YANGON (Reuters) – Myanmar’s navy chief was sworn in on Wednesday as the second of the country’s two vice-presidents, filling a post vacated by a hard-line ex-general who stepped down in July due to ill health.

Admiral Nyan Tun, who is in his late 50s, gave up his four-year command of the navy to take the oath of office before Myanmar’s fledgling parliament, state television reported, after his nomination by military lawmakers.

The role of the vice-presidents has been largely ceremonial, so it is unclear what influence Nyan Tun might have on policy, although he will sit on bodies such as the National Defence and Security Council and the Finance Commission.

Several people who knew Nyan Tun, including some who had worked under him, described him as a political moderate.

The government is stacked with retired military, including President Thein Sein himself, but it has embarked on rapid reforms since he took office in March 2011 after 49 years of authoritarian army rule.

The appointment of Nyan Tun follows an unexplained, month-long gap since the retirement of predecessor Tin Aung Myint Oo, a conservative widely seen as an opponent of the quasi-civilian government’s political and economic liberalization drive.

On July 10, legislators nominated former military intelligence chief Myint Swe to replace him, but that nomination was quietly dropped. No official explanation has been given but according to some reports his son is married to a foreigner and that made him ineligible under the constitution.

The relevant clause in the army-drafted constitution was widely seen as a way of stopping Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, whose late husband, Michael Aris, was British, from assuming high office. It has not stopped her from becoming a member of parliament, however.

Several military sources, who were not authorized to speak to the media, told Reuters that parliament’s armed forces representatives had put forward other candidates before Nyan Tun, but they all fell afoul of various restrictions in the constitution.

Like many military leaders, Nyan Tun graduated from the elite Defence Services Academy and as navy chief made a number of official trips abroad.

Nyan Tun was the best choice because he could advise President Thein Sein on regional security matters, said a Southeast Asian military attaché, who requested anonymity.

Yangon, Aug. 15 (Xinhua-ANI): Myanmar will use the over 80 million U.S. dollars’ grant to be provided by the World Bank for establishment of model villages in over 300 townships across the country, official media reported Wednesday.

Quoting Minister of National Planning and Economic Development U Tin Naing Thein, the report said the grant will also be shared in undertakings of 15 plans of poverty alleviation.

It was revealed by the minister in his report to a Planning Commission meeting in Nay Pyi Taw Tuesday, chaired by President U Thein Sein.

On Aug. 1, the World Bank opened its first country office in Yangon, announcing preparation to grant 85 million dollars to support Myanmar’s reform.

“Myanmar is among the poorest countries in the region. The need of the people are great and the World Bank Group is working with partners to support government reform that will improve people’s lives, especially the poor and vulnerable,” World Bank Group Vice President for East Asia and Pacific Ms. Pamela Cox told the inaugural ceremony then, saying that it will help lay the foundation for broad economic growth, creating opportunities for all.

Cox added that Myanmar will have access to interest-free loan from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s fund for the poorest countries after it clears arrears of 397 million USD to the World Bank.

The bank has approved no new lending since 1987. In 1998, the government went into arrears but has remained a member of the bank. (Xinhua-ANI)

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 15 (UPI) — The United Nations welcomed the visit by a Turkish official and the OIC to Myanmar to examine religious issues in Rakhine state, an envoy said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation met with officials in Myanmar last week.

Myanmar’s government said Davutoglu agreed to contribute $50 million in humanitarian assistance to the state. The government added the OIC was invited to visit Rakhine to witness the situation firsthand.

Vijay Nambiar, a special adviser to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said he welcomed Turkish and OIC support for Myanmar’s reform processes.

“This has demonstrated the willingness of the Myanmar government to cooperate with the international community to alleviate the suffering of its people,” he said in a statement.

Myanmar embraced a series of political reforms following general elections in 2010, which marked a transition from military leadership. Praise for democratization coincided with concerns from members of the international about the security and human rights situation, however.

Violence erupted along Myanmar’s coastal area in June after the alleged rape and killing of a Buddhist woman. Buddhists retaliated by attacking Muslims. The United Nations estimates at least 78 people were killed during the clashes.

Eight Thais arrested in Myanmar in July were taken to court yesterday to face charges of possessing war weapons, a crime with a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail.

A source said the Myanmar authorities informed a Thai coordination official based in Ranong province about the trial and said that the court was expected to deliver the verdict yesterday afternoon. As at press time, there were no reports of the court’s decision.

A total of 92 Thais, including 10 women, were arrested on July 4 in Myanmar’s Koh Song area, opposite Ranong’s Kra Buri district, for allegedly encroaching into Myanmar territory and farming there without a permit. Some had in their possession war weapons while others were allegedly found planting marijuana.

The eight are Somchai Sawathee, 45, of Krabi, Pinit Arun-ayu, 49 of Ranong, Seksan Wongkasa, 40, Nipon Tippakdee, 60, both of Surat Thanai; Sa-nguan Kladsang, 53, Somporn Kladsaeng, 29, both of Prachub Khiri Khan; Winai Siriwat, 53, of Nakhon Si Thammarat and Kamtawee (surname unknown), 52, of Chumphon.

The same source said two other Thais, who are to be charged with drug offences, will appear before the court today. The maximum penalty in their case is 30 years in prison.

