PDF - Myanmar Eleven E
Transcription
PDF - Myanmar Eleven E
R EPA PE ASEAN+: MANY GAPS ON AEC REMAIN ✪7 First INDEPENDENT English daily www.elevenmyanmar.com FRIDAY, April 24, 2015 INSIDE Inlay drying up NATIONAL Ponds in different parts of the country dry up following heat waves MYANMAR ELEVEN THE famous Inlay Lake in Myanmar’s southern Shan State is drying up, with local people facing water shortages and difficulties in water transport. With the lake rapidly drying up, motorboats could not run around the Inlay Phaungdaw-U Pagoda, said one of the boatmen. “Previously, there was water around this Minethauk wharf. But now there is almost no water. Motorboats can no longer run. We have four wharves. We transport visitors by charging them a small fee,” said one boatman, Soe Win. San Yin, a shopkeeper from the pagoda said: “The Inlay Lake has been drying up for over a month. We mostly used bottled water. The local people have been using the water from this lake since 1936. But it is 10 years since we have stopped using the water for drinking. One-litre bottled water cost Ks 500 here. I bring bottled water from Nyaungshwe and sell them here. Today, authorities started dredging the lake for silt.” The local residents in the Inlay region have long been using bottled water for drinking while some villages have started digging more artesian wells. “About 15 years ago, the lake was as deep as 18 feet. But now it is only about six feet deep. The areas around the Phaungdaw-U Pagoda have totally dried up,” said Soe Myint Thaung, chairman of Inlay Lake Motorboat Service. He blamed the drying up of the lake on deforestation and lack of embankments to prevent silting. “The Inlay Lake is famous for its one-legged rowers and float- ing plantations. It is the second largest foreign exchange earner after Bagan. So the lake should be well conserved. People will take more interest if they (the government) implement a shortterm three- or five-year project rather than a long-term one. I’m worried the Inlay Lake could disappear in the next five years,” he commented. Heat waves hit several parts of Myanmar. According to the Meteorological and Hydrology Department, Myanmar is suffering from severe hot weather condition with temperature looming at 40 degree Celcius especially in the middle and lower regions, according to the Meteorological and Hydrology Department. “Yangon’s temperature is 40C now and it is slightly lower than last year’s temperature. In March, the temperature was over the record in two areas. Temperature in Chauk is about 44C now. There may be some rainfall in coming days to relieve the high temperatures,” said Kyaw Moe Oo, deputy director general of the department. Sagaing, Mandalay and Tanintaryi regions and Kachin, Shan and Chin states will have rainfall within the next five-day period, according to the department. Mandalay, the second largest city in Myanmar, is sizzling under intense heat wave as temperature skyrocketed, according to local residents. Since the beginning of March, Mandalay has averaged 38C. On April 20, it recorded the highest temperature - 39.2C, according to the Mandalay Region’s Meteorological and Hydrology Department. Laukkai residents return home as fighting eases ✪2 BUSINESS BTMU opens branch, Krungsri opens rep office ✪5 ASEAN+ Vietnam journalists’ role in war ✪8 EPA ARTS&CULTURE Stars and meteors illuminate the dark sky during the Lyrid meteor shower in Yangon yesterday. The Lyrid meteor shower occurs every year between April 16-26. Live act, classic hits ✪10 NATIONAL 2 MYANMAR ELEVEN, Friday, April 24, 2015 Laukkai refugees return home MYANMAR ELEVEN Laukkai refugees are boarding a truck to return home. On April 18, the commanderin-chief of the defence services, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, said that Kokang clashes are nearing an end. “Thank you for your help. Now the clashes are nearly at an end,” Min Aung Hlaing told injured soldiers at No.9 Military Hospital, Lashio. The fighting between government soldiers and Kokang rebels started on February 9. According to the government, 110 soldiers have died and 259 have been injured from February 9 to March 21, from 253 clashes. It claims Kokang armed groups fled from the main areas of Parsinkyaw’s east and northeast, with the army recapturing hills near the Chinese border. It said the Kokang forces were deployed in high land in Santaaikshan and Shinkhattan with the government seizing hills numbered 1553, 1859 and 1753. The rebels, calling themselves EMG LOCALS from Laukkai, the capital of Kokang SelfAdministered Zone in northern Shan State, have returned home after fleeing ongoing clashes more than two months ago. Since February, they took shelter at the refugee camps in Thiri Mingala Mansu Shan monastery and Mansu Bamar monastery in the 12th ward of Lashio Township. “Currently, refugees who returned back homes are being temporarily sheltered at No.1 Basic Education High School in Laukkai. We are going to arrange for those war refugees who must stay in individual shelters. And then we will arrange for some house owners to go their houses,” said Kyaw Kyaw Htun, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement. “We are happy to return to the Laukkai. However, we have heard that our houses and apartments in Laukkai had been burgled. Some houses were burned. Nevertheless, we will arrive in Laukkai, we can earn a living as whatever jobs if the situation will be stable liked in the past. We would like to say Thanks for all,” said Htu Shan, a local. War refugees returned to Laukkai under the arrangements of the government’s transportation access and some also have gone to homes after riding in their motorcycles, three-wheeled passengers’ vehicles and own cars. Within over two months, there are 24,200 war refugees sent to their respective areas across the nation through Thiri Mingalar Mansu Shan Monastery. Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), are a member of the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) and Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT). The UNFC said that the issues should be resolved through political discussion, not conflict. Now MNDAA has used force to solve problems, the case should be handled by the UNFC, according to Colonel Khun Okka, joint sec- retary of UNFC. The UNFC sent an open letter to President Thein Sein on April 13 saying that clashes in Kokang hindered nationwide ceasefire talks and the government needed to stop conflict through discussion. The Union Peacemaking Work Committee (UPWC) and NCCT have agreed a final draft of the nationwide ceasefire agreement despite the ongoing conflict in Kokang. Voice Weekly Journal apologises for controversial photos MYANMAR ELEVEN The Voice Weekly journal has apologised for uploading to Facebook controversial photos of Aung San Suu Kyi, chairperson of the National League for Democracy (NLD), who attended an event to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the death of writer Hanthawaddy U Win Tin. The photos appear to depict Suu Kyi greeting Muslim religious leaders with her hands positioned to signify a budding lotus. Facebook users comment- ed on the photos accusing the politician of religious impropriety. However, other say the depictions of Suu Kyi appear out of context. Suu Kyi’s bodyguard Soe Win said: “She greeted the religious leaders when meeting them first. Then, she paid respect to the monks. I don’t know how the photographer