‎"Poor people can imagine what it's like to be rich, but the rich can't imagine what it's like to be poor"

When we consider about development and change, we should aimed at meeting the basic needs of the poorest first in Burma. We need to start thinking about the people who are struggling day to day for the survival. Only when these people developed in skills and have equal rights to access like others, then we can really see the progress of the country.
http://www.bdcburma.org

Burma: We are with exploited strike workers of Tai Yi (BST)

22 Feb 2012

Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) sends our solidarity with strike workers of Tai Yi shoe factory of Burma who are peacefully demanding to have fare pay, better employee rights and better working condition. We are with the strike workers of Tai Yi of Burma.

We are very sad to learn that the workers from Chinese Owned Tai Yi shoe factory which is located in Hlaing Thar Yar Industrial Zone in Rangoon, Burma are mostly rural women who are just asking for 150 kyat (19 cents) per hour from 75 kyat (less that 10 US cents) an hour. The workers got to work at least 50 hours a week but they are struggling to survive day in and day out due to low wages since they only make around 60,000 kyat ($75) a month including overtime.

Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) would like to urge Burmese government, International Labour Organisation (ILO) and all the citizens of Burma to lend your support for the exploited strike workers of Tai Yi shoe factory of Burma.

Tai Yi shoe factory workers’ strike of Burma highlight the urgent need of the establishment of labour unions, flourishing labour rights and enforcing fair labour laws.

For more information please contact Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) at

U Myo Thein [United Kingdom]
Director, Burma Democratic Concern (BDC)
Phone: 00-44-208-493-9137, 00-44-787- 788-2386

U Khin Maung Win [United States]
Director, Burma Democratic Concern (BDC)
Phone: 001-941-961-2622

Daw Khin Aye Aye Mar [United States]
Patron, Burma Democratic Concern (BDC)
Phone: 001 509-783-7223

U Tint Swe Thiha [United States]
Patron, Burma Democratic Concern (BDC)
Phone: 001-509-582-3261, 001-509-591-8459

昂山素季的国度
不知此景是否让昂山素季想起牛津的夏末野餐，在离开英国23年以后，这并非常见的场合。仅仅在一年多以前，这还是一块外人不得踏足的禁地，而当时处于软禁中的昂山素季，仍是这个国家最大的敏感词。有一段时间，军政府甚至不允许人民说出“素季”这个名字，于是人民就改口尊称她为“夫人”。“两年前，这些明星不可能来见她，”这次聚会的组织者Myo Yan Naung Thein说，“他们只能在心中默默地支持。但现在不同了，人们迫不及待地要表现出他们对夫人的支持。”

http://ping.fm/TUMMT

Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's political party has warned that by-elections may not be fair because of restrictions on campaigning.

National League for Democracy (NLD) spokesman Nyan Win said they face "many difficulties", such as getting approval to use public venues for rallies.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who was released from house arrest in 2010, is running for one of 48 parliamentary seats in April.

The polls are being seen as a test of the government's commitment to reform.

The NLD boycotted Burma's last election in 2010 but agreed to rejoin the electoral process after the military backed government brought in a series of democratic reforms.

"What we want is fair play, but the restrictions have increased lately. It is very difficult to say that the upcoming by-elections could be free and fair," NLD spokesman Nyan Win said in a news conference in Rangoon.

Specifically, he says that the party has been stopped from using three sports fields for the rallies.

'Hugely symbolic'
Even if the NLD wins all 48 seats, the military-backed government would still have a commanding majority in parliament.

But, the BBC's Jonah Fisher in Bangkok says, opposition victory would be seen as hugely symbolic.

Although insignificant in terms of numbers, the conduct of the election will go a long way towards deciding whether Western sanctions to Burma will be lifted.

The 2010 elections saw a military junta replaced with a nominally civilian government backed by the armed forces.

Since then, the new administration has embarked on a series of reforms, prompting the NLD to rejoin the political process.

Western nations have said that they will match progress on reform with movement on sanctions.

The NLD had won a landslide victory in the 1990 election, but the ruling military junta at the time did not allow the party to assume office.

Ms Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize, was under house arrest at the time. This is the first time that she has run for a parliamentary seat.
http://ping.fm/fBhBJ

BURMA RELATED NEWS - FEBRUARY 15, 2012

Reuters - Exclusive:Myanmar peace can be reached within 3 months: minister
Reuters - Myanmar eyes skytrain, underground for biggest city - minister
Aljazeera - Myanmar: Ceasefire does not mean peace
Calcutta News - Myanmar's democracy aids in better ties, trade: India
The Economic Times - India says Myanmar's democratic path will strengthen bilateral ties
Channel NewsAsia - IE Singapore, SBF lead business mission to Myanmar
Bernama - Myanmar Establishes Diplomatic Ties With Two More Countries
Bernama - Myanmar-EU Relations Improve As Myanmar Heads For Change, Reform
NPR - Opposition Leader Bets On Myanmar Reforms
ASIAONE - Myanmar 'will make Asean chairmanship a success'
Asia Times Online - Precarious balance for Myanmar reform
Asia News Network - EU official sees Burma roadmap within the year
Wall Street Journal (blog) - Suu Kyi to China: Myanmar More Than Just an Investment Opportunity
Wall Street Journal (blog) - Singapore Presses Its Advantage in Myanmar
The Financial Times - Myanmar agrees to hold UN donor conference
European Commission (Press Release) - EU Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs, Yangon, 14 February 2012
Korean Central News Agency - Floral Basket to DPRK Embassy by Myanmar Political Party
The Irrawaddy - Burma's Govt Does the Right Thing; Activists Wonder Why
The Irrawaddy - Opposition MPs Take Aim at Army Influence
The Irrawaddy - Myanmar: On Claiming Success
Mizzima News - Cheap Chinese car popular in Burma
Mizzima News - Suu Kyi, Thein Sein campaigning on jobs
Mizzima News - Rights commission to avoid ethnic conflict issues
DVB News - Govt vehicle hits landmine, one dies
DVB News - Abducted Kachin woman still missing
DVB News - S’pore keen on stake in Burma’s economy
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Exclusive:Myanmar peace can be reached within 3 months: minister
By Martin Petty | Reuters – 3 hrs ago

NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (Reuters) - Myanmar's government expects to reach ceasefire deals with all of the country's ethnic minority rebel armies within three months before starting a process of political dialogue towards "everlasting peace", its top peace negotiator said on Wednesday.

In his first interview with a foreign news organization, Aung Min, a retired general and minister for rail transportation tasked with negotiating an end to the decades-old conflicts, said Myanmar's 49 years of military rule had not let peace prevail but the new civilian-led government was winning the trust of the rebel armies.

Long-lasting political solutions with economic incentives for conflict areas were within reach, he said.

"This is a chronic disease that has been happening for over 60 years. Successive governments couldn't cure the disease because the remedy didn't fit," Aung Min said.

"Things have changed in our country and this situation has now changed, this has allowed us to find the remedy."

Peace with the rebels, most of whom demand autonomy under what they call a "genuine federal system", has been set by the United States and the European Union as a condition for lifting sanctions on the former Burma, an underdeveloped but resource-rich country that has wilted under international isolation and inept army rule.

But Aung Min said the government's motive was not the lifting of sanctions.

"I don't consider other factors. We are all brethrens, no matter whether ethnic fighters or soldiers die, they are all our families," he said.

Nine of 16 rebel groups had signed ceasefire agreements with the government and he expected six more deals to be reached within a few months, including with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), one of the biggest groups, which the Myanmar military is still fighting.

He said the Kayah Nationalities Progressive Party (KNPP) would sign a deal on March 1 and five smaller parties were ready to put down their arms.

He declined to comment on the conflict in Kachin State, which rages on despite an order by President Thein Sein and the armed forces commander-in-chief for troops to end offensives.

Aung Min also said Senior General Than Shwe, the former dictator who ruled Myanmar with an iron fist for 18 years, had no influence on his former prodigies now in charge of the nominally civilian government.

"U Than Shwe has retired completely. We don't need to follow his orders or influence. There is now virtually no contact," Aung Min said. U is a Burmese honorific.

"He has a big library next to his residence. When he was in power he had no time to read books and he's reading now. We owe a debt of gratitude to him for his leadership during the transitional period, for the peaceful transition from military rule to a democratic society."

"He doesn't need to be involved. I'm very sure he'll be pleased with the situation now, looking at it from afar."

Many people in Myanmar suspect the reclusive and highly secretive former strongman, a psychological warfare specialist, has maintained a behind the scenes role.

Aung Min's comments were the first by a member of the new government lauding Than Shwe for his role in the transition since he stepped aside on March 30 last year to make way for Thein Sein's nominally civilian government.

"IT CAN TAKE TIME"

Aung Min also rejected speculation that there was conflict in the government between reformers and hardline remnants of the junta.

"This is all rumors. We are all united behind the president," he added.

Thein Sein had laid down a three-step plan for peace with the rebel groups that involved ceasefires, political agreements and resettlement of displaced people, then a special assembly of parliament in which all of the groups would cement long-term deals, he said.

Ethnic Burmans, the country's traditional rulers, make up about two-thirds of its estimated 60 million people.

A major issue since the country gained independence from Britain in 1948 has been the demand from ethnic minority groups for self-determination.

Aung Min would not say whether that could be possible, but said arrangements could be made under a 2008 constitution, which could be amended, and the groups would be encouraged to form political parties and join parliament.

"Dialogue may take some time and then we will have a national assembly, but the more it talks, the longer it will take. The flexibility depends on the groups, we can push this through fast, or it can take time," he said.

It was difficult to gain the trust of the ethnic minority factions, he said, but most were sincere about peace and some leaders had stayed with him at his home in Naypyitaw, he said.

"At first they didn't trust me, they carried out body searches on me for weapons, they weren't brave enough to eat food I had brought, in case I poisoned them," he said.

"They didn't accept gifts and souvenirs in case there were bombs or booby-traps. I had to win their trust and confidence and I was humble with them."

He said he had approached foreign firms, many of which ran factories that were damaged during neighboring Thailand's floods last year, with a view to setting up in former conflict zones once peace deals had been reached.

Myanmar migrant workers and refugees, many of whom are in Thailand, would be encouraged to return with offers of incentives like higher wages than Thailand offers, land for farming, factory jobs and development projects in villages.

"In the past we never thought of a post-ceasefire agreement, before this, it has just been ceasefires. This is our plan for eternal peace," he said.
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Myanmar eyes skytrain, underground for biggest city - minister
NAYPYITAW, Myanmar | Wed Feb 15, 2012 8:11am EST

Feb 15 (Reuters) - Myanmar's is in talks with foreign companies with a view to building elevated and underground train systems for the commercial capital Yangon, the country's rail transport minister said on Wednesday

"We are now talking with international companies for the construction of both a skytrain and underground train system for the commercial capital Yangon," the minister, Aung Min, told Reuters in an interview.

"There is no such project planned for Naypyitaw," he said, referring to the small, newly built capital.

The former capital, Yangon, is Myanmar's biggest city with an estimated 6 million of the country's 60 million people living there.

Aung Min said the train systems in Bangkok and Beijing were models for the planned Yangon system.

"The (interested) companies are Singaporean, Japanese and Germany and American ... We are now talking with them."