Relatives of the eight Thais came to the coordination office in Ranong yesterday after learning about the trial. They wanted to cross the border and attend the trial but their request was rejected because they did not ask for permission in advance. They were allowed to wait for the verdict at the coordination office.

The suspects maintained they were misled by a broker into clearing land for a rubber plantation and only later learned the land was beyond the zone authorised by Myanmar officials for Thais to use.

Meanwhile, Thai Defence Minister ACM Sukampol Suwannathat began his introductory visit to Myanmar, where he is scheduled to discuss with President Thein Sein the plight of the 92 Thais.

He left Bangkok yesterday morning for a two-day official visit at the invitation of his Myanmar counterpart to improve relations between the two countries and exchange views on several issues.

Speaking before leaving for Myanmar, the minister said he would be discussing the issue with Thein Sein and would seek to resolve the matter of the detainees after the Myanmar court delivers its verdict. He added that Thailand must respect the court decision.

Eight Thais arrested in Myanmar in July were taken to court on Wednesday to face charge of possessing war weapons, a crime with a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail.

An informed source said the Myanmar authorities informed a Thai coordination official based in Ranong province about the trial and said that the court was expected to deliver the verdict on Wednesday afternoon.

A total of 92 Thais were arrested on July 4 in Myanmar’s Koh Song area, opposite Ranong’s Kra Buri district, for allegedly encroaching into Myanmar territory and farming there without a permit. Some of them had in their possession war weapons while others were found planting marijuana.

The eight are Somchai Sawathee, 45, of Krabi, Pinit Arunayu, 49 of Ranong, Seksan Wongkasa, 40, Nipon Tippakdee, 60, both of Surat Thanai; Sanguan Kladsang, 53, Somporn Kladsaeng, 29, both of Prachub Khiri Khan; Winai Siriwat, 53, of Nakhon Si Thammarat and Kamtawee (surname unknown), 52, of Chumphon.

The same source said that two other Thais, who are to be charged with drug offences, will appear before the court on Thursday. The maximum penalty in their case is 30 years in prison.

Relatives of the eight Thais came to the coordination office in Ranong on Wednesday upon learning about the trial. They wanted to go across the border and attend the trial but their request was rejected because they did not ask for permission in advance. They were allowed to wait for the verdict at the coordination office.

Thanks to the planned hike in capital from Bt57.6 billion to Bt72 billion, Krung Thai Bank believes that it will have enough financial muscle to serve non-Thai customers such as state agencies in Myanmar and Vietnam through future branches there.

“The bank wants to expand its business in the Asean Economic Community via branches rather than representative offices to offer a full range of financial services, not just currency services,” Kittiya Ttodhanakasem, a senior executive vice president at KTB, said yesterday.

In Myanmar, KTB is opening |a representative office, but wants |to upgrade it into a branch when regulations there permit it.

With representative offices, Thai banks are limited in the services they can provide in Myanmar.

The Central Bank of Myanmar is expected to amend its regulations to allow foreign banks to set up branches because it is studying |the financial regulations in the region.

“We expect Thai customers and their partners will need credit for cross-border trade, while KTB, which is a state-run bank, can play a role in providing loans to state agencies in each country in Asean,” she said.

The Bank of Thailand recently approved KTB’s request to open a branch in Vietnam. KTB is applying for a branch licence to the State Bank of Vietnam, that country’s central bank.

The model in Vietnam is similar to Myanmar in that the branch will extend credit services to Vietnam’s state agencies including the central bank if they want to borrow from a Thai bank.

KTB has set up a representative office in Vietnam but the political situation there does not appear to support the banking business, Kittiya said.

“The economy in Vietnam has changed. Vietnam is one of the high-potential countries in Asean because the country has reformed its banking industry, while growing trade between Thailand and Vietnam is fuelling demand for loans,” she said.

“When the central bank of Vietnam gives a licence to KTB, the bank will go ahead with setting up the branch,” she said.

Myanmar President Thein Sein has pledged to delete the names of 15 Thai journalists and columnists from a blacklist made in 2002, Defence Minister Sukumpol Suwanatat confirmed yesterday.

ACM Sukumpol said the Myanmar president would order the cancellation of the blacklist as soon as he receives the list and the photos of the 15 blacklisted Thai journalists and columnists from his authorities.

The move was aimed at boosting relations between the countries, ACM Sukumpol told a group of Thai journalists who accompanied him on a visit to Myanmar. ACM Sukumpol is on an official two-day visit that ends today.

He met Thein Sein to discuss a wide range of issues, including the press blacklist and the case of 92 Thais detained for alleged land encroachment and possession of illegal arms and drugs.

The Myanmar government blacklisted 15 Thai journalists and columnists, accusing them of belittling the government and writing anti-Myanmar articles in 2002, the year that northern border relations between Thailand and Myanmar had turned sour. The Thai army that year also accused the Myanmar government of being behind drugs manufacturing by the United Wa State Army in Myanmar’s Shan State.

Those blacklisted have not been given any visas to travel to Myanmar since then. The journalists were not named, but some work for the Bangkok Post and The Nation.

