China urged to control border Information minister U Ye Htut signals growing frustration with China over the Kokang border war where the Tatmadaw is pressing its offensive, asking how ethnic Chinese insurgents are obtaining weapons and food. NEWS 4

Survivors from human smuggling boats sleep in a centre in Indonesias Aceh province where nearly 2000 Myanmar and Bangladeshi migrants are taking temporary shelter. Yesterday Myanmar announced a willingness to take a part in finding a regional solution as Thailand prepares to host a summit to address the ongoing trafficking crisis.

WWW.MMTIMES.COM DAILY EDITION ISSUE 45 | TUESDAY, MAY 19, 2015

500Ks.

HEARTBEAT OF THE NATION

PAGE

3PHOTO: AFP

NEWS 3

US sucked into migrant boat crisisLobby groups pressure Obama administration to punish Myanmar over exodus of Rohingya as thousands remain trapped on boats floundering at sea.

BUSINESS 8

Tax to be levied on mobile top-ups A 5 percent commercial tax on telecom services will be officially enforced starting June 1. The tax is on the books but has not been enforced due to a sector-wide exemption.

NEWS 6

YMBA back to work after disputeYoung Mens Buddhist Association is to resume its activities after nearly a year, following an investigation into allegations of corruption.

BUSINESS 9

Mitsubishi and Hitachi to invest in Myanmar trainsThe sometimes seemingly endless journey by train from Yangon to Mandalay may be sped up, with help from Japan in the shape of projects to upgrade and modernise the line.

2 News THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 19, 2015

NLD eyes ethnic rep positions

A SENIOR National League for De-mocracy members says the party plans to contest seats for ethnic af-fairs ministers in this years election, as well as national and regional seats in ethnic minority areas. However, the party has not ruled out staying away from some minority constituen-cies based on agreements with other parties.

U Tun Tun Hein, a member of the partys central executive committee, said the party planned to contest all seats in the election, but had not made a final decision.

I think the central executive com-mittee will decide after the date for the election is announced, he said. We will negotiate with ethnic parties if we contest the ethnic affairs minis-ters positions. But we will try to win all constituencies.

Similarly, he said no decisions had been made on candidates, and the partys 43 serving MPs may be asked to contest different seats in this years vote or could be left off the candi-date list altogether.

Candidates must be liked by vot-ers this is our priority. The central executive committee will decide who should contest where. We will priori-tise female and youth candidates.

The decision to contest ethnic mi-nority seats was expected, but is still likely to antagonise some minority parties who believe the NLD repre-sents only ethnic Bamar interests.

To reduce the chances of either an NLD or Union Solidarity and De-velopment Party victory in minority areas, some ethnic parties are nego-tiating to avoid fielding candidates against each other, which would split the vote under Myanmars first-past-the-post system.

But Daw Chin Chin, director of the Nationalities Brotherhood Federation an alliance of about 20 ethnic par-ties and a member of Chin National Development Party, said the USDP and NLD should avoid running in ethnic minority constituencies com-pletely if they want to secure nation-al unity.

Most ethnic politicians are re-signed to the fact they will be com-peting against the NLD in November.

U Zaw Aye Maung, the incumbent minister for the Rakhine ethnic af-fairs for Yangon Region, said any par-ty had the right to contest the ethnic minister posts, but he was confident that that the Rakhine people will se-lect him again.

His party, the Rakhine National Party, has already announced plans to contest 75 constituencies in this years election, and is expected to be one of the strongest ethnic minor-ity parties. As well as national and regional seats in Rakhine State, it will contest the Rakhine minister positions in Yangon and Ayeyarwady regions.

The constitution allows minor-ity groups with a population of more than 0.1 percent of the total national population about 60,000 in 2010 in a single state or region to elect a representative to the state or region legislature. These representatives are then also members of the state or re-gion government. Twenty-nine ethnic minister positions were contested in 2010.

While the NLD says it plans to contest the seats, it may refrain from those coveted by members of the United Nationalities Alliance, an ethnic grouping with which it is associated.

U Sai Nyunt Lwin, secretary of the Shan Nationalities League for De-mocracy a UNA member said his party would negotiate with the NLD first before deciding to contest any of the ethnic affairs minister positions.

We dont plan to contest many of them in the election though, he said. Our main focus is Shan and Kachin states and Mandalay Region. We will negotiate with [the NLD] over the constituencies.

Yangon-Dala bridge on track after compensation deal

A DEAL on compensation for local residents seems to have unlocked the way to the long-awaited bridge over the Yangon River linking down-town Yangon with Dala township.

U Kyaw Myint Oo, chair of the Dala Township Development Com-mittee, told The Myanmar Times over the weekend that a compromise had been reached with residents af-fected by the proposed Yangon-Dala Overbridge, which is envisaged as a symbol of the friendship between Myanmar and South Korea.

The agreement was sealed on May 16 at a monastery in west Kamar Kasit ward of Dala township at a meeting attended by local par-liamentarians U Hla Tun Oo, U Htay Shein and U Than Hlaing, along with government and township of-ficials and Dala residents.

We reached a compromise with no objections. We have submitted it to parliament for approval. Once we get the green light, we will organise a committee to pay compensation. This is a five-year project, said U Kyaw Myint Oo.

Myanmar and South Korea agreed to build the bridge in 2012, said U Han Soe, director general of the Ministry of Construction.

Construction is expected to begin this year and run for five years, but the project still requires parliamen-tary approval.

The estimated cost is US$168 million, of which South Korea will provide $138 million and Myanmar $30 million, which will be funded from a long-term, low-interest loan.

Dala is currently reachable by fer-ry from Pansodan Jetty, or on small sampan boats. The only road access is via a bridge over the Yangon River to Hlaing Tharyar a roundabout route that few use. A car ferry also crosses the river to Dala about 10 times a day.

U Han Soe said President U Thein Sein signed an agreement to build the bridge during a visit to South Korea in 2012.

Dala is the gateway both to Aye-yarwady Region and Yangon Region. Thats why we want the bridge to be built. The surveying and measure-ment started long ago, and now it can go ahead, he said.

The government has yet to an-nounce how many houses are includ-ed in the project area but surveys have been conducted on both sides of Bo Min Yaung Road in Kamar Ka-sit ward. The approach road to the bridge will be about 40 metres (130 feet) wide, requiring an extra 4m of land on either side of the road.

The bridge will link Bo Min Yaung Road to Phone Gyi Road the southern continuation of Pyay Road on the downtown Yangon side of the river.

U Tin Hlaing, chair of the com-munity support committee for Dala township, told The Myanmar Times that compensation would be calcu-lated to ensure public satisfaction.

A monastery, a Buddha image, some houses, a school and other structures are in the project area. We have a plan to compensate the own-ers satisfactorily on the basis of our negotiations. We hope this will go ahead this year, said U Tin Hlaing.

Sayadaw U Athika of west Kamar Kasit wards monastery said they would agree to move the image of the seated Buddha provided an al-ternative site was offered.

This project seems to be good for the community, so there is no reason to object if we receive an al-ternative plot of land, he said.

Ko Than Htay of Kamar Kasit ward, whose property is also in-cluded in the project area, said he believed the authorities would offer proper compensation. If they do I think we should accept it, he said. This will be good for our township. I think public services will improve once the bridge is completed.

Translation by Zar Zar Soe

YE MON LUN MIN MANG

SHWEGU THITSARkhaingsabainyein@gmail.com

Yangon residents take a small sampan across the river to Dala. Photo: Zarni Phyo

Party plans to contest most seats in ethnic minority areas, including coveted ethnic minister positions

DMH monitors impact of El Nio on post-monsoon period

METEOROLOGISTS are keeping an eye out for possible storms as forecast-ers in the United States predict a high chance of El Nio conditions through the summer and into the autumn of the northern hemisphere.

El Nio is characterised by a warm-ing of the surface waters of the Pacific Ocean that occurs once every four to seven years and affects weather across the globe.

The intensity of the El Nio condi-tion is carefully monitored to predict

its impact on post-monsoon weather in Myanmar, said U Kyaw Lwin Oo, di-rector of the Department of Meteorol-ogy and Hydrology, yesterday.

He said sea surface temperatures in the central Pacific had risen by 0.2 Celsius over the past two weeks, as in-ternational forecasters upgraded the likelihood of an El Nio condition.

We need to monitor the intensity of El Nio to know its effect on the weather in the Southeast Asian region. There will be no El Nio effect this month. A weak El Nio will not have a significant impact on this country. But a strong El Nio in the next two

months could bring drier-than-normal weather post-monsoon, through the winter and into 2016, he said.

U Kyaw Lwin Oo said that as of May 12, sea surface temperature (SST) in the central Pacific was 1 to 1.2C warmer than average, a possi-ble indicator of the condition known as an El Nio Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

The weekly ENSO update issued by the Climate Prediction Center of the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on May 11 predicted a 90 percent chance that El Nio conditions would

continue through the Northern Hemi-sphere summer, and a greater than 80pc chance that it would last through the autumn.

A statement from the South Asian Climate Outlook Forum released on April 23 said El Nio conditions could strengthen further during the latter part of the monsoon season. El Nio conditions are known typically to weaken the South Asian southwest monsoon circulation and adversely impact rainfall across the region. However, their impact on the regional rainfall distribution varies from year to year.

