The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- Shan State Coffee Producer Wins ASEAN Business Award
- Iconsiam Cements Bangkok’s Shopping Mecca Status With $6M Opening Blowout
- Transparency in Delayed $2B Development Project Requested in Lower House
- Newly Amended Law Helps Officials Seize Land, Critics Warn
- Five Arrested for Violent Abduction, Robbery in Yangon’s Ahlone Township
- Bangladesh Pushes Ahead With Rohingya Repatriation Plans Despite Int’l Resistance
- Cheers to Traditional Kayan Rice Wine
- State Counselor Pushes for ASEAN Investment in Myanmar
- Thai Junta and Thaksin-Backed Populists Face Off Before 2019 Poll
- Millions of Small Asian Farmers Miss Out on Seeds Resilient to Climate Change: Study
- Amnesty International Strips Myanmar’s Suu Kyi of ‘Conscience’ Award
- Ten Things to do in Yangon This Week
| Shan State Coffee Producer Wins ASEAN Business Award Posted: 13 Nov 2018 07:09 AM PST YANGON—Local social enterprise Aung Nay Lin Htun, which manufactures and distributes Myanmar's first international-standard specialty coffee brand, Genius Shan Highlands, won an ASEAN Business Award on Monday in the Sustainable Social Enterprise category. The ASEAN Business Awards 2018 were presented in Singapore in the categories of Priority Integration Sectors; SME Excellence (Corporate Social Responsibility, Employment, Growth, and Innovation); Young Entrepreneur; Women Entrepreneur; Sustainable Social Enterprise; Friends of ASEAN; and Family Business. Genius Shan Highlands Coffee was among four winners from the region in the Sustainable Social Enterprise category. The awards recognize outstanding social enterprises that are innovative and have made significant, sustained contributions to the disadvantaged in their community. Founded in 2012, Genius Shan Highlands Coffee started processing and roasting coffee beans in Ywar Ngan Township in southern Shan State. Later it expanded into growing and producing raw coffee beans, working with over 6,000 farmers in southern Shan. In 2016, it received USAID international organic certification. "As our enterprise has been recognized for an ASEAN business award, it gives me strength to expand our business and export to international markets," U Ngwe Tun, the founder of Genius Coffee, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday. The company currently exports its products to the U.S., Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Canada, Germany, Norway, China, Cambodia and Singapore. Meanwhile, Myint Myint Khin, Myanmar's most famous brand of the dessert snack Htoe Moat, won the ASEAN-level Young Entrepreneur Award. Htoe Moat, a specialty of Mandalay, is a glutinous rice cake topped with cashew nuts, raisins and cream butter. Myanmar's Fame Pharmaceuticals Industry, Aung Naing Thitsar group of companies and Frontiir won national-level SME Excellence awards in the Employment, Growth and Innovation categories, respectively. Jewelry retail business Jewel Collection Manufacturing Co., Ltd, won the country-level Women Entrepreneur award. Launched by the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) in 2007, the awards aim to recognize outstanding businesses in the region. The post Shan State Coffee Producer Wins ASEAN Business Award appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Iconsiam Cements Bangkok’s Shopping Mecca Status With $6M Opening Blowout Posted: 13 Nov 2018 06:06 AM PST BANGKOK — For those in Myanmar who can afford it, Bangkok has long been their number one shopping destination in the region. They now have a new mecca in Iconsiam, a 525,000-square-meter luxury shopping mall that opened its doors to the public on Saturday. Located on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, it hopes to draw tens of millions of visitors a year and features some 7,000 local and international brands, including the first official Apple store in Thailand. Other international brands including Siam Takashimaya, a Japanese department store, and Britain’s JD Sports Store are also opening their first Thai outlets at the mall. The $6 million opening, organized by Index Creative Village over three days starting Friday, showcased the latest tech gadgets and world-class creations. More than 1,000 professional performers and volunteers took part. The event drew packed crowds of locals and tourists alike.  "This event has aimed to be not only [the] talk of the town but also [the] talk of the world. I set the idea of work beginning from the root of Thainess, being proud of Thai language, arts and culture,” said Kreingkarn Kanjanapokin, one of the public relations firm’s CEOs. "The theme of the event is the 'River of Life,' since there are exchanges [of] both goods and cultures of [the] different nationalities [that] reside around the Chao Phraya riverbank, the river that creates arts and cultures," he added. Index Creative Village collaborated with Intel Technology Asia to help illustrate the Thainess theme with a show using 1,500 drones, more than were used in the Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, this year. The lit drones were used to create images of Thailand, the Thai flag and other symbols of Thainess in the night sky over the river.  