BANGKOK, Aug 15 (Bernama) — Defence Minister Air Chief Marshal Sukumpol Suwanatat is paying a two-day visit to Myanmar, from Aug 15-16, to officially introduce himself as the new Thai Defence Minister and to seek ways to assist 92 Thai detainees in the neighbouring country, Thai News Agency reported.

Air Chief Marshal Sukumpol told journalists prior to his departure Wednesday morning that he was invited by his Myanmar counterpart for this week’s trip to to discuss and to strengthen bilateral cooperation between the two countries as well as to exchange opinions.

The Thai defence minister said that he will take the opportunity to hold talks with Myanmar President Thein Sein on how to provide assistance to the 92 Thai nationals who have been detained and prosecuted in Myanmar.

Meanwhile, Thai Defence Ministry Spokesman Colonel Thanathip Sawangsaeng told reporters that Myanmar has prosecuted the Thai detainees on three counts, as 82 of them were found guilty of illegal immigration and were each sentenced to three years and six months in jail, two of them were charged with narcotic offences and their cases will be considered on Thursday and the remaining eight were charged with illegal possession of war weapons and their sentence is expected by Wednesday.

PUTRAJAYA, Aug 15 (Bernama) — Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is optimistic that the Myanmar leaders are willing to listen to the opinions of their neighbours and the world on accepting the Rohingya Muslims, in line with international human rights standards.

He said the process of democracy taking place in Myanmar showed that the country’s current leaders had a different stand from the leaders before them.

However, he said, the process of accepting this minority group (Rohingyas) might take some time.

“I think Myanmar’s current leaders have a different thinking. I don’t think they don’t care at all for the opinions of their neighbours and the world.

“Eventually, they will accept the Rohingyas although it will take some time,” he told reporters at the Perdana Leadership Foundation office, here, Wednesday.

Chinese and Myanmar police have jointly destroyed a cross-border drugs gang and captured 11 suspects as well as more than 400 kg of drugs, it was announced on Wednesday.

Sources with the Chinese Ministry of Public Security said that police from southwest China’s Yunnan province and their counterparts in Myanmar have smashed a drug-making plant in Myanmar’s Laogai and captured 347 kg of methamphetamine, or ice, and 120 kg of tramadol in the operation.

In May, Yunnan’s anti-drug police authority uncovered an important clue alerting them that a male suspect named Mu Ronghong was leading other suspects in Myanmar to produce, smuggle and sell drugs.

After a two-month investigation, Chinese and Myanmar police captured 10 suspects in Laogai after raiding the drug plant on July 9.

At the same time, Chinese police successfully captured Mu Ronghong in Yunnan’s Lincang city.

According to the ministry, police on the Chinese mainland have cracked 11 drug-related cases in cooperation with counterparts in Myanmar, Vietnam, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Taiwan since the beginning of 2012.

The Myanmar Citizens Investment draft law allows local investors to enjoy income-tax exemption for five consecutive years from the time when the business is set up.

Private firms that operate state-owned businesses under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) system and manufacturers of beverages and cigarettes will benefit more from the draft law.

Paragraph 24 (a) under Chapter XII ‘Exemptions and Reliefs from Taxes’ states that if the economic activity is for production of goods or services, which is determined to be mainly necessary for the State, investors are granted income-tax exemption for five consecutive years from the time when the business is set up.

The chapter also states further income-tax exemptions including the exemptions on the import of machinery products, which are to be used in the enterprise.

Business persons have pointed out that the income-tax exemption on exported products is more beneficial for the local manufacturers, but beverages and cigarettes manufacturers, who only target the local market, should not have been granted income-tax exemption.

“The private firms that operate state-owned businesses under the BOT system have been granted more than 30 years. Isn’t that too much tax exemption for these firms?” said a local manufacturer.

The draft law was announced in state-run newspaper last week and is yet to be discussed in the parliament.

The previous law enacted in 1994 has allowed investor exemption from income-tax for a period extending to three consecutive years, inclusive of the year of commencement of the economic activity.

Baker & McKenzie has appointed its first Myanmar-qualified lawyer to its Bangkok-based Myanmar centre.

Saw Yu Win joins Bakers as a senior counsel from Yangon-based Myanmar Thanlwin Legal Services, which is in association with Southeast Asia law firm DFDL Mekong. She has 15 years of experience advising foreign clients in cross-border investment in the energy, mining and telecommunications sectors, as well as general corporate and commercial matters in the country, which is also known as Burma.

She is the first Myanmar-qualified lawyer to join the Myanmar centre of Baker & Mckenzie’s Bangkok office, which was launched at the beginning of this year. Three partners, Pornapa Thaicharoen, Khun Chirachai Okanurak and Sorachon Boonsong, are leading the Myanmar initiatives. According to Thaicharoen, the firm is in the process of recruiting two to three more Myanmar-qualified lawyers to expand the practice.

“There is so much potential in Myanmar given all the changes happening in the country. It is open to foreign investors and is making amendements in its laws and regulations to facilitate the new opportunities,” said Thaicharoen. “That’s why we want to grow our Myanmar capabilities.”

Earlier this year, the EU and US, along with other countries, agreed to suspend sanctions against Myanmar in recognition of “historic changes” following the formation of a new government in the spring of 2011. This has opened the country’s doors to an influx of foreign investment. The country’s admission to the ASEAN Economic Community, effective from 2015, is expected to bring more investment opportunities to the country and the region.