A strong El Nio in the next two months could bring drier-than-normal weather post-monsoon.

U Kyaw Lwin Oo Department of Meteorology

AYE SAPAY PHYUayephyu2006@gmail.com

29Ethnic affairs ministers voted in

at the 2010 election

News 3www.mmtimes.com NEWS EDITOR: Thomas Kean | tdkean@gmail.com

US-Myanmar relations under scrutiny as boat crisis deepens

IN the midst of sectarian violence raging in Rakhine State in 2012, Pres-ident Barack Obama, as the first sit-ting US president to visit Myanmar, shamed the nation for its treatment of the Rohingya minority.

Today, we look at the recent violence in Rakhine State that has caused so much suffering, and we see the danger of continued tensions there, he told a packed auditorium at Yangon University. There is no excuse for violence against innocent people.

Three years later, at the 11th hour of a migration crisis born of such continued tensions and with thousands of lives of Rohingya and Bangladeshi Muslims at stake, lobby groups are attacking the US for not coming down harder on an issue it has repeatedly called a policy priority.

The Obama administrations re-sponse to this crisis, calling on Thai-land and Malaysia to enforce human trafficking laws, has been wholly in-adequate and counterproductive by ignoring the root cause of the prob-lem, said Washington-based rights group United to End Genocide.

The US is being implicated in the crisis in part, experts say, because the State Departments Trafficking in Persons Report has placed extreme pressures on the region, including em-barrassing Thailand into a crackdown that disrupted the well-worn human smuggling route and precipitated the current inability of boats packed with starving migrants to disembark.

Certainly Thailands embarrass-ment over being listed in tier 3 [the bottom ranking on the TIP report] has goaded Bangkok into action to stop human trafficking, with Prime Minister Prayuth making this a na-tional-level priority, said Phil Rob-ertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch Asia division. And now with Thailand joining Malaysia and Indonesia in refusing to let these boats land, where in the world can these boat people go? They are truly forsaken.

The Obama administrations warming relations with Myanmar have repeatedly come under scrutiny,

especially as sanctions began to lift in 2011 conditional on Nay Pyi Taws commitment to improving its human rights record, including in Rakhine.

Both the EU and the US have previously called on Myanmar to address the Rohingya citizenship issue as part of their conditions for re-engaging with the country. Yet there have been no discernible con-sequences for Myanmars failure to do so, said Hanna Hindstrom of the Minority Rights Group.

However, in announcing his au-thority to extend some sanctions on Myanmar through the National Emergencies Act on May 15, Presi-dent Obama named abuses in ethnic minority areas and Rakhine State as contributing to the decision. His statement however did not specifi-cally mention the Rohingya whom the Myanmar government refers to as Bengali.

At a press briefing on the same day as the emergencies act an-nouncement, US State Department spokesperson Jeff Rathke declined to outline what kind of pressure steps would be used to engage Nay Pyi Taw to stem the crisis and tackle the factors driving more than 25,000 people, according to UN estimates, to flee from the Bay of Bengal on dan-gerous smuggling voyages in the first three months of this year.

Will we decide to disengage with Burma because we have a disagree-ment over their approach to the Ro-hingya? No, we will remain engaged with Burma, he said.

Mr Ratkhe added that US ambas-sadors to various countries in the

region, including Myanmar, have engaged in talks with the relevant governments over the maritime cri-sis, and have urged the need for im-mediate search and rescue missions.

In a separate statement also is-sued on May 15, the White House pressed the region to save the lives of those at left at sea. So far the call has gone largely unanswered. Myanmars refusal to commit itself to accepting invitations to regional dialogue on

the issue has prompted demands for Western governments to ramp up the pressure and even revert to further sanctions.

International governments en-gaging with the Myanmar state must make very clear that ongoing dis-crimination and persecution of its people is utterly unacceptable and will have consequences, said Alicia de la Cour Venning of the UK-based International State Crime Initia-tive, a research centre which alleges the Rohingya are on the brink of

genocide. But others say further sanctions

are unlikely and unhelpful. Sanctions were in the past mas-

sively counterproductive, said Derek Tonkin, former British ambassador to Thailand and Vietnam.

In Europe we are faced with the even greater problem of boat refu-gees from all over North Africa leav-ing to find a better life in Europe and no one is suggesting that sanctions have any role to play.

Instead, offering enticements and monetary aid has been suggested as a better incentive for Myanmar to show flexibility.

Unless the US holds out the sweetener of much more economic assistance to make up for Myanmar swallowing the bitter pill of recog-nising the Rohingya as more than a mere domestic issue then Nay Pyi Taw is unlikely to be convinced that it should come to the dialogue table and address the Rohingya, said Paul Chambers, director of research at the Chiang Mai-based Institute of South East Asian Affairs.

While the upcoming elections in Myanmar contribute to the govern-ments reluctance to create any sort of domestic political upheaval that could sway the vote, stability in Ra-khine State also has implications for the US 2016 elections, according to Elliot Brennan, a research fellow with the Institute for Security and Development Policys Asia Program in Sweden.

The Democrats are aware that for Hillary Clintons campaign, My-anmars opening will be significant in demonstrating her achievements as secretary of state. Clinton played an important role in the warming of US-Myanmar relations. As such the unresolved plight of the Rohing-ya will make difficult the 2016 cam-paign for the Democrats, he said.

With the Rohingya smuggling route cast in a spotlight that doesnt appear to be moving, and both the US and regional governments mounting pressure, Mr Brennan warned that an isolationist outlook in Myanmar over the now regional issue will have dangerous consequences.

Nay Pyi Taw, with many prob-lems already on its plate, would be wise to reassess how this may affect their relations within the region and further afield. The US, which has put much faith in the current govern-ment, will play an important role in this calculation, he said.

Election law amendments put to MPs

DRAFT laws amending electoral provi-sions to revoke the right of temporary citizens to vote were yesterday put be-fore parliament. The drafts submitted by the Union Election Commission, covering elections to the two houses of parliament and the states and regions, will strip the former white-card hold-ers of the right to vote.

Holders of white cards, which were issued to Myanmar residents whose citizenship was in doubt, voted in the last election. But the constitutional tri-bunal subsequently found that allow-ing them to vote was unconstitutional. The cards were declared void, and im-migration officials have been collect-ing them for cancellation. Most white cards were held by Rohingya.

UEC member U Win Ko submitted to hluttaw the second amended bill for the Pyithu Hluttaw Election Law, the second amended bill for the Amyotha Hluttaw Election Law and the second amended bill for the Region/State Election Law.

Pyidaungsu Hluttaw instructed the Union Election Commission on February 26 to put forward amended bills in accordance with the judge-ment of the Constitutional Tribunal. The amended bills omit the wording temporary identity card holders in the relevant sections, he said.

The Pyithu Hluttaw Bill Commit-tee has recommended that hluttaw approve the amendment bills without change, though MPs wishing to dis-cuss the matter have been asked to register by May 21.

Former white-card holders are also expected to be disqualified to vote in the referendum on constitutional amendment provisionally scheduled for next month.

According to todays amendment bill, white-card holders may not vote in the hluttaw elections, U Win Ko told the media, adding that an amend-ment bill cancelling the right of for-mer white-card holders to vote in the referendum had also been put forward to hluttaw.

In response to a further question, he said Union ministers and their deputies were not obliged to resign their posts when competing in the election.

The constitution says only that ministers or deputy ministers are not allowed to conduct political party ac-tivities, and if they are MPs they must resign their seat, he said.

Translation by Thiri Min Htun

HTOO THANTthanhtoo.npt@gmail.com

LAIGNEE BARRON

laignee@gmail.com

Myanmar shows willingness to help tackle trafficking

WITH thousands of people abandoned to a grim fate at sea and no government wanting to allow them off what the UN has called boat coffins, the Myanmar government yesterday showed the first sign of flexibility in what has otherwise been a rigid dismissal of its role in the crisis.

We understand there are concerns about the international community about the people on the sea, some arriv-ing to the ASEAN member countries, U Ye Htut, information minister and spokesperson for the Presidents Of-fice, said to media after a closed-door government briefing of diplomats in Yangon yesterday.

Some of them are said to come from Myanmar. Some are said to come from Bangladesh. First, we have to set-up the verification process. If they are

from Myanmar and they have enough evidence to prove they are Myanmar we must be ready to bring back our peo-ple, he said.

The opposition NLD also chose yes-terday to make an uncharacteristically bold statement over the ongoing crisis.

If they are not accepted [as citi-zens] they cannot just be sent onto rivers, cant be pushed out to sea. They are humans, said U Nyan Win, an NLD spokesperson.

His comments came as thousands of Rohingya and Bangladeshis contin-ue to be stuck at sea while Malaysia and Indonesia already accommodat-ing a combined nearly 3000 people rescued from abandoned boats deny anyone else permission to disembark, in what the UN has said is a violation of international maritime law and moral responsibility to rescue people stuck at sea.

Thailands Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon told state-run me-dia that the boats will be allowed to land

in Thai territory, but the passengers will be prosecuted as illegal entrants if they choose to do so.

The prime minister of Thailand warned that if more of the migrants ar-rive they may take jobs from Thai peo-ple, while Indonesias military chief said they would cause social issues and Malaysias deputy home minister said accepting one boat will send a green light to thousands more who cannot be flooding our shores.

