Myanmar official: human traffickers under pressure
AP - Friday, January 22
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Cooperation among the countries of the Mekong River region is putting pressure on human traffickers, a top Myanmar official has said.
The Myanma Ahlin daily reported Thursday that Home Minister Maj. Gen. Maung Oo told a regional meeting that the area is no longer a "safe haven" for the traffickers due to effective measures taken by its six countries.
He spoke Wednesday at the 7th Senior Officials Meeting for the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking _ COMMIT _ in Bagan in central Myanmar.
But the top U.N. official in Myanmar, Bishow Parajuli, warned the meeting that people in Myanmar continue to be trafficked for the purpose of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation, and the country is also a transit point for trafficking Bangladeshis to Malaysia and Chinese to Thailand.
A press release from the U.N. office in Myanmar said there are no reliable estimates on the number of people trafficked annually from Myanmar, although 155 trafficking cases involving 302 victims were investigated in 2009, with 429 perpetrators convicted, up from 134 cases in 2008.
The three-day meeting was attended by 135 participants from the six Mekong countries: Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
AP - Friday, January 22
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Cooperation among the countries of the Mekong River region is putting pressure on human traffickers, a top Myanmar official has said.
The Myanma Ahlin daily reported Thursday that Home Minister Maj. Gen. Maung Oo told a regional meeting that the area is no longer a "safe haven" for the traffickers due to effective measures taken by its six countries.
He spoke Wednesday at the 7th Senior Officials Meeting for the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking _ COMMIT _ in Bagan in central Myanmar.
But the top U.N. official in Myanmar, Bishow Parajuli, warned the meeting that people in Myanmar continue to be trafficked for the purpose of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation, and the country is also a transit point for trafficking Bangladeshis to Malaysia and Chinese to Thailand.
A press release from the U.N. office in Myanmar said there are no reliable estimates on the number of people trafficked annually from Myanmar, although 155 trafficking cases involving 302 victims were investigated in 2009, with 429 perpetrators convicted, up from 134 cases in 2008.
The three-day meeting was attended by 135 participants from the six Mekong countries: Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
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01/21/2010 12:26
MYANMAR
AsiaNews.it - Burmese monks and activists tried for 2007 anti-junta uprising
Four monks and a teacher are among the accused. They allegedly took part in the “saffron revolution”, which was crushed in blood. The activists were arrested in September of last year and could get as much as seven years in prison. Currently, more than 250 monks are jailed in Myanmar.
Yangon (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Myanmar’s military junta has charged eight activists for their role in the September 2007 uprising that was crushed in blood, dissident media organisation Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) reported.
The eight defendants, who include four monks and a schoolteacher, were arrested last September during a crackdown that coincided with the second anniversary of the so-called Saffron Revolution.
Lawyer Kyaw Ho, who represents two of the men, Thandar Htun and Ko Nyo, said that all eight were charged under the Unlawful Associations Act and the Immigration Act, which together carry a maximum seven-year sentence.
The other defendants are Ye Myint, U Yaywata, U Kawthita, U Withudi, U Waryama and Kyaw Khin.
All eight are accused “of having contacts with the All Burma Monks Association and the Generation Wave,” both outlawed by the generals, and “illegally crossing the border to meet with those groups,” said Kyaw Ho.
Five of the men reportedly do not have legal representation. The relatives of the eight have been barred from visiting them since their arrest and have been able to determine the state of their health, the lawyer said.
The Myanmar government in September of last year launched a crackdown on people suspected of fomenting the 2007 uprising. At the time, thousands of civilians, led by monks, initially took to the streets of Yangon to protest against a hike in fuel prices.
The demonstrations quickly became a show of force against the military regime with demands for the release of political prisoners and the adoption of democratic reforms.
The military responded by firing into crowds and killings hundreds, including many Buddhist monks who are held in high regard and venerated by ordinary people.
According to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP), more than 250 monks are currently held in Myanmar prisons.
MYANMAR
AsiaNews.it - Burmese monks and activists tried for 2007 anti-junta uprising
Four monks and a teacher are among the accused. They allegedly took part in the “saffron revolution”, which was crushed in blood. The activists were arrested in September of last year and could get as much as seven years in prison. Currently, more than 250 monks are jailed in Myanmar.
Yangon (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Myanmar’s military junta has charged eight activists for their role in the September 2007 uprising that was crushed in blood, dissident media organisation Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) reported.
The eight defendants, who include four monks and a schoolteacher, were arrested last September during a crackdown that coincided with the second anniversary of the so-called Saffron Revolution.
Lawyer Kyaw Ho, who represents two of the men, Thandar Htun and Ko Nyo, said that all eight were charged under the Unlawful Associations Act and the Immigration Act, which together carry a maximum seven-year sentence.
The other defendants are Ye Myint, U Yaywata, U Kawthita, U Withudi, U Waryama and Kyaw Khin.
All eight are accused “of having contacts with the All Burma Monks Association and the Generation Wave,” both outlawed by the generals, and “illegally crossing the border to meet with those groups,” said Kyaw Ho.
Five of the men reportedly do not have legal representation. The relatives of the eight have been barred from visiting them since their arrest and have been able to determine the state of their health, the lawyer said.
The Myanmar government in September of last year launched a crackdown on people suspected of fomenting the 2007 uprising. At the time, thousands of civilians, led by monks, initially took to the streets of Yangon to protest against a hike in fuel prices.
The demonstrations quickly became a show of force against the military regime with demands for the release of political prisoners and the adoption of democratic reforms.
The military responded by firing into crowds and killings hundreds, including many Buddhist monks who are held in high regard and venerated by ordinary people.
According to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP), more than 250 monks are currently held in Myanmar prisons.
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New Kerala - South-East Asia to step up war on human trafficking
New York, Jan 21 : Officials from the six countries of South-East Asia's Mekong region and observers from the United Nations and other stakeholders has opened a two-day meeting in Myanmar to step up the war on human trafficking, including sexual slavery and labour exploitation.
"It is only through this kind of coordinated approach and solidarity of the counter-trafficking community that we can make a real difference in the lives of people who are suffering the cruel consequences of human trafficking and exploitation," UN Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP) regional manager Matthew Friedman told the 7th Senior Officials Meeting of the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking (COMMIT) in Bagan.
The meeting brings together ministers from China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam, along with observers from the UN, including the UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking of Persons Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and donors.
"COMMIT is unique in that it has fostered unprecedented accountability between the Mekong countries over the past six years," UN Resident Coordinator Bishow Parajuli said. "I believe that this unity may be one of our greatest strengths in tackling some of our biggest challenges."
According to UN International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates, 9.49 million people were in forced labour in the Asia-Pacific region as of 2005, with a significant number believed to be in the Mekong region.
Since the signing of a memorandum of understanding six years ago, the six countries have put in place legal and cooperative frameworks to prevent human trafficking taking place, prosecute traffickers and exploitative employers and protect victims, helping them return home safely and with dignity.
The Bagan meeting will take a fresh look at regional approaches to counter trafficking, review plans and priorities, and discuss future joint actions, focusing in particular on law enforcement and the recovery and reintegration of victims.
New York, Jan 21 : Officials from the six countries of South-East Asia's Mekong region and observers from the United Nations and other stakeholders has opened a two-day meeting in Myanmar to step up the war on human trafficking, including sexual slavery and labour exploitation.
"It is only through this kind of coordinated approach and solidarity of the counter-trafficking community that we can make a real difference in the lives of people who are suffering the cruel consequences of human trafficking and exploitation," UN Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP) regional manager Matthew Friedman told the 7th Senior Officials Meeting of the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking (COMMIT) in Bagan.
The meeting brings together ministers from China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam, along with observers from the UN, including the UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking of Persons Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and donors.
"COMMIT is unique in that it has fostered unprecedented accountability between the Mekong countries over the past six years," UN Resident Coordinator Bishow Parajuli said. "I believe that this unity may be one of our greatest strengths in tackling some of our biggest challenges."
According to UN International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates, 9.49 million people were in forced labour in the Asia-Pacific region as of 2005, with a significant number believed to be in the Mekong region.
Since the signing of a memorandum of understanding six years ago, the six countries have put in place legal and cooperative frameworks to prevent human trafficking taking place, prosecute traffickers and exploitative employers and protect victims, helping them return home safely and with dignity.
The Bagan meeting will take a fresh look at regional approaches to counter trafficking, review plans and priorities, and discuss future joint actions, focusing in particular on law enforcement and the recovery and reintegration of victims.
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ReliefWeb - Conference demonstrates strong will to fight human trafficking in the Mekong region
Source: United Nations Country Team in Myanmar
Date: 20 Jan 2010
Myanmar has made progress in its efforts to combat human trafficking in recent years. But challenges remain in terms of providing assistance to the many women, men and children affected by trafficking in the country.
20 January 2010, Bagan — Human trafficking is a crime against humanity. Virtually every country in the world is affected by human trafficking, whether as a country of origin, transit or destination for victims. But in Myanmar, as in other countries in the Mekong region, the rising scale of this problem is cause for grave concern.
"The number of people selling other people for exploitation is growing and with that the need for a regional response to these crimes, including victim identification, protection and assistance. Trafficking knows no borders," said Ms. Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, who is attending the 7th Senior Officials Meeting for the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking (COMMIT) in Bagan, Myanmar.
The COMMIT 7th Senior Officials Meeting provides an opportunity to look at the impact that the COMMIT Process is having on the lives of real people. The 3-day event brings together 135 participants from the six Governments in the Mekong region (Cambodia, China, Lao, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam) and observers from other ASEAN countries, the UN, INGOs, and donors. The purpose is to reaffirm the commitment to eradicating all forms of human trafficking in the region, share and evaluate progress in 2009 and lay the foundations for future strengthened cooperation in counter trafficking.
In his opening remarks, the UN Resident Coordinator for Myanmar, Mr. Bishow Parajuli, congratulated Myanmar for its achievements and efforts in combating human trafficking in recent years.
It is significant that the COMMIT 7th Senior Officials Meeting is being held in Myanmar, as this was the birthplace of the COMMIT Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which was signed by representatives of the six Mekong countries, six years ago.
Myanmar was the first country in the Mekong region to pass a comprehensive anti-human trafficking law in line with international standards. It was also one of the first countries to establish a specialist anti-trafficking police unit, widely regarded as best practice, and has passed a 5-year National Plan of Action in areas like prevention, law enforcement and protection.
In 2009, Myanmar signed two bilateral Memoranda of Understandings (MoUs) on the issue. The first, with Thailand, was signed in April, while in November an agreement was reached with China.
"Progress has been made, but we must not lose sight of the fact that trafficking remains a huge challenge. It is imperative that we continue to address the root causes, while at same time reach out to the many people directly affected by trafficking," said Mr. Parajuli in his address.
He also pressed for an integrated and coordinated approach that includes Governments, the UN, civil society and private partners, in a strong spirit of partnership and alliance.
"To make a real difference, we must have a common vision that continues to build and expand on our unified counter trafficking response," said the UN Resident Coordinator.
Human trafficking is a global concern. Every year, thousands of men, women and children fall into the hands of traffickers, in their own countries and abroad.
In Myanmar, people are trafficked for the purpose of forced labour and commercial sexual exploitation. Men, women and children are typically trafficked to Thailand, China, Malaysia, South Korea, and Macau, but Myanmar is also a transit country for trafficking of Bangladeshis to Malaysia and Chinese to Thailand.
"It is only through this kind of coordinated approach and solidarity of the counter-trafficking community that we can make a real difference in the lives of people who are suffering the cruel consequences of human trafficking and exploitation. It's a privilege to be working with so many dedicated people through the COMMIT Process, from the policy level to the grassroots, as we work together to make this happen," said Matthew Friedman, Regional Project Manager of the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP). UNIAP is the Secretariat of the COMMIT Process.
