| Foreign Minister Suu Kyi, What Is Your Message To Asean? Posted: 06 Apr 2016 06:05 AM PDT  Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (left) shakes hands with Burma's Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi (right) after a joint press conference in Naypyidaw on April 5, 2016. Burma, once isolated regionally and globally, is rapidly opening up with ongoing political reforms. Foreign affairs representatives from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in particular are now anticipating a relationship with a new Burmese counterpart. Yet she is no stranger to them: the foreign minister is also the country's charismatic leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. We will soon see Suu Kyi travelling within Asia and beyond to attend international summits and to represent Burma's National League for Democracy-led (NLD) government abroad. As Foreign Affairs Minister, the Lady will outline the country's foreign policy. A major shift is not expected—insiders predict that Burma will keep its current "independent" and "active" approach to international relations, but there is a hope that Burma will become a more dynamic regional player.  Aung Zaw is the founding editor-in-chief of The Irrawaddy. It was not surprising that Suu Kyi's first diplomatic meeting as foreign minister was with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on April 4. She denied discussing the construction of Kachin State's multimillion dollar, Chinese-funded Myitsone Dam, which is currently suspended. It is expected to be a key and recurring issue in Sino-Burmese relations in the coming months, as investors and environmental activists alike wait for the Lady and her government to take a public position on the hydropower project, which would generate electricity for China. For these first talks, Wang Yi was openly invited to Naypyidaw—reportedly at Suu Kyi's request; past meetings between China and the NLD chairwoman were often held under more secretive circumstances. Since 2012, Suu Kyi has been allowed to travel outside of Burma; previously, she was barred from leaving the country, lest she wish not to return. In the past four years, she has visited Thailand and Singapore, and has been to the White House as President Obama's guest. She also flew to Europe where she met various national leaders. Aside from visiting Japan on the invitation of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2013, Suu Kyi also flew to Beijing where she was welcomed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2015. She is no doubt an international figurehead. A modern history of Burma within Southeast Asian regional relations arguably began in 1997, when the country first became an Asean member. The grouping had then exercised a "constructive engagement" policy with the country's military regime—a move that was met with widespread international condemnation. In the same year, Suu Kyi held her first meeting with the Philippines' then-foreign minister, Domingo Siazon, at her residence in Rangoon. She also met with Malaysian Foreign Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi the following year. Asean leaders were largely silent regarding Suu Kyi's total of 15 years of house arrest between 1989 and 2010, but spoke out in May 2003 when regime-sponsored thugs viciously attacked her convoys in central Burma. In the first joint communiqué issued by the Asean foreign ministers, Burma's military rulers were asked to lift restrictions on Suu Kyi. It was perhaps a sign of Asean's growing discomfort in defending Burma's generals. Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia's former prime minister, who had once strongly supported Burma's admission to the Asean, began suggesting in 2003 that Burma be expelled from the group over the Suu Kyi's continued detention. Subsequently, leaders in Singapore and Indonesia joined efforts to pressure the regime to take steps toward meaningful political change. The bloc later rallied to openly condemn the regime's bloody crackdown on Buddhist monks in 2007. Only in 2014, after 17 years of membership, was Burma permitted to host its first Asean regional meeting, and subsequently, its annual summit, where government leaders from China, India, Russia and the US attended talks held under former President Thein Sein's administration. Today, Suu Kyi's diplomatic knowledge and skills will be tested by the complexity of both internal issues back home and current Southeast Asian politics. The continued mistreatment of marginalized minorities such as Arakan State's Rohingya—referred to locally as 'Bengali,' a name which they reject—will be a thorny issue of discussion. Malaysia and Indonesia will no doubt continue to express concern about this, as many Rohingya have arrived on their shores after fleeing Burma. Suu Kyi will have to confront some other uncomfortable questions from the media and her