Yesterday fighting was reported by AFP to have erupted on vessels left without food or water. At least 100 were estimated to have been killed during the skirmish. The International Or-ganisation for Migration said on some boats the passengers have been forced to drink their own urine to survive.

Just a day after Malaysia threatened to hold an emergency ASEAN session if Myanmar does not engage in the issue, U Ye Htut warned against Myanmar being singled out for what he said is a human trafficking problem that the region should be working together to cooperatively solve.

He would not confirm yesterday

whether Myanmar would be attending a regional summit in Bangkok on May 29. He said it would be up to the Minis-try of Foreign Affairs.

U Zaw Htay, director of the Presi-dents Office, has previously said that Myanmar will not be attending the dialogue if the word Rohingya the government uses Bengali is on the invitation. He also told the New York Times that he had ruled out interna-tionalising the issue through regional dialogues.

However, a diplomat who attended the closed-door briefing yesterday said the government left the impression that it was willing to be part of a regional so-lution to the crisis and would consider taking part in the conference called by Thailand for May 29.

They did not go so far as to recog-nise they are the source of the problem, but they say it is a regional problem and they are part of the region, but not a root cause, said the diplomat who asked not to be named.

YE MONGUY DINMORELAIGNEE BARRONnewsroom@mmtimes.com

U Ye Htut speaks to press. Photo: AFP

US President Barack Obama shakes hands with President U Thein Sein during meetings at the White House in 2013. Photo: AFP

Will we ... disengage with Burma because we have a disagreement over ... Rohingya? No.

Jeff Rathke US State Department

4 News THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 19, 2015

Chief Executive OfficerTony Childtonychild.mcm@gmail.comEditorial Director U Thiha Saweditorial.director.mcm@gmail.comDeputy Chief Operating Officer Tin Moe Aungtinmoeaung.mcm@gmail.com

EDITORIALEditor MTE Thomas Keantdkean@gmail.comEditor MTM Sann Oosannoo@gmail.comChief of Staff Zaw Win Thanzawwinthan@gmail.comEditor Special Publications Myo Lwinmyolwin286@gmail.comEditor-at-Large Douglas Longdlong125@gmail.com

News Editor MTE Guy Dinmoreguydinmore@gmail.comBusiness Editor MTE Jeremy Mullinsjeremymullins7@gmail.comWorld Editor MTE Fiona MacGregor, Kayleigh LongThe Pulse Editor MTE Charlotte Rosecharlottelola.rose@gmail.comSport Editor MTE Matt Roebuckmatt.d.roebuck@googlemail.comSpecial Publications Editor MTE Wade Guyittwadeguyitt@gmail.comRegional Affairs Correspondent Roger Mitton rogermitton@gmail.comSub-Editors Peter Swarbrick, Laignee Barron

Chief Sub Editor MTM Aye Sapay PhyuNews & Property Editor MTM Tin Moe Aungtinmoeaung.mcm@gmail.comTimeout Editor MTM Moh Moh Thawmohthaw@gmail.com

MCM BUREAUSNews Editors (Mandalay) Khin Su Wai, Phyo Wai KyawNay Pyi Taw Bureau Chief Hsu Hlaing Htunhsuhlainghtun.mcm@gmail.com

DIGITAL/ONLINEOnline Editors Eli Meixler, Thet Hlaingelimeixler@gmail.com, thet202@gmail.com

PHOTOGRAPHICSDirector Kaung HtetPhotographers Aung Htay Hlaing, Thiri, Zarni Phyo

PRODUCTIONzarnicj@gmail.comArt Director Tin Zaw HtwayProduction Manager Zarni

MCM PRINTINGPrinting Director Han TunFactory Administrator Aung Kyaw Oo (3)Factory Foreman Tin Win

SALES & MARKETINGads.myanmartimes@gmail.comDeputy National Sales Directors Chan Tha Oo, Nay Myo Oo, Nandar Khine, Nyi Nyi TunClassifieds Manager Khin Mon Mon Yiclassified.mcm@gmail.com

ADMIN, FINANCE & SYSTEMSChief Financial Officer Mon Mon Tha Saingmonmonthasaing@gmail.comDeputy HR Director Khine Su Yinkhinesu1988@gmail.comDirector of IT/Systems Kyaw Zay Yar Linkyawzayarlin@gmail.com

Publisher U Thiha (Thiha Saw), 01021 Myanmar Consolidated Media Ltd. CIRCULATION & DISTRIBUTIONYangon - subscribe.mt@gmail.comMandalay - mdydistribution.mcm@gmail.comNay Pyi Taw - nptdistribution.mcm@gmail.com

ADVERTISING & SUBSCRIPTION ENQUIRIESTelephone: (01) 253 642, 392 928Facsimile: (01) 254 158

The Myanmar Times is owned by Myanmar Consolidated Media Ltd and printed by Myanmar Times Press (00876) with ap-proval from MCM Ltd and by Shwe Myanmar (P/00302) with approval from MCM Ltd. The title The Myanmar Times, in either English or Myanmar languages, its associated logos or devices and the contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of the Managing Director of Myanmar Consolidated Media Ltd.

Myanmar Consolidated Media Ltd.www.mmtimes.com

Head Office: 379/383 Bo Aung Kyaw Street, Kyauktada Township, Yangon, Myanmar.Telephone: (01) 253 642, 253 651, 392808Facsimile: (01) 254 158, 392 928

Mandalay Bureau: No. 20, 71st Street, Between 28th street and 29th Street, Chan Aye Thar San Township.Tel: (02) 24450, 24460, 65391. Fax: (02) 74585.Email: mdybranch@myanmartimes.com.mm

Nay Pyi Taw Bureau: No (15/496) Yaza Htarni Road, Paung Laung (2)Q, Pyinmana.Tel: (067) 25982, 25983, 25309, 21426Email: capitalbureau@myanmartimes.com.mm

MYANMAR yesterday signalled its growing frustration with China over the border war in the Kokang re-gion by calling on its neighbour to strengthen controls along the rug-ged frontier to prevent infiltration by insurgents.

U Ye Htut, information minister and presidential spokesperson, told reporters that the government wanted to know how the ethnic Chinese rebels in Kokang were sourcing weapons and food supplies.

Myanmar protects the border but our country cant do it alone. China also needs to protect the border to-gether with Myanmar, the minister said after briefing foreign diplomats, including Chinese envoys, at the My-anmar Peace Center in Yangon.

If China doesnt, then it can hap-pen again that shells fall [across the border]. China should protect the area so that Kokang rebels do not occupy the border, U Ye Htut said.

The minister was referring to an incident on May 14 when five civil-ians inside China were wounded by artillery fire that Beijing suspects came from the Tatmadaw. Myanmar has agreed to investigate the incident. China warned Myanmar in March that it could face resolute and decisive measures after a Tatmadaw aircraft killed five Chinese villagers in a cross-border strike.

Fighting that began in Kokang in Shan State in early February has re-cently intensified along hills close to the border with Chinas Yunnan prov-ince. Diplomats said U Ye Htuts com-ments reflected Myanmars concerns that the ethnic Chinese insurgents of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) were being aided across the border, possibly by local interests acting against the offi-cial policy of non-interference set by Beijing.

A source close to the MNDAA said the groups fighters remained inside

Myanmar and it was not sourcing food and weapons from China. The source said MNDAA forces did not enter Chi-nese territory and would be arrested if they did.

But the official Global New Light of Myanmar yesterday accused the Kokang rebels and their allies of us-ing vast stockpiles of narcotics to pay the medical expenses of wounded fighters treated in a Chinese hospital in the border town of Nansan. Drugs were also sold to pay compensation for mercenaries killed in battle, the news-paper said.

The articles main focus of attack, however, was the United Wa State Army (UWSA). An ally of the Kokang forces, the UWSA is the most power-ful armed ethnic group in Myanmar with a reported 30,000 fighters and an economy closely integrated with Yun-nan province.

Readers were reminded that eight UWSA leaders were indicted in the US in 2005 on heroin and methampheta-mine trafficking charges.

The article carried distinctly anti-Chinese overtones with the author, be-lieved to be writing under a pen name, noting that ethnic Chinese were occu-pying official posts in the Wa self-ad-ministered border zone, where local culture is being swallowed and over-whelmed by the Chinese one.

Official language is Chinese and circulating money is Chinese ren-minbi while local dialect and litera-ture are also becoming Chinese. Now is the time to monitor if they are all real ethnic Wa tribesmen or if they are Chinese people pretending to be Wa, the article said.

The UWSA hosted a conference of select armed ethnic leaders in its bor-der enclave of Pangkham in the first

week of May, ostensibly to discuss the draft nationwide ceasefire accord signed by government representatives and negotiators for 16 armed groups on March 31.

The meeting ended with a commu-niqu reiterating UWSA demands for a separate state and for the inclusion of the Kokang groups in the nation-wide ceasefire accord. Responding to the Wa demands for a separate state, the newspaper said it could be as-sumed that the UWSA was willing to engage a military challenge.

The source close to the MNDAA said fighting in Kokang had subsided yesterday. However, the Tatmadaws claim to have captured the Point 2202 hill post on May 14 after intense bat-tles was disputed by the Taang Na-tional Liberation Army, which is allied to the MNDAA. The group said its forces were still on the hill.