Asked how long it might take to build the system, he said: "We will implement this on a build, operate and transfer policy, so it depends on the terms."
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Aljazeera - Myanmar: Ceasefire does not mean peace
Violence in the border regions have not ended, despite a reported ceasefire between the government and Karen rebels.
Francis Wade Last Modified: 15 Feb 2012 13:46

Chiang Mai, Thailand - Just weeks after news reports emerged of a historic ceasefire agreement between Myanmar's government and the rebel Karen National Union, the crackle of gunfire once again sounded in the country's east.

Amid jubilation that the world's longest-running civil war could be nearing an end, a Myanmar battalion on January 24 shelled a camp in Karen state housing internally displaced persons. Already attuned to life in the volatile frontier region, the camp's inhabitants fled, adding to the migration of civilians that have spent more than 60 years fleeing back and forth between their villages and jungle hideouts, pursued by marauding Myanmar troops.

The shelling, and other reports of clashes since January 12 when the two sides shook hands, spotlights the fragility of these ceasefires.

Further north in Shan state, a similar situation has unfolded: Opposition Shan State Army (SSA) troops attempting to withdraw last week from locations in the east of the state - one of a number of points agreed upon when a truce was signed in January - came under fire from Myanmar soldiers who had blocked their exit. The SSA's chief, Yawd Serk, later told followers that the government had downgraded its peace efforts, and once again its frontline troops are on high alert.

While budgets and by-elections are being hotly debated in the capital, President Thein Sein’s much-vaunted reform programme is not being witnessed in the border regions. Disparate ethnic minority groups there have long been sidelined from the political process, and conflict and coercion (including a ban on schools from teaching in the native tongue) has been used to attempt to assimilate them into the Burman majority.

But there is another increasingly evident disconnect between Naypyidaw and Myanmar’s periphery: Thein Sein appears now to have little control over his army. Twice in the past two months he has ordered troops to end attacks on rebels, with little success.

Any hope for a quick solution to the civil war is naive: Mutual animosity in these border regions runs deep, and distrust of the government is entrenched throughout these ethnic groups.

The Karen war has been raging since 1948, following an insurrection aimed at securing an independent Karen state (a result of a promise to the Karen from the departing British that never materialised), and the collateral in eastern Myanmar has been huge: More than half a million people are internally displaced in the unforgiving frontier terrain, while nearly 150,000 populate camps in neighbouring Thailand. Researchers have also documented some 3,300 villages razed by the Myanmar army.

So in this context the jubilation that initially greeted the agreement is understandable - any possible end to such a drawn-out and debased conflict should be celebrated.

But time and again Naypyidaw has reneged on past deals struck with ethnic armies. The KNU themselves are highly suspicious of the motives at play within the government, and are aware that bringing a decades-old struggle for autonomy to an end before that goal is properly realised will anger those who have lost much in this fight. Even the KNU's vice president, David Takapaw, told the New York Times this week that, "The grass roots are very much concerned that it [signing the ceasefire] went too quickly - they thought it was a sell-out. There is a feeling that we have been cheated."

This points to a tension within the ranks of the group at a time of great flux. But it also signals a gulf in thinking between those involved in the conflict, and the outside players attempting to influence events in Myanmar.

The EU and US say an end to the civil war is a perquisite for lifting sanctions and kick-starting business, a prospect that has guided the reform efforts of the new government, which cloaks its public overtures to ethnic armies in the rhetoric of human rights. These same people steering the government towards becoming an acceptable ally, who have applauded the ceasefires, somewhat naively see the conflict itself as the main problem in Karen state, rather than the heavy militarisation of rural regions that will linger way beyond any nominal truce to ensure that genuine peace remains a distant prospect.

Despite the fanfare, these ceasefire deals do not signify a valediction to a Myanmar of old. Rather, the priorities of the government have changed. While the former junta was explicit about wishing to see ethnic groups either assimilated ("Burmanised"), pacified or wiped out, Thein Sein has been forced to adopt a different approach that nevertheless seeks to bring the majority of the country under Naypyidaw's control. More pro-market than any past administration, he has put Myanmar through the facelift necessary to attract foreign investment and to ensure those investors can safely exploit the conflict-torn border regions where resistant armies currently hinder access to natural resources.

He first tried to do this using sheer force. In 2010 the government offered rebels one of two ultimatums: assimilate into the Myanmar army as Border Guard Forces or get crushed.

Widespread refusals to transform into border militias triggered a wave of fighting last year, and what had been lasting ceasefires between the government and three armed groups - the Kachin Independence Army, the Shan State Army (North) and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army - were broken. In Kachin state, which until June last year had enjoyed relative peace for the past 17 years, up to 55,000 people are now displaced.

Failure to rout these groups, in battles that pitched rebels knowledgeable of their terrain against teenage soldiers often deployed from urban areas, forced Thein Sein along a different path. While the finer detail of the Karen talks have not been revealed, it is highly likely that the president's negotiating team offered the KNU sizeable business concessions along the frontier with Thailand, where cross-border trade in timber and other goods can generate significant returns. It would be a tantalising prospect for the group, which for decades has relied on small-scale logging ventures for revenue while the likes of the Kachin, who signed ceasefires in the mid-1990s, profited from lucrative exports of teak and jade to China.

But the deals will not create fully autonomous zones for the Karen, which had become the group's key demand in recent decades. Instead it appears troops from each side will be able to pass through one another's territory; with that, the potential for abuse of civilians by the Myanmar army remains high. Moreover, with a record that suggests heavy militarisation of regions rich in energy potential is a requirement for Myanmar, the looming investment in Karen state and elsewhere, much of which will focus on hydropower and mining, brings the threat of greater troop presence.

The Karen Human Rights Group, whose teams document abuses of civilians in the volatile state, warned in a report late last year that rosy assessments of Myanmar were being made by the international community without heeding the voices of rural people, who remain off the radar for visiting dignitaries but whose situation makes them - not outside observers - the best placed to gauge the quality of reform.

It also forewarned that nascent ceasefire deals would not necessarily mean an end to violence: "Viewing the current human rights situation in eastern Burma only through the narrow lens of the horrors of war distorts the reality of the situation and ignores the devastating effects of ingrained abusive practices."

The fire fights in Karen state are the more prominent face of a litany of problems stemming from militarisation that include forced labour, land confiscation, forcible recruitment, pillage, and so on. These will remain as long as Naypyidaw feels it necessary to keep troops in areas with populations that do not want to be brought under his control, particularly within whose lands lie precious bounty for the country's rulers.

A rushed ceasefire deal is a short-term fix for a government bent on winning plaudits, but will not solve the core problems that keep these border regions perennial areas of flight for their inhabitants.

Francis Wade is a journalist with the Democratic Voice of Burma, and has written this article in a personal capacity.
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Myanmar's democracy aids in better ties, trade: India
Calcutta News.Net
Wednesday 15th February, 2012 (IANS)

As Myanmar moves forward with its democratisation process, India Wednesday said the new civilian dispensation in its neighbouring country was paving the way for furthering of their bilateral relations and for increased two-way trade.

India's Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said the destinies of the neighbours was closely linked due to their shared land and sea borders.

"I have no doubt that as Myanmar continues on its new path charted out by its leaders, the strong ties between our two countries will only deepen and strengthen even further," Mathai said at a seminar on "India-Myanmar Relations: Strengthening Ties and Deepening Engagements" here.

The event was organised by Global India Foundation, a diplomacy think-tank, and the Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies.

Mathai said the bilateral relations between the two nations will help in "a new identity being created" in the region as a result of the enhanced economic and cultural ties.

"We are conscious of the need for greater land, air and sea connectivity between our two countries to facilitate trade. But as investment climate in Myanmar improves and connectivity improves, Indian companies are bound to invest in a variety of sectors," he said.

He said Indian business companies are actively assessing opportunities in Myanmar and the Indian government was happy to collaborate with Indian business for the Enterprise Indian Show held in Yangon last year.

The Indian foreign secretary said the most critical area of focus in India-Myanmar ties was the people-to-people contact.

He said the Indian government had extended support to Buddhist pilgrims from Myanmar and is also trying to encourage more tourist visits by extending visa-on-arrival scheme for them.

However, he acknowledged the need for increasing the air connectivity between the two countries.

In his remarks, Global India Foundation member-secretary Omprakash Mishra said India's Look East policy of the last two decades will produce result as the country's North-eastern region's connectivity and people-to-people contact improves with its neighbours such as Myanmar.
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15 Feb, 2012, 03.45PM IST, PTI
The Economic Times - India says Myanmar's democratic path will strengthen bilateral ties

NEW DELHI: With Myanmar taking steps to restore democracy, India today said the new path charted by it would help strengthen ties between the two countries and enable increased investment from Indian companies there.

"I have no doubt that as Myanmar continues on its new path charted out by its leaders, the strong ties between our two countries will only deepen and strengthen even further," Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said at a function here.

He said as the "destinies" of the two countries are closely linked both on land and on the sea, "a new identity will be created" in the region with enhanced economic and cultural ties.

"We are conscious of the need for greater land, air and sea connectivity between our two countries to facilitate trade. But as investment climate in Myanmar improves and connectivity improves, Indian companies are bound to invest in a variety of sectors," he said.

He said Indian business companies are actively assessing opportunities in Myanmar and the Indian government was happy to collaborate with Indian business for the enterprise Indian show held in Yangon in 2011.

Stating that people-to-people contact is another area of focus with Myanmar, Mathai noted the government have extended support to Buddhist pilgrims from Myanmar and is also trying to encourage more tourist visits by extending tourist visa on arrival scheme for the nationals from the country.

"We hope to soon sign a cultural exchange programme which will systematise cultural interaction between our two countries," he said.
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Channel NewsAsia - IE Singapore, SBF lead business mission to Myanmar
By Linette Lim | Posted: 15 February 2012 1855 hrs

SINGAPORE: A business mission to Myanmar jointly led by International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore) and the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) has been received by President Thein Sein on Wednesday.

During the visit, the delegation met with top government officials and ministers where they outlined immediate and long-term plans for Myanmar's growth and development.

"There is much potential for Myanmar to achieve balanced, inclusive and sustainable growth, and these useful insights on the market, with its untapped potential, have provided us with many prospects for business collaboration," said Tony Chew, Mission Leader and SBF chairman.

"Our delegation is encouraged by the Myanmar ministers and business community to establish operations in Myanmar to tap on the competitive advantages offered."

In a statement, SBF said the ministers also "shared steps taken to create a more business friendly environment in Myanmar, through the revision of foreign investment laws and introduction of tax incentives, amongst others".

On Monday, the delegation had also called on U Myint Swe, Chief Minister of Yangon Region, and U Hla Myint, Mayor of Yangon City.

The Chief Minister touched on investment opportunities for Singapore companies in Myanmar, highlighting areas such as hospitality, power supply, utilities, municipal waste management sectors and industrial infrastructure.

"Myanmar officials and businessmen are very receptive of Singapore's participation in the development of their economy," said Tan Soon Kim, Deputy Mission Leader and Group Director for Southeast Asia Group, IE Singapore.

"A key factor that differentiates Singapore companies from others is our ability to provide a comprehensive set of solutions, as we offer a whole value chain of services. An example would be our industrial parks, where we have different companies that can build, manage the park, provide the power and utilities, process and manage the waste and also the logistics services."

Taking place from February 12 to 18, the IE-SBF Myanmar Business Mission includes 115 participants representing 74 Singapore-based companies.

They will be involved in networking and business matching sessions, as well as seminars and site visits to find out more about the business opportunities in Myanmar.