international counterparts on displacement and conflict. Over 100,000 refugees from Burma continue to live along the Thai-Burmese border, and several ethnic armed groups also maintain bases in this area. Millions of migrants have left Burma for Thailand or Malaysia—what will be Suu Kyi's message to them and to their host countries? China's assertive role in the region, the territorial conflict in the South China Sea, and the genuine economic integration that still eludes the Asean bloc are also issues with which Suu Kyi will be expected to engage. There are worrying signs of rising tension and rivalry between China and the US in Asia. Beijing's political clout in the region and its strategy of courting individual Asean members sets off alarm bells. Suu Kyi is taking on a leadership role within a context where the Southeast Asian bloc to which Burma belongs is losing its steam, its unity and its prominence. Communist governments still rule Laos and Vietnam; Malaysia is undergoing distressing political regression and Thailand is rife with political uncertainty. Only Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Brunei appear stable. How will the Lady respond to this lack of regional cohesion? Leaders will expect Suu Kyi's insights to be different from those of her military-backed predecessors, who frequently evaded or brushed aside inquiries about sensitive topics. Unresolved questions with regional repercussions will undoubtedly test the veteran activist-turned-foreign minister. In May, President Htin Kyaw is attending the Asean-Russia Summit in Sochi, Russia, and media reports suggest that Suu Kyi is likely to accompany him. What message she will carry and how she will interact with other diplomats will be interesting to watch, and to assess. The post Foreign Minister Suu Kyi, What Is Your Message To Asean? appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Brewery Launches Burma Road Safety Campaign Posted: 06 Apr 2016 05:46 AM PDT  Zita Schellekens, director of corporate relations at APB Alliance Brewery Company, speaks at the launch of the National Road Safety Campaign in Rangoon on April 6, 2016. (Photo: Nyein Nyein / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Aiming to reduce the number of traffic accidents and fatalities in Burma, APB Alliance Brewery Company Ltd. (APB ABC) and others are teaming up to launch a national road safety campaign. The campaign launched Wednesday, one week before the Thingyan water festival, when traffic accidents in Burma related to drunk driving are higher than usual. Burma's roads are among the most dangerous in Southeast Asia, and the government estimates that road accidents kill more than 4,000 people a year, about 12 per day. The project is a joint effort between APB ABC, which is part of Netherlands-based Heineken Company brewery, the Burmese government's Road Transport Administration Department (RTAD) and the Italian nongovernmental organization CESVI. The director of corporate relations at APB ABC, Zita Schellekens, told The Irrawaddy: "One of the causes for [the high incidence of traffic fatalities] is drunk driving," adding, "We want to share responsibility for that." The number of vehicles on Burma's roads more than doubled from 2009-14, and in 2014 the World Health Organization reported that the country's traffic death rate for every 100,000 people had more than tripled in less than a decade. According to RTAD, there were more than 15,000 road accidents, 25,000 injuries and 4,000 deaths in 2015. The highest numbers of accidents were reported in Rangoon, Mandalay, Pegu and Irrawaddy divisions. Schellekens said traffic accidents are often due to lack of regard for safety rules, including not wearing helmets while riding bicycles, not using seatbelts, drunk-driving, speeding or using cellphones while driving. She said changing people's behavior was crucial and encouraged the public to educate themselves about safe practices through social media and games, adding that the project would launch an educational app in May called Shwe Lan, meaning "Golden Road" in Burmese, and create an animated cartoon to raise awareness online. The one-year campaign will emphasize changing road safety behaviors through mass media advocacy; using billboards, advertisements, television, radio shows and community outreach in the most dangerous regions to be on the road, starting with Rangoon, she said. The post Brewery Launches Burma Road Safety Campaign appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Mon Armed Group Seeks Talks With Prospective Investors Posted: 06 Apr 2016 04:34 AM PDT  A sign for Mawlamyine Cement Limited at the entrance to the cement factory in Kyaikmayaw Township. (Photo: Nai Ko Thu / Facebook) RANGOON — Prospective investors to Mon State are being advised to ensure consultation with local civil society organizations and the dominant ethnic Mon rebel group before sinking