It is understood that Bakers would consider opening an office in Myanmar when regulations permitted it, but Thaicharoen noted that “we still have to wait for more [legal and political] certainty on the ground”.

NEW DELHI: India, one of Asean’s six partner countries, has granted a US$500-million loan to Myanmar, part of which will be used to finance construction of a 3,200-km trilateral highway linking India, Myanmar and Thailand, Indian ambassador to Bangkok, Anil Wadhwa said.

The route, which is expected to be completed in 2016, will run from India’s northeastern states into Myanmar, where over 1,600km of roads will be built or improved.

“Construction work has started as we also aim to improve the existing roads and bridges. This project should be completed by 2016,” he said.

“This will connect India with Myanmar all the way down to Mandalay. After that, we will connect with a place where the Thai authorities are building a highway, which is 63km from the Thai border into Myanmar,” the ambassador said this in an interview with Thailand newspaper, The Nation.

“The trilateral highway project will allow freight and container trucks to move across the borders from India to Myanmar and Thailand via Chiang Rai and border towns.

“It will play a crucial role in boosting trade and investment flows in the three countries, creating jobs and other benefits,” Wadhwa said.

“We expect this to benefit India’s northeastern region as well, as four of our states are on the border with Myanmar, especially if there is connectivity to ports like the planned Dawei deep-sea port and industrial estate in Myanmar.”

Other sources of funds for the project include the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank.

The trilateral highway will form the so-called East-West economic corridor linking India with Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

In addition, there is also a North-South corridor linking southern China with the rest of mainland Southeast Asia from Myanmar and Thailand all the way down to Malaysia and Singapore.

Green Hill Valley in Kalaw township in Burma are hosting an elephant retirement home.

Their health problems range from blindness, difficulty walking and recovery from heart attacks.

These elephants were taken from the Ministry of Forestry and brought to their home, with the age of the elephants raning from 41 to 52.

‘Each of them, you know, have their own little problems. For example, one has a problem with eyes and another elephant also has a problem with eyes, and one has a problem with the heart. Some of them were attacked by wild elephants in the forest so they got infections, so something like inflammatory or something like, so that you know we give something like medication by the instructions of vets,’ Tin Maw, one of the managing directors of the camp said.

The people that run Green Hill valley say that if they can financially accommodate more elephants through raised revenue from tourism, they will bring in more ageing pachyderms.

(RTTNews) – U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Myanmar Vijay Nambiar has welcomed a recent visit by a high-level delegation led by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to Myanmar’s restive Rakhine state, a U.N. press release said on Tuesday.

The delegation which visited Rakhine state, scene of deadly ethnic clashes that displaced thousands of people, also included senior officials of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The visit was in response to an invitation of the Myanmar government.

Recent Clashes between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in the western state of Rakhine have left at least a dozen people dead, hundreds of homes destroyed and at least 64,000 displaced.

“Such positive steps will help support Myanmar’s ongoing process of democratization and reform,” Nambiar said in a statement, adding that the visit was “significant in the context of international attention to the recent outbreak of violence in that area.”

According to the press release, the Turkish delegation visited the camps of both Muslims and Buddhists displaced by the violence, where humanitarian aid provided by Turkey is being distributed. Incidentally, it was the first such assistance accepted by Myanmar other than what was being provided by the U.N.

“This has demonstrated the willingness of the Myanmar government to cooperate with the international community to alleviate the sufferings of its people,” Nambiar said, adding that he and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had been in continuous contact with the Myanmar authorities on the matter.

Notably, the Director of Operations for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), John Ging, had warned last week of the rapidly growing needs faced by over half-a-million internally displaced persons in the South Asian nation. He also urged the Myanmar government to give aid agencies access to all areas of the country.

Myanmar, previously known as Burma, has made great strides toward democracy in recent months, including holding free elections to elect a new Parliament, freeing political prisoners and holding talks with ethnic rebel groups present in the countryside. Since assuming power in March 2011, the new government led by Thein Sein has also implemented several reforms demanded by the Opposition and the international community.

One notable stride made by Sein’s government was the release from house-arrest of democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi, who won a Parliament seat in the recent byelections. She has now been able to travel freely within the country and abroad, finally accepting a Nobel Peace Prize she was awarded over 20 years ago.

Following the widely acclaimed by-elections and the recently implemented reforms, Western powers, including the United States, Britain, European Union and Australia, have softened their approach toward Myanmar and eased some of their sanctions imposed on the previous military junta.

Massive flooding caused by ongoing heavy rain this week has forced thousands of people living in Irrawaddy Division and Karen State to flee their homes.

At least 2,500 people in Pathein (Bassein) District have been displaced by rising water and are taking refuge at a dozen temporary camps as well as five Buddhist monasteries.

Around 200 villages from seven quarters around Pathein City have been flooded with an additional 500 people affected in nearby Thar Paung Township, which has suffered badly due to its low-lying position.

There are 70 villages in Thar Paung Township with 66 currently underwater, local residents told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.

“We have 70 houses in our village. I found that there are only three houses in my village where people can stay. The others are underwater,” said a resident of Kanyin Village in Thar Paung Township.

