'Help us build a new Myanmar' - Online Burma Library

TiMESbusiness the
ASEAN trade
bloc pushed
back to 2016
PHNOM PENH – Southeast Asia’s planned
economic union may be delayed until the end of
2015 as some countries are not ready, a senior
official said on September 12, in a fresh potential
setback for the group after its unity was frayed by
a territorial dispute.
ASEAN secretary general Dr Surin Pitsuwan
said economic ministers from the 10 countries had
asked him for the delay at a meeting in late August
and he would put the idea to heads of government
at a summit in November.
ASEAN has never been very clear on when
the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) would
start, but foreign ministers decided in April that
it should be January 1, 2015, Dr Surin told a
meeting of energy ministers in Phnom Penh.
“Your economic colleagues looked around the
landscape and realised that they need one more
year, so they have asked me to communicate with
all sectoral bodies up to the leaders that we should
speak with one voice,” he said.
In a separate statement released later, Dr Surin
said there had been no formally agreed date for
the AEC and that it “remains on track and top
priority”.
“There have been numerous activities leading
up to ‘2015’. There will continue to be activities
throughout ‘2015’. And there will surely be
continued progress and improvements after
‘2015’,” the statement said.
News of the possible delay comes two months
after an ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh ended
in acrimony over China’s territorial claims
in the South China Sea, failing to agree on a
joint statement for the first time in its 45-year
history.
The ASEAN Economic Community would allow
free movement of goods, capital and skilled labour
across a region with a combined economy of US$2
trillion and 600 million people.
But the diverse group, ranging from wealthy
Singapore to underdeveloped Myanmar and Laos,
is struggling to make uniform progress toward an
economic union that investors and business are
eager to see completed.
Completion of measures towards a single
market in its 2010-2011 phase was only 49 percent
overall, according to ASEAN’s latest scorecard,
with reform lagging in food and agriculture.
A lack of capacity among some of ASEAN’s
members is making it hard to implement economic
agreements.
A senior ASEAN official said the delay had been
discussed by economic ministers last month.
“We’re still talking of the same 2015 timeline,
but with a realistic interpretation, ie December
31, 2015,” said the official, who asked not to be
identified.
The official added: “The ministers recognised
that despite the AEC progress there are still
More page 16
By Aye Thidar Kyaw
POINT of sale debit cards were
reintroduced on September
14 after an absence of nearly
a decade, banking sources
said last week.
The cards were reintroduced
through the Myanmar
Payment Union (MPU),
which includes 17 banks, and
can only be used for now at
14 shopping malls and other
businesses.
Co-operative Bank (CB)
managing director U Pe Myint
said shopping malls are the
first to provide the service
because it requires K800,000
to install the hardware.
U Phyo Aung, senior general
manager of Ayeyarwady
Bank, said it is hoped that
debit cards will soon be
accepted in a wide variety of
shops, restaurants, cafes and
petrol stations in Yangon,
Nay Pyi Taw and Mandalay.
After the United States
lifted financial sanctions
in July, domestic banks –
excluding the military-linked
Innwa Bank – have been
capable of increasing the
range of services that ceased
to exist following the banking
crisis of 2003.
Automatic teller machines
(ATM) were re-introduced in
November last year, after an
absence of almost a decade.
Kanbawza Bank general
manager U Zaw Lin Htut
said it will take another six
to nine months for foreign
debit cards to be accepted
for payment, after which
time efforts will begin for
domestic cards to be accepted
overseas.
MPU will also facilitate the
use of international credit
cards in time for the 2013
Southeast Asian Games in
Myanmar
U Pe Myint said CB Bank
has already signed a deal with
MasterCard and received an
operating license.
Pending approval from the
Central Bank of Myanmar,
other companies are likely to
include Visa, China Payment
Union and Japanese Credit
Bureau.
On September 10, The
Bangkok Post reported that
MPU allows debit cards to
be used by customers of rival
banks.
The debit card payment
system was scheduled to be
launched in July. However,
several spokespersons said
weaknesses were detected in
the system during testing,
which led to delays in
implementing the network.
MPU spokesperson Daw
Than Than Swe said the
September 17 - 23, 2012
15
MyanMar tiMes
A customer uses a point of sale keypad
during a Myanmar Payment Union launch
in Yangon last week. Pic: Thiri Lu
Debit cards make a return
international payment
order system, the Society
for Worldwide Interbank
Financial Telecommunication
(SWIFT) will also be launched
in 2013.
However, she added that
electricity shortages and other
infrastructural problems
need to be resolved.
The owner of a trading
company said the business
community welcomes the
news because the convenience
of carrying plastic rather
than large amounts of cash is
likely to boost retail sales.
“I met a foreigner in
Myanmar who was running
out of money and he couldn’t
access his accounts using
debit or credit cards. It caused
him a great deal of trouble
while he was here,” he said.
“The new system will
be much safer and more
convenient.”