US paves way for Myanmar president visit

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US President Barack Obama on Wednesday waived visa restrictions for Myanmar's leader Thein Sein to visit during next month's UN summit in a show of support for reforms in the country.
Obama ordered an exception in a visa ban on Myanmar's leaders to let Thein Sein travel freely during the UN General Assembly. Thein Sein would otherwise have been confined to a narrow area around the UN headquarters in New York.
Obama made the decision "to signal our interest in engaging more closely with him and his government as they continue to undertake reforms," White House national security spokesman Tommy Vietor said.
"Burma's progress in undertaking political and economic reform has been facilitated, to a large degree, by our increasing engagement with key reformers in the government," Vietor said, using Myanmar's former name.
Vietor said that the decision would allow Thein Sein, who took office last year, and reformist ministers to meet with US officials and to gain "a better understanding of democracy and US policy" during the visit.
Thein Sein, a former general, surprised many by releasing political prisoners, relaxing censorship and opening dialogue with the democratic opposition and ethnic minority guerrillas.
The Obama administration, hoping to encourage further reforms, has sent a US ambassador to Myanmar for the first time in more than two decades and has eased restrictions on investment by US companies.
Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is due to visit the United States next month -- a trip that would have been unimaginable a short while ago -- where she will receive the Congressional Gold Medal, a top US honor.
Thein Sein is expected to come to the United States at roughly the same time as Suu Kyi.
Under a 2008 law, the United States bars visas for Myanmar's leaders or military involved in human rights abuses.

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Will Burma Army agree to move away from Karen Region?

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2012/08/will-burma-army-agree-to-move-away-from.html [/postlink]

By Zin Linn

It took place on January 11, the 19-member peace-talk delegation of Karen National Union left the border town of Myawaddy intended for first official ceasefire talks in Pa-an Town, capital of Karen State, with Burmese government representatives, according to the then media news.
Burma’s Thein Sein government had already expected signing a preliminary truce with the Karen National Union (KNU), one of the world’s oldest rebellions, at peace talks in Januay.
In January peace-talk, the KNU most important delegates are General Mutue Sae Poe, Padoh Saw David Taw, Padoh Saw Ah Toe, Brigadier General Johnny, Lieutenant Colonel Roger Khin, Major Shisho, Major Ei Tha, Padoh Saw Kwe Htoo Win, Padoh Saw Lay Law Hsaw, Padoh Saw Aung Maw Aye, Padoh Saw Shwe Maunn and Padoh Saw Eh Wah.
The KNU delegation had their prearranged talk on January 12 with representatives of the Burmese government in Pa-an, capital of Karen State. Former Railways Minister Aung Min has headed the Union Government’s peace team together with Industry Minister Soe Thein and Immigration Minister Khin Yi as members.
At that time, the KNU talked based-on eleven key points including a demand for the Burmese government to stop military operations in ethnic areas, to start a nationwide ceasefire as soon as possible, to guarantee the human rights and safety of civilians, to build trust, to plan development projects that allow full participation and decision making of local villagers, to immediately stop forced labor and to stop excessive taxation and extortion of villagers.
Then, second important meeting took place on 6 April at the Sedona Hotel in Rangoon. Railways Minister Aung Min, head of Burmese government peace delegation, offered a dinner for the KNU representatives at the Sedona Hotel on 6 April. Before dinner, railways minister Aung Min and the KNU’s secretary Naw Zipporah Sein explained their political position on the peace talk’s procedure and urged all people to work together for peace.
On that occasion, A large contingent of journalists, Karen leaders, other ethnic parties’ leaders, foreign guests and government ministers attended the dinner.
The 6-April peace-talk agreement looked like based on the key points of 12 January peace meeting. Both sides agreed to work gradually for a nationwide break in fighting and bring to end warfare in ethnic areas.
According to the then Associated Press News, the points agreed on 6 April included to work step-by-step for a nationwide cease-fire and end to conflict in ethnic areas; to set up a code of conduct to maintain a cease-fire that guarantees the security of the people; and to draw up plans to resettle internally displaced people and ensure work and food security in their home areas.
At that juncture, the Karen People’s Party (KPP) requests to bring to an end all armed conflicts between the government’s armed forces and Karen ethnic armed troops for the benefit of economic growth in Karen State, according to Mizzima News. However, as said by KPP general secretary Saw Say Wah, even though many schools and roads were built in Karen State, the armed conflicts have harshly affected the development of the region. As development and peace are well related, the state needs to seek attaining a mutual understanding.
On 25 August, the KNU announces that the Government of Burma has unilaterally postponed the third round of ceasefire negotiations between the Parties, previously scheduled for August 27th to 29th in the City of Pa’an in Karen State, according to KNU’s press release on Saturday. It says that the government’s representatives confirmed the postponement verbally.
Then again yesterday, Karen National Union said in a statement that its delegation and the government’s peacemaking team have agreed to meet on September 3 and 4, 2012 in Hpan-an, Karen State. The third round negotiations meeting will focus on the guarantee of safety for civilian and the building of trust progressively at every level of negotiations, the statement says. It also mentions two items that will be mainly thrashed out.
The two items to focus are: (1) The relocations of the Burma Army troops systematically from Karen State and other conflict ridden Karen areas; and (2) The Code of Conduct, which was drafted by the KNU and submitted to the government to negotiate.
KNU expressed its own belief that “the endeavor to achieve a lasting peace after decades of armed conflicts and political disputes will be possible through the participation and support of all concerned parties and stakeholders.”
The Karen rebellion has started on 31 January 1949. The Karen ethnic group initiated the armed struggle with the intention of self-determination ever since. Civil war broke out in Burma a few months in the wake of her independence in 1948 and cannot make a nonviolent solution so far.