money into the region. Nai Win Hla, an executive committee member of the New Mon State Party (NMSP), the Mon armed group, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that it was not enough for investors to deal only with the central government or its state-level counterpart, and that local stakeholders including the NMSP expected to have a say in development. "We found that there was a problem at the cement factory from MCL [Mawlamyine Cement Limited] in Kyaikmayaw, because the company did not inform our locals of the building of a coal power plant. This is why we asked any foreign investors who come to our region to talk to CSOs, and our group," said Nai Win Hla, echoing an official statement issued by the NMSP over the weekend. "MCL only took an agreement with the government when they built this company, this was a problem. They did not talk to CSOs or our group," he added. Nai Win Hla said the company inked a deal with the Mon State government to build the cement factory, and then built a coal-fired power plant inside the compound without local residents' knowledge. It was only after the factory and power plant were up and running that locals realized the existence of the coal-fired power plant, a revelation that was upsetting to many who had learned of the negative environmental impacts of coal-fired power plants. The cement factory is owned by Mawlamyine Cement Limited (MCL), a subsidiary of Siam Cement Group from Thailand. Nai Win Zaw, director of the Jeepyah Civil Society Development Organization based in Moulmein, the Mon State capital, agreed that a lack of consultation with local stakeholders was the primary problem with the MCL project. "MCL has been having problems with our locals because they have ignored the voices of the locals," he said. Since political and economic reforms kicked off in 2011, foreign investment in Burma has soared, though most of it has been directed toward the commercial capital Rangoon or other large cities. Elsewhere, concern over impacts to resident populations has been a stumbling block for investors, including in Mon State's Ye Township, where plans for a coal-fired power plant in the village of An Din have run up against local opposition. "Our area is not stable yet. We want foreign investment to come when we are able to find a political solution with the [central] government," said Nai Win Hla, referring to the fact that the NMSP is one of about a dozen ethnic armed groups that refused or were denied the chance to sign a so-called nationwide ceasefire agreement with the government last year. The post Mon Armed Group Seeks Talks With Prospective Investors appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| YSX Set for Rapid Expansion in 2016: Official Posted: 06 Apr 2016 03:22 AM PDT  Government officials clap during the ceremonial opening of the Yangon Stock Exchange in Rangoon on Dec. 9, 2015. (Photo: Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters) RANGOON — About a half-dozen additional companies could potentially list on the Yangon Stock Exchange by year's end, Maung Maung Thein, chairman of the Myanmar Securities Exchange Commission, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, bolstering the economic heft of a bourse that last month began trading with just one firm's shares available. That company, First Myanmar Investment (FMI), saw its shares publically tradeable starting from March 25. For months, officials involved said it, along with five other companies, would be the first to list on the new bourse. Myanmar Citizens Bank; Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holdings Public Limited; Myanmar Agribusiness Public Company Limited (Mapco); First Private Bank; and Great Hor Kham were the other five firms expected to initially list on the YSX. But on Wednesday, Maung Maung Thein said by the end of this year, the stock exchange's ranks could more than double from the six companies that had been expected to list in 2016. "We're now considering another six or seven new companies to list on YSX this year, among them banks, SEZ, and other similar businesses to the previous round," Maung Maung Thein said. He declined to offer more details on the additional prospective company listings. His reference to an "SEZ" would appear to imply that the holding company of one of two special economic zones, at Kyaukphyu in Arakan State or Dawei in Tenasserim Division—will list alongside the expected shares trading of the Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holdings Public Limited. "We will prioritize selling shares from the first round of listed companies, so Thilawa SEZ shares will be second after FMI shares," he said. "We took a long time to build this stock market here, so it doesn't matter if we take a little more time to make sure it keeps working," Maung Maung Thein said. Myanmar Citizen's Bank and First Private Bank were expected to follow