Burma's economic relations with China
Individual Documents
Sub-title:
Some projects will succeed. Others will fail. And in the end, China will likely find the political gain is quite mixed.
Description:
"China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) continues to attract much comment. To some, it is a threat – proof that China’s aim is to extend Chinese global influence. To others, it is a useful contribution to global capital flows. Where does the balance lie between these two views? Three issues, particularly, are worth considering: the size of the BRI program; the place of BRI in capital flows to developing countries; and the likely political gains to China from supporting the program.
First, in reality, it seems impossible to obtain much meaningful information on the true size of the BRI. But what does is clear is that many of the extravagant statements about likely spending through the program are wildly unreliable. There are references to spending plans of a trillion dollars (or so) over periods of ten years or more in various reports of “commitments” made in various Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs). But vague references of this sort of thing are virtually meaningless in economic terms. Commitments are not the same thing as project approvals. Many “commitments in principle” never come to anything. In any case, MOUs are a dime-a-dozen after ministerial meetings around the world..."
Source/publisher:
"The Interpreter"
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
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Description:
"Business circles from Myanmar and China inked cooperation agreements during Myanmar (Lashio)- China(Lincang) border economic and trade fair which kicked off in Lashio, northern part of Myanmar's Shan state on Thursday.
The cooperation agreements were signed between five organizations and 16 companies from the two countries on Friday.
Deputy Minister Commerce U Aung Htoo expressed appreciation to Chinese economic cooperation with Myanmar and believed that such cooperation would be a great support for Myanmar entrepreneurs.
The forum for entrepreneurs of the two countries was also held with 100 businessmen in attendance at the first trade fair between Myanmar's Lashio and China's Lincang, South China's Yunnan province.
Yang Haodong, secretary of the Lincang Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, expressed belief that the cooperation between the two countries' entrepreneurs would lead to more convenient bilateral trade flow and be more effective in implementing new Chinshwehaw trade route..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-24
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Description:
"China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) continues to draw criticism and disapproval. Its sceptics brand it as China’s Marshall Plan or as a ‘neo-imperial project’. To ensure the initiative’s success, China should heed some of these concerns and take steps to improve the implementation of BRI-related projects. Doing so is particularly important in ASEAN — a region that stands to greatly benefit from BRI investment, if done right. ASEAN is the world’s sixth-largest economy with a total GDP of more than US$2.5 trillion. Economies across the region are growing steadily at an average annual rate of around 5 per cent. Sustaining this growth requires the region to meet its growing infrastructure needs, which are estimated to amount to US$2.8 trillion from 2016 to 2030.
China’s BRI is important for ASEAN because it can help to fund and meet the region’s infrastructure needs. It also supports the success of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025 initiatives.
A major BRI–ASEAN project is the Pan-Asia Railway Network designed to connect China with Southeast Asia. Its three main railway routes — the eastern, central and western routes — all begin in Kunming, China. The eastern route has a total estimated cost of US$600 million and will pass through Vietnam and Cambodia into Thailand. The central route will pass through Laos, Thailand and Malaysia into Singapore. As a high-speed railway project, it is the most expensive route with an estimated cost of more than US$33 billion. The western route will pass through Myanmar into Thailand and is estimated to cost US$2 billion..."
Source/publisher:
"East Asia Forum" (Australia)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with ASEAN, Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, Burma's economic relations with China, ASEAN-Burma relations, China-Burma relations
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Description:
"China’s power in the Asia-Pacific is growing according to assessments of military strength. Independent analysts predict that the country is already close to becoming an Asian superpower on par with the United States. A new wave of involvement in overseas port acquisition and construction has pointed to the possibility of basing rights and power projection as far as Africa. These more recent developments raise crucial questions: has China’s security concept already reached a post-Asia-Pacific stage?
If so, what are the consequences for other regions where Beijing’s overseas ambitions come up against preexisting regional balance-of-power dynamics and security frameworks? This article looks at how and why China’s strategic vision has shifted westward, and how traditional security and risk management concerns are driving efforts to link continental states beyond the immediate periphery – focusing first on Bangladesh – with an existing cluster of interests and influence in Southeast Asia..."
Source/publisher:
"Global Risk Insights" (Canada)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
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Description:
"On the western bank of the muddy Hlaing River, development and prosperity is a distant view. It can be seen across the expanse of water in the rising apartment blocks, office buildings and grinding industry.
Over there is Yangon proper, a city of some six million people and the economic hub of Myanmar. Over here is a simpler life of small villages, struggling rice fields and roads as bumpy as local prospects.
But both the landscape and the outlook of the population on the western bank are set for dramatic change in the coming years. A mega project is planned on this land, a new metropolis to be powered by Chinese money.
The New Yangon City project is an ambitious and controversial idea in its early conception days. The grand vision of Yangon’s regional government, which created the New Yangon City Development Company (NYDC) in March last year to partner with a Chinese state investment firm, is to build a brand new smart and “liveable” city with a population of 1.2 million people by 2050..."
Source/publisher:
"CNA" ( Singapore)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Chinese investment, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, China-Burma relations
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Description:
"The Arakan Army (AA)/United League of Arakan (ULA), has said it welcomes foreign investors, including Chinese investment in large-scale infrastructure projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), in western Myanmar’s underdeveloped Rakhine state, where it is fighting the national military for greater autonomy and self-determination, RFA reported.
The group’s political wing, the United League of Arakan (ULA), said in a statement dated July 18 that it approved of governments and institutions that want to establish mutually beneficial projects such as the China-based deep sea port and Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone under the BRI.
The ULA is “prepared to work hand in hand with the organizations and individuals working for multi-sectoral development,” the statement said..."
Source/publisher:
"Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Chinese investment, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
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Sub-title:
China’s endeavor to strengthen its influence in Myanmar’s northernmost state of Kachin has caused spreading discord in the region.
Description:
"Myanmar’s dependence on China is easy to see. Brightly colored Chinese company signs and billboards are prominent, Chinese-looking businessmen stroll along the streets of Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, and Chinese tourists seem to be everywhere. While I was visiting, a Chinese crew happened to be filming in Yangon, disrupting traffic and causing general confusion. Native residents looked resigned, their expressions appearing to say that there was nothing they could do.
Where Chinese influence is most pervasive, however, is not in the city but in a region populated by ethnic minorities far from Yangon. I went to see for myself, traveling by plane from Yangon via Mandalay to make my way to Myitkyina in Myanmar’s northernmost state of Kachin which shares a long border with China’s Yunnan Province. There, I found China’s local activities a disturbing reality for the people who live there..."
Source/publisher:
nippon.com (Japan)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Burma's economic relations with Japan, China-Burma relations, Japan-Burma relations
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Sub-title:
While Western investors have shied away due to human rights violations related to the northern Rakhine crisis, Chinese and Japanese investors showed visible interest in the state at the Rakhine Investment Fair on February 22.
Description:
"State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who attended the fair, said economic development could be the answer to much of Rakhine State’s woes, where communal conflict in recent years has turned away investors and damaged growth.
With a political solution difficult to achieve under the circumstances, the government believes that developing the state’s economy may be one way of lessening the conflict between communities and eventually ending it.
Rakhine Chief Minister U Nyi Pu said at the fair that economic development supported by local and foreign investors was “the best solution for sustainable peace and development in the state”.
More than 700,000 Muslims fled northern Rakhine to Bangladesh since late 2017 after a crackdown by the military, which followed attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army. Almost all of those who fled are still living in border refugee camps.
In light of the alleged atrocities in the region, the UN-mandated Fact-finding Mission on Myanmar (UNFFM) recommended that companies ensure their operations are compliant with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) when conducting business in Rakhine..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times"
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Chinese investment, Japanese investment, Burma's economic relations with Japan, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations, Japan-Burma relations
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Description:
"The first Myanmar (Lashio)-China (Lincang) border economic and trade fair opened in Myanmar's northern city of Lashio on Thursday.
The purpose of holding the border trade fair is to further enhance bilateral trade, expand investment and promote closer relationship between entrepreneurs of the two countries, said Myanmar Commerce Minister U Than Myint at the opening ceremony.
Chinese Embassy Minister Counsellor Li Xiaoyan said the two countries' economies are highly complementary and the two sides have broad cooperation prospect in agriculture, tourism, production capacity, infrastructure and industrial park. She believed that the border fair will provide more opportunities for bilateral business cooperation and friendly exchanges between border inhabitants as well as for jointly building the Belt and Road and China-Myanmar Economic Corridor.
Chinese Consul General in Mandalay Wang Zongying said Lashio is an important portal of northern Myanmar, a political, economic and transportation hub in northern Shan state as well as an important commodity distributing center in northern part of the country, only more than 100 km from the Sino-Myanmar border..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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Summary:
"ASEAN members have issued a variety of incentives to attract investors affected by the US-China trade war.
These incentives come in the form of tax breaks as well as initiatives to improve the...
Description:
"ASEAN members have issued a variety of incentives to attract investors affected by the US-China trade war.
These incentives come in the form of tax breaks as well as initiatives to improve the investment climate.
Investors should seek the help of registered advisors to better understand which incentives are beneficial for their business.
Governments across ASEAN have been unveiling an array of incentive packages to entice businesses affected by the US-China trade war.
Countries such as Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia have introduced tax breaks and initiatives to improve the ease of doing business whereas Vietnam, Singapore, and Cambodia have accelerated business reforms, such as executing free trade agreements (FTAs), and double taxation agreements (DTAs). We consolidate and briefly discusses the development of each country’s incentives over the past year. The developments showcase how ASEAN members are distinguishing themselves from the fellow competition and what opportunities are available for investors looking elsewhere in Asia..."
Source/publisher:
"ASEAN Briefing"
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, China-Burma-US relations, Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, Burma's economic relations with China
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Description:
"At the annual Australia-US Ministerial meeting (AUSMIN) 2019, US Secretary of Defence, Mike Esper and US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, presented a proposal to use Australia as part of the US’ Asia-Pacific regional defence network against Chinese expansionism. Mike Esper stated that ‘the US would like to place either long-range or cruise missiles’ in Australia. Despite ruling out this notion, Australia’s defence minister, Linda Reynolds, did not completely preclude the deployment of US military hardware, adding, ’The presence of the US and its military forces in this region has been a force for stability for decades, and Australia has consistently welcomed that force and presence.’ Although China remains Australia’s biggest trading partner, the South China Sea issue, along with Beijing’s push for aggressive economic development and acquisition of strategic maritime assets in Southeast Asian countries, have raised concerns about its intentions. Furthermore, the Darwin port acquisition by Chinese SOE, Landbridge Group, back in 2015, fuelled further concerns for the security of both Australian and US naval assets. The US request to use Australian territory as part of its defence network is a response to Beijing’s use of economic development as a weapon to undermine US influence in both South-East Asia (SEA) and the Pacific. In recent years, China has increased its diplomatic efforts in the Pacific Island states by using foreign direct investment (FDI) as a means of winning favours from their governments. Building opulent Chinese-owned casinos in the Northern Marianas is an example of this strategy. China favours the use of casinos to attract Chinese tourists to the islands as a means of boosting the domestic economy. In practice, this often backfires on the island economy and, instead, damages local businesses, which increases dependence on Beijing..."
Source/publisher:
"Future Directions International"
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma-US relations, Burma/Myanmar's Foreign relations, general
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Description:
"Bangladesh and China have launched a new platform, the Bangladesh-China Silk Road Forum, in Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, focusing on lasting links under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) between the two countries for mutual benefit.
The event was attended by political leadership, high-ranking officials from the private and public sector, community representatives and the members of the business sector and media.
Bangladesh prime minister's foreign affairs adviser Gowher Rizvi and Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Zhang Zuo among others, spoke at the launching ceremony Saturday.
"I want truly to felicitate the launch of Bangladesh-China Silk Road Forum," said Rizvi. "Congratulate and thank you for initiative to establish the forum."
"The BRI is not only one of the important initiatives of our time but it is also very needful in fixing our (Bangladesh development) priorities," he said.
According to the advisor, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the last 10 years has been emphasizing the importance of connectivity.
She sees connectivity as mechanisms or tools through which Bangladesh's prosperity and stability can be rebuilt, he added..."
Source/publisher:
"Global Times" (China) via "Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, China-Burma relations
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Description:
"The euphoria about the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Indonesia and elsewhere in South and Southeast Asia (SEA) has been felt since 2017, particularly following the country’s participation in the BRI Summit in Beijing that year, where Indonesia (along with other SAARC and ASEAN member states) was expected to receive massive investments from China to support several infrastructure projects.
This year, the debates concerning the BRI are again becoming prevalent after Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Panjaitan as Indonesia’s representative signed 28 BRI projects last April. Among the various debated subjects is the growing concern about the real nature of the BRI. Is that a Chinese developmental initiative or a geopolitical instrument that uses debt-trap as a tool to bring targeted countries into the desired terms..."
Source/publisher:
"Modern Diplomacy"
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, Burma's economic relations with China, Australia-Burma relations, China-Burma relations
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Description:
"Chinese President Xi Jinping has just returned from Brazil where he attended the annual meeting of the BRICS nations in Brasilia. With the Presidents and Prime Ministers from India, Russia, and South Africa also all attending, the Brasilia Summit’s Declaration stated that the BRICS bloc had expressed common goals of “expanding trade and innovation”.
There are significant global trade issues to examine here: most notably exactly how such trade can be increased. At present, the BRICS countries represent over 3.1 billion people, or about 41 percent of the world population.
As of 2018, these five nations have a combined nominal GDP of US$18.6 trillion, about 23.2 percent of the global total, a combined GDP (PPP) of around US$40.55 trillion (32 percent of world’s GDP PPP) and an estimated US$4.46 trillion in combined foreign reserves. The IMF has projected that the BRICS nations will account for over 50 percent of global GDP by 2030. Achieving that growth will require some planning and innovation on the part of the countries concerned. This can be reasonably expected to include advancing free trade agreements. To this end: China is a lead player in the Belt and Road Initiative, Brazil with its influence and membership in Mercosur is a leader in the South American region, Russia has a similar role in the development of the Eurasian Economic Union, India has a prominent role within the South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA), while South Africa is a major strategic partner in the Southern African Customs Union (SACU)..."