took these photos from the other side while she was paying respect to the monks.” The Voice Weekly’s online editorial team apologised via Facebook post to those upset by the photos. The publication’s Chief editor Kyaw Min Swe said: “We did not do it intentionally. And we did not make any change to the photo either. I think we should not have posted the disputable photo. This was the negligence of the online editorial team. I urged them to remove this photo shortly after I found out about it.” An eyewitness said that when Aung San Suu Kyi appeared at the event, and the hall was abuzz with people eager to greet her, taking pictures and videos. Among those who greeted her were religious leaders, including monks. When she reached the second row, Christian and Islamic leaders greeted her. After greeting them, she turned to greet the monks by putting her hands together reverently. After that, she sat in the front row and gave a commemoration speech. It was speculated that as most photographers wanted to get a clear shot of her so they zoomed and when they did so, only the two religious leaders were visible. Researcher Yan Myo Thein said: “ This is the second time the Voice Weekly has done something like this. The first time was the highly unethical case of the photo of student protestors being violently dispersed. Its chief editor is the deputy secretary of the Interim Press Council. It is not right for them to make mistakes and just apologise again and again. We need to ask why they did this and what objectives were in mind.” MYANMAR ELEVEN, Friday April 24, 2015 3 National 4 NEWS DIGEST Concerns on referendum The clock is ticking on Union Parliament Speaker Thura Shwe Mann’s promise to hold a referendum on constitutional amendments in May, but the election commission says it cannot go ahead until Parliament approves amendments to the referendum law. The Joint Bill Committee says a bill amending the National Referendum Law will be submitted to Parliament when it resumes sitting on May 11, leaving a tight time frame to schedule and organise a poll. “As Parliament is responsible for legislation, it needs to amend that law in time. Our commission will take necessary measures after the Union Parliament has finished its work,” Union Election Commission director Thaung Hlaing said. Some MPs warn that the timing is not right for a referendum to be held that early as Parliament still has the referendum bill to complete. YCDC plans elevated toll roads Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) said it was planning to build elevated toll roads to reduce the city’s congestion. YCDC estimated that the road projects would cost US$3.5 billion and include new bridges across the Yangon and Hlaing rivers. The project would be put out to tender and was expected to begin before the 2017-18 financial year, according to Yangon Mayor Hla Myint. The Yangon River bridge would be 1.4km long and the Hlaing bridge would be 1.2km, he said. YCDC said it was planning to reduce congestion with more elevated and express roads to provide swifter access to the city centre. MYANMAR ELEVEN, Friday, April 24, 2015 Many attend Win Tin’s commemoration MYANMAR ELEVEN THE first commemoration of the famous activist-cum-journalist Hantharwady Win Tin was held at Royal Rose Restaurant in Yangon on April 21 with many people attending the event. Attendees include his former political colleagues, leaders of the political parties, activists, former political prisoners, civic organisations, writers, actors and actresses, and his admirers. National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said, “We should value those who worth it, especially those who led us as an idol. It is good for our country. I don’t know how much percentage of the compatriots has such mindset. I was under house arrest. Likewise, U Tin Oo was in prison. However, sacrifices we made were a piece of cake comparing to that of his.” Win Tin was one of Myanmar’s longest-serving political prisoners and most stalwart pro- democracy activists. As a co-founder of the NLD, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for producing anti-government propaganda and was released in 2008. Prior to his imprisonment, he served as editor-in-chief of the Kyemon and Hanthawaddy newspapers. He passed away at Yangon General Hospital on Monday at the age of 85 after suffering from multi-organ failure. His funeral last year drew upto 100,000 people. US Ambassador to Myanmar Derek J Mitchell said last year, “As newspaper editor, author, poet, and for nearly two decades, political prisoner, U Win Tin was a man of rare integrity and courage, a man who dedicated his life to democratic principles, particularly the principle of press freedom, even under enormous hardship.” The US Embassy also released a statement to mark the one-year anniversary of his departure. “He was a staunch proponent of government and civil society working together to help political prisoners overcome their suffered hardships to become valued actors in shaping the country’s future. We remain inspired by his enduring commitment to the plight of political prisoners, righting the wrongs of injustice, and promoting the principle of freedom of expression at his own personal cost. U Win Tin is missed but his legacy lives on.” On April 21, the family of Win Tin offered alms to the monks in the morning at Mahazi Sarsana Villa. Deputy NLD Leader Tin Oo said, during the event, “Previously, I rarely met with political prisoners. He (Hantharwady Win Tin) knew many of them in and out. I used to follow him while he visited the political prisoners. He even sacrificed his health for his political conviction.” A 16-year-old boy from Sarmaw village in Mogaung Township, Kachin State, died from wounds sustained from a landmine blast on April 10, sources say. According to police records and the victim’s relatives, Myat Noe was fishing with friends when the mine was triggered. A relative said: “His family depended on him. His body was sent to Sarmaw village hospital for further examination. Both his thighs and buttocks were blown up. He died from blood loss. The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) told us not to use one side of the river but the boys were on the other side. [The government and ethnic armed groups] talk about peace but accidents like this still happen. Villagers use the river to make a living.” According to the Kachin government records from 2011 to 2014, 58 people died and 231 people were injured from landmine and bomb blasts. A total of 36 people were killed and 45 injured by firearms. Most landmine blasts this year have occurred in Hpakant with others in Indawgyi, Mansi and Mogaung. At least four people have been killed and 21 injured this year, according to police records and other sources. AFP Landmine kills Kachin boy Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo, centre, sounds the gong for the symbolic opening of the Asian African Conference in Jakarta on April 22. Myanmar President Thein Sein, 2nd left, and other Asian and African leaders gathered in Indonesia this week to mark 60 years since a landmark conference that helped forge a common identity among emerging states. Over 150,000 white cards returned in Maungdaw Thar Shwe Oo MYANMAR ELEVEN More than 157,000 expired temporary citizenship cards, also known as white cards, had been returned by April 21 in Maungdaw District, says a local official. “There are ... 