Myanmar has been earning international praise for its fast pace of economic and political reforms since its first civilian President, ex-military man Thein Sein assumed office last March. This has also raised the possibility of the lifting of US and EU sanctions on the country.

In a widely anticipated by-election on April 1, pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party will contest more than 40 parliamentary seats.
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15 Februari, 2012 13:12 PM
Myanmar Establishes Diplomatic Ties With Two More Countries

YANGON, Feb 15 (Bernama) -- Myanmar has established diplomatic ties with two more countries -- Malawi and Bhutan at ambassadorial level in the start of 2012, according to official sources from Nay Pyi Taw Wednesday.

Two joint communiques on the establishment were respectively signed between Myanmar's Ambassador and the High Commissioner of Malawi in New Delhi on Jan 30 and between Permanent Representative of Myanmar to the United Nations and his Bhutan counterpart in New York on Feb 1, Xinhua news agency reported.

The diplomatic establishment with Malawi and Bhutan has brought the total number of countries in the world with which Myanmar has such links to 105 and 106 since it regained independence in 1948.

According to the Foreign Ministry, Myanmar has so far set up embassies in 30 countries and two permanent missions in New York and Geneva, and four consulates-general in China's Hong Kong, Kunming and Nanning, and India's Calcutta, respectively.

Meanwhile, 28 countries have their embassies in Myanmar. In addition, China and India have respectively set up consulates- general in Myanmar's Mandalay, the second largest city, while Switzerland in Yangon and Bangladesh in Sittway.
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February 15, 2012 13:47 PM
Myanmar-EU Relations Improve As Myanmar Heads For Change, Reform

YANGON, Feb 15 (Bernama) -- Relations between Myanmar and the European Union (EU) started to improve as Myanmar is heading for change and reform which are being gradually introduced after a new civilian government took office in March 2011, Xinhua news agency reported.

European Union Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs visited Myanmar from Feb 12 to 14. At the conclusion of his visit on Tuesday, Piebalgs voiced support and encouragement for Myanmar' s current change and reform, saying that such measures may lead to the easing of sanctions on the country.

"The measures will be fully reviewed in April. The conduct of by-elections on April 1 and the release of political prisoners will influence the outcome", Piebalgs said.

In constructive talks with President U Thein Sein, Speaker of the House of Representatives U Shwe Mann and four ministers including Foreign Minister U Wunna Maung Lwin in Nay Pyi Taw, Piebalgs announced a new aid package of 150 million euros (US$200 million) for the next two years, doubling EU aid since 1996.

The fund, which will beef up the current aid provided by the United Nations and non-governmental organizations since 1996, is said to finance projects in the areas of health, education and livelihood.

The EU had provided 174 millions euros to Myanmar since 1996 to help fight malaria and tuberculosis and improve infrastructures in rural areas.

He disclosed that the aid had been able to help almost 90,000 people cultivate the land and have access to food, bring 6 million children to school and treat 2 million people with malaria and 600, 000 with HIV.

He also expressed readiness to increase aid to foster Myanmar's development in the coming years when market access is restored.

He commended the government for the significant progress in advancing the peace process, agreeing with the government "to explore support for the peace process in the ethnic states".

He discussed with the government on cooperation on human rights, rule of law and release of political prisoners.

He encouraged the government to ensure a free and fair electoral process during the campaign and on election day.

Piebalgs hoped that after April by-elections, Myanmar and the EU could engage in a new chapter of political, economic and development cooperation.

He added that he had an open and constructive meeting with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon and visited an EU- funded project in Dala township.

He disclosed that EU will open a representative office in Yangon to manage aid programs by the end of April.

Meeting in Brussels in January, EU foreign ministers, recognizing Myanmar's political reforms, agreed to ease travel restrictions on its senior government officials, lifting the visa ban on Myanmar's president, vice presidents, cabinet members and parliamentary speakers.

The reforms have included the release of hundreds of political prisoners, the freeing of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from years of house arrest and allowing her and her party to participate in the April parliamentary by-elections and agreeing to pursue peace efforts with ethnic armed groups.

Further easing of restrictions will be possible as Myanmar introduces more reforms.

EU introduced sanctions on Myanmar in 1996 which was renewed annually. The sanctions also included barring EU companies and organizations from investing in Myanmar.

Piedalgs claimed that his trip to Myanmar was "to assess the ongoing reform and encourage their continuation".

It was also the first trip to Myanmar by a top EU official after the new government took office in March 2011 and started reform.
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NPR - Opposition Leader Bets On Myanmar Reforms
by Anthony Kuhn, February 15, 2012

The military-backed government of Myanmar, also known as Burma, has surprised many skeptics with the pace of its political reforms — releasing political prisoners, easing censorship and making peace with ethnic insurgents.

But none of these reforms have won it as much praise as its efforts to mend fences with opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. After nearly two decades under house arrest, Suu Kyi is now aiming to work for democracy within the system by running for a seat in parliament.

Lately, she has been on the campaign trail, standing up through the sunroof of her SUV, gathering up bouquets of flowers and cheers from well-wishers. Her supporters pack the dusty roads leading to the township of Kawhmu, the rural constituency she hopes to represent.

Campaigning For Parliament

At the entrance to one village, Suu Kyi is greeted by ethnic Karen residents, chanting a traditional welcome. The farmers' mouths are stained a rusty red from chewing betel nut. Their cheeks are smeared with a white herbal sunblock. Kawhmu is deep in the countryside, a four-hour drive from Yangon, the country's largest city.

Suu Kyi says she chose the area for its ethnic diversity. The area was hard-hit by Cyclone Nargis in 2008, and many residents were angry at the government's slow and feeble response to the emergency.

Suu Kyi asks the villagers for their support as they sit in a sun-baked field. She says she's wary of making campaign pledges, warning that the road to a better Burma will not be an easy one. The recent political reforms haven't changed much in Kawhmu. There's not much industry and not many jobs here.

"I and a lot of folks here want to vote for Suu Kyi," says 25-year-old farmer Sa Tun Lin. "I don't understand politics too well, but I want to choose someone who will work hard for the benefit of the people."

Suu Kyi is the daughter of Gen. Aung San, the Burmese national hero who negotiated independence from Great Britain in 1947. She didn't get into politics until 1988, and she has spent much of the time since then under house arrest.

Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy, boycotted the 2010 elections as unfair. It was not until last December that she announced that she had changed her mind and decided to return to electoral politics.

Skepticism Over Reforms

Some of her colleagues, including the party's co-founder, 82-year-old Win Tin, think she is too optimistic.

"I don't know whether you can trust, you see, this government or this president and so on," he says. "You cannot easily trust the army. The army can take power at any time according to that constitution."

Win Tin, a journalist who spent nearly two decades in jail for his political activism, would prefer to build up the party before competing in elections. But he says he knows that Suu Kyi is "The Lady," and the only person with the charisma and credentials needed to lead the Burmese pro-democracy movement.

"We have some different opinions on some issues," he concedes, "but anyhow, I stand with her, I follow her and I support her."

If she's elected to parliament, Suu Kyi says she wants to revise the constitution, which mandates a leading role for the army and gives it the right to invoke emergency powers that can be exercised without any accountability.

'Joining Our Efforts'

Even if Suu Kyi and her party sweep the April 1 by-elections, the military and the ruling party will still hold an overwhelming advantage in parliament. Pushing any major revisions through will be difficult.

Speaking at party headquarters, Suu Kyi says diplomatically that she's not trying to get the military to give up any of its power.

"I would like the military to cooperate with us in building democracy in Burma," she insists. "It's not a matter of relinquishing anything, but of joining in our efforts."

Suu Kyi appears to be gambling that the new administration is serious about democratic reform. The government, meanwhile, is gambling that embracing Suu Kyi will persuade foreign powers to lift their sanctions on Myanmar.

Officials have raised the possibility that that once in parliament, Suu Kyi could go from lawmaker to Cabinet minister. Her party won a landslide electoral victory in 1990, but the ruling junta refused to stand aside. Whether Suu Kyi and the party could some day have another chance at holding power will have to wait at least until the next general election in 2015.
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ASIAONE - Myanmar 'will make Asean chairmanship a success'
By Samantha Boh Wednesday, Feb 15, 2012

Singapore welcomes Myanmar's chairmanship of Asean in 2014, Foreign Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam said yesterday.

As the face of the 10-member organisation, Myanmar will have to defend Asean's interests as well as its own, he said.

The country will have to reassure external partners that, under its chairmanship, Asean would make progress towards a more united and connected Asean community.

"The world will be watching. Given the stakes, I am confident that Myanmar will work hard to make its Asean chairmanship a success," said Mr Shanmugam.

Myanmar voluntarily skipped its turn as chairman in 2005 and Asean foreign ministers agreed at the time to allow it to assume the position when it was ready.

Mr Shanmugam said Singapore's bilateral relations with Myanmar remain good, and that Singapore will continue to support the country through capacity building, economic and human-resource development, and public administration.

In response to a question as to whether Myanmar's chairmanship would be reviewed should it regress to its previous state of affairs, Mr Shanmugam said significant developments in Myanmar should be encouraged.

If "the course changes", further consideration will be needed, but "we will cross that bridge when we come to it", he said.
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Feb 16, 2012
Asia Times Online - Precarious balance for Myanmar reform
By Larry Jagan

BANGKOK - The future of Myanmar's reform process is in question as hardliners and liberals in government ramp up an increasingly bitter power struggle. Change in Myanmar remains fragile despite some encouraging reform signals and growing international goodwill towards President Thein Sein.

So far, though, President Thein Sein's good intentions have produced only limited practical change. Now, there are growing fears that the recent political gains, including the release of political prisoners and allowances for the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) to contest upcoming by-elections, could be reversed.

The reason is that the more liberal-minded ministers who support Thein Sein and his reform agenda are being cramped by persistent pressure from hardliners led by Vice President Tin Aung Myint Oo and other ministers who seem intent to derail reforms despite publicly declaring their support for democratic change.

Analysts and activists are split on whether these signs of change are genuine or a smokescreen to hide the regime's real intention to keep the military in power for as long as possible under the guise of civilian rule. Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has so far tentatively endorsed Thein Sein's reforms but according to sources close to her remains cautious.

Much rides for all sides on by-elections scheduled for April 1, where 46 of parliament's total 664 seats will be up for grabs and Suu Kyi will contest a seat on the outskirts of Yangon. The NLD overwhelmingly won polls held in 1990 but the military annulled the results and maintained its grip on power. The party failed to register and contest the 2010 elections and was banned as a result.

Both the European Union and United States have indicated they may roll back their economic and financial sanctions with more progress on reforms, including the holding of free and fair by-elections in April. The elections should also provide clarity about whether government reformers or hardliners are on the ascendency as well as the pace and extent of future reforms.

According to one government insider's estimate, around 20% of current ministers are in the liberal camp while another 20% fall with the hardliners. The other 60% are believed to be sitting on the fence waiting to see and side with whoever wins the intensifying power struggle, according to the government insider.

Other observers believe that the apparent divisions and splits among the ruling elite, both sides with military backgrounds, are being well-orchestrated and stress that the nature of the regime has not changed. They believe that even though the old military guard - led by former junta leader Senior General Than Shwe - have retired they still pull strings from behind the political curtain.