The team spent about a year and a half preparing the three-day opening, its biggest challenge to date. The complex includes Iconsiam, its main retail and entertainment area, and Iconluxe, featuring many of the world’s top-end brands. There are also two luxury condominiums towering over the waterfront, one at 70 stories and the other at 52. Iconsiam is being developed by three of Thailand's most successful businesses: Siam Piwat, Magnolia Quality Development Corporation, and multinational conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group. The post Iconsiam Cements Bangkok’s Shopping Mecca Status With $6M Opening Blowout appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Transparency in Delayed $2B Development Project Requested in Lower House Posted: 13 Nov 2018 04:53 AM PST YANGON—A $2 billion development project to be undertaken by the Ministry of Construction and a private company in Yangon was questioned in the Parliament's Lower House on Tuesday over its lack of transparency. Despite the project agreement being signed two years ago, no start appears to have been made on it and the revenue-sharing deal between the government and the private company remains unclear. Daw Khin San Hlaing, a National League for Democracy (NLD) lawmaker, raised questions about the Eco Green City project to be located on the Yangon-Mandalay Highway. The 1,453-acre development, which is to include housing, a logistics hub, mixed-use zones and other elements, is projected to be built near the proposed Hanthawaddy International Airport and was officially launched in December 2017 in the presence of the then-construction minister U Win Khaing and Yangon Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein as well as local partners from the private company, Alliance Group of Companies. The 10-year project is a Union level development project and is one of the Myanmar government's four "mega development projects" with facilities ranging from information technology manufacturing to logistics to commercial and residential zones on more than 13,000 acres of land in the country's commercial capital Yangon and near Mandalay, the country's second-largest city. The project was granted to the private company by the previous government in February 2016, and an initial agreement was inked less than one week before their handover to the NLD government in March 2016. The agreement stated that the project had to be started within six months. In the Lower House today, Daw Khin San Hlaing questioned the revenue-sharing deal between the government and the private company and urged the Ministry of Construction to be transparent on the project. She urged them to let it be known whether the project has started and if there is any legal agreement with the government for revenue sharing. In response to the questions, the construction ministry's deputy minister U Kyaw Lin said no work has been started yet on the ground as they have been working on preparing a masterplan for the project and site clearing since 2016. "Now we have fenced the whole project area," he said. He said a draft outline of the revenue-sharing agreement would be finalized by the end of this month for submission to the Attorney General's Office. Upon the Attorney General's approval, it would then be submitted to Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) for their approval, he added. "If the MIC passes it, we will be able to sign the agreement in February next year before the project is started," he told the parliament. Daw Khin San Hlaing said she was not pleased with the reply from the ministry. "They should not be in a rush to develop state-owned land without a proper plan. It should be reserved for future city expansion." The Irrawaddy’s reporter Htet Naing Zaw contributed to this report from Naypyitaw.
The post Transparency in Delayed $2B Development Project Requested in Lower House appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Newly Amended Law Helps Officials Seize Land, Critics Warn Posted: 13 Nov 2018 04:20 AM PST Land-rights activists have urged the government to abolish the Vacant Land Law, saying the legislation could be used as a tool to dispossess people of their land. The law was enacted under the former military regime in 2012. Under the National League for Democracy, the government amended the law by writing in additional punishments for offenders. This amendment went into effect last month. The law allows the government to take possession of unregistered land, and the National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government's recent amendment allows the Vacant Land Management Central Committee to take action against those who use vacant land without first obtaining the committee's permission. Under Article 27 (a), violators of the law face two years in prison and/or a fine of 500,000 kyats. Critics say the government has not done enough to educate local people—many of whom apply customary law to settle questions of land ownership—about the need to register, and that the existing law is contrary to the spirit of any future federal union and the legal framework that would underpin it. After more than 50 years of rule by the military regime, large amounts of land, especially in ethnic areas, are still not registered to specific owners. Much of this land is used by ethnic people according to their customary law. Rights activist want the government to apply customary law instead of the former military regime's law, which they say has been used to oppress people through the confiscation of thousands of acres of land. The NLD government will face public protests if it continues to apply the military regime's law, the aim of which is to oppress the people, said U Si Thu, a land-rights activist and spokesperson for the Doe Mye (Our Land Network ) group. According to U Si Thu, the military regime used this law as a tool to oppress people in the past. While the NLD government amended the law, it continues to apply it, the activist added. "The law is contrary to the peace process' goal of establishing a federal system," he said. Even ethnic armed groups that have signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement with the government worry that the areas they control will be taken from them in the future, based on the Vacant Land Law, he said. "The government should be thinking in terms of a land law to be implemented under a future federal system; it should not be