The UN estimated in 2005 that 9.49 million people are in forced labour in the Asia-Pacific region, with a significant number of these thought to be in Mekong region. Traffickers are also making illicit profits globally estimated at about $31 billion US dollars.
There are no reliable estimates on the number of persons trafficked annually from Myanmar, although 155 trafficking cases were investigated last year, up from 134 in 2008, involving 302 victims. 429 perpetrators were convicted.
Office of the UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator in Myanmar
For more information, please contact:
Ohnmar Ei Ei Chaw (for info on the COMMIT Process and the meeting)
National Project Coordinator, Myanmar
UN Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking in the Greater Mekong Subregion (UNIAP)
Tel: (+95-1) 242828, ext: 1203
Mob: (+95-9) 515 2996
E-mail: oeechaw.uniapmm@undp.org
Esben Q. Harboe (for interviews with Mr. Parajuli or info on the UN System)
Special Assistant to the UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator
Tel: +951 542 910/919 - ext 430
Mob: +95 (0)9507 4853
E-mail: esben.harboe@undp.org
Source: United Nations Country Team in Myanmar
Date: 20 Jan 2010
Myanmar has made progress in its efforts to combat human trafficking in recent years. But challenges remain in terms of providing assistance to the many women, men and children affected by trafficking in the country.
20 January 2010, Bagan — Human trafficking is a crime against humanity. Virtually every country in the world is affected by human trafficking, whether as a country of origin, transit or destination for victims. But in Myanmar, as in other countries in the Mekong region, the rising scale of this problem is cause for grave concern.
"The number of people selling other people for exploitation is growing and with that the need for a regional response to these crimes, including victim identification, protection and assistance. Trafficking knows no borders," said Ms. Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, who is attending the 7th Senior Officials Meeting for the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking (COMMIT) in Bagan, Myanmar.
The COMMIT 7th Senior Officials Meeting provides an opportunity to look at the impact that the COMMIT Process is having on the lives of real people. The 3-day event brings together 135 participants from the six Governments in the Mekong region (Cambodia, China, Lao, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam) and observers from other ASEAN countries, the UN, INGOs, and donors. The purpose is to reaffirm the commitment to eradicating all forms of human trafficking in the region, share and evaluate progress in 2009 and lay the foundations for future strengthened cooperation in counter trafficking.
In his opening remarks, the UN Resident Coordinator for Myanmar, Mr. Bishow Parajuli, congratulated Myanmar for its achievements and efforts in combating human trafficking in recent years.
It is significant that the COMMIT 7th Senior Officials Meeting is being held in Myanmar, as this was the birthplace of the COMMIT Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which was signed by representatives of the six Mekong countries, six years ago.
Myanmar was the first country in the Mekong region to pass a comprehensive anti-human trafficking law in line with international standards. It was also one of the first countries to establish a specialist anti-trafficking police unit, widely regarded as best practice, and has passed a 5-year National Plan of Action in areas like prevention, law enforcement and protection.
In 2009, Myanmar signed two bilateral Memoranda of Understandings (MoUs) on the issue. The first, with Thailand, was signed in April, while in November an agreement was reached with China.
"Progress has been made, but we must not lose sight of the fact that trafficking remains a huge challenge. It is imperative that we continue to address the root causes, while at same time reach out to the many people directly affected by trafficking," said Mr. Parajuli in his address.
He also pressed for an integrated and coordinated approach that includes Governments, the UN, civil society and private partners, in a strong spirit of partnership and alliance.
"To make a real difference, we must have a common vision that continues to build and expand on our unified counter trafficking response," said the UN Resident Coordinator.
Human trafficking is a global concern. Every year, thousands of men, women and children fall into the hands of traffickers, in their own countries and abroad.
In Myanmar, people are trafficked for the purpose of forced labour and commercial sexual exploitation. Men, women and children are typically trafficked to Thailand, China, Malaysia, South Korea, and Macau, but Myanmar is also a transit country for trafficking of Bangladeshis to Malaysia and Chinese to Thailand.
"It is only through this kind of coordinated approach and solidarity of the counter-trafficking community that we can make a real difference in the lives of people who are suffering the cruel consequences of human trafficking and exploitation. It's a privilege to be working with so many dedicated people through the COMMIT Process, from the policy level to the grassroots, as we work together to make this happen," said Matthew Friedman, Regional Project Manager of the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP). UNIAP is the Secretariat of the COMMIT Process.
The UN estimated in 2005 that 9.49 million people are in forced labour in the Asia-Pacific region, with a significant number of these thought to be in Mekong region. Traffickers are also making illicit profits globally estimated at about $31 billion US dollars.
There are no reliable estimates on the number of persons trafficked annually from Myanmar, although 155 trafficking cases were investigated last year, up from 134 in 2008, involving 302 victims. 429 perpetrators were convicted.
Office of the UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator in Myanmar
For more information, please contact:
Ohnmar Ei Ei Chaw (for info on the COMMIT Process and the meeting)
National Project Coordinator, Myanmar
UN Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking in the Greater Mekong Subregion (UNIAP)
Tel: (+95-1) 242828, ext: 1203
Mob: (+95-9) 515 2996
E-mail: oeechaw.uniapmm@undp.org
Esben Q. Harboe (for interviews with Mr. Parajuli or info on the UN System)
Special Assistant to the UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator
Tel: +951 542 910/919 - ext 430
Mob: +95 (0)9507 4853
E-mail: esben.harboe@undp.org
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People's Daily Online - CLMV senior officials prepare for culture-related roundtable in Myanmar
16:39, January 21, 2010
Culture-related senior officials of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV) held preliminary coordination meeting in Myanmar's ancient city of Bagan to prepare report for a ministerial-level roundtable scheduled for Saturday in Nay Pyi Taw, an official daily reported Thursday.
The meeting on Wednesday discussed matters on enhancing cultural cooperation among and boosting tourism in the CLMV member countries, the daily New Light of Myanmar said, adding that a Nay Pyi Taw declaration-2010 will be issued at the end of the ministerial roundtable meeting.
Taking part in the roundtable will be visiting Cambodian Minister of Culture and Arts Him Chhem, Laotian Minister of Culture and Information Mounkeo Oraboun, Myanmar Minister of Culture Major-General Khin Aung Myint and Vietnamese Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh representing respective countries.
The meeting aims to strengthen friendship among CLMV countries, uplift good neighboring spirit, ensure cooperation among member countries, hold culture exchange, enhance cultural preservation and boost tourism sector through cultural cooperation.
In January 2008, a meeting of culture- and arts-related ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was held in Nay Pyi Taw, in which the ministers agreed to enhance the regional cooperation in the areas of culture and arts,
The areas of cooperation cover human resources development, protection, preservation and promotion of ASEAN cultural heritage, and development of small and medium cultural enterprises.
The ASEAN ministers of culture and arts (AMCA) also endorsed the work plan of the working groups set up by related ASEAN senior officials, agreeing that funding for cultural cooperation activities be streamed and broadened.
The regional ministers resolved to enhance the cultural profile of ASEAN among the member states and internationally.
The AMCA met to promote a deeper understanding of the region's civilization, arts and culture, and was aimed at contributing towards the emergence of an ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community by 2015. The roadmap for the community called for preservation and promotion of the region's cultural heritage and cultural identity.
16:39, January 21, 2010
Culture-related senior officials of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV) held preliminary coordination meeting in Myanmar's ancient city of Bagan to prepare report for a ministerial-level roundtable scheduled for Saturday in Nay Pyi Taw, an official daily reported Thursday.
The meeting on Wednesday discussed matters on enhancing cultural cooperation among and boosting tourism in the CLMV member countries, the daily New Light of Myanmar said, adding that a Nay Pyi Taw declaration-2010 will be issued at the end of the ministerial roundtable meeting.
Taking part in the roundtable will be visiting Cambodian Minister of Culture and Arts Him Chhem, Laotian Minister of Culture and Information Mounkeo Oraboun, Myanmar Minister of Culture Major-General Khin Aung Myint and Vietnamese Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh representing respective countries.
The meeting aims to strengthen friendship among CLMV countries, uplift good neighboring spirit, ensure cooperation among member countries, hold culture exchange, enhance cultural preservation and boost tourism sector through cultural cooperation.
In January 2008, a meeting of culture- and arts-related ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was held in Nay Pyi Taw, in which the ministers agreed to enhance the regional cooperation in the areas of culture and arts,
The areas of cooperation cover human resources development, protection, preservation and promotion of ASEAN cultural heritage, and development of small and medium cultural enterprises.
The ASEAN ministers of culture and arts (AMCA) also endorsed the work plan of the working groups set up by related ASEAN senior officials, agreeing that funding for cultural cooperation activities be streamed and broadened.
The regional ministers resolved to enhance the cultural profile of ASEAN among the member states and internationally.
The AMCA met to promote a deeper understanding of the region's civilization, arts and culture, and was aimed at contributing towards the emergence of an ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community by 2015. The roadmap for the community called for preservation and promotion of the region's cultural heritage and cultural identity.
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ONGC Net Profit Rises After Cutting Discounts on Oil (Update1)
By Rakteem Katakey
Jan. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Oil & Natural Gas Corp., India’s biggest energy explorer, reported a 23 percent gain in third- quarter profit, missing estimates, after cutting discounts on crude oil sales to state refiners and as global prices rose.
Net income climbed to 30.5 billion rupees ($662 million) in the three months ended Dec. 31., from 24.7 billion rupees a year earlier, the New Delhi-based company said in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange today. The median estimate of 14 analysts compiled by Bloomberg was a profit of 47.56 billion rupees.
Discounts by state-owned ONGC to refiners including Indian Oil Corp. fell for the fifth straight quarter. The government’s pledge to ease the subsidy burden borne by the explorer for selling fuels below cost may help increase profits and free up funds as ONGC seeks to buy fields overseas and maintain output at aging blocks at home.
“Lower subsidy ensured they sold oil at close to market prices,” said Vinay Nair, a Mumbai-based analyst for Khandwala Securities Ltd. “The profits were below estimates only because of one-time items and may only affect shares for a short while.”
Crude futures gained 78 percent last year after demand for fuels increased as the world emerged from the worst financial crisis in 70 years.
Subsidy Bill
ONGC’s subsidy bill in the quarter was 34.97 billion rupees, Chairman R.S. Sharma said Jan. 19. That’s 29 percent less than a year earlier, when the company subsidized refiners for the sale of cooking and auto fuels. The explorer’s subsidy on kerosene and cooking gas was scrapped in July and remains on auto fuels.
ONGC shares fell 1.8 percent to 1,139.95 rupees in Mumbai trading. The stock has gained 75 percent in the past year, trailing the 94 percent increase in the benchmark Sensitive Index of the Bombay Stock Exchange. The earnings were announced after the stock market closed.
ONGC accounted for 37 wells where it did not find any oil or gas during the quarter, which affected profit, Chairman Sharma said at a press conference in New Delhi today.
The company wrote down 24.80 billion rupees for dry wells compared with 6.07 billion rupees a year earlier, D.K. Sarraf, director of finance said. The wells were drilled over the last two years, Sharma said.
“The initial reaction by investors to these dry wells will be negative,” Deepak Pareek, an analyst with Angel Broking Ltd., said by telephone from Mumbai. “The key for ONGC is to keep spending more, drill more wells and find new fields and new reserves.”
Overseas Fields
ONGC sold crude oil at $57.69 a barrel in the quarter, 70 percent higher than the same period a year earlier, the company said in a statement.
The explorer, which contributes 70 percent of India’s domestic oil production, is seeking to increase output from its overseas fields to 60 million metric tons by 2025, more than double its current output in India.