73,516 from Maungdaw Township, 74,056 from Butheetaung Township and 10,117 from Taungpyo Township,” said Saw Naing, deputy director of the Department of Immigration and National Registration for Maungdaw District. There were no returns during the Thingyan holidays, which ended Tuesday, but collections have now resumed. There are more than 500,000 white card holders in Maungdaw District. Five centres are receiving expired cards in Maungdaw, four in Butheetaung and two in Taungpyo. Those who return the expired cards are issued receipts, which do not serve as identity cards but must be exchanged when new ID cards are made available. President Thein Sein declared in February that the temporary identification cards would no longer be valid after March 31 and all cards must be turned in by May 31. Those who fail to surrender their cards can be charged under the Residents of Myanmar Registration Act (1949) and could face imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, a fine not exceeding Ks 500 or both. The decision to revoke the cards has caused tension as without them the whitecard holders are unable to vote on a referendum on constitutional amendments that is expected to be announced at any time. Lawsuit against Yangon chief minister still not accepted MYANMAR ELEVEN The courts had not accepted by Wednesday a third lawsuit by the Myanmar Lawyers’ Network against Yangon Region’s chief minister, the Myanmar Investment Commission and two private companies over the planned redevelopment of colonial-era national heritage sites. The court twice last year rejected the network’s effort to sue over the plan to turn the former high court and police commissioner’s headquarters in downtown Yangon into a museum and a five-star hotel. Myanmar-owned companies Flying Tiger Engineering and Prime Residence are named in the lawsuit. Swiss chain Kempinski AG reportedly plans to open a 239-room hotel in 2017 under the brand name the Kempinski Yangon. Developers say they are making efforts to maintain heritage characteristics of the buildings. The network launched its lawsuit in November and then again in December, but the courts rejected the legal action without providing reasons, network member Gyi Myint said, explaining that the network appealed to the court prior to Thingyan (New Year) to reconsider its decision for dismissing the lawsuit. “(The developers) say we have no right to sue according to the constitution,” Gyi Myint said. “We explained to them that we can. We told them that the constitution has a section protecting state-owned assets.” The network staged two protests in 2012 and 2014 against the redevelopment of the sites. The lawyers want the buildings preserved as part of Myanmar’s justice system. KYAT EXCHANGE BUSINESS Buy Sell US $ 1073 1087 Euro ¤ 1135 1166 784 802 Singpore $ Source: KBZ Bank 5 MYANMAR ELEVEN, Friday, April 24, 2015 Krungsri opens office in Yangon MYANMAR ELEVEN A security guard keeps watch at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) branch following the bank’s official opening in Yangon on April 22, the first foreign bank to operate in Myanmar for decades. AFP BANK of Ayudhya (Krungsri), a member of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), has opened a representative office in Yangon with the aim of supporting the bank’s corporate and SME clients from Thailand in capturing business opportunities in Myanmar. The announcement was made on Wednesday when Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU), a banking entity under MUFG, officially commenced its full branch operations in Yangon. It was the first foreign bank branch opened in the country in six decades. BTMU’s opening will support Krungsri’s clients in their financial service needs, among others lending, international money transfer, and currency exchange. “The opening of a Krungsri representative office in Myanmar affirms our commitment to support our clients to grow their businesses outside Thailand, particularly in neighbouring countries. Additionally, we expect the launch of our representative office will enhance bilateral trade and investment activities between the two countries,” said Krungsri President and CEO Noriaki Goto. The newly established BTMU Yangon branch will support Krungsri’s clients in their financial service needs, such as lending, international money transfer, and currency exchange, Goto said. Krungsri’s representative office will also provide businessmatching services between operators from the two countries. Krungsri is Thailand’s 5th largest financial group in Thailand in terms of assets, loans and desposit with seven decade presence in the country. In an interview with The Nation late February, Nobuyuki Hirano, president and chief executive of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and president of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, foresaw the seamless services underpinned by Krungsri’s suc- cess stories in Thailand and BTMU’s global network that could be offered to Japanese and Thai businesses seeking to expand in Southeast Asia and elsewhere as well as individual consumers across the region. The strategy “to grow with Japanese companies” runs well with the trend that Japan seeks to grow its investment in Asean, which plans to create a single economic community by yearend. Hirano believes Japanese companies’ presence in the region is solid, particularly in the automotive industry, thanks to a more extensive supply chain than in other parts of the world. “With the AEC [Asean Economic Community], Thailand represents great opportunities for us. Thailand is the centre of continental Asean. We’d like to build business in and outside this country.” Japanese companies have been playing a major role in the development of Thilawa Special Economic Zone, the first of its kind in Myanmar. Japan is also expected to sign a deal in May to get involved in the development of Dawei. Govt raises rent on Yangon Zoological Garden Myanmar buys only small amount of gas MYANMAR ELEVEN Nilar MYANMAR ELEVEN EMG The Department of Forestry has raised rental fees to be paid by the Htoo Groups of Companies for the Yangon Zoological Garden from Ks 70 million to Ks 77 million per year in response to criticism over the low initial rate. The Department of Forestry signed a 10-year contract with the Htoo Group in 2011 with the option of renegotiating the deal every two years. Dr Nyo Nyo Thin, a member of the Yangon Region parliament, criticised the arrangement between the Htoo Group and the zoo, saying the rent paid by the Htoo Group is too low for the large area the zoo occupies. “Even the fresh water aquatic garden pays more than [the original] amount,” she said at a parliament meeting last year. The contract went up for renegotiation this month, but the Yangon Region government prohibited the rent from being raised by more than 10 per cent of the original rate. Therefore, the regional parliament raised the rent to Ks 77 million per year. Despite the raise in rent, Dr Nyo Nyo Thin said the rate is still too low. “I don’t know why the Yangon Region government said the rental charges could increase to only 10 per cent of the original rate. I know the Yangon Zoological Garden is quite a large place, and the present increased amount is Visitors at the Yangon Zoological Garden still low. It should be more than the increased amount. The government lacks systematic management of its income, and that’s why there is a