THE governments goal of signing a na-tionwide ceasefire accord and launch-ing a political dialogue with ethnic groups before the November elections dominated a meeting yesterday be-tween President U Thein Sein and rep-resentatives of 71 parties.

We are now waiting for the result of the NCCT summit. If they agree we are ready sign the nationwide ceasefire accord, the president told party lead-ers meeting in Yangons regional parlia-ment building.

The Nationwide Ceasefire Coordina-tion Team representing 16 armed ethnic groups signed a draft ceasefire accord with government negotiators on March 31, but the accord still needs to be en-dorsed by leaders of the ethnic armed groups. The NCCT has said it hopes to meet before the end of the month.

U Aung Min, minister and leader of the government negotiating team, earlier told foreign diplomats that he remained hopeful the accord would be probably signed in June.

U Thein Sein reiterated that it was important to start a political dialogue

with the ethnic groups before parlia-mentary elections are held.

As you are now preparing the framework for political dialogue, I re-quest you all to cooperate so that po-litical dialogue can be held in time, he said.

Holding free and fair elections would be a milestone event in the countrys transition, he said. I hope all parties would contest these elections and we also hope that the genuine re-sult from elections would reflect the

peoples will, he added.Party representatives said they also

wanted to see the NCA signed as soon as possible as the accord was an impor-tant element in holding free and fair elections. The question remains, how-ever, whether the nationwide cease-fire would also cover the conflict in the Kokang region of Shan State.

U Sai Aik Paung, head of the Shan Nationalities Development party, said some areas in Shan State were not se-cure and would not be able to hold a

vote. They can vote when the NCA re-ally happens. If they could not vote in elections, it is difficult to say they are free and fair, he said.

He urged the president to decentral-ise the system of government.

Although the president has spoken of decentralisation for two years, the state government remains too central-ised, said U Sai Aik Paung, requesting the president to issue directives.

Union Solidarity and Development Party central committee member Thu-ra U Aye Myint asked the president and the Union Election Commission to ensure security during the campaign and on election day. Security matter is the most important part of elections. The commission should announce how they will make the elections secure, he said.

U Saw Than Myint, central commit-tee member of the Federal Union Party, asked the main parties to lend support to smaller parties based in ethnic areas in forming state parliaments and ad-ministrations after the elections.

The president said he welcomed all comments from the parties but admit-ted that it was not easy to fulfill all their needs.

Myanmar calls on China to strengthen border control

GUY DINMOREYE MON

Ceasefire accord dominates talksEI EI TOE LWINeieitoelwin@gmail.com

Tatmadaw shells hit a hilltop held by Kokang rebels close to the border with China last week. Photo: Ministry of Information

Leaders of ethnic parties attend talks with U Thein Sein. Photo: Aungmyin Yezaw

6 News THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 19, 2015

Two townships to vote again formunicipal representativesVoters in Mandalay will have a second chance to elect representatives for two of the citys townships. Elections conducted on May 3 failed to produce winning candidates for Aung Myay Thar San and Chan Mya Tharsi townships to serve on the citys development committee.

The latest election will take place on June 7, the head of the election commission told The Myanmar Times on May 17.

In Chan Mya Tharsi, the result of the May 3 election was voided because fewer than 50 percent of eligible voters took part. In Aung Myay Thar San, there were no candidates.

Eight hopefuls have now emerged to contest the two seats, according to the commission. Mg Zaw, translation by Zar Zar Soe

Activists sentences reducedby two months on appealThree activists jailed for staging an illegal protest against electricity prices have had their sentences reduced by two months.

A fourth activist jailed with them decided not to appeal the original sentence of six months prison with hard labour.

Ko Thein Aung Myint and Ko Saw Hla Aung from the Movement for Democ-racy Current Force (MDCF) and two locals, Ko Kyaw Myo Tun and Ma Khet Khet Tin, were charged following the March 27, 2014, protest.

A Chan Aye Thar San Township Court judge jailed them all for six months, but Ko Saw Hla Aung, Ko Kyaw Myo Tun and Ma Khet Khet Tin had their sentences reduced on appeal to four months. Mg Zaw, translation by Khant Lin Oo

ANGRY villagers protesting against a planned coal project in Kale town-ship in Sagaing Region briefly de-tained four Myanmar-Chinese men and their two Chin guides in a con-frontation with a mining company.

Villagers told The Myanmar Times that the incident happened on May 9 as more than 400 people from four villages protested against the planned mining of Nga Hill for environmental reasons. The six men were held for two hours.

It was serious. We intervened as the locals thought that foreigners had come to their land but actually they were Myanmar-born Chinese, from Kutkai in Shan State, Ko Kyaw Thet Win, chair of the Upper Chind-win Youth Network, said.

Yaeshin Sayadaw, a local monk, said it was the fourth time that peo-ple from the company had come to the villagers land, causing tem-pers to reach boiling point. He said there were nine villages in the area of Nga Hill, each with about 300 households.

Our local youths are not afraid to kill to protect their land, the say-adaw said.

Villagers were afraid that soon machines would arrive to mine the coal, just as a Chinese-backed com-pany had done at the Letpandaung copper mine in central Myanmar, he said.

Ingyin, a Chin company involved in the planned mine, was not avail-able for comment.

The monk said that five days be-fore the incident, company workers had come with land registry officials. I warned them, Dont come to our place. But they did it again.

District administrator U Chit Too told The Myanmar Times that he had issued a notice telling the com-panies that they must notify the local administration before visiting the proposed sites.

The problem is that the compa-ny didnt get any permit for the coal project, he said.

There are an estimated 20 coal mining ventures in Kale. Environ-mental groups and local people have issued many complaints about the projects.

Leading Buddhist organisation resumes activities after dispute

MANDALAY IN BRIEF

KHIN SU WAIjasminekhin@gmail.com

Police make arrests over bodies found beside highway

TWO brothers whose badly stabbed bodies were dumped beside the Yan-gon-Bago Highway on May 5 were killed because they allegedly cheated a number of people out of tens of thousands of dollars, according to police. Four men have been arrested on suspicion of murder, while a fifth remains on the run.

The bodies of U Nyunt Wai, 52, from South Okkalapa township, and U Nyunt Swe, 55, from Sanchaung town-ship, were found near Intagaw in Bago Region. Their hands were bound and they had been stabbed repeatedly with a sabre knife, police said.

Following an investigation, police

detained three men from Hlaing town-ship. Another alleged accomplice was arrested in Hpa-an, while a fifth man, whom police say is a former member of the Karen National Union from Da-wei, remains at large.

The alleged murderers told police that U Nyunt Wai worked for an em-ployment agency called Kyaw Kyaw Naing Family Technological Services, and had accepted K11.5 million from each of them to place them in jobs in Japan.

However, he later advised them to take a course in Yangon and didnt send them to Japan.

Four of them later filed a com-plaint with police, accusing the brothers and company owner U Kyaw Kyaw Naing of cheating and

dishonestly inducing delivery of property under section 420 of the criminal code.

However, police say the group decided to take the law into their own hands when one of the men was forced to pawn his home to pay back the money he borrowed to pay the placement fee to the company.

Police say U Kyaw Kyaw Naings whereabouts are unknown.

The bodies of U Nyunt Wai and U Nyunt Swe were found by a 15-year-old girl, who said she saw a Toyota Probox stop beside the highway and leave them beside the road.

Police said the vehicle had passed through a toll gate on the outskirts of Bago just before the men were dumped.

Translation by Khant Lin Oo

TOE WAI AUNGnewsroom@mmtimes.com

Villagers hold ethnic Chinese over coal project

THE Young Mens Buddhist Associa-tion (YMBA) is to resume its activi-ties following an investigation into allegations of corruption levelled by senior members.

The venerable organisation, which was associated with the struggle for independence, sus-pended normal activities during the investigation, which essentially dis-missed the allegations but focused on rebuilding unity among divided senior members.

The accusations included misuse of YMBA property and the altering of results of exams organised by the association.

Following the emergence of the accusations last June, a tribu-nal led by the deputy head of the

General Administration Depart-ment of Yangons eastern district was established to look into them.

The tribunal, which comprised district-level officials, including the police, reported to Yangon Regions Chief Minister in March with rec-ommendations, which included holding a conference to form a new central executive committee through elections.

Last August, the five patrons of the YMBA formed a guard-ian committee together with nine members of its central executive committee to keep the organisation ticking over.

The Yangon Region chief minis-ter has instructed the head of the Yangon Region branch of the di-rectorate of religious affairs of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, U Sein Maung, to help restore unity to the associations leadership.

The dispute focused only on the activities of the central executive committee, but had wider impli-cations because the associations

activities were halted for a year as a result of the investigation.

U Sein Maung convened the 28 members of the last executive committee including both accus-ers and those accused of corrup-tion on May 6 to urge unity and to inform them of the tribunals recommendations.

U Sein Maung refused to reveal the nature of those recommenda-tions to The Myanmar Times. How-ever, it appears that the association has agreed to hold an annual confer-ence, which was skipped last year, to elect a new executive committee, an executive body member said.

The conference is scheduled for July. The guardian body and pa-tron group will organise it, said U Thaung Win, the secretary of the old executive body.

We will widely publicise the election, and circulate a list of can-didates at least a month ahead of the conference, said U Tin Oo, the secretary of the guardian body.

We want a new generation to

take part in the election. We want to transfer the association to the new generation.