Source/publisher:
"China Briefing" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
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Sub-title:
China's state-owned CITIC Construction group, the Myanmar Rice Federation and Myanmar Agribusiness Public Corporation signed a cooperation agreement for the construction of agricultural centres in three key regions.
Description:
"The US$130 million (K197 billion) deal signed in Nay Pyi Taw last week will construct centres in Yangon, Ayeyarwady, Mandalay and Rakhine.
“The project intends to upgrade the quality of agricultural produce by providing services such as dryers and warehouses for post-harvest storage,” said U Ye Min Aung, chair of the federation.
It also plans to go into partnered cultivation, to support farmers in the marketing of high-quality products, and to arrange for systematic market access, he added.
The centres will be set up in Twante township in Yangon, Kyaiklat township in Ayeyarwady, Madaya township in Mandalay, and Kyauktaw township in Rakhine.
Details such the investment ratio and profit-sharing will be decided after further discussions, said U Myint Lwin of the federation..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Sustainable agriculture - global and regional, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
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Description:
"The Myanmar-China border trade fair is scheduled to be held in Lashio, the largest city in Myanmar's northern Shan state, for the first time, according to the Ministry of Commerce Monday.
The four-day border trade fair, jointly organized by Myanmar's commerce ministry and China's Lincang city government, will be held on Nov. 21-24.
Companies from Lincang selling electrical appliances and consumer products will exhibit their products, while Myanmar's finished forestry products, food, tea leaves and agricultural products will be showcased at the event, which will feature 132 stalls from the two countries.
According to the organizers, the trade fair is aimed at boosting trade relations between Lashio city of Myanmar and Lincang city of southwest China's Yunnan province, strengthening interaction between traders, creating more jobs for local residents and promoting tourism..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-20
[field_licence]
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Individual Documents
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Title: Potential Environmental and Social Impacts of Chinese Mega-Projects in Myanmar Raise Concerns
Summary:
"With more and more Chinese investment flowing into the country, many key government officials are speaking out in support of the projects, which range from a high-speed railway line to special...
Description:
"With more and more Chinese investment flowing into the country, many key government officials are speaking out in support of the projects, which range from a high-speed railway line to special economic zones to seaports. At several local investment forums, they have voiced the view that China’s grand infrastructure projects will bring economic development to Myanmar and economic benefits to local people, while boosting the country’s strategic importance in the region.
But what they have so far failed to mention is the possible environmental and social impacts of the projects on host communities. They rarely talk about how the projects threaten biodiversity, protected forests and natural water resources. Faced with this official silence, experts and activists worry aloud about land confiscations, influxes of migrants, loss of livelihoods and air, water and noise pollution in the project areas.
Massive project-related activities are now being implemented under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) framework in Myanmar, following the signing last year of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with China to establish the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC)..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, Chinese investment, China-Burma relations, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Climate Change - Migration Burma/Myanmar, The impact of climate change on the environment of Burma/Myanmar
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Sub-title:
Blackwater founder Eric Prince’s Frontier Service Group continues to expand in Asia
Description:
"The Frontier Service Group (FSG), founded by former US military contractor Eric Prince, is moving into Myanmar to provide security services for Chinese and other foreign investors, the Myanmar Times reported on March 19.
FSG, a Hong Kong-registered company, has established a joint-venture security company in Myanmar called FSG (Myanmar) Security Services Co Ltd and is advertising for 30 security personnel in Myanmar.
According to the Myanmar Times, the company profile lists Daw Sandar Win (Myanmar), Zhang Huagang (China), Tan Qing (China) and U Si Thu (Myanmar) as directors.
Prince is also the founder of the defunct military contract company Blackwater, which, the Myanmar Times says, “was condemned internationally after its employees allegedly opened fire on a Baghdad street in 2007, killing at least 14 civilians.”
The Myanmar Times quoted Doi Ra, a local Kachin NGO worker, as saying that “we need to know the details of FSG’s operations in Myanmar … the current information is almost non-existent.”
Doi Ra said civil society organizations were concerned that the company would be used to provide security for large-scale infrastructure projects such as the controversial Myitsone hydro-electric dam project in northern Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, Burma's economic relations with ASEAN, Burma's economic relations with China, ASEAN-Burma relations, China-Burma relations
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Sub-title:
China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), seen most visibly in Myanmar through a proposed “economic corridor” between the two countries, requires government and media scrutiny and regulations to ensure projects are done in a socially and environmentally res
Description:
"Transnational Institute, an Amsterdam-based think-tank focused on building a just, democratic and sustainable planet, released a briefing paper this month on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the Myanmar context.
The paper examines four major infrastructure projects in Myanmar: the interconnection of Myanmar and Chinese electricity grids; a proposed railway from Kunming to Kyaukphyu; a land and waterway passage between the two countries, and industrial hubs.
“These cases highlight a lack of transparency and meaningful consultation, as well as the questionable financial viability and potentially harmful social, economic and environmental impacts of such projects,” the research paper stated.
Stephanie Olinga-Shannon, the paper’s author, said the BRI is a “branding exercise” for activities to address the crisis in Chinese capitalism. In contrast to the pervasive perception of the initiative as a predetermined grand strategy led by Beijing, the scheme in practise consists of a wide range of business- and provincial government-driven projects..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
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Sub-title:
New rules threaten to prevent locals from capitalizing on the state’s coming gold rush
Description:
"Aung Gyi is forced to fish covertly under the shroud of night in western Myanmar waters as China bids to transform the strategically key region into a shipping and industrial hub, squeezing out locals who fear being left behind in the gold rush.
Myanmar has declared Rakhine state, associated by many worldwide with the military’s 2017 bloody crackdown on Rohingya Muslims, open for business but locals fear they are being left out of the gold rush as new rules restrict traditional practices.
Paddies and teak forests will be flattened for a colossal Beijing-backed factory zone and deep-sea port, which will serve as its neighboring giant’s gateway to the Indian Ocean. But the state’s promise for development comes with fishing restrictions – the waterways have been freed up for Chinese ships – a situation that has devastated local lives and livelihoods.
“I might be beaten or arrested” if caught fishing illegally, Aung Gyi says as he lays shrimp out to dry by his dilapidated shack in a small fishing hamlet near the town of Kyaukphyu..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Other Special Economic Zones, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burma's economic relations with China, Chinese investment, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Environmental impact assessment (EIA) and social impact assessment (SIA) have started in Kyaukphyu SEZ and Kyaukphyu deep seaport. The project will be implemented after signing agreements including shareholder and other ones, said Deputy Minister Aung Htoo of the Ministry of Commerce.
“Kyaukphyu was already negotiated in the time of the first government. The contract was changed into a ratio of 70-30 from 85-15. Then a framework agreement was signed. Now, the EIA and SIA have already begun. If the shareholder agreement and other ones are signed, the project will start an operation, said Deputy Minister Aung Htoo.
Previously, the agreement showed an 85 % would go to China and a 15 % to Myanmar. In the time of the current government, the project was re-negotiated and was newly signed back. The agreement indicated that a 70% would go to China and 30 % to Myanmar.
“In a ratio of 70: 30, a 70 % goes to China and 30 % to Myanmar. In a 30 % of Myanmar, it will be divided in half, that is, 15 % each to the government and public companies including ethnics, Union Minister Than Myint told the Daily Eleven.
Concerning Kyaukphyu SEZ and Kyaukphyu deep seaport, Myanmar-China bilateral framework agreement was signed by the management committee of Kyaukphy SEZ and CITIC consortium on November 8 in 2018..."
Source/publisher:
"Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Other Special Economic Zones, The impact of climate change on the environment of Burma/Myanmar, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Dozens of newly built villas line a street as concrete skeletons of what may become hotels or casinos stand half-finished nearby. A new paved roadway allows access to more than a dozen boxy two-story buildings still under construction opposite plots of cleared land streaked with muddy tire tracks.
Farther along the road, about 30 warehouse-type buildings with blue roofs stand at attention beside a river, while in the distance villagers’ small homes dot lush green fields.
The Chinese-backed U.S. $15 billion real estate mega-project along the Thaungyin River in southeastern Myanmar’s Kayin state has been dubbed Shwe Kokko “Chinatown” by locals. It sits about 12 miles away from the state capital Myawaddy, and a 10-minute drive to the Thai town of Mae Sot.
Shwe Kokko is the latest manifestation of China’s growing presence in the Southeast Asian country through its Belt and Road Initiative to connect the country with the rest of the region and beyond. And it's moving ahead at full throttle despite heavy criticism from ethnic Karen locals who object to what they see as Chinese encroachment upon their land, livelihoods, and culture..."
Source/publisher:
"Radio Free Asia (RFA)" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-14
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Chinese investment, Economy of Karen (Kayin) State, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Summary:
"Aung Gyi is forced to fish covertly under the shroud of night in western Myanmar waters as China bids to transform the strategically key region into a shipping and industrial hub, squeezing out...
Description:
"Aung Gyi is forced to fish covertly under the shroud of night in western Myanmar waters as China bids to transform the strategically key region into a shipping and industrial hub, squeezing out locals who fear being left behind in the gold rush.
Myanmar has declared Rakhine state, associated by many worldwide with the military’s 2017 bloody crackdown on Rohingya Muslims, open for business – but locals fear they are being left out of the gold rush as new rules restrict traditional practises.
Paddies and teak forests will be flattened for a colossal Beijing-backed factory zone and deep-sea port, which will serve as its neighbouring giant’s gateway to the Indian Ocean.
But the state’s promise for development comes with fishing restrictions – the waterways have been freed up for Chinese ships – a situation that has devastated local lives and livelihoods.
“I might be beaten or arrested” if caught fishing illegally, Aung Gyi says as he lays shrimp out to dry by his dilapidated shack in a small fishing hamlet near the town of Kyaukphyu.
“But I have no choice. Otherwise, my family would starve, the 28-year-old adds..."
Source/publisher:
"The ASEAN Post" (Malaysia)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-14
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Trade volume from Myanmar-China border camp reached more than US$ 503 million within one month from October 1 to November 1 in 2019-2020 fiscal years, up US$ 160 million compared with the same period of last year, according to the official statistics of the Ministry of Commerce.
Exports from Muse border camp were valued at US$ 266.946 million and imports at US$ 154.289 million. Therefore, exports and imports were valued at US$ 421.235 million.
Exports from Lwejel border camp were valued at US$ 2.655 million and imports at US$ 1.623 million. Therefore, exports and imports were valued at US$ 4.278 million.
Exports from Chinshwehaw border camp were valued at US$ 50.809 million and imports at US$ 6.507 million. Therefore, exports and imports were valued at US$ 57.316 million.
Exports from Kanpikete border camp were valued at US$ 18.450 million and imports at US$ 1.904 million. Therefore, exports and imports were valued at US$ 20.354 million..."
Source/publisher:
"Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-14
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
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Description:
"Crabs imported from Myanmar are served at a restaurant in Mangshi City, Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Nov. 5, 2019. Wanding seafood market in Ruili of Dehong imports over 40 tonnes of crabs everyday from Myanmar and sells them across the country....A customer eats crabs imported from Myanmar at a restaurant in Mangshi City, Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Nov. 5, 2019. Wanding seafood market in Ruili of Dehong imports over 40 tonnes of crabs everyday from Myanmar and sells them across the country.....A cook serves crabs imported from Myanmar at a restaurant in Mangshi City, Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Nov. 5, 2019. Wanding seafood market in Ruili of Dehong imports over 40 tonnes of crabs everyday from Myanmar and sells them across the country......Workers sort out crabs imported from Myanmar at Wanding seafood market in Ruili City, Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Nov. 5, 2019. Wanding seafood market in Ruili of Dehong imports over 40 tonnes of crabs everyday from Myanmar and sells them across the country.....Workers sort out crabs imported from Myanmar at Wanding seafood market in Ruili City, Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Nov. 5, 2019. Wanding seafood market in Ruili of Dehong imports over 40 tonnes of crabs everyday from Myanmar and sells them across the country....."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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Sub-title:
The Ministry of Electricity and Energy (MOEE) has signed an agreement to purchase electricity generated by the 135 MW gas-fired Kyaukphyu Power Plant that will be built by independent power producer Kyauk Phyu Electric Power Co.
Description:
"According to a statement from the MOEE, the power purchase agreement (PPA) was signed last Tuesday.
Kyauk Phyu Electric Power Co is a joint venture between Myanmar’s Supreme Group and Chinese state-owned firm Power China.
The gas-fired power plant in Kyaukphyu, Rakhine State, is one of four projects expected to generate a total of 3111MW approved by the government last January.
The PPA is expected to help address Myanmar’s growing need for electricity, which is rising by about 1000MW a year, said the MOEE.
The power plantwill be located on the grounds of the 230 KV Main Power Sub-Station in Kyaukphyu Township in Rakhine State and will be built by under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) system.
Once completed the power plant will have an installed capacity of 146MW, although it will operate at 135MW.
The plant is being counted on to supply 1.05 billion units of electricity a year that is greatly needed in Rakhine and the rest of the country.
As the Kyaukphyu power plant project will take at least three years to come online, seven other PPAs expected to provide 1166MW of electricity have been approved as a short-term measure to meet power demand for next year, said Minister of Electricity and Energy U Win Khaing..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Renewable energy Myanmar, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Myanmar expects to attract more investment as manufacturers seeking to relocate production from China to skirt US tariffs encounter capacity constraints in Vietnam.