"President Thein Sein is a puppet of the new Myanmar government's strategy known as the eight-steps," said Aung Lynn Htut, a former military intelligence officer who defected when stationed as a diplomat in Washington in 2005, told Asia Times Online. "Than Shwe still directs policy and controls everything from behind the door," he said.

Others with links to top members of Thein Sein's government disagree and argue that the new nominally civilian government is sincere in its desire to bring reform, development and peace to Myanmar after decades of devastation and destruction under heavy-handed military rule.

"Thein Sein and his supporters are motivated by a 'gentlemen's' agenda," Myanmar academic, writer and editor Nay Win Maung, who died of a heart attack on January 1, frequently said of the new government he personally advised. Old soldiers now in government and aligned with Thein Sein are now motivated by a new sense of fair play and public duty, sources close to the current Myanmar leadership told this correspondent.

Many of them now claim to have abhorred Than Shwe's abusive rule, including its mass corruption, international isolation and the tarnished image it gave the army across the country. To reverse Than Shwe's legacy is one of the key drivers behind Thein Sein's reform agenda, they contend.

Thein Sein recently told Norway's development minister that he had wanted to reform the country for a long time but was frustrated by Than Shwe's control, according to diplomats in Yangon. Thein Sein's wife told Suu Kyi that her husband wanted to introduce reforms for more than a decade but was powerless to do so, even when serving as prime minister under the previous Than Shwe-led military junta.

Pent up reformer
Some close to Thein Sein believe that the 2007 mass demonstrations by Buddhist monks against the previous military junta he led and the devastation and destruction caused the following year by Cyclone Nargis impressed on him the need for dramatic change, according to military sources in the capital, Naypyidaw.

Thein Sein was reportedly physically shaken by the devastation he observed when inspecting storm-hit areas and overseeing the government's relief work after Cyclone Nargis, a close aide to the president told Asia Times Online. Nor is Thein Sein apparently alone in this view: there are also many in the bureaucracy and military who are firmly committed to his democratic reform agenda.

"There are those in the military with honorable intentions and who want to be seen as improving the sorry lot of the people," said David Steinberg, a Myanmar expert at the US's Georgetown University. These same soldiers have a strong sense of nationalism and strong desire to redeem the honor of the military, Steinberg said.

Reforms have so far been implemented in an ad hoc, personalized manner. For example, Railways Minister Aung Min now leads the government's negotiations with various armed ethnic rebel groups to sign ceasefire agreements. Some of the ethnic leaders involved in the talks who spoke with this correspondent say that they trust in Aung Min's sincerity.

"It's personal," an ethnic Karen leader told Asia Times Online soon after the armed Karen National Union (KNU) signed a truce last month to end hostilities and agreed to exchange liaison offices with the government. Trust with the Karen was built during relaxed drinking sessions at preliminary meetings held last November in Thailand's northern Chiang Rai province, according to a source familiar with the situation.

During one of the toasts, Aung Min apparently endeared himself to certain Karen representatives when he pleaded personally that the KNU refrained from attacking public railways. There had been several attacks on Myanmar's railways earlier in the year that were believed to have been carried out by the KNU.

Some observers believe that personalized approach could eventually backfire. "Everything appears to be the result of personal connections - even the relationship between Aung San Suu Kyi and the president," said a former European diplomat who has spent more than 15 years involved in Myanmar. "That is the major flaw in this whole process - there is no overall plan so it can be thrown out overnight if circumstances change."

"Until these changes are institutionalized, there is a danger of them being reversed in the future, especially if corruption continues and there is violence," said Thailand-based former activist and development specialist Aung Naing Oo, who recently visited Myanmar for the first time in over 20 years.

The overriding concern of Myanmar's ruling establishment - both liberals and hardliners alike - is to maintain peace and stability during the political transition. Fear of renewed bouts of unrest could explain why the highly anticipated release of political prisoners was delayed for several months. Those fears also likely motivated the recent arrest and questioning of Buddhist monk U Gambira, who was recently released early from a 68-year prison sentence for his role in the 2007 uprising against the government.

Than Shwe's transitional plan clearly intended to delay reforms and pit military groups against one another in a divide and rule fashion. The 2008 constitution, which was passed in a sham referendum and embodies Than Shwe's vision for the Myanmar's political future, was intended to create a system of power sharing whereby no individual would become powerful enough to challenge his position and family's wealth. Than Shwe famously detained and harassed the family members of former long time military dictator Ne Win.

Than Shwe's new system also aims to create a structure that makes legal change difficult, including a requirement than over three-quarters of parliament must agree to make constitutional amendments. A quarter of parliament is made up of military representatives, giving the military virtual veto power over any proposed charter change.

Gentleman's agreement
However, Than Shwe seems to have failed to foresee that new President Thein Sein, speaker of the lower house Shwe Mann and army chief General Min Aung Hlaing would reach a "gentlemen's agenda" in ruling the country. This agreement has spurred an accelerated reform process that has gained momentum and moral authority through Suu Kyi's public support and upcoming participation in the process.

Often overlooked in Myanmar's evolving transition is the role parliament has played in the reform process. Analysts and activists widely believed that the upper and lower houses of the new National Assembly would rarely meet and when they did would dutifully follow a pre-arranged script - much like the Burma Socialist Program Party (BSPP) parliament in the mid-1970s did under Ne Win.

So far that has not been the case. Parliament speaker Shwe Mann was apparently devastated when Than Shwe overlooked him and chose Thein Sein as president, confining Shwe Mann instead to what was expected to be a rubber stamp parliament. To give parliament a more representative veneer, Shwe Mann has lent his support to Suu Kyi's and the NLD's participation in the upcoming by-elections.

He also reportedly told US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a meeting at Naypyidaw in December that he wanted to make Myanmar's new parliament as good as the US Congress.

"We have taken the necessary measures so that the upcoming by-elections will be free, fair and credible," Shwe Mann told European Union development commissioner Andris Piebalgs, speaking through an interpreter, earlier this week.

The manner in which the by-elections are held, even more than the actual results, may indicate the future direction of the gentlemen's agreement. At the least, the by-election results will affect the ruling Union Solidarity Development Party (USDP), which swept the November 2010 elections in a contest foreign observers said lacked credibility but is expected to face stiffer competition, including from the NLD, at the next general elections scheduled for 2015.

Thein Sein has unofficially announced that he will only serve one term as president; Shwe Mann has made it clear he would like to one day serve as president. To win a free and fair election in 2015, however, he will need to purge the USDP of dead wood and obstacles - including hardliners like Aung Thaung, Htay Oo and Maung Maung Thein, according to Shwe Mann's senior advisors.

The hope among Shwe Mann's allies in government is that a lopsided by-election win for the NLD will provide him with the political excuse to clean house and purge hardliners opposed to reforms. If Suu Kyi wins a seat in parliament, Shwe Mann will be expected to allow her to become opposition leader. However, any strategy leveraging Suu Kyi to gain political ground against hardliners will be fraught with dangers and could open new divisions with those who currently support the reform process.

"What is remarkable is the way in which Thein Sein and company have reached out to her [Suu Kyi] since August last year [when they first met in Naypyidaw]," said Justin Wintle, a British academic and writer of a biography on Suu Kyi. "The signs are that this has not been a cynical move. One way of dealing with your political enemies is to co-opt them, but this is a genuine attempt to reconfigure Myanmar," he said.

Yet even this potentially crucial move reflects the ad hoc nature of Myanmar's still tentative reform process. If Suu Kyi is elected to parliament at the upcoming by-elections, she will quickly emerge as a challenger to Shwe Mann and the USDP's current dominance at the 2015 polls. "I know, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Shwe Mann reportedly recently replied to his son Toe Naing Mann, according to sources close to the family.

Larry Jagan previously covered Myanmar politics for the British Broadcasting Corporation. He is currently a freelance journalist based in Bangkok.
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EU official sees Burma roadmap within the year
Yasmin Lee Arpon Asia News Network
Publication Date : 15-02-2012

Burma is likely to come up within a year a comprehensive plan charting its political and economic reforms, a move that is seen boosting the confidence of the international community, a ranking European Union official said Tuesday.

Andris Piebalgs, EU commissioner for development, said the situation continues to evolve in Burma and a free and credible by-elections in April would be very crucial in sustaining the optimistic response so far to the government policy of opening up its economy and improving its political environment.

"I believe the political issues, the by-elec

Press release at the conclusion of the visit to Myanmar of the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General for Myanmar, Mr. Vijay Nambiar, from 12 to 17 February 2012
UNIC
17 Feb 2012

Press release at the conclusion of the visit to Myanmar of the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General for Myanmar, Mr. Vijay Nambiar, from 12 to 17 February 2012

The Special Adviser to the Secretary-General for Myanmar, Mr Vijay Nambiar, concluded today a five-day visit at the invitation of the Government of Myanmar. In Naypyitaw, the Special Adviser was received by President Thein Sein, Speaker Shwe Mann, Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin, and the Ministers of Labour and Social Welfare, Border Affairs, Industry, Railways, and Immigration, as well as the Union Peace Committee and Union Election Commission. Jointly with Vice-President Sai Mauk Kham, the Special Adviser inaugurated the Conference on Development Options for Myanmar organized by the United Nations and the Government of Myanmar. The Special Adviser also met with the General Secretary of the USDP. In Mon and Kayin States, the Special Adviser met with the respective Chief Ministers and members of the State government and legislature and local ethnic representatives. He also visited a field project of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), and met with local civil society partners. In Yangon, the Special Adviser met again with NLD Chair Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. He also held separate meetings with civil society, ethnic and business representatives.

One year after the formation of the new Government and the launch of political and economic reforms under the leadership of President Thein Sein, the changes currently underway in Myanmar have attained an unprecedented level of initiative, as recognized by a range of stakeholders across the political spectrum. The Special Adviser strongly commends President Thein Sein and the Myanmar authorities for their determination and commitment to move the country forward in a way that meets the needs and aspirations of the peoples of Myanmar. He welcomes the openness with which the Myanmar authorities recognize the challenges, as well as opportunities, inherent to such a process. This has raised much expectation inside and outside the country, particularly in the context of Myanmar’s responsibilities as Chair of ASEAN in 2014.

During his meetings the Special Adviser highlighted three priorities that define domestic and international perceptions of the pace of reform:

• It is necessary to ensure that both the process leading to, and the conduct of, the by-elections on 1 April 2012 are credible, and that they are seen to be so by all. This includes ensuring conditions for a level playing field for all parties to compete openly and addressing complaints swiftly and transparently. The by-elections will be a critical test of the Government’s commitment to broaden and enhance the credibility of the democratic process in the country.

• Peace and national reconciliation are central to Myanmar’s overall stability and development. Recent successful efforts by all parties to reach ceasefire and peace agreements have brought Myanmar closer than ever to a historic achievement. Progress is now needed with regard to the situation in Kachin State, including the needs of the displaced population.

Overcoming decades of strife and mistrust through inclusive political dialogue remains an important prerequisite to building a durable peace, which the country requires in order to move forward as one.

• It is urgent that the Government delivers on the socio-economic needs of the people so that they start benefitting in real terms from the reforms so far. Health, education and job creation remain key responsibilities for both central and local authorities in order to empower people to participate fully and equitably in the country’s development and growth. Only through the formulation and implementation of sound economic policies can this change be accelerated in the interest of the entre population of Myanmar.

It is self-evident that neither peace nor development can be sustained without respect for human rights and the rule of law. Building on the recent release of political prisoners and other measures, further steps are necessary in order to build trust and enable the democratic transition to succeed.

