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BURMA RELATED NEWS
- November 05, 2002.
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HEADLINES
------------------------------------------------------------------------ AFP - Koizumi presses Myanmar to democratise
AFP - Myanmar junta says Red Cross team
probing Shan rape claims
AFP - Koizumi signs pact with ASEAN, lays
groundwork for free trade area
AFP - Singapore proposes European
Union-style ASEAN community
AFP - South Africa sides with ASEAN on
US-Iraq crisis
AFP - India and SE Asia focus on
economic ties at historic summit
Reuters - Bite the bullet on integration, SE
Asians told
Reuters - Japan, China, India Look East for
Free Trade
AP - Thailand joins four Southeast
Asian countries in anti-terror
AP - Malaysian leader lashes out against
Western travel advisories
Xinhuanet - ASEAN countries' investment in
Myanmar plunges to zero
Kyodo News - Japan, ASEAN agree to start
talks on FTA next year
Bkk Post - Continuing failure to confront
Burma
Bkk Post - PM demands report on Burmese
deaths
Financial Times - Beijing looks to
bring neighbours under its wing
Asian Tribune - Asian Leaders to
arrive in Bangkok for the 2nd Asian Political Parties Conference.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ Koizumi presses Myanmar to
democratise
PHNOM PENH, Nov 5 (AFP) - Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said he pressed Myanmar military leader Senior General Than Shwe to pursue democracy when they met on the sidelines of the annual ASEAN summit here Tuesday. Koizumi said Than Shwe, the number one in Yangon, had told him that his country was continuing to pursue democracy and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was free to carry out political activities across the country. "Aung San Suu Kyi, he said, is free to engage in political activity in any part of the country... and she has been travelling to various parts of the country for her political activity," Koizumi reported. Koizumi said he told Than Shwe the international community was expecting Myanmar to continue with its democratisation process and nation building for Myanmar to be a success. "And we count on further efforts," Koizumi said. The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has drawn leaders from 15 countries for a series of annual summits in Phnom Penh. Myanmar has been ruled by a military junta for more than 40 years and it refused to recognise an overwhelming victory by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) in 1990 elections, instead confining her to house imprisonment. She was allowed to leave her house and resume political activities in May in what international observers hoped would be the start of Myanmar's return to democracy. However diplomats and observers have been disappointed by the lack of progress. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Myanmar junta says Red Cross
team probing Shan rape claims
YANGON, Nov 5 (AFP) - Myanmar's junta has made a new bid to clear itself of allegations it used rape as a weapon of war again ethnic Shan women by inviting the Red Cross to investigate the claims, an official said Tuesday. "Violence against women ... has never been a policy or practice of our government," spokesman Colonel Hla Min said in a statement. Hla Min said an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) team left here November 2 to probe claims detailed in a report by two Thailand-based Shan women's groups. The study released in May, which documented 625 sex attacks on Shan women and girls by Myanmar soldiers, drew international outrage and has been repeatedly rejected by the Yangon junta. The regime last month asked visiting UN human rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro to go to Shan state to investigate the charges but he declined, citing time constraints. He traveled instead to northern Thailand in late October after completing his two-week trip to Myanmar to speak to the report's authors, and left members of his team there to continue studying the issue. Hla Min said Pinheiro had suggested during his visit, where he met with top junta leaders as well as democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi, that the ICRC investigate the rape allegations. "We will ensure the ICRC team has the resources and cooperation they need for a thorough investigation of allegations we know to be false," he said. The authors of the report said after meeting Pinheiro in the Thai city of Chiang Mai, the envoy told them the regime admitted the attacks may have occurred but denied the rapes were systematic. At a press conference in Bangkok, however, Pinheiro refused comment on the discussions and said he would release the full findings of his mission in a speech to the UN General Assembly November 6. The Shan Women's Action Network (SWAN), one of the groups that prepared the report, said Tuesday it was unlikely the Red Cross team from Geneva would be able to investigate the claims properly. "SWAN really doubts the effectiveness of the Geneva-based mission under the present circumstances, as it's an inspection process arranged by the regime," said spokeswoman Hseng Naung. "We do not believe the investigators can move as freely as they want. The people are so scared of the local authorities. They know well that they can get into big trouble if they say anything against the soldiers." SWAN said according to its sources in Shan state, Myanmar authorities have already taken steps to cover up the truth in many areas where major human rights and sexual abuses occurred. Villagers in affected regions have been forcibly relocated and residents made to sign documents saying that people in the area had experienced no problems with local authorities or soldiers, it said. Hseng Naung said the ICRC team had arranged to meet with SWAN in Chiang Mai in the next few days. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Koizumi signs pact with ASEAN,
lays groundwork for free trade area