ONGC and partner Royal Dutch Shell Plc started producing crude from an offshore field in Brazil in July. The Indian producer may start natural gas output from a field off the coast of Myanmar in 2012.
The BC-10 field in Brazil is currently producing over 50,000 barrels of crude a day, said R.S. Butola, Managing Director of ONGC Videsh Ltd., ONGC’s overseas investment arm.
Domestic Oil
ONGC may spend about 86 billion rupees in the year starting April on fields overseas, Butola said. That’s 23 percent more than the 70 billion rupees in plans to spend in the year ending March, he said.
The explorer plans to spend about $3.3 billion to increase production from its domestic oil fields, Sharma told shareholders in September. ONGC may produce 28 million metric tons of oil by March 2013 compared with about 25 million tons this fiscal year, Sharma said today.
ONGC plans to spend about 30 billion rupees over three years to hire nine land and offshore rigs by December to boost production at its domestic fields, U.N. Bose, technical director, said Jan. 13.
Crude oil for March delivery rose 4 cents to $77.78 a barrel at 9:06 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
To contact the reporter on this story: Rakteem Katakey in New Delhi at rkatakey@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: January 21, 2010 09:46 EST
By Rakteem Katakey
Jan. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Oil & Natural Gas Corp., India’s biggest energy explorer, reported a 23 percent gain in third- quarter profit, missing estimates, after cutting discounts on crude oil sales to state refiners and as global prices rose.
Net income climbed to 30.5 billion rupees ($662 million) in the three months ended Dec. 31., from 24.7 billion rupees a year earlier, the New Delhi-based company said in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange today. The median estimate of 14 analysts compiled by Bloomberg was a profit of 47.56 billion rupees.
Discounts by state-owned ONGC to refiners including Indian Oil Corp. fell for the fifth straight quarter. The government’s pledge to ease the subsidy burden borne by the explorer for selling fuels below cost may help increase profits and free up funds as ONGC seeks to buy fields overseas and maintain output at aging blocks at home.
“Lower subsidy ensured they sold oil at close to market prices,” said Vinay Nair, a Mumbai-based analyst for Khandwala Securities Ltd. “The profits were below estimates only because of one-time items and may only affect shares for a short while.”
Crude futures gained 78 percent last year after demand for fuels increased as the world emerged from the worst financial crisis in 70 years.
Subsidy Bill
ONGC’s subsidy bill in the quarter was 34.97 billion rupees, Chairman R.S. Sharma said Jan. 19. That’s 29 percent less than a year earlier, when the company subsidized refiners for the sale of cooking and auto fuels. The explorer’s subsidy on kerosene and cooking gas was scrapped in July and remains on auto fuels.
ONGC shares fell 1.8 percent to 1,139.95 rupees in Mumbai trading. The stock has gained 75 percent in the past year, trailing the 94 percent increase in the benchmark Sensitive Index of the Bombay Stock Exchange. The earnings were announced after the stock market closed.
ONGC accounted for 37 wells where it did not find any oil or gas during the quarter, which affected profit, Chairman Sharma said at a press conference in New Delhi today.
The company wrote down 24.80 billion rupees for dry wells compared with 6.07 billion rupees a year earlier, D.K. Sarraf, director of finance said. The wells were drilled over the last two years, Sharma said.
“The initial reaction by investors to these dry wells will be negative,” Deepak Pareek, an analyst with Angel Broking Ltd., said by telephone from Mumbai. “The key for ONGC is to keep spending more, drill more wells and find new fields and new reserves.”
Overseas Fields
ONGC sold crude oil at $57.69 a barrel in the quarter, 70 percent higher than the same period a year earlier, the company said in a statement.
The explorer, which contributes 70 percent of India’s domestic oil production, is seeking to increase output from its overseas fields to 60 million metric tons by 2025, more than double its current output in India.
ONGC and partner Royal Dutch Shell Plc started producing crude from an offshore field in Brazil in July. The Indian producer may start natural gas output from a field off the coast of Myanmar in 2012.
The BC-10 field in Brazil is currently producing over 50,000 barrels of crude a day, said R.S. Butola, Managing Director of ONGC Videsh Ltd., ONGC’s overseas investment arm.
Domestic Oil
ONGC may spend about 86 billion rupees in the year starting April on fields overseas, Butola said. That’s 23 percent more than the 70 billion rupees in plans to spend in the year ending March, he said.
The explorer plans to spend about $3.3 billion to increase production from its domestic oil fields, Sharma told shareholders in September. ONGC may produce 28 million metric tons of oil by March 2013 compared with about 25 million tons this fiscal year, Sharma said today.
ONGC plans to spend about 30 billion rupees over three years to hire nine land and offshore rigs by December to boost production at its domestic fields, U.N. Bose, technical director, said Jan. 13.
Crude oil for March delivery rose 4 cents to $77.78 a barrel at 9:06 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
To contact the reporter on this story: Rakteem Katakey in New Delhi at rkatakey@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: January 21, 2010 09:46 EST
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Jan 22, 2010
Asia Times Online - Bangladesh breathes in hope
By R M Cutler
MONTREAL - Bangladesh, long known in the West as an "international basket case", is doing its best to consign to history the dismal label so firmly attached to it by US diplomat Henry Kissinger. The economy is humming and the stock market surging. Now the government is being urged to pursue reforms while the opportunity lasts.
The Dhaka Stock Exchange General Index (DGEN) has doubled in the past nine months, including a phenomenal 25% one-day jump in mid-November. It has risen 10% in just the last three weeks and is now on the verge of closing above the 5,000 mark, which it crossed briefly earlier this week.
This is a remarkable change in fortunes for the country since Kissinger, then running the US State Department, expressed his views soon after Bangladesh won its independence from Pakistan in 1971. An important force for good since then has been the Grameen Bank's extension of microcredit, the idea for which Muhammad Yunus received the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize.
The country's per-capita inflation-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) has more than doubled in the past 35 years, according to the World Bank, and its poverty rate fallen by 20% in the last two decades. Urbanization, especially around the capital Dhaka, has driven this growth.
The UN still classifies it as a "least developed country" (LDC), but the decline in the budget deficit, high rates of export and import growth, and increasing foreign currency reserves earned Bangladesh plaudits in a recent country review paper for the UN's Brussels Program of Action for the LDCs. The report encouraged the government to continue to pursue attempts to reform the budgetary system, financial institutions, and the revenue sector.
The drive to pursue any such reforms may be weakened by an economy faced with unpleasant headwinds as the global economic crisis continues to make its impact felt.
Three-quarters of the country's export earnings are pulled in by the garment industry, backed by foreign direct investment (FDI). This has been hard hit by a decline in demand as a result of the global financial crisis.
FDI, which has been encouraged through the establishment of a handful of Export Processing Zones, where foreign investors receive incentives for opening factories, also took a hit last year and is expected to continue to slow in 2010. Remittances from abroad, which contribute significantly to foreign exchange, also face a slowdown as Bangladeshi workers overseas struggle to keep jobs and maintain pay levels.
As is the case in some East Asian countries, the lack of integration of local financial and banking institutions with the worldwide industry shielded Bangladesh somewhat from being swept up in the economic maelstrom of the global crisis. The possibilities of increased prices for food and fuel are now the country's major macroeconomic challenges.
The Bangladesh Bank has followed a monetary policy intended to control inflation while increasing capital investment. While increasing credit to the private sector, however, it is restricting credit to government. The bank anticipates that both food and non-food inflation in Bangladesh will continue over coming months. Its target figure is 6.5%. Bank governor Atiur Rahman says there are dangers of speculative bubbles, as real productive opportunities may lag behind available investment capital. Those worries seem so far not have dragged on the stock market.
It was the landslide election of a political alliance led by the Bangladesh Awami League at the end of December 2008 (following a provisional military government that postponed the planned January 2007 elections) and the institutionalization of a relatively stable democracy that created the political preconditions for the present exceptional, near-parabolic rise in the stock market.
The banking sector remains the market bellwether, and the country's largest mobile telephone operator, Grameenphone, represents 17% of total market capitalization. Other significant sectors include pharmaceuticals and energy, notably gas.
There had been some hope, in the middle of the last decade, that a Bangladesh-India-Myanmar dispute over Bay of Bengal maritime boundaries might be resolved in conjunction with development of an east-to-west gas pipeline extending to Kolkata.
The Bangladeshi government, which would have garnered transit fees from the project, was however the only one not to sign off on the final proposal. Since then, Myanmar has decided to send its gas by pipeline to China.
There has been so much natural gas development in Bangladesh that the Asian Development Bank estimates that overdependence on gas for power generation and in industrial and residential sectors in fact represents a threat to the country's energy security. At some time in the future, the government will have to rethink its pricing structure, which makes gas available to users at a minimal price. Electricity demand regularly outstrips supply.
It the country is able to overcome transparency issues and continue cooperation with its South Asian neighbors (as a recent summit meeting with India indicates will happen), then the country's economic prognosis is far more positive than its earlier reputation.
Bangladesh is considered a "frontier market" under the FTSE classification, although not by MSCI. Yet Goldman Sachs includes it among the "Next Eleven" (N-11) that it judges have the potential to become one of the world's largest economies in the present century, a category separate from the BRICs - the fast-growing developing economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China.
Dr Robert M Cutler (http://www.robertcutler.org), educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and The University of Michigan, has researched and taught at universities in the United States, Canada, France, Switzerland, and Russia. Now senior research fellow in the Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, Carleton University, Canada, he also consults privately in a variety of fields.
Asia Times Online - Bangladesh breathes in hope
By R M Cutler
MONTREAL - Bangladesh, long known in the West as an "international basket case", is doing its best to consign to history the dismal label so firmly attached to it by US diplomat Henry Kissinger. The economy is humming and the stock market surging. Now the government is being urged to pursue reforms while the opportunity lasts.
The Dhaka Stock Exchange General Index (DGEN) has doubled in the past nine months, including a phenomenal 25% one-day jump in mid-November. It has risen 10% in just the last three weeks and is now on the verge of closing above the 5,000 mark, which it crossed briefly earlier this week.
This is a remarkable change in fortunes for the country since Kissinger, then running the US State Department, expressed his views soon after Bangladesh won its independence from Pakistan in 1971. An important force for good since then has been the Grameen Bank's extension of microcredit, the idea for which Muhammad Yunus received the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize.
The country's per-capita inflation-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) has more than doubled in the past 35 years, according to the World Bank, and its poverty rate fallen by 20% in the last two decades. Urbanization, especially around the capital Dhaka, has driven this growth.
The UN still classifies it as a "least developed country" (LDC), but the decline in the budget deficit, high rates of export and import growth, and increasing foreign currency reserves earned Bangladesh plaudits in a recent country review paper for the UN's Brussels Program of Action for the LDCs. The report encouraged the government to continue to pursue attempts to reform the budgetary system, financial institutions, and the revenue sector.
The drive to pursue any such reforms may be weakened by an economy faced with unpleasant headwinds as the global economic crisis continues to make its impact felt.
Three-quarters of the country's export earnings are pulled in by the garment industry, backed by foreign direct investment (FDI). This has been hard hit by a decline in demand as a result of the global financial crisis.
FDI, which has been encouraged through the establishment of a handful of Export Processing Zones, where foreign investors receive incentives for opening factories, also took a hit last year and is expected to continue to slow in 2010. Remittances from abroad, which contribute significantly to foreign exchange, also face a slowdown as Bangladeshi workers overseas struggle to keep jobs and maintain pay levels.
As is the case in some East Asian countries, the lack of integration of local financial and banking institutions with the worldwide industry shielded Bangladesh somewhat from being swept up in the economic maelstrom of the global crisis. The possibilities of increased prices for food and fuel are now the country's major macroeconomic challenges.
