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Ye Htut rebukes Shwe Mann over president bid claims

By
KO HTWE
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21
Parliamentary speaker Shwe Mann addresses a crowd in parliament (Reuters)

Burma’s presidential spokesperson has rebuked parliamentary speaker Shwe Mann for telling a press conference that Thein Sein would not be seeking a second term in office.

Speaking to DVB on Monday, Ye Htut said that any remarks made by President Thein Sein to Shwe Mann were made in private and should not have been shared with the media.

“When there is a matter that the public should be informed about, the president will directly address the public himself. There is no need for a second person to do that,” he admonished.

“The president may have shared his views with the parliamentary speaker in a private meeting but he only meant to share it with him. According to international procedures, one cannot disclose this kind of information to the public without seeking permission from by the other party.”

Last week, Shwe Mann made international headlines for telling reporters that Thein Sein, who took office in March 2011, would not be running for president again in 2015.

“President U Thein Sein has told me he will not run for the president,” said the parliamentary speaker and leader of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). “I think he meant what he said. He is not running in the election.”

Ye Htut said that he did not know why the speaker would have disclosed this information, adding that he must have had “his own reasons”.

Shwe Mann, who outranked Thein Sein during military rule in Burma, took over from him as leader of the military-backed USDP in May. They are described by many analysts as political adversaries and locked horns in a heated dispute over the role of Burma’s constitutional tribunal last year.

But Ye Htut denied reports of a power struggle between the president’s office and the parliamentary speaker.

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“As we are practicing democracy system, one cannot really say this is a power struggle,” said Ye Htut. “The constitution encourages checks and balances so there might be times when we have to negotiate with each other – this is just a common scenario in the democratic system. But it would be wrong to call it a dispute.”

Shwe Mann also raised eyebrows for saying that former junta leader Than Shwe, who retired in 2011, was “watching developments in the country with keen interest” and worried that things “might go wrong”. But he insisted that the former dictator no longer played any role in political affairs.

Democracy icon and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is also expected to run in Burma’s next general elections. However, the 2008 constitution currently bars her from becoming president on the basis of her foreign familial ties.

Thein Sein formed the USDP in April 2010 in order to run in the November election, which the party won by a landslide amid widespread reports of electoral fraud. Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy famously boycotted the polls.

The USDP is estimated to have over 4 million supporters nation-wide and is dominated by former generals from the military junta.

Thai pharmaceutical company steps up Burma presence

By
THE BANGKOK POST
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1
Foreign investors have flooded into Burma since reforms began in 2011. (Photo: Reuters)

Mega Lifesciences Plc, the wholly owned Thai pharmaceutical and consumer health firm, plans a Burma expansion with a new warehouse costing 300-600 million baht (US$96,500-193,100) to store pharmaceutical and consumer products.

Chief executive Vivek Dhawan said the company will in next year’s first quarter propose to the Burmese government building the warehouse on 25 rai [40,000 m² of land] in Rangoon.

The actual cost will depend on the price of land. Construction is expected to start by 2015.

The move is part of a bid to double overall company sales, both domestically and internationally, to US$400 million over the next 3-5 years.

The goal will be realised through organic growth and mergers and acquisitions, said Mr Dhawan.

“We’re focusing on expanding in developing countries, as there is more potential in these markets for Mega to compete,” he said.

Sales totalled $195 million last year, with 30% from Burma, the top contributor.

Another 24.8% came from Vietnam, 19.5% from Thailand and the rest from 26 other countries, particularly Chile, Peru and Indonesia.

“We’re very optimistic about the potential for growth in Myanmar [Burma],” said Mr Dhawan, adding that Mega has been contacted by several multinational companies about distributing their products in Burma.

Mr Dhawan estimates the value of Burma’s pharmaceutical business via hospital and pharmacy channels is worth $400 million but has the potential to double over the next 5-7 years.

To take advantage of this opportunity, the company will continue to expand its investment in Burma, he said.

Mega set itself up in Burma in 1995 with seven staff.

Its distribution operations have since grown to 27,000 outlets covering 85% of the country with 1,400 employees.

Mega now distributes pharmaceutical and consumer products for 31 companies from Thailand and abroad including Osotspa, Johnson & Johnson and Nestle.

The company operates two businesses in Myanmar: Maxxcare, which distributes pharmaceutical and consumer goods for outer brands; and Mega We Care, its own food supplement brand.

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In addition to Myanmar, the company will continue to expand in Thailand by building a second soft gelatine capsule factory worth 450 million in Samut Prakan’s Bangpoo Industrial Estate.

Construction will be on seven rai and start next January.

This will boost the company’s annual capacity for soft gelatine capsules to 3.8 billion, serving both local and international markets, from 2 billion now.

Mega was established in Thailand 30 years ago. Today it operates in 29 markets worldwide.

The company also manufactures pharmaceutical and healthcare products in Australia.

This article was first published in the Bangkok Post on 22 October 2013.

Kachin clashes blamed on poor oversight of peace deal

By
MYO ZAW LINN / DVB
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1
File Photo (Reuters)

Activists have blamed the latest clashes in northern Burma on a failure by both the government and Kachin rebels to follow up on their peace agreements.