Former vice-president of the as-sociation U Thein Lwin and three ex-members of the central executive committee, U Myat Soe (Hlaing), U Aye Myint, and U Soe Shein, made the original complaints.

Both sides told The Myanmar Times that they accepted the find-ings and were keen to move on.

Of course we will take part in the election because we love this as-sociation, said U Myat Soe (Hlaing), one of the complainants. U Aye My-int will take part as well, but I dont know about the others.

The Young Mens Buddhist As-sociation was founded in 1906 and took a leading role in favour of independence and the expression of national spirit throughout the colonial era. It has more than 40 branches across the country and the last CEC was formed with one president, four vice presidents and 23 members.

SANDAR LWIN

sdlsandar@gmail.com

Young Mens Buddhist Association had been forced to halt its work for newly a year due to investigation

A man rides a bicycle past the Young Mens Buddhist Association headquarters in Pazundaung township yesterday. Photo: Thiri

THE May 1-6 meeting of eth-nic armed group leaders in Pangkham, the headquarters of the United Wa State Army (UWSA), and the seemingly sudden involvement of the Wa in the peace process appears to have every-one worried.

The sources of concern are varied, ranging from geopolitical inclina-tions and the omission of some ethnic armed groups from the list of invitees to the inclusion of three groups that have been at loggerheads with the government.

However, we at the Myanmar Peace Center were not worried for two reasons.

The UWSA wants to maintain the status quo. It does not want war. Ethnic armed groups have approached the Wa many times to join their fight against the government but they have not agreed. It is crystal clear that the Wa do not want to jeopardise the stability and development they have brought to their areas in the 26 years since a bilateral ceasefire was signed. They have talked about these achieve-ments in glowing terms.

What the Wa want is not a secret. They demand a state for the Wa within Myanmar. They have expressed it during many meetings. Without fail, they raised it again in the May ethnic summit.

Based on this knowledge, we knew the Wa would not rock the boat by encouraging ethnic armed groups to fight, or join the fight of others.

Regarding the demand for a Wa State, no one in Myanmar can give a definite yes or no; it would be decided through political negotiations. Or, as some have argued, it is up to the people of Myanmar to decide.

It is public knowledge that the Wa issue has significant geopolitical dimensions and implications for ter-ritorial integrity. It is also mired in the question of legitimacy for the de-facto Wa State. But as we have yet to negoti-ate politically the future of Myanmar, the Was call for an official Wa State cannot be settled before political dialogue.

But there was one concern about the summit: how it would affect the timing of the signing of the nationwide ceasefire agreement. Our worst fears were confirmed the ethnic summit at Pangkham certainly contributed to another delay in signing the ceasefire.

Following the signing of the

draft agreement on March 31, it was informally agreed that the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT) would meet in April to discuss the ceasefire further, with a view to a pos-sible signing in May. But they could not meet due to the Was initiation of their summit.

The NCCT will now have to rush if it is to call a summit before the end of May. It seems that the earliest time for the NCCT summit would now be the first week of June. That means the signing of the NCA may have to be postponed to late June or early July.

This then means that there is very little time left to organise political negotiations before the election.

We have worked toward an objective of constituting the political dialogue in August, before official elec-tion campaigning begins in September.

We have known all along that once the election campaign begins, the peace process will be sidetracked. Judging by the election fever that has already swept through Myanmar, our predic-tions are coming true.

It might be possible to organise the political dialogue after the election. But the post-election period is likely to see key political players vying for top positions in the government and parliament. It will be hard to get the attention of all those involved in the electoral process.

The new government will have to be formed in March 2016, but it will

likely take at least a few months for it to become functional.

In short, if we cannot organise political negotiations before the elec-tion, the process may be delayed by anywhere from 10 to 12 months. If that occurs, the earliest time the political negotiations could begin will be July or August 2016.

I have argued time and again that if we have the nationwide ceasefire in hand we could use it to cushion against the likely negative impacts of delaying political dialogue. Even then, the inability to find quick political so-lutions could cost stakeholders dearly.

If the nationwide ceasefire process drags on indefinitely, we could work with 14 bilateral ceasefires and other political stakeholders to organise political dialogue. This would mean, however, that not all stakeholders will be involved in the process.

The inability to hold political talks in August before the election will have many repercussions, including the pos-sible resumption of hostilities in some ceasefire areas. Such a situation could also harm the election.

On the whole, these repercussions

are likely to be more evident next year, when the burden of building peace will fall on the new government. Even if the new government is committed to peace, it may have to restart the process all over again.

Sensing this, two ethnic leaders at the conference on peace and national reconciliation held in Yangon on May 9 echoed my views. They said that the new government would have to start from scratch if dialogue did not mate-rialise before the election or during the remainder of the current governments term. That being the case, the peace process will pose a significant burden for the new administration.

Given this analysis, it is in the interest of all stakeholders, including ethnic armed group leaders, political elites and those aspiring politicians who are likely to be in the new admin-istration after the 2015 general elec-tion, to do everything in their power to ensure political dialogue begins before the election.

Aung Naing Oo is director of the Peace Dialogue Program at the Myanmar Peace Center. Opinions expressed are his own.

News 7www.mmtimes.com

Views

Government officials brief diplomats at the Myanmar Peace Center in Yangon yesterday. Photo: AFP

Time running out for political dialogue

AUNG NAING OO

newsroom@mmtimes.com

If we cannot organise political negotiations before the election, the process may be delayed by anywhere from 10 to 12 months.

8 THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 18, 2015

Business

Customers buy Telenor SIMs during the firms launch last year. Photo: Aung Htay Hlaing

A 5 percent commercial tax on tel-ecom services in Myanmar will be officially enforced starting June 1, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) announced May 18 at their office in Nay Pyi Taw.

The tax, while currently on the books, has not been enforced due to a sector-wide exemption, said MCIT director U Than Tun Aung.

The commercial tax has been implemented last year but because at that time the telecoms sector has been tremendously improving ... the Union Government as well as the Parliament decided to give benefits to the population first, so they gave the industry a one-year exemption for the commercial tax, he said at the Nay Pyi Taw press event yesterday.

That exemption will close soon as an amendment to the Commercial Tax Law came into force on April 1, said a MCIT press release.

Telecom customers will see the largest difference on top-up, as SIM cards will stay at K1500. When the tax comes into effect, subscribers will get less top-up bang for their buck. For instance, customers would receive K952 of a K1000 top-up, with the remaining K48 going to the gov-ernment tax.

Revenues generated from the tax

will go toward health, education and transportation projects, and develop-ment, according to U Than Tun Aung.

The 5pc commercial tax has been selectively enforced since last year. At the governments urging, Telenor had applied the tax to its top-ups, but subsidised the cost to consumers, in effect returning the 5pc as a bonus.

When we launched our services in September after multiple discus-sions with the government, we de-

cided that we would collect this tax because the government was very insisting that we had to collect the tax, Petter Furberg told The Myan-mar Times late last year. At the same time, since our competitors were not collecting the tax, we decided to compensate the customers through a bonus.

Ooredoo Myanmar senior man-ager of public relations Thiri Kyar Nyo had said last year that Ooredoo

Myanmar was still discussing tax with MPT and Telenor, adding all three operators would be aligned on the issue.

MPT, Telenor and Ooredoo have matched the manner in which they will pay the tax, yesterdays press re-lease said.

Starting June 1, each of the tel-cos will be compelled to enforce it equalising a field that had seen some playing differently.

Three telcos to levy 5% tax on top-up

CATHERINE TRAUTWEIN

newsroom@mmtimes.com

TRAUTWEIN

KYAT

1500The official price of a SIM card from

any of the three telcos, which will not change with the tax

ANTHEM Asia will continue to seek investment opportunities among local companies, director Peter Witton told The Myanmar Times.

Earlier this month, Anthem Asia invested a six-figure US dollar sum in mobile data collection company Xavey Ltd, a Singapore registered entity oper-ating out of Yangon.

The deal will see Anthem Asia even-tually become the largest minority shareholder in Xavey.

Xavey was established in December 2013 by entrepreneur Aung Sithu Kyaw and is working with market research and non-government organisation (NGO) clients.

We want to invest in and back lo-cal companies and local entrepreneurs, said Mr Witton. Whatever the sector, local brands are more competitive than foreign companies.

Xavey allows clients to conduct My-anmar and English language field sur-veys using mobile devices, and converts paper based research forms into mobile applications, according to a May 5 press release. The product runs online, on the cloud, or offline.

Before, market research firms and NGOs collected data in the traditional way by using paper, Ko Aung Sithu Kyaw told The Myanmar Times. Our platform changes the way data is col-lected, using mobile phones. For the time being, clients can collect data by using Android devices, he said.

Ko Aung Sithu Kyaw warned that start-up companies in Myanmar should not only emphasise what they want to do, but must also be business-oriented. If start-up companies work smartly, they can get investment, but there is still a lack of human resources in My-anmar, he said.

In Myanmar, we are lacking skilled labourers and office prices are too high. These remain barriers to developing small businesses, he added.

Xavey is one of a number of invest-ments Anthem Asia has made in the past 18 months, according to the May 5 press release. Last year, the firm invest-ed in two businesses; The Blink Agency, a digital marketing joint venture; and Zagar Communications, a marketing and communications company.

