environment means a number of important steps have been taken to enhance investor protection, including the implementation of a new foreign investment law in March 2013, which provides much needed clarity around essential issues, such as foreign ownership limits and land leasing rules." The aforementioned Foreign Investment Law is currently under review for further revision under the guidance of the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group. "This continued commitment has resulted in a steady climb in the ranking from worst position at the bottom of the ranking in 2012, to 3rd from bottom in 2013 and 5th in 2014. While this appears a modest shift in ranking, it has already resulted in significant improvements for business, and Maplecroft forecasts that if Myanmar sustains its current trajectory it may move out of the 'extreme risk' category in the next 1-3 years," said the report. But despite this positive medium-term outlook, Maplecroft said that current levels of corruption, lack of rule of law and interference in business by a wide range of powerful and vested interests, including the military, continue to create a very uneven playing field for foreign investors. The report pointed to a dispute last year over the ownership of Myanmar Brewery Ltd between the military-controlled Myanmar Economic Holdings and Singapore firm Fraser & Neave. "Should arbitration best practice not be followed, investor confidence in Myanmar is likely to be undermined," it said. "Myanmar's efforts to strengthen the legal and regulatory environment are laudable," stated Maplecroft Senior Analyst, Chris Laws. "But, the country's current lack of effective institutions of governance still raises serious concerns over regulatory enforcement, and it remains a challenging place to do business." Despite the marked improvement in Burma's status, the country remains rated as an "extreme" risk by Maplecroft, which says the only worse nations are the Democratic Republic of Congo, Turkmenistan, North Korea and Somalia. Related Stories Magway’s oil rush Burma, Thailand push ahead with Dawei SEZ Burma Business Weekly The most recent edition of the World Bank's annual "Doing Business" report rated Burma 182 out of 189 countries in relation to the ease of opening of conducting business ventures. The World Bank also says that Burma's economy is projected to grow to 6.8 percent in 2013/14, rising to 6.9 percent in the medium term. However, it raised concerns about inflation, which hit 7.3 percent in August. But, according to a recent report by The Economist, unlike the military junta it succeeded, "Mr Thein Sein's government is ready to admit its shortcomings and has vowed to improve. Its ministries are crawling with foreign consultants, lawyers and accountants, dispensing advice on how Myanmar might move up the rankings." The report noted that the Burmese government is on board with several reform-minded international agreements, such as the New York Arbitration Convention and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), though it said that "implementing them is another matter, given a chronic shortage of trained lawyers and other professionals" in the country. But the dearth of professionals is not the only obstacle to the success of these measures; some say that further reforms – specifically related to protection of civilian rights to assembly and expression – are necessary to genuinely improve Burma's business environment. With regard to the EITI, an international protocol for reporting revenues received by governments for extractive projects like mining, gas and oil, Matthew Smith of Fortify Rights International told DVB that, "There is no room in EITI for a government that criminalises peaceful protest." Many have criticised the sudden rush of paper-signing, concerned that President Thein Sein's government is paying lip-service to investors, industry assessors and communities affected by sudden changes to the economy and environment. The measures clearly are improving Burma's image as a potential business partner, as the Maplecroft report indicates. Emma Irwin, a consultant to Burma's EITI implementation process, addressed these concerns in late December, "Obviously, in Myanmar, you can't make things work overnight."

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