The Special Adviser welcomes the Government’s recognition of the value of partnership with the United Nations to help Myanmar meet the challenges and opportunities before it. The good offices of the United Nations are ready to work with all stakeholders in this important task. The Special Adviser also feels that the international community must respond more robustly to the needs of the Myanmar people by lifting current restrictions on UN programmes. Now is the time to step up support and to adjust existing policies in order to help build conditions for sustaining the reform and for the betterment of Myanmar’s peoples.

Yangon, 17 February 2012
http://www.bdcburma.org

PRESS RELEASE
17th February 2012
ASEAN should support and promote a credible and transparent process of peace and reconciliation in Myanmar and mechanism of human rights protection
JAKARTA -- The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) today welcomed the upcoming visit of ASEAN Secretary General Dr. Surin Pitsuwan to Myanmar on 20 February but noted its continued and deep concern regarding the slow progress on the protection of human rights in Myanmar.
AIPMC views Dr. Surin’s visit as a key opportunity for ASEAN to ensure it engages with all political actors in Myanmar and fully exercises its role and duty to encourage and assist the government there to continue and improve on its transition towards full democracy.
The ASEAN secretary general’s visit comes at a time of hopeful change but also a time of continued concern. AIPMC would like to bring the following issues to the attention of Dr. Surin, and urges him and ASEAN to review its mandate and the options open to its various regional body’s and commissions in helping to address these concerns.
Violent conflict and human rights abuses persist in ethnic areas of Burma that are rich in natural resources and have become the target of aggressive investment for physical exploitation, such as in Kachin, Shan and Karen states. Despite the recent and welcome release of hundreds of prisoners of conscience, the Naypyidaw government has still failed to clarify the number, status and whereabouts of remaining political prisoners. There is also no transparency regarding the policy of releasing political prisoners and there is no guarantee that the government will relax restrictions as part of reforms of freedom of expression.
The government’s efforts to sign ceasefires with armed ethnic groups in an apparent first step towards national peace talks have so far failed to make any major inroads towards national reconciliation. In fact, on the contrary, the efforts have in some cases led to increased friction and distrust between the state and ethnic minority leaders, who have questioned the government’s true intentions.
Accountability for human rights violations in Myanmar remains extremely weak and impunity is inevitable. There is an urgent need to reform the judicial system. Issues of land rights, including widespread reports of forced and uncompensated evictions to make way for the development of mega projects, such as the proposed deep-sea port in Dawei, remains an area of major concern.
Despite these concerns, AIPMC considers Dr. Surin’s visit an important step in Myanmar’s transition to democracy. The visit of the secretary general is an opportunity for ASEAN to ‘re-integrate’ Myanmar into the regional grouping. Since Myanmar was officially accepted as a member in 1996, ASEAN has been under constant pressure from civil society organizations and the international community regarding Myanmar’s human rights record. Myanmar has prevented ASEAN from developing into a credible and effective regional organisation, rather than merely a forum of countries of Southeast Asian nations. Myanmar has always been the thorn in ASEAN’s side. The external pressure and internal confusion ASEAN faced when deliberating whether to skip Myanmar’s turn to take the rotating chairmanship in 2006 marked how its rogue member has at times threatened ASEAN’s internal stability as well as its relationship with strategic global partners.
Regarding this, Dr. Surin on his visit should ensure that Myanmar is ready to lead ASEAN in 2014, to be the face of ASEAN to the world and seriously implement the ASEAN charter. Dr Surin should raise for discussion some critical problems that continue to prevent further reform in Myanmar, including: a lack of strong and stable democratic state institutions, including the Parliament and national commissions, due to the vacuum of law, leadership and capacity; the government’s failure to fully engage in an inclusive and genuine roadmap for national peace and reconciliation (efforts to date have been insubstantial and have failed to contribute to any significant political change which guarantee the rights of ethnic groups or an end to the ongoing conflicts); the threat posed by current economic policy to the environment, sustained economic growth in the future, as well as the political, civil and economic rights of ordinary people; and, the urgent need to reform the legal system to ensure the rule of law, as a current lack of any mechanism of accountability means impunity and cronyism remain issues of major concern.
Dr. Surin should impress upon the Naypyitaw government and all political actors in Myanmar the urgency of embarking on national peace and reconciliation efforts, as well as exploring with them possible roles ASEAN could play in that process. ASEAN should facilitate democracy in Myanmar further by supporting ucpoming by-elections there in April and opening up dialogue with the opposition, in particular with National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi. ASEAN’s communication with opposition members, if and when elected to Parliament, should be developed further to facilitate the ongoing transition in Myanmar. ASEAN should work further to ensure the protection of human rights with systematic efforts to prevent the reoccurrence of rights abuses with credible laws, institutions and apparatus. ASEAN should also promote mechanisms of repatriation for refugees and economic migrants through constructive cooperation among ASEAN countries. ASEAN should also seriously tackle the issue of human trafficking and increase efforts to abolish its practice in the region.
###
The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) is a network formed in an inaugural meeting in Kuala Lumpur, on 26-28 November 2004 by and for Parliamentarians from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries. The aim is advocating for human rights and democratic reform in Myanmar/Burma. Its members represent both the ruling and non-ruling political parties of countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines and Cambodia.
For more information/ interview with AIPMC MPs, please contact AIPMC Secretariat: Agung Putri Astrid +62 81514006416

Precarious balance for Myanmar reform
By Larry Jagan

BANGKOK - The future of Myanmar's reform process is in question as hardliners and liberals in government ramp up an increasingly bitter power struggle. Change in Myanmar remains fragile despite some encouraging reform signals and growing international goodwill towards President Thein Sein.

So far, though, President Thein Sein's good intentions have produced only limited practical change. Now, there are growing fears that the recent political gains, including the release of political prisoners and allowances for the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) to contest upcoming by-elections, could be reversed.
http://ping.fm/kQUXx

Burma Democratic Concern (BDC): Let’s build a genuine federal union

Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) calls for all parties concerned to work by all means to restore ever lasting peace in Burma on the wake of 65th anniversary of Union Day of Burma. Burma is made up of with indigenous people of Burma; Kachin, Karreni, Karen, Chin, Mon, Bamar, Arakan and Shan, peacefully co-existing together under the same sky since time unmemorable. Union Day comes into existence after signing the Panlong Agreement on 12 February 1947 in which Bamar and ethnics minority leaders agree to exist together as a union.

Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) strongly condemns U Thein Sein regime attacking on Kachin ethnics people of Burma and we are calling for immediate cessation on attacking ethnic people in order to achieve peace through political dialogue. Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) and justice loving all Burmese people will be with our Kachin brothers and sisters since the suffering of the Kachin people are tantamount to the suffering of the whole Burmese people. Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) opposes war and we truly believe that guns and bullets won’t solve the problems but through dialogue, mutual understanding, mutual trust and mutual respect.

Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) would like to express our position that all the ethnics’ people of Burma must have the equal rights. We truly believe that to establish a genuine federal union, Burma must grantee to protect and promote ethnics rights such as language, culture, environment, religion and music. Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) would like to reaffirm our position that we will work until we can restore democracy, human rights and rule of law in Burma leading toward establishing a genuine federal union in Burma.

For more information please contact Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) at www.bdcburma.org

U Myo Thein [United Kingdom]
Director, Burma Democratic Concern (BDC)
Phone: 00-44-208-493-9137, 00-44-787- 788-2386

U Khin Maung Win [United States]
Director, Burma Democratic Concern (BDC)
Phone: 001-941-961-2622

Daw Khin Aye Aye Mar [United States]
Patron, Burma Democratic Concern (BDC)
Phone: 001 509-783-7223

U Tint Swe Thiha [United States]
Patron, Burma Democratic Concern (BDC)
Phone: 001-509-582-3261, 001-509-591-8459

AP - Prominent Myanmar monk taken in for questioning
Reuters - Myanmar refugees tell of violence despite peace calls
GMA News - DFA Sec. del Rosario meets Suu Kyi and Myanmar leader
KTAR.com - Legal challenge launched to Suu Kyi's candidacy
The Japan Times - Long courting of Myanmar may finally pay off
IRIN - MYANMAR-THAILAND: Dying for lack of reproductive healthcare
Sin Chew Jit Poh - Myanmar political exiles return after two decades
The Malaysian Insider - CIMB Group chief leads Asean support for Myanmar
Asian Correspondent - What’s in a name – Burma or Myanmar?
Asian Correspondent - Burma: Economists, generals and culture vultures
Scoop - Burma’s New Media Law May Fail to Ensure Press Freedom
The Wall Street Journal - Too Bad, Burma: Big Bank Loans Unlikely Anytime Soon
Washington Times - Civil war threatens reforms in Myanmar
VOA News - China Hosts Burma-Rebel Peace Talks for Economic, Strategic Benefit
Daily Mail - The Temple that brings monks closer to God (because it's nearly 5,000ft up a mountain)
National Times - Sanctions squeeze all but the tycoons
The Nation - Don't forget ethic minorities while democratising Burma, activists warn
The Nation - Burma's Forever Group eyes revenue boost
The Irrawaddy - Burmese Army Attacks Shan Base
The Irrawaddy - Strike Enters Fifth Day, Spreads to Other Factories
The Irrawaddy - Electricity: Burma’s Missing Ingredient for Success
Mizzima News - Education and health focus of U.N. conference
Mizzima News - The election will offer ‘intense rivalries’: NUP
Mizzima News - EU official to talk about aid package
DVB News - Burma ‘struggling’ with tourism boom
DVB News - Exiles emotional upon return to Burma
DVB News - Fighting breaks out in Shan state
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Prominent Myanmar monk taken in for questioning
Associated Press – 4 hrs ago

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — A prominent Buddhist monk who was one of hundreds of political prisoners freed in Myanmar last month was detained Friday after a pre-dawn visit by authorities, an official said.

Shin Gambira, 33, was one of the leaders of the so-called Saffron Revolution, a 2007 anti-government uprising led by Buddhist monks against the then-ruling junta. He was detained after a military crackdown on protesters and released Jan. 13 as part of a mass prisoner release that has been hailed as a sign of Myanmar's new government's willingness to make reforms.

Friday's detention of Gambira, however, had echoes of the previous administration, which was known for whisking away its critics in the middle of the night.

An official from the Home Ministry said that Gambira was "taken away" from the Yangon monastery where he was staying and brought for "questioning in relation to incidents that happened after his release."

The official, who spoke on condition on anonymity, said that Gambira and other monks had illegally entered monasteries that had been shut after the 2007 uprising.

Authorities went after Gambira after he ignored a summons to report for questioning, the official said.

It was not immediately clear how long Gambira would be detained.

Gambira had also publicly voiced skepticism about the new government's commitment to democratic reforms.

His detention comes amid widespread international attention on Myanmar, where the new nominally civilian government has drawn cautious praise.

The U.S. and European Union have called the progress positive steps forward but say they will be closely watching an upcoming April by-election before deciding whether to lift sanctions that were imposed during military rule.
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Myanmar refugees tell of violence despite peace calls
By James Pomfret | Reuters – 4 hrs ago

NONGDAO, China (Reuters) - In an obscure part of southwest China, a refugee crisis from one of the world's longest running and least known conflicts in Myanmar is slowly unfolding, largely ignored by the outside world and denied by China.