The Southeast Asian nation aims to woo a total of US$5.8 billion in foreign direct investment this year and cut back the red tape that deters some companies, according to a senior government official. “When it comes to relocation, Vietnam might be preferable but it’s already congested,” said Aung Naing Oo, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations. “So, investors are now eyeing Indonesia and Myanmar.”..."
Source/publisher:
"South China Morning Post" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, Burma's economic relations with China, Burma's economic relations with the USA, China-Burma-US relations
Language:
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Description:
"China is rebranding and repackaging dormant or delayed projects in Myanmar under the banner of its Belt and Road Initiative, many of whose projects lack transparency and consultation with affected communities, according to the latest policy brief by a Netherlands-based research and advocacy institute.
Stephanie Olinga-Shannon, a planning and evaluation coordinator for the Transitional Institute (TNI) who also researches Chinese foreign policy for the organization, said, “Rather than a ‘grand strategy’, the BRI is a broad and loosely governed framework of activities seeking to address a crisis in Chinese capitalism.”
“Almost any activities, implemented by any actor in any place can be included under the BRI framework and branded as a BRI project in Myanmar,” Olinga-Shannon said.
The BRI allows Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and provincial governments to promote their own projects to pursue profit and economic growth, she added..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, Chinese investment, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Southeast Asia is an important strategic partner in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The region serves as a key link in the BRI’s Maritime Silk Road, which aims to connect China’s coast to South Asia, the Middle East and Europe through the South China Sea and Indian Ocean. But criticisms of the BRI highlight some of the risks of participation. Southeast Asian countries should address these risks by persuading China to adopt multilateral rules that broaden participation in the BRI, including by leveraging ASEAN’s potential role. According to a 2018 study by Oxford Economics and the CIMB ASEAN Research Institute, BRI projects in ASEAN countries amount to more than US$739 billion. Indonesia is home to the highest BRI investment total amounting to US$171 billion, followed by Vietnam (US$152 billion), Cambodia (US$104 billion), Malaysia (US$98.5 billion), Singapore (US$70.1 billion), Laos (US$48 billion), Brunei (US$36 billion), Myanmar (US$27.2 billion), Thailand (US$24 billion) and the Philippines (US$9.4 billion).
In April 2019, China hosted the second Belt and Road Forum which was attended by 37 heads of state, government and international organisations. During the Forum, President Xi Jinping said the BRI will adopt multilateral rules and international best practices in implementing the projects.
Xi’s apparent willingness to multilateralise the BRI is necessary to prevent projects in Southeast Asia from being exposed to operational risks, policy risks and project cancellations and to address criticisms of its lack of transparency and inclusivity..."
Source/publisher:
"East Asia Forum" (Australia)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-07
Copyright holder:
https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2019/07/13/making-the-belt-and-road-work-for-southeast-asia/
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Burma's economic relations with ASEAN, Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, ASEAN-Burma relations
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Format :
pdf
Size:
40.17 KB (4 pages)
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Description:
" Photo: Oliver SlowThe site of the Myitsone dam project in Myanmar’s Kachin State. Photo: Oliver Slow
The site of the Myitsone dam project in Myanmar’s Kachin State. Photo: Oliver Slow
Myanmar’s decision-makers have interacted with Chinese partners on infrastructure and investment projects in a seemingly dichotomous manner in recent years. But in a sense, their decisions reflect a practical logic that takes into account the concerns of both the communities affected and the population at large. The abrupt suspension in 2011 of a billion-dollar hydropower dam project at Myitsone in Kachin State, and more recent agreements entered into by the current government to bring Myanmar closer into the orbit of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, present contrasting examples of Myanmar’s approach to Chinese projects. They also illustrate the practical logic that characterises that approach.
Myanmar hit the pause button in its infrastructure deals with China in September 2011, when the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) government led by former president Thein Sein suspended the Myitsone dam project for the duration of his administration. That administration ended in March 2016, and the question of whether construction should be resumed, and of whether something else could be done with the project, has become a heated and emotional issue..."
Source/publisher:
"South China Morning Post" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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Description:
"MYANMAR would need to take a strong governmental role is to accelerate the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) as it becomes an active part of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), following the suspension of a controversial hydropower dam venture in 2011, an senior Burmese economist has suggested.
Dr U Myint, formerly chief economic adviser to former Burmese leader Thein Sein, said the previous and present Myanmar governments have taken different approaches to engaging China over large-scale infrastructure projects.
"This apparently inconsistent policy has the potential to cause confusion and anxiety among the Myanmar public and implementing officials, who are usually not included in or consulted on decisions related to investment or infrastructure projects. Past experiences in dealing with China may also cause skepticism on the part of both the public and bureaucrats," Dr U Myint wrote in a guest publication for Singapore's ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute published Tuesday..."
Source/publisher:
"The Business Times" (Singapore)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
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Description:
"Myanmar’s State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi returned this week from a visit to China with a grant of 1 billion yuan (U.S. $148 million) for development projects, while her spokesman said a controversial Chinese dam project on the Irrawaddy River was not on the agenda.
The grant, which was agreed when she attended the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation last week in Beijing, would be used for projects to improve people’s livelihoods, studies for major projects and humanitarian assistance for people displaced by civil war in northern Myanmar, Myanmar's Foreign Ministry said.
The two countries signed Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation; a Memorandum of Understanding on the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) Cooperation Plan; and a MoU on a Five-year Development Program for Economic and Trade Cooperation, the ministry said..."
Source/publisher:
"Radio Free Asia (RFA)" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, China-Burma relations, Burma's economic relations with China
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Upper House MP J Yaw Wu from the National Unity Party representing Kachin State Consitiuency-1revealed he refused to accept the bribe from the Chinese Power Investment (CPI) Compnay in order to keep silent about the Myitsone Dam Project, at a press conference at Real Link Hotel in Yankin Township in Yangon on January 26.
On September 23, 2011, MP J Yaw Wu remonstrated against the Myitsone Dam project as a MP from the constituency-12 in Kachin State in the time of the Thein Sein Administration.
He sent the remonstration letter to former President Thein Sein via Upper House Speaker Khin Aung Myint.
He was re-elected Upper House MP of the Kachin State Constituency-1 in the 2015 General Election.
“I don’t remember the date. In around December 2011, they (CPI) met with me. The delegation included the GM and the female secretary. The GM is a female. The GM herself can speak Myanmar language. The GM said the company paid too much money to the heads of the State. But she did not talk to me like so. First she asked my bank accounts. But I have no bank account. They said they want to put money into the bank account. They asked me to extend a helping hand. They said they would start lobbying to resume the Myitsone dam project. They urged me to keep silent about the Myitsone Dam project..."
Source/publisher:
"Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, in Beijing this week for the Belt and Road Forum, finds herself in a much weaker negotiating position than on her last visit to China in 2017.
Description:
"With Myanmar’s diplomatic isolation, stalled peace process and lacklustre economy, Daw Suu has far fewer cards in her hands. Beijing is Myanmar’s key “defender” in the United Nations at a time when the government’s handling of the Rakhine crisis and the recent jailing of two Reuters journalists have eroded its standing in the international community. China currently also accounts for a quarter of all approved foreign investments in the country.
In Beijing, the State Counsellor is expected to discuss the highly controversial Myitsone dam project with her Chinese counterparts. The US$3.6 billion, 6000MW dam, backed by China’s State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC), was suspended by then-President U Thein Sein in 2011, owing to widespread domestic opposition. Recent developments suggest Daw Suu is under pressure from the Chinese to resuscitate the dam. As I’ve argued, resumption would place her National League for Democracy party at risk in next year’s General Election. Just this week, thousands of people in Kachin’s Waingmaw township protested against Myitsone.
In Bago Region recently, Daw Suu told local residents to think about the project from “a wider perspective.” She should explain what she meant by that, and say what other factors are taken into account.
For starters, transparency is essential. For example, officials of SPIC have been urging the Myanmar government to publicly disclose details of the Myitsone contract since June 2016. And this is not the only enterprise which needs to come clean..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
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Description:
"Amid growing public concern about Chinese-backed development projects in Myanmar, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will leave for Beijing late this month to attend the second Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) summit. During her meeting with the Chinese President Xi Jinping there, she is quite likely to discuss the Myitsone Dam, the most controversial Chinese project in the country so far. As well the Myitsone dam, another important China-backed development project is now underway on the shore of Bay of Bengal in Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine. Prior to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s visit to China, The Irrawaddy talks to Bertil Linter, a Swedish journalist and author who has been covering Myanmar and Southeast Asia for nearly four decades, on China’s major involvement—from development projects to the peace process—in the country.
The momentum to cancel the Myitsone dam is building in Myanmar. This coincides with State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s upcoming visit to China where she will attend the second BRI summit. She has been very vague about her stance on the dam and some articles written by the NLD (National League for Democracy) party members have been indicating that the dam should get the go-ahead. Government leaders are suggesting the dam is downsized or relocated. Moreover, several projects which the current government has agreed to implement with China have not been disclosed to the public. What is your opinion on this?
I believe Daw Aung San Suu Kyi must be aware of the fact that it would be political suicide to agree on a resumption of the Myitsone project. With elections coming up next year, any Myanmar politician would have to think carefully before agreeing to such a controversial, and hugely unpopular, project like this one. We all remember how much she was against it when she was in opposition. Why does she appear to have softened her stance on the matter? That’s a question that should be posed to her..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
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Description:
"If Myitsone issue fails to be resolved after a long delay, it will seriously hurt the confidence of Chinese entrepreneurs in investing in Myanmar. Therefore, China and Myanmar are in close consultation on the issue of Myitsone hydropower project to find out a proper solution acceptable to both sides as soon as possible, said Mr. Hong Liang, Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar.
Mr. Hong Liang, Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar, visited Myitkyina and met with leaders of political parties and social organizations in Kachin State on 28 and 29 December 2018.
On the economic and trade cooperation between China and Kachin State, Ambassador Hong Liang said that in accordance with the consensus reached by the state leaders of the two countries, China and Myanmar are jointly building the Belt and Road and China-Myanmar Economic Corridor. Kachin State is adjacent to China, acting as an important hub of China-Myanmar Economic Corridor. At present, the two sides are planning to build Houqiao-Kanpitetee China-Myanmar border economic cooperation zone and an industrial park in Myitkyina. China and Myanmar are also actively pushing forward the connectivity of railways, highways and power grids, which will bring enormous opportunities for the economic and social development of Kachin State.
Ambassador Hong Liang said that currently one of the difficulties facing China-Myanmar cooperation is the issue of Myitsone hydropower project, which has been put on hold for seven years. If this issue fails to be resolved after a long delay, it will seriously hurt the confidence of Chinese entrepreneurs in investing in Myanmar. In addition to that, Myanmar’s economic and social development and the building of China-Myanmar Economic Corridor require sufficient electricity supply. To this end, China and Myanmar are in close consultation on the issue of Myitsone hydropower project to find out a proper solution acceptable to both sides as soon as possible. In this connection, support from the people of Kachin State would be highly valued..."
Source/publisher:
"Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"The Myitsone Dam, the largest of seven hydropower projects planned on the Upper Irrawaddy, has been shrouded in controversy since it was first mooted in 2009 when Myanmar was under military junta rule.
Estimated at an initial cost of US$3.6 billion, the project was announced as a joint venture between the China Power Investment Corporation (CPIC; now State Power Investment Corporation) and Myanmar conglomerate Asia World Company. However, in a move that surprised observers, shortly after coming to power in 2011 then President U Thein Sein announced the project would be suspended for the remainder of his term. At the time Lu Qizhou, president of CPIC, told Chinese media that he was “totally astonished” by the decision.
The issue has now been pushed onto the agenda of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), which took power in 2016, but a decision has still not been made about the future of Myitsone..."
Source/publisher:
"South China Morning Post" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Campaigns, About Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
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Description:
"For An Xingjie, each morning is a race against time.
The 32-year-old and his employees have to sort, pack and distribute fresh crabs straight from the Indian Ocean to Chinese cities before noon.
A native of Ruili, China's southwestern border city with Myanmar, An has witnessed the fast growth of the seafood business between the two nations.
Booming China-Myanmar trade
He started his own business about seven years ago, purchasing the crustacean catches from Burmese fishermen and then selling them to restaurants across China.
“When I got into this industry, I remember I only had five employees. Now, I have more than 20 people working for me,” An told CGTN.Many of the mostly Burmese workers at the seafood market in the Chinese border town of Wanding have also seen the changes.
“I have worked here for seven years. It's obvious that the market is getting increasingly busy as more and more people are joining in the business,” said Mg Pya Toe.
Data from the Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau of Ruili shows that the seafood imported in 2017 reached 26,000 tons, a year-on-year growth of 106 percent..."
Source/publisher:
CGTN (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
The naming of the bilateral projects with Nepal coincided with Beijing dropping the BCIM or the Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar Corridor from the BRI projects’ list.
Description:
"China is shoring-up its connectivity projects with Nepal and Myanmar, including a trans-Himalayan network, a cross-border railway venture and an economic corridor under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
The Nepal-China Trans-Himalayan Multi-dimensional Connectivity Network, including the Nepal-China cross-border railway, have been named under the list of projects under the BRI.
The naming of the bilateral projects with Nepal coincided with Beijing dropping the BCIM or the Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar Corridor from the BRI projects’ list.
Instead, China has now named the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor under the BRI, an indication that Beijing will go ahead with infrastructure projects in south Asia bilaterally. Simultaneously, visiting Nepalese President Bidhya Devi Bhandari said in Beijing that the BRI is offering new opportunities for Nepal and she hopes Chinese investors and enterprises can invest more in Nepal..."
Source/publisher:
"Hindustan Times " (India)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Chinese investment, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma/Myanmar's Foreign relations, general
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
China’s new infrastructure corridor through Myanmar crosses war-torn regions, risking further conflict and environmental degradation
Description:
"A year ago, Myanmar and China signed an agreement to establish the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), as part of China’s Belt and Road global infrastructure initiative. Today, that corridor is mired in conflict between the Myanmar military and ethnic armed groups.