The Bangladesh Bank has followed a monetary policy intended to control inflation while increasing capital investment. While increasing credit to the private sector, however, it is restricting credit to government. The bank anticipates that both food and non-food inflation in Bangladesh will continue over coming months. Its target figure is 6.5%. Bank governor Atiur Rahman says there are dangers of speculative bubbles, as real productive opportunities may lag behind available investment capital. Those worries seem so far not have dragged on the stock market.
It was the landslide election of a political alliance led by the Bangladesh Awami League at the end of December 2008 (following a provisional military government that postponed the planned January 2007 elections) and the institutionalization of a relatively stable democracy that created the political preconditions for the present exceptional, near-parabolic rise in the stock market.
The banking sector remains the market bellwether, and the country's largest mobile telephone operator, Grameenphone, represents 17% of total market capitalization. Other significant sectors include pharmaceuticals and energy, notably gas.
There had been some hope, in the middle of the last decade, that a Bangladesh-India-Myanmar dispute over Bay of Bengal maritime boundaries might be resolved in conjunction with development of an east-to-west gas pipeline extending to Kolkata.
The Bangladeshi government, which would have garnered transit fees from the project, was however the only one not to sign off on the final proposal. Since then, Myanmar has decided to send its gas by pipeline to China.
There has been so much natural gas development in Bangladesh that the Asian Development Bank estimates that overdependence on gas for power generation and in industrial and residential sectors in fact represents a threat to the country's energy security. At some time in the future, the government will have to rethink its pricing structure, which makes gas available to users at a minimal price. Electricity demand regularly outstrips supply.
It the country is able to overcome transparency issues and continue cooperation with its South Asian neighbors (as a recent summit meeting with India indicates will happen), then the country's economic prognosis is far more positive than its earlier reputation.
Bangladesh is considered a "frontier market" under the FTSE classification, although not by MSCI. Yet Goldman Sachs includes it among the "Next Eleven" (N-11) that it judges have the potential to become one of the world's largest economies in the present century, a category separate from the BRICs - the fast-growing developing economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China.
Dr Robert M Cutler (http://www.robertcutler.org), educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and The University of Michigan, has researched and taught at universities in the United States, Canada, France, Switzerland, and Russia. Now senior research fellow in the Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, Carleton University, Canada, he also consults privately in a variety of fields.
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Jan 22, 2010
Asia Times Online - China's free-trade shot in Asia's arm
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - China and, initially, six of its Asian neighbors enacted the world's largest free trade area at the start of the year. Billed as a welcome boost for the economies of its Asian partners, some analysts also see it as a panacea for the region as they battle through the global financial crisis.
Such optimism stems from the free-trade pact cementing a relationship that has seen the value of trade between the world's fastest-growing major economy and the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) jump six-fold since 2000 to US$193 billion.
The China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA), which took effect on January 1, dwarfs other free trade areas by the number of people it caters to - 1.9 billion, or a quarter of the world's population. China's economy, now battling neck-and-neck with Japan to be the world's second-largest, after the US, surged 10.7% in the fourth quarter of 2009, the fastest pace since 2007, bringing the full-year growth rate in gross domestic product to 8.7%, the government said yesterday.
"The CAFTA is an important vehicle for trade-led growth and recovery in ASEAN,'' said Ganeshan Wignaraja, principal economist at the Office of Regional Economic Integration at the Asian Development Bank. "We expect trade-led recovery to grow from 3.9% in 2009 to 6.4% in 2010."
The Southeast Asian nations that will initially profit from deeper trade ties with China's powerhouse economy are Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Remaining members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) China - Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam - will be included in the arrangement from 2015.
The launch of a $10 billion infrastructure investment fund by China to improve roads, railways and airlines and strengthen telecommunication links may help speed recovery for its Asian neighbors. The world's most populous nation has also committed a $15 billion credit facility to promote regional integration.
"It will be good [for the ASEAN countries] to latch on to China's production network, to get into that value chain, and also sell to Chinese consumers," Wignaraja said from the ADB's Manila headquarters. "We think by 2017 the ASEAN region will gain $82 billion dollars at least, and this is a conservative estimate, from a zero scenario."
Even so, ASEAN countries will have to "adjust their thinking, offering a competitive advantage for companies to invest in this new climate," said Gyorgy Szirackzi, a senior economist at the International Labour Organization's Asia-Pacific office in Bangkok. "Some sectors in ASEAN will benefit early on, like the health service sector, tourism sector and the telemarketing sector."
But he cautioned that CAFTA would have birth pains, including loss of jobs in countries that cannot compete against the labor costs of their new trade partners.
"Some countries will gain, some will lose," Szirackzi said. "Companies will consider how to increase their scale of production and may choose to operate from the country that makes economic sense for them."
Indonesia has already sounded such an alarm. The archipelago's trade minister, Mari Pangestu, wrote to the ASEAN secretariat this month stating that Jakarta wanted to "renegotiate" some features of CAFTA, noting that local industries like textiles and food were suffering from a flood of cheaper Chinese imports.
Filipino legislator and economist Walden Bello offered a more trenchant criticism. "The picture is more complex than that of a Chinese locomotive pulling the rest of East Asia along with it on the fast track to economic nirvana," he wrote in last Sunday's online edition of Business Mirror, a Manila-based newspaper.
"The reality, however, is that most of the advantages will probably flow to China," added Bello, who is also a senior analyst at Focus on the Global South, a Bangkok-based regional think tank.
The CAFTA has slashed tariffs on 90% of traded goods. These include final products from chilli, fish and soy sauces to manufactured products such as air conditioners, motorcycle parts and machinery. By 2015, goods described as "highly sensitive," such as rice, cars and petrochemical products, will be subject to a 50% import duty reduction.
China has been making deep inroads into ASEAN economies. According to the Jakarta-based ASEAN Secretariat, trade between the organization's member countries and China grew at a rate of 20% annually between 2003 and 2008. Nearly a third of ASEAN exports to China consist of electrical and electronic products. China has replaced the US as ASEAN's third-largest trading partner, next only to Japan and the European Union.
Against this picture of stronger China-ASEAN trade ties was the sobering reminder of how they collectively felt the impact of the global financial crisis, which saw export markets in the United States and the EU contract. China's exports dropped by 26% in early 2009 in contrast to the previous year, according to the World Bank, while Indonesia saw a 32% contraction, Malaysia 34% and the Philippines 41% during the same period.
Yet to enjoy the benefits of CAFTA, ASEAN countries have to address concerns over "trade facilitation," said Ravi Ratnayake, director of the trade and investment division at the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), a Bangkok-based United Nations regional body. "The region needs to simplify its trade procedures and documentation needed for exports."
There is a "lot of red tape" that exporters encounter at customs or with ministries of finance and some of them are "exhaustive", he said. "Even if you reduce tariffs to zero, the trade is not going to see a boost unless you remove all the red tape."
In some ASEAN countries, delays caused by bureaucratic procedures for exports last from 22 to 29 days, an ESCAP study reveals. "The average number of documents and time required for import/export in many [Asian] subregions remain well above the (developed country) average."
(Inter Press Service)
Asia Times Online - China's free-trade shot in Asia's arm
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - China and, initially, six of its Asian neighbors enacted the world's largest free trade area at the start of the year. Billed as a welcome boost for the economies of its Asian partners, some analysts also see it as a panacea for the region as they battle through the global financial crisis.
Such optimism stems from the free-trade pact cementing a relationship that has seen the value of trade between the world's fastest-growing major economy and the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) jump six-fold since 2000 to US$193 billion.
The China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA), which took effect on January 1, dwarfs other free trade areas by the number of people it caters to - 1.9 billion, or a quarter of the world's population. China's economy, now battling neck-and-neck with Japan to be the world's second-largest, after the US, surged 10.7% in the fourth quarter of 2009, the fastest pace since 2007, bringing the full-year growth rate in gross domestic product to 8.7%, the government said yesterday.
"The CAFTA is an important vehicle for trade-led growth and recovery in ASEAN,'' said Ganeshan Wignaraja, principal economist at the Office of Regional Economic Integration at the Asian Development Bank. "We expect trade-led recovery to grow from 3.9% in 2009 to 6.4% in 2010."
The Southeast Asian nations that will initially profit from deeper trade ties with China's powerhouse economy are Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Remaining members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) China - Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam - will be included in the arrangement from 2015.
The launch of a $10 billion infrastructure investment fund by China to improve roads, railways and airlines and strengthen telecommunication links may help speed recovery for its Asian neighbors. The world's most populous nation has also committed a $15 billion credit facility to promote regional integration.
"It will be good [for the ASEAN countries] to latch on to China's production network, to get into that value chain, and also sell to Chinese consumers," Wignaraja said from the ADB's Manila headquarters. "We think by 2017 the ASEAN region will gain $82 billion dollars at least, and this is a conservative estimate, from a zero scenario."
Even so, ASEAN countries will have to "adjust their thinking, offering a competitive advantage for companies to invest in this new climate," said Gyorgy Szirackzi, a senior economist at the International Labour Organization's Asia-Pacific office in Bangkok. "Some sectors in ASEAN will benefit early on, like the health service sector, tourism sector and the telemarketing sector."
But he cautioned that CAFTA would have birth pains, including loss of jobs in countries that cannot compete against the labor costs of their new trade partners.
"Some countries will gain, some will lose," Szirackzi said. "Companies will consider how to increase their scale of production and may choose to operate from the country that makes economic sense for them."
Indonesia has already sounded such an alarm. The archipelago's trade minister, Mari Pangestu, wrote to the ASEAN secretariat this month stating that Jakarta wanted to "renegotiate" some features of CAFTA, noting that local industries like textiles and food were suffering from a flood of cheaper Chinese imports.
Filipino legislator and economist Walden Bello offered a more trenchant criticism. "The picture is more complex than that of a Chinese locomotive pulling the rest of East Asia along with it on the fast track to economic nirvana," he wrote in last Sunday's online edition of Business Mirror, a Manila-based newspaper.
"The reality, however, is that most of the advantages will probably flow to China," added Bello, who is also a senior analyst at Focus on the Global South, a Bangkok-based regional think tank.
The CAFTA has slashed tariffs on 90% of traded goods. These include final products from chilli, fish and soy sauces to manufactured products such as air conditioners, motorcycle parts and machinery. By 2015, goods described as "highly sensitive," such as rice, cars and petrochemical products, will be subject to a 50% import duty reduction.
China has been making deep inroads into ASEAN economies. According to the Jakarta-based ASEAN Secretariat, trade between the organization's member countries and China grew at a rate of 20% annually between 2003 and 2008. Nearly a third of ASEAN exports to China consist of electrical and electronic products. China has replaced the US as ASEAN's third-largest trading partner, next only to Japan and the European Union.
Against this picture of stronger China-ASEAN trade ties was the sobering reminder of how they collectively felt the impact of the global financial crisis, which saw export markets in the United States and the EU contract. China's exports dropped by 26% in early 2009 in contrast to the previous year, according to the World Bank, while Indonesia saw a 32% contraction, Malaysia 34% and the Philippines 41% during the same period.
Yet to enjoy the benefits of CAFTA, ASEAN countries have to address concerns over "trade facilitation," said Ravi Ratnayake, director of the trade and investment division at the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), a Bangkok-based United Nations regional body. "The region needs to simplify its trade procedures and documentation needed for exports."
There is a "lot of red tape" that exporters encounter at customs or with ministries of finance and some of them are "exhaustive", he said. "Even if you reduce tariffs to zero, the trade is not going to see a boost unless you remove all the red tape."