applying the current one," he said. Ethnic people apply customary law to the question of land ownership without any problems, he said, adding that the government, which claims to be planning to implement a federal system in the future, should continue to allow this practice. Myanmar faces many problems associated with issues related to land ownership. The military (or Tatmadaw) and authorities have seized thousand of acres of land from local people, especially in ethnic areas. Land-rights activists have repeatedly asked the government to return the seized land as part of the country's ongoing political reforms, but the Army and authorities have refused. Mung Seng Tu, a legal advocate based in Myitkyina, Kachin State, said the newly amended law will make it easy for authorities to seize land in conflict areas in Kachin and northern Shan states. "The law should not be implemented in conflict areas in Kachin and northern Shan. The areas in which it can implement the law should be restricted," the advocate said. Land-rights activists say the government's aim in continuing to apply an oppressive law enacted by the former military regime is unclear. Some fear it may intend to take back those lands. Many landowners, especially in ethnic areas, are worried that the government eyes their land. The government should take steps to educate the public before enforcing the law, Mung Seng Tu said. If it does not, more people will be in danger of losing their land to seizures by authorities, he added. "If the government does not raise awareness [of the law], local people will suffer," he said. Kachin rights activist Khon Ja said the law claims government ownership for all of the land in the country—not only in Kachin State. "Six months is a very short time for people to apply for registration. How can people in remote areas apply for this on time? They [officials] should travel to local areas and help local people to apply," Khon Ja said. She pointed to the plight of Kachin IDPs who have been forced to abandon their land while fleeing military clashes. Some businessmen have used this land to grow bananas, with the help of the Tatmadaw, she alleged. "Who will register ownership of those IDPs' lands?" she said. The post Newly Amended Law Helps Officials Seize Land, Critics Warn appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Five Arrested for Violent Abduction, Robbery in Yangon’s Ahlone Township Posted: 13 Nov 2018 04:07 AM PST YANGON—Police have arrested five of eight men involved in forcefully claiming back money from a family-owned company in Yangon's Ahlone Township on Monday evening. Ko Soe Kyaw Kyaw Lwin, one of the five detainees, said that he was paid by a middleman identified as Ko Hla Win to claim back debt from a currency dealer. He was asked to bring along five men who Ko Hla Win said would each be given 500,000 kyats ($314). Ko Hla Win reportedly worked on behalf of a man named Ko Myo Myint Aung to hire Ko Soe Kyaw Kyaw Lin. Ko Soe Kyaw Kyaw Lwin and another suspect named Ko Thura, both the residents of East Dagon Township, were arrested in the compound of the company. Two others—Ko Zaw Htoo and Saw Than Oo—were arrested in East Dagon Township, and the fifth suspect, Ko Tun Tun, was arrested in Taikkyi Township on the outskirts of Yangon. The company involved, KGL Family Co., exports beans, pulses and other food items and imports and distributes automobile parts and engine oil. However, according to the press release issued by Yangon Region Police Force, the company is also reportedly involved in currency dealings.  on Monday. / Ministry of Home Affairs Myanmar / Facebook U Kyaw Myint, the owner of the company, was on his way back to home when his brother U Myint Sein, also the company's manager, phoned and told him that a group of men wielding sticks and swords had entered the company compound. When U Kyaw Myint came back and cried for help, three of the men abducted U Myint Sein using his car for their escape. Some of the men also got away in the light truck which they had arrived in. They also reportedly tied up three of the company's staff members and took their cell phones. The two men who remained in the company's compound were arrested there. As U Kyaw Myint followed them, the men told him over the phone not to follow and not to file a complaint with the police but he proceeded with reporting the incident to the police regardless. The men abandoned U Sein Myint's car on Pyay Road, leaving him in the car after taking his two cell phones. A police officer of Yangon's Western Police Force said that police have opened a robbery case as it involved more than five people. Police declined to reveal more about those involved in the crime. Police are currently searching for Ko Hla Win and two other suspects named Ko Swan Saung Oo and Ko Myo Myint Aung. The post Five Arrested for Violent Abduction, Robbery in Yangon's Ahlone Township appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Bangladesh Pushes Ahead With Rohingya Repatriation Plans Despite Int’l Resistance Posted: 13 Nov 2018 03:35 AM PST DHAKA — Bangladeshi authorities say they are making final preparations to start repatriating the first group of mostly Rohingya refugees to Myanmar this week despite persistent warnings from rights groups and aid agencies that conditions are not yet right for their return. After nearly a year of planning, the two countries agreed last month to start repatriating the first group of 2,260 refugees — all verified as former residents of Myanmar — on Thursday. Officials in Bangladesh said they have built two checkpoints along the border — one each for refugees returning by land or by water — where they will be handed over to Myanmar authorities. Bangladesh Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mohammad Abul Kalam told local media on Monday that