Stretching 1,700km, the CMEC’s network of new railways, trade zones and other major infrastructure projects is meant to mesh the comparatively impoverished economy of Myanmar with its wealthier neighbour’s landlocked southern province of Yunnan. However, ongoing armed conflict and lingering resentment against Chinese investments mean the future of the CMEC is uncertain.
Since its transition to semi-civilian rule in 2011, Myanmar has proven to be more cautious with Chinese investments than other developing countries. In August 2018, Myanmar officials negotiated an 80% cost reduction to the proposed Kyaukphyu deep-sea port, trimming the project from over US$7 billion to US$1.3 billion, Reuters reported. The Myanmar side, led by deputy finance minister Set Aung, baulked at the risk of an excessive debt burden..."
Source/publisher:
"Chinadialogue" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, Chinese investment, Border Trade with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"As if human rights abuses, corruption charges and deadly landslides haven’t hurt the industry enough, Myanmar’s multi-billion-dollar jade and gemstone industry now has to deal with the challenges of e-commerce.
Myanmar produces 90 percent of the world’s jade and is a major player in the global gem economy, but poor regulations mean up to two-third of the country’s production is possibly not subjected to tax according to a report by the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) in March.
The increasingly affluent China is the biggest market for Myanmar’s jade, and Radio Free Asia has reported how the highly valuable stone is often smuggled untaxed across porous borders to Chinese buyers – and the direct sale of jade online may now make up about 80 percent of all purchases, bypassing Myanmar’s tax collectors..."
Source/publisher:
"The ASEAN Post"
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Gems - mining and trade, Gems, Burma's economic relations with China, Border Trade with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
If Japan and China focus on different rail systems in Myanmar, can their division of labor create a new pattern for cooperation?
Description:
"Myanmar Railways (MR) has been variously criticized for its low efficiency and increasing costs. Solutions are needed. Since the country’s independence, the British colonial era meter gauge rail system has not been modernized much. Antiquated semaphore signals and manual blocking systems are still broadly in service, suggesting both the limited capacity of lines, and the poor maintenance of tracks. Rolling stock operates at significantly reduced speed, only 40km/hr on average. It takes trains about 15 hours to complete the 620 km journey between Mandalay and Yangon, much slower than buses, which can make the trip in as little as 8 hours depending on the type of bus in question.
Unsurprisingly, then, MR’s share of land transport in Myanmar has been dropping in the last three decades and the company faces rising deficits. Naypyidaw is aware of the challenge, but it has the same dilemma other Southeast Asian countries face: whether to upgrade the existing meter gauge system for practicality’s sake, or to establish an entirely new standard gauge system for higher speed connection with China. Based on Myanmar’s financial capacity, upgrading the existing system is already a difficult ask, not to mention building an entirely new rail network.
However, thanks to Japanese and Chinese capital, upgrades to the existing system are ongoing, and a standard gauge system is likely to be built.
Tokyo has financially and technologically modernized the MR network, mainly the Yangon circle line and the trunk line between Yangon and Mandalay, in addition to improving five MR maintenance sites. These projects are scheduled to be finished by 2024, after which MR passenger services will reach a top speed of 100 km/hr, and more than double of the amount of service. Furthermore, more efficient freight services will contribute to Myanmar’s blooming inland dry port projects, a considerable factor for import and export costs..."
Source/publisher:
"The Diplomat" (Japan)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, Burma's economic relations with China, Burma's economic relations with Japan, China-Burma relations, Japan-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Summary:
"China has been vying to lead the region, if not the world, economically and politically since President Xi Jinping took power. As Xi’s power has grown, China has sought to expand its leadership role...
Description:
"China has been vying to lead the region, if not the world, economically and politically since President Xi Jinping took power. As Xi’s power has grown, China has sought to expand its leadership role across the region and beyond through economic expansion, political influence and military modernization.
On the economic front, China has initiated the far-flung and ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which will be instrumental in expanding its investment and power projection in many countries.
Myanmar occupies a strategically important geographical position for the BRI projects, through which China seeks to build links to the Indian Ocean, then to the Middle East and Africa. Myanmar’s political instability and civil war, however, are major barriers to the BRI. Particularly, fighting in northern Shan State, where many of the BRI projects are to be implemented, is disrupting the scheme’s implementation..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Armed conflict in Shan State - ceasefires and ceasefire talks, Non-Ceasefire Groups, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Summary:
"WHEN VIEWING the domestic conflicts of a sovereign nation, China sees development and stability as two mutually reinforcing concepts. Instead of focusing on the fair and just distribution of...
Sub-title:
Recurring conflict and military stalemate in northern Myanmar have prompted China to embark on a bold experiment – one with implications that Nay Pyi Taw might not yet even comprehend.
Description:
"WHEN VIEWING the domestic conflicts of a sovereign nation, China sees development and stability as two mutually reinforcing concepts. Instead of focusing on the fair and just distribution of political and economic rights, China prioritises making the economic pie larger so that everyone gets a bigger share.
This approach reflects China’s own experiences in strengthening political stability through economic development. Enhanced economic performance validates the legitimacy of the state and improves stability, which in turn creates conditions for further economic development.
This development-oriented approach towards conflict resolution has resulted in northern Myanmar’s conflicts becoming intrinsic components of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative,
The rationale
China has been formally involved in the mediation of ethnic conflicts in northern Myanmar since early 2013, when it established the office of Special Envoy for Asian Affairs. Six years of mediation in Myanmar – during which there has been no agreement over the mechanisms and structure of the peace process, or the distribution of political and economic power in the ethnic states – has shepherded the Chinese to a few key conclusions.
First, the complicated history and the fundamental lack of trust between the Bamar-dominated central government and ethnic minorities means it is not feasible to open negotiations on the most difficult issues, particularly power distribution. In this climate of mistrust and hostility, it is unrealistic to expect elites on both sides to make the concessions necessary for a peace deal..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Chinese investment, China-Burma relations, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies)
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Residents of central Myanmar's Mandalay region said Thursday that they are increasingly fearful of forced property confiscation lost farmland in areas slated for the construction of a high-speed railway running from Kunming in southwestern China to their city under the massive Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), RFA reported.
Two state-owned companies — Myanmar Railways and China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Co. Ltd. — signed a memorandum of understanding a year ago to conduct a feasibility study for the Muse-Mandalay line, a key part of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) under the BRI that is expected to boost trade between the two countries.
The CMEC entails a central road and rail transport infrastructure from southwestern China’s Yunnan province through Muse and Mandalay to the town of Khaukphyu in western Myanmar's Rakhine state, where a major seaport and special economic zone are scheduled for construction..."
Source/publisher:
"Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"China’s recent crackdowns on illegal cross-border trade from Myanmar are causing hardship for Myanmar merchants who make their living selling goods to Chinese buyers.
Prior to Beijing’s closure of the black market routes, the merchants enjoyed fairly barrier-free movement of their goods into China, but now they face taxation as high as 60 percent, especially for high-traffic commodities like rice and other agricultural products.
The effect has been particularly devastating at a rice wholesale center in Muse, a town that borders China in Myanmar’s Shan state. In days past, Chinese merchants used to crowd the facility, looking for rice they could buy cheaply, then sell for a healthy markup at home.
But now the wholesale center is nearly deserted.
Ko Sithu, a rice merchant at the center, to RFA’s Myanmar Service his business is drying up because tariffs made the grain less competitive.
“When [the Chinese] raised taxes, the rice on this side wasn’t getting a good price any longer. It’s no longer [affordable] to bring it here. We are trying to sell off the rice [we have] here at their [lower offered] price, he said.
Fruit restricted
After rice, the second largest export at the Myanmar-China border is fruit. Under new import policies, some fruits, like pineapple, which had been traded freely for many years across the border, are now subject to restrictions..."
Source/publisher:
"Radio Free Asia (RFA)" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Illegal Economy - general, Burma's economic relations with China, Border Trade with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Residents of central Myanmar's Mandalay region said Thursday that they are increasingly fearful of forced property and farmland confiscations in areas slated for the construction of a high-speed railway running from Kunming in southwestern China to their city under the massive Belt and Road Initiative.
Two state-owned companies — Myanmar Railways and China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Co. Ltd. — signed a memorandum of understanding a year ago to conduct a feasibility study for a stretch of longer railway from Mandalay to Muse in Myanmar's northern Shan state. The overall project is a key part of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) under the BRI, and is expected to boost trade between the two countries.
The CMEC entails a central road and rail transport infrastructure from southwestern China’s Yunnan province through Muse and Mandalay to the town of Khaukphyu in western Myanmar's Rakhine state, where a major seaport and special economic zone are slated for construction.
Area villagers who attended a public forum on an environmental assessment of railway project in Mandalay’s Patheingyi township voiced concerns over losing their homes and farmland to the rail line to be built by both China and Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"Radio Free Asia (RFA)" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Tenure insecurity in Burma (including land grabbing), Land research including land grabbing - global and regional, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Summary:
"The Kachin State government is planning to sign an agreement next month on the establishment of a China-backed economic zone, paving the way for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project.
Under...
Description:
"The Kachin State government is planning to sign an agreement next month on the establishment of a China-backed economic zone, paving the way for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project.
Under the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) agreement, which is also a part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s grand BRI vision, Kachin State signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Yunnan Tengchong Heng Yong Investment Company (YTHIC) in May 2018 for implementation of the Myitkyina Economic Development Zone.
The project, also known as the Namjim Industrial Zone, is 25 km from Myitkyina, the Kachin capital.
“We are expected to sign an agreement next month,” the Kachin State chief minister, Dr. Khet Aung, told The Irrawaddy.
“Currently, we are finalizing detailed negotiations and a full master plan from the Chinese company.”
YTHIC and the Myitkyina zone committee, formed by the Kachin State government, are expected to build the massive site on approximately 19 sq. km along the historic Ledo Road.
The road was built during World War II so the Allies could supply Chinese troops fighting the Japanese. It linked Ledo, in Indian Assam, and Kunming in China’s Yunnan Province..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, Economy of Kachin State, Chinese investment, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The plight of thousands of women from Kachin and Shan states trafficked into forced marriages in China has attracted global attention, with numerous major news outlets and human rights groups covering the crisis. But one Myanmar language publication recently gave a different take on the experiences of women in marriages across the border.
An August 13 article by the Pauk Phaw newspaper omitted the horror stories and instead highlighted a Chinese man and a Kachin woman walking a “happy and pleasant road” together. “During my five years of marriage in China, I was able to live in a new house and got a cleaning job. I felt very thankful and fulfilled,” the woman was quoted as saying.
Pauk Phaw is controlled by the Propaganda Department of the local government in Dehong, an area in China’s Yunnan province that borders Kachin and Shan states. It is one of a growing number of platforms through which China is seeking to reshape public opinion about its influence in Myanmar.
China has asserted its economic power with energy and infrastructure projects across Myanmar, fueling local opposition to the superpower’s efforts to tap the country’s resources.
One of Beijing’s most important projects inside Myanmar, the Myitsone dam in Kachin state, was suspended in 2011 because of protests by locals who say it will cause widespread environmental destruction and displacement..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"China imported about 400 million cubic feet of natural gas from Shwe natural gas project in Rakhine offshore and about 16,000 tonnes of crude oil from Made Island in Rakhine State daily, according to the Ministry of Electricity and Energy.
Myanmar is consuming about 100 million cubic feet of natural gas daily.
The Sino-Myanmar natural gas pipeline is started from Yanbye Island, Kyaukphyu Township to China through Rakhine State, Magway Region, Mandalay Region and Shan State. The oil pipeline has 771 kilometers in length and natural gas pipeline has 793 kilometers in length.
Myanmar exported 5 million tonnes of crude oil and 1.68 million tonnes of natural gas via the China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline from January to June this year and the export is more compared with last year's export in the same period, according to a report from Xinhua news agency.
The import value amounted to 17.27 billion Yuan (about 2.51 billion U.S. dollars), up 9.2 percent year on year with the average import price reaching 3,443.8 Yuan per tonne, up 6.4 percent year on year.
Meanwhile, the imports of natural gas from Myanmar amounted to 1.68 million tonnes (equivalent to 2.5 billion cubic meters), down 2.3 percent from the same period of last year, with a total value of 5.89 billion Yuan (over US$800 million), up 11.7 percent from the same period of last year. The average import price was 3,499.2 Yuan per tonne, up 14.4 percent year on year..."
Source/publisher:
"The Nation" ( Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Summary:
"A recent decision by the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, not to extend a cease-fire aimed at ethnic armed organizations excluded from a nationwide peace agreement puts the country's Belt and Road...
Sub-title:
Ethnic strife and national pride halt Beijing-championed infrastructure projects
Description:
"A recent decision by the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, not to extend a cease-fire aimed at ethnic armed organizations excluded from a nationwide peace agreement puts the country's Belt and Road projects in further limbo.
Multiple projects have already been halted, including the key Myitsone dam hydropower project in in Myanmar's northernmost state of Kachin. But ethnic strife is not to blame. Rather, the dam has run up against nationwide opposition and an International Finance Corp. report strongly advising against damming the upper reaches of Myanmar's major rivers.
Meanwhile, work on a feasibility study for another project has been suspended as a result of the renewed hostilities. Tatmadaw forces in late September assaulted a Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army base in Kutkai, squarely in the middle of the proposed route for the China-led Muse-Lashio-Mandalay rail project in northern Shan state.
One day after fighting recommenced, a Myanma Railways spokesman announced the suspension, blaming the instability.