Thousands of refugees bringing tales of rape and violence have flooded across the border into China, fleeing fighting between Myanmar government troops and ethnic minority Kachin rebels.

Conflicts between the Myanmar government and various minority rebel groups erupted soon after independence from Britain in 1948.

The Myanmar government is keen to end the violence as it introduces democratic reforms after five decades of iron-fisted military rule and as Western governments call for peace as they prepare to lift sanctions.

Concrete moves to end the conflicts is a condition for the full lifting of the embargoes.

While pacts have ended the fighting in most parts of Myanmar, the bloodshed has not stopped in Kachin state in the far north despite a call from the central government for an end.
Kachin state, a broad spur of Himalayan foothills wedged between China and India, has for generations produced some of the world's finest jade, as well as opium and timber.

Now it is central to the energy plans of both Myanmar and China, home to hydropower dams and twin pipelines that will transport oil and natural gas to China's southwestern Yunnan province.

In the town of Nongdao in a far western nook of Yunnan, talk of Myanmar's return to democracy and the release of political prisoners ordered by President Thein Sein rings hollow to refugees such as Da Shi Jar Raw.

"They used big rockets to hit the villages and they burned the fields," the 32-year-old told Reuters, describing attacks by government soldiers in the country also known as Burma.

"The Burmese soldiers are raping women and shooting children," she said. "They killed a lot of mothers so we don't dare go back."

"TERRIBLE THINGS"

Labang Roi Tawng took her four young children and fled on a four-day trek in December to the border and safety at a camp in China of more than 500 people.

"The military were killing, shooting and raping people, doing terrible things, so we were very afraid and ran," she said.

At least 10,000 refugees have entered China since fighting erupted between Myanmar's military and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) after a 17-year-old ceasefire broke down last June. Some Chinese media reports have put the number at 40,000.

"How long the fighting continues, we cannot say," said Lahpai Zaulat, with the Kachin Relief and Development Committee at Longdao, another area where refugees have flocked.

"More and more will come," he said of the flow of people fleeing, adding new huts were being built every week.

At one camp, where a mass of huts nestled between an open rubbish heap and farmland, organizers said refugees were arriving at a rate of about 10 a day.

Most of the Kachin villagers have fled to several areas along the fenceless border including Mai Jai Yang in Kachin state, and Nongdao, Longchuan and Leiji on the Chinese side.
The flow of displaced appears to be under control for now, with authorities grudgingly providing land for shelters.

Many refugees in two border camps visited by Reuters looked relatively healthy and well fed despite often dirty and crowded conditions in huts of plastic tarpaulin strung over bamboo.

But what baffles many Kachin is that President Thein Sein's order for troops to end their offensives has fallen on deaf ears. The only explanation the government has provided is problems with communications equipment.

But few are convinced by that.

"The military has ignored government orders to stop fighting," Khon Ja, a Kachin activist based in Myanmar's commercial capital of Yangon, told Reuters.

"This should be the highest crime."

Channels for dialogue with the KIA are open and talks are going on, but without any real progress.

"BORDER PEOPLE"

For its part, China, keen to secure Myanmar's energy supplies and wary of an influx of displaced, officially denies the existence of the refugees. They are an embarrassment to a government which enjoys close ties with Myanmar and has stood by it in the face of Western sanctions.

"Remember these people aren't refugees, they're just here temporarily to escape the conflict," said a Chinese government official in the border town of Ruili after police detained a Reuters news team for nearly five hours.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin, speaking at a briefing on Friday, described the refugees as "border people" and said there were "not as many of them as outside reports say."

"China has all along dealt with this issue in a humanitarian way, and has provided daily necessities," he said.

China has been relatively tolerant in allowing the Kachin to stay, many without identity papers, sometimes in border towns among Chinese citizens who share the same ethnicity. But it is wary of allowing non-government organizations (NGOs) to help.

"The NGOs can't come to help us because China doesn't have any refugee laws," said refugee Joseph Dabang. "Really we have tremendous trouble and we have no money."
Many Kachin are Christian and Christian organizations are helping to run camps and supply rations.

In another camp, that spilt into a plantation, corrugated iron shacks were crammed with bedding and scores of children gathered at a school set up with plastic sheeting for walls.
Teacher Htu Raw darted between blackboards as she taught two classes at the same time, getting children to recite English words like "flower" and "cup."

"I'm very sorry for the children so it doesn't matter if I'm tired," said the round-faced teacher as a room full of wide-eyed children watched her every move.

"Many of these children have lost parents. But these students are now my children."
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GMA News - DFA Sec. del Rosario meets Suu Kyi and Myanmar leader
February 10, 2012 6:20pm

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario met with Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi at her home on Thursday as she geared up for the start of electoral campaign for the April by-elections there.

The meeting "was aimed at strengthening the ties between the two countries" according to state media reports.

Del Rosario and Suu Kyi posed for photos in front of the democracy leader's house in Yangon, where she held a press briefing for her National League for Democracy (NLD) party after their meeting.

Secretary del Rosario also met with Myanmar President U Thein Sein and held discussions with Foreign Minister U Wunna Maung Lwin, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Friday.

The DFA said del Rosario “congratulated the Myanmar leadership on the political, economic and social reforms it has undertaken,” including the release of Suu Kyi.

It also said the Myanmar leader thanked the Philippines government for its support and encouragement to the various reforms that the Myanmar Government has undertaken.

Myanmar’s president “also expressed appreciation for the Philippine support towards the lifting of economic sanctions against Myanmar,” the DFA added.

“The Myanmar President invited the Philippine business community to invest in various sectors of Myanmar economy such as oil and gas, agriculture, mining, forestry and timber products, development of deep sea ports, infrastructure, among others,” the DFA said.

Election campaign

Suu Kyi and her allies are contesting 48 seats in various legislatures including the 440-seat lower house in the April 1 by-elections that could give political credibility to Myanmar and help advance the end of Western sanctions.

Suu Kyi addressed a crowd of supporters, mostly from the party's youth wing. "Concerted efforts can shake even the whole world," she told the gathering.

Official campaigning begins this weekend, but Suu Kyi had been delivering speeches in villages and cities in recent weeks, giving the unmistakeable feel of a campaign.

As the southeast Asian nation emerges from half a century of isolation, diplomats from the region have been holding meetings with Suu Kyi.

Joining the diplomats are business executives, mostly from Asia, swarmed into Yangon in recent weeks to hunt for investment opportunities in one of the last frontier markets in Asia.

They are encouraged by statements from the European Union and the US that sanctions could be lifted if voters were able to vote freely in April's elections.

Myanmar is also at the center of a struggle for strategic influence as the United States sees a chance to expand its ties there and balance China's fast-growing economic and political sway in the region.
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KTAR.com - Legal challenge launched to Suu Kyi's candidacy
jg (February 10th, 2012 @ 5:46am)

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Aung San Suu Kyi's bid for a seat in Myanmar's Parliament has been challenged by a rival candidate.

Suu Kyi's spokesman Nyan Win said Friday that Tin Yi of the Party for Unity and Peace had submitted a complaint to the district election commission that the Nobel peace laureate was not eligible to run in the April 1 by-election.

The basis for his protest was a constitutional provision barring persons enjoying the benefits of a foreign citizen from serving in parliament.

Nyan Win said Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party submitted a rebuttal stating that the complaint was based on hearsay and false information.

In 1990, Suu Kyi also filed to run in the general election, but was disqualified after a similar objection.
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Friday, Feb. 10, 2012
The Japan Times - Long courting of Myanmar may finally pay off
By JUNKO HORIUCHI, Kyodo

Japanese government and business officials have flocked to Myanmar in recent months with a keen interest in the untapped investment opportunities in the country, which is embarking on democratic and economic reforms after decades of seclusion.

Japanese entities that have been nurturing ties with Myanmar are encouraged that the time has finally come for various cooperative projects to resume operations after years of being in limbo under the country's military regime, while Myanmar welcomes Japan's assistance.

"With Myanmar's government starting to open up to the international community, what we have been working on for all these years may finally bear fruit," said Shigeto Kashiwazaki, managing director of the Asian business research department at Daiwa Institute of Research.

Kashiwazaki was referring to a quasi-stock exchange called Myanmar Securities Exchange Center Co. (MSEC) that Daiwa Institute, under Daiwa Securities Group Inc., and the Myanmar Economic Bank, the country's largest bank, set up as a joint venture in June 1996 with the aim of developing a securities market in Myanmar.

U Soe Thein, executive director at MSEC, said he is "always positive to any assistance given" by Japan and "appreciates all of those programs." Before working at MSEC, he worked as a public official for more than 40 years and was involved in receiving Japanese assistance.

Japan has provided aid to Myanmar since 1954, including grant since 1975. In cumulative terms, Japan is the top provider of official development assistance to Myanmar, at $3.27 billion as of 2010. It also began providing loan aid in 1968 although it has suspended giving new loans since 1987 due to delays in repayments.

U Soe Thein noted that technical assistance from Japan may be even "more beneficial" if its training programs are specially designed for a target country, and if the trainers or lecturers in the programs have knowledge or experience of the nation.

"Having in mind these realities, both sides should try to mitigate the adverse impacts and maximize the benefits," said U Soe Thein in an email.

MSEC was set up in response to a request by the Myanmar government, which wanted to prop up the market economy in the country. But to date, at MSEC, with 11 staff members, including two Japanese, the shares of just two firms and some government bonds are traded.

The 1997 Asian financial crisis prompted Myanmar to tighten regulations for financial institutions and as a result many problems with its financial regime, including the existence of multiple exchange rates, an opaque legal framework and weak banking system, were left unresolved, making it difficult for foreign firms to do business there.

The imposition of economic sanctions by the United States and European countries, the Myanmar junta's crackdown on democracy-leaning parties such as the one led by Aung San Suu Kyi, and reports of human rights abuses since the 1980s also dissuaded the Japanese government and businesses from deepening economic ties with Myanmar.

"Our joint project to develop a securities market in the country has been virtually halted for more than 10 years," Kashiwazaki said. "But now as Myanmar implements economic measures, we can finally get down to business."

Myanmar, a country with abundant resources and a cheap labor force, is widely seen as the last untapped market in Asia. Since a military-backed civilian government took over power from the junta last March and implemented a series of democratic reforms, it has attracted investment interest from firms around the globe.

Japan and Myanmar have decided to launch negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty following Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba's visit to the country in late December, the first visit by a Japanese foreign minister to Myanmar since August 2002.

Such a pact, if realized, would help improve the levels of protection and liberalization of investment and make it easier for Japanese companies to do business in Myanmar.

Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yukio Edano also visited the country in January, accompanied by around 100 business representatives and ministry officials, including senior executives from trading house Mitsui & Co., Sharp Corp. and Toshiba Corp., and expressed Japan's plan to help vital infrastructure projects in Myanmar.

"Myanmar is a key junction that connects Southeast Asia and China. I have no doubt about its growth," said Takashi Kawamura, chairman of the board at Hitachi Ltd., who participated in the business visit led by Edano.

"Japan should be able to make a strong showing (in Myanmar), such as through its energy-saving technologies," Kawamura said during his visit to Myanmar.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency, Japan's aid agency, has also stepped up efforts to assist Myanmar. In December, it invited 30 businesspeople and government officials from the country, including from the Myanmar Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance and Revenue, for a three-week training program in Japan, where they received lectures such as on Japanese farming, monetary systems and automobile manufacturing.