For an investment company, Myan-mar has a lot of opportunities in start-up and expansion projects like Blink and Thahara, but there are still some difficulties, said Mr Witton

For example office prices are very high and the banking system is too slow.

Anthem Asias other investments include a serviced office project called Hintha Business Centres. The first Hin-tha facility, which opened in September 2013, is in downtown Yangon, close to Sule Pagoda. The company has also invested in Thahara, a marketing and management platform offering access to properties across Myanmar.

The firm focuses on opportunities requiring first phase investment of be-tween US$100,000 and $1.5 million.

Local brands more competitive than foreign firms: AnthemKO KO AUNGpmkokoaung@gmail.com

MA Aeint Myats Love Portion shop is in the business of womens wear and cosmetics.

Her business has grown in bounds off the expansion of the internet and rising consumer spending power in Mandalay. She collects pre-orders through her online presence, then im-ports the items and distributes them to consumers.

Its a business model that takes energy and effort after all, barriers to entry are low and she has many competitors, forcing her to keep her margins thin.

Recently, however, things have tak-en a turn for the worse. A plunge in the kyat against the US dollar is eating into her margins. She sells the item at one price in kyat, but does not receive payment until the item is delivered. In the meantime, she must pay for the imports in dollars meaning she holds all the foreign exchange risk in the transaction.

When the dollar appreciates, my products also become more expensive. The cost of the products may increase by up to K1000 and K1500 in that two weeks, she said.

But customers want to purchase

the item at the price we initially of-fered, not factoring in the exchange rate two weeks later. When this hap-pens, we are losing profit, said Ma Aeint Myat.

The Love Portion shop is only one of many small businesses that have been affected by the depreciating kyat. While the exact value of the kyat against the greenback is a matter of dispute the Central Bank of Myanmars reference exchange rate yesterday was at K1082, though some exchanges illegally traded the currency at about K1120 per dollar yesterday it has lost value in 2015.

The kyat-dollar exchange rates was K1025 at the start of the year, meaning according to the Central Bank the kyat had depreciated by about 5 percent in the year to yes-terday, while the market puts the depreciation at about 10pc. The

depreciation has also not been smooth over the year, with several periods of rapid depreciation and others of relative calm.

Ma Aeint Myat Chel said if the depreciations continue, she will be forced to change how she charges customers.

If customers do not pay in ad-vance, we will have to look at in-creasing the price of products, she said.

Her shop is far from the only one that has this challenge. The owner of Ladys Secret online shop, a Yangon-based retailer, said most online shops follow the same busi-ness model, with similar foreign ex-change risks.

They now closely watch the ex-change rate, keen to catch on to cur-rency trends before they affect the business, the owner said.

Some online shops have made good decisions, and bought from abroad when the dollar price was not strong. They can sell at a cheap-er price than us, making it difficult to compete in the market, she said.

Fortunately, we have a strong customer base. But now we need to think about whether we should be products or wait out the situation.

Online shops are not the only firms which are losing out from the sliding local currency, but given the competitiveness of the industry and small scale of their business, they have been particularly hard-hit.

SMALL BUSINESS

Sliding kyat leaves online shops owners holding currency risk

MYAT NOE OO

myatnoe.mcm@gmail.com

When the dollar appreciates, my products also become more expensive.

Ma Aeint Myat Online store owner

9BUSINESS EDITOR: Jeremy Mullins | jeremymullins7@gmail.com

Exchange Rates (May 18 close)Currency Buying Selling

EuroMalaysia RingittSingapore DollarThai BahtUS Dollar

K1228K304K813

K32K1089

K1247K315K825

K34K1091

Thailand plans SEZs on Cambodias border to draw cheaper labour

Netflix makes a China push alongside Jack Mas Wasu

BUSINESS 12 BUSINESS 13

RIDING on Myanmars antiquated railway network is not an experience for the impatient or infirm. Ameri-can travel writer Paul Theroux, in The Great Railway Bazaar, quotes a policeman on the Yangon-Mandalay line as it breaks down for the fourth time.

It is a slow train, he says. Dirty and old old coaches, old engines.

Not much has changed since the book was written 40 years ago. The 622-kilometre (386-mile) journey takes 15 hours to complete, accord-ing to the schedule in reality it can take longer and the trains and tracks have seen little repair over re-cent years.

But with help from Japan, several major projects are under way to up-grade and modernise the line.

On May 15, Mitsubishi Corpora-tion and Hitachi Ltd signed a 2.4 billion yen (US$20 million) contract with state-owned Myanma Railways to supply and install railway signal-ing systems.

The contract will be covered by grant aid from the Japan Interna-tional Cooperating Agency (JICA), and completion of the project is scheduled for June 2017.

New signalling technology to be installed includes a train monitor-ing system, an electric interlocking system to control turnout machines and signal lamps, and a level cross-ing system. These will be installed along a 140km stretch of track be-tween Yangon Central Station and Pyuntasa Station, in Bago Region.

Given the ageing of existing railway infrastructure in Myanmar,

improvement of the quality and safety of railway services has be-come an urgent issue, said a joint statement issued by the two firms.

The level crossing system will be built first, according to a Mitsubishi spokesperson, and is due for comple-tion around the end of October 2015.

The most important item to be upgraded is the train monitoring system which enables the control center to grasp the position of run-ning trains, she said. With this pro-ject as a first step, Mitsubishi Corp

and Hitachi will continue to pursue opportunities for involvement in fu-ture railway infrastructure projects in Myanmar.

In September 2014, JICA an-nounced that it had signed a Japa-nese ODA Loan Agreement with the Myanmar government, to provide up to 63.166 billion yen for four projects across various sectors.

Part of this was committed to the modernisation of Myanmars most important railway lines, with the Yangon-Mandalay line identified as

the most important trunk line.JICA said last September that

due to the countrys ageing network, railway accidents along the line oc-cur around 100 times a year. In light of this, phase one of the Yangon-Mandalay Improvement Project will modernise old equipment and facili-ties to provide a safer, faster service.

In Yangon, JICA also has plans to work with Myanma Railways to upgrade the citys circular railway line. Phase one will cover around half of the railway track, from Dayin

Gone station in northwest Yangon, through southern Yangon, to Pa-zundaung station in the southeast.

The spokesperson for Mitsubi-shi Corp said that the company has plans to co-work with Hitachi on Yangons circular railway upgrade, though added that this has not yet been 100pc confirmed. Last year the deputy minister for transport U My-int Thein told the Amyotha Hluttaw that JICA and Myanma Railways would build a high-speed train be-tween Yangon and Mandalay. The project is due to begin in 2015, and will take eight years. Once complete, a 100km-an-hour service will run be-tween the two cities.

Japan is not the only country in-terested in upgrading Myanmars rail-ways. China has long had ambitions to link a deep-sea port at Kyaukphyu in Rakhine State with Muse on the My-anmar-China border. The line would pass through Ann, Minbu, Magwe, Mandalay and Lashio. However, the scheme was put on hold last year due to public opposition.

Mitsubishi, Hitachi to invest $20m in domestic train network

CLARE HAMMOND

clarehammo@gmail.com

People walk along the tracks meant for the Yangon Circular Train. Photo: Aung Htay Hlaing

A CONSIGNMENT of smuggled sea-food captured by a customs and po-lice team in Mawlamyine has been handed over for resale by the local fisheries department for the first time.

U Kyaw Tun Nyo, assistant chief officer of Mon State Department of Fisheries, told The Myanmar Times on May 16 that this was the first time a consignment of contraband had been auctioned off to a local supplier for resale by the fisheries department.

In the past, local courts had han-dled the auctions of smuggled fish products.

Police at Myinetharyar, Mawla-myine, Mon State, said the contra-band seized on May 7 in Taung Wai

district, Mawlamyine, amounts to 250 boxes of frozen shrimp and fish from Thailand, worth an estimated K8.757 million (US$8090) though the bids that were submitted have valued the contraband at half that amount.

The local Department of Fisher-ies office called the area distribu-tors and invited them to submit bids, which were due on May 8. Five local firms submitted tenders for the consignment, with the win-ner to be allowed to sell the fish to local customers.

The winner will walk off with K4.75 million worth of frozen perch, shrimp and prawns, weigh-ing about 3600 kilograms, as that was the highest bid, said a fisheries department spokesperson. The de-partment had originally valued the haul at K8.757 million.

The lower valuation came partly

due to health concerns over the quality of the fish.

This frozen fish is not suitable for eating, said sub-inspector U Aung Thiha Kyaw of Myinetharyar police. He said that after their arrest, one or

more suspects had been questioned by police, the fisheries department, township officials, customs and spe-cial branch. A driver, U Than Htet Oo, has been charged under the import-export law.

Fisheries department deputy chief officer U Soe Nyunt dismissed the police warning, saying, We havent checked the food at the lab-oratory yet because the local people have eaten most of it. If its not rot-ten, we decided it was suitable to eat. What the police said is not our concern.

The police burned nine viss [14.4 kilograms or 32.4 pounds] of chicken livers and gizzards on May 8 but transferred the fish and shrimp to the Department of Fish-eries, he added.

U Kyaw Htun Nyo of the fisher-ies department said smugglers were

attracted by the price differential available in Mawlamyine, which often attracts higher prices. Thats the reason the cheaper product is imported here, he said.

