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BURMA RELATED NEWS - July 27,
2001.
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HEADLINES
---------------------------------------------------------------- AP - EU Wants Myanmar To Make More Political
Progress
AP -
Cambodia-Thailand Fight To Counter Border Drug Trade
AP -
Thai Police To Prosecute Foreign Bosses Of "Boiler Rooms"
AFP -
EU says sanctions against Myanmar regime to remain
AFP -
India proposes trade ministerial talks with Southeast Asia
AFP -
Southeast Asia unfazed by China's entry into WTO: Severino
AFP -
Southeast Asia proposes three-pronged plan to boost Russian
ties
Reuters - Asia hails constructive talks and critics want
action
AP -
Powell: U.S. Committed to Asia
IHT - EU Asks
Burma to Make Further Effort on Rights
Bernama - Asean Foreign Ministers End Meeting On High Note The
Nation - War on drugs goes hitech with UN programme
Bkk Post
- Registration in September
---------------------------------------------------------------- Friday July 27, 4:56 PM
EU Wants Myanmar To Make More
Political Progress
HANOI (AP)--The European Union won't lift sanctions
against Myanmar until it makes much more progress in its dialogue with the
political opposition, EU officials said Friday.
The EU commissioner for external affairs, Chris Patten,
said that while some progress has taken place recently, he hoped the dialogue
"is not only irreversible but...a lot more rapid."
"Until there is significant progress on the political
front...the common position of the EU will stay the same," he told reporters.
Top EU officials met Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung
during a conference in Hanoi this week of the 10-nation Association of Southeast
Asian Nations and its key allies.
Unlike previous years, Myanmar received little attention
at the ASEAN conference, participants said.
"The few who spoke about it praised recent developments in
Myanmar...and hoped for more," ASEAN Secretary General Rodolfo Severino said.
"There were no accusations or contestations...certainly the atmosphere was very
different from three years ago."
"Compared to the last two meetings, this one is the most
enjoyable for me," Win Aung told a final news conference.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer agreed that
Myanmar had made "cautious progress."
"Things are looking better in Myanmar. There are some
signs that the dialogue is leading in the right direction," he said.
The EU's Patten said he hopes Myanmar's pace of reform
will quicken after the planned visits in September of U.N. special envoy Razali
Ismail and U.N. human rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, and of a team from the
International Labor Organization.
The ILO imposed sanctions on Myanmar last year because of
forced labor there.
The EU imposed trade, diplomatic and financial sanctions
after the Myanmar military crushed demonstrations in 1988 and refused to
recognize pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's overwhelming win in 1990
elections.
Patten said the EU was concerned about the economic and
social impact of the Myanmar government's policies, including what he called the
"humanitarian catastrophe" of an AIDS epidemic in the country.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Friday July 27, 7:52 PM
Cambodia-Thailand Fight To Counter Border Drug Trade PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP)--Security forces along the Cambodian-Thai
border will bolster cooperation to combat the narcotics trade, top officials
agreed Friday.
Thai Defense Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and Cambodia's joint Defense
Ministers, General Tea Banh and Prince Sisowath Sirirath, signed a statement
that called for "urgent measures" to be developed to combat the flow of drugs.
It also underlined the need to stamp out antiquities smuggling and stolen
car rackets.
Drug abuse, especially of the stimulant methamphetamine, has penetrated
Thai society and alarmed the government. At the same time, Cambodia was earlier
this year described by the U.N. as one of the world's primary sources of
marijuana.
"Both sides agree to step up cooperation in exchanging information related
to the production, the route of shipment, and of the sources" of illicit drugs,
the statement said.
Methamphetamine, marijuana, heroin and opium are all actively trafficked in
Thailand and Cambodia, sometimes after being smuggled in from Myanmar and Laos
The meeting was the second for the two countries' general border committee
meeting, which last met in late 1995.
