Saturday, November 15, 2014

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Landmark Meeting Calls for Trans-Boundary Salween Collaboration

Posted: 14 Nov 2014 04:30 PM PST

Professor Watchara Kasinriksa, vice president of academic affairs at Chiang Mai University, gives opening remarks at the International Conference on Salween-Thanlwin-Nu River Studies in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on Friday. (Photo: Nyein Nyein / The Irrawaddy)

Professor Watchara Kasinriksa, vice president of academic affairs at Chiang Mai University, gives opening remarks at the International Conference on Salween-Thanlwin-Nu River Studies in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on Friday. (Photo: Nyein Nyein / The Irrawaddy)

CHIANG MAI, Thailand — Environmental experts have urged the governments of Burma, China and Thailand to lead the formation of a Transboundary River Management Committee to handle environmental and social issues along the Salween River, East Asia's second longest waterway.

At the start of a two-day international conference in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, on Friday, environmental experts, policymakers and representatives of civil society groups from China, Burma and Thailand gathered to exchange information and analysis on a series of Salween River dam projects. Conference participants focused on the projects' impacts—present and future—to livelihoods and the environment along the river basin.

"We want people to come to understand what is needed in term of consultation, in terms of ideas. We want to suggest trans-boundary management, what further steps should be taken," said Chayan Vaddhanaphuti, director of the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD) at Chiang Mai University.

At the moment, he said, "the governments do not listen to us."

"If we build this knowledge together, then we are in a better position to discuss with policymakers, whether within the government of Myanmar, Thailand or China."

Since about a decade ago, the Chinese government has had plans to build 13 dams in China, while the Burmese government plans to construct seven dams of its own along the Salween River. The vast majority of the river flows through China and Burma, which host 53 percent and 42 percent of its total length, respectively. Just 5 percent of the river runs through Thailand. The Salween River is also known in Burma as the Thanlwin, and in China as the Nu.

"This first international conference is meaningful for us because it brings participants from many countries to join and share knowledge and experiences, which of course can lead to the management of this very interesting River," Professor Watchara Kasinriksa, vice president of academic affairs at Chiang Mai University, said in opening remarks at the International Conference on Salween-Thanlwin-Nu River Studies.

Dozens of participants traveled from Burma to attend the conference, including university lecturers from Moulmein, Taunggyi and Lashio universities, retired professors and civil society groups who work along the Salween River. Thailand-based Burmese environmental NGOs groups representing ethnic Karen and Shan populations also joined the conference.

Prior to Friday's event, experts began collaborating in May 2013 at Chiang Mai University, followed by a consultation workshop on creating a Salween studies network in September of this year at Moulmein University in Burma.

Aung Myint, secretary of the environmental NGO Renewable Energy Association Myanmar, said knowledge about the river and its ecosystems needed to be widely disseminated at all levels because there has been exploitation of river resources by the governments' dam projects.

The Burmese government officially announced in February 2013 that it would build seven dams in Shan, Karenni and Karen states, despite ethnic civil society groups in the country having long voiced concerns about the environmental and social impacts on the lives of the local residents.

Transparency has never featured in the Burmese government's Salween River designs. There were no public consultations with local populations concerning any of the seven dam projects prior to the February announcement. What is known is that the dams on the Salween in Burma would produce more than 15,000 megawatts of electricity in total, nearly all of which is due to be sold to Thailand and China.

Out of the seven dams, only the Hat Gyi dam project's implementers have submitted an environmental impact assessment to the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry.

Than Aye, director of the Environmental Conservation Department under the Myanmar Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry, told The Irrawaddy that his department had received the first Hat Gyi dam EIA report earlier this year.

"But as its data were not up-to-date … we told them redo the EIA," said Than Aye, explaining that the data used was from 2006.

The two days of meetings will focus discussion on a range of topics including natural resources development and the environmental impact assessment policies and practices in Thailand and Burma. Burma's chronic power shortages issue were also highlighted in Friday's discussions, with participants pointing out the country's propensity to export its energy resources to wealthier nations while 70 percent of the Burmese people live without electricity, and even those connected to the grid are subject to frequent blackouts.

Chayan, the RCSD director, added: "We would like to invite more policymakers to take part in such meetings in the future," as the Chiang Mai conference only saw one representative each from the Burma and Thailand governments.

After the conference, the experts and CSOs plan to take field trips to several dam sites in Thailand, the organizers said.

The post Landmark Meeting Calls for Trans-Boundary Salween Collaboration appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Burma Business Roundup (November 15, 2014)

Posted: 14 Nov 2014 04:00 PM PST

Continued Burma Sanctions 'Limit What Obama Can Achieve'

President Barack Obama's visit to Burma will not lead to any significant breakthroughs because of continuing tough US terms for American firms seeking to invest in the country, a business analysis said.