“We have run out of rice to feed the people who take refuge here. We may have to cook rice soup if the water level does not go down soon,” said a Buddhist monk also in Kanyin Village who is helping provide shelter to displaced people at his monastery.

“The river water from Thar Paung has reached the town center now. Many villages of the township are already underwater. It seems like a sea if we look at the riverside in Thar Paung,” said Thein Tun, the township chairman for the main opposition National League for Democracy party.

He estimated that around 7,000 acres of rice paddy farmland are currently underwater.

“There are around 400 people at this camp but only two toilets. It is not good for our health. We have to eat food from donations but we do not have enough,” said a displaced person sheltering at a temporary camp in Pathein City’s 14th Quarter.

Public schools, transportation and markets in Pathein District have faced disruption caused by the flooding, according to residents.

The price of commodities has also increased as supplies are scarce and transportation difficult, while the public market has seen less customers as people stay away because of the flooding.

The highway from Rangoon to Pathein is submerged so buses have not been able to operate a regular service.

“The level of water comes up every day as there is ongoing rain here,” said a shopkeeper in Pathein’s Fourth Quarter. “The problem is we are worried that our goods at the market are going to be damaged because of the water.”

She added that the township authorities have warned local people that the rain will continue for one more week.

“There are some buses that try to drive through the floodwater. But it is very dangerous. My elder brother is in Rangoon and cannot come back,” said the shopkeeper.

Similarly, around 6,000 people in Karen State have been displaced due to recent flooding which has caused transport problems between Myawaddy, Rangoon and Mon State with vehicles having to wait for waters to temporarily recede before proceeding.

Institutes of Technology will reopen in Burma’s two biggest cities of Rangoon and Mandalay after being closed by the junta government 24 years ago.

The state-run Myanma Alin newspaper reported on Sunday that the Institute of Technology in Rangoon will accept 250 students this year while the Mandalay school will accept 50.

The government will release application forms around the second week of September with prospective students requiring 450 marks at their grand ten university entrance exam to be accepted.

Nyi Hla Nge, the former head of civil engineering at Rangoon Institute of Technology, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that additional help will be provided from institutions in the United States, Australia, Japan and Thailand.

“Foreign universities have come and talked to us already about it,” he said. “Our glory days will come back soon.”

Ko Ko, a former student at Rangoon Institute of Technology, said, “I am very glad to hear that it will reopen as we are currently worried about our education system.”

Rangoon Institute of Technology was an especially renowned institute which once offered some of the best education in Southeast Asia. But its reputation faded after the military regime closed all universities and colleges in Burma in 1996, with a few allowed to reopen in 1999.

Burmese academics have long criticized the military junta for not wanting students to be educated as they would learn to oppose the regime.

Thein Htut, a computer engineer in Mandalay who studied at the city’s Institute of Technology, said, “We could especially see that the regime did not want students to be educated after the 1988 students uprising.”

He added that he welcomes the recent announcement that the institutes would be accepting students again. “It is better to do something than nothing. But it might take more time to develop model education,” said Thein Htut.

“Anyway, this is just the first step. We might have to work hard to meet international standards of education, especially for capacity-building training to current teachers so they can teach the students properly.”

Science and Technology Minister Aye Myint hosted a meeting with teachers from the two institutes in Naypyidaw on Monday and said that the government would initially open these universities before others as both still had good infrastructure.

Although universities in Burma may struggle to reach international standards at first, it was hoped they could compare favorably with similar institutions in Asean in the next five years, according to a statement.

“The age of model education for engineering in the country will restart again,” said Ko Ko. “It is good that we get back our former decent education because we thought we had lost it. But we need to work hard in order to produce benefits from this.”

Burmese academics said they crave a learning environment like the past when visiting professors from Russia and other foreign countries would be invited to teach students, and a lot of top class engineers were produced in the country.

A memorandum of understanding has been signed with Thailand to promote educational cooperation and students hope that this first step will help boost the skills of Burmese teachers.

The curriculum at the two institutes will be based on international standards, according to the government statement, with students taking six years to earn a degree. Professors will be former university teachers and even Burmese academics who studied abroad.

On Aug. 1, MPs from Burma’s Lower House of Parliament discussed the issue of university education in the country. Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said she wanted free university education out of government control to promote diversity and unfettered learning.

There are currently around 170 universities in Burma which come under the control of the Ministries of Education, Health or Science and Technology, depending on the subjects taught. The Burmese schools system suffered greatly under the former military junta.

With the help of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) and the Daiwa Group, Burma is preparing to establish its first stock exchange—a move that will enable it to compete more effectively when the Asean Economic Community becomes a reality in 2015.

With fewer than 100 of the country’s more than thirty thousand privately owned companies currently offering shares to investors, most businesses are forced to rely on credit to expand. With a stock market, many more will finally be able to find the funding they need to unleash their potential.

“The amount of investment from the stock market is far larger than the amount that the banks can lend,” explained Koichiro Miyahara, senior executive officer of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. “A stock market is essential for getting the investment that businesses need in order to expand. Local Burmese firms have to take many steps to prepare to participate in the stock market.”

To become publicly listed, companies must meet certain requirements. Besides demonstrating that they are financially sound, they must declare how much property they own, how much capital they posses, their operation system and their future business plan.