Chavalit, also Thailand's deputy prime minister, arrived in Cambodia Friday
afternoon.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Friday July 27, 4:51 PM
Thai Police To Prosecute Foreign Bosses Of "Boiler Rooms" BANGKOK (AP)--The Australian
and British bosses of two "boiler room" stock trading companies busted in
Bangkok will be charged with violating Thai securities regulations and could
face up to five years in jail, police said Friday.
But 78 other foreigners arrested in the raids Thursday on the two firms -
accused of defrauding Australian and other investors of millions of dollars -
will be charged only with working in Thailand without an official permit. They
were mostly low-level employees accused of making high-pressure sales pitches
over the phone to convince would-be investors to purchase shares in shaky or
nonexistent companies.
Police Col. Surapol Thongprasert, chief of Thailand's transnational crime
unit, said the 78 salespeople would face a 5,000-baht ($1=THB45.615) fine or
three months in jail. Because none are known to have a criminal record, he
expected them to only be fined.
They included 34 Britons, 10 Americans, 10 Australians, 10 Irish and
smaller numbers of nationals of Canada, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia,
India, Myanmar, Jamaica and Liberia, according to diplomats and Thai news
reports.
They were due to be arraigned in a civil court in Bangkok later Friday.
The two managing directors of the raided companies, Brinton Group and
Benson Dupont Capital Management, would be charged later. Police named them as
Scott Fisher, 34, from Australia, and Gerald Quinn from Britain.
Under Thai law, anyone convicted of running an unlicensed securities
operation is liable to imprisonment for two to five years and a fine of between
THB200,000 THB500,000.
Possible Cross-Border Money
Laundering
Officers from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Australian Federal Police joined Thai officers in the bust in Bangkok's central business district. "We are pleased to be able to provide investigative support in this case
and we anticipate long-term investigative follow-ups," FBI agent Robert Cahill,
legal attache at the U.S. Embassy, said Friday.
Nineteen Thais and five foreigners who were among those arrested Thursday
and found to have dual Thai nationality have been released without charge,
Surapol said.
Deputy national police chief Gen. Sant Sarutanond said Thursday the
transfer of a large amount of money by the two companies raised suspicion they
belonged to an international group based outside Thailand and may have been
engaged in cross-border money laundering.
Surapol said Fisher and Quinn could face investigation by Thai anti-money
laundering officials.
The companies raided also operated under the names Osiris Asia Pacific,
Strategic Alliance Corp., Sigama Capital Management and Dreyfus Capital.
Thai authorities named 21 other such "boiler room" companies based in
Bangkok and warned people overseas not to buy shares from them.
Peter Kell, executive director of consumer protection for the Australian
Securities and Investments Commission, or ASIC, said the scams had drifted from
America and Europe into Asia and were now operating in Thailand, the Philippines
and Hong Kong.
"ASIC alone has received many hundreds of complaints, and so we would
estimate that a lot more people have been called (by scammers) than the number
of complaints we have received," Kell told the Australian Associated Press in
Sydney.
At least one operator had raised more than A$3 million from unsuspecting
investors, he said.
"And there are quite a lot of them out there, so it's certainly hundreds of
thousands into the millions of dollars that may have been raised (from
Australians), and that's something we're obviously concerned about," Kell said.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Friday July 27, 1:18 PM
EU says sanctions against Myanmar regime to remain HANOI, July 27 (AFP) - The
European Union said Friday its sanctions against the military regime in Myanmar
would stay in place until "definite and positive" progress towards restoring
democracy was made.
The junta's recent release of dozens of political prisoners was welcome but
the Myanmar government had to go much further down the road in its secret talks
with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, EU leaders said in Hanoi after meeting
Southeast Asian nations.
Asked about a lifting of sanctions, External Affairs Commissioner Chris
Patten said: "My own judgement is until there is significant progress on the
political front in Burma/Myanmar, the common position of the European Union will
stay the same."
Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel, whose country is the current holder
of the EU presidency, said "more generally we are not in favour of sanctions
because the sanctions very often reach the people and not the
authorities".
"But we are waiting now for definite and positive evolutions there. I think
the ball is in their camp," he told a news conference with Patten.
The EU sanctions, including a visa ban on junta officials, will be reviewed
in the autumn after being renewed for six more months in April.
Dozens of political prisoners have been freed from jail over the past few
weeks, in what have been hailed as signs of progress from nine-month-old talks
between Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar's ruling State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC).
On Thursday the government released a couple closely related to Aung San
Suu Kyi, for the first time freeing political prisoners before their sentences
were completed.
"I think the European Union has noticed that some progress was made in the
good direction of this level and on the field of progress for reconciliation,"
Michel said.
"There is a lot of expectation in this situation. We hope now that
Burma/Myanmar will put more definite steps.
"Of course we noticed that they made free some detainees but we are looking
forward to have some... definite and important steps, significant steps. "
Patten said planned visits in September by Malaysia's Razali Ismail, a
special envoy of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan who has been brokering the
Myanmar talks, and a team from the International Labour Organisation were
encouraging signs.
"I hope that the process is not only irreversible, but I hope as well that
it's a lot more rapid because while we've seen some hopeful signs, we want to
see a great deal more progress made," he said.
"We don't seek from the outside to impose a solution but we want to see a
solution which involves all the people of Burma/Myanmar."
Both the EU officials referred to the country by its old and new names,
after earlier this week sticking to Burma in contradiction to the junta's
insistence on Myanmar.
The sanctions have strained relations between the EU and the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations, which includes Myanmar. The visa ban on junta officials
could scupper an EU-ASEAN meeting planned to be held in Europe in November.
The EU has in turn criticised the "constructive engagement" policy of ASEAN
and Australia towards the regime, and Michel this week criticised a statement on
Myanmar issued in Hanoi by the ASEAN Regional Forum as "rather weak".
In an interview with AFP, Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung said the
prisoners' release showed that the talks with Aung San Suu Kyi remained on
track.
But he refused to give a timeframe for multi-party elections or define the
type of government that might emerge from a breakthrough in the talks with the
Nobel laureate opposition leader.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Friday July 27, 6:58 PM
India proposes trade ministerial talks with Southeast Asia HANOI, July 27 (AFP) - Trade
Ministers from India and Southeast Asia should hold a special meeting to boost
unimpressive levels of economic cooperation between the regions, New Delhi's
envoy said Friday.
The meeting could be held in conjunction with an international trade fair
in New Delhi in November, Indian envoy K.C. Pant told foreign ministers of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) during annual talks in
Hanoi.
"The time has now come to elevate ASEAN-India cooperation to a higher
level," said Pant, deputising for External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh.
He said the proposed meeting was part of India's bid "to join hands with
ASEAN to work for a better future for all of us".
"There is much that is common between India's goals for economic
development and those of ASEAN. The possibilities for functional cooperation
between us are limitless," Pant said.
India became a full dialogue partner with ASEAN in 1996, joining the United
States, Russia, the European Union, China, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Australia
and New Zealand.
But there is at present no channel for trade ministers' talks between ASEAN
and India.
ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Friday July 27, 5:09 PM
Southeast Asia unfazed by China's entry into WTO: Severino HANOI, July 27 (AFP) -
Southeast Asia is unfazed by growing competition from China as the world's most
populous country prepares to join the World Trade Organisation, ASEAN chief
Rodolfo Severino said Friday.
The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) would also
benefit from the giant Chinese market opening up, the bloc's secretary general
told a news conference at the end of ASEAN meetings involving partner countries
such as China.
"ASEAN has supported China's entry into WTO from the beginning. This means
that ASEAN must see great benefits from China's entry into WTO, otherwise ASEAN
would not have supported it emphatically," Severino said.