Violence flared in southern Kachin state less than a week after government and rebel negotiators reached their latest peace deal in the state-capital Myitkyina.

The Rangoon-based Kachin Peace Network (KPN) insists that both the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) and the Burmese armed forces must honour their agreements to avoid future incidents.

In Myitkyina, the two sides agreed to lay the foundations for political dialogue, re-open roads across the conflict-torn state, establish a joint-monitoring committee and develop a plan for the voluntary return of internally displaced persons.

“As there is no implementation on the formation of the joint-monitoring committee which would allow the public to independently monitor clashes, we only get to hear both sides accusing each other of starting the fight,” said KPN’s coordinator, Khon Ja, adding that roads in the region have not been reopened yet either.

The KIO has accused the government of causing the recent violence, which claimed the life of a child and injured two others in Bhamo and reportedly forced the rebels to abandon two of their outposts in Mabein township, northern Shan state. Hundreds of refugees also fled into hiding.

“I can assure you there was no deliberate intention to engage on our part,” KIO spokesperson Dau Kha told DVB last week.

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The KIO has been fighting the government for greater autonomy and ethnic rights since a 17-year ceasefire broke down in June 2011. It is the only major ethnic armed group that is yet to ink a formal ceasefire with the government.

The rebel group is set to meet with other ethnic armed groups, including representatives from the umbrella organisation, the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), at its headquarters in Laiza this week to discuss the peace process.

The government hopes to secure a nationwide ceasefire by the end of next month. Ethnic representatives have insisted that President Thein Sein and the head of Burma’s armed forces, Min Aung Hlaing, must join the negotiations to ensure progress.

Hla Maung Shwe from the government-backed Myanmar Peace Centre said it may be time to consider this proposal.

“As a matter of course, state-level ceasefire agreements are signed by state border and security affairs officials [but] ethnic representatives have been calling for the president to publicly sign any agreements before international diplomats,“ he said.

“I think we should consider this if it would make them feel more assured and confident [in the ceasefire],” he said.

President Thein Sein has received international acclaim for his efforts to resolve decades of civil conflicts in the former military dictatorship, securing an end to years of crippling economic sanctions against Burma and earning a nomination for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

Despite several attempts to broker peace, the KIO says government forces continue to attack their positions, especially in areas near crony-owned natural resource projects. Fighting also continues to flare in Shan and Mon states.

On Friday, the UN expressed “serious concern” for the 100,000 civilians who have been ripped from their homes during the conflict.

Suu Kyi: ‘the army must be the foundation of the country’

By
DVB
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3
Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi visits the UK military academy Sandhurst on 25 October 2013 (Reuters)

Democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday praised the British military, insisting that she wanted to learn “how a good, professional army operates” in order to take lessons back to Burma.

On a visit to the UK military academy Sandhurst, the Nobel laureate said Burma needed to have a “good, professional army that is respected and honoured by the people”.

“The country should not be the servant of the army,” she told an audience of academy members. “The army must be the foundation of the country. That is exactly what you’re trying to teach people at Sandhurst. You serve to lead.”

She met with cadets over a cup of tea and praised Sandhurst for teaching “the right kind of leadership that will make an army body that is meant to defend rather than to destroy”.

Suu Kyi, whose father Aung San is the founder of the modern Burmese army and hero of the campaign for independence from Britain, is currently on a diplomatic tour of Europe where she has met with political leaders, including Prime Minister David Cameron.

Britain has already offered to deliver training to the Burmese military, which they say will focus on human rights and democratic accountability, but has sparked concerns among campaigners who worry that it could fuel abuses in ethnic minority regions.

The opposition leader spent much of two decades under house arrest at the hands of the former military regime, before finally being released in November 2010. She has since taken a seat in parliament and has expressed hopes of running for president in the next general elections in 2015.

But she has insisted that the current constitution, which bars her from the presidency and is considered deeply undemocratic, must first be reformed.

“It’s not just to do with me as a possible president, the constitution as it stands is meant to create a very, very limited form of democracy,” she said. “The whole world thinks that Burma is on the path to democratisation, with this constitution we’d only get so far and no further.”

Suu Kyi, who has transitioned from icon to politician in little over a year, has also come under increased media scrutiny. Last week, she faced a barrage of criticisms for an interview with the BBC in which she appeared to trivialise a wave of anti-Muslim violence to grip the country.

[related]

According to government figures, almost 250 people have been killed and 140,000 people displaced in several bouts of clashes, which kicked off in western Arakan state last year and has since spread to other parts of Burma.

A UN envoy warned last week that the violence, which has disproportionately targeted Burma’s Muslim minority, threatens to derail the country’s reform process.

“I condemn all violence and hatred but I don’t believe in condemning people. It’s the axe we don’t like,” Suu Kyi told Reuters in an interview. “The people we can reform, people can be made to see things in a different light. If we want to get them together, condemnation is not the way.”