In some ASEAN countries, delays caused by bureaucratic procedures for exports last from 22 to 29 days, an ESCAP study reveals. "The average number of documents and time required for import/export in many [Asian] subregions remain well above the (developed country) average."
(Inter Press Service)
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Energy Business Review - Interra Reports Completion Of YNG 3234 Well In Myanmar
Published: 21-Jan-2010
Interra Resources (Interra) has said that its jointly controlled entity Goldpetrol, has completed the drilling of YNG 3234 in the Yenangyaung oil field in Myanmar as an oil producer.
Interra has a 60% interest in the improved petroleum recovery contract of the Yenangyaung oil field and also owns 60% of Goldpetrol, which is the operator of the field. YNG 3234 was drilled using Goldpetrol's cooper LTO 350 rig and as such, drilling costs have been minimized, the company said.
YNG 3234 is producing through perforations in five lower sand objectives at rate of 68 barrels oil per day. This well is a continuation of Goldpetrol's focus on drilling shallow to intermediate depth wells and optimized reactivations of old wells that have been identified from geologic and reservoir engineering studies.
Published: 21-Jan-2010
Interra Resources (Interra) has said that its jointly controlled entity Goldpetrol, has completed the drilling of YNG 3234 in the Yenangyaung oil field in Myanmar as an oil producer.
Interra has a 60% interest in the improved petroleum recovery contract of the Yenangyaung oil field and also owns 60% of Goldpetrol, which is the operator of the field. YNG 3234 was drilled using Goldpetrol's cooper LTO 350 rig and as such, drilling costs have been minimized, the company said.
YNG 3234 is producing through perforations in five lower sand objectives at rate of 68 barrels oil per day. This well is a continuation of Goldpetrol's focus on drilling shallow to intermediate depth wells and optimized reactivations of old wells that have been identified from geologic and reservoir engineering studies.
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The Nation - Cross-border trade likely to rise 25% by 2013
By Petchanet Pratruangkrai - Aranyaprathet, Sa Kaew
Published on January 21, 2010
The Asean Free Trade Agreement (Afta) is expected to increase cross-border trade between Thailand and its neighbours Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and Burma from the current Bt800 billion to Bt1 trillion by 2013.
Commerce Minister Porntiva Nakasai yesterday arranged for officials and the media to survey cross-border trade at Aranyaprathet to learn more about possible trade problems following the implementation of AFTA on January 1.
Traders in the area said they had not yet seen any negative effects as a result of AFTA's zero-tariff implementation. In particular, they have not witnessed an increased flow of farm goods from Cambodia.
The government plans to open more permanent checkpoints along the border with Cambodia in a bid to boost commerce.
It will also call on the Cambodian government to assign its border authorities to approve import certification. The current lack of certification has obstructed Thai export growth via cross-border checkpoints.
Moreover, only two permanent and three temporary border checkpoints are currently operated between Thailand and Cambodia.
Porntiva herself surveyed the cross-border checkpoint yesterday at Klong Luk in Sa Kaew province following the full implementation of AFTA.
The other permanent checkpoint is located at Chong Sra-njam in Si Sa Ket province.
The three temporary cross-border checkpoints are all in Sa Kaew - at Ta Phraya, Baan Nong Prue and Baan Khao Din.
The government is keen to smooth the flow of cross-border trade with Cambodia as it accounts for more than 50 per cent of the overall trade value between the countries.
An increase in the number of border checkpoints should not only facilitate trade growth, but also increase investment and tourism between the countries.
According to the Foreign Trade Department, cross-border commerce between Thailand and Cambodia reached Bt29.69 billion last year. Thai exports totalled Bt26.65 billion, while imports were Bt3.04 billion.
Major Thai cross-border exports to Cambodia included pigs, feed meal, cement, rubber tyres and motorcycles. Major imports were cassava, soybean and scrap metal.
Overall trade between Thailand and Cambodia was worth Bt56.57 billion last year. Thai exports dropped 19.56 per cent to Bt53.91 billion, while imports declined 11.55 per cent to Bt2.66 billion, giving the Kingdom a trade surplus of Bt51.25 billion.
Major Thai exports to Cambodia include refined fuel, sugar, cement, beverages and chemical products, while major imports are vegetables, fruits, metal ore and scrap metal, iron and steel, and pulp.
The Commerce Ministry also said Thai investors had high potential to increase their investment in Cambodia following full AFTA implementation.
Some Thai products currently face difficulties competing with Chinese goods in Cambodia due to higher production costs. Thai investors should consider investing in Cambodia in order to benefit from lower labour and raw-material costs there, the ministry said.
Sectors with good potential for investment in Cambodia are consumer-goods manufacturing, garments and service businesses.
As of September last year, Thailand ranked the fifth-biggest foreign investor in Cambodia with US$300 million (Bt9.88 billion).
The top four foreign investors were Malaysia, China, Taiwan and the United States, with $2.1 billion, $801 million, $587 million and $336 million, respectively.
By Petchanet Pratruangkrai - Aranyaprathet, Sa Kaew
Published on January 21, 2010
The Asean Free Trade Agreement (Afta) is expected to increase cross-border trade between Thailand and its neighbours Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and Burma from the current Bt800 billion to Bt1 trillion by 2013.
Commerce Minister Porntiva Nakasai yesterday arranged for officials and the media to survey cross-border trade at Aranyaprathet to learn more about possible trade problems following the implementation of AFTA on January 1.
Traders in the area said they had not yet seen any negative effects as a result of AFTA's zero-tariff implementation. In particular, they have not witnessed an increased flow of farm goods from Cambodia.
The government plans to open more permanent checkpoints along the border with Cambodia in a bid to boost commerce.
It will also call on the Cambodian government to assign its border authorities to approve import certification. The current lack of certification has obstructed Thai export growth via cross-border checkpoints.
Moreover, only two permanent and three temporary border checkpoints are currently operated between Thailand and Cambodia.
Porntiva herself surveyed the cross-border checkpoint yesterday at Klong Luk in Sa Kaew province following the full implementation of AFTA.
The other permanent checkpoint is located at Chong Sra-njam in Si Sa Ket province.
The three temporary cross-border checkpoints are all in Sa Kaew - at Ta Phraya, Baan Nong Prue and Baan Khao Din.
The government is keen to smooth the flow of cross-border trade with Cambodia as it accounts for more than 50 per cent of the overall trade value between the countries.
An increase in the number of border checkpoints should not only facilitate trade growth, but also increase investment and tourism between the countries.
According to the Foreign Trade Department, cross-border commerce between Thailand and Cambodia reached Bt29.69 billion last year. Thai exports totalled Bt26.65 billion, while imports were Bt3.04 billion.
Major Thai cross-border exports to Cambodia included pigs, feed meal, cement, rubber tyres and motorcycles. Major imports were cassava, soybean and scrap metal.
Overall trade between Thailand and Cambodia was worth Bt56.57 billion last year. Thai exports dropped 19.56 per cent to Bt53.91 billion, while imports declined 11.55 per cent to Bt2.66 billion, giving the Kingdom a trade surplus of Bt51.25 billion.
Major Thai exports to Cambodia include refined fuel, sugar, cement, beverages and chemical products, while major imports are vegetables, fruits, metal ore and scrap metal, iron and steel, and pulp.
The Commerce Ministry also said Thai investors had high potential to increase their investment in Cambodia following full AFTA implementation.
Some Thai products currently face difficulties competing with Chinese goods in Cambodia due to higher production costs. Thai investors should consider investing in Cambodia in order to benefit from lower labour and raw-material costs there, the ministry said.
Sectors with good potential for investment in Cambodia are consumer-goods manufacturing, garments and service businesses.
As of September last year, Thailand ranked the fifth-biggest foreign investor in Cambodia with US$300 million (Bt9.88 billion).
The top four foreign investors were Malaysia, China, Taiwan and the United States, with $2.1 billion, $801 million, $587 million and $336 million, respectively.
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The Nation - No taxes for workers: Burma
Published on January 22, 2010
The Burmese government will not be collecting tax from immigrant workers and their families once their nationality has been identified, the Employment Department's deputy director-general said yesterday.
The identification of Burmese workers has been extended by another two years and should be completed by 2012, Supat Gukun said.
The Burmese government confirmed that no tax would be collected from immigrant workers, he said, adding that random checks on workers returning after registering their nationality in Burma found that everyone had returned to Thailand safely.
He also urged all immigrant workers, especially those from Laos, Cambodia and Burma, to register their nationality because this way they can have a year's work permit by February 28 and be entitled to the same welfare and protection as their Thai counterparts.
Published on January 22, 2010
The Burmese government will not be collecting tax from immigrant workers and their families once their nationality has been identified, the Employment Department's deputy director-general said yesterday.
The identification of Burmese workers has been extended by another two years and should be completed by 2012, Supat Gukun said.
The Burmese government confirmed that no tax would be collected from immigrant workers, he said, adding that random checks on workers returning after registering their nationality in Burma found that everyone had returned to Thailand safely.
He also urged all immigrant workers, especially those from Laos, Cambodia and Burma, to register their nationality because this way they can have a year's work permit by February 28 and be entitled to the same welfare and protection as their Thai counterparts.
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Bangkok Post - Migrant workers given deadline warning
Published: 21/01/2010 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
Migrant workers from Laos, Burma and Cambodia must apply for nationality verification by the end of next month even though the cabinet has extended the completion deadline by another two years.
The government initially set Feb 28 as the deadline for migrants to complete verification, but the cabinet on Tuesday decided to extend the deadline to Feb 28, 2012.
Deputy director-general of the Employment Department Suphat Kukhun yesterday said migrant workers from Laos, Burma and Cambodia whose work permits were due to expire, mostly this month, must submit applications for nationality verification and temporary work permits by the end of next month. If they fail to do so, they would be regarded as illegal workers.
If caught, they could be arrested and deported. Observers say the nationality verification process by Lao and Cambodian officials has proceeded smoothly.
However, in the case of Burma, the verification process has been slow.
The whole process is expected to be completed within two years.
Mr Suphat said the government would take action against migrant workers who fail to apply for verification from Feb 28 onward.
The first target of the checks would be over 120,000 migrant workers who have registered with the government as migrants but have not yet applied for permits to work in Thailand.
Another group that would soon face examination are those applying for nationality verification but have not gone through the process, Mr Suphat said.
The verification process is a bilateral activity between Thailand and neigh bouring countries, he said.
Human rights activist Somchai Homlaor said non-governmental organisations working on labour and human rights issues were concerned that slow nationality verification, especially by Burma, could result in the verification for some migrants taking more than two years.
Mr Somchai also said authorised private companies offering to process verification for migrants had been demanding that Burmese migrants pay between 7,500 and 15,000 baht each, much more than the governmental agencies charge.
He urged the government to cap the private firms' service charges.
There are about 1.4 million migrant workers from Laos, Cambodia and Burma, Mr Somchai said, but only about 10,000 have gone through the verification process.
About 90% of the 1.4 million migrant workers are from Burma.
Published: 21/01/2010 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
Migrant workers from Laos, Burma and Cambodia must apply for nationality verification by the end of next month even though the cabinet has extended the completion deadline by another two years.
The government initially set Feb 28 as the deadline for migrants to complete verification, but the cabinet on Tuesday decided to extend the deadline to Feb 28, 2012.
Deputy director-general of the Employment Department Suphat Kukhun yesterday said migrant workers from Laos, Burma and Cambodia whose work permits were due to expire, mostly this month, must submit applications for nationality verification and temporary work permits by the end of next month. If they fail to do so, they would be regarded as illegal workers.
If caught, they could be arrested and deported. Observers say the nationality verification process by Lao and Cambodian officials has proceeded smoothly.
However, in the case of Burma, the verification process has been slow.
The whole process is expected to be completed within two years.