"We organized such a training program so that promising people from Myanmar will learn from our knowledge and expertise," said Tomonori Nagase, an official at JICA's Southeast Asia and Pacific Department.

"But at the same time, through such a program, we hope to forge better ties between Japan and Myanmar by getting to know each other," he said.

During the program, they visited places such as the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; the Bank of Japan; Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ; and Tokyo Stock Exchange Group Inc.

"We have long been engaged with Myanmar but the reforms are unfolding at a faster pace than expected. The government seems serious this time," Nagase said.
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MYANMAR-THAILAND: Dying for lack of reproductive healthcare

BANGKOK, 10 February 2012 (IRIN) - Lack of access to reproductive health services in Myanmar has led to high rates of maternal deaths and unplanned pregnancies among the country's displaced, migrant and refugee populations, say health experts.

"There are huge unmet reproductive health needs for contraceptives, family planning, and access to skilled birth attendants," said Priya Manwell, the UN Population Fund's (UNFPA) humanitarian response coordinator for the Asia Pacific region.

Populations that are on the run or outside their home countries are often unable to gain access to reproductive healthcare, say health workers.

Without skilled birth attendants or contraception, complications from unsafe abortions and post-partum haemorrhage are common along the Thai-Burmese border, where there are more than 150,000 Burmese refugees, according to a new report by the international NGO, Ibis Reproductive Health.

"In Burma, the sad state of reproductive health... [bars] far too many, especially mobile populations, including migrants, refugees, and IDPs, from accessing appropriate, timely, and basic health services," Vit Suwanvanichkij, a research associate at the US-based Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told IRIN.

Nationwide, only 37 percent of women gave birth with a trained birth attendant in 2007, according to the most recent government data reported to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Health displaced

Displaced people in Myanmar's east face "a health disaster", with a maternal mortality rate (MMR) of 721 deaths per 100,000 live births - three times the national average of 240, according to a 2010 NGO-collaborative report, Diagnosis Critical.

Some 10 percent of Myanmar's national MMR has been traced to unsafe abortions.

"A lack of safe, legal abortion creates conditions where women in both eastern Burma and Thailand are likely to either self-abort or engage untrained providers who may use methods likely to cause harm or even death," said Cari Siestra, co-author of Ibis Reproductive Health's recent report.

The lack of health infrastructure in eastern Myanmar has led to frequent reproductive complications from preventable illnesses, such as malaria, which is "the number-one killer of pregnant women", said Suwanvanichkij.

"Malnutrition, malaria, and repeat pregnancies without adequate birth spacing all impact [on] women's ability to carry pregnancies, even wanted ones, to term," added Sietstra.

Overall health challenges include a shortage of workers, investment and proper infrastructure, San San Myint, a national technical officer and reproductive health specialist at the WHO country office in Myanmar, told IRIN.

"Reproductive health coverage is [available in fewer than] 150 townships out of 325 townships. The main problem is funding and geographical barriers."

Camps

Reproductive health improves for refugees on the Thai side of the border, who have better access to trained providers, according to Sietstra.

But Thailand's estimated two million Burmese migrant workers, are often reluctant to seek medical assistance.

"Undocumented Burmese migrants are hesitant to access services because of their immigration status," said Jaime Calderon, the Southeast Asia regional health migration adviser at the International Organization for Migration office in Bangkok.

This is compounded by providers' discriminatory policies, language constraints and inability to pay, say health workers along the border.

"Put this awful constellation of vulnerabilities together and the result is that far too many women again are sickened, disabled, or die from preventable causes, such as complications of pregnancy and abortions," said Suwanvanichkij.

While Myanmar's recent political reforms have the potential to translate into better care if there is long-term investment in the health system, "we still need to address the immediate needs of people urgently", said Taweesap Sirapapasiri, UNFPA's programme officer for Thailand.
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Sin Chew Jit Poh - Myanmar political exiles return after two decades
Foreign 2012-02-10 14:56

YANGON, February 10, 2012 (AFP) - Myanmar academics who fled a brutal crackdown on student protests over two decades ago returned to their homeland for the first time on Friday in a gesture of support for the country's reforms.

The exiles, who escaped through the jungle into Thailand after the bloody army assault on a failed uprising in 1988, were greeted by family and a small crowd of local journalists as they arrived in Yangon airport.

Aung Naing Oo said he was "overwhelmed" setting foot on home soil after almost half a lifetime away, and fellow exile Aung Thu Nyein was visibly moved.

The two men, senior staff of the Vahu Development Institute (VDI), an organisation working on development, economic reform and governance issues in the country, are in Myanmar for a short visit.

Their colleagues Zaw Oo and Tin Maung Than returned for good on Friday.

The academics cite the country's dramatic changes in the last year as a reason for their decision to open an office in Yangon, Myanmar's commercial hub.

A controversial 2010 election heralded the end of nearly half a century of outright military rule and a new regime has surprised skeptical observers with reforms including accepting democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi as a political force.

The government, which remains dominated by former generals, has also initiated a major release of jailed dissidents -- including key 1988 student leaders.

Aung Naing Oo said speed of developments in the country over the last year had been astonishing, given that they were initiated by an army that has been blamed for the country's decades of economic decline.

"I think in some ways it is a kind of miracle and I think the former military officers in government will suddenly wake up and realise that they have to catch up with the rest of the world," he told AFP ahead of the visit.

"We don't know how much we can do, we will go back with an open mind."

The academics, who plan to visit the capital Naypyidaw, will hold meetings with government officials, the private sector and other groups.
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The Malaysian Insider - CIMB Group chief leads Asean support for Myanmar
By Lisa J. Ariffin February 10, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 10 — A delegation of Southeast Asia’s top businessmen led by Malaysia’s top banker Datuk Seri Nazir Razak has pledged to support Myanmar as a potential investment partner while it undergoes a political and economic transformation.

In a meeting in Yangon earlier this week, the group met with Myanmar’s investment authorities, local business leaders and Aung San Suu Kyi to assure them that the ASEAN
Business Club (ABC) was committed to regional investment that was sustainable and would empower rather than crowd out local business enterprise as Myanmar nationals make up a large number of migrant workers who have contributed to the region’s growth.

The delegation said a reformed Myanmar could play a strategic role within the ASEAN economic community and discussed ways ASEAN businesses could support this linked process as they carried out trade and investment with Myanmar.

Myanmar’s Deputy Minister of Rail Transportation Thura U Thaung Lwin, who sits on the country’s investment commission, pledged that the government was committed to improving its legal and tax framework for foreign investment and outlined existing plans for special economic zones.

The delegation also included CIMB Group chairman Tan Sri Md Nor Yusof, AirAsia Bhd chief executive Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, Malaysia’s state investment firm Khazanah Nasional Bhd’s chief director of investments Tengku Azmil Raja Abdul Aziz and Singapore-owned investment firm Temasek Holding’s director Goh Yew Lin.
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Asian Correspondent - What’s in a name – Burma or Myanmar?
Posted by Jo Lane on February 10, 2012 in Uncategorized

I AM always amazed at the utter confusion on people’s faces if I ever mention the name Myanmar. Yes Burma they know but Myanmar – where’s that exactly? Well there are plenty of places in the world that have changed names over the years such as Kolkata (Calcutta), Iran (Persia) and Cambodia (Kampuchea).

There are often political reasons for these name changes and it’s good to understand so you can then decide how you will refer to the place yourself.

Well let’s go back in time then. The country was called the Republic of Burma when it became independent from Great Britain in 1948. It was called that until 1989 when the military regime took over and changed the name to Myanmar.

As a result the pro-democracy movement and those that want to undermine the legitimacy of the ruling regime have elected to continue calling it Burma. The U.N. has recognised the name Myanmar, “presumably deferring to the idea that its members can call themselves what they wish” according to linguist Richard Coates.

In the media the BBC refers to it as Burma, the Washington Post will too but add, “also known as Myanmar” in each story. Lonely Planet calls it “Myanmar (Burma)”, CNN uses Myanmar, Wikipedia says “Burma, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar” and here at Travel Wire Asia, and sister publication Asian Correspondent, we prefer Burma.

Anyway that gives some of the history but the name options are a lot more complicated than just that. So let’s dig a bit deeper.

Essentially linguists hold that both words actually mean the same thing, that one is derived from the other. “Burma” is the colloquial form of “Myanmar”, considered the formal and literary form of the word. “Myanma” was the word often used and “Bama” the spoken word that derived when the “m” eroded into a “b” over time.

Hold on to your hats though, because it’s more complicated still. The name Burma is also seen to refer to the country’s ethnic majority, the Burmans or Bamar, and naming a country after one group of people is not considered particularly inclusive in a nation that is actually multi-ethnic.

The ruling regime has adopted the new name not only to break from the nation’s colonial past but claims it’s a way of being more ethnically inclusive. Sure, sure the cynics might say but many ethnic groups do prefer the name Myanmar for this exact reason.

However, even though the name changes are closer to their actual Burmese pronunciations and more inclusive, opposition has developed largely to the way in which the name was changed – without a referendum, with bloodshed and above all with the air of assumed authority.

In an article in the Washington Post was this comment:

“In some ways, Myanmar makes more sense,” said Aung Din, a former student protester and leader of the pro-democracy group U.S. Campaign for Burma. “But you look at the way the government did it. As if by changing the name, they could change the past … as if it could make people forget all those killed in the streets, all the suffering they caused.”

And have caused since, many would add. The BBC has similarly done an expose on the name in which there was this quote:

Mark Farmener, of Burma Campaign UK, says: “Often you can tell where someone’s sympathies lie if they use Burma or Myanmar. Myanmar is a kind of indicator of countries that are soft on the regime.

“But really it’s not important. Who cares what people call the country? It’s the human rights abuses that matter.

“There’s not a really strong call from the democracy movement saying you should not call it Myanmar, they just challenge the legitimacy of the regime. It’s probable it will carry on being called Myanmar after the regime is gone.”

It’s a good point and one I tend to agree with, particularly as the overwhelming majority of locals I spoke to defer to the name Myanmar. There didn’t even seem to be a question to them about what the country was called – it was simply Myanmar. They spoke largely of the ethnic and colonial overtones of the other name. There were many interesting discussions (for those interested these were people of varying ages, ethnicity, locations and education). One man even told me that Aung San Suu Kyi herself only used “Burma” with foreigners and English media, but at home she called it Myanmar like everyone else. Although in an interview with Lonely Planet last year she stated she preferred Burma (read this here).

So do you defy the regime or offend the locals? Well there’s no doubt the renaming of the nation will remain a contested issue and the only way it can be resolved is to put it to the people that matter – the 58.8 million that live there. And when a democratic government takes up the reins, they can decide once and for all, in a referendum, the official name of their own country.
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Asian Correspondent - Burma: Economists, generals and culture vultures
By Kyi May Kaung Feb 10, 2012 12:55PM UTC

On February 11th, three notable economists, including Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz, will give lectures in Rangoon. In my previous piece I mentioned that both Ronald Findlay and Hla Myint were born in Burma, and as states scholars before World War II and in the democratic period immediately after Independence from Great Britain, studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and London School of Economics respectively.

Hla Myint (Burmese have one name only. Most don’t have first and last names) http://ping.fm/MqSgf was stranded in the UK during the war. In the postwar period he worked at LSE, and became, with Sir Arthur Lewis, one of the pioneers of development economics. http://ping.fm/9b38N

In Rangoon where I studied economics, Prof. Findlay was one of my mentors and my MA thesis supervisor. I remember reading a short article by H. Myint (this is one of the ways he signed his name) about how the name of the field itself had metamorphosed from “economic backwardness” to “underdeveloped countries” to “developing countries”.