his government has expedited preparations in order to begin the repatriations on Thursday. The commissioner declined to speak with The Irrawaddy on Monday. But another Bangladeshi official working on the issue said the date was not yet set in stone and would be confirmed on Tuesday. The official said authorities expect the refugees at first to feel upset about returning to Myanmar, where UN-mandated investigators accuse the military of unleashing a campaign of “genocidal intent” that has driven some 700,000 Rohingya across the border for shelter. "We do understand their concerns … But soon everything will be normal," he said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with the media. According to a report on Monday by the Dhaka-based daily New Age, Myanmar’s ambassador to Bangladesh, U Lwin Oo, said it might take 15 days to repatriate all 2,260 refugees. Rohingya sheltering in the sprawling refugee camp of Cox’z Bazar, however, show little interest in returning to Myanmar unless they are guaranteed equal rights and say their lives back home would be unsustainable without them. Myanmar does not recognize Rohingya among the native ethnic groups eligible for citizenship, and most Rohingya say the National Verification Cards the government wants to issue them would only entrench their status as second-class residents. "We want our citizenship rights and security,” said Shafi Ullah, a refugee and member of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights. He said Rohingya should be guaranteed freedom of movement in Myanmar and that returnees should have all their property returned. Bangladeshi rights activist Nur Khan Liton said the government was rushing into the repatriations and that Rohingya refugees were still not confident that they would be safe if they returned to Myanmar. "I am concerned about whether the repatriation will be sustainable," he said, warning that any missteps could leave not just Myanmar but also Bangladesh internationally isolated. The United Nations’ refugee agency, the UNHCR, has been advocating for the voluntary and sustainable repatriation of the refugees to their places of origin or choice. It recently said that conditions in Myanmar were "not yet conducive for returns." After visiting the Cox's Bazar camps on Sunday, US Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration in Africa and Asia, Richard Albright, told reporters that repatriation should be voluntary, safe and dignified. "We agree with the UNHCR. Right now the conditions on the ground in the areas of potential return are not adequate to support sustainable returns of the population," he said. The International Crisis Group says Bangladesh has effectively failed to consult with the refugees themselves on the repatriation plans and advised it to do so. It also claims that the government was being pressured by China to start sending the refugees back. In a report released Monday, rights group Fortify Rights said Bangladesh should postpone repatriation until Rohingyas’ rights in Myanmar are restored. It alleged that Bangladeshi authorities in Cox's Bazar were trying to pressure refugees into submitting their biometric data for ID cards by threating and assaulting camp leaders, raising concerns of possible forced returns. "Refugee returns should always be safe, voluntary and dignified. Any mass return process at this point would be premature, effectively forced, and put Rohingya lives at risk," said the group’s CEO, Matthew Smith. On Nov. 1, between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., Bangladesh security forces gathered 18 Rohingya community leaders from a single refugee camp for a meeting at a nearby security post, according to Fortify Rights. It said some of the leaders told the rights group that Bangladeshi officers hit them and told them to instruct the refugees to accept the “smart cards” with their biometric data. Bangladesh and the UNHCR began issuing the cards in June in a joint effort aimed at providing the refugees with secure IDs and better access to services and assistance. Refugees told The Irrawaddy that the pending repatriations were fueling fear and rumors in the camps. On the contrary, Abul Khair, officer-in-charge at the Ukhia police station in Cox’s Bazar, said the refugees were not afraid but excited about returning to Myanmar, where they expect their lives to improve. Joseph Surja Tripura, a spokesman for the UNHCR in Bangladesh, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that the agency would be assessing the list of 2,260 refugees to determine whether they actually volunteered to return to Myanmar. Only two day out from the scheduled start of the repatriations, however, he said the agency had yet to begin. The post Bangladesh Pushes Ahead With Rohingya Repatriation Plans Despite Int’l Resistance appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Cheers to Traditional Kayan Rice Wine Posted: 13 Nov 2018 01:51 AM PST YANGON—If you've been to Kayah State, Myanmar's smallest state located on the eastern border, you've undoubtedly sipped at a cup or jar of traditional rice wine. Kayan rice wine, or khao yae, is drank by men, women and children alike in Kayah State on special occasions celebrating weddings, harvests and religious festivals. Sitting around a smoking fire in a wooden Kayan kitchen, sipping rice wine through a bamboo straw is a quintessentially Kayan experience for visitors to the state. So what is rice wine? The traditional brew is made by mixing sticky rice, millet, natural yeast and water and steaming it before storing it in a large clay pot to fermented for around three weeks. The liquid turns light pink in color, is slightly fizzy and sweet with a lip-smacking tang. Though the exact alcohol content is unknown, the basic brew is thought to be around 17 to 18 percent alcohol and it gets stronger the longer it's left to ferment.  