Usually, captured contraband is handed over to the court for safe-guarding, but this was the first time smuggled fish had been hand-ed over to the fisheries department, said U Soe Nyunt.

Since the smuggling deprives us of taxes, we decided to put the contraband out to tender under the direction of the Mon State govern-ment, he said.

Fisheries have traditionally been one of the largest export earners for the country, though many fish trad-ers say ocean stocks are declining and production at fish farms are not keeping up with the declines, leading to a fall in exports.

Mon State fishery departments first auction of smuggled fish hindered by police health warningNAW SAY PHAW WAAnawsayphawwaa@gmail.com

MILLION KYAT

4.75Highest bid that was received for the

fish though the seized shipment was initially valued at nearly twice the

amount.

Given the ageing of existing railway infrastructure in Myanmar, improvement of the quality and safety of railway services has become an urgent issue.

Mitsubishi and Hitachi statement

MAWLAMYINE

10 Business THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 18, 2015

UNDER the seat of almost every one of the 180 million electric bi-cycles tooling around Chinas con-gested streets and alleyways is one sign of a fading global lead market.

The metal is used in the 24-pound (11-kilogram) batteries powering bikes that now outnum-ber cars, trucks and buses in the worlds fastest-growing vehicle market. While lead prices jumped in April by the most in two years, fuelled by smaller stockpiles and reduced mine output, e-bike sales are expanding at the slowest pace in at least a decade and more bat-teries are being recycled or re-placed with lighter ones made with lithium.

China uses half of the worlds lead mostly in batteries for eve-rything from vehicles to equipment backing up the power grid. With a sluggish economy, the recent price gains simply are not sustainable, according to Macquarie Group Ltd. and Societe Generale SA. Lead pro-duction will probably exceed de-mand for a fifth year, leaving ample supplies, Macquarie estimates.

It just doesnt feel like a mar-ket where you would have every-thing in place for a sustained rally, said Michael Widmer, an analyst at Bank of America in London. There still remains the immediate lack of Chinese demand.

Lead climbed 16 percent last

month, more than anything else traded on the London Metal Ex-change, rebounding from a four-year low to touch US$2162.50 a tonne, the highest in almost eight months. The gains were magnified by traders closing out bearish bets rather than new optimism on pric-es, said Vivienne Lloyd, a London-based analyst at Macquarie.

E-bikes were a big reason for lead rallies over the past two dec-ades. In China, demand for cheap, quick transportation boomed as the economy grew to become the worlds second-largest, prompting millions of people to move from rural areas to the cities for jobs. Now, the country faces the slowest growth since the 1990s, along with packed roadways and more traffic fatalities.

The market for e-bikes in China grew from zero in the late 1990s

to doubling every year for several years until the mid-2000s, accord-ing to Christopher Cherry, a profes-sor at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

E-bike sales will rise 2.4pc this year to 29 million, based on market estimates from Navigant Research, a Boulder, Colorado-based consul-tancy.

Cities are getting larger, more spread out and harder to ride an e-bike in, and more cars are getting on the road, said Mr Cherry, who has researched e-bikes for a decade.

Its getting more dangerous for cyclers.

The vehicles account for 15pc of total demand for the metal, up from 5pc a decade ago, according to the International Lead and Zinc Study Group, or ILZSG.

Also hurting lead demand is a shift to lithium batteries, which power less than 10pc of new e-bikes, according to Ed Benjamin, senior managing director at eCycle-Electric LLC, a Fort Myers, Florida-based consulting firm. That may increase to 30pc by 2017, data from Paris-based bank Natixis SA shows.

Old bikes and used-up batteries add to metal supply because the parts can be broken down and recy-cled. China will use 1pc more lead this year than 2014, Lisbon-based ILZSG said in April. Thats down from the groups October forecast

of 2.9pc.At the same time, production is

slowing. Falling prices caused Iver-nia to close Paroo Station in West-ern Australia this year. MMG Ltd is also shutting its Century zinc and lead mine in Australia.

Lead is a supply story, said Stephen Briggs, an analyst at BNP Paribas SA in London. Nobodys developing new lead mines.

Holders of lead have drawn down stockpiles to the lowest level in more than two years, according to warehouse data tracked by ex-changes in London and Shanghai.

That is not as bullish as inves-tors think, according to Robin Bhar, an analyst at Societe Gener-ale. He said the metal probably is just being moved to other storage facilities rather being used by its-manufacturers.

Another negative sign: China is exporting more lead, which may mean domestic demand is not keeping up with supply.

If, like us, you think fundamen-tals will ultimately drive the price for the remainder of the year, then you have to be concerned about the picture in the Chinese market, Nic Brown, head of commodities re-search at Natixis, said in a May 7 interview.

We dont see any sign of it turn-ing around.

Bloomberg

SHWEDAGON Pagoda is the histori-cal and cultural centre of Yangon, and if its character should fade, the character of Yangon will also fade away, said Daw Hlaing Maw Oo, as-sistant director of the Department of Human Settlement and Housing Developments Urban and Regional Planning Division.

If modern high-rise buildings are built close to the pagoda, their lights could diminish its character, she said at the Save Shwedagon Forum, host-ed by the Association of Myanmar Ar-chitects at the DHSHD meeting hall in Yangon on May 17.

We are worried that we wont be able to see Shwedagon from other places in the city, because of new high-rise buildings, said Daw Hlaing Maw Oo. We need a city development law to protect the historical site, and to protect downtown Yangon. Shwed-agon and Yangon cant be divided.

She said there are nine places from which it is possible to see the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon. These viewpoints should not disappear, as all Myanmar citizens should have the chance to see Shwedagon from afar, Daw Hlaing Maw Oo added.

The Association of Myanmar Ar-chitects has sent an advisory letter to the president, state government mem-bers and related ministries and organ-isations, requesting them to help save Shwedagon and its surroundings, said U San Oo, chair of the association.

We sent letters asking them to carry out technical research on the local ecosystem, the level of ground water, construction heights, volume and capacity, as well as the view-points from which it is possible to see the pagoda, before any new projects are built, he said.

We are trying to save Shwedagon and will protest against anyone who tries to diminish Shwedagons view-points and its environment, said U San Oo.

In February, five large construc-tion projects were suspended by gov-ernment authorities due to concerns over their proximity to the site.

The projects by Thu Kha Yadanar Co, Shwe Taung Hyday Development, Marga Landmark, Shwe Taung De-velopment, and Adventure Myanmar Tour and Incentives projects all sit on former military-owned land in Dagon township.

Last week, Marga Landmark is-sued a statement, clarifying facts about its mixed-use Dagon City One project, stating it was in strict com-pliance with approved plans, and warning against what it called critics spreading wrong information and en-gaging in groundless speculation.

Yesterday, a spokesperson for the company declined to comment di-rectly on the Save Shwedagon Forum.

One of the main problems is that there is no legally enacted city devel-opment plan, according to speakers at the forum. The most recent set of guidelines is the 2013 draft of the JICA-backed Yangon 2040 master plan, for-mally known as the Strategic Urban De-velopment Plan of the Greater Yangon.

All the Yangon city development drafts have followed the same code not to approve high- rise buildings near to downtown and Shwedagon, said U Than Moe, senior adviser to Myanmars Urban Research and De-velopment Institute.

High-rise buildings should be built uptown, in townships such as North Okkalapa, South Okkalapa and Thaketa. We need to enact a city development law, from the 2012 and 2013 drafts, he added.

New construction projects beside the Shwedagon are still legal until

the draft law is enacted. However, as there has been no study into the con-dition of the ground beneath the pa-goda and the resistance of its founda-tions, nearby projects should not be approved, said experts at the forum.

One of the main concerns is that the foundations may be impacted, causing the pagoda to slope in the

future, said Daw Khin Ni Ni Thein, secretary of the Water Advisory Group at the National Water Re-sources Committee.

With advanced technical assis-tance, projects could be built near to Shwedagon Pagoda. But at the moment, we have no guarantee that nothing will go wrong in the future, and then who will take responsibil-ity? The value of the pagoda cannot be measured in money, she said.

A downtown conservation area and a specially protected area around the Shwedagon are essential ele-ments in a dynamic and imagina-tive vision for a 21st-Century Yangon, said U Thant Myint-U, founder of the Yangon Heritage Trust, a non-govern-ment organisation.

I believe there can and should be medium and high-rise developments in Yangon, but in their proper place. There is more than enough room for the kind of growth and modernisa-tion we all want, he said.

People visit Shwedagon Pagoda. Photo: Kaung Htet

Shwedagon and Yangon cannot be divided, says forum speaker

TIN YADANAR HTUN MYAT NYEIN AYE

We need a city development law to protect the historical site, and to protect downtown Yangon.

Daw Hlaing Maw Oo DHSHD official

LONDON

Too many battery-powered bikes in China take charge out of leads market prices

JOHANNESBURG

South Africa slowed by electricitySOUTH Africa is forecast to grow at 2 percent this year, far below the rate needed to ease high unemployment and growing frustration among many young blacks more than two decades after the end of apartheid.

The most pressing risk facing us at the moment is the energy genera-tion, MR Nene said at a briefing in Johannesburg.

We are concerned at the nega-tive impact that electricity con-straint is having on our growth and potential growth.

Load shedding scheduled power cuts to reduce energy usage has become part of everyday life for many people and companies in South Africa.