PHNOM PENH, Nov 5 (AFP) - A free trade area (FTA) between Southeast Asia and Japan could be a reality within 10 years, around the same time when the region links up with China for the world's largest free market, following a pact signed by the nations' leaders Tuesday. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi sealed an economic pact with ASEAN leaders after their two-hour summit here to work on a framework to develop the FTA forging an economy worth at least 4.9 trillion dollars. "We viewed that a comprehensive economic partnership between ASEAN and Japan would provide greater market opportunities to their economies, through the creation of larger and new markets and enabling the industries to enjoy bigger economies of scale," the leaders said in a joint declaration to announce the signing. "Such partnership would bring about greater stability and prosperity to this region, nurturing a sense of community between ASEAN and Japan." The agreement comes a day after China signed a deal with ASEAN to create the world's biggest FTA by between 2010 and 2015, embracing 1.7 billion people and trade worth 1.2 trillion dollars. Koizumi arrived in Phnom Penh looking to ensure Japan, one of the biggest investors in the region, was not left behind following the ASEAN-China trade pact. Negotiations to set up the Japan-ASEAN deal are not as advanced as the group's dealings with China. Under the deal signed on Monday between China and ASEAN, the group established a framework to set up their FTA. But the Japan-ASEAN pact is only at the stage of agreeing to develop a framework. And there were already major obstacles highlighted with ASEAN officials saying Japan was reluctant to open up its sensitive agriculture sector. The officials said Japan refused to offer immediate tariff reductions for agricultural products from Southeast Asia. They pointed to a section of the ASEAN-Japan declaration that said the free trade deal should take into account "the economic levels and sensitive sectors" in each country as highlighting Japan's stance on the matter. However Koizumi said he expected the agreement signed on Tuesday would help to fast-track the negotiations to bring about the Japan-ASEAN free trade area. "(This) spells out our basic policy to accelerate this initiative," Koizumi told reporters after signing the deal, adding that ASEAN and Japan needed to "intensify relations and exchanges to our mutual benefit". Analysts also said Southeast Asia might use its newly established political, economic and security links with China to seek trade concessions from Japan. "ASEAN may view the latest pacts with China as a leverage when negotiating with the Japanese," Ralf Emmers, an analyst with the Singapore-based Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, told AFP. China accounts for only five percent of ASEAN exports, less than Japan's 10-15 percent share. The ASEAN-Japan declaration forecast bilateral trade would expand rapidly if the FTA, which they aim to realise within 10 years, bears fruit. By the year 2020, ASEAN exports to Japan would increase by 20.6 billion dollars or 44.2 percent from 1997 levels, while Japanese exports to the region would rise 27.5 percent or 20 billion dollars, according to the document. From 1993 to 2000, Japan's trade with ASEAN increased at an annual rate of 15 percent, it said. ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Singapore proposes European
Union-style ASEAN community
SINGAPORE, Nov 5 (AFP) - Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong has proposed a European Union-style single economic market for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) by 2020 with zero tariffs and liberalised trade, a report said Tuesday. The proposed ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), which would involve ASEAN's 10 member states with a combined population of 500 million, has gained strong support from Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the Straits Times said. Goh floated the idea during the ongoing summit of ASEAN leaders in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, the report said quoting the premier's press secretary Ong Keng Yong, who will takeover the post of ASEAN secretary general next year. The AEC will be a "logical extension" of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) under which tariffs on a wide array of goods will be eliminated from January 1 next year for the group's senior members Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, the report said. ASEAN's newer and less developed members Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam will be given a later date to cut tariffs. Analysts have said that an EU-style community would present ASEAN to outside investors as a single market instead of a fragmented market of 10 individual countries. Disparities in the levels of economic development among ASEAN members could be a hurdle, but some analysts have noted that Europe faced the same problems 50 years ago when they embarked on the ambitious union. Goh's proposal came just after Singapore signed a free trade agreement with Australia to bolster trade ties, and followed the signing between the leaders of ASEAN and China in Phnom Penh of a framework for a free trade zone covering nearly two billion people. The tiny city-state has been ASEAN's most active proponent for free trade as a measure to keep the regional bloc on the radar screens of foreign investors despite political troubles in some member states. ASEAN is also considering free trade pacts with Japan and India. South Korea has commissioned a study on the feasibility of a similar agreement with ASEAN. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ South Africa sides with ASEAN
on US-Iraq crisis