With Kayan New Year falling on Dec. 5, Yangon's only Kayah food restaurant, Vista Do Rio, will hold a Kayan traditional rice wine festival this weekend, Nov. 17 and 18. No less than five types of rice wine can be sampled with a special Kayan food menu also available. To show appreciation for the customers' support, one complimentary traditional dish will be served to each table. "We want to introduce the Kayan culture to the people. It is still hidden so I want to promote the culture, their food and the amazing chili and ingredients they grow there," said Vista Do Rio owner and manager Ko Zay Yar Min. A video explaining the process of making rice wine will be projected and rumor has it that famous film director U Aung Ko Latt will be there for a screening of his award-winning film Kayan Beauties. Entertainment kicks off at 7pm. The rice wine at Vista Do Rio is made in Loikaw and batches are transported to Yangon every few days. Ko Zay Yar Min, a Burmese man with an affinity for Kayan cuisine, carefully researched the wine-making process over a number of years and says it is best sipped slowly and accompanied by snacks.  The first of the five rice wines on offer is the original khao yae brew which is a permanent fixture on the menu at Visto Do Rio. It's made from the first batch of wine taken from the rice-millet mixture usually after three weeks of fermentation. The taste is sweet and mildly fruity with a tangy aftertaste and leaves a heat in the throat. Khao bu (hot rice wine) is a lighter version of the original wine which is mixed with hot water to give a very different, sweeter flavor which is particularly popular during chilly Kayah winters. Khao phyu, or white rice wine, is fermented for only 18 days using a different type of rice. This has a tart flavor and stays fresh for only three or four days. Htel Lei rice wine, named after the village it originates from, has a rounder, honey-like flavor. Sote khao is fun to share with friends—the rice wine is served in a tall bamboo cup and sipped through bamboo straws. There are three different layers of flavor with the top being warm, tangy and dry, the middle growing more tart and the bottom layer a different, earthy flavor.  The concept for Vista Do Rio came to Ko Zay Yar Min when his wife returned from a trip to Kayah with a gift of traditional pork sausage. He loved it so much, he was inspired to travel there to discover more Kayan food. Ko Zay Yar Min began a long, slow process of traveling through rural Kayah State learning recipes from villagers, trekking for days at a time and camping along the way, even joining hunters on multiple-day trips into the jungle. "I stayed with the villagers and ate together with them and then went to the kitchen to see how they cook. I asked them to teach me and the next day I would cook it for them and ask them how is the taste," said Ko Zay Yar Min.  In 2017 he put the best Kayan recipes onto the menu of his new restaurant which sits in an informally landscaped garden on the river bank in Thuwana Township. Food-wise, unmissable dishes at Vista Do Rio include the original Kayah pork sausage, tantalizing beef cooked in bamboo, fresh Kayan cucumber salad and Spring Taste which is pork ribs, red silk cotton flower and soya bean paste. For the rice wine festival, a special menu of dishes to pair with the rice wine is available and includes smoked eel with fried leek root, pan-fried taro and pounded beef, all of which go down very well with the khao yae.  More information about the event can be found at www.facebook.com/events/1932083586889281/ The post Cheers to Traditional Kayan Rice Wine appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| State Counselor Pushes for ASEAN Investment in Myanmar Posted: 13 Nov 2018 01:35 AM PST YANGON—State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is inviting ASEAN countries to invest in Myanmar, saying she has confidence they will receive good returns thanks to major economic reforms recently undertaken by the government. ASEAN member countries play a major role in economic cooperation with Myanmar where, as of September 2018, investments from ASEAN account for about 45 percent ($35.5 billion) of total investment in the country. On Monday, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi delivered a keynote speech at the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit-2018 in Singapore under the title "Business and Investment in Myanmar and ASEAN." On the same day, President U Win Myint submitted a proposal to form a new ministry for investment and foreign economic relations at home to boost local and international investment. "We should not wait for 20 years to catch up with Singapore. I hope you will help us to catch up with Singapore," said Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, revealing her hopes to match the country's economic growth. Her words were a reference to those of Singapore's late leader Lee Kuan Yew who once said that it would take Singapore 20 years after independence to catch up to Myanmar's strong economic growth of that period. The State Counselor invited investment in agriculture and its related services, value-added production of agricultural products, livestock production, breeding and production of fishery products, export promotion industries, import substitution industries, the power sector, logistics industries, education services, the health care industry, construction of affordable housing and the establishment of industrial estates. According to the government investment body, Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA), as of September 2018 Singapore is the second largest investor in Myanmar while Thailand is third, Vietnam seventh and Malaysia eighth. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi used Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) as an example of a success story, saying it highlights the type of positive partnership that can be achieved between our respective public and private sectors. "I am happy to be able to claim that the Thilawa SEZ has become a crowning success in a very short period of time, receiving a total investment of $1.491 billion—a figure that reflects the dollar value of those investments actually entering the economy," she said. Japan, the United States, Germany, France, Sweden, Australia, China, India, Singapore, Thailand and Taiwan all invested in Thilawa SEZ. As of May 2018, Zone A and B of Thilawa SEZ received over $1.37 billion and a third zone is currently under development, according to the SEZ development committee. The State Counselor said, Myanmar's re-emergence comes at a time when the world is facing rising protectionist sentiments, a shift away from multilateralism in favor of bilateralism, and in some cases, even isolationism, and amidst currency and trade tensions between some countries. Despite global challenges, the growth outlook for developing Asia in 2018 was recently upgraded to 6 percent, or 0.1 percentage points higher than the rate envisaged in September 2017 by the Asian Development Bank. "As part of this developing Asia, Myanmar's economic trajectory is therefore truly promising," she said. "The opening of Myanmar's markets is now in full swing. As what has been referred to as Southeast Asia's final frontier market, Myanmar provides innumerable investment opportunities. Some are plain to see, others are waiting to be found by those with foresight and imagination," she stressed. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi told the audience, which included members of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council-ABAC, economists and businessmen, that the Myanmar government have imposed the new Myanmar Investment Law in order to create a better environment for investment and to bring our economy in line with international and regional agreements, with the technical assistance of the International Finance Corporation (IFC). She said, "The new law aims at creating a fair and more level playing field for both foreign and domestic investors," adding that the law contains a number of important provisions that will encourage responsible business, support investors to do business with ease through transparent, simplified and quick procedures. Her government also enacted the Myanmar Companies Law which came into effect on Aug. 1 under which companies can be registered within a few hours by using the MyCO (Myanmar Companies Online) system. "An important recent reform which can be considered revolutionary is the modernization of the more-than-one-hundred-year-old Companies Act to reflect the current business and regulatory environment," she said. According to her speech, as of September 2018, over 14,000 companies had re-registered on the online platform as well as over 4,000 newly incorporated companies. The State Counselor claimed that reforms have been undertaken in every sector which is essential for economic stability. Some reforms are highly visible and some are less obvious. The reforms, which aim to strengthen macroeconomic management, are crucial for economic stability and this is not naturally visible to most people but their impact is substantial and long-lasting. She said such reforms are "a strong magnet for attracting increased investment." With the Rohingya crisis in Rakhine State last year having damaged the country's image, foreign direct investment in Myanmar declined significantly to $6.6 billion during the fiscal year 2016-17, down from $9.5 billion the previous year. The government has changed its investment policy to look towards eastern countries in order to revive foreign investment in the country with Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) planning to hold a summit targeting investors from East Asia before the end of the year, according to DICA. MIC has already engaged numerous East Asian countries in its investment promotion activities, including Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea. However, the World Bank's most recent ease of doing business index revealed no improvement in Myanmar's overall ranking, retaining the No.171 spot it held last year—remaining the least favorable ASEAN member country in which to conduct business. The State Counselor said the government has set up a working group and ten supporting groups related to Ease of Doing Business indicators have also been established with the aim of raising Myanmar's ranking on the World Bank's index. The post State Counselor Pushes for ASEAN Investment in Myanmar appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Thai Junta and Thaksin-Backed Populists Face Off Before 2019 Poll Posted: 12 Nov 2018 08:46 PM PST BANGKOK — Battle lines are being drawn between Thailand’s military government and the populist movement led by ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra as both sides attempt to outmaneuver the other before a general election due in 2019. The junta has promised to hold the much-delayed election as early as February, a test of its promise to restore democracy amid widely held concerns that it aims to maintain a grip on power in Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy. The race is again expected to pit Thaksin’s “red shirt” followers against the military and royalist establishment, which seized power in successive coups in 2006 and 2014. Thaksin’s camp, which has won every election since 2001, has been unable to assert control over non-elected bodies, particularly the judiciary and the military, prompting bouts of street protests and coups. In a move widely seen as an attempt to cripple support for Thaksin