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Asia's Most Powerful Women

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Asia's Most Powerful Women

Across Asia, women are climbing the ranks, whether it be through business or politics. From China to Singapore, Asia is home to some of the most powerful women in the world.

Across Asia, women are climbing the ranks, whether it be through business or politics. Asia’s high-powered business women have been on FORBES’s radar, with the list of Asia’s 50 Power Business Women in February. However while CEOs like Zhang Xin of Soho China and Chua Sock Koong of SingTel are making waves with their business skills, Asian women shouldn’t be boxed into one base of power. Former business juggernaut Chan Laiwa is now one of the worlds most important artistic investors and cultural diplomats, preserving and presenting China’s red sandalwood art around the world. Yingluck Shinawatra and Aung San Suu Kyi yield political power on an international scale. Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Margaret Chan manage some of the most influential international humanitarian organizations in the world.
From China to Thailand, these women’s power in their countries and beyond are impossible to ignore. Across the board, Asian women more influential than ever in 2012, making up 11 of FORBES’s top 100 most powerful women.

Zhang Xin

Zhang Xin, CEO of Soho China Ltd. (Jerome Favre/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

 

Solina Chau

Solina Chau, founder of the HS Chau Foundation and director of the Li Ka Shing Foundation (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

 

Sun Yafang

Sun Yafang, chairwoman of the board of Huawei Technologies (REUTERS/Denis Balibouse)

 

Sri Mulyani Indrawati

Sri Mulyani Indrawati, World Bank Managing Director REUTERS/Jason Reed

 

Ho Ching

Ho Ching, executive director and CEO of Temasek Holdings and wife of Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (Photo credit should read ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP/Getty Images)

 

Chan Laiwa

Chan Laiwa, Chairwoman of Fu Wah International Group (Photo Bao fan - Imaginechina)

 

Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi, Chair and Parliamentarian, National League for Democracy, Burma

 

Cher Wang

Cher Wang, co-founder and chair of HTC (HTC AFP PHOTO / Sam YEH)

 