China would become subject to international rules once it joins the global
trading regime, he said.
China's entry could hurt some ASEAN members' competitiveness, Severino
acknowledged, but there were also opportunities to be seized upon.
"ASEAN's view is that this is not a zero sum game," he said, while noting
that some Southeast Asian countries may have to make adjustments.
"But on the whole the entry of China into WTO and indeed its growing
participation in the international trading system represents not just a
competitive challenge... but an opportunity for ASEAN investors to take
advantage of for ASEAN products to enter the Chinese market more freely.
"And we could also look to the resulting growth of China's economy as
something good for the region in terms of presenting itself as a larger market
and as a potential source of investments."
China is fast becoming the darling of foreign investors, taking huge chunks
of direct investment going into Asia.
Business leaders and economists have said that for ASEAN to compete, the
group must present itself as a unified market of 500 million people rather than
as 10 disparate nations.
Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China had already taken steps to expand
economic ties with ASEAN, telling the news conference that greater trading links
between China and Southeast Asia represented a "win-win situation".
Only one major hurdle remains in China's 15-year march towards WTO
membership. A dispute over the ownership of insurance companies still has to be
settled after the latest round of talks ended in Geneva last week.
ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Friday July 27, 11:32 AM
Southeast Asia proposes three-pronged plan to boost Russian ties HANOI, July 27 (AFP) -
Southeast Asian nations proposed a three-pronged strategy Friday to strengthen
cooperation with their key dialogue partner Russia in the academic, transport
and trade fields.
"We need not be overly ambitious but we need to progress. It may be better
for us to take practical steps forward," Singapore Foreign Minister S. Jayakumar
said.
He was speaking at the annual dialogue between foreign ministers of the
10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and their Russian
counterpart Igor Ivanov in Hanoi.
At the dialogue, ASEAN called for more joint credit facilities to boost
trade between the two regions, developing transport routes and linkages between
manufacturing plants, and cooperation in the academic front through university
rectors.
"I believe there is a need to explore and develop a more effective
framework to respond to the new realities facing both ASEAN and Russia,
particularly in the aftermath of economic crisis," Thailand's Foreign Minister
Surakiart Sathirathai said.
Russia and Southeast Asia are facing economic problems following a 1997
currency crisis. A slowdown in the United States and Japan is also hurting their
exports.
ASEAN called for upgrading transport links between Southeast Asia and
Russia to accommodate increase in traffic volumes.
ASEAN also wanted more credit instruments to promote trade between the two
regions, to the tune of 843 million dollars in the first three quarters of 2000,
officials said.
For example, some mode of barter trade could be considered, Surakiart
said.
"What we need is to focus on suitable project areas where there is a good
match between Russia's expertise and ASEAN's priorities," said Singapore's
Jayakumar.
Russia is key member of the ASEAN Regional Forum, the sole security forum
in the Asia-Pacific region which comprises also the other nuclear powers the
United States, China, Britain and France.
ASEAN has been asking these powers to ratify the Treaty on the Southeast
Asia Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone (SEANWFZ), which binds the ASEAN members not to
develop, manufacture, acquire, possess or have control over nuclear weapons, nor
to station or transport nuclear weapons by any means.
The ASEAN members -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- are also banned from testing
nuclear weapons.
The nuclear powers have been reluctant to give a commitment not to use
their nuclear weapons against one another in the region.
They have only agreed not to unleash their nuclear weapons against any of
the ASEAN nations.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Friday July 27, 6:06 PM
Asia hails constructive talks and critics want action By Andrew Marshall HANOI (Reuters) - Southeast
Asian foreign ministers on Friday wrapped up a week of meetings with world
powers on resolving regional conflicts and winning help for their troubled
economies, but critics said the forum was all talk and no action.
The 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) met big-power
partners like China, Japan, India, the European Union and the United States in
Vietnam to discuss the many conflicts -- past, present and future -- that hang
over the region.