But companies are not the only ones that needs to get ready for an influx of investment. The government must also introduce laws to regulate the capital market. To this end, it has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Policy Research Institute.

“The security exchange law is essential for the development of the capital market,” said Maung Maung Win, the vice president of Burma’s Central Bank, adding that a draft law has already been completed and will be sent to Parliament for discussion and confirmation.

One of the benefits of a new stock market is that it will challenge the supremacy of cronies of the former junta, who will have to declare their assets if they want to be publicly listed. Companies that can’t or won’t meet this requirement will face stiff competition from those that do.

According to officials from the TSE, the Burmese stock exchange market will use scripless trading for stocks and bonds. That means that transaction reports will be issued electronically, thereby avoiding the problems of lost and fake paper stocks. But it also means that Burma will have to upgrade its IT sector.

“To operate with the scripless trading system, security companies need to have improved IT systems. We will discuss with the Central Bank and local firms about what kind of share will be used in Burma,” said Kazama Suzuki, spokesperson for the Daiwa Research Institute.

The grand design for the Burmese stock exchange market is scheduled to be completed sometime later this year, according to the TSE. Business regulations (for listing companies and trading infrastructure) and system development will be ready by 2014 and mid-2015, respectively. Tokyo will also support human resources development.

“We have been doing financial and banking system research in Burma for the last two years. Now we are going to push ahead with setting up a stock exchange,” said Daiwa’s Suzuki.

Wednesday, 15 August 2012 12:04 Kyaw Phone Kyaw

Rangoon (Mizzima) – A dispute between the Burmese government’s Constitutional Tribunal and Lower House MPs has led Speaker Shwe Mann to say on Tuesday he will ask for the resignation of the tribunal’s chairperson and members.

He said on his office’s official website that he would send a letter to the president urging the chairperson and members of the tribunal to voluntarily resign by August 21.

In the third week of March, the Constitutional Tribunal said that the committees and commissions formed by the parliamentary Lower and Upper houses are not “union-level” bodies. The ruling was met with disbelief by many members of Parliament.

If the committees and commissions formed by the parliament are not “union-level” bodies, they will be inferior to “union-level” government members. If so, when a parliamentary committee or commission seeks to regulate “union-level” government entities, the efforts of the parliamentary bodies could be called into question, said MP Khaing Maung Yi.

Meanwhile, the dispute is ongoing.

Shwe Mann said the Constitutional Tribunal made a mistake in its ruling and that it harmed the reputation of MPs and called into question their ability to perform their duties.

The Lower House deputy speaker and Lower House Rights Committee chairman Nanda Kyaw Swa proposed to impeach the tribunal in remarks he made in April and early August.

Shwe Mann said he prefers to appeal to President Thein Sein to help resolve the issue.

He urged MPs to be patient and to wait for a decision from the president and to resort to impeachment proceedings only if necessary, according to the office’s webpage.

Burma’s President Thein Sein has proposed opening schools to improve the education of minority Rohingya Muslim children.

Thein Sein said education is an important tool to help different communities live in harmony and respect human rights, in an interview with the VOA Burmese Service published on Tuesday.

He said “Bengalis” – his term for the Rohingya – have only religious schools and lack “proper education.” Education for most Rohingyas stops at around age seven, say observers.

“So we will open schools for them and give them modern education,” he said. “And once they become educated, they will be more thoughtful and can decide what is right and what is wrong.”

Thein Sein reiterated Burma’s opposition to any foreign investigation of the recent deadly community violence between Rohingya Muslims and Rakhine natives in western Rakhine State where up to 90 people have been killed and thousands of homes and businesses burned.

The Saudi-based Organization for Islamic Cooperation has called for a credible investigation of the violence, which it has described as a case of prejudice against the Rohingya, who are denied citizenship in Burma.

President Thein Sein said the government is giving assistance to the victims of the violene, both Muslim and Buddhist, and has asked the government-appointed Burmese Human Rights Commission to investigate the unrest. There is “no need” for a foreign group to investigate the violence as an international issue, he said..

UN human rights envoy to Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, last week called for the Burmese Parliament to investigate the unrest in Rakhine State.

Mabrur Ahmed, the cofounder and director of Restless Beings, a British-based rights group following the Rohingya situation, told VOA he welcomed the Burmese president’s school pledge but warned of segregation.

“I don’t think it’s productive for a community where there’s going to be two ethnicities living side by side and they have separate schools for each set of children. But at the same time, at the moment, the Rohingya children are not receiving any education, or very limited education up to age seven, so to have access to more education is obviously a good thing,” he said.

Ahmed said without citizenship, the Rohingya and other unrecognized ethnic minority groups are not able to own land, get married or have children without state permission.

“Generally, the whole law needs to be overlooked [reviewed] where everyone has equal rights and there isn’t this separation of ‘pure breed’ Burmese and ethnic minority Burmese and hereditary Burmese,” he said.

Ahmed told VOA that Burma’s transition from a military-led to a semi-democratic civilian-led government is a “good, positive” step, and the president’s interview is a further sign of change.

The top Shan army leader says now is a “golden opportunity” for a top commander of the United Wa State Army who is wanted by the US on drug changes to cooperate in Nawpyitaw’s drug elimination policy.

