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

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September 17 - 23, 2012
tHe
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Korean Air launches
direct flights to Yangon
By Yu Yu Maw
KOREAN Air launched
direct flight services between
Seoul Incheon and Yangon
international airports on
September 13, inaugurating
the route with a fully booked
flight that landed in Yangon
on schedule at 10:15pm.
The new flights are offered
every Tuesday, Thursday,
Saturday and Sunday,
departing Seoul at 6:40pm
and arriving in Yangon
at 10:15pm. The return
flight departs at 11:45pm
and arrives in South Korea
at 8:05am the following
morning. Flight time is
about six hours.
The flights are offered
using a 138-seat Boeing
737-800 aircraft fitted with
a “passenger-inspired”
Boeing Sky Interior.
Korean Air’s vice president
From page 1
‘Build a new Myanmar’
Other panelists stressed the
importance of investment
that creates jobs and fosters
equitable growth.
Mr Alisher Ali, chairman
of Silk Road Finance, which
offers a “three M” investment
fund – Myanmar, Mongolia
and Mozambique – said a
failure to ensure all levels of
society benefit from foreign
investment could lead to
political instability.
In Mongolia, voters recently
threw out the incumbent
government because economic
reforms delivered high growth
rates but little material benefits
for average Mongolians, he
said.
To avoid a similar situation,
he said the Myanmar
government needed to prioritise
job creation.
“You cannot find better
empowerment than getting
someone a job. It is crucial not
to have only political will from
the leadership but also buy-in
from the broader population,”
Mr Ali said.
U Serge Pun said the reforms
were irreversible but there is
a risk in “the resolve of our
government to formulate good
policy and follow it through”.
He cited the application of
the existing foreign investment
law promulgated in 1988.
From page 3
Telecoms giants jostle
Mr O’Brien said a
functioning and accessible
telecommunications network
was essential for economic
growth.
“Everyone is talking about a
hyper-growth economy here but
they’re forgetting one thing: that
without a telecommunications
infrastructure, that just won’t
happen,” Mr O’Brien said.
Because it is developing its
telecoms industry relatively late,
Myanmar has the advantage of
learning from the lessons of
other countries. [It can] pick
the most advanced technology
available to go straight to 4G,
or fourth generation, services,
Mr O’Brien said.
and director for Southeast
Asia, Mr Kim Jang Soo,
told The Myanmar Times
at Yangon International
Airport on September 13
that the Boeing Sky Interior
was intended to provide
more space and comfort for
passengers.
“Normally the Boeing
has 170 or 160 seats, but
we have installed only 138
seats. It is more spacious
than other Boeings, and this
will help make travellers
more comfortable,” he said,
adding that the new route
will offer passengers “the
ultimate convenience for
travel between two cities”.
Roundtrip tickets on the
route cost about US$900,
while one-way flights cost
more than $800. Tickets can
be booked through travel
agencies as well as the
Korean Air website (www.
koreanair.com).
“We had an investment
law, a good investment law
… [but] nobody wanted to
go to [Myanmar Investment
Commission] because we felt
that it would create more
problems for ourselves than it
would solve.
“Today we have a very
different MIC … it’s a very
different mindset, a very
different way of working.
“If you have a good law,
you need to stick to it and
implement it without fail.”
Shift in forced labour
“Both elements are very
positive – it is very positive
that the community is feeling
more confident to exercise their
rights [to complain], and it’s
also positive that we’re getting
constant feedback” that forced
labour is decreasing.
“It is not fixed, don’t get me
wrong, the problem is not fixed,
but it appears to be improving,
both in respect of the civilian
government’s activities and
also the military.”
About half of all forced labour
complaintsrelate to underage
recruitment into the military,
Mr Marshall said.
While cautioning that “it’s
very early days still”,he said it
appeared government efforts
to strengthen the military
recruitment process and in
“All neighboring countries
have 2G or 3G but what
Myanmar can do now is just
go all the way to [long-term
evolution (LTE)] and bring
broadband to every part of the
country to 60 million people
and bring them voice and other
data services,” he said.
“It could be a quantum leap –
Myanmar could jump 50 years
all in one move.”
Johan Adler, country manager
for Swedish telecommunications
heavyweight Ericsson, said
the fourth-generation LTE
technology offered data speeds
about three times faster than the
latest version of WCDMA/3G.
