The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- Suu Kyi Says Boycott of Burma Election an Option
- At Kvas, a Culinary Moscow Medley
- An Uneasy Alliance
- ‘Youth is the Force That Will Shape the Future’
- The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (Apr. 4, 2015)
| Suu Kyi Says Boycott of Burma Election an Option Posted: 03 Apr 2015 07:57 PM PDT  Aung San Suu Kyi speaks at the 50th anniversary of the founding of Kawhmu Township in Rangoon Division. (Photo: Tin Htet Paing / The Irrawaddy) NAYPYITAW— Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said boycotting an upcoming historic election was an “option” if a military-drafted constitution that bars her from becoming president remains unchanged. In an interview on Friday, the Nobel laureate told Reuters that her opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party was “ready to govern” but that President Thein Sein was insincere about reform and might try to postpone the election. She also said U.S. praise for Burma's semi-civilian government, which took power in 2011 after nearly 50 years of brutal military rule, had made it “complacent” about reform. While scathing about what she called Thein Sein’s “hardline regime”, Suu Kyi emphasised the need to reconcile with the military which detained her for 15 years until her release from house arrest in 2010. “We don’t think that boycotting the election is the best choice,” said Suu Kyi, when asked whether her party would run with the constitution unchanged. “But we’re not ruling it out altogether. We are leaving our options open.” However, she stressed the importance of the November general election, describing it as “the real test of whether we are on the route to democracy or not.” The NLD won Burma's last real election in 1990 by a landslide, but the military nullified the result. The party boycotted the 2010 poll, widely regarded as rigged, which installed Thein Sein, a former general and junta stalwart. His government launched a series of political and economic reforms. Many people now feel the reform process has stalled, and the military – its immense power largely unchecked – again casts a shadow over the voting. Suu Kyi said Thein Sein was “sincere” about reform during their first meeting in 2011. But now, he was not. “Because if he had been sincere about reform, then we would be much further ahead than we are,” she said, speaking in a meeting room in Burma's sprawling parliamentary complex in the capital Naypyitaw. She expressed concern that Thein Sein might use peace talks with ethnic rebels as a pretext to delay the election. BURMA’S HOPE For Suu Kyi, who turns 70 in June, this is a pivotal year. She and 42 other NLD members entered parliament after a 2012 by-election. Since then, say critics, Suu Kyi has lent her hard-won democratic credentials to a questionable government that has given little in return. But many more in this large, poor and ethnically diverse nation still see Suu Kyi as Burma’s best hope. Reforms have raised expectations among its 53 million population but left most people’s lives unimproved. The constitution, drafted by the former junta, reserves a quarter of parliamentary seats for military delegates, which effectively allows them to veto any constitutional change. It also bars presidential candidates with a foreign spouse or child. Suu Kyi’s late husband and two sons are British. She said the presidency was still within her reach. “Why not?” she said. “Constitutions are not permanent.” But changing it, she admitted, depended upon a government she repeatedly described in the interview as a “regime” of hardliners. “They are not interested in negotiations or in amending the constitution or taking seriously the will of the people…you could hardly say they are moderates.” Suu Kyi said she questioned U.S. praise of Burmese government in the hopes of encouraging further reforms. “I would ask whether it actually encourages them to do more or it simply makes them more complacent,” she said. “The United States and the West in general are too optimistic and a bit of healthy scepticism would help everybody a great deal.” A U.S. official told Reuters in November, ahead of President Barack Obama’s second visit to the country, that Washington had decided not to press for changes to Burma’s constitution in a bid to maintain influence with its government. But Suu Kyi said she did not feel abandoned by the United States and had “good friends” there. MILITARY MANOEUVRES One “absolute necessity” was mending relations with the military. “We can’t have a country that is split between the military and the rest of the people,” she said. In 2012, Suu Kyi upset many supporters by saying she had a “soft spot” for the military. It was founded by her father Aung San, Burma’s independence hero, whose portrait hung on the wall behind her. Now, she rejects criticism that she had been outmanoeuvred by Burma’s generals. “We’ve always known that they would not give up their