The attacks signal the failure of Chinese attempts to broker peace between Myanmar's vigorously independent military and a group of armed organizations known as The Northern Alliance..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Nikkei Review" (Japan)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Shan State - ceasefires and ceasefire talks, Non-Ceasefire Groups, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
B462bn Chinese megaproject across the border in Myanmar threatens to eclipse economic development and progress in Mae Sot
Description:
"Border towns are often labelled as remote villages without modern infrastructure or amenities.
However, recent economic policies such as the development of special economic zones and foreign investment have led to the urbanisation of these rural areas.
A clear example of this can be seen in Mae Sot district in Tak province, located opposite to the Shwe Kokko forest area in the Myawaddy region of Myanmar.
This border enclave region is controlled by a local ethnic Karen warlord, Chit Tu, who has made peace with Myanmar's military and converted his armed units into an officially recognised Border Guard Force (BGF).
Three years ago, Jilin Yatai International Holding Group, a major investor from China, invested $US15 billion (462.6 billion baht) in a project which would see the construction of a residential, commercial and industrial hub on more than 5,085 rai of land in Shwe Kokko, located by a river in Myanmar, just over 20km away from Mae Sot district..."
Source/publisher:
"Bangkok Post" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with Thailand, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Villagers living near the site of a proposed deep-sea port in the town of Kyaukphyu in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state fear losses as the joint project with China gets under way, with fishermen already restricted from access to the sea, sources say.
With ship traffic increasing in the area of the proposed port, residents of 20 villages nearby may now fish only in a restricted area, and many have lost their livelihoods, one villager told RFA’s Myanmar Service.
“Now, we are allowed to work only in one small area,” the villager named Lay Myint said. “But even with this, our families are experiencing many difficulties.”
“In my village, many have lost their jobs, and we’ve become dejected,” he said.
Part of a planned Special Economic Zone (SEZ) covering over 4,200 acres, the deep-sea port in Kyaukphyu is an important part of China’s “One Belt, One Road” development strategy, giving Beijing access to the Bay of Bengal as an alternative route for oil imports..."
Source/publisher:
"Radio Free Asia (RFA)" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Fisheries (including aquaculture and fishing), Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
.The potential for Myanmar to become a trade hub is good because of its location between two rapidly developing countries with large populations U Phyo Min Thein said during a dinner to mark the foundation of the Myanmar-India-China
Friendship and Development Association and signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding among Chinese traders, the India-Myanmar Chamber of Commerce and 10 local business associations on September 27
“For various reasons, Myanmar is less developed, but there is a possibility that the country can achieve progress along with peace, if it cooperates with more developed neighbouring countries,” said U Phyo Min Thein.
Myanmar needs to promote the scope of cooperation in various sectors with neighbouring countries so that it can work towards peace, development and democratic nation, he added.
“The close friendship with China will further develope into a strategic cooperation, and there are also favorable conditions to build enduring relations with India to create a border trade zone between the two countries,” he said.
“As the first step toward this, the Myanmar-India-China Friendship and Development Association will promote economic cooperation between China and India in construction and steel manufacturing,” said U Zaw Zaw Naing, vice chair of the association.
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Burma's economic relations with India, Border Trade with China, China-Burma-India relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Political and religious leaders in Myanmar’s Kachin state have hit back at apparent efforts by Beijing to breathe new life into a controversial China-funded dam project as the Southeast Asian nation comes under fire from the West over its treatment of the Rohingya Muslims.
In a joint statement released on Monday, three ethnic Kachin political parties said they were seeking the “permanent suspension” of the US$3.6 billion Myitsone Dam project, which has been on hold since 2011 but had been slated for completion this year.
“This is the people’s desire. We won’t change our policy on the Myitsone hydropower dam,” Gumgrawng Awng Hkam, chairman of the Kachin Democratic Party, told Myanmar’s Network Media Group..."
Source/publisher:
"South China Morning Post" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Senior officials from China’s Yunnan province once again pressured Kachin religious leaders to support the revival of the controversial Myitsone hydropower project at a meeting last week in the Chinese border town of Ruili, an influential Kachin religious leader told The Irrawaddy.
At the meeting between top Yunnan leaders and representatives of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) on Friday, the Chinese officials said Chinese President Xi Jinping was a strong supporter of the Myitsone Dam project.
“They said it would be better if we accept the Myitsone project, as it would bring benefits to the [local] people,” said KBC president Rev. Hkalam Samson.
Located at the confluence of the two rivers that form Myanmar’s “lifeline”, the Irrawaddy River, the US$3.6-billion (nearly 5.5 trillion kyats) project was suspended by then-president U Thein Sein in 2011 amid a widespread public outcry over the dam’s potentially serious social and environmental impacts. However, it came under the spotlight again when Chinese Ambassador Hong Liang claimed after a visit to Kachin State at the end of December that the Kachin people were not opposed to its resumption..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Myanmar’s State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday ahead of the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation to be held from April 25 to 27 in Beijing.
Noting the profound “Paukphaw” (fraternal) friendship between China and Myanmar, Xi said China is willing to carry forward the traditional friendship of the two sides, increase mutually beneficial cooperation and push forward bilateral relations constantly.
In light of the celebrations next year that will mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Myanmar diplomatic relationship, the two sides should actively conduct interactions at all levels and people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and focus their pragmatic cooperation more on areas related to people’s livelihood, so as to continuously consolidate public support for bilateral friendship, Xi said. China supports Myanmar in developing its economy and improving people’s livelihood, and appreciates the efforts of Myanmar’s government to advance domestic peace and reconciliation, Xi said..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The Sagaing regional government in northwestern Myanmar on Monday cancelled permission for a Chinese company to conduct inspections for a new copper mine project following a protest by local residents in the capital Monywa.
Hundreds of local residents staged a morning protest opposing the granting of permission for Chinese company Myanmar Yang Tse Copper Ltd. to do ground studies for a proposed project in the Wazeintaung area of Yinmabin township.
Chinese-operated copper mine projects in the resource-rich region have generated controversy among locals, especially in the town of Letpadaung where China’s Wanbao Mining Copper Ltd. and the Myanmar military-owned conglomerate, Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd. (UMEHL), operate a large mine.
Letpadaung residents and farmers have accused the Chinese operators of appropriating their land without providing adequate compensation and damaging the environment.
The Sagaing government informed the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation in Naypyidaw that it did not object to the company’s conduct a ground inspection for the new mining project.
Soe Oo, Sagaing’s minister for planning and finance, told RFA’s Myanmar Service that officials held an emergency meeting on the issue amid the protest..."
Source/publisher:
"Radio Free Asia (RFA)" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar Railways has been variously criticised for its low efficiency and increasing costs. Solutions are needed. Since the country’s independence, the British colonial era Meter Gauge Rail System has not been modernised much.
Antiquated semaphore signals and manual blocking systems are still broadly in service, suggesting both the limited capacity of lines, and the poor maintenance of tracks. Rolling stock operates at significantly reduced speed, only 40km/hr on average. It takes trains about 15 hours to complete the 620 km journey between Naypyidaw and Yangon, much slower than buses, which make the trip in eight to ten hours.
Unsurprisingly, then, MR’s share of land transport in Myanmar has been dropping in the last three decades and the company faces rising deficits. Naypyidaw is aware of the challenge, but it has the same dilemma other Southeast Asian countries face: whether to upgrade the existing meter gauge system for practicality’s sake, or to establish an entirely new standard gauge system for higher speed connection with China. Based on Myanmar’s financial capacity, upgrading the existing system is already a difficult ask, not to mention building an entirely new rail network..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Burma's economic relations with Japan, China-Burma relations, Japan-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar Railways has been variously criticised for its low efficiency and increasing costs. Solutions are needed. Since the country’s independence, the British colonial era Meter Gauge Rail System has not been modernised much.
Antiquated semaphore signals and manual blocking systems are still broadly in service, suggesting both the limited capacity of lines, and the poor maintenance of tracks. Rolling stock operates at significantly reduced speed, only 40km/hr on average. It takes trains about 15 hours to complete the 620 km journey between Naypyidaw and Yangon, much slower than buses, which make the trip in eight to ten hours.
Unsurprisingly, then, MR’s share of land transport in Myanmar has been dropping in the last three decades and the company faces rising deficits. Naypyidaw is aware of the challenge, but it has the same dilemma other Southeast Asian countries face: whether to upgrade the existing meter gauge system for practicality’s sake, or to establish an entirely new standard gauge system for higher speed connection with China. Based on Myanmar’s financial capacity, upgrading the existing system is already a difficult ask, not to mention building an entirely new rail network..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Burma's economic relations with Japan, China-Burma relations, Japan-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"With tinted windows and their militia name emblazoned on the side of their Ford truck, “Pan Say” fighters cruise the sleazy streets of Muse, Myanmar’s main gateway to China and awash with weapons and cash from casinos, drugs and sex. Ten armed groups run the Shan State border town of Muse, which is separated by a shallow river from the gleaming towers of its Chinese counterpart, Ruili.
All are under the tutelage of the same patron: Myanmar’s Army. China and Myanmar have an agreement not to station troops along their border. Instead, Myanmar’s Army uses the militias as proxies in a long running conflict between the Central State and Ethnic Rebel Groups who operate in the area, including the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Taaung National Liberation Army (TNLA).
A fiendishly complicated, decades-old struggle for money, trade, resources and ethnic identity is playing out in Muse. The Pan Say militia gave AFP a rare snapshot of the shifting alliances and rivalries which have defined Myanmar’s frontier areas since its independence in 1948.
Each militia “looks after its own business and we look after ours”, a senior Pan Say member told AFP as a batch of 30 fresh recruits dressed in fatigues trained in a compound.
They have joined one of Muse’s largest militias, which boasts several hundred men, armed with M-16 rifles and Kalashnikovs. Pan Say insists it is funded by its own Jade Mines, Cigarette Factories & Karaoke Bars, denying knowledge of narcotics or other illegal activities that prosper along the border. Like other Muse militias, Pan Say accepted a deal in 2009 to come under the military’s control in exchange for a degree of autonomy..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) - Myanmar, Drugs: regional and global, Drug economy, Illegal Economy - general, Border Trade with China, Burma's economic relations with China
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar is prioritising nine sectors covering infrastructure projects under the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor although more specific details as to which of the projects have been chosen remain under wraps.
These sectors, part of the Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan, include electricity, road, bridge, telecommunication, basic construction, agriculture, transportation, research and technology.
Union of Myanmar Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) deputy chair U Thein Han said that the nine prioritized sectors involve partnerships between Myanmar and Chinese firms.
He was among a group of Myanmar private sector representatives who had followed government officials led by Minister for Planning and Finance U Soe Win to the second joint committee forum of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor held in Kunming, China in late February.
It has been learnt that a number of agreements “is likely” to be inked in April when the State Counselor attends a state-level conference in Beijing related to the Belt and Road Initiative.
“Many companies want to enter the market and we will connect them with the capable companies here depending on the company size. We have plans to connect companies of various sizes,” U Thein Han said..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Recently, there has been a marked escalation in the Chinese Government’s attempts at reviving the controversial Myitsone Dam Project. Since a tense meeting by the Chinese Embassy with Kachin leaders, the actions of both the Chinese and Myanmar governments have only heightened fears that the mammoth US$3.6-billion, 6,000 MW Dam will be pushed forward, risking the livelihoods of thousands of people and endangering crucial biodiversity.
The NLD government’s rhetoric over the project has been, at best, feeble. Minister for Investment and Foreign Economic Relations U Thaung Tun stated that, while public anxiety should be respected, the project should continue as companies have already heavily invested in it.
His remark echoed a comment by State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (who had been an ardent critic of the dam in 2011) in Kalay the previous week in which she called for deals made under the previous government to be respected. According to U Thaung Tun, alternative areas have been explored. So far, however, these areas have not been outlined to the public, which only serves to fuel speculation.
Respect for public anxiety: What, in practice, has that entailed so far? As of this moment, this respect has taken the form of hollow reassurances that match up little with actions on the ground. The most notable example of this was the recent dismissal of three ministers in Kachin State. The said ministers U H Hla Aung, U Mya Thein and U Thin Lwin were each responsible for key areas that would have been impacted by the Myitsone project..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Amid increasing pressure from China to resume the controversial Myitsone Dam project, the State Counsellor has promised that her government will make a final decision on the dam based upon political, economic and environmental considerations, and vowed to make public the details of the decision.
When asked her opinion of the Myitsone Dam project at a meeting with local residents in Pyay, Bago Region on Thursday, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said,
“I would like you to think about the project from a wider perspective.”
She said, “We should not think based on one perspective. If we think from only one perspective, we could make the wrong decision.”
The State Counsellor said the final decision would have to be politically, socially, economically and environmentally sound and sustainable.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi did not offer her own stance on whether the dam project should be scrapped, nor did she say when a decision would be made.
However, she said her government should not abolish projects approved by a previous government just because it did not comply with the current administration’s policies.
If government of the day were to break promises made by previous governments, the country would lose credibility, she said.
She added that her government would make decisions transparently, not only when it comes to the Myitsone project, but also on other projects..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations, The impact of climate change on the environment of Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
The governments of China and Myanmar are negotiating to draw up a five-year plan on economic and trade cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, a global development strategy adopted by the Chinese government involving infrastructure development and
Description:
"Negotiations to draw up the plan were held in Nay Pyi Taw on Monday, the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations announced.
The idea for the plan was first put forward during the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in Beijing in April. The forum in April was attended by State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
Myanmar’s delegation for the negotiation was led by U Aung Naing, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Relations, while China’s team was headed by Mr Wang Shengwen, director general of China’s Department of Outward Investment and Economic Cooperation.
Some 70 representatives from relevant ministries and organisations from both countries were also present for the talks..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Chinese investment, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"MUCH HAS been said and written about the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor since it was formally proposed by China in November 2017 as part of its global Belt and Road Initiative. Despite gaining significant international attention – and generating some uneasiness within Myanmar – the actual approval and implementation of CMEC projects has been incremental, and at a speed far less impressive than the narrative. As a result of friction between China’s massive ambition and Myanmar’s moderate capability, the CMEC is unlikely to end up looking the way many people imagine.