PHNOM PENH, Nov 5 (AFP) - South African President Thabo Mbeki threw his country's support Tuesday behind Southeast Asian nations' call for a United Nations resolution aimed at averting a US-led war against Iraq. "It is critically important that the matter of Iraq is resolved peacefully through the United Nations and its Security Council," Mbeki said in an address to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). "We trust that sense will prevail so that no country or combination of countries take it upon themselves to embark on unilateral action against Iraq." On Monday, Southeast Asian leaders expressed deep concern over the situation in the Middle East amid prospects of a US-led strike on Iraq and persistent violence in the Israel-Palestinian conflict. ASEAN leaders agreed that the situation in Iraq was "a matter of grave concern" for the international community and urged Baghdad to fully comply with United Nations' Security Council resolutions on weapons inspections. They also expressed support for UN efforts to eliminate all weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. "Every passing day points to the urgent need to end the conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis, to resume negotiations and afford the Palestinians their right to form their own independent state and secure peace for Israel within internationally recognised boundaries," Mbeki said. The United States is preparing to present a revised version of its tough new draft resolution on Iraq to the Security Council. The revised draft takes into account comments from other council members in four full rounds of consultations since October 23. France and Russia have strongly criticised the US draft, charging it would give Washington the go-ahead to launch a military strike on Iraq, which the United States suspects of developing weapons of mass destruction. Mbeki attended the annual summit to promote ties between Africa and ASEAN, which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. He traced modern day relations back to the 1955 Afro-Asian conference in Indonesia and noted a common destiny that followed the collapse of communism. But he offered a stark contrast of the differences between Asia and Africa since then. "ASEAN has for a long time successfully pursued the goal of peace within the region. We who come from a continent that continues to experience conflict and war, sincerely appreciate your achievements in this regard," he told the group's leaders. The South African president also raised the prospect of building a closer relationship between ASEAN and the African Union, adding the African continent aprreciated afforts by ASEAN to expand its zone of cooperation to China, Japan, South Korea and India. ASEAN has held a series of summits with its neighbours here. Terrorism topped the agenda but closer economic links and trade underpinned the forum. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ India and SE Asia focus on
economic ties at historic summit
PHNOM PENH, Nov 5 (AFP) - Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee ended an historic meeting with Southeast Asian leaders Tuesday with hopes of establishing a free trade agreement with Southeast Asian nations within a decade. The leaders of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) welcomed Vajpayee's determination to build stronger economic ties between the region and India, which has a middle class of 300 million people. "The prime minister wants to work towards a free trade agreement with ASEAN within the next 10 years," Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha said after the meeting, while emphasising India did not want to be an economic threat to Southeast Asia. "We are not in competition with ASEAN or any group of countries within ASEAN," Sinha quoted Vajpayee as saying. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said ASEAN and India had agreed that concrete co-operation between the two would be established within the next 10 years, and signalled greater opportunities to invest along the Mekong river, which runs through five Southeast Asian nations. "We agreed to work together to broaden and intensify joint efforts in the Mekong basin," Hun Sen said. Through a proposed Regional Trade and Investment Area agreement proposed during the meeting, their markets would be combined to include some 1.5 billion consumers and a gross national product of 1.7 trillion dollars. Vajpayee's mission in Phnom Penh was the first time a leader from the subcontinent had addressed a summit, and all parties pledged to use the occasion as a platform to build stronger ties. Although the talks were squarely focused on economic relations, Vajpayee also called for a unified effort "to fight the almighty scourge of terror". The two parties discussed an agreement to develop concrete programs to jointly fight terrorism, piracy, drug and people trafficking, arms smuggling, money laundering, economic crime and cybercrime. While terrorism was briefly discussed at the meeting, ASEAN officials said India's long-running conflict with nuclear-rival Pakistan was not on the agenda. "We are not engaging them because of their differences with Pakistan but we have been appealing to India in other forums to settle their conflict through peaceful means," Philippines foreign department undersecretary Lauro Baha said. "All we want to do is engage India in almost all fields because it is an important country in terms of its size," he said. And with the focus remaining on trade, Vajpayee obliged ASEAN leaders seeking Indian assistance to help technolgically weaker countries. "We want to deepen our linkages in trade, investment and technologies, especially high technologies," Sinha quoted Vajpayee as saying. "We'd like cooperation between ASEAN and India in software and hardware technologies and pharmaceuticals." India became an ASEAN sectoral dialogue partner in 1992 and was elevated to a full dialogue partner three years later, meaning the nations could hold talks at ministerial level. ASEAN already holds annual summits with China, Japan and South Korea, and India is also a member of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), Asia's top body on security issues. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore Thailand and Vietnam. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bite the bullet on
integration, SE Asians told