privileges easily,” she said. “There’s a time when we have to stand up for our principles and there’s a time when one of the principles should be national reconciliation rather than digging up the past.” Suu Kyi also denied claims she had failed to speak up for the Rohingya Muslims, a mostly stateless people living in wretched conditions in western Burma after deadly clashes with majority Buddhists in 2012. “When I talked about rule of law and the fact that we condemned all forms of violence, nobody was interested,” she said. “This wasn’t news.” The post Suu Kyi Says Boycott of Burma Election an Option appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| At Kvas, a Culinary Moscow Medley Posted: 03 Apr 2015 06:30 PM PDT Click to view slideshow. The story goes like this: Four people move to Rangoon, and after a number of years, they become friends and commiserate over the dishes from home that they all miss. There is simply no good Russian food in Burma's biggest city, so why not take matters into their own hands? None of them have any previous restaurant experience, but they're all passionate about the idea; so much so that they even recruit a chef who travels from Russia to train the staff and man the kitchen. It sounds like the making of a promising film, but is it the start of a great restaurant? Tucked into sleepy Yanshin Road, just outside the many iterations of the foreigner-friendly Shwe Ohn Bin housing complexes, Kvas immediately stands out amid the area's 24-hour convenience stores and impersonal pastry shops. What the owners have managed to achieve with the same kind of space that neighbors have turned into uninspiring, neon-lit fashion stores is impressive. The restaurant has an unassuming feel and the high-backed leather booths offer patrons an unexpected feeling of privacy, given the fact that the venue is small and that glass walls are all that separate indoor diners from those sitting on Kvas's popular outdoor patio. What's more, the harsh-sounding whispers and exclamations that emanate from the kitchen lend this place a distinctly Russian feel, as if you could well be sitting in some little corner joint within sight of the Red Square. The owners also have a good, healthy sense of Russian drama. "This is my life!" explains Zoriggo Gomboev. "Not only my life," he adds, pointing to two of the co-owners who are enraptured in lively conversation involving plenty of gurgled Rs—"it's their life." Well, if Chef Timu Bovayez's life depended on it, he would serve customers one of the grilled dishes on the menu, and specifically the pork shashlik. The tender cuts of marinated pork are served above a bed of lettuce and tomato, and are topped with pickled red onions. The pork is decidedly rich and satisfyingly salty, and the cuts themselves are surrounded by generous bits of fat that add to the flavor, as well as to the heart attack potential of the dish. (If only you could walk it off by taking a stroll around the Kremlin in -8°C weather afterward.) Not for the faint-hearted or sensitive of stomach—not to mention the lactose intolerant—the mushroom Julienne was by far the most well-balanced appetizer of the night, and this particular foodie is fighting the temptation to melt into its creamy, cheesy perfection every night until she turns into a jolly, chubby old babushka. The borscht, even if a bit heavy on the oil, subtly combines beets, carrots, tomatoes and pork with the odd bit of sharp garlic or pickled onion. It set the stage for the chef's love of tomatoes, which were in everything from the borscht to the pork shashlik, to sauce adorning a beef stroganoff that was oddly sweet and red in color. It's surprising that such rich food, designed to warm up the heart and insulate from the cold, could be so appetizing on one of Rangoon's hottest and most humid nights. It might be due to the fact that the chef is slowly adapting traditional Russian cooking to cater to local palates; heightening the flavors so the salty is saltier, the spicy spicier and so on. Personally, I don't believe the dishes need too much tweaking, and as long as the chef doesn't change a thing about the beautifully glazed piroshky that are baked in-house to perfection, Kvas might just turn out to be one of those gambles where everyone—the chef, the diners, the owners—come out winning. The post At Kvas, a Culinary Moscow Medley appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Posted: 03 Apr 2015 06:00 PM PDT  President U Thein Sein shakes hands with China's President Xi Jinping during a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on June 27, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) Myanmar and China have long stressed the "pauk-phaw" or "fraternal" nature of their bilateral relationship. But the comforting catchphrase belies the often uneasy reality. While at pains to maintain strong ties with its giant neighbor, successive Myanmar leaders have often viewed the country with which they share a 1,250 mile border