“In a Myanmar context, with
relatively slow data access
connections, LTE can be a
particular verification of the
age of recruits was having a
positive impact.
“Last year and in previous
years, quite a lot of thecomplaints
we received were related to
recruitments in that year.
“This year, a very small
number [of complaints] have
actually related to recruitments
this year.The majority actually
relate to recruitments last year
and the year before, which
is showing us that hopefully
the rigour in the recruitment
process is starting to show
some results – that maybe the
recruitment of children has
slowed down. It will take some
time to prove that, but that’s
the indication at the movement,
which is pretty positive.”
Another positive development
has been the acceptance
over the past 18 months of
the principle that underage
recruits cannot be charged
with deserting, a principle that
was “strengthened” with the
recent signing of a joint action
plan on underage recruitment
by the Ministry of Defense
and a “task force” comprising
United Nations agencies and
international non-government
organisations.
Mr Marshall said the signing
of the action plan under UN
Security Council resolution
1612 meant the government
was “well on the way” to being
substitute to the fixed data line
and offer superior bandwidth
to residential users and small
offices. It’s fast to deploy and
faster than any other service
available today,” Mr Adler
said.
However, some nongovernment
groups,
including US-based Conflict
Risk Network, have raised
concerns that investment
in the telecommunications
sector could fuel repressive
tactics of internet control
and surveillance, which were
common during the previous
military government.
“The ICT sector is also high
risk, as its potential positive and
negative roles are heightened
in conflict-affected areas,” said
4
the MyanMar tiMes
President encourages
complaints, suggestions
By May Sandy
SENDING a message to Nay Pyi
Taw has never been easier, with the
President’s Office opening a “People’s
Voice” section on its website to solicit
views from the public.
The office will advise the president
of the feedback sent to Pyithu Athan,
as the section is called in Myanmar,
and also forward it to the relevant
ministries, U Zaw Htay, director of
the Ministry of the President’s Office,
said on September 11.
Submissions to the mailbox can be
marked as a complaint, suggestion,
appeal or anonymous.
He said more than 50 anonymous
letters had already been submitted in
the four days since Pyithu Athan was
launched on September 7.
“So far we are in the review process.
Some of the important letters will be
forward to the respective ministries
after we have verified them.
“People cannot be directly involved
in policymaking but all of the
issues they raise will be taken into
consideration.”
U Khin Maung Swe, chairman of
the National Democratic Force, said
President U Thein Sein’s desire for
feedback shows that he “trusts his
people”.
“Opening a mailbox also shows he
wants to communicate directly [with
the people] to make the political
process inclusive and transparent.”
Blogger Nay Phone Latt said
people who use the service should
be held accountable if they submit
misinformation. “People should have
the courage [to use the service] and
express their concerns objectively
rather than emotionally,” he said.
People who make a submission are
required to leave their name, email
address, state or region, National
Registration Card number, address,
telephone number, subject, message
and attachment. For more information
visit http://www.president-office.gov.
mm/contact.
removed from the UN secretary
general’s list of armed groups
that use child soldiers.
Seven non-state armies in
Myanmar are also included
on the list and the task force
plans to begin negotiations for
joint action plans with these
groups, including the Karen
National Liberation Army,
Kachin Independence Army
and Shan State Army.
“There is an official delisting
process. Once we report to the
[UN] Security Council that we
are satisfied that the policy not
only exists but is being applied
and there is a commitment to
the rights of the child, then
the organisation, the army
concerned, will be delisted,
and it’s important that all the
listed parties eventually work
towards that delisting,” Mr
Marshall said.
Meanwhile, Mr Marshall said
the ILO is negotiating with
the Tatmadaw and Kachin
Independence Army for the
release of about eight child
soldiers the KIA recently
captured and is holding as
prisoners of war.
“We are now in the process
of negotiating with the
government for the discharge
of these kids and with the KIA
that they will give them to us
and we will arrange for their
return to their parents,” he
said.
Kathy Mulvey, Conflict Risk
Network director.
But if managed well, the
development of Myanmar’s
telecommunications industry
will be an important driver of
economic growth, said Jared
Bissinger, a PhD student
at Australia’s Macquarie
University who is studying
Myanmar’s economy.
“As in many other developing
countries, investment in
Myanmar’s telecommunications
industry can decrease the costs
of doing business, improve
access to information, and
facilitate inexpensive and
convenient transactions, all
of which will help improve the
business environment.” Mr
Bissinger said.