the Thilawa listing, he added. "Why it's been delayed is, we have had to wait for those listed companies. Whether they are ready or not depends on their situation," he said. FMI shares began trading on March 25 at 26,000 kyats per share. The stock has peaked at 41,000 kyats, and closed on Wednesday at 30,000 kyats. Six securities companies have been awarded licenses to serve as underwriters for shares traded on the YSX, including Kanbawza (KBZ) Group, CB Securities and AYA Securities, as well as the Myanmar Securities Exchange Center, which has experience in shares transactions thanks to its role as the over-the-counter trading predecessor to the YSX. The post YSX Set for Rapid Expansion in 2016: Official appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Sagaing Resident Dies During Heavy Winds Posted: 06 Apr 2016 03:17 AM PDT  Downed trees following heavy winds in Kale. (Photo: Ko Po Tin / Kalay) MANDALAY — Heavy winds and rain killed one local and destroyed dozens of homes in Kale Township, Sagaing Division, on Tuesday night. According to the police, Min Thu Wai, 29, died when a tree collapsed on top of him in the city of Kale, sometimes known as Kalaymyo. "He and his friend were on their way home when the winds came," said an official from the Kale police station. "His friend Arkar Hein survived. But he died on the spot, because the tree fell directly onto his head." The police said recovery work was underway and the scope and amount of the damage was still being assessed. "We believe at least 50 homes were affected," said the official. "However, we are still confirming and we can't announce the exact figure yet." According to locals, heavy winds battered the town for about 15 minutes and left the downtown littered with debris. "Broken trees filled the roads, and roofs were torn off homes," said resident Aung Thu Htun. "There was no electricity in the town because the electric lines were cut when the trees fell." Locals say this week's windstorm was the second largest natural disaster they had ever experienced, after the severe flooding last year, when monsoon rains affected thousands in the region and millions nationwide. The post Sagaing Resident Dies During Heavy Winds appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Military MPs Boycott as Lower House Passes ‘State Counselor’ Bill Posted: 05 Apr 2016 10:30 PM PDT  Lower House military lawmakers seen at the parliamentary complex in Naypyidaw on Feb. 26 (Photo: Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Burma's Lower House of Parliament approved the so-called "State Counselor" bill on Tuesday without any amendments to the legislation as passed by the Upper House, scoring support from a majority of lawmakers in the NLD-dominated legislature, despite aggressive pushback from the military bloc. The legislation will create a powerful position for National League for Democracy (NLD) chairwoman Aung San Suu Kyi, granting her a broad consultative mandate that spans Parliament, the executive branch and actors outside of government. It passed the Upper House last week but during a Lower House legislative session on Tuesday, four lawmakers—three military MPs and one lawmaker from the former ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP)—made 13 recommendations, highlighting specific amendments to the proposed bill. While collecting secret votes from lawmakers on whether to approve each article of the bill, as passed by the Upper House, or consider further amendments, military lawmakers boycotted the proceedings by refusing to cast ballots. Military lawmaker Brig-Gen Maung Maung participated in discussion of the bill and afterwards told media that the military MPs had refused to vote because the NLD-dominated legislature's behavior amounted to "democratic bullying." According to Article 95(a) of the 2008 Constitution, both chambers' approval of a bill is equivalent to Union Parliament passage. The bill now goes to NLD President Htin Kyaw for his signature, at which point it will become law. Maung Maung, a member of the Lower House Bill Committee, expressed his concern, stating that it was important for Parliament to respect the Constitution, and that the military's opposition to the bill was not due to political nor personal bias. He called for replacing the word "State" in the title of the bill with "President," explained that a law should not allow an individual to possess both legislative and executive powers, arguing that this would contravene the Constitution, and stressing the importance of separation of powers. He said the military bloc would not collaborate in the voting process for the bill if Parliament refused to discuss the military lawmakers' recommendations. "We will not participate in the vote if Parliament acts according to the ballot results," he said, in apparent protest of democratic norms. He also called for amending the term "Federal