Ministers told a closing news conference the talks had been very
constructive. But some ASEAN members said the group had to reform and match
words with action, or risk becoming irrelevant.
"I think we are all aware that we in ASEAN are still going through a very
difficult patch, not only because of the global international gloomy outlook,
but also many of us have internal problems, political transitional problems,"
said Singapore Foreign Minister S. Jayakumar.
"In a sense ASEAN has to regroup. But the most important thing is
acknowledgement of our problems."
ASEAN is struggling to retain its credibility in a post-Cold War world
where it is no longer of importance as a bulwark against communism. To make
matters worse, its once-thriving economies are mired in crisis.
At a time of economic downturn it now faces the difficult task of trying to
integrate the poorer economies of former enemies Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia and
of military-ruled pariah Myanmar.
The political volatility which has scared off most foreign investors was
underlined during the talks by events in Indonesia, where the frail and
almost-blind President Abdurrahman Wahid was sacked and replaced by his deputy,
Megawati Sukarnoputri.
U.S. AND CHINA TAKE CENTRE STAGE
Centre of attention during the week's meetings was a further thaw in the
frosty relationship between the United States and China, underlining ASEAN's
struggle to avoid being sidelined and overshadowed by its giant neighbour.
After a meeting on Wednesday between U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell
and Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, Beijing said on Thursday it had
paroled two U.S.-based Chinese scholars jailed for 10 years earlier in the week
for spying.
Powell, who was in Vietnam for the first time since he fought the
communists as a soldier more than three decades ago, is due to hold further
meetings in Beijing on Saturday.
A meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) -- Asia's key security grouping
-- discussed the political changes in Indonesia, tensions on the Korean
peninsula, and U.S.-China relations.
But although participants said discussions had been frank and honest, some
were frustrated that the ARF remained just a talking shop for "confidence
building" and had not yet evolved a more proactive role in resolving and
preventing regional conflicts.
"We need to review existing mechanisms... so that ASEAN can continue to be
relevant and of strategic importance to external countries," Jayakumar said.
"The ARF is now moving step by step from confidence-building measures to
preventive diplomacy."
But more conservative members like Vietnam were reluctant to see the forum
becoming more than a place to exchange views.
"We have to move gradually," Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien
told a news conference. "Confidence-building measures are the main thrust of the
ARF."
DEADLOCK ON KOREA
Little progress was made during the week on one of the region's main
concerns -- relations with Stalinist North Korea.
North Korea's representative told the forum Washington was attaching too
many preconditions to a resumption of dialogue.
Powell insisted the United States was willing to hold talks anytime and
anywhere, without preconditions.
Pyongyang's foreign minister did not even attend the gathering, saying he
was "too busy".
Other unresolved regional spats include a row between Japan and China over
trade, a new Japanese textbook critics say glosses over wartime atrocities, and
a controversial planned visit by Japan's prime minister to a shrine honouring
war dead.
China and several ASEAN states are also in dispute on the Spratly Islands,
a remote archipelago said to be rich in oil. No progress was reported on efforts
to resolve this issue.
But, at a closing gala dinner on Thursday night, ministers put differences
aside for what has become a ritual after ARF meetings, taking to the stage to
sing, dance and generally play the fool.
Powell donned a red bandana to croon a ballad about a lovesick cowboy
entranced by a Vietnamese maiden -- played by Japanese Foreign Minister Makiko
Tanaka in traditional Vietnamese dress.
Vietnam's Nien, more soberly, sang a national folk song.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Friday July 27 9:03 AM ET
Powell: U.S. Committed to Asia By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press Writer HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - Secretary
of State Colin Powell stressed President Bush's commitment to Asia on Thursday
and urged financially stricken Southeast Asian nations to further liberalize
their economies.
Powell and diplomats from European countries, joining meetings of the
10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its key ``dialogue
partners,'' said the region would also benefit from a new round of trade talks
under the World Trade Organization, which sets the rules for international
trade.