Lt-Gen Yawdserk, the chairman of the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA), said Wei Xuegang, the commander of the United Wa State Army’s 171st Military Region, should join the Burmese government’s anti-drug campaign. Wei Xuegang has been wanted in Thailand since 1990 and in the United States since 1998 on drug charges.

“President Thein Sein has declared the elimination of (illicit) drugs by 2014,” Yawdserk said last week, according to a report in the Shan Herald . “The UWSA also has an anti drug policy. It has also held several drug-burning ceremonies. If they are farsighted and, together with us, help the government to eliminate drugs, warrants issued by foreign governments against him and other senior leaders in the UWSA will gradually lose their efficacy.”

“This is the golden opportunity that will never come again,” he told the news agency. It was unclear how such cooperation could effect the charges by the US and Thai authorities.

Wei, together with seven other Wa leaders, were indicted by the US Justice Department, which has an offer of “up to $ 2 million” for information leading to his arrest.

Yawdserk’s remarks came as tensions between the two armed ethnic groups have increased, following the Wa’s detention of 14 SSA members on July 30 in Mongton Township, who they said were setting up a military outpost at Pong Tawng, a location claimed by the UWSA as part of its territory.

Last week, the SSA dispatched officers twice to negotiate for their release, but came back empty handed each time.

Sources close to UWSA said it believes the SSA might join forces with the Burmese Army against it, said the news agency. The SSA said the suspicions are unfounded.

“We also don’t have any plans to drive the Wa (from the Thai-Burmese border areas),” Yawdserk was quoted as saying. “We consider them as fellow citizens of the same country. I’m therefore only thinking of how we can live together in harmony.”

The conflict between the two armies goes back to 1985, when Wei broke away from Khun Sa, the region’s former drug lord and the leader of the Mong Tai Army (MTA), the SSA’s predecessor, to form the Wa National Council (WNC), which later merged with the UWSA. The two sides last fought at Loi Taileng, opposite Maehongson, in 2005.

“We don’t have any racial problem between us,” said Yawdserk. “Neither do we have any commercial market to grab away from each other.”

On July 11, 2012, the US government opened the door for American companies to invest in Burma for the first time in 15 years. This move came despite the absence of effective or functional systems to ensure that new investment — even from those intent on doing business responsibly — will not exacerbate rights abuses in ethnic minority states or undermine prospects for democratic transformation.

I recently travelled to Rangoon, as well as villages around the Dawei Special Economic Zone and on the Burmese border with Thailand. From what I witnessed on the ground and the people that I spoke with, the US’s new policy on investment in Burma will fall short of serving the goals of promoting peace, preventing human rights abuses and supporting political reform. Further, the practical difficulties and risks that new investors in Burma will face were significantly apparent.

New US investors in Burma are subject to reporting requirements on their policies and procedures for assessing human rights, anti-corruption as well as environmental and labour rights impacts. They are also asked to report on land rights, security arrangements and payments made to the Burmese government. Full and accurate disclosure will be essential to determine the true impact of investment, and can serve to aid civil society in monitoring and holding corporate actors accountable.

However, the current policy is void of guidance or systems for practical implementation of these requirements, leaving Burmese citizens poorly protected. Of further concern is the fact that there are no penalties for companies that fail to report thereby decreasing incentives for companies to fully disclose pertinent information.

The US government has also failed to provide comprehensive and current information about those responsible for human rights abuses and corruption in Burma. They have also failed to address adequately the risks posed by problematic sectors like oil and natural gas.

According to U.S. regulations, new investors are not allowed to have business dealings with individuals, entities or companies that are more than 50 percent owned by persons included on the US government’s Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list. As part of this mechanism, the US government plans to add any person or entity that threatens peace, security or stability in Burma.

These lists are key tools for new investors looking to do business responsibly because they highlight Burmese business actors that should be avoided. However, the US has yet to identify threats to peace in Burma and the current SDN list remains significantly out of date, putting companies at risk of unknowingly doing business with problematic actors.

Further, as established by Burmese regulations, various industries require investors to work in partnership with local entities. This requirement exposes even a diligent new investor to significant risks. One particularly problematic sector is the oil and gas industry, which is infamously associated with bad actors that are connected to human rights violations and corruption, and fit for sanctions.

One example is the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE). Under the new US reporting requirements, American investors must report any deal with MOGE to the State Department within 60 days. However, they are still permitted to do business with the state-owned oil and gas entity. MOGE has been the Burmese government’s top revenue earner and main source of funding to its military. The company has a record of corruption and of committing human rights abuses in ethnic regions where oil and gas pipelines are being constructed.

While there are other options for partnership in the oil and gas sector, high fees associated with creating and maintaining new business favours privileged access to licenses, permits and contracts for Burmese business actors. The Burmese government is attempting to ensure that the economic elite, generally those with close ties to the military and powerful politicians, will not continue to be the sole beneficiaries of the industry.

However, corruption remains a significant problem. Because personal connections with Burma’s elite are essential to achieving successful and timely deals, companies face the prospect of compromising their compliance with standards for responsible business in order to operate in the country.