budget deficit,” the MP said. The Htoo Group of Companies rents permits to run the zoological gardens in both Yangon and Nay Pyi Taw. The Yangon Zoological Garden is more than 100 years. Myanmar is buying only 200 million cubic metres of natural gas for local consumption, although its quota entitled the country to buy two billion cubic metres of natural gas from Southeast Asia Gas Pipeline Co Ltd , the operator of Myanmar-China gas pipeline project. “We are supplying gas from four distribution centres – Kyaukphyu, Mandalay, Yenanchaung and Taungtha - for local electricity generating. The gas supply will increase later,” said an official from the company. The 793-km Myanmar-China gas pipeline runs through Kyaukphyu in Rakhine state to Yunnan province of China. The pipeline started gas transmission in June 2013. Taungtha distribution centre began the operation this month and it will be the main supply centre for Myingyan power plant. It is estimated that a total of 12 billion cubic metres of natural gas will be transported via the pipeline to China per annum. At the initial state, the transmission capacity is set at 5.2 billion cubic metres. Southeast Asia Gas Pipeline is a joint venture between China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE). Both also established Southeast Asia Oil Pipeline Co to run an oil pipeline. According to CNPC, Both pipelines will start from Myanmar’s Kyaukryu and enter China at Ruili in Yunnan Province. The gas pipeline will extend across Yunnan, Guizhou, Chongqing, and Guangxi. Business 6 MYANMAR ELEVEN, Friday, April 24, 2015 Italian-Thai, Rojana expected to ink Dawei SEZ deal by end-May Erich Parpart THE NATION File photo of the land plot to be developed as Thilawa SEZ Class A zone Thailand and Myanmar agreed in June 2013 to set up the special economic zone with an equal shareholding and initial investment of Bt12 million, far below the Bt100 million that was proposed and planned by ItalianThai Development earlier. “This is a large project and a new plan must be drawn up. A private company alone cannot afford to build the whole project, because it is hard to secure lending for long-term investment in infrastructure. Therefore the government has to be the one that lays down the infrastructures first, and the commitment shown from Thailand and Myanmar has persuaded Japan to follow suit,” said the deputy minister. Meanwhile, construction of a second Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge and a road connecting the bridge to the main highway in Thailand’s Mae Sot province is EMG ITALIAN-Thai Development and Rojana Industrial Park are expected to finalise a contract with the Myanmar authorities for the initial phase of development in the Dawei Special Economic Zone (Dawei SEZ) by around the end of next month, Deputy Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayaphaisith said on Tuesday. Arkhom is also secretary-general of the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board. The initial phase of the Dawei project will consist of a 27-square-kilometre industrial estate and a 138km two-lane road between the SEZ in Myanmar’s Tanintharyi region and Phunumron checkpoint in Thailand’s Kanchanaburi province, an initial township for the workers, a liquefied-natural-gas terminal for gas transport over long distances, a telecom landline, a power plant, a small port, and a water reservoir. “There are two Thai companies [Italian-Thai and Rojana] that have entered the bidding process for the construction of the first 27-square-kilometre industrial estate in Dawei and the contract agreement is expected to be finalised around the end of May, or at the beginning of June,” he said. Deputy Prime Minister MR Pridiyathorn Devakula revealed in January that the projects in the initial stage of Dawei development were expected to be worth around US$1.7 billion (Bt55 billion), and said he believed the construction phase would commence this year. The Myanmar government is planning to ask for an officialdevelopment-assistance loan from Thailand to fund the twolane road, Arkhom said yesterday. The amount of the loan is expected to be around Bt4.5 billion. Japan is also looking to provide assistance in the drafting of the new comprehensive plan for Dawei, and to enter the project fully once the comprehensive plan is completed and the full phase begins, he added. Japan currently holds an equal partnership in the Dawei SEZ via a special-purpose vehicle to run the project after a trilateral agreement reached at the meeting of the Joint High-Level Committee on Dawei development in January. “The reason Japan was reluctant to join earlier is the lack of a master plan from the two governments [Thailand and Myanmar], but the new comprehensive plan is expected to be completed by the end of this year,” Arkhom explained. The Dawei SEZ replaced Italian-Thai Development, which had been granted the original concession from the Myanmar government in November 2010. expected to commence in October, he said.a Moreover, Sa Kaew is likely to host the second Thai special economic zone to be launched, following the launch of the Mae Sot SEZ, which is expected before the end of this year, he added. Myanmar’s first SEZ to be opened in June DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR The first special economic zone (SEZ) in Myanmar will be put into commercial operation by the end of June, an official said Thursday. “Construction of eight local and foreign factories on the phase 1 of Thilawa SEZ is almost finished,” said Thein Han, managing director of Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holdings Public Ltd. The phase 1 occupies nearly 400 hectares southeast of the central city of Yangon, and will be the part opened in June, he said. “These factories will create at least 20,000 job opportunities for Myanmar people, and the whole phase 1 could create up to 50,000 job opportunities,” he said. Including phase 2, which started construction in October, the Thilawa SEZ site covers 2,400 hectares, and is being developed by Myanmar-Japan Thilawa Development (MJTD), a Myanmar-Japan joint venture. Work started in November 2013 and is due for completion in 2016 or 2017. A total of 40 firms, mostly from Japan, Myanmar, Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore, have already signed up for participation. Thanlyin picked for ICT park MYANMAR ELEVEN A 300-acre site in Thanlyin Township has been chosen for the construction of an ICT zone like MICT Park in Yangon, according to Myanmar Computer Federation. The design of the ICT (information and communication tech- nologies) zone is under discussion. The MICT Park was established in 2004 in Hlaing Township and now hosts more than 100 ICT companies. The federation asked for help from the Yangon regional government as the 20-acre MICT Park is full. “We have chosen the site for the ICT zone. We did not get it free of charge and will have to buy it. The construction of an ICT zone is under discussion. Myanmar companies alone cannot afford to complete the construction. We will put it out to tender for investment from foreign ICT companies as well as Myanmar firms,” said Zaw Min Oo, secre- tary of the federation. The regional government gave the green light for the new site as the first location chosen was reserved for a port development. “We will conduct soil tests. Then we will choose building designs and calculate costs. Much more needs to be done in the whole