The CMEC is the second economic corridor China has embarked on with a single state under BRI, after the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and this reflects its strategic importance in Beijing’s plans. The basic design of CMEC is an upside-down “Y” shape that connects China’s Yunnan Province with Mandalay in central Myanmar, and then stretches southeast down to Yangon and southwest to Myanmar’s Rakhine State..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Chinese investment, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"China’s active diplomatic efforts in trying to resolve the “Rohingya” issue can facilitate a rapprochement between Myanmar and Bangladesh that strengthens their trilateral cooperation through the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) and secures a second corridor for Beijing to the Afro-Asian (“Indian”) Ocean complementing the one that it’s already pioneered through the global pivot state of Pakistan via CPEC.
Xinhua reported earlier this week that China, Myanmar, and Bangladesh held their third informal Foreign Minister meeting since last year on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and agreed to three points of consensus on the “Rohingya” issue that’s plagued bilateral relations between Beijing’s two Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) partners for the past two years already. The outlet described the outcome of their talks as resulting in “the strong political will and important political consensus of the three parties to realize the repatriation as soon as possible”; “unanimously agree[ing] to establish a China-Myanmar-Bangladesh Joint Working Group mechanism…to be responsible for the concrete implementation of repatriation-related work”; and that “development is the fundamental way to solve the Rakhine issue”. Interestingly, this is exactly what the author proposed in his September 2017 analysis about “The Rohingya Crisis: Conflict Scenarios And Reconciliation Proposals“.
China’s interest in the “Rohingya” issue stems from the lasting impact that it could have on the stability of Myanmar and Bangladesh if it’s not responsibly resolved, which could in turn jeopardize its investments in both of them and especially the viability of its planned China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) that will run parallel to its existing pipelines through the country to connect the Yunnan capital of Kunming with the port of Kyaukphyu. This corridor to the Afro-Asian (“Indian”) Ocean is expected to complement the existing one that China already pioneered through the global pivot state of Pakistan via BRI’s flagship project of CPEC and thus ensure the reliability of the Silk Road across the Eastern Hemisphere’s centrally positioned body of water by avoiding the increasingly militarized South China Sea and the US Navy-controlled choke point of the Strait of Malacca. As regards China’s interests in Bangladesh’s stability, the South Asian state is one of its closest regional partners and has already been the recipient of approximately $38 billion worth of investments..."
Source/publisher:
"Global Research"
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar’s poorly regulated Jade and Gemstones production means up to two-thirds of all the country produces is possibly not subjected to tax, a new report by the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) reveals. Experts believe that this, as well as chronic undervaluing of registered jade and gemstones, costs the country billions of dollars in lost tax revenue.
Myanmar produces 90 percent of the world’s jade and is a leading producer of rubies, sapphires, and other varieties of coloured gemstones. China is the largest beneficiary of this trade, with untold amounts of jade and gemstones being imported and smuggled across the border to meet the demand of its growing elite.
Myanmar, a former British colony, was under military rule from 1962 to 2011, during which time it was increasingly internationally isolated and became one of the world’s most impoverished countries. Military rule was dissolved in 2011 and since then, the country has engaged in a turbulent liberalisation process. Its GDP has grown steadily over the past several years, reaching an all-time high of $69.32 billion in 2017.
Despite significant growth, 32 percent of Myanmar’s citizens still live in poverty and the nation’s infrastructure is ranked 146th out of 148 countries in the world. This is in large part because Myanmar does not collect enough tax. A recent report by the Asia Foundation revealed that Myanmar’s tax receipts for 2016-17 were only 6 to 7 percent of its GDP, the lowest among all ASEAN nations..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Gems, Gems - mining and trade, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar and China have discussed raising the quota of rice that can exported to China from Myanmar says an official from the Myanmar Rice Federation.
400,000 tonnes of rice export to China market as legal quota, according to official.
The talks took place during the Second China Myanmar Economic Corridor Forum held in Yunnan Province, China. The Myanmar delegation to the forum was led by Planning and Finance Minister U.
The countries mainly discussed cooperation on the Kyauk Phyu Special Economic Zone, Muse-Mandalay railway project, and agricultural exports to China. Separately, Myanmar and China discussed rice raising rice exports to China to 400,000 tonnes.
In 2016, China permitted Myanmar to export 100,000 tonnes of rice and now Myanmar rice merchants are seeking to raise the quota by 300,000 tonnes.
U Nay Lin Zin, joint secretary of the Myanmar Rice Federation, said China is supportive of exports of rice and broken rice in the border areas and will take action to legalise such border trade..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Border Trade with China, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"China’s policy towards the Myitsone dam issue has experienced several major changes since Myanmar suspended the controversial project in September 2011. At first, Beijing overtly asked the Myanmar government to promote the implementation of big projects in Myanmar and the Myitsone dam was included. Yet, Beijing adopted a pragmatic attitude towards the Myitsone issue after Myanmar’s National League for Democracy (NLD) took office in April 2016, in which it pursued for Myanmar’s compensation for reneging on the terms of the contract rather than simply resuming the project.
The main reasons for China’s softened position on the Myitsone issue are the following: first, Yunnan, the main buyer of the electricity from Myitsone dam, now has an oversupply of electricity and needs to export its growing electricity holding to ease the excess hydropower capacity. Second, China fully realizes that there would be strong national resistance against the Myanmar government’s decision to revive the Myitsone project. Third, China is anxious about Myanmar’s swing to the US due to their disputes over the Myitsone issue. Fourth, China wants to implement other projects at the expense of cooling down the Myitsone dam. Fifth, China is waiting for an opportunity to resolve the Myitsone issue.
Yet, China seems to has renewed hope that the Myitsone dam would be restarted as the bilateral ties with Myanmar has been on the upswing since the Rohingya refugee crisis in the mid-2017. During a visit to Kachin in December 2018, China’s ambassador to Myanmar Hong Liang said the Myitsone dam was crucial for both Beijing and Naypyidaw, and that any further delays could hamper bilateral relations. Then, in January 2019, a statement published by the Chinese Embassy in Yangon said “If this issue fails to be resolved... it will seriously hurt the confidence of Chinese entrepreneurs to invest in Myanmar... the two sides should find an acceptable solution as soon as possible”. It also claimed that Kachin political leaders and social organizations have a “positive attitude” toward the dam, leading to a widespread speculation that China wants to revive the controversial project.
Why China is so keen to revive the Myitsone dam now? Four reasons could explain China’s significant change in the Myitsone issue. First and foremost, China tries to move forward the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) by resuming the Myitsone project. As Joe Kumbun, who is a local analyst based in Kachin, said China attempts to provide full electricity to the Economic Cooperation Zone along the Myanmar-China border and the industrial zones in northern Kachin, the key elements of CMEC and BRI, through restarting the Myitsone dam. Second, China tries to revive the Myitsone dam and push forward with others projects by using it as support for Myanmar in the face of mounting international pressures over the Rohingya crisis. Third, China is getting upset because the Myanmar government has hung up the Myitsone dam for seven years and dragged its heels on the resolution to the Myitsone issue. Fourth, China is increasingly concerned about the serious consequences of the Myitsone project in the general election in Myanmar in 2020. In other words, the Myitsone dam might be a focus in the coming elections and be manipulated by the West to undermine the warm relations between China and Myanmar. Given the factors discussed above, China wants to address the Myitsone issue as soon as possible, thus removing the main barrier in their bilateral ties and promoting the economic cooperation between the two countries..."
Source/publisher:
"Burma Rivers Network" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Myanmar’s former military junta inked the $3.6 billion deal for the hydropower project located on the Irrawaddy River in 2009, according to Reuters, with Myanmar’s military linked Asia World Co. and China’s State Owned utility company China Power Investment Corp. tasked with its construction.
Work on the dam was suspended in September 2011 by then Myanmar’s President Thein Sein after public protests. At the time, Aung San Suu Kyi, before she became the leader of the current quasi-civilian Government in Myanmar, was one of the voices of opposition. Suu Kyi once said the dam would threaten the flow of the Irrawaddy River, and force the relocation of more than 10,000 people from 63 nearby villages, according to Reuters.
But after Suu Kyi became head of the ruling National League for Democracy party and the effective prime minister of the country, Beijing began to exact pressure to resume the dam’s construction.
In June 2016, a delegation headed by China’s Ambassador to Myanmar travelled to Kachin to lobby for restarting the dam project, according to news magazine Frontier Myanmar.
Most recently, in November 2018, the magazine reported that the Chinese regime wanted the project to be packaged as part of its One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative, and conveyed the message that other OBOR projects in Myanmar’s wouldn’t proceed unless the dam is restarted..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Bangladeshi traders have started importing 200 tonnes of onions a day from Myanmar through borders in order to arrest the skyrocketing price of the key cooking ingredient in the domestic market.
The importers of the pungent vegetable shared the information at a meeting with Commerce Secretary Md Jafar Uddin at the secretariat in Dhaka yesterday.
The government gave go ahead to the import of the Burmese variety of onion after India increased the minimum export price and a section of unscrupulous traders raised the prices in the local market.
Each kg of onion was found selling at between Tk 60 and Tk 80 yesterday at various kitchen markets in Dhaka.
Bangladeshi businesses are also importing onion from other countries, including Turkey, the commerce secretary said in a statement.
State-owned Trading Corporation of Bangladesh has started open market sales but the quantity is too small to cool down the domestic prices.
The secretary criticised the traders who are trying to make quick bucks by creating an artificial crisis. He urged the businessmen to do business maintaining integrity.
The supply of onion will also receive a boost soon once importers start releasing the goods-laden trucks through various land ports along with India, he said..."
Source/publisher:
"The Daily Star" (Bangladesh)
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Border Trade with Bangladesh, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Chinese President Xi Jinping and senior military leaders met with Myanmar’s commander-in-chief this week, as Senior General Min Aung Hlaing paid an official visit to Beijing. It was the fifth time Min Aung Hlaing has visited China since assuming his current post as the top leader of Myanmar’s military forces, the Tatmadaw. In Myanmar, where the military retains a constitutionally-mandated grip on political power despite holding elections in 2015, that makes Min Aung Hlaing a top political leader as well, and the topics of conversation during his China trip reflected that.
Min Aung Hlaing’s official host was Chief of the Joint Staff Department General Li Zuocheng, but he met with a variety of Chinese military officials, including Central Military Commission Vice Chair Xu Qiliang and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe, on Tuesday and Wednesday. Min Aung Hlaing also met with Xi on Wednesday. At each of these meetings, both sides took care to praise the longstanding – “eternal” even – friendship between their countries and expressed hope for deepening cooperation still further in the future. “Myanmar regards China as an eternal friend and a strategic partner country,” Min Aung Hlaing said, according to a press release from the Tatmadaw..."
Source/publisher:
"The Diplomat" (Japan)
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Economic activities of the Myanmar Military, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Burma experienced a loss of revenue of US $480m from exports to China during last fiscal year.
Trade on the Sinoburma border have dropped this last fiscal year after China clamped down on what it considered illegal imports from Burma while imports from China to Burma have remained unaffected, say border officials.
U Tin Ye Win, director general of the 105-mile trading zone in Muse, told NMG that Burma has experienced a loss of revenue of US $480m from exports to China from April 2018 to February 2019.
China has implemented a policy restricting products exported from Burma since last October, he explained.
“They have blocked all illegal products…As a result, trading has declined.”
Sao San Mueng, CEC of Muse-Namkham Border Trading Association, said much of the trade to China that is being obstructed is not illegal goods.
“We’re exporting legal products but they don’t recognize it,” he said.
Much of the goods exported from Burma are agriculture, aquaculture and timber.
Sai Tun Ko Ko, joint secretary of Muse-Namkham Border Trading Association, said China is blocking cattle, rice, corn and sugar exports.
“We are in negotiations for legally exporting cattle (to China).”
Manufactured products like cloth, electrical, industrial and machinery and parts are China’s top imports to Burma, Sai Tun Ko Ko said..."
Source/publisher:
BNI Multimedia Group (Myanmar) via "Network Media Group"
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Myanmar is exported 88,500 out of 100,000 tons of rice to China in line with an agreement with the COFCO and the rest will be exported in coming December, according to Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF).
The MRF had an agreement with China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation (COFCO) from China to export 100,000 tons of rice to China in 2019 and they will try to sign a new MoU with the COFCO to export more tons of rice to China for next FY, according to the MR.
Myanmar earned over US$650 million from more than 2.16 million tons of rice and broken rice in 11 months in this FY and it is less than over 780,000 tons of rice and broken rice exported in the same period in last year. Myanmar earned US$1.003 billion in the same period in last FY, said an official from Ministry of Commerce.
Myanmar is exporting rice through maritime trade to EU and Africa markets and to China via Muse border trade route.
Myanmar found new markets for its rice export in 2017-18 FY and about 3.6 million tons of rice are exported which broke the record in 50 years time..."
Source/publisher:
"Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar has officially permitted the use of the Chinese and Japanese currencies in cross-border payments, as the Asian giants vie for dominance in one of the region’s last frontier markets.
The directive means that the yuan and yen join the euro, the US Dollar and the Singaporean dollar as designated currencies for settling international trade in Myanmar, where the central bank is desperate for foreign investment after years of economic sanctions and financial mismanagement.
China, which shares a 2,200km (1,360-mile) border with Myanmar, has been keen to draw its southern neighbour into the “Belt and Road Initiative”, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s grand infrastructure plan for Eurasia.
China is Myanmar’s biggest trading partner, with bilateral trade topping US$700 million last year, according to Myanmar’s Ministry of Commerce.