The current business environment in Burma is not conducive to the level of responsible investment required for US corporate compliance with anti-corruption legislation and sanctions. A change from the “old ways” of doing business will certainly not happen overnight and the policies and procedures necessary for new investors and their local partners and subsidiaries to meet these obligations must be in place prior to any new investments in Burma.

The new US policy fails to go far enough to hold new investors to the level of due diligence necessary to meet the policy goal of promoting peace and preventing human rights abuses. While I was in Rangoon, many people assured me that investors are visiting in droves, but are quickly realising the realities of the lack of transparency and difficult operating environment in Burma. Yet, the rich natural resources mean that deals will be made and contracts will be signed.

Unwitting new investors who fail to see the risks of supporting corruption and human rights abuses will likely leave Burmese citizens worse off while helping the elite to grow even wealthier.

- Eryn Schornick is a Research and Engagement Specialist at Conflict Risk Network a project of United to End Genocide.

Burma’s new foreign investment law may be more restrictive than its predecessor, experts said, after an updated draft of the much-anticipated foreign direct investment (FDI) bill was leaked to Reuters last week.

Experts have labelled the government’s move to limit foreign investment in certain sectors as “retrograde” and fear protectionist economic policies, aimed at sheltering domestic markets, could inhibit the impoverished country’s future socioeconomic growth.

The new draft moves to restrict 100 percent foreign ownership in certain sectors and bans investment in “small and medium industries and enterprises; agricultural and livestock business being carried on by local business people; retail business and small to medium service enterprises,” according to Reuters.

“This is an example of the ‘creeping protectionism’ many of us have feared,” said Australian economist and Burma expert Sean Turnell.

“It is so important that, at this critical juncture, Myanmar [Burma] does not lock its economy up in the clutches of old vested interests,” said Turnell.

Burma has been going through a series of economic and political reforms aimed at attracting foreign investment to the impoverished Southeast Asian state; however, these latest updates to the foreign investment law may do little to encourage the confidence of foreign investors.

The proposed restrictions to foreign investment could alleviate some of the fears voiced by domestic firms that the new investment law will favour foreign competitors; however, experts warn that protecting the domestic market in the short term will not result in healthy, long-term economic growth.

Jared Bissinger, a PhD candidate at Australia’s Macquarie University studying Burma’s economy, said the best medicine to kick-start the country’s economy, crippled from more than 50 years of economic mismanagement, is to adopt policies that create a fair, predictable and stable business environment from which everyone enjoys some benefits.

“If you keep restricting competition, what incentives will there be for these local companies to ever become strong enough to compete against foreign investors,” said Bissinger.

He said lack of funding is one of the major concerns voiced by domestic enterprises, but this could be improved if future reforms permit greater freedom within Burma’s financial sector, which would allow banks to better support the private businesses and stimulate economic growth.

“There is certainly justification for some of the feeling among local businesses,” said Bissinger.

“When it comes to access to credit, for example, they’d be at a huge disadvantage compared to international competitors.”

But local firms that play their cards right will find they have a lot in their favour, such as essential knowledge of local markets and an understanding of the bureaucratic challenges in post-sanction Burma.

“A compromise solution might entail allowing some protections in certain areas, but only for a specified length of time,” said Bissinger.

While the Burmese government is balancing the need to firm up the details of its foreign investment law to give greater confidence to international investors, such an important piece of legislation takes time to get right, said Maung Maung Lay from the Union of Myanmar Federated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI).

“There’s no need to rush with all the mistakes – that will tarnish the image of the government,” said Maung Maung Lay.

“This should not be [an] on again – off again policy like our electricity. It will be frustrating for the potential investors who are not here merely to gamble,” he said.

Maung Maung Lay said the government is fine tuning certain aspects of the new law to “alleviate the concerns of the locals and get input from all the stakeholders.”

The foreign direct investment (FDI) amendment bill builds on existing legislation enacted in 1988 and is tipped to permit foreign investors to expand their presence in joint ventures by allowing them to invest within the public or private sector.

The bill is also likely to increase land lease terms and extend tax holidays to five years.

In an earlier draft of the FDI bill, foreigners could lease land for 30 years and would be allowed two 15-year extensions, compared to an updated period of 50 years extendable for two 10-year terms, depending on the nature of the business and the size of the investment.

And while some investors will be waiting for details contained in the new foreign investment law to be officially announced before firming up their own investment decisions, its importance should not be overstated, said Turnell.

“Countries are always ‘tweaking’ their investment laws, and we should not see this as the ‘be all and end all’,” he said.

Turnell claims the FDI law was an important signalling device to international investors that Burma is a reliable place to do business.

“But the most important thing is that the law progresses in a way that creates confidence in the process in which it is made, and that the law itself be sound and reasonable,” said Turnell.

“It does not have to be, and should not be, excessively generous to international investors, especially in areas (such as resource and energy extraction) where they will come anyway.

“On the other hand, it is also important that the law not be the vehicle to protect vested interests at the expense of the broader good,” said Turnell.

New FDI law or old, foreign investors remain faced with the many challenges that come with doing business in Burma, including the lack of legal or physical infrastructure as well as a crippled banking sector, an untested judicial system and layers of bureaucratic red tape.

According to government sources, the FDI law will likely be debated in parliament this month, according to government sources.

-Kate Kelly is a pseudonym for a journalist working inside Burma.