as a potential threat. On March 13, relations faced their latest source of tension when, according to Beijing, a Myanmar aircraft dropped a bomb on a sugarcane field in Yunnan province, killing five civilians and wounding eight others. The Myanmar military has been engaged in heavy fighting with a Kokang rebel group, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, in the town of Laukkai, close to the Chinese border, since Feb. 9. Some observers have voiced concern that the ongoing conflict in the Kokang Special Region, right on China's doorstep, would ratchet up tensions between the two nations. This is possible, but leaders on both sides will likely seek to hose down concerns and protect their shared economic and strategic interests. While Naypyitaw obviously remains the younger sibling in the so-called fraternal relationship, equally, China cannot afford to lose or neglect its weaker yet strategically invaluable neighbor. Chinese economic interests in the country run deep and Beijing is acutely aware of the importance of keeping Naypyitaw on-side. Beijing-backed projects in Myanmar include the Kyaukphyu to Kunming oil and gas dual pipelines; a string of planned controversial dams; the Letpadaung copper mine project; and the now suspended Myitsone dam. Many of these projects were signed off under the previous military regime, when Myanmar was still perceived as a villain on the world stage.  Kyaw Zwa Moe is editor (English Edition) of Naypyitaw's old guard may in fact retain a sense of gratitude toward China, which continued to funnel investment into the country while the Myanmar Army was internationally ostracized for committing gross human rights violations against its population. For its own geopolitical motives, China was one of the country's few staunch supporters and served as a shield—both economically and in international forums such as the UN Security Council—to protect the repressive military regime. While a Western bloc led by the United States and the European Union imposed sanctions for more than two decades, China built up ties extending not only economic support but also military weapons and training. Without Beijing, the junta would have struggled to survive. Old Ties In December 1949, Myanmar was the first non-communist country to recognize the communist-led People's Republic of China, shortly after it was proclaimed. Under Prime Minister U Nu in the early 1950s, a few years after Myanmar regained its independence from the British, the term pauk-phaw was first used to describe the brotherly Sino-Myanmar relationship. Behind the rhetoric, Myanmar leaders were always attuned to the pragmatic realization that the country's much larger, stronger neighbor could seek to assert its influence through threats or force. The researcher Maung Aung Myoe wrote in his book "In the Name of Pauk-Phaw: Myanmar's China Policy Since 1948" that in December 1970, dictator Gen. Ne Win had remarked that "the real threat for Myanmar was China." Maung Aung Myoe wrote that Gen. Ne Win cautioned the military to maintain a defensive posture in its military operations along the border with China and to avoid provoking any direct Chinese military intervention. The general insisted that the military should not launch any offensives near the Sino-Myanmar border. This chronic distrust was one of the reasons that the country pursued a foreign policy of neutrality and non-alignment; it was an assurance that Myanmar would not become entangled in alliances hostile to Beijing. Getting Closer After 1988, relations with China entered a new, stronger phase. Respective violent crackdowns against pro-democracy demonstrators—Myanmar in 1988 and China's Tiananmen Square in 1989—brought to mind the "birds of a feather flock together" phrase. The post-1988 military regime in Myanmar tried to strengthen its position by allowing China to exploit the country's natural resources while generals reaped the profits. But a relationship built on this kind of shared despotism left fertile grounds for anti-Chinese sentiment in Myanmar. After President U Thein Sein's government assumed power in 2011, relations shifted again. The military-turned-civilian government began a reform process which has opened the door to the West. U Thein Sein's decision to postpone the China-backed Myitsone dam project after facing widespread public opposition shocked Chinese leaders who, perhaps for the first time, felt they might lose a long-term partner. Since then, China has actively tried to engage with the public as well as opposition groups to ensure its ongoing economic primacy in the country. As Myanmar courts more partners abroad, perhaps Beijing has calculated that the old ways of courtship, based primarily on economic inducements, will no longer suffice. Despite the often fractious nature of relations, brought to light not least by the recent ongoing conflict along the Sino-Myanmar border, leaders from both sides of the political spectrum in Myanmar will endeavor to maintain pauk-phaw relations with Beijing while simultaneously reconnecting with the West. Kyaw Zwa Moe is the editor of The Irrawaddy English edition. This article originally appeared in the April 2015 issue of The Irrawaddy magazine. The post An Uneasy Alliance appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| ‘Youth is the Force That Will Shape the Future’ Posted: 03 Apr 2015 05:23 PM PDT  Aung Zaw, founding editor of The Irrawaddy, is joined by Tin Maung Maung Aye of the Myanmar Mobile Education Project for this week's edition of Dateline Irrawaddy. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) On this week's edition of Dateline Irrawaddy, Tin Maung Maung Aye discusses his efforts to educate Burma's child laborers. Aung Zaw: This week, I am joined by U Tin Maung Maung Aye, director of the Myanmar Mobile Education Project, will join me for discussion. I am Irrawaddy Magazine Editor Aung Zaw. You left Myanmar after the 1988 uprising, and you lived in US for around 26 years. You missed your country and you were watching developments from there. Then you began a project—an education project for child laborers—when you came back. It is a mobile classroom for working children. The project has received accolades from the international community and labor activists since it launched. Before we discuss your work, let's touch on your homecoming. Before talking about this project, let's start with your homecoming. Why did you come back? Did you feel any culture shock? Tin Maung Maung Aye: I lived and learned in US for more than two decades. While I was there, I always missed my country and its people. I always wanted to come back. I had to adapt with great difficulty to the situation here, as the reality on the ground was quite different from my imagination. It is like looking at a picture from a distance. You can't see color or shapes clearly. You get closer and closer to the picture and finally you get into it, and you find that the details are more complicated. The major culture shock for me was seeing so many people struggling for their livelihood every day. AZ: Myanmar before 1988 and Myanmar after 1988. From my point of view as a returnee, Myanmar is suffering from poverty, Yangon's population has become more crowded, and cultural values have diminished a great deal. Do you feel the same? TMMA: When I left Myanmar in 1989, there were nearly so many people and cars on the road. The environment was more friendly, people were more friendly and supportive toward each other. At that time, Yangon did not have people from so many various walks of life, various regions and various backgrounds. When I came back, I found that Yangon was very populous and there were many, many cars. Everywhere, people are struggling hard to sustain their lives. To get 4000 or 5000 kyats in their pockets when they get back home is all they are thinking about. Some families have to cook dinner when they get back home from work while others have to redeem pots from the pawnshop to cook dinner. The majority of the faces I saw were overwhelmed by worry and stress. AZ: I feel that the faces of both young and old men here are hopeless and demoralized. Don't you think? TMMA: Yes, that's right. The majority of people are leading a hand-to-mouth existence. A safety net and fundamental human rights are almost non-existent for them. As such, everyday, they have to struggle all the time for their day-to-day survival. AZ: There is the problem of internal migration. People come to urban areas to find jobs and opportunities and to support their families. When we sit at teashops, we see school-aged children of around 10 working there. How did you get the idea to provide education for them? TMMA: As we have said, it is a culture shock to see child workers working at teashops, restaurants and roadside eateries. When I left Myanmar in 1989, there were almost no working children. Then I came back and when I sat at teashops together with my friends, I saw them and wondered why there are so many children working at these places, where they come from and what they do each day. As I talked to them, to teashop owners and with my friends and families, I came to know that 80 or 90 percent of them came from rural areas, the delta and central Myanmar. They have come to big cities like Yangon and Mandalay as they were facing hardship in their home regions. We don't need to ask an astrologer how much they will be able to contribute to their families, villages and the country. Every one can predict what they will be. From that, I got the idea to play a part and carry out this mobile education project to provide a practical education for them. AZ: So, you bring the school in buses to working children, and there are donors for the buses. TMMA: It is not that they don't have access to schools; rather they don't have time to go to school. Unlike other countries, Myanmar does not have part-time schools. So, if they are to go to school, they