Mr Suphat said the government would take action against migrant workers who fail to apply for verification from Feb 28 onward.
The first target of the checks would be over 120,000 migrant workers who have registered with the government as migrants but have not yet applied for permits to work in Thailand.
Another group that would soon face examination are those applying for nationality verification but have not gone through the process, Mr Suphat said.
The verification process is a bilateral activity between Thailand and neigh bouring countries, he said.
Human rights activist Somchai Homlaor said non-governmental organisations working on labour and human rights issues were concerned that slow nationality verification, especially by Burma, could result in the verification for some migrants taking more than two years.
Mr Somchai also said authorised private companies offering to process verification for migrants had been demanding that Burmese migrants pay between 7,500 and 15,000 baht each, much more than the governmental agencies charge.
He urged the government to cap the private firms' service charges.
There are about 1.4 million migrant workers from Laos, Cambodia and Burma, Mr Somchai said, but only about 10,000 have gone through the verification process.
About 90% of the 1.4 million migrant workers are from Burma.
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The Irrawaddy - Human Rights 'Deteriorating' in Burma: HRW
By ARKAR MOE - Thursday, January 21, 2010
Burma's human rights record continued to deteriorate in 2009 ahead of a scheduled elections in 2010, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).
In its 612-page World Report 2010, the New York-based NGO said, "The Burmese military junta systematically denies citizens basic freedoms, including freedom of expression, association and assembly.”
Dozens of prominent political activists, Buddhist monks, labor activists, journalists and artists were arrested in Burma in 2009 and sentenced to draconian prison terms after unfair trials, the organization said, noting that the military government's human rights record continued to deteriorate last year ahead of an election announced for 2010.
In its 20th annual review of human rights practices around the globe, HRW summarized major human rights trends in more than 90 nations and territories worldwide.
It said attacks on rights monitors were not limited to authoritarian countries such as Burma and China.
"Attacks on rights defenders might be seen as a perverse tribute to the human rights movement, but that doesn't mitigate the danger," Executive Director Kenneth Roth wrote in the introduction to the World Report 2010. "Under various pretexts, abusive governments are attacking the very foundations of the human rights movement."
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Thursday, Aung Myo Min, the director of Thailand-based Human Rights Education Institute of Burma, said, “The Burmese military junta commits systematic human rights abuses and crimes against humanity every year.”
Bo Kyi, the joint-secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Burma, pointed the finger at Russia and China, saying the two countries "supported Burma and other regimes that are committing human rights abuses.”
He added: "The United Nations has many weaknesses because it cannot take action against abusers of human rights. It should revise and amend its policies and mechanisms on human rights.”
Of detained pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial last year, the report said, "The trial dragged on for three months, with frequent delays and with international fair trial standards lacking.”
It said that “an estimated 2,100 political prisoners remain incarcerated for their peaceful activities in Burma. More than 230 Buddhist monks involved in the 2007 protests remain in prison.”
In 2009, international calls increased for an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma, and for a UN arms embargo to be imposed,” the report said. "But China, Russia and North Korea still sell arms to the Burmese military junta.”
The report also criticized the Burmese armed forces. “The Burmese military continues to perpetrate violations against civilians in ethnic conflict areas, including extrajudicial killings, forced labor and sexual violence,” it said, expressing concern about internally displaced people, refugees and child soldiers.
HRW said that despite the growth in the human rights movement, human rights defenders remain vulnerable and greatly in need of support by rights-respecting governments.
"Governments that consider themselves human rights supporters often keep silent in the face of these abuses by allies, citing diplomatic or economic priorities," Roth said. "But that silence makes them complicit in the abuse. The only proper response to serious human rights violations is to turn up the heat on the abusers."
“There is no country in the world which fully respects human rights," said Aung Myo Min. "Most world powers, including the US, China and Russia, have cooperated with human rights abusers in their national interests or as an act of economic or foreign policy.”
The report said human rights monitors had been killed in Russia, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Burundi and Afghanistan, while Sudan and China routinely shut down human rights groups.
By ARKAR MOE - Thursday, January 21, 2010
Burma's human rights record continued to deteriorate in 2009 ahead of a scheduled elections in 2010, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).
In its 612-page World Report 2010, the New York-based NGO said, "The Burmese military junta systematically denies citizens basic freedoms, including freedom of expression, association and assembly.”
Dozens of prominent political activists, Buddhist monks, labor activists, journalists and artists were arrested in Burma in 2009 and sentenced to draconian prison terms after unfair trials, the organization said, noting that the military government's human rights record continued to deteriorate last year ahead of an election announced for 2010.
In its 20th annual review of human rights practices around the globe, HRW summarized major human rights trends in more than 90 nations and territories worldwide.
It said attacks on rights monitors were not limited to authoritarian countries such as Burma and China.
"Attacks on rights defenders might be seen as a perverse tribute to the human rights movement, but that doesn't mitigate the danger," Executive Director Kenneth Roth wrote in the introduction to the World Report 2010. "Under various pretexts, abusive governments are attacking the very foundations of the human rights movement."
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Thursday, Aung Myo Min, the director of Thailand-based Human Rights Education Institute of Burma, said, “The Burmese military junta commits systematic human rights abuses and crimes against humanity every year.”
Bo Kyi, the joint-secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Burma, pointed the finger at Russia and China, saying the two countries "supported Burma and other regimes that are committing human rights abuses.”
He added: "The United Nations has many weaknesses because it cannot take action against abusers of human rights. It should revise and amend its policies and mechanisms on human rights.”
Of detained pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial last year, the report said, "The trial dragged on for three months, with frequent delays and with international fair trial standards lacking.”
It said that “an estimated 2,100 political prisoners remain incarcerated for their peaceful activities in Burma. More than 230 Buddhist monks involved in the 2007 protests remain in prison.”
In 2009, international calls increased for an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma, and for a UN arms embargo to be imposed,” the report said. "But China, Russia and North Korea still sell arms to the Burmese military junta.”
The report also criticized the Burmese armed forces. “The Burmese military continues to perpetrate violations against civilians in ethnic conflict areas, including extrajudicial killings, forced labor and sexual violence,” it said, expressing concern about internally displaced people, refugees and child soldiers.
HRW said that despite the growth in the human rights movement, human rights defenders remain vulnerable and greatly in need of support by rights-respecting governments.
"Governments that consider themselves human rights supporters often keep silent in the face of these abuses by allies, citing diplomatic or economic priorities," Roth said. "But that silence makes them complicit in the abuse. The only proper response to serious human rights violations is to turn up the heat on the abusers."
“There is no country in the world which fully respects human rights," said Aung Myo Min. "Most world powers, including the US, China and Russia, have cooperated with human rights abusers in their national interests or as an act of economic or foreign policy.”
The report said human rights monitors had been killed in Russia, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Burundi and Afghanistan, while Sudan and China routinely shut down human rights groups.
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The Irrawaddy - NLD Plans to Form New Central Committee
By WAI MOE - Wednesday, January 20, 2010
The party of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy (NLD), has taken the next step in its ongoing effort to revitalize itself, according to party sources.
On Monday, the party's Central Executive Committee (CEC) held it first meeting since adding nine new members a week earlier and resolved to reorganize its second-line leadership in the Central Committee (CC).
“The party will reorganize the CC in the near future. After the CEC meeting on Monday, we told our chairman, U Aung Shwe, about our plan,” said NLD spokesperson Win Naing, who is also one of the new CEC members.
“We did this in line with party regulations—it has nothing to do with the election,” he added. “Actually, it is something that we have been planning to do since Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest for the first time in 1995.”
The move comes just one week after the party's first major internal shake-up since it was founded in 1988. On Jan. 11, the CEC chose nine new members—all in their 60s and 70s—expanding its total membership to 20.
Win Naing said that when the new CC is formed, it will consist of 80 to 120 members from all of the country's states and divisions. He added that the party hasn't had a CC since 1991, when it was abolished under orders from the ruling junta.
When the NLD was formed in 1988, the CEC had 12 members, with four from each of the party's three factions, led by General Secretary Aung San Suu Kyi, Chairman Aung Gyi and Deputy Chairman Tin Oo. The CC had 30 members, evenly divided among the three factions.
Win Naing said that plans to expand the CC membership did not contravene the NLD constitution, which says that the CC can have a maximum of 120 members.
Win Naing said nothing about plans to reform other influential NLD committees, such as the party's youth and women's working groups—which played key role in the party's electoral victory in 1990—but said that the party aimed to carry out thorough reforms nationwide.
At its meeting on Monday, the newly formed CEC received a letter from Chairman Aung Shwe saying he was “glad about the reorganization of the CEC” and urging its members to stand by the NLD’s Shwegondaing Declaration, which calls for the release of all political prisoners, genuine dialogue between the ruling junta and the democratic opposition, a review of the 2008 Constitution and acknowledgment of the result of the 1990 election.
The plan to enlarge the NLD leadership was first raised when detained party leader Suu Kyi met with ailing NLD leaders in December. At the time, Suu Kyi told the party elders that she wanted to reorganize the party's leadership.
This meeting came after Suu Kyi offered to meet with the regime to discuss the issue of sanctions. In October, the junta allowed her to meet with its liaison officer, ex Maj-Gen Aung Kyi, and Western diplomats. She held her latest meeting with Aung Kyi at a government guest house in Rangoon last Friday.
Suu Kyi’s lawyer, Nyan Win, who is now a member of the CEC, has also recently been given permission to meet with her to discuss a legal appeal against the extension of her house arrest last year. Besides her court case, it is likely that Suu Kyi and Nyan Win have also discussed the current political situation, including the NLD's reorganization.
Suu Kyi met Nyan Win most recently on Jan.12, just three days ahead of her latest meeting with Aung Kyi and six days before this week's CEC meeting.
Another reason for the NLD reorganization was the release of some leaders from long-term imprisonment. Prominent leader Win Tin and others such as Khin Maung Swe, May Win Myin and Than Nyein were released in September 2008. Shortly after their release, the former inmates attempted to hold a regular meeting of the NLD leadership. All are now CEC members.
Win Tin is now in Mandalay to attend a memorial ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of late well-known Burmese journalist U Hla. NLD sources said this is Win Tin's first long trip since his release in 2008, and that the authorities have not interfered so far.
By WAI MOE - Wednesday, January 20, 2010
The party of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy (NLD), has taken the next step in its ongoing effort to revitalize itself, according to party sources.
On Monday, the party's Central Executive Committee (CEC) held it first meeting since adding nine new members a week earlier and resolved to reorganize its second-line leadership in the Central Committee (CC).
“The party will reorganize the CC in the near future. After the CEC meeting on Monday, we told our chairman, U Aung Shwe, about our plan,” said NLD spokesperson Win Naing, who is also one of the new CEC members.
“We did this in line with party regulations—it has nothing to do with the election,” he added. “Actually, it is something that we have been planning to do since Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest for the first time in 1995.”
The move comes just one week after the party's first major internal shake-up since it was founded in 1988. On Jan. 11, the CEC chose nine new members—all in their 60s and 70s—expanding its total membership to 20.
Win Naing said that when the new CC is formed, it will consist of 80 to 120 members from all of the country's states and divisions. He added that the party hasn't had a CC since 1991, when it was abolished under orders from the ruling junta.
When the NLD was formed in 1988, the CEC had 12 members, with four from each of the party's three factions, led by General Secretary Aung San Suu Kyi, Chairman Aung Gyi and Deputy Chairman Tin Oo. The CC had 30 members, evenly divided among the three factions.
Win Naing said that plans to expand the CC membership did not contravene the NLD constitution, which says that the CC can have a maximum of 120 members.
Win Naing said nothing about plans to reform other influential NLD committees, such as the party's youth and women's working groups—which played key role in the party's electoral victory in 1990—but said that the party aimed to carry out thorough reforms nationwide.