``I was able to convey that the Bush administration is committed to Asia,''
Powell told reporters.
Southeast Asian nations have worried that Washington has been preoccupied
with security disputes in northern Asia.
Powell said ASEAN members, still suffering in the wake of a 1997 regional
financial crisis, can attract more foreign investment if they liberalize
further.
He said nations at the forum were focused on economic development and
recognized the need for a stable security environment and transparent business
practices to foster economic growth.
``Trade can only take place ... when money can go and be safe,'' Powell
said. Officials at the ASEAN forum discussed how to achieve those goals, he
said.
Participants said Powell delivered a strong message about the need for
liberalization.
``The Americans wanted to make sure that we got the message that
restructuring and reform ... had to be accomplished,'' said Nitya Pibulsongram,
a senior Thai Foreign Ministry official.
ASEAN states, however, said any new round of trade talks under the WTO
should take into account the concerns of developing countries. Poorer countries
are less capable of handling increased competition, said ASEAN Secretary General
Rodolfo Severino.
Representatives of Japan, the United States, China, and South Korea pledged
to boost development aid, trade, and investment to help kick-start Southeast
Asian economies, ASEAN officials said.
ASEAN asked allies for help in bridging the gap richer nations such as
Singapore and Thailand, and poorer members such as Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and
Vietnam.
Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan called on developed countries to
increase their development assistance, open their markets more to products from
developing countries, and forgive Third World debt. He urged the start of new
WTO trade negotiations.
The United States has been Southeast Asia's leading trading partner over
the last half- century. It is either the largest or second-largest trading
partner of nine of ASEAN's 10 states.
Since the 1997 economic crisis, much foreign direct investment has shifted
from ASEAN to China so that by 1999, annual flows to China surpassed the total
to all of ASEAN.
ASEAN officials fear that trend could worsen after China's expected WTO
entry.
With China, the world's largest developing economy, on the cusp of joining
the WTO, momentum appeared to be gathering for a new round of talks in Doha,
Qatar, in November.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said China's WTO entry is
vital to bringing other developing countries on board at the Doha talks.
---------------------------------------------------------------- The International Herald Tribune
EU Asks Burma to Make Further
Effort on Rights
Thursday, July 26, 2001
HANOI Burma's military regime must go much further toward restoring
democracy than it has so far, despite its recent release of several dozen
political prisoners, the European Union said Wednesday.
. Foreign Minister Louis Michel of Belgium, which is the current holder of the EU presidency, said the junta would have to respect the 1990 election victory by the opposition leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, if it was serious about democracy. . "We have to show that there is more to democracy than just releasing several political prisoners," Mr. Michel said on the sidelines of a regional security meeting in Hanoi. The EU will review sanctions against Burma in the autumn. . Burma's foreign minister, Win Aung, said Tuesday that the military regime's release of the political prisoners this month showed that watershed talks with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi were on track. . U Win Aung refused to give a time frame for multiparty elections or define the type of government that might emerge from a breakthrough in the talks with the opposition leader. . He said the release of the prisoners, including a prominent journalist, San San Nwe, was "not a public relations stunt or to please anybody," and denied that the move had been designed to prod the Union into lifting sanctions imposed on Burma for human rights abuses. . The Union renewed its sanctions, including a visa ban on junta officials, for six more months in April. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Malaysian National News
Agency
July 27 , 2001 18:42PM
Asean Foreign Ministers End Meeting On
High Note
From Ahmad Zukiman Zain
HANOI, July 27 (Bernama) -- The
Asean foreign ministers ended their two-day meeting with the grouping's dialogue
partners here Friday, capping a week-long series of discussions on a high note.
The meetings had focused on economic, financial, trade and investment
issues in the region and the world.
An important subject brought up at the Asean Post-Ministerial Conference
(PMC) was on how to narrow the development gap within Asean and between Asean
and the world.