process,” he added. ASEAN+ Many gaps to plug before AEC can be realised: WEF 7 MYANMAR ELEVEN, Friday, April 24, 2015 ON their way to creating a single market at the end of this year, Southeast Asian nations will need to bridge many gaps before they can integrate successfully. The 10-member Asean grouping has well-catalogued disparities, whether in income - the per capita GDP ranges from US$1,300 in Myanmar to over US$48,000 in Singapore and Brunei - education or infrastructure. Yet the most important gap to close may well be the trust gap. Some 800 of the best and brightest thinkers and movers from the region and beyond spent three days in Jakarta teasing out the benefits and challenges that will accompany Asean’s transformation into a region with free movement of goods and services, investment, skilled labour and freer flow of capital. The dimensions of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) are impressive. If it were an economy, it would be the world’s seventh largest, with a combined GDP of $2.4 trillion. More importantly, the AEC will remain the world’s fastest growing region for decades to come. With a population of 600 million, it is larger than the EU or North America. One of the most enthusiastic AEC votaries at the World Economic Forum on East Asia, which ended on Wednesday, was Malaysia’s Minister of International Trade and Industry Mustapa Mohamed. Asked to scope out its potential, he said with little hesitation that it could rival the EU, the world’s biggest economic bloc. Give it a few years, he said. “To the extent that Asean grows at 5 per cent per annum EPA THE STRAITS TIMES Jakarta AirAsia CEO Anthony Fernandes, left, sees immense benefits to come from the economic integration. and Europe by less than 2 per cent, of course we will catch up with Europe; one day we will be there,” said Mustapa. Many participants, among them Philippine tycoon Teresita Sy-Coson, embraced the idea of a single Asean-wide visa and wished that an “Asean consciousness” would pervade the region. If there were a vote by acclamation at the forum, AEC would have sprung into existence. Yet, the reality hit just hours later. The AEC hardly figured in Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s much anticipated speech on Monday evening. Instead, his message was for businessmen to make “incredi- ble” profits from investing in his country. Mustapa, whose country will host the yearend summit where AEC will be launched, admitted the region’s small and mediumsized enterprises, unlike the economic elite, feared the AEC. Said HansPaul Buerkner, chairman of the Boston Consulting Group: “The region needs more selfconfidence to trust in itself, its potential and future. “No one is sure who will benefit at this point; the only good option is to grasp the opportunity.” The AEC, when implemented, is envisioned to give the region the impetus to become an economic powerhouse, gathering as it does a population of 600 million people with a collective gross domestic product of more than US$2.4 trillion (S$3.2 trillion), making it the seventh largest economy in the world. While 91 per cent of measures under the AEC blueprint have been put in place and most of those to reduce non-tariff barriers are expected to be in place by its launch, many did not expect change to happen overnight. “The AEC is moving at a pace that the political leaders want it to. The speed is dictated by the political process and the balance that the leaders want to have between their national policies and the greater common good,” noted Ho Hsing Chan, group managing director-Asean, Du Pont Company (Singapore). Still, as Myanmar businessman Serge Pun said, compared with five years ago, the commitment to move integration forward could be seen. “It could do better by going faster, but that’s just a wish.” That wish list is long: better human rights, closing the gap between rich and poor states, freer movement of labour across borders, even an Asean-wide visa to facilitate tourism. Indonesian banker Budi Gunadi Sadikin, for one, would like to see more equitable economic development in Asean, with richer countries like Singapore and Malaysia trying to bring states like Indonesia and Vietnam closer to them. “If the focus is to make ourselves bigger, that will create unsustainability, because rich countries will become richer, and poor countries will stay poor,” he said. Human rights activist Evelyn Balais-Serrano would like to see a balance between economic growth and social, cultural and human rights development. “Unless there is a balance, there is always a tendency to have growth but also more inequality, as the price of growth is paid mostly by people who are marginalised, disadvantaged and... displaced because of this development.” While acknowledging that the AEC will not be perfect, AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes said “it will simplify business, raise standards and bring prosperity” to the region. “We have the numbers: 600 million people and a lot of good work. Definitely the AEC can rival the EU.” Malaysia proposes regional peacekeeping force THE STAR Malaysia, as Chair of Asean, has proposed the setting up of an Asean Peacekeeping Force to deal with security issues in the region, said defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein. “We have taken the initiative to propose the setting up of an Asean Peacekeeping Force under the auspice of the United Nations. “The proposal had received positive reactions from Asean member states,” he said when answering a question by Senator Mohd Ali Rustam at the Upper House today. He said the details of the regional peacekeeping force and its scope will be ironed out between Defence Ministers Plus (ADMM-Plus) and presented to Asean chair in Laos next year. He said the peacekeeping force would only become a reality after receiving the backing of Asean members and approval from UN. “This will send a clear message that Asean is united in achieving peace for the region while also addressing the threat of trans-border terrorists activities in a unified manner,” he said. At present, several Asean nations such as Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia Indonesia and Brunei are already working together to monitor the maritime routes at the Straits of Malacca and Sulu Sea. Hishammuddin said the proposal comes in light of the agreement for greater cooperation between Asean militaries for humanitarian and disaster relief efforts under a Joint Declaration on the Asean Ready Group which was signed in Langkawi last month. Earlier, Hishammuddin told lawmakers that the Islamic State was a new phenomenon and threat to the region. He cited the example where several terrorists groups in Southern Philippines had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. Later, at a press conference at Parliament lobby, Hishammuddin said steps have been taken to create awareness among armed forces personnel over the danger posed by IS. However, he acknowledge that IS is relying heavily on social media to attract followers and it would be impossible to monitor every personnel. On April 5, anti-terror units arrested 17 people, including two who recently returned from Syria, for allegedly plotting terror attacks here. Those detained included two army personnel. On March 30, home minister Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was reported to have that police had so far detained 75 individuals suspected of