Margaret Chan

Margaret Chan, WHO Director General, formerly Hong Kong's Director of Health

 

Chua Sock Koong

Chua Sock Koong, CEO of SingTel (Photo by Jonathan Drake/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Yingluck Shinawatra
Yingluck Shinawatra, Thailand's Prime Minister (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

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Fifteen men and two women were found beheaded in Afghanistan

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17 party-goers 'found beheaded' in southern Afghan village

Fifteen men and two women were found beheaded in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province on Monday, punishment meted out by Taliban insurgents for a mixed-sex party with music and dancing, officials said.
The bodies were found in a house near the Musa Qala district, about 75 km (46 miles) north of the provincial capital Lashkar Gah, said district governor Nimatullah, who only goes by one name.
"The victims threw a late-night dance and music party when the Taliban attacked" on Sunday night, Nimatullah told Reuters.
There were no immediate claims of responsibility.
In ultra-conservative Afghanistan, men and women do not usually mingle unless they are related, and parties involving both genders together are rare and highly secretive affairs.
For the Taliban, flirting, open displays of affection and the mixing of men and women are vehemently condemned.
According to witnesses of a major attack that killed 20 near Kabul in June, Taliban gunmen stormed a high-end hotel demanding to know where the "prostitutes and pimps" were.
The Taliban said it launched that attack on Qarga Lake because the hotel was used for "wild parties".
During their five-year reign, which was toppled by US-backed Afghan forces in 2001, sparking the present NATO-led war, the Taliban banned women from voting, most work and leaving their homes unaccompanied by their husband or a male relative.
Though those rights have been painstakingly regained, Afghanistan remains one of the worst places on earth to be a woman. Helmand governor spokesman Daud Ahmadi said a team had been sent to the site of beheadings to investigate.

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Myanmar: Asia's next rising star

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2012/08/myanmar-asia-next-rising-star.html [/postlink]

 

 