At its meeting on Monday, the newly formed CEC received a letter from Chairman Aung Shwe saying he was “glad about the reorganization of the CEC” and urging its members to stand by the NLD’s Shwegondaing Declaration, which calls for the release of all political prisoners, genuine dialogue between the ruling junta and the democratic opposition, a review of the 2008 Constitution and acknowledgment of the result of the 1990 election.
The plan to enlarge the NLD leadership was first raised when detained party leader Suu Kyi met with ailing NLD leaders in December. At the time, Suu Kyi told the party elders that she wanted to reorganize the party's leadership.
This meeting came after Suu Kyi offered to meet with the regime to discuss the issue of sanctions. In October, the junta allowed her to meet with its liaison officer, ex Maj-Gen Aung Kyi, and Western diplomats. She held her latest meeting with Aung Kyi at a government guest house in Rangoon last Friday.
Suu Kyi’s lawyer, Nyan Win, who is now a member of the CEC, has also recently been given permission to meet with her to discuss a legal appeal against the extension of her house arrest last year. Besides her court case, it is likely that Suu Kyi and Nyan Win have also discussed the current political situation, including the NLD's reorganization.
Suu Kyi met Nyan Win most recently on Jan.12, just three days ahead of her latest meeting with Aung Kyi and six days before this week's CEC meeting.
Another reason for the NLD reorganization was the release of some leaders from long-term imprisonment. Prominent leader Win Tin and others such as Khin Maung Swe, May Win Myin and Than Nyein were released in September 2008. Shortly after their release, the former inmates attempted to hold a regular meeting of the NLD leadership. All are now CEC members.
Win Tin is now in Mandalay to attend a memorial ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of late well-known Burmese journalist U Hla. NLD sources said this is Win Tin's first long trip since his release in 2008, and that the authorities have not interfered so far.
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The Irrawaddy - Friend of Burma Missing in Haiti Earthquake
By EDITH MIRANTE - Wednesday, January 20, 2010
When the cataclysmic 7.0 earthquake struck the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince on Jan. 12, solar energy expert Walt Ratterman was at the city's Hotel Montana. He had just completed a project bringing solar energy to rural health facilities in Haiti and was to meet with NGO workers at the hotel, which was transformed in an instant into a lethal mass of concrete rubble by the earthquake.
Ratterman has not been heard from since––one of dozens of international humanitarian workers at the Hotel Montana and tens of thousands of Haitians throughout the country.
A highly respected alternative energy technology adviser, Ratterman was the originator of a project on the Thai-Burmese border which has trained numerous backpack medics to build and use small portable solar units which provide light for emergency surgery in Burma's conflict areas.
Ratterman also introduced solar energy training to a wide array of locations from Tibet to Rwanda. His humanitarian aid work with the Knightsbridge group was profiled in the documentary "Beyond the Call."
As of Jan. 20, international search and rescue teams are continuing attempts to locate any survivors in the ruins of the Hotel Montana. An emergency assistance group which includes Ratterman's son Shane is at the site. His daughter, Briana started a "Walt Ratterman - Haiti Mission" Facebook page to help coordinate the search. The Columbian, a newspaper in Ratterman's home state of Washington, quoted Briana: "Since he was reported missing, support has been coming in from all over the world. People are praying for him in Burma, Rwanda, Pakistan, Palestine.”
Edith Mirante is a frequent contributor of articles and book reviews for The Irrawaddy.
By EDITH MIRANTE - Wednesday, January 20, 2010
When the cataclysmic 7.0 earthquake struck the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince on Jan. 12, solar energy expert Walt Ratterman was at the city's Hotel Montana. He had just completed a project bringing solar energy to rural health facilities in Haiti and was to meet with NGO workers at the hotel, which was transformed in an instant into a lethal mass of concrete rubble by the earthquake.
Ratterman has not been heard from since––one of dozens of international humanitarian workers at the Hotel Montana and tens of thousands of Haitians throughout the country.
A highly respected alternative energy technology adviser, Ratterman was the originator of a project on the Thai-Burmese border which has trained numerous backpack medics to build and use small portable solar units which provide light for emergency surgery in Burma's conflict areas.
Ratterman also introduced solar energy training to a wide array of locations from Tibet to Rwanda. His humanitarian aid work with the Knightsbridge group was profiled in the documentary "Beyond the Call."
As of Jan. 20, international search and rescue teams are continuing attempts to locate any survivors in the ruins of the Hotel Montana. An emergency assistance group which includes Ratterman's son Shane is at the site. His daughter, Briana started a "Walt Ratterman - Haiti Mission" Facebook page to help coordinate the search. The Columbian, a newspaper in Ratterman's home state of Washington, quoted Briana: "Since he was reported missing, support has been coming in from all over the world. People are praying for him in Burma, Rwanda, Pakistan, Palestine.”
Edith Mirante is a frequent contributor of articles and book reviews for The Irrawaddy.
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The Irrawaddy - New Anti-Terrorism Law a Threat to the Opposition?
By SAW YAN NAING - Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Burmese authorities have drafted and plan to introduce a new anti-terrorism law this year, according to a report in this month's journal of the Myanmar Times.
Based on statements made on Dec 18 by Pol Col Sit Aye, the head of the Burmese police's Department of Transnational Crime, the report said the Ministry of Home Affairs cooperated with several departments to implement the law.
“Action will be taken against those who offer financial or material support to terrorism. This is a very important step for the security of the people,” Sit Aye was qoted as saying.
Observers and lawyers contacted by The Irrawaddy on Wednesday are concerned the law will be used by the Burmese military government as a tool to control anti-government activities.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min, a Burmese lawyer who fled into Thailand after the Buddhist monk-led protest in Sep. 2007 said the law only seemed to benefit the government.
“If this law is promulgated, it will be used as a tool to entrench the rule of the military dictatorship,” he said.
“Causing death and injury through bombings and shootings can be called terrorism, but not providing financial and material support to opposition and political organizations striving for democratic reform through non-violent means,” he said.
It is another story if an organization or individual receives support from a group that conducts armed operations, however, said a Rangoon-based Burmese lawyer on Wednesday.
“It all depends on how the Burmese government defines terrorism,” he said.
The lawyer also said the regime regularly denounced illegal groups and named armed groups as terrorists in its newspapers, but it has yet to officially announce terrorist groups and the anti-terrorism law.
“Perhaps the regime will officially announce the anti-terrorism law when they are ready to enforce it,” he added.
The Myanmar Times report accused armed groups such as the Karen National Union (KNU) and the All Burma Students' Democratic Front of involvement in terrorism and that financial support and training provided by these groups are recognized as acts of terrorism.
However, some observers said the anti-terrorism law may be aimed at dissident groups or individual activists who contact opposition groups in exile. Some suggest the regime intends to use the law during the election period in 2010 to prevent any anti-government opposition including public gatherings and other forms of “social unrest.”
Zipporah Sein, general-secretary of the KNU, said the government's anti-terrorism law intends to restrict dissident activities and prevent opposition supporters and democracy activists from participating in political activities in the run up to the election.
In Burma, any individual or organization who is contacted by or receives support from illegal groups such as dissident and armed groups can be charged under the Section 17/1 of the Illegal Organization Act. Violators can be sentenced to 3 to 5 years in prison, according to lawyers.
By SAW YAN NAING - Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Burmese authorities have drafted and plan to introduce a new anti-terrorism law this year, according to a report in this month's journal of the Myanmar Times.
Based on statements made on Dec 18 by Pol Col Sit Aye, the head of the Burmese police's Department of Transnational Crime, the report said the Ministry of Home Affairs cooperated with several departments to implement the law.
“Action will be taken against those who offer financial or material support to terrorism. This is a very important step for the security of the people,” Sit Aye was qoted as saying.
Observers and lawyers contacted by The Irrawaddy on Wednesday are concerned the law will be used by the Burmese military government as a tool to control anti-government activities.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min, a Burmese lawyer who fled into Thailand after the Buddhist monk-led protest in Sep. 2007 said the law only seemed to benefit the government.
“If this law is promulgated, it will be used as a tool to entrench the rule of the military dictatorship,” he said.
“Causing death and injury through bombings and shootings can be called terrorism, but not providing financial and material support to opposition and political organizations striving for democratic reform through non-violent means,” he said.
It is another story if an organization or individual receives support from a group that conducts armed operations, however, said a Rangoon-based Burmese lawyer on Wednesday.
“It all depends on how the Burmese government defines terrorism,” he said.
The lawyer also said the regime regularly denounced illegal groups and named armed groups as terrorists in its newspapers, but it has yet to officially announce terrorist groups and the anti-terrorism law.
“Perhaps the regime will officially announce the anti-terrorism law when they are ready to enforce it,” he added.
The Myanmar Times report accused armed groups such as the Karen National Union (KNU) and the All Burma Students' Democratic Front of involvement in terrorism and that financial support and training provided by these groups are recognized as acts of terrorism.
However, some observers said the anti-terrorism law may be aimed at dissident groups or individual activists who contact opposition groups in exile. Some suggest the regime intends to use the law during the election period in 2010 to prevent any anti-government opposition including public gatherings and other forms of “social unrest.”
Zipporah Sein, general-secretary of the KNU, said the government's anti-terrorism law intends to restrict dissident activities and prevent opposition supporters and democracy activists from participating in political activities in the run up to the election.
In Burma, any individual or organization who is contacted by or receives support from illegal groups such as dissident and armed groups can be charged under the Section 17/1 of the Illegal Organization Act. Violators can be sentenced to 3 to 5 years in prison, according to lawyers.
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Rally at ‘Nuclear Security’ seminar to protest Burma’s presence
Thursday, 21 January 2010 22:04 Mungpi
New Delhi (Mizzima) – With Burma nurturing nuclear ambitions, the country’s pro-democracy activists in Japan are gearing up to hold a protest rally on Friday, as representatives from Asian countries including Burma assemble in Tokyo to attend a seminar on ‘Nuclear Security’ with officials of the IAEA.
A Burmese woman activist in Tokyo told Mizzima on Thursday that the protest is aimed at highlighting the Burmese peoples’ plight under the military dispensation and to draw attention to the junta’s planned nuclear project.
“It is our duty to protest and highlight what is happening in Burma to the world. Besides, we want the international community to pay attention to the junta’s nuclear ambitions,” she said.
According to a Japanese Foreign Ministry release, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Japanese Foreign Ministry are jointly holding the seminar titled ‘Seminar on Strengthening Nuclear Security in Asia’.
Representatives of 17 Asian countries – the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations members, plus China, Japan, the ROK, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan – will attend the seminar to be chaired by Mr. Kaoru Naito, President of the Nuclear Material Control Center (NMCC).
The event is a follow-up of the previous seminar held in 2006. During the seminar participating countries will conduct a review of measures to strengthen nuclear security, which were implemented after the 2006 seminar, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.
Military-ruled Burma came under media spotlight, when a United States naval vessel in June 2009 detected a North Korean vessel, suspected of carrying illegal weapons, believed to be heading towards Burma.
While some speculate that Burma might be nurturing a nuclear weapons ambition, evidence till date has failed to reveal any sign of the Burmese junta going in for a nuclear programme.
Russia, one of the few countries having a good rapport with the Burmese regime, announced in 2007 that it is helping Burma in developing a nuclear research reactor. The centre will have a 10 megawatt light water nuclear reactor with low enriched uranium consisting of less than 20 per cent uranium-235.
Thursday, 21 January 2010 22:04 Mungpi
New Delhi (Mizzima) – With Burma nurturing nuclear ambitions, the country’s pro-democracy activists in Japan are gearing up to hold a protest rally on Friday, as representatives from Asian countries including Burma assemble in Tokyo to attend a seminar on ‘Nuclear Security’ with officials of the IAEA.