Japan is also a big trade and investment partner, with Japanese companies maintaining a steady presence in the country since the end of British colonial rule in the 1940s, right through its economic isolation due to Western sanctions from 2003..."
Source/publisher:
"South China Morning Post" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Burma's economic relations with Japan, Border Trade - general, China-Burma relations, Japan-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Intense fighting along major route halts fortune in cross-border trade
Description:
"Cross-border trade between Myanmar and China has ground to a halt since rebels launched coordinated attacks on several targets along a major trade route on Aug. 15.
The Northern Alliance -- a rebel collation of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), Arakan Army and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army -- attacked a major military training academy near Myanmar’s second largest city, Mandalay, and several positions in northeastern Shan state bordering China.
The Myanmar government said the attacks left at least 15 dead, including three civilians, and caused around $200,000 worth of damage to properties and buildings..."
Source/publisher:
"ASIA - PACIFIC"
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Border Trade with China, Armed conflict in Shan State - general articles, Non-Ceasefire Groups
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The construction of a new road and bridge near the existing Goke Hteik Railway viaduct in western Shan State will begin this year, the Ministry of Construction has announced.
The major infrastructure project along the Mandalay-Muse road, a significant border-trade route, is expected to significantly boost the transportation of goods between China and Myanmar once it is completed.
The Gote Twin section of the road between Nawngcho and Goke Hteik, along the Mandalay-Muse road, was built during colonial times and the rail bridge on the route is now over 100 years old.
The road is also narrow and has many curves and turns. Currently, trucks can take up to three hours to travel the Goke Twin stretch. During the rainy season, trucks can skid and cause traffic jams, said U Sai Kyaw, general secretary of Rice Merchants Association of Mandalay, adding that the stretch is one of the areas that see the highest number of accidents in western Shan State.
“Whenever an accident happens along the Gote Twin stretch, traffic congestion as long as six to 10 hours can occur, seriously delaying the flow of goods,” U Sai Kyaw said..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Border Trade with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"An Ambitious China-backed railway project connecting two economic centers in Myanmar with Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province in southwestern China, will cost almost US$9 billion and final decisions on the specific details of the construction are expected to be made by the end of this year.
As a part of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), which is itself part of Beijing’s grand infrastructure plan, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a feasibility study for the Muse-Mandalay standard-gauge railway has been carried out.
Last October, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed by two state-owned companies, the China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group (CREEG) (formerly the China Railway Group Ltd.) and Myanmar Railways.
During the second Belt and Road Forum held in Beijing in late April, China handed over a feasibility report on the Muse-Mandalay Railway project to Myanmar’s Minister for Transport and Communications U Thant Sin Maung.
Myanmar Railways experts are currently scrutinising the Muse-Mandalay feasibility report and making serious decisions regarding routes, bridges, tunnels and the exact locations of stations.
The Managing Director of Myanmar Railways U Ba Myint said in a press conference in Naypyitaw on Monday that the construction of the railway will cost $8.9 billion according to the study..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Border Trade with India, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"China will Provide a grant of 1 billion yuan (225.39 billion kyats, or approximately US$148 million) for socioeconomic development projects under an economic and technical cooperation agreement signed in Beijing last week.
Myanmar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release on Monday that the 1 billion yuan would be used to support socio-economic development, particularly projects to improve people’s livelihoods, feasibility studies for major projects and humanitarian assistance for IDPs in northern Myanmar.
State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi recently completed a six-day visit to China to attend the 2nd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is Xi’s signature foreign policy project. Unveiled in 2013, it is also known as the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road.
The project aims to build a network of roads, railroads and shipping lanes linking at least 70 countries from China to Europe passing through Central Asia, the Middle East and Russia, fostering trade and investment..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar held its first ever international investment summit late last month in Naypyitaw. The two-day event showcased 120 projects worth US$3 billion (about 4.5 trillion kyats) in 10 states and regions.
On the second day of the event, Investment and Foreign Economic Relations Minister U Thaung Tun hosted a dialogue for international guests, offering them reasons why they should invest in Southeast Asia’s “Final Best Frontier.” The government is looking for ways to revive the economy, which has been sluggish for more than two years.
“Myanmar is now open for businesses. We are making the necessary changes,” U Thaung Tun said.
A weakening currency, high inflation, armed conflict, unstable policies and the slow pace of reform have chipped away at growth under the current administration, which had hoped the economy would take wing after more than five decades of isolation under military rule.
Under the government’s “Look East” policy, officials have toured Asia beating the drum for the country’s economy. The summit was part of this attempt to raise investment from East Asian countries. More than 1,600 local and foreign delegates from 17 countries attended the summit and 40 companies exhibited. The top countries were China, Japan, Singapore and Thailand..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, Chinese investment, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Ethnic Kachin leaders from three political parties in Myanmar’s northernmost state have met with China’s ambassador to the country to discuss the faltering peace process in which the Myanmar government is trying to get its military and nearly a dozen ethnic armies to agree to a permanent cease-fire, a party representative said Monday.
They also discussed China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a controversial Chinese-backed mega-dam project, and Chinese laborers working illegally in Kachin state, said G. Aung Khan, chairman of the Kachin Democratic Party (KDP), who participated in the meeting.
Ambassador Hong Liang met with the party heads on Dec. 29 in Kachin capital Myitkyina after the same Kachin leaders met with Dan Chugg, the UK’s ambassador to Myanmar, and Scot Marciel, the U.S. ambassador to Myanmar, he said.
“Hong Liang had said it is a good time to work on the peace process,” he said. “It seems China can handle Myanmar’s peace process, but we want other countries to be involved.”
G. Aung Khan also said that China’s involvement in Myanmar’s peace process, a key project of State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian-led government, is based on its own self-interest in mega-projects tied to its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Chinese President Xi Jinping’s U.S. $1 trillion global infrastructure-spending program..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Kachin State, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"When Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi heads to Beijing at the end of April to attend China’s Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, she will be caught between Chinese leaders’ strong desire to complete a controversial dam project and growing public opposition to the dam amid wider suspicion about other Chinese initiatives, Myanmar political analysts said Monday.
The fate of the Myitsone Dam, a U.S. $3.6 billion Chinese-backed hydropower project on the Irrawaddy River in Kachin state that was put on hold in 2011 amid heavy public opposition, is at the top of the list of issues to be discussed between Myanmar and Chinese leaders at the second forum, they said.
“We see that Myitsone Dam project is now under the Belt and Road Initiative [BRI],” said Myanmar economist Zeyya Thu, referring to the massive infrastructure initiative that China’s President Xi Jinping has made the center-piece of his foreign policy..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"In 2018, the clock kept ticking for economic reforms as businesses in Myanmar started to lose their cool.
Foreign law firms pulled the plug, the liberalisation of insurance was delayed, restrictions for foreign investment lingered and business confidence plummeted. Above all, the ongoing Rakhine crisis, in the words of a business group, is “certainly one issue that hangs over Myanmar like a sword of Damocles.” Europeans complained that trade promotion abroad for the country had become “mission impossible”. These all painted a grim picture for the economy in the year.
Yet, it would be wrong to say Myanmar saw no progress in 2018. Two landmark pieces of legislation – the Companies Law and Investment Law – were in force, spelling significant changes for the private sector. Meanwhile, the government scaled up anti-corruption efforts, empowering the anti-graft body, and changed its top economic team, creating a new ministry and appointing a new finance minister..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
The political, economic, social and cultural situation in regions bordering Burma, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations, Urban development
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Every Morning, a pack of Burmese vendors gather their wares and approach the fence separating Muse, a border town in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State, from China’s Yunnan Province.
Sheltered by Palm Trees, they slip snacks, herbal medicine and boxes of cigarettes through small holes in the fence not much larger than milk cartons as Chinese border guards lazily observe the fracas.
If an item is too large, they wait patiently until nobody’s watching and toss it over the border.
Footsteps away, packed jade markets bustle as travelling buyers scrupulously examine the wares with magnifying glasses and consult with partners on WeChat video calls before breaking out into rapid-fire rounds of negotiation.
Trade is the beating heart of Ruili, the notorious final frontier of Yunnan as it meets Myanmar.
Once famous for sex, drugs, and gambling, the city is hard at work burying its seedier side under a meteoric spree of development.
While illicit KTVs and “massage parlours” still line the border fence, and shadier cross-border entrepreneurs deal in illegal timber and human trafficking, the two countries are preparing to make the area into a hub for China’s Belt & Road Initiative..."
Source/publisher:
"Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, Chinese investment, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Muse-Lashio-Mandalay Railway Project is a major exit of China and it is also the project linking with Myanmar. Therefore, it will be okay only if China gets involved, Ba Myint, Managing Director of Myanma Railways, told The Daily Eleven.
Muse-Lashio-Mandalay is the second longest railroad section after Yangon-Mandalay in Myanmar. The new railroad of Muse-Lashio-Mandalay will be 267 miles long with 60 tunnels. Electric trains will be used on this railroad section and they runs at a speed of 100 miles per hour, the report of the MR said.
The new railroad of Muse-Lashio-Mandalay links a major exit of China with Myanmar. Commodity flow will be secure and smooth only if China gets involved. Therefore, the involvement of China is of great importance. For this project, Myanmar and China are major players, Ba Myint told The Daily Eleven.
The feasibility study includes GPS, total station, samples of water and soil and soil tests. The feasibility study has been already carried out. EIA and SIA reports are being made known to the public.
The MR made the CREC of Muse-Lashio-Mandalay known to the public in Mandalay, Naungcho, Kyaukme, Lashio, Hsenwi, Muse and Pyin Oo Lwin starting from June 25 to early September.
The official of Myanma Railways of the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Union of Myanmar and the official of China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group signed Memorandum of Understanding on Feasibility Study for Muse-Mandalay Railway Project..."
Source/publisher:
"Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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Sub-title:
Chinese companies are pushing to resume destructive dam projects, ignoring a key assessment
Description:
"Much media attention in Myanmar is focussed on China’s apparent efforts to revive the stalled Myitsone dam, its role in advising the Myanmar government on developing a new hydropower strategy white paper, and the implications of these developments for the adoption of the World Bank-led strategic environmental assessment of Myanmar’s hydropower sector, which was released in late 2018.
The debate appears to revolve around the assumption that the country must choose between a strategy for large hydropower development supported by western donors and the World Bank or one supported by China. While its contents are unknown, there is concern that the white paper may push forward highly environmentally and socially destructive projects such as the Myitsone dam and the series of mega dams proposed for the Salween River main stem (also known as Thanlwin), each involving Chinese companies and financiers. But is this assumption right?
The long-awaited environmental assessment recommended not building dams on the main stem of five major river basins, including the Ayeyarwady and Salween. This would remove the controversial Myitsone and the Salween main stem dams from Myanmar’s energy development plans, which have been fiercely opposed by civil society groups. Government adoption of this recommendation would reflect sound science on the adverse ecological impacts of large hydropower dams on mainstream river systems and provide critical recognition of the multiple values – ecological, social, economic and cultural – delivered by these rivers..."
Source/publisher:
"thethirdpole.net"
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), Biodiversity - Burma/Myanmar-related, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
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Description:
"After heavily investing in the Myitsone Dam, China re-engages discussions about resuming construction of the project stalled for many years.
The Chinese ambassador for Burma pressed to restart a contentious hydro-power dam project during a recent meeting with important Kachin political leaders in northern Myanmar.
“The Chinese ambassador said China wants to resume construction of the Myitsone hydropower dam construction, since it’s already heavily invested in the project,” said U Kwam Gowng Awng Kham, chairman for Kachin Democratic Party.
Planned near Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, the dam project has been a massive undertaking by the Chinese government, U Kwam Gowng Awng Kham said. With its suspension, China is going to keep trying to reboot the project.
The previous Thein Sein government suspended it in 2011 after the project received widespread opposition. If it’s completed it would generate 6,000 megawatts, making it the fifteenth largest dam in the world. Most of the dam’s output would be sent to China. It would cause extensive flooding, and because it’s planned on a fault line, there are legitimate fears an earthquake could damage it causing flooding that would inundate neighboring Kachin State capital, Myitkyina.
Since the NLD government came to power, China has been pushing for State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi to restart the project.
The objective of the Myitsone hydropower dam is for regional development, said U Kwam Gowng Awng Kham, but the negative impact a mega project of this kind will have on the environment would be huge. This is why Kachin and so many others across the country have been against it from the start..."
Source/publisher:
"BNI Multimedia Group" via Network Media Group (Canada)
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Hydropower projects, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
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Summary:
"Ever since the National League for Democracy (NLD) was elected to government at the end of 2015, Myanmar’s economy has been opening up and quietly growing steadily.
In an effort to open up its...
Description:
"Ever since the National League for Democracy (NLD) was elected to government at the end of 2015, Myanmar’s economy has been opening up and quietly growing steadily.
In an effort to open up its economy, the government in Myanmar has taken various steps in making the country more attractive to investors. Last year, Myanmar enacted an investment law that simplifies the investment process and allows the government to use incentives to bring in investors to various sectors of the economy.
For Myanmar, foreign direct investments (FDI) play a major role in developing the economy. In 2016 to early 2017, Myanmar received about US$6 billion in FDIs. However, foreign investment for the past couple of years has dipped.
To help boost FDI in the country, Myanmar enacted the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) law to pave the way for SEZs to be established in the country. The three SEZs which are currently under development are Thilawa, Dawei and Kyaukphyu.
The Thilawa SEZ, located 25 kilometres south of Yangon, is Myanmar’s first modern industrial park. To date, only the Thilawa SEZ is open, with the rest still under development. The opening of Thilawa has been a success with total FDI in Zone A of the SEZ reaching up to US$1 billion with 95 percent occupancy. 79 firms have also decided to open up their factories or logistics hubs in this SEZ..."