Stephen P. Groff

Just last month I made my first visit to Myanmar, a place Rudyard Kipling referred to as "quite unlike any land you know about". While decades of isolation have helped this century-old observation hold true, on arrival in July I was immediately struck by the vibrancy and a palpable sense of change in the air. The country's immense potential is reflected in the Asian Development Bank's most recent analysis, which shows that Myanmar has the potential to follow Asia's fast growing economies and expand at 7 per cent to 8 per cent if it continues on the path of across-the-board reforms initiated earlier this year.
If Myanmar stays true to these reforms - and I was impressed by the resolve of many officials I met last month - the country should become a middle-income nation, and could more than triple per capita income by 2030.
Half a century ago Myanmar was the pearl of Asia, one of the region's leading economies with a per capita income more than twice that of its neighbour, Thailand. While most other regional economies have skyrocketed since that time, Myanmar has languished, and today has Southeast Asia's lowest per capita gorss domestic product (GDP).
After decades of stagnation, Myanmar has an enormous amount of catching up to do on almost every imaginable front. The recent experiences of Asia's fast-growing economies are instructive. For Myanmar to effectively capitalise on its potential, the country will need to maintain low inflation - under 6 per cent - and better ensure sustainable budgets. It will also need to encourage greater savings, dramatically bolster the skills of its people, invest heavily in infrastructure, modernise its financial sector, foster job creation, and continue with its reform of the foreign exchange regime.
No small order, to be sure, but Myanmar's neighbours have shown dramatic economic transformations are possible in relatively short amounts of time if reforms remain on track.
Nearly everyone I spoke with in July emphasised that maintaining social stability will be crucial as Myanmar embarks on this new course. While economic growth has been the most effective tool for reducing poverty in Asia, it has become less equitable in many fast-growing regional economies in recent decades. As the economy grows it will be essential for the country to ensure that its poorest and most vulnerable share the benefits of Myanmar's growing prosperity. Such inclusiveness will enhance and help maintain growth by strengthening social cohesion and contributing to human capital development.
Investment in education, healthcare and other social services is fundamental for building Myanmar's human capital. Today, one in four primary school children never move on to middle school, limiting their prospects as the country's next generation of workers. Encouragingly, the government has already increased its social sector spending, with the country's nominal education budget doubling for 2012/13. It is critical that this trend continue.
More opportunities also need to be created for people living in rural areas, where 84 per cent of the country's poor reside. NGOs I met last month highlighted that rural isolation is exacerbated by poor access to electricity, water and transportation. Only one in four people have electricity access, and the country's core road network is limited. Bringing rural communities into the fold and providing them with better transportation, electricity, and telecommunications will give Myanmar's poorest a better chance at grasping the opportunities that recent economic reforms can bring.
Myanmar's economic potential is immense given its rich endowments and geographic advantages. To maximise this potential, however, businesspeople I met with stressed the need for more freedom to create jobs and innovate. A further reduction of government ownership and control over certain economic sectors will help level the playing field, spurring competition and bolstering investment.
This is particularly important, as Myanmar is uniquely positioned to tap into Asia's growing economic strength and prosperity. Better connectivity with other South and Southeast Asian nations will also unleash incredible opportunities for trade and commerce.
With the region's consumption expected to reach US$32 trillion by 2030, accounting for 43 per cent of the global total, Myanmar's affluent neighbours offer vast new markets for a country with abundant natural assets, agricultural resources and low-cost manufacturing potential.
Integration with global and regional markets will also help promote accountability, transparency and respect for the rule of law, fostering an enabling environment for business and foreign investment as the nation finds its place in the Asian Century.
Myanmar's growth will not come without risks, and it is important for the country not to repeat the mistakes of other resource-rich developing nations - allowing resource revenues to exacerbate inflation and impact international competitiveness through effects on the exchange rates - a vicious cycle that can hinder the country's development in other productive sectors.
Sound macroeconomic management, economic diversification, greater transparency, the development of capable institutions, and a strong political commitment to equitably distributing benefits will all be needed to ensure Myanmar avoids the "resource curse".
While Kipling's sentiment may still be accurate, there is much Myanmar can learn from its neighbours - lessons that could make the country Asia's next rising star. There will be countless challenges along the way, but if the country makes the right moves at the right times, and maintains its strong commitment to reforms, a more prosperous future undoubtedly awaits Myanmar's people.
The writer is the ADB's Vice-President for East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

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Graffiti was unimaginable under Myanmar’s military dictators.

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Graffiti was unimaginable under Myanmar’s military dictators.

But while contention remains over whether the work is street art or vandalism, drawings and messages have been springing up on walls all over the country since the return to civilian rule in 2011.

Two anonymous graffiti artists in the city of Yangon say their work allows them to comment on the state of their country.

“There hasn’t been serious punishment. No artists have been arrested and sent to jail but some artists have had to sign papers saying they won’t do it again,” said one of them.

Another artist said they abide by a strict code.

“We may be regarded as ‘destroyers’ but we don’t do it on schools, churches or other religious buildings. We don’t go after these places. We target places we don’t like,” he said.

Last week, media censorship was abolished as part of democratic reforms.

Although books, news reports and songs no longer need to be cleared, the jury’s still out on whether graffiti will be tolerated.

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A middle class may be welling up in Myanmar

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-middle-class-may-be-welling-up-in.html [/postlink]

 

Just last month I made my first visit to Myanmar, a place Rudyard Kipling referred to as "quite unlike any land you know about". While decades of isolation have helped this century-old observation hold true, on arrival in July I was immediately struck by the vibrancy and a palpable sense of change in the air.

The country's immense potential is reflected in the Asian Development Bank's most recent analysis, which shows that Myanmar has the potential to follow Asia's fast-growing economies and expand at 7 percent to 8 percent if it continues on the path of across-the-board reforms initiated earlier this year.