The ministers also held discussions on trade liberalisation and the new
round of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks in Doha, Qatar.
The PMC, held after the 34th Asean Ministerial Meeting (AMM) and the 8th
Asean Regional Forum (ARF), was attended by the 10 Asean member countries and
their 10 dialogue partners, including the United States, Russia, European Union,
Japan, China and South Korea.
The Asean ministers had also met their counterparts from Japan, China and
South Korea at what is known as the "Asean-plus-Three" meeting at which the
question of narrowing the development gap was given much attention.
The AMM had issued the Hanoi Declaration on Narrowing Development Gap,
vowing to pursue the efforts so as to enhance the integration of its new members
Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam with the older members -- Brunei, the
Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand in the 34 year-old
organisation.
During the PMC, the ministers reaffirmed the importance of the forum and
resolved to promote its activities in the interests of Asean and its dialogue
partners.
The dialogue partners also expressed their commitment to assisting the
Asean countries in various priorities, especially the Iniatiative for Asean
Integration (IAI) and the Hanoi Declaration.
The next annual AMM will be held in Brunei, which will host the Asean
Summit in November.
---------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation - July 27,
2001.
War on drugs goes hitech with UN
programme
Natee Vichitsorasatra
It may look like a hi-tech game, complete with video clips and lots of
multimedia content, but the new computer based training programme for narcotics
control officers was designed to yield tangible results and significantly
improve detection skills.
Previously, training for narcotics officers traditionally comprised an
expert lecturing a class of law enforcement officials. With the computer based
programme, provided by the United Nations Drugs Control Programme (UNDCP),
students are able to take a more interactive approach, picking out potential
suspects from video clips.
The computer programme was created with much attention to detail, and the
video gallery comprises clips of volunteers adopting different facial
expressions and mannerisms, suggesting either innocence or guilt.
“This programme is used in Asia, so we use Asian faces for the training
exercises. The programme is also presented in the same language as that of the
students,” said John Irvin, UNDCP Project Coordinator for the Bangkok Regional
Centre.
The programme is available in seven different languages: Burmese,
Cambodian, Chinese, English, Lao, Thai and Vietnamese.
The training programme has already had some positive impacts.
“We found that the number of arrests increased during a pilot project for
the programme in the North,” said Vittawan Sunthornkajit, director of the
personnel training division at the Narcotic Control Board.
Officers are tested before and after training to gauge the success of the
programme.
“We go into the field and evaluate officials through interviews to see if
their skill levels have increased as a direct result of the training,” Irvin
said.
Irvin and Vittawan agreed the most advantageous feature of the training
programme is that students are able to work through lessons at their own
speed.
“It stimulates and motivates, as well as being very hitech,” Irvin
said.
And unlike lectures, students can return to class whenever they wish.
Initially, 43 computerbased training programmes will be operated at five
centres throughout the country. The key to the success of the programme, Irvin
noted, is how it is managed on a local level.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - July 27,
2001.
Registration in
September
Penchan Charoensuthiphan Employers must register their foreign workers with authorities by September
under the Labour Ministry's new measure to control the employment of alien
labour in 10 types of businesses.
These include farming, mining, the production of bricks, jar and ceramics,
construction and shipbuilding, ricemills, animal husbandry, fisheries and
related industries, warehouse labour and household work.
Labour Minister Dej Boonlong said employers hiring Burmese, Lao and
Cambodian workers must register their foreign employees with the provincial
authorities during the period Sept 1-20 and pay 4,500 baht per head.
The grace period for the government ban on the employment of alien labour,
which was due to expire on Aug 31, will be extended for another six months, he
said.
The scope of employment had changed to 10 types of businesses nationwide
from 18 types in 37 provinces Mr Dej said. He was not worried about an
anticipated increase in numbers, expected to reach a million, since Thailand
still needed foreign labour.
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