Obama's weakened position at home after the US's mid-term elections would also inhibit his influence in Burma, global business risk analysts Maplecroft told The Irrawaddy.

"The limited sanctions maintained by the US Treasury create a more restrictive environment for US companies to operate in compared to companies from Europe and Asia," Maplecroft senior Asia analyst Ryan Aherin said.

"The sanctions on assets tied to individuals deemed responsible for human rights violations make many US companies wary about investing," he said.

"The decision to add Aung Thaung to the [US] Treasury blacklist makes Myanmar even less attractive to US companies who are already wary of the business environment in Myanmar. Most business tycoons in Myanmar have some ties to the former military regime and could be a potential target of individual sanctions in the future," Aherin told The Irrawaddy.

Aung Thaung and his family control several major Burmese firms, notably IGE Company Limited, which is engaged in a wide range of trading and construction, and he is a lawmaker representing the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party.

Although Burma has the potential to become a major destination for cheap manufacturing, the high cost of property in Rangoon and lack of developed infrastructure elsewhere in the country are dragging down investment. On the other hand, the partial lifting of US sanctions is regarded as one of the few major accomplishments for Obama's government in Southeast Asia, said Maplecroft's Aherin.

Burma Joins China-led Regional Bank Challenging Western Loaners

The Burma government is one of the founding signatories of the new China-dominated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which seeks to challenge the influence of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

The AIIB's start-up capital has been set at US$100 billion and half of this will be provided by China.

"Chinese diplomats have been busy promoting [the AIIB] to help build ports, roads, power projects and other desperately needed infrastructure across the region," said Reuters.

Burma is one of 21 founding members of the AIIB, which also include India. But the United States' government put pressure on Australia, South Korea and Indonesia not to join the founding members.

Among other things, the AIIB is expected to fund controversial coal-fuelled power plants in the region, something which the Western-dominated financial institutions rarely do for environmental reasons and pressure from Washington, said the energy weekly Asia Power Monitor.

But the loans will "surely come with strings attached, notably the involvement of major Chinese state-owned businesses, such as the China Machinery Engineering Corporation in development contracts," the Monitor said.

"It's a price which … the ten economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), seems highly likely to accept given the alternatives."

Big Interest Among Asian Firms to Invest in Burma: Survey

A foreign bank granted an operating licence in Burma said a survey among more than 1,000 Asian firms indicated that one in four planning cross-border business investment in the region is looking at prospects in Burma.

The survey was carried out by Singapore's United Overseas Bank (UOB), one of nine international banks awarded a bank licence in Burma in October.

The statistic was disclosed by UOB chief executive Wee Ee Cheong in an interview with the Bangkok Post, but no details on the type of companies involved were given.

“Currently, a large proportion of foreign direct investment going into Myanmar is from Southeast Asia," Wee said.

The survey was conducted in the first quarter of 2014 and involved the "key financial decision makers in 1,024 companies in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand across a number of industries," Japan's Nikkei business news agency said.

China was the most popular investment destination named, garnering 66 percent of the companies questioned. The lowest was Thailand, rating only 16 percent, said Nikkei.

Burma Eyes Overtaking Thailand as Regional Air Travel Hub

The long-term goal of Burma's holiday business is to overtake neighbor Thailand as a major hub, the industry newspaper TTR Weekly said.

"[The] government intends to turn the country into a major air travel hub for Southeast Asia competing head-on with Bangkok for status as the preferred gateway for tourists visiting Asean," the paper said.

"The [transport] ministry will implement four strategic plans to achieve this goal: Pursuing liberalisation of economic regulation; establishing new air links to destinations worldwide; promoting national airlines and improving infrastructures," it said.

The total number of visitors to Burma this year is forecast to be 3 million and with a target of 5 million by the end of 2015, the ministry of hotels and tourism has said. But that's a long way behind the 26.7 million passing through Thailand in 2013, according to Tourism Authority of Thailand figures.

The number of foreign airlines flying into Burma's ports is now more than 30, but some major Western airlines still use Bangkok as a transfer stage for Rangoon.

Burmese Beans make Business Breakthrough in Europe

Burma's bean growers have made a breakthrough by finding markets in the European Union, the country's Pulses, Beans and Sesame Seeds Merchants Association said.

The market, in as yet unnamed countries of the EU, is for the variety of lentil known in Burma as matpe, said association deputy chairman Sai Ba Nyan.

"We will currently focus on the matpe variety and primarily export those that meet the quality standards of Europe. We have gained a new market," he told Myanmar Business Today.

Burma produces more than 1.5 million tons of beans and pulses varieties per year, including chickpeas, green mung beans and matpe.

Until now most of the crops are exported to India, followed by South Korea, China and Japan. But shipping to the EU "will fetch a good price provided that the quality is good," Myanmar Business Today quoted a trader saying.

The post Burma Business Roundup (November 15, 2014) appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.
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