If Myanmar stays true to these reforms — and I was impressed by the resolve of many officials I met last month — the country should become a middle-income nation and could more than triple per capita income by 2030.

Half a century ago, Myanmar was the pearl of Asia, one of the region's leading economies with a per capita income more than twice that of its neighbor, Thailand. While most other regional economies have skyrocketed since that time, Myanmar has languished and today has Southeast Asia's lowest per capita GDP.

After decades of stagnation, Myanmar has an enormous amount of catching up to do on almost every imaginable front. The recent experiences of Asia's fast-growing economies are instructive. For Myanmar to effectively capitalize on its potential, the country will need to maintain low inflation — under 6 percent — and better ensure sustainable budgets.

It will also need to encourage greater savings, dramatically bolster the skills of its people, invest heavily in infrastructure, modernize its financial sector, foster job creation and continue with its reform of the foreign exchange regime. No small order, to be sure, but Myanmar's neighbors have shown dramatic economic transformations are possible in relatively short amounts of time if reforms remain on track.

Nearly everyone I spoke with in July emphasized that maintaining social stability will be crucial as Myanmar embarks on this new course. While economic growth has been the most effective tool for reducing poverty in Asia, it has become less equitable in many fast-growing regional economies in recent decades.

As the economy grows it will be essential for the country to ensure that its poorest and most vulnerable share the benefits of Myanmar's growing prosperity. Such inclusiveness will enhance and help maintain growth by strengthening social cohesion and contributing to human capital development.

Investment in education, health care and other social services is fundamental for building Myanmar's human capital. Today, one in four primary school children never move on to middle school, limiting their prospects as the country's next generation of workers.

Encouragingly, the government has already increased its social sector spending, with the country's nominal education budget doubling for 2012-2013. It is crucial that this trend continue.

More opportunities also need to be created for people living in rural areas, where 84 percent of the country's poor reside. The nongovernment organizations I met last month highlighted that rural isolation is exacerbated by poor access to electricity, water and transportation.

Only one in four people have electricity access, and the country's core road network is limited. Bringing rural communities into the fold and providing them with better transportation, electricity and telecommunications will give Myanmar's poorest a better chance at grasping the opportunities that recent economic reforms can bring.

Myanmar's economic potential is immense given its rich endowments and geographic advantages. To maximize this potential, however, the business people I met with stressed the need for more freedom to create jobs and innovate. A further reduction of government ownership and control over certain economic sectors will help level the playing field, spurring competition and bolstering investment.

This is particularly important, as Myanmar is uniquely positioned to tap into Asia's growing economic strength and prosperity. Better connectivity with other South and Southeast Asian nations will also unleash incredible opportunities for trade and commerce.

With the region's consumption expected to reach $32 trillion by 2030, accounting for 43 percent of the global total, Myanmar's affluent neighbors offer vast new markets for a country with abundant natural assets, agricultural resources and low-cost manufacturing potential.

Integration with global and regional markets will also help promote accountability, transparency and respect for the rule of law, fostering an enabling environment for business and foreign investment as the nation finds its place in the Asian Century.

Myanmar's growth will not come without risks, and it is important for the country not to repeat the mistakes of other resource-rich developing nations — allowing resource revenues to exacerbate inflation and impact international competitiveness through effects on exchange rates — a vicious cycle that can hinder the country's development in other productive sectors.

Sound macroeconomic management, economic diversification, greater transparency, the development of capable institutions and a strong political commitment to equitably distributing benefits will all be needed to ensure Myanmar avoids the "resource curse."

While Kipling's sentiment may still be accurate, there is much Myanmar can learn from its neighbors — lessons that could make the country Asia's next rising star.

There will be countless challenges along the way, but if the country makes the right moves at the right times and maintains its strong commitment to reforms, a more prosperous future undoubtedly awaits Myanmar's people.

Stephen P. Groff is the Asian Development Bank's vice president for East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

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