Union," which the bill used to describe the nation, to "Union Country," because the word federal is not stated in the 2008 military-drafted Constitution. The request put on display the sensitivity surrounding the idea of a federal system of government, a constitutional reform that the NLD supports but which military leaders have sent mixed signals on. Military lawmakers Col. Aung Thiha and Tun Myat Shwe recommended not including the specific name or party of an individual, and to amend the description of the post to "chairperson of the election-winning party," a change to Article 4 of the bill. USDP lawmaker Thein Tun said a law should not be created for a single term, calling to cut the last chapter of the bill. The Bill Committee, however, has argued that the legislation was drafted based on the current political context—in which Suu Kyi is constitutionally barred from the presidency—and that the last chapter should remain for that reason. Lower House Bill Committee member Wai Hlaing Tun, responding to the opposition's recommendations, said the bill would not impact the three branches of the State and that the title of the bill would not be amended. He also said the position was created specifically for Suu Kyi and that the bill should thus mention her by name. "The bill was drafted for the popular leader [Suu Kyi], and not intended for other people," he said. As Lower House Speaker Win Myint announced on Tuesday that the chamber had approved the "State Counselor" bill as passed by the Upper House, the entire military bloc—a constitutionally enshrined 25 percent of the legislature—stood up to express their disapproval. The post Military MPs Boycott as Lower House Passes 'State Counselor' Bill appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Vietnam Warns of Dire Impact From Planned Mekong Dams Posted: 05 Apr 2016 09:51 PM PDT  Villagers hold signs and placards at a Thai court in Bangkok on June 24, 2014, where they were protesting Thailand's involvement in a $3.5 billion hydropower dam being built on the Mekong River in neighboring Laos. (Photo: Reuters) Research commissioned by Vietnam has warned of devastating environmental and economic effects for millions of people living along the Mekong River if 11 proposed dams are built on its mainstream. The 2 1/2-year study by Danish water expert DHI was submitted recently by Vietnam to the Mekong River Commission, a body comprising Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos that was set up to mediate the conflicting water priorities of Mekong countries. The commission released a five-page summary of the study to The Associated Press on Tuesday. It predicts "high to very high adverse effects" on fisheries and agriculture in Cambodia and Vietnam if all 11 dams are built, and even greater damage if the Mekong's tributaries also are dammed. The famed Irrawaddy dolphin would likely disappear from the Mekong, it says. Unmitigated hydropower development will cause "long-lasting damage to the floodplains and aquatic environment, resulting in significant reduction in the socio-economic status of millions of residents," according to the study. Much of Southeast Asia is suffering a record drought due to El Nino, and officials in Vietnam have said the effects are exacerbated by existing Chinese dams on the upper Mekong. The rice-bowl-sustaining river system flows into Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The Mekong is also one of the world's largest inland fisheries, providing a livelihood to millions of people. Dams diminish fishing grounds by creating barriers to breeding-cycle migrations and creating river conditions that destroy habitat and food sources. The study said agricultural production in the lower reaches of the Mekong Delta would drop steeply because the dams would trap river sediments, resulting in large reductions in the volume of nutrients flowing downstream. Less sediment downstream would also make the delta more at risk of saltwater incursion that can render land infertile. It predicts annual fishery and farming losses of more than US$760 million in Vietnam and $450 million in Cambodia. Fish catches would drop by 50 percent for Vietnam and Cambodia, and 10 percent of the delta's fish species would either disappear from the region or become extinct. The incomes of fishing and farming villages would likely fall by half. Laos is behind many of the new dams proposed for the lower Mekong and went ahead with construction of the Xayaburi dam in 2012 despite the concerns of neighboring countries. It wants hydropower exports to become a mainstay of its economy, which is among the least developed in Asia. The river commission said the Vietnamese report will help its own study, which was commissioned in 2011 and is expected to be completed next year. The post Vietnam Warns of Dire Impact From Planned Mekong Dams appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