being involved in IS, including 13 foreigners who were deported from Malaysia. ASEAN+ 8 MYANMAR ELEVEN, Friday, April 24, 2015 Powerful propaganda: Vietnam journalists’ role in war AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Ho Chi Minh City An old giant 500-W loudspeaker that was used for northern communist Vietnam’s propaganda work is kept as historical relic in front of the Headquarter of the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) in Hanoi. “So when they did have something serious to say like the My Lai massacre, no one believed them,” Robinson added, of the infamous March 1968 slaughter of Vietnamese villagers by American soldiers. Unlike the foreign press, which in the main tried to provide balance, Vietnamese correspondents had a clear bias. “If you saw Americans walking down the streets carrying the severed head of your comrade would you not hate them?” said famed Vietnamese war photogra- AFP MANY US soldiers who fought in Vietnam will remember Hanoi Hannah, the silky-voiced communist radio correspondent who urged young American GIs to stop fighting and go home. She is the most famous of dozens of Vietnamese journalists drafted by the communists to help the war effort, which ended 40 years ago this month with the fall of the city then known as Saigon. In daily broadcasts from the northern capital Hanoi, Hannah would play music by Joan Baez and Bob Dylan, announce the names of American troops killed in fighting, and read clippings from US newspapers about antiwar protests. “Nothing is more confused than to be ordered into a war to die or to be maimed for life without the faintest idea of what’s going on,” Hannah, whose real name is Trinh Thi Ngo, said on air, reading from a script whose message was tightly controlled by the communist authorities. Ngo joined the state-run Voice of Vietnam as a young woman and her near-perfect English was seen by the state’s propaganda masters as a way to connect with US servicemen. Now a frail octogenarian, she lives in southern Ho Chi Minh City - renamed after Vietnam’s independence hero after the 1975 victory - but declined AFP interview requests on health grounds. “She helped US soldiers understand what was going on,” said Tran Duc Nuoi, a former top editor at Voice of Vietnam. “Her broadcasts shook American soldiers... because of Hanoi Hannah’s voice, some soldiers started opposing the illogical war and put down their weapons,” he added. Propaganda was essential to both sides’ wartime strategies. The US dropped billions of anti-communist leaflets over Vietnam. But it could not fully control the western press, and their raw, powerful coverage of Vietnam is credited with swaying US public opinion on the conflict. Meanwhile, Hanoi tightly controlled the domestic flow of information, highlighting only its successes and American failures, not the enormous losses it was suffering. But observers say the impact of efforts to demoralise Americans - including through Hanoi Hannah’s broadcasts have been overblown. “I don’t think many GI’s actually listened to her, much less were influenced by what she said. They knew it was all propaganda,” said Carl Robinson, a journalist who covered the war for the Associated Press, adding US forces preferred listening to their army’s own radio network. Because of a tendency to over-exaggerate, the communist journalists also lost credibility, he said. pher Dinh Quang Thanh. It was their “duty” to highlight communist victories and help the war effort, said Thanh, who photographed communist soldiers entering Saigon’s Independence Palace, to bring the war to an end on April 30, 1975. “We couldn’t stand these people who brought bombs and shells into our country to kill,” he said. At least 2.5 million soldiers from Vietnam’s communist North and US-allied South died in the conflict alongside three million civilians, according to official fig- Jakarta’s traffic forces children to become road savvy THE JAKARTA POST Jakarta has become increasingly unfriendly toward pedestrians and cyclists and even more toward the young, many of whom are not allowed by their parents to travel home from school alone. Haikal Ramadhan, 9, said one of his friends had been injured in the head and leg when he was hit by a motorcycle while walking home and talking with a friend. Rakan Yusra, 10, said he was almost grazed by a motorcycle when he and some friends were walking in the middle of the road in front of their school. They were also talking while walking. For junior road users in Jakarta, it seems, street smartness is a must to survive the traffic jungle. They have to be extra cautious and alert all the time and there seems to be no room for children to walk leisurely while talking. Nurlaila, a teacher at SD Bendungan Hilir 12 state elementary school in Central Jakarta, said on Tuesday that her students went to and from school by different modes - by ojek (motorcycle taxi), by private car and by foot. “Only a few of them live nearby and they come to school by foot,” she added. Agung, a father who drives his son to the Bendungan Hilir school by motorcycle every day, said he had told his son to always wear a helmet, a jacket and two pairs of pants to protect himself. Agung said that as his home was far from the school, he did not allow his son to walk there. “The traffic here is very dangerous because a lot of drivers do not abide by traffic regulations,” he said, adding that he did not allow his 12-year-old son to take public transportation because he was too young to deal with the unpredictable traffic. ures. On the American side, more than 58,000 soldiers lost their lives, while some estimates say more Vietnam veterans committed suicide after the war than died in fighting - although the figures are disputed. Vietnamese reporters faced the same - if not worse - dangers as their foreign colleagues, who have been lionised since the war for their powerful coverage. Some 200 Vietnamese correspondents - who lived alongside regular army units - were killed during the conflict. While Vietnamese reporters working for the communist side were certainly less balanced in their reporting than the foreign press, their images were still powerful, according to photographer Tim Page, who covered the war for UPI. “The problem that the great frames taken by the photographers on the ‘other side’ is that they never got to see the light of day in the west,” Page, co-author of a book of images by foreign and Vietnamese journalists killed in the war, told AFP. Malaysia upholds death sentences for Mexican brothers, two others AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Kuala Lumpur Malaysia’s highest court on Thursday upheld guilty verdicts and death sentences for three Mexican brothers, a Singaporean and a Malaysian convicted of manufacturing drugs. The Gonzalez Villarreal brothers Luis Alfonso, 47, Simon, 40, and Jose Regino, 37 - were arrested in March 2008 in an industrial building in southern Malaysia where police found 30 kilograms (66 pounds) of methamphetamine and equipment for making drugs. The brothers insist they were working as cleaners and were unaware drugs were being made. Drug trafficking convictions in Malaysia carry a mandatory sentence of death by hanging. “Our decision is unanimous. Appeal dismissed against all five defendants. Conviction and sentence affirmed,” Federal Court justice Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin, speaking on behalf of a panel