have to attend half the day. And they don't have that much time. The break they get is mostly two or three hours. I thought about how I could provide education to them during that short period. Then I got the idea of turning old buses into schools. I put desks and tables and also equipped the buses with solar panels so that we don't need a power source when we teach at night. As you know, electricity is always off and on in Myanmar, depending on the location. So, with this in mind I equipped the buses with solar panels, projectors and computers, and now I am preparing to bring the internet to mobile classrooms. I had to negotiate first with teashop owners before I could teach them. AZ: The teashop owners accepted it willingly? TMMA: In Myanmar, though shop owners fight for the survival of their businesses every day, most of them have a philanthropic spirit. What we teach is also practically useful for their shops. For example, we teach the children the English names for menu items. As Myanmar is undergoing a transition, many foreigners are coming into the country. When foreign customers come to those teashops, child workers can deal with them to a certain extent. So, it is beneficial to shop owners. Secondly, we teach them about interpersonal skills. AZ: So you teach them skills training. TMMA: We teach them what is practical. We teach them things like interpersonal skills, personal hygiene. They will know how diseases like dengue fever and HIV can develop. So, they can bring with them these skills and knowledge when they move to another shop or when they go back to their villages. AZ: And they can open their own shops when they go back to their home villages? TMMA: Yes, they can. People with good interpersonal skills will have many friends, won't they? What we teach is things for their development. We divide levels in teaching them. Level 1 is about interpersonal skills and health awareness, Level 2 is about basic computer skills and internet, as well as using Facebook and mobile phones. Level 2 also teaches them knowledge about occupations, for example from where raw materials come and how finished products are manufactured in a garment factory, what skills and experiences are needed to work at a garment factory. Again we teach spoken English for service industry businesses like hotels and restaurants. There are three levels—basic, beginner and further. AZ: Your organization to help these children is relatively small. But then, there are international organizations that have a mandate for such projects, like UNICEF and the ILO as well as internationally well-known NGOs like Save The Children. They have huge budgets and implement big projects. TMMA: Mine is small compared to theirs. AZ: Last year, the media reported that UNICEF rented an ex-general's house to use as their office for US$87,000 per month. I think your budget is much smaller than that amount. TMMA: I wish I got that amount. Then I could teach all working children effectively. AZ: What is government the doing with regard to the issue of child labor? There are underage workers in Myanmar. According to international and local laws, children under 13 or 14 must be spared from work. But the government is not doing anything or can't do anything to ensure underage workers are not working, while shouting from the rooftops rhetoric about poverty alleviation national development. What is your opinion of the size of the issue? TMMA: Child labor is a big issue. Not only Myanmar but also in many other countries. There are also many ways to address this. It is important that either the current government or the next government addresses it, as it is an important issue. Youth is the force that will shape the future. If we do not address these problems right now and fail to provide the education and knowledge they deserve and they are interested in, I am afraid they will not be able to play a part in rebuilding the country five to 10 years from now. AZ: Is there a risk these children will take the wrong path? TMMA: There is a large chance that they could, considering that they don't have knowledge and experience, and they are not taught proper ethics while living away from their parents. Often, employers will put their business first and not consider assisting and supporting the moral development, education and health of their employees. If authorities fail to make due consideration and support and assist them effectively, we would see many difficulties in our country and our society. AZ: The director of Myanmar Mobile Education Project, Ko Tin Maung Maung Aye, joined me for discussion in this week's edition of Dateline Irrawaddy. We will return to the subject of child labor next week. I am Irrawaddy Magazine Editor Aung Zaw. The post 'Youth is the Force That Will Shape the Future' appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (Apr. 4, 2015) Posted: 03 Apr 2015 05:00 PM PDT  Mitsubishi's joint venture with local instant coffee maker Capital Diamond Star Group will focus on food production and distribution. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) EU Investment Deal Could Keep Garment Sector Wages Low London-based charity ActionAid has warned that a trade deal currently being negotiated by the Burmese government and the European Union could negatively impact female garment workers in the country. The Bilateral Investment Treaty would set terms and conditions for foreign direct investment into Burma, and provide legal protection to European companies. Critics warn that such agreements can undermine the ability of governments to regulate business practices. Talks on the deal were conducted in February and further negotiations are expected in May. A post on Action Aid's website compared the deal to the controversial Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TIPP, that would govern trade between the United States and European Union member states. The charity called for the Burmese government to ensure laws were in place to protect workers' rights as investment from overseas ramps up. "[T]he government of Myanmar hasn't had time to put the right laws and policies in place to make sure this investment benefits its own citizens," said the post by Ruth Kelly, ActionAid's program policy manager. "Some investors are trying to improve conditions for workers in their factories and for the local businesses they work with. Unfortunately, such investors are few and far between." It highlighted the garment sector, where the vast majority of workers are women and are make wages that are low even relative to other popular sourcing countries. A minimum wage law has been passed, but the lower limit for salaries has not yet been agreed. "Most investors go to Myanmar because they can pay workers low wages. If the minimum wage goes up, investor profits go down," the post said. "If the deal with the EU goes through, investors will be able to sue for compensation for the increased cost of wages." Kelly also warned that investors have sued governments around the world for billions of dollars for breaching the terms of trade deals. In some places, democratically elected governments find themselves unable to change the law due to the risk of upsetting investors. "This is not OK," Kelly wrote. Calls for Investment Law to Be Delayed for More Consultation The Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB) has urged the government to delay submitting a new investment law to Parliament amid "confusion" over the law's scope. The Investment Law is intended to combine existing legislation on foreign and local investment in order to assuage concerns over the lack of clarity in a highly complex regulatory environment governed by numerous overlapping laws. In a letter to Burma's Directorate of Investment and Company Administration, MRCB director Vicky Bowman welcomed the agency's willingness to consult on the law demonstrated by holding an open consultation period. The consultation was originally set to close on Mar. 31 but has reportedly been extended by one month. However, Bowman, a former UK ambassador to Burma, said that significant "further consultation and refinement"—including on regulations that will follow the law—would improve the legislation. She said discussions on the law held in Rangoon in March had demonstrated that "there is scope for confusion about what the law does and does not seek to regulate, including specific sectoral issues as well as the interplay with other regulation." "Further development of supporting explanatory material would help to address this," she added. "We therefore suggest that further time is taken to prepare the law and accompanying regulations before submitting it to a parliament with a fresh mandate in 2016. "Such a timetable would be more likely to result in a law in which investors had confidence, and whose implications had been fully considered in a transparent process." New York-based Human Rights Watch also called for more consultation on the law last week. "During the minimal consultation that did take place with independent groups, local community members raised concerns about the government's regulation of major international investments.," the group said in a statement. "They noted that local people often have no means for redress when an investment goes wrong." Toshiba to Provide Turbines for Shan State Hydropower Project Japan's Toshiba has announced that a subsidiary will supply the turbines and generators for a Chinese-led hydroelectric dam in Burma's northern Shan State. The project known as the Upper Yeywa dam is expected to begin operating in 2018, according to an Apr. 1 statement from Toshiba, which said the firm's Chinese subsidiary Toshiba Hydro Power Hangzhou Co Ltd had won the contract. The 308MW dam is being developed on the Myitnge river in Kyaukme district by Zhejiang Orient Engineering (a Chinese "state holding enterprise," according to its website.). The firm would begin delivering four 77-megawatt