A Burmese woman activist in Tokyo told Mizzima on Thursday that the protest is aimed at highlighting the Burmese peoples’ plight under the military dispensation and to draw attention to the junta’s planned nuclear project.
“It is our duty to protest and highlight what is happening in Burma to the world. Besides, we want the international community to pay attention to the junta’s nuclear ambitions,” she said.
According to a Japanese Foreign Ministry release, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Japanese Foreign Ministry are jointly holding the seminar titled ‘Seminar on Strengthening Nuclear Security in Asia’.
Representatives of 17 Asian countries – the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations members, plus China, Japan, the ROK, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan – will attend the seminar to be chaired by Mr. Kaoru Naito, President of the Nuclear Material Control Center (NMCC).
The event is a follow-up of the previous seminar held in 2006. During the seminar participating countries will conduct a review of measures to strengthen nuclear security, which were implemented after the 2006 seminar, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.
Military-ruled Burma came under media spotlight, when a United States naval vessel in June 2009 detected a North Korean vessel, suspected of carrying illegal weapons, believed to be heading towards Burma.
While some speculate that Burma might be nurturing a nuclear weapons ambition, evidence till date has failed to reveal any sign of the Burmese junta going in for a nuclear programme.
Russia, one of the few countries having a good rapport with the Burmese regime, announced in 2007 that it is helping Burma in developing a nuclear research reactor. The centre will have a 10 megawatt light water nuclear reactor with low enriched uranium consisting of less than 20 per cent uranium-235.
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Thai governor warns Burmese social organizations
Thursday, 21 January 2010 19:09 Mizzima News
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The Thai government proposes to come down heavily on some Burmese political organizations working in the guise of social outfits.
It will investigate and initiate action against these organizations.
Tak Province Governor Samak Loipha said on January 19 at a press conference on the Thai-Burma border town of Mae Sod that the government would take action against some Burmese political organizations working in the guise of social outfits.
At the press conference, where Burmese opposition groups were not invited, the governor, however, said organizations working in the sectors of health and education will be allowed to function.
Though the reason behind the sudden warning is still not clear, Mae Sod based Yaung Chi Oo labour organization Secretary Moe Swe said growing labour protests in Mae Sod could be one of the reasons.
Besides Thai businessmen and the Burmese junta frequently complain about Burmese opposition politicians being sheltered on Thai soil, he said.
“Action can follow the warning. At border committee meetings, traders’ associations sometimes apply pressure on the Thai government because the junta views all social, health, education and welfare associations as part of opposition groups”, he told Mizzima.
Former ‘All Burma Students Democratic Front’ (ABSDF) members are also becoming involved in social activities assuming it is their responsibility to do so for the Burmese people, ABSDF Chairman Than Ke said.
“For our members working in these social networks, this warning is really disappointing. Anyway, I feel, no harassment and pressure can stop these social works and activities,” he said.
Small organizations claiming to work for labour affairs are growing on the Thai-Burma border town Mae Soe, local residents said.
Mae Sod is a major city, which not only has health, education and labour rights organizations helping migrants’ workers but hosts many Burmese political opposition groups.
The number of migrant workers working in Mae Sod factories accounts for hundreds of thousands. There are over 100 organizations working for these migrant workers.
Thursday, 21 January 2010 19:09 Mizzima News
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The Thai government proposes to come down heavily on some Burmese political organizations working in the guise of social outfits.
It will investigate and initiate action against these organizations.
Tak Province Governor Samak Loipha said on January 19 at a press conference on the Thai-Burma border town of Mae Sod that the government would take action against some Burmese political organizations working in the guise of social outfits.
At the press conference, where Burmese opposition groups were not invited, the governor, however, said organizations working in the sectors of health and education will be allowed to function.
Though the reason behind the sudden warning is still not clear, Mae Sod based Yaung Chi Oo labour organization Secretary Moe Swe said growing labour protests in Mae Sod could be one of the reasons.
Besides Thai businessmen and the Burmese junta frequently complain about Burmese opposition politicians being sheltered on Thai soil, he said.
“Action can follow the warning. At border committee meetings, traders’ associations sometimes apply pressure on the Thai government because the junta views all social, health, education and welfare associations as part of opposition groups”, he told Mizzima.
Former ‘All Burma Students Democratic Front’ (ABSDF) members are also becoming involved in social activities assuming it is their responsibility to do so for the Burmese people, ABSDF Chairman Than Ke said.
“For our members working in these social networks, this warning is really disappointing. Anyway, I feel, no harassment and pressure can stop these social works and activities,” he said.
Small organizations claiming to work for labour affairs are growing on the Thai-Burma border town Mae Soe, local residents said.
Mae Sod is a major city, which not only has health, education and labour rights organizations helping migrants’ workers but hosts many Burmese political opposition groups.
The number of migrant workers working in Mae Sod factories accounts for hundreds of thousands. There are over 100 organizations working for these migrant workers.
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US citizen reportedly in solitary confinement
Jan 20, 2010 (DVB)–The Burmese-born US citizen detained in a Rangoon prison has been placed in solitary confinement, along with two other inmates, prison sources say.
The reasons for the punishment are not clear. The source said that Kyaw Zaw Lwin, also known as Nyi Nyi Aung, and two political activists, Aung Thu and Min Min Htun, were moved to solitary confinement on 12 January.
It is the second time Nyi Nyi Aung has been place in a solitary, and follows reports that his relatives have been denied entry to the prison to see him.
The US embassy in Rangoon, which has had sporadic consular access to Nyi Nyi Aung, said they had heard no news on the incident, and had not been granted permission to visit him since 28 December last year.
Reports surfaced on 22 December that he had been moved to Insein prison’s so-called ‘dog cells’, where conditions are notoriously poor, after staging a hunger strike.
His aunt, Su Su Kyi, who tried to see him on Monday, said that family visits will now take place only once every three weeks, a reduction from the weekly visits permitted after he was first arrested in September last year.
“I was very angry to hear that. Prison official Zaw Min Htun said that I might get to see him on 27 January, three weeks since the last visit, but he didn’t say that was for sure,” she said.
Nyi Nyi Aung, a former political activist who fled to the US in 1993, was arrested on 3 September last year upon arrival at Rangoon airport.
He is being charged with fraud and forgery, which together carry a maximum sentence of 17 years. There had been initial speculation that judges would try him on terrorism charges, but these have been dropped.
His wife, who remains in the US, said in article published in the Bangkok Post last month that he had flown to Burma to visit his mother, who was sick with cancer. He had reportedly made several trips to Burma since he fled in 1993.
The two other inmates, Aung Thu and Min Min Htun, were arrested last year along with six other activists and are being tried under the Unlawful Associations Act and the Explosives Act.
Reporting by Khin Hnin Htet and Naw Say Phaw
Jan 20, 2010 (DVB)–The Burmese-born US citizen detained in a Rangoon prison has been placed in solitary confinement, along with two other inmates, prison sources say.
The reasons for the punishment are not clear. The source said that Kyaw Zaw Lwin, also known as Nyi Nyi Aung, and two political activists, Aung Thu and Min Min Htun, were moved to solitary confinement on 12 January.
It is the second time Nyi Nyi Aung has been place in a solitary, and follows reports that his relatives have been denied entry to the prison to see him.
The US embassy in Rangoon, which has had sporadic consular access to Nyi Nyi Aung, said they had heard no news on the incident, and had not been granted permission to visit him since 28 December last year.
Reports surfaced on 22 December that he had been moved to Insein prison’s so-called ‘dog cells’, where conditions are notoriously poor, after staging a hunger strike.
His aunt, Su Su Kyi, who tried to see him on Monday, said that family visits will now take place only once every three weeks, a reduction from the weekly visits permitted after he was first arrested in September last year.
“I was very angry to hear that. Prison official Zaw Min Htun said that I might get to see him on 27 January, three weeks since the last visit, but he didn’t say that was for sure,” she said.
Nyi Nyi Aung, a former political activist who fled to the US in 1993, was arrested on 3 September last year upon arrival at Rangoon airport.
He is being charged with fraud and forgery, which together carry a maximum sentence of 17 years. There had been initial speculation that judges would try him on terrorism charges, but these have been dropped.
His wife, who remains in the US, said in article published in the Bangkok Post last month that he had flown to Burma to visit his mother, who was sick with cancer. He had reportedly made several trips to Burma since he fled in 1993.
The two other inmates, Aung Thu and Min Min Htun, were arrested last year along with six other activists and are being tried under the Unlawful Associations Act and the Explosives Act.
Reporting by Khin Hnin Htet and Naw Say Phaw
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Election ‘preparation’ barred from media
Jan 20, 2010 (DVB)–Burmese media has been banned from publishing material covering political groups’ preparations for the elections this year, while news of the elections themselves is allowed.
The censoring has targeted parties belonging to the ‘third force’ in Burmese politics; those neither aligned to the incumbent nor opposition groups, said potential runner Phyo Min Thein, who recently organized a discussion forum on Burmese politics in Rangoon.
“Basically, [the junta] is blocking its opponents from exercising their rights and is looking to manipulate the [political] playground for itself,” he said.
A veteran news editor in Rangoon said that reporting on activities to do with the elections is not likely to be allowed until the elections laws and laws regarding the formation of political organisations are announced.
He added however that even when laws are announced, the media will be allowed only limited scope to report on the events.
His comments were echoed by the secretary of the Burma Media Association, San Moe Wei, who said that the delay in announcing the elections laws and date was deliberate, and will give the media “limited freedom…to report on events”.
“[The government] was once defeated in the 1990 elections, so it seems like they will be very careful not to make the same mistakes this time,” he added.
Other political activists in Rangoon speculated that media reports on the elections were not yet allowed because the government was still working to persuade credible and influential political figures, who are not government-backed, to join the elections as individual parliamentary representatives.
Veteran Burmese politician and former ambassador to China, Thakin Chan Htun, said that Burma should model its elections on that of neighbouring countries.
“I would like to urge leaders of the [army] to hold the elections the way Bangladesh did, where the country’s polls were praised by the international community as free and fair,” he said.
Reporting by Ahunt Phone Myat
Jan 20, 2010 (DVB)–Burmese media has been banned from publishing material covering political groups’ preparations for the elections this year, while news of the elections themselves is allowed.
The censoring has targeted parties belonging to the ‘third force’ in Burmese politics; those neither aligned to the incumbent nor opposition groups, said potential runner Phyo Min Thein, who recently organized a discussion forum on Burmese politics in Rangoon.
“Basically, [the junta] is blocking its opponents from exercising their rights and is looking to manipulate the [political] playground for itself,” he said.
A veteran news editor in Rangoon said that reporting on activities to do with the elections is not likely to be allowed until the elections laws and laws regarding the formation of political organisations are announced.
He added however that even when laws are announced, the media will be allowed only limited scope to report on the events.
His comments were echoed by the secretary of the Burma Media Association, San Moe Wei, who said that the delay in announcing the elections laws and date was deliberate, and will give the media “limited freedom…to report on events”.
“[The government] was once defeated in the 1990 elections, so it seems like they will be very careful not to make the same mistakes this time,” he added.
Other political activists in Rangoon speculated that media reports on the elections were not yet allowed because the government was still working to persuade credible and influential political figures, who are not government-backed, to join the elections as individual parliamentary representatives.
Veteran Burmese politician and former ambassador to China, Thakin Chan Htun, said that Burma should model its elections on that of neighbouring countries.
“I would like to urge leaders of the [army] to hold the elections the way Bangladesh did, where the country’s polls were praised by the international community as free and fair,” he said.
Reporting by Ahunt Phone Myat
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