“The way is to make them feel secure enough to be able to look at each other’s problems objectively and to recognise that everybody has his own fears and hatreds, and we’ve got to try to get rid of those.”

Social media: the good, the bad and the ugly

By
DVB
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95

With internet access rapidly expanding in Burma and the price on SIM-cards and smartphones falling, more and more people are using social media.

But while it can be a way to keep in touch with friends or promote your company, media analysts warn that it can also be a source of hate speech and fear mongering.

The Rangoon-based Heys Food Catering Service turned to social media to launch its business. As a small startup, the company used Facebook to attract customers and introduce itself to the market.

Customers can see the menu and order food for home delivery online. Heys Food also receives orders from other companies, for social meetings and bigger dinner parties.

Meanwhile, writer Mar J from Myanmar Media Group uses Facebook to get material and inspiration for news stories.

“I’m a regular user of social websites. Above all, I think social networks necessarily facilitate our [media workers] business.”

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But he has also experienced the downside of the use of the internet. Recently, an interview with an actress about the ultranationalist Buddhist 969 movement, allegedly written by Mar J, went viral. However, the interview had been faked and both Mar J and the actress in question were shocked.

“We saw her image in the news article and my byline was on this fake interview. It said I was interviewing her about the 969 religious movement.”

He had to write an explanatory article distancing himself from the interview, and eventually the commotion died down.

Well-known blogger and executive director of Myanmar ICT Development Organisation (MIDO), Nay Phone Latt was sentenced to 20 years in prison for publishing a cartoon of Than Shwe in 2008, but was released in the beginning of 2012.

MIDO now works to narrow the digital divide between rural and urban areas in Burma, and they claim to have observed a pattern in how people use social media.

“Internet users can be divided into two groups. One uses social networks for good purposes; while others use them for bad purposes. Now I think the bad impact of internet is bigger than the good one.”

Nay Phone Latt says they have noticed that people use more than one Facebook account, often for the purpose of instigating social or religious unrest. He thinks that this has fuelled a recent wave of Muslim-Buddhist clashes in the country.

He insists that everyone has to collaborate during this period of transition to ensure that social media and the internet are not used in the wrong way.

Thet Naing Win: micro-loans ‘beneficial’ for poverty reduction

By
PETER AUNG
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33

DVB recently spoke with Thet Naing Win, the general manager of Myanmar Micro Finance Bank, and asked him about who will benefit from his bank’s new loans system.

We learned that the Myanmar Micro Finance Bank is going to open in November? Who are you providing loans to and what kind of loans system are you going to employ?

Just like every other bank, we accept deposits and channel them into loans. In terms of operation, we are going to provide micro-loans and commercial loans. For micro-loans, we will redirect the deposits to cooperative societies via the Central Cooperative Society Limited (CCSL) to provide loans for farmers with low incomes in some 60,000 villages across the country.

So who will receive the loans mainly depends on the CCSL while our part is pretty much redirecting the deposits to them. And commercial loans, we will be directly providing for business enterprises. The loans will be provided in accordance the existing Micro Finance Law, without collateral.

How much interest will borrowers be expected to pay?

It will be in accordance with the regulations set out the Central Bank, according to which we cannot set interest rates at more than 2.5 percent for any loans to the public.

How much is the maximum micro-loan an individual can apply for?

Since we are going to redirect the loans wholesale to the CSSL, it depends on them how much the maximum loan can be.

Is the bank going to be government-owned, or private?

It is going to be a publicly owned bank.  We are planning to invite shareholders in the near future.

So the headquarters is in Rangoon? Are you planning to open branches in other towns? If so, where and how many?

We’ve opened our headquarters on the second floor of the Sayar San Plaza in Rangoon and plan to launch our first branch in South Okkalapa township in November, followed by up to nine other branches in the city. We are also looking to gradually expand operations to other cities such as Mandalay and Naypyidaw. Currently, we have pretty much accomplished preparations for opening, such as building a data centre and banking software. We aim to open about 15 branches within the next year.

Since most of those individuals seeking loans will be relatively poor, what will happen if, for example, they go and gamble all the money away and end up being unable to repay it?

It will depend on the organisation charged with distribution of the loans – the CCSL, in accordance with the Micro Finance La

Do you have plans to introduce a campaign to educate potential borrowers to effectively utilise the loans?

This will be carried out by relevant organisations. Our main focuses are poverty alleviation and regional development. But educating people to spend money more efficiently will not only bring them more income, but will also be more beneficial for the country.

There are similar micro-loan programmes in other regional countries including South Asian nations. Some of them found success, such as Muhammad Yunus’s Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, while some others ended up going bankrupt. How can you ensure that your bank survives?

We have done our best. As we aim to assist the public, we will try to get large amount of deposits while ensuring no loss to our customers’ savings. Being the first ever micro finance bank in Burma, we are hopeful of receiving more deposits from citizens with savings, as well as taking grants and loans from international organisations. We believe we will be able to provide the best service if we have those resources.

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The Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) publishes daily independent news and information across Myanmar and around the world by satellite TV and the internet. DVB was founded in 1992 and is registered as a non-profit association in Thailand.

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