and his allies, the junta last month ordered the Election Commission to investigate whether he is still controlling the popular Puea Thai Party from exile abroad, and possibly disband it. “They are afraid of us,” Puea Thai veteran Watana Muangsook told Reuters, referring to the junta’s efforts to undermine the influence of his party and allies. “The only way they can beat us is that they have to play beyond the rules. If they follow the rules they will lose.” Under pressure The Shinawatra clan faces pressure elsewhere, too. Thaksin’s son, 38-year-old Panthongtae Shinawatra, was indicted last month for an alleged money-laundering offence dating back to 2004. He pleaded not guilty. Yingluck Shinawatra, Thaksin’s sister and prime minister for nearly three years, fled Thailand last year to avoid conviction in a criminal negligence case she says was politically motivated. The junta has sought her extradition from Britain. Eight core members of Puea Thai are also facing legal action for allegedly breaching a junta ban on political gatherings of more than five people. Authorities have confiscated and banned the distribution of thousands of calendars featuring a picture of Thaksin and Yingluck, which were being handed out in several places in northeastern Thailand this month. Thaksin said in a rare interview with NHK TV recently that “pro-democracy camps” could win some 300 of the Lower House of Parliament’s 500 seats in the coming election. That comment prompted the military government to order an official probe into his links with the party. Puea Thai members deny Thaksin’s involvement in the running of the party and say they have been “following the law.” As Puea Thai faces the threat of dissolution, at least three back-up parties have been launched — Puea Tham Party, Puea Chart Party, and Thai Raksa Chart Party — all of which have executives who are former members and allies of Puea Thai. The junta has denied targeting Thaksin and his allies, saying government agencies have been proceeding legally. “I don’t see the singling-out of Thaksin and the Shinawatra family,” said government spokesman Puttipong Punnakan. Pro-Thaksin parties say they are further disadvantaged by the new Constitution, written by an army-appointed committee, which critics say is designed to prolong the military’s influence over politics for years through unelected bodies and other mechanisms. Legal actions may backfire Thaksin and his allies, who champion populist policies such as a subsidized rice scheme and basic healthcare, remain immensely popular, especially in the rural north and northeastern provinces. Experts say it is this enduring support that could prove a huge challenge for the junta at the polls. “The problem for the authorities who want to dissolve Puea Thai is not the party banner but its durable support bases,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University. “If the party is dissolved, its support bases will likely just shift to proxy parties,” Thitinan said, adding that legal moves against the Thaksin camp could even embolden voters if they see them as unfair political persecution. The Puea Thai Party remains optimistic of the party’s chances in next year’s elections despite the pressure it faces. “If this was a 100-meter race, [the military] started at 80 meters while we started at zero,” Watana said. “But if the people rejected the military and dictatorship … perhaps a landslide victory is still possible.” The post Thai Junta and Thaksin-Backed Populists Face Off Before 2019 Poll appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Millions of Small Asian Farmers Miss Out on Seeds Resilient to Climate Change: Study Posted: 12 Nov 2018 08:22 PM PST ROME — Millions of smallholder farmers in South and Southeast Asia are missing out on new, resilient seeds that could improve their yields in the face of climate change, according to an index published on Monday. The 24 top seed companies fail to reach four-fifths of the region’s 170 million smallholder farmers for reasons such as poor infrastructure, high prices and lack of training, the Access to Seeds Index found. Access to seeds bred to better withstand changing weather conditions such as higher temperatures is vital as farmers battle loss of productivity due to climate change, said Ido Verhagen, head of the Access to Seeds Foundation, which published the index. “We see increasing demands for new varieties, because (farmers) are affected by climate change,” Verhagen told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “If we want to feed a growing population, if we want to tackle climate change, if we want to go towards a more sustainable food system, we have to start with seeds,” he said. Smallholder farmers managing between one to 10 hectares of land provide up to 80 percent of the food supply in Asia, said the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). But traditional methods of preserving seeds from harvests are not always sufficient to cope with a changing climate. About 340 million people were hungry in 2017 in South and Southeast Asia, a number that has barely changed since 2015, according to latest figures from the United Nations. “The question is how to get markets to provide the varieties (of seeds) that farmers want, at prices that they’re able to pay,” said Shawn McGuire, agricultural officer at the FAO. Some smaller companies are leading the way in helping smallholders access more resilient seeds, Verhagen said, such as Thailand-based East-West Seed which topped the index ahead of global giants Bayer and Syngenta, which ranked second and third. East-West Seed has built a successful business focusing purely on smallholders, he said, while Indian companies Acsen HyVeg and Namdhari, ranked sixth and seventh respectively, have also reached small-scale farmers with seeds. The