of judges, told the court in Malaysia’s administrative capital of Putrajaya. The men were sentenced in May 2012 and the ruling was affirmed a year later by an appeals court. The brothers are from Culiacan, the capital of Mexico’s northwestern state of Sinaloa, bastion of the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel. The brothers, dressed in white prison trousers and white shirts with red sleeves, took the decision calmly, even managing to smile as they were led from court. The Mexican foreign ministry has said it had “repeatedly expressed (to Malaysian authorities) Mexico’s position against capital punishment”. The defendants included Singaporean citizen Lim Hung Wang, 56, and Lee Boon Siah, 51, of Malaysia. The decision exhausts all normal court options for the defendants, but defence lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik said they planned to seek a last-ditch judicial review of the case by the Federal Court. Failing that, they may consider seeking a royal pardon from Malaysia’s figurehead monarchy, he said. MYANMAR ELEVEN, Friday, April 24, 2015 9 ASEAN+ Philippines on its way to be a heavyweight: IHS PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER THE Philippine economy is projected to expand significantly over the next decade and a half to become one of Southeast Asia’s heavyweights, fueled by a growing middle class and a resurgent manufacturing sector. IHS Global, a think tank, said that the government’s businessfriendly policies would lead to higher levels of investment, helping create more jobs and raise incomes in the country. Over the next five years, gross domestic product (GDP) growth may average 5.5 per cent, forecasts showed. If this expansion were to be sustained, per capita income, or the money the average Filipino makes, could double to $6,000 a year by 2024. By 2029, the size of the economy is expected to more than triple from $310 billion in 2015 to over $1 trillion. “These significant increases in per capita GDP will create one of Asean’s largest consumer markets of the future, as the middle class rapidly expands over time,” IHS Global Asia Pacific chief economist Rajiv Biswas said. “This will help attract foreign direct investment by multinationals into the Philippines manufacturing and services industry.” The main growth drivers for the Philippines economy are the rapidly growing outsourcing sector and the strong flow of remittances from Filipino workers abroad. The expected gains may be attributed to the large pool of university-educated workers as well as the strong Englishlanguage skills of the workforce in the country. In the Philippines, the export revenue from the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector more than doubled between 2008 and 2014, reaching an estimated $18 billion in revenues by 2014, while the total number of employees in the IT-BPO industry exceeded 1 million. By 2016, the Philippines’ IT-BPO industry is projected to have 1.3 million employees. The rapid growth of this industry is also driving economic development in a number of cities across the Philippines, with Manila and Cebu now ranked among the world’s leading BPO hubs. Also, remittances from Filipino workers abroad rose to a new record of $26.9 billion in 2014— up 6.2 per cent from the level seen in 2013, providing a key source of strength for the Philippines’ balance of payments. Overseas workers’ remittances directly support consumer expenditure and residential housing construction, becoming a key driver of GDP growth in the Philippines. In the long term, the development of the Philippines will depend on the manufacturing sector’s competitiveness—whether it can effectively harness foreign and domestic investment flows. “This will require considerable improvement of the business climate, with the Philippines still ranked very low globally on the World Bank’s ease of doing business rankings,” Biswas said. Thai economy may have shrunk over last 2 quarters THE NATION Singapore hotels take actions THE STRAITS TIMES A general view of Singapore’s financial district. Sovereign hotel chains, said: “When you compare the market now to the tourism boom years when the integrated resorts first opened, room rates and occupancy were much higher then. But now, visitor numbers are dropping and yet the number of hotel rooms is increasing year on year. “We have to keep working to maintain our current revenues. It’s going to be more challenging. So that’s good if we have our own campaign.” The number of hotels in Singapore jumped from 373 in 2013 to 392 last year, injecting 2,154 rooms into the market, latest STB figures show. The average occupancy rate stood at 85 per cent last year, down 1 per cent from 2013. The average room rate was S$258 per night, down 0.2 per cent. Several hotels are slated to open this year, including the 557room Genting Hotel Jurong on April 30, the 442-room Park Hotel Alexandra next month and the 157-room Patina in the Central Business District, which will open in the third quarter. Meanwhile, tourist arrivals have fallen from 15.6 million in 2013 to 15.1 million last year - the first drop since 2009. There were 2.4 million visitors in the first two months of this year, a 5 per cent decline year on year. Audrey Chung, Far East Hospitality’s head of global sales and marketing, said the new campaign would help the 10-hotel chain, which runs boutique hotels like The Quincy and Oasia, “drive numbers not just to our hotels, but to Singapore as well”. AFP Five major hotel companies in Singapore are taking matters into their own hands to boost the dwindling number of tourists here, and to protect their own rice bowls. The hotel groups and GTA - a firm that helps them sell their rooms to travel agents abroad have put aside a total of S$2 million (US$1.48 million) to drive their own overseas marketing campaign featuring 22 of their hotels. The year-long campaign began on April 1 and will involve three-day roadshows in at least 12 cities. They are mostly second- tier markets like Kochi in India and Busan in South Korea, where Singapore and the hotels are less well known, said GTA regional vice-president of sales and marketing Daryl Lee, who is driving the campaign. Campaigns will be customised for each city. In India, for instance, hotels will offer packages with vegetarian food options. GTA will meet the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) next month to make sure their campaign does not clash with the government agency’s. STB’s director of hotels and sector manpower, Ong Huey Hong, said: “We welcome such initiatives by industry players. In an increasingly competitive environment, we need more promotional activities to excite potential visitors about Singapore as a vibrant destination.” The companies involved are FRHI Hotels and Resorts, Global Premium Hotel, Far East Hospitality, Resorts World Sentosa and The Ritz-Carlton. Eddie Lim, 40, chief executive of Global Premium Hotel, which owns the Fragrance and Park Resorts World Sentosa said that the campaign is a chance to “reach out to travel agents in second-tier cities that we don’t normally have contact with”. To sell their rooms, hotels here generally advertise in target countries. They also work with travel agents and aggregator firms like GTA and promote their website to draw direct bookings. Swiss firm GTA processes more than 21,000 global hotel bookings a day. This is the first time it has teamed up with hotels