Source/publisher:
"The ASEAN Post"
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Dawei (Tavoy) Special Economic Zone, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations
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Sub-title:
Myanmar is set to cooperate with Hong Kong in addition to other countries along China’s Belt and Road Initiative, announced Minister of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations U Thaung Tun during the Fourth Belt and Road Summit 2019 in Hong Kong on Sept
Description:
"The summit was organised by the government of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council to promote business collaboration through the Belt and Road platform. More than 5800 representatives from 69countries attended the event.
“Hong Kong and Myanmar are strategically located along the Belt and Road project. Hong Kong is a major economic entrance to China, a central area for logistics and is also a centre for financial services. On the other hand, Myanmar is a fast-growing country and so will cooperate with Hong Kong and other countries along the Belt and Road project,” U Thaung Tun said.
He said Myanmar’s Sustainable Development Plan will work to include such sectors as investment, finance, logistics, and industry in implementing the Belt and Road Initiative, a global development strategy adopted by the Chinese government involving infrastructure development and investments in 152 countries and international organisations in Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas.
“Hong Kong is a strategic location with a lot of potential and will participate in the BRI through cooperation on policies and projects for the BRI by sharing extensive knowledge about the main prospects of Hong Kong, and promotion of Hong Kong’s service industry,” said Chief Executive of Hong Kong Mrs Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times"
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Chinese investment, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Myanmar has endured a lot in recent history. A brutal military dictatorship, which transformed its robust postcolonial economy into one of Asia’s weakest and set in motion the ongoing persecution of the Rohingya Muslims; the “8888 uprising”, a pro-democracy movement that catapulted the National League for Democracy (NLD), the political party led by Aung San Suu Kyi, into the spotlight but ultimately ended in a bloody coup, restoring isolationist military rule; and a subsequent transition towards civil authority – or something resembling democracy – with the government led by the NLD, although 25 per cent of seats in parliament are still held by a military that was found guilty of genocide in a United Nations report last year. Now the nation faces another challenge; one involving its fledgling tourism industry.
In the early 2010s, the Southeast Asian nation was a picture of wide-eyed optimism as travel writers evangelised about the “land that time forgot” and kyat-rich arrivals streamed in to experience it, bringing hopes that tourism might help boost a weak economy. For the first half of the decade, everything seemed to be going according to plan, as international visitor numbers surged from 792,000 in 2010 to 4.7 million in 2015, according to CEIC Data. Tourism revenue followed the same trajectory..."
Source/publisher:
"South China Morning Post"
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Tourism in Burma - articles and studies, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"China’s long-term strategic interests of seeing Myanmar as a “land bridge” to reach the Indian Ocean will continue to drive Beijing’s strategy. This interdependency defining the relationship is unlikely to change in the near future. Myanmar’s diplomatic balancing is under stress in the face of the West distancing from Naypyidaw over the country’s handling of the Rohingya crisis. As in the past, Naypyidaw is tilting towards its northern neighbour for both political and economic support and Beijing is fully leveraging the situation to its advantage, but it will be a bumpy road.
After years of close strategic relations during Myanmar’s military rule, China-Myanmar relations plunged into a phase of uncertainty when Myanmar military regime decided to take the path of democratisation in 2010. In the following years, Myanmar’s suspension of two China-funded projects — the Myitsone hydropower project in 2011 and the Letpedaung coppermine in 2013 — marked the beginning of a troubled relationship.
Beijing recalibrated its policy towards Myanmar to suit the changing times with the aim to arrest growing anti-Chinese sentiments in the Southeast Asian nation and to safeguard its core strategic interests including limiting strategic ties between Naypyidaw and Washington.
When the Aung San Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy (NLD) government took office in 2016, contrary to popular perceptions, it adopted a balanced policy towards China and the West. Beijing’s Myanmar policy revision may have paid off, but it was Naypyidaw’s conscious strategic balancing that allowed the diplomatic equilibrium to evolve..."
Source/publisher:
"Observer Research Foundation (ORF)"
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
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Description:
"China and Myanmar are contemplating carrying out a feasibility study of a railway line between Muse on the Myanmar side of China-Myanmar border and Mandalay in Myanmar, according to recent media reports. The reports also suggest that China is also in the process of building a railway line connecting Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province of China, with Ruili, a town on the China-Myanmar border. Media reports are not clear if these two railway lines would be connected or would operate separately. Nevertheless, once operational, the two railway lines are expected to provide a major boost to economic activities between China and Myanmar and further cement the existing bilateral trade between the two countries.
During a visit to the border town of Ruili in China on the China-Myanmar border in 2017, this author got a first-hand exposure to the thriving border trade between Ruili and Muse. The step to conduct a feasibility study for railway network is in continuation with China’s long list of existing infrastructure projects in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"Observer Research Foundation (ORF)"
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and Myanmar are expected to further enhance their relations and explore more areas for cooperation, HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Thursday during a meeting with a visiting official from Myanmar.
At a meeting with Myanmar's Union Minister for Investment and Foreign Economic Relations and Chairman of the Myanmar Investment Commission U Thaung Tun at the Chief Executive's Office on Thursday morning, Lam highlighted the Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement under negotiation, as well as the extension of a visa-free arrangement between the two places.
Hong Kong and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including Myanmar, lie along the Belt and Road, Lam said, adding that Myanmar enterprises may leverage Hong Kong's advantages as an international financial, transportation and trade center to explore the Belt and Road as well as global markets.
Hong Kong is actively assisting other regions in capacity building, and is very willing to share its experience in management and training of talent with Myanmar, she added.
The parts relating to Hong Kong and some ASEAN member states including Myanmar under the Hong Kong-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement have taken effect in June, and Hong Kong is actively negotiating an Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement with Myanmar, Lam said..."
Source/publisher:
"Global Times" via Xinhua
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Summary:
"Politicians, activists and civil society representatives will gather in Yangon on April 1 to expand their campaign against the Chinese-backed Myitsone Dam, leaders of the movement said at a small...
Description:
"Politicians, activists and civil society representatives will gather in Yangon on April 1 to expand their campaign against the Chinese-backed Myitsone Dam, leaders of the movement said at a small protest in Yangon on Monday.
U Aung Soe Myint, a leader of the movement, told Frontier the group had invited NGOs, political parties and environmental experts from every state and region to come together in opposition to the multi-billion dollar project.
“We have also invited National League for Democracy officials and NLD members of parliament, but I am not sure whether or not they will attend,” Aung Soe Myint, who is also the vice chair of the People’s Party in Mandalay, said at the 50-person demonstration in downtown Yangon on Monday afternoon.
The group will form an executive committee at the meeting, he said, and will devise strategies for campaigning against the dam.
U Myat Kyaw, a leader of the Anti-Adhamma Committee, a liberal Buddhist group that opposes ultra-nationalists, said at the protest that the people of Myanmar should not stay silent over the future of the mega-project, which was suspended in 2011 by President U Thein Sein in response to a growing national opposition movement.
Public concerns include large-scale displacement and loss of livelihoods, the destruction of cultural heritage and environmental degradation.
Myat Kyaw said it was time to unite against the damming of the Ayeyarwady River. Amid increasing pressure from China to restart the project, he said Myitsone would only be cancelled if Myanmar presented a united front, and suggested that the government needed the support of the people to stand up to China..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar"
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
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Sub-title:
Myanmar’s finance minister has warned the country to “brace for any future unexpected shocks” resulting from the US-China trade war.
Description:
"“Consequences of rising global economic and trade tensions on the financial sector are quicker and more severe as a result of faster global capital flows creating unpredictable currency volatility across the world,” U Soe Win told the Myanmar Global Investment Forum 2019 in Nay Pyi Taw this week.
“Continuous trade tension and possible currency conflict between two large economies; abrupt changes in policy of one major economy taking a hawkish stance one day and then a dovish stance another day ... have been haunting many economies and leaving them with no other choice but to brace for any future unexpected shocks,” he said.
Myanmar, therefore, has to “strengthen our macroeconomic environment to withstand these inevitable global contagion effects.”
The minister told an audience of investors and executives that the government’s efforts have resulted in growth above 6 percent while inflation has been tamed at around 6-7pc. He admitted the country’s transition “may not have been on a bed of roses due to the presence of existing internal and external pressures”. But the administration has ”managed to stabilise our financial sector to some extent by making our monetary and fiscal policy transmissions effective as much as possible with limited financial instruments we have at hand.”
The government previously admitted that it had underestimated the economic impact of the crisis in northern Rakhine..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times"
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-14
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Burma's economic relations with the USA, China-Burma-US relations
Language:
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Summary:
"Although the security situation in northern Shan State has stabilized, businesses say they are still on the alert about their safety and transport costs, which are rising due to a shortage of trucks...
Description:
"Although the security situation in northern Shan State has stabilized, businesses say they are still on the alert about their safety and transport costs, which are rising due to a shortage of trucks.
The attacks by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, Arakan Army and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army on military and civilian targets on Aug. 15 destroyed the Goke Twin bridge on the Muse-Mandalay highway, a major trade route with China.
“It took about five days to repair the bridge and it was reopened on Aug. 20. But there were roadblocks [due to several other bridges being destroyed] between Kutkai and Muse, so we could only fully use the road again after Sept. 5. The bridge can only carry trucks weighing up to 48 tons, so everyone wants to hire those trucks to transport their goods. Therefore, the price went up,” said U Win Aung Khant, the chairman of the Muse Highway Freight Forwarders Association..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy"
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Shan State - general articles, Non-Ceasefire Groups, Burma's economic relations with China, Border Trade with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"With recent intense fighting in Myanmar’s northern Shan state and ongoing armed conflict in northern Rakhine state, China’s influence in the Southeast Asian country’s peace process has grown with the country’s government pushing for ethnic armed groups to meet with peace negotiators.
But not everyone in Myanmar trusts Beijing or sees its role as beneficial.
China jumped in last month after three members of the Northern Alliance group — the Arakan Army (AA), Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) — launched coordinated attacks on various locations in war-torn northern Shan state and neighboring Mandalay region, killing 15 Myanmar troops, policemen, and civilians.
The combined forces carried out further armed assaults on various bridges and border passages to disrupt overland trade with China in retaliation for what they said were offensives by Myanmar soldiers in areas the ethnic armies control.
As fighting intensified last month, Sun Guoxiang, special envoy for Asian affairs from China’s foreign ministry, met with the armies to express Beijing’s displeasure with the armed conflict, which has increased instability in the border region, and pressured them to stop fighting..."
Source/publisher:
"Radio Free Asia (RFA)"
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Non-Ceasefire Groups, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones
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Sub-title:
Yangon Region Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein welcomed the establishment of the Myanmar-Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MHKCCI) and urged more Hong Kong manufacturers to set up shop in the commercial capital.
Description:
"The MHKCCI was launched on September 3 to promote responsible investment in Myanmar and attract market entrants into the country. The event attracted more than 300 guests, including investment and foreign economic relations ministry permanent secretary U Aung Naing Oo, Yangon Mayor U Maung Maung Soe and Yangon region Kayin ethnic affairs minister Daw Naw Pann Thinzar Myo.
“Last November, I personally received a group of investors from Hong Kong and I am pleased to learn that a few of them are already considering to expand their manufacturing in Yangon, near the New Yangon City,” the chief minister said during the launch.
“Luen Thai Garment from Hong Kong is already employing some 8000 workers in Yangon, and new members of the Hong Kong manufacturing sector are most welcome,” he added.
The new chamber was eager to highlight its all-female secretariat headed by executive director Clara Tang, which reflects its emphasis on gender equality and female empowerment.
“This approach represents our commitment to diversity and is in line with the common practice of Hong Kong businesses’ in empowering women and local expertise,” said MHKCCI vice chair Adrian Short, who heads the Myanmar operations of Jardine Cycle and Carriage..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times"
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Political, social and economic dimensions of investment in Burma, China-Burma relations
Language:
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Summary:
"MYANMAR HAS two major assets that interest China: access to the Indian Ocean and plentiful natural resources. During the rule of Myanmar’s military junta, 1988-2011, China won access to both by...
Sub-title:
If China and India seek sustainable development in Myanmar, they should engage more locally and listen to the voices of affected communities. For China, this starts with the Myitsone Dam.
Description:
"MYANMAR HAS two major assets that interest China: access to the Indian Ocean and plentiful natural resources. During the rule of Myanmar’s military junta, 1988-2011, China won access to both by protecting the regime from the impact of sanctions and condemnation by Western countries.
Under President U Thein Sein’s transitional, military-backed government, beginning in 2011, Myanmar moved closer to Western powers, seeking to lessen the country’s dependence on its giant neighbour to the north. Many observers assumed that, under a National League for Democracy-led, semi-civilian government, the pivot away from China would continue . However, since 2016, when the NLD took office, China has increased its influence in Myanmar, in large part because of the country’s renewed isolation over the Rohingya crisis. In Kachin State, which borders China to the north and east, the consequences of this shift are profound.
China has had direct access to the Indian Ocean since 2013, when a gas pipeline that spans Myanmar became operational. The 2,520-kilometre pipeline starts from Kyaukphyu in Rakhine State on Myanmar’s western coast, enters China from Shan State at Ruili in Yunnan Province and ends at Guigang in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. A parallel crude oil pipeline that stops at Kunming began operating in 2017. As well as their economic value, these projects give China long-term leverage over Myanmar.
Since 2017, the government has come under renewed international pressure over the widespread and systematic abuses perpetrated by the Tatmadaw against the Rohingya population in northern Rakhine State. More than 700,000 civilians fled across the border to Bangladesh, which is now home to more than a million Rohingya refugees. Through its veto powers at the United Nations Security Council, China has protected Myanmar by blocking moves to penalise the government. While there have been many losers in the Rohingya crisis, China has been a clear winner. The Tatmadaw has also done well out of it; the NLD-led civilian government, much less so..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar"
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Burma's economic relations with China, Burma's economic relations with India, Chinese investment, China-Burma-India relations
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