hydropower turbine and generator units in Mar. 2016, it said. "Toshiba Group previously supplied a hydraulic turbine for the 28.4MW Sedawgyi hydroelectric power plant in 1989, making this the second commission from Myanmar. Hydroelectricity is currently Myanmar’s primary source of electricity, accounting for approximately 75% of the country’s power supply," the statement said. "There are plans to build more power plants in Myanmar to meet growing energy needs triggered by the country’s strong economic growth." Hydropower dams are controversial in Burma and have faced opposition in the past over their social and environmental impact. The Chinese-backed Myitsone project in Kachin State was suspended in 2011 after widespread protests over the plan to dam the Irrawaddy River. Like Kachin State, northern Shan State has been wracked by fighting between the government and ethnic armed groups in recent years, adding further concerns about large-scale development projects. Investment, Expertise Needed in Airport Services While ambitious expansions are underway at Burma's two busiest airports, more investment is needed in services at the country's aviation hubs, including maintenance, according to British consultancy Oxford Business Group. In an update on Burma's airports this week, the firm highlighted the upgrade currently underway at Rangoon's airport. Rangoon's international airport—operated by a subsidiary of local conglomerate Asia World—is expected to complete a new international terminal by the end of this year. The terminal is part of an upgrade to a "business airport" that will see annual passenger capacity increased to 6 million to handle soaring numbers of international visitors, the update said. "Despite only being listed as having the capacity for 2.7m passengers a year, Yangon International handled 4m passengers last year, with some other airports also working above capacity," Oxford Business Group said. In Mandalay, Japanese companies Mitsubishi and Jalux, alongside Surge Pun's Yoma Strategic Holdings, last year won the right to operate the airport for 30 years, and plan to spend $100 million on upgrades. A brand new $1.5 billion airport to serve Rangoon is also planned in Pegu Division. However, Oxford Business Group pointed out that previously announced plans to upgrade as many as 30 domestic airports had been "put on the backburner for now." The group also said there were calls for more investment in services at airports, citing an official at Myanmar Airlines International (MAI). The state-run airline's managing director, Si Thu, reportedly told the Oxford Business Group that the areas of freighter services, cargo and maintenance, repair and operations all needed a boost. "We need foreign expertise and investment in these areas," Si Thu was quoted saying. "We need investment in infrastructure—new aircraft hangers and other facilities—and more importantly, capacity building to have qualified professionals in aviation." Mitsubishi to Enter Joint Venture With Instant Coffee Maker Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi Corporation will enter a joint venture with local firm Capital Diamond Star Group (CDSG), which makes popular instant coffee brand Premier. In a joint statement on Monday, the firms announced they would form a food manufacturing and distribution company in Burma named Lluvia. The deal involves Mitsubishi taking a 30 percent stake in CDSG's existing businesses, which include producing wheat flour, tea mix, milk powder and instant coffee for the domestic market. The new company will invest more than $200 million over the next three years, and "will leverage Mitsubishi Corporation's international network to expand aggressively in the region and aims to be one of Myanmar's first homegrown regional companies," the statement said. Mitsubishi is one of three major Japanese corporations who between them hold a minority stake in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone near Rangoon. The statement did not say whether Lluvia would establish a plant in the zone, which is set to open this year. "The investments Lluvia intends to make across the food value chain in Myanmar will significantly benefit the country's food and agriculture industries," the statement said. "In the upstream activities, Lluvia intends to work closely with farmers to facilitate better access to capital and enhance their farming techniques through knowledge transfer from Mitsubishi Corporation and its network of partners. "Lluvia will also play a role in connecting the farmers to regional and international markets. In the downstream activities, Lluvia will also contribute to better food safety through technology transfer and help reduce Myanmar's reliance on imports through local production of ingredients." The post The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (Apr. 4, 2015) appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
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