I was one year late to become a student of his, as he left Burma in 1962, the year of Ne Win’s coup. He had been working as Rector of Rangoon University, and the rumor was that he and his British wife Joan, had sold their house in England to come and work in Burma, but Ne Win, the dictator made things hard on intellectuals with a western education, and he left. Shortly before he did so, I went with my friend, a very beautiful young woman from a very rich family, who had just gotten a Columbo Plan scholarship, to his house on campus.

As I remember it, Dr. Findlay was also there – it was noontime or so, and we were between classes. Yin (not her real name) talked about what career prospects she might have and what subjects she should take in Canada. Dr. Hla Myint did not seem to be in a bad humor. He joked “It won’t matter. You’ll be lost anyway.” Yin did not understand it. I explained what he meant when we walked back to the classrooms.

Ne Win had a poor education. It was said he had been a postal clerk before he joined the Burma Defense Army (under Aung San) against the Japanese invaders. He had the dictator’s classic insecurity and desire to dominate. All the time I was in Rangoon, I heard stories of how he had beat up someone with a golf club; how he beat up a university instructor who had had a bit too much to drink at a Burma Research dinner and had insulted Ne Win’s second wife Kitty. As late as the year 2000, when I interviewed Louis Wallinsky, then 92 or 93, in Washington DC, Louis told me of how he had witnessed Ne Win beat up the driver of their car at the Rangoon Golf Club because the car pulled up too quietly behind him as he tied his shoe laces. At that time Wallinsky was the then PM U Nu’s economic advisor.

Findlay likewise had a bad time, even though he was a brilliant economist (still is) – a likeable person and a mild-mannered one, and a gifted, generous teacher. He was passed over for the economics department professorship, solely on account of his racial origins, I thought, and given a research professorship, where he no longer taught.

All throughout the time I was writing my MA thesis, he was in small office at the Economics Institute. I seemed to be the only one who went to his office, to deliver chapters I had written. In 1969, he left Burma to work at Columbia University in New York.

http://ping.fm/tzMy9

By then we had lived through the July 7, 1962 shooting of students, the demonetization of kyat 100 notes and the rice riots of 1967, which Ne Win diverted to anti-Chinese riots.
The worst part of the military junta has been its treatment of its people, not realizing they are, to use Adam Smith’s words, the wealth of the nation.
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Scoop - Burma’s New Media Law May Fail to Ensure Press Freedom
Friday, 10 February 2012, 5:28 pm
Press Release: International Federation of Journalists

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins the Burma Media Association (BMA) in its concerns that Burma’s proposed new media law may not guarantee freedom of media as the government promised.

The new media law, drafted by the Ministry of Information’s Press Scrutinization and Registration Department (PSRD) was introduced in January at a media workshop jointly organized by Myanmar Writers and Journalists Association and Singapore-based Asia Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC).

Despite inviting local journalists, foreign-based Burmese journalists and journalists from Asian countries to the two-day event, the participants were not given the opportunity to thoroughly discuss the substance of the law. According to Oslo-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), Mr. Tint Swe, the Deputy Director General of the PSRD only presented the Table of Contents of the draft law but no details of the law itself.

Sources close to the PSRD told the BMA that the draft law was adapted from the repressive Printers and Publishers Registration Act enacted after the 1962 military coup.

“It is important that any new media laws introduced by the government of Burma improve press freedom, and provide greater freedom and security for journalists”, IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said.

“The media laws need to represent a fresh start for the media environment in Burma. They should be drafted to ensure they are best suited to the modern media context and are able to protect press freedoms.

The IFJ joins the BMA in urging the government of Burma abolish the 1962 Printers and Publishers Registration Act, and associated laws designed to restrict freedom of expression, such as the 1950 Emergency Provisions Act, Article 505/B of the Criminal Code and the 1923 Official Secrets Act.”

Although Reporters Without Borders’ Press Freedom Index 2011 ranked Burma a slightly better position (169th) than in 2010 (174th) as a result of political reforms including partial amnesties and a reduction in prior censorship, the country remains largely under the control of an authoritarian government run by former members of the military junta assuming new positions as civilian politicians. A number of journalists still remain in prison as of the start of 2012.
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February 9, 2012, 9:11 AM SGT
The Wall Street Journal - Too Bad, Burma: Big Bank Loans Unlikely Anytime Soon
By Patrick Barta

Now that the U.S. has agreed to lift some of its restrictions blocking the World Bank and other multilateral institutions from working in Myanmar, it should only be a matter of time before they start pouring money into the country, right?

Not exactly.

The world’s so-called international financial institutions (IFIs), which were launched decades ago in part to help poorer nations like Myanmar, were blocked for years from doing extensive work in the Southeast Asian nation in large part because of objections from Western countries including the U.S., which exercise considerable influence at the institutions.

On Monday, though, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed a partial waiver of its restrictions that officially enables the U.S. to support “assessment missions and limited technical assistance” by the World Bank and other similar organizations, including the Asian Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Offers of big development grants or loans – the kind that the World Bank and other groups extend to developing countries to fund infrastructure, poverty alleviation and other much-needed projects – are another matter, and would require further green lights from the U.S. Although leaders in the U.S. and Europe have taken numerous steps to repair relations with Myanmar since its government embarked on major economic and political reforms over the past year, they are still waiting to see the results of a planned April 1 parliamentary by-election in the country, which is also known as Burma, before deciding whether to lift sanctions further.

Then there’s the matter of the roughly $11 billion that Myanmar owes the World Bank, ADB, and various foreign governments, and which must be repaid or restructured before more extensive lending can start again. Most of the debts were incurred decades ago, before the banks pulled out, with some $8.4 billion in debts built up during the socialist military regime headed by late strongman Gen. Ne Win between 1962 and 1988. Myanmar owes $489 million to the ADB, the ADB said, and several hundred million dollars to the World Bank. It also owes at least $6.4 billion to Japan, $2.1 billion to China and $580 million to Germany, according to the Myanmar government.

Although Myanmar has said it’s engaged in talks with some of its creditors to settle those debts, paying it all off won’t be easy. Myanmar has vast natural resource reserves and a growing economy, but it also only has about $7 billion in foreign exchange reserves.

Even if the debts were paid and Western governments cleared the way for a full resumption of lending, it would likely take a long time before money could flow. Shareholders in the institutions want to be sure their money will be spent wisely, and that Myanmar’s ministries have sufficient controls in place to make sure some of the money doesn’t disappear – a big worry in a country that ranked 180th out of 183 nations in Transparency International’s latest survey of corruption perceptions around the world. Staff at multilateral lenders also lack solid data on the health of Myanmar’s economy and financial institutions, which they’ll want before committing large sums.

It’s possible the banks could face pressure from Myanmar boosters – led by companies that want to re-enter the country after being away for years due to sanctions – to offer some money later this year as a goodwill gesture to encourage Myanmar with its reforms. Already, leaders of the key multilateral institutions are scheduling meetings to discuss their options going forward, especially in light of Ms. Clinton’s latest move. But people familiar with the banks’ thinking say the most likely outcome, even if their hands are untied on lending, would be to keep sending high-level delegations to study conditions on the ground, buying the banks more time before they have to put cash on the table.

Whatever happens, development economists generally agree that getting the ADB, World Bank and other such groups back into Myanmar could help boost living standards and help the country modernize its antiquated economic system, which has left its residents with some of the lowest living standards in Asia. Analysts estimate that Myanmar needs billions of dollars of foreign money to help pay for new roads, bridges, power plants, railways and other assets — all the kinds of things multilateral institutions can help with, though foreign nations such as Japan and China could also provide some of that money.

The IMF, for its part, has held recent meetings with Myanmar officials about simplifying the country’s complex foreign exchange system, which involves multiple exchange rates and which has long been cited by foreign companies as a major deterrent to investing there.

The ADB said in a statement to the Wall Street Journal that it hasn’t been asked by its member governments to expand its assessment activities in Myanmar yet, though it is widely assumed that such a request will come soon following Ms. Clinton’s latest move.

“Any analytical work by ADB on Myanmar would be subject to consultations with ADB’s shareholders, and close coordination with other multilateral institutions and development partners,” the bank said. It noted that any resumption of lending would require further progress in the country’s engagement with the outside world – and “a resolution to the arrears issue.”

Efforts to reach World Bank officials were unsuccessful. In a statement on its website posted in December, the World Bank said “a great deal needs to be done to open up and improve the economy and the living conditions of the people of Myanmar,” and that “the World Bank can provide examples from other countries that have successfully made this transition.” But it added that arrangements for clearing debts to the bank would be need to be sorted out before lending could restart.
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Washington Times - Civil war threatens reforms in Myanmar
By Ashish Kumar Sen
Updated: 11:26 a.m. on Friday, February 10, 2012

A civil war between Myanmar's army and Christian rebels in the Asian nation’s northernmost state is threatening the military-backed government’s efforts to normalize relations with the West.

The Obama administration and the European Union have made peace with rebel groups a key condition for lifting sanctions on Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.

Myanmar's government has achieved cease-fires with some rebels and promoted political reforms to shed the country’s status as an international pariah.

The fighting in the state of Kachin, however, has escalated since the breakdown of a 17-year truce with the government in June. It has continued despite President Thein Sein’s orders in early December that the army end the war. The Myanmar army and the Kachin Independence Army blame each other for provoking the recent hostilities.

Ethnic Kachin activists and human rights groups accuse the army of raping, torturing and executing civilians. They claim soldiers looted their food and forced some Kachins to walk in front of soldiers to trigger landmines.

Bauk Gyar, a Kachin activist who was in the conflict zone in December, said women, children and the elderly are not spared.

“Everyone has suffered abuses. And after they persecute these people, they kill them,” she told an audience at the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington last week.

The rebels have also been accused of killing civilians.

In recent months, tens of thousands of Kachins have fled to refugee camps across the border in China.

Thein Sein, a retired general, has taken a number of steps during the past few months that have resulted in a thaw in his country’s relationship with the West.

Among his most significant reforms was his decision to allow opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who spent many years in prison and under house arrest, to participate in parliamentary elections on April 1. The government has also released hundreds of political prisoners and signed cease-fire agreements with ethnic rebels throughout the country.
Ending the decades-long ethnic rebellions is proving to the biggest challenge for the government.

“The ethnic issue is the most long-standing and difficult problem to resolve,” said a Western official who asked not to be identified citing the sensitive nature of the matter.

“The government has negotiated cease-fire agreements, but the question now is: Are these agreements going to be enforced?”

Uncertainty also hangs over the fate of more than 500 political prisoners freed as part of a government amnesty since October. The prisoners’ release is conditional. They can be forced to serve out the remaining portion of their prison terms if they are arrested again.

Among those released was Zarganar, a popular comedian and outspoken government critic, who remains skeptical about the reforms.

“We have been released, but we are not free,” Zarganar, who uses only one name, said in an interview in Washington last week.

He called on Thein Sein to sign an unconditional release of all political prisoners and said the reforms were nothing more than a “beautiful facade.”

Zarganar said the government needs to have a better plan to end ethnic conflicts and address their causes.

“Just saying, ‘Stop the war,’ is not a resolution,” he added.

None of the r