index, funded by the Dutch government and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, ranks companies based on seven areas including strategies to help small farmers and supporting conservation. The post Millions of Small Asian Farmers Miss Out on Seeds Resilient to Climate Change: Study appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Amnesty International Strips Myanmar’s Suu Kyi of ‘Conscience’ Award Posted: 12 Nov 2018 08:13 PM PST YANGON — Amnesty International has withdrawn its most prestigious human rights prize from Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, accusing the Myanmar leader of perpetuating human rights abuses by not speaking out about violence against the Rohingya Muslim minority. Once hailed as a champion in the fight for democracy, Suu Kyi has been stripped of a series of international honors over a Rohingya exodus that began in August 2017. More than 700,000 members of the mostly stateless group fled across Myanmar’s western border into Bangladesh after the Myanmar military launched a crackdown in response to Rohingya insurgent attacks on the security forces. UN-mandated investigators have accused the military of unleashing a campaign of killings, rape and arson with “genocidal intent." Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s administration rejected the findings as one-sided, and said the military action was engaged in a legitimate counterinsurgency operation. The international human rights group named Suu Kyi as its 2009 Ambassador of Conscience Award recipient when she was still under house arrest for her opposition to Myanmar’s oppressive military junta. In the eight years since she was released, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi led her party to election victory in 2015 and set up a government the following year, but she has to share power with generals and has no oversight over the security forces. Amnesty International said in a statement on Tuesday she had failed to speak out and had “shielded the security forces from accountability” for the violence against the Rohingya, calling it a “shameful betrayal of the values she once stood for." The global advocacy organization's secretary general, Kumi Naidoo, wrote to Suu Kyi on Sunday saying the group was withdrawing the award because it was “profoundly dismayed that you no longer represent a symbol of hope, courage, and the undying defense of human rights." Zaw Htay, the Myanmar government’s main spokesman, did not pick up Reuters calls seeking comment on Monday. In March, the US Holocaust Memorial Museum rescinded its top award from Suu Kyi and she has had other honors withdrawn, including the freedom of the cities of Dublin and Oxford, England, over the Rohingya crisis. In September, Canada’s Parliament voted to strip Suu Kyi of her honorary citizenship. Critics have called for her 1991 Nobel Peace Prize to be withdrawn but the foundation that oversees the award said it would not do so. Amnesty International also said Suu Kyi had not condemned military abuses in conflicts between the army and ethnic minority guerrillas in northern Myanmar and her government had imposed restrictions on access by humanitarian groups. Her government had also failed to stop attacks on freedom of speech, it said. The post Amnesty International Strips Myanmar’s Suu Kyi of ‘Conscience’ Award appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Ten Things to do in Yangon This Week Posted: 12 Nov 2018 07:34 PM PST
Lethwei Nation Fight Myanmar boxers take on Muay Thai fighters. Nov. 18, 2 p.m. Theinbyu Boxing Stadium. Tickets 5,000 kyats to 30,000 kyats at 09-254214160
Music Festival More than a dozen vocalists will perform. Nov. 16, 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. National Theater, Myoma Kyaung Street. Tickets 5,000 kyats to 20,000 kyats at 09-763-452-156, 09-799-281-417
Kyet Pa: Promotion Show J me, G-Tone, Ghetto Pillz, 9mm, Empty Pocket, Sone Phyo and DJ Michael Xeno join Kyet Pa at an event to promote his new album. Nov. 17, 4 p.m. Kandawgyi Hmawsinkyun. Buy Kyet Pa's new album at the entrance to enjoy the show for free.
One World Through My Lens Ye Naing Wynn showcases around 30 landscape photos he captured during five years of globetrotting. Nov. 16-19, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Secretariat building, Botatung Tsp.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Party night with a Thai DJ. Nov. 17, 10 p.m. till late. NYX Rooftop Club, No. 117, West Shwegondine Road, Bahan Tsp. Reservations at 09-780-006-699
Latin Dance Night Dance lessons and performances in salsa, bachata, tanga and zumba. Nov. 16, 7.30 p.m. till late. YangonYangon Rooftop Bar, Sakura Tower.
Goethe Film Night: 'Der Ganz Grosse Traum' This film is about a visionary young teacher who not only changed his students' lives, but also introduced the game of football to Germany. Nov. 14, 6.30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Goethe-Institut Myanmar, corner of Kaba Aye Pagoda Road and Nat Mauk Street, Bahan Tsp. Free admission.
Józef Piłsudski—A Polish & European Statesman An exhibition of posters depicting the independence struggle led by Józef Piłsudski in Poland. No. 15-18, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Gallery 65, No. 65, Yaw Min Gyi Street, Dagon Tsp.
Mr. Water: Aung Htet Lwin The artist's fifth solo exhibition. Nov. 15-19, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., 43 Art Gallery, 43rd Street.
Lifetime Memory: U That Aung An exhibition showcasing the works of the 85-year-old artist. Nov. 11-15, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ahla Thit Gallery, No. 17, University Avenue Road, Bahan Tsp. The post Ten Things to do in Yangon This Week appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
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