for such a campaign. Hotels like Santa Grand Hospitality, which is not involved in the campaign, said it relies on direct sales and online travel agencies but would consider joining such an event if it was invited. Marketing manager Derik Poh said: “We are small. We can’t do roadshows overseas.” There is a chance that Thailand’s quarterly economic expansion will be in negative territory if year-onyear growth in gross domestic product comes in at just 3 per cent for the first three months of the year, Don Nakornthab, director of the Bank of Thailand’s Macroeconomic Policy Office, said on Wednesday. His comment followed a statement by the secretarygeneral of the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB), Akom Termpitayapaisit, who said the economy’s year-on-year expansion would most likely be around 3 per cent in the first quarter. With seasonally adjusted economic expansion between the final two quarters of 2014 now recorded at 1.7 per cent, the NESDB is expected to release this year’s official first-quarter GDP data on May 18. “The quarter-on-quarter growth at around 2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2014 is quite aggressive when compared to normalcy in the past, so a slowdown of quarter-on-quarter expansion from the fourth quarter of 2014 to the first quarter of 2015 is expected. “However, the fact that the numbers for consumption and exports did not look so good in the first two months of this year means the quarter-on-quarter size of the economy might actually have contracted,” said the central bank’s macroeconomic chief. “Nevertheless, I believe quarter-on-quarter performance in the second quarter will most likely be better than in the first quarter, because of somewhat of a recovery in the export sector and an increase in government spending,” he added. The central bank said the baht had strengthened by around 1 per cent since the last Monetary Policy Committee meeting on March 11, which is generally in line with the movement of other currencies in the region. LIFESTYLE Live act, classic hits 10 MYANMAR ELEVEN, Friday, April 24, 2015 Lin Lin Khaing MYANMAR ELEVEN Since debuting shortly after 2000, Sone Thin Par quickly earned recognition with the title song of her debut album “Kabargyi Ka Kyinn Tal So Pay Mae”. The catchy tune, itself a local cover of Mark Dinning’s classic hit “The World is Getting Smaller”, simply launched her career in music. With a string of hits under her belt and an evergrowing fanbase, Sone Thin Par is set to stage her first concert tomorrow. In this exclusive interview with Myanmar Eleven, the diva takes a behind-the-scenes look at the concert while showing her fans what’s there to expect. Tell us about the concert. I’ve had this big dream of staging my own concert ever since I started singing. My friends have been very supportive [of the concert]. Some of them pitched in with financial support and equipment. My mentors Min Chit Thu and Myint Moe Aung is also supporting me. Everyone is giving me a hand. How do you design the setlist since you have many hits? I tend to select my own songs. I have only selected two or three cover songs that used to be popular. I choose the songs that are suitable to sing at the concert. Mostly, I have selected the songs that were top hits. I have selected about 15 original songs and “copy” songs. Tell us about the performance and presentation of the concert. I’m thinking of holding the concert in three segments. I will sing 10 old songs that I normally sing in concerts in the first section. The band has rearranged songs like “Yarzawin Thwin Mae A Chit” to make them livelier and a bit uptempo. I will perform the unplugged versions of songs like “Cowboy” during the second segment. Of the last 10 songs, four will have some performances by Khae Mi Ko, Uranium, and Jade Dragon dance groups. Will there be any guest entertainers? My fellow sisters from the music industry – Chaw Su Khin, Tin Zar Maw, and Connie – will help as presenters rather instead of me hiring outsiders. I hear you’re interested in doing a programme based on your life story. I’m thinking of doing this programme. I haven’t taken many photos since I was a child. I plan to present a summary of my childhood with what I have. live show? Even if I have this broadcast on TV, it has to be the standard live TV delay. I want the audience to come and experience a real live concert. I have done my best. That’s why I want them to come to the concert. How do you feel now that you are about to hold your first concert? I’m very happy and excited. I’m also a little scared. There are many things that could go wrong during the concert, but I plan to do my best for my audience. Any plans for your fans in other regions? I have many ideas. As this is my first concert, I will select and perform my best songs. I want to release it on DVD, but I’m focusing on the concert at the moment. Are you satisfied with your music career? You can say I’m a little bit lazy. I haven’t released many albums. I have to devote my time to my family. I also double as a mom so I’m wearing two hats at the same time. Youth these days work real hard, but I don’t want Will this concert be a truly to pull my punches. I have this mindset that is to always keep outperforming myself every day. My fans still support my songs even now. I want to thank all the fans who will always be there for me. Anything you want to tell your fans who are coming to your concert? The audience will receive something nice and worthy of their time spent in concert. They will get a genuine live-concert experience filled with many good songs they used to like in the past. Coca-Cola Myanmar names Eaint Chit, Mi Sandi as brand ambassadors MYANMAR ELEVEN Popular female artists Eaint Chit and Mi Sandi have been appointed Coca-Cola Myanmar’s new brand ambassadors. The two artists will join existing brand ambassador Sai Sai Kham Leng to tour the country as part of Coca-Cola’s Myanmar Summer Festival. “Both singers, who are successful in the music industry, are joining hands with Coca-Cola to do some fun activities and music. We are planning many programmes for them to work with artist Sai Sai Khem Mi Sandi is one of the two new brand ambassadors of Coca-Cola EMG What have you prepared for the concert? When I started planning the concert, I came up with this title: “The Prominent Songs of Sone Thin Par”. I have released four studio albums and many group albums [throughout my career]. These include covers of other people’s songs, but I also have many songs of my own. Among them, I have selected 30 prominent songs that I think the audience will like. The rehearsal is up and running. I will be performing with Dream Lover band. This band has been with me since I started singing in Mandalay. They have rearranged some of my old songs to match up with the present era and helped me select the songs. Leng, who was appointed as brand ambassador two years ago,” said a spokesman for Coca-Cola Myanmar. “Coca-Cola is the first product I have accepted to work as a brand ambassador. It is a worldwide brand so I believe I will get some nice experience working with them. We will travel with Coca-Cola and present fun programmes,” said Mi Sandi. Eaint Chit is a successful singer who has released two studio albums and won the “I Love Artist” award at the 2014 Myanmar Music Awards. Mi Sandi has released two well-received studio albums and won Best Artist at the Monsoon Music Awards last year.