State-owned power company Es-kom, which generates more than 95pc of the countrys electricity, has been weakened by years of underin-vestment and ageing infrastructure, as well as governance problems.

Ensuring that Eskom returns to full financial and operational sustain-ability is our top priority as govern-ment, MR Nene said.

Inadequate maintenance of the power plants and distribution net-works is resulting in deteriorating and unreliable performance. AFP

MILLION

29Number of electric bicycles expected to

be sold in China

International Business 11www.mmtimes.com

INDIAN Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Seoul yesterday for a two-day visit heavily focused on eco-nomic ties with Asias fourth-largest economy and beefing up investment from South Korean firms.

On his first visit to Seoul since taking office a year ago, Mr Modi was to meet President Park Geun-Hye to discuss issues ranging from diplomacy and the economy to the security situation on the Korean peninsula.

The trip part of a six-day East Asia tour is packed with a whirl-wind of meetings with business ty-coons from South Koreas largest conglomerates, including Hyundai, Samsung and LG.

All three manufacturing giants operate plants in India where they enjoy sizeable shares of the vast con-sumer market for cars, smartphones and home appliances.

Mr Modi is looking to secure promises of bigger investments as part of his Make In India initiative,

aimed at fostering the nations rela-tively weak manufacturing sector.

South Korea has made far less investment in India than other Asian rivals like China or Japan despite the countrys vast growth potential, said Oh Hwa-Suk, head of the Seoul-based India Economy Research Institute.

India also needs help upgrading its outdated transport infrastructure a constant source of frustration

among foreign firms operating there.Indian media reports suggested

Mr Modi was hoping to secure up to US$10 billion in South Korean soft loans to fund infrastructure projects.

Today, Mr Modi is scheduled to visit the main shipyard of the worlds largest shipbuilder, Hyundai Heavy Industries, in the southern city of Ul-san and to meet with its chair Choi Kil-Seon.

Hyundai Motor Company, South Koreas largest carmaker, operates two plants in the southern Indian city of Chennai, and expanding that investment is expected to be high on the agenda during a meeting be-tween Mr Modi and Hyundai Motor chair Chung Mong-Koo in Seoul, also scheduled for today.

A planned meeting with JK Shin the head of Samsungs mobile unit in Seoul is also expected to help accelerate the South Korean firms reported plans to build a third plant in India, one of the worlds fastest-growing handset markets. AFP

South Korea has made far less investment in India than other Asian rivals.

Oh Hwa-Suk India Economy Research Institute

Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi (left) and South Koreas President Park Geun-Hye inspect an honour guard during a welcoming ceremony at the presidential house in Seoul yesterday. Photo: AFP

SEOULSYDNEY

Modi makes Korea pitch

THAILANDS economy expanded 0.3 percent on-quarter in January-March, official data showed yester-day, highlighting the task ahead for the military junta that seized power in a coup last year vowing to kick-start growth after months of politi-cal instability.

And in another blow to the coun-trys year-old government the Na-tional Economic and Social Devel-opment Board (NESB) lowered its growth forecast for this year.

Year-on-year first quarter growth came in at 3pc, the NESB said yesterday.

But Krystal Tan, an Asia econo-mist at Capital Economics, said that figure was exaggerated by a low base in the first quarter of 2014, when growth contracted and politi-cal unrest was at its peak.

At the time Bangkok was para-lysed by protests against the demo-cratically elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra, whose admin-istration was eventually toppled in the coup.

The NESB said it expected the economy to grow 3.0 to 4.0pc this

year, down from an earlier predic-tion of 3.5 to 4.5pc. Growth came in at just 0.7pc in 2014, its weakest pace in three years.

In February, Thailands finance minister said he had been told by junta chief Prayut Chan-o-cha to push for at least 4.0pc growth for 2015, something many analysts thought optimistic.

The World Bank estimates growth for 2015 will be closer to 3.5pc.

The ruling junta has vowed to pump billions of dollars into the

economy, mainly through long-planned infrastructure schemes, but analysts say government spend-ing and increased tourist revenues have failed to offset falling exports and weakening demand at home.

There has been no sign of a strong economic recovery, Ben-jarong Suwankiri, an economist at TMB Bank in Bangkok, told Bloomberg News.

Growth will continue to be slug-gish, as only the governments spend-ing has showed signs of picking up, while consumption, investment and exports are still very weak.

Thailands key agricultural sec-tors including rice and rubber have struggled with falling global prices, curbing the amount of crops produced and taking money out of Thais pockets.

The country also remains one of Southeast Asias most indebted economies, discouraging consumer confidence.

Last month Thailands central bank cut its benchmark interest rate from 1.75pc to 1.5pc, its lowest since July 2010. AFP

Slow Thai economic growth highlights need for kickstart

BANGKOK

THE huge iron ore industry in Aus-tralia faces the threat of a parlia-mentary inquiry amid claims the worlds biggest miners, including BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, are flooding the market to wipe out smaller competitors.

The steel-making commodity is the nations largest export, with Australia accounting for 60 percent of the worlds sea-borne supply, and the slumping price has hit govern-ment revenues hard.

Budget figures last week showed that Australias forecast tax receipts will be cut by A$52 billion (US$41.6 billion) over the four years to 2017-18, largely driven by the plunging iron ore price.

The price weakness has been exacerbated by the worlds biggest exporters of the commodity BHP, Rio, and Brazils Vale who make up the majority of the market and have kept lifting production levels to maintain or even lift their export share despite slower growth in Chi-nese demand.

This has led to smaller mining companies, which have higher pro-duction costs, battling to survive the challenging conditions.

Andrew Forrest, chief executive of Fortescue Metals, another ma-jor Australian iron ore producer, is spearheading the charge for an inquiry, alleging BHP and Rio have deliberately flooded the market to cut prices and drive competitors out of business.

His own company has been forced to lay off hundreds of work-ers.

Now I believe in free markets, but when CEOs pursue business strategies which flood the market, in a last man standing race to the bottom, we dont have free mar-kets, he wrote this month in a col-umn for Sydneys Daily Telegraph.

Rios iron ore chief executive Andrew Harding on May 17 said the claim was completely false. BHP has voiced similar sentiments but the government has indicated an inquiry could be warranted.

Independent senator Nick

Xenophon has been pressing for a probe, arguing, The minerals of this country are owned by the peo-ple of Australia and there are huge public policy interests at stake.

There are many factors at play. There are many allegations swirling around. We havent made any final decision in this regard, said Treas-urer Joe Hockey of an inquiry. I have spoken to all the players here and overseas and we will be making a final decision about whether we would proceed with something that is sensible and made up of sensible people over the next few weeks.

Canberra is said to be split, with Trade Minister Andrew Robb and Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane reportedly concerned an inquiry will send a damaging signal that the government could be seen as regulating the market.

The former chair of the Austral-ian Competition and Consumer Commission, Graeme Samuel, agreed that Australia must avoid any perception of meddling which could hurt its reputation as a place to invest.

He told the Australian Broad-casting Corporation that competi-tion regulators not politicians were best served to investigate al-legations of market manipulation.

I think the problem with politi-cians getting involved is that we get into a political theatre with parlia-mentary inquiries and we tend to get a confusion then between what is in the public interest and what is in a political interest or serving po-litical purposes, he said.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott hedged his bets when asked about the matter over the weekend, with Rio and BHP two of Australias most powerful corporate entities.

Rio and BHP are our largest corporate taxpayers. I want them to continue to flourish but I also want a level playing field. I want to ensure that theres no predatory behaviour. I want to ensure that everyone is able to compete freely in an open market, he said. AFP

Inquiry threat for Oz iron ore industry

PERCENT

0.3Quarter-on-quarter growth by the Thai economy for the January to

March quarter

TRADEMARK CAUTION

Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., a company registered under the laws of United States of America, which is located at 7100 NW 62nd Avenue, PO Box 1014, Johnston, Iowa 50131-1014 United States of America, is the sole owner of the following trademark:

XYLEMReg. No. 1765/2015

In respect of Class 31: Agricultural seeds.

Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. claims the trademark rightand other relevant Intellectual Property right for the mark as mentioned above. Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. reserves the rights to take legal measures against any infringer who violates its Intellectual Property or other legal rights in accordance with the concerned laws of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.

U Kyi Naing, LL.B., LL.M., (H.G.P.)

For Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.

Tilleke & Gibbins Myanmar Ltd. No. 1608, 16th Floor, Sakura Tower, 339 Bogyoke Aung San Road, Kyauktada Township, Yangon, Myanmar

Email address: myanmar@tilleke.com

Dated: 19th May, 2015

12 International Business THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 19, 2015

THAILAND is moving ahead with plans to increase cross-border trade with Cambodia by setting up two joint special economic zones along the Thai-Cambodian border, to boost agricultural and industrial production, while using cheaper labour from Cambodia.

The SEZs will be set up along the Sa Kaeo-Bantey Meanchey and Trat-Koh Kong provinces, and in-cludes the opening of a new check-point at Ban Nong Ian in Sa Kaeo by 2018, according to the Bangkok Post. Currently there are two eco-nomic zones operating in Poitpet and one in Koh Kong district.

Kor Sumsaroeut, governor of Bantey Meanchey province, yes-terday confirmed that talks are on between Cambodian and Thai of-ficials to set up this SEZ, adding that while it is called a joint SEZ, it will be developed separately.

Thailand will build t