By Ed Cropley PHNOM PENH, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Southeast Asia must bite the bullet and bring its varied economies closer in line to decrease reliance on exports to the United States and Japan, the ASEAN regional bloc's outgoing secretary-general said on Tuesday. A summit of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the Cambodian capital had been unusually productive, Rodolfo Severino said, with agreements signed on tourism and trade, as well as a joint initiative to curb terrorism. But he said the disparate grouping, ranging from highly developed Singapore to war-ravaged Cambodia, had to address the mundane task of harmonising products and services such as telecoms and transport networks if it wanted to move forward. ``They have to recognise the need for regional economic integration on an urgent basis...the sooner the better. It's not easy but they just have to do it, they just have to bite the bullet,'' he told Reuters. Despite reams of wordy declarations on regional cooperation and integration, critics point to a huge gulf between ASEAN's rich and poor members, as well as their varied national interests, as evidence that the bloc has become little more than a talking shop. Severino, a Filipino academic who is stepping down after six turbulent years at ASEAN's helm, including the 1997 Asian crisis, said the type of export-led growth that has proved so successful for the likes Singapore was not a regional economic panacea. Instead, he said the bloc's members -- the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Brunei, Thailand and Myanmar -- must look more to themselves for economic growth. ``Whereas before everyone was just consumed by exporting to the United States and Japan, we have to have a broader-based economy where domestic consumption and investment has a larger role,'' Severino said. The group's six wealthier nations have been relatively successful in reducing mutual tariff barriers as part of an ASEAN Free Trade Area, but non-tariff restrictions continue to hamper regional trade which is still suffering the fallout of the Asian crisis. Severino added moves were being made to chop non-tariff barriers, although on Monday he said that two countries, which he declined to identify, were refusing to play ball. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Japan, China, India Look East
for Free Trade
2 hours, 10 minutes ago By Ed Cropley PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Giants China, Japan and India showed up at a Southeast Asian summit that ended on Tuesday, vying for influence in a region that could one day combine vast manufacturing power and natural resources in the world's biggest free trade zone. The 10 members of the Association for South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) basked in the limelight as their now-tamer tiger economies attracted the interest of world-ranking economies. They agreed that they must tackle militant violence to provide an environment in which foreign investment can blossom. While the idea of a free trade zone embracing 1.7 billion people from the steppes of north China to the white-sand beaches of Indonesia remains a distant dream needing 10 years of negotiation to attain reality, the idea fired rival ambitions. "We've entered a new age of partnership. We will walk together and advance together," Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said as he signed a joint declaration on an economic partnership with ASEAN in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. Details of Japan's agreement were sketchy and negotiations were likely to take years -- just like China's. Koizumi dismissed the view Japan had been left in the dust by China's planned free trade initiative signed a day earlier. Koizumi, leader of an economy struggling to emerge from 10 years of recession while China revels in a decade of near 10 percent average annual growth, said he didn't see China as a threat. "I do not subscribe to this theory that China is a competitor," Koizumi said, adding that China's closer ties with ASEAN should be welcomed as an _expression_ of the enthusiasm of the communist giant for the market economy. IT'S GOOD FOR US ALL "I believe the China-ASEAN agreement is good for China, ASEAN and Japan," Koizumi said. "It will be a stimulus for all of us." Beijing said it posed no threat, pre-empting a chorus of concern that the Chinese behemoth could swamp its neighbors. "Some see this as competition betweeen China and Japan, but the point is confidence and economic cooperation," concluded summit host, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. But some analysts say Japan is now engaged in a game of catch-up with China in the region. "China really wanted the free trade zone deal to leave Japan out in the cold and that's what they've got. It's purely political," said one expert on ASEAN. Attending ASEAN on the sidelines for the first time, India joined the rush by announcing that it, too, was eager to negotiate a free trade zone with ASEAN. The two-day summit aimed to promote economic integration, tackle terror and paper over the cracks that perennially open up among states that range from impoverished Laos to oil-rich Brunei and giant Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation. The attractions of ASEAN's markets despite the threat of terror were sufficient to draw interest not only from China and Japan but to bring in two new visitors -- Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and South Africa's Thabo Mbeki. But critics said ASEAN was still far from its goal of being able to represent the common interests of its members and to attain the economic integration that is its stated goal. BITING THE BULLET "They (ASEAN) have to recognize the need for regional economic integration on an urgent basis...the sooner the better," outgoing ASEAN Secretary General Rodolfo Severino told Reuters. "It's not easy but they just have to do it, they just have to bite the bullet," he said. Even if the members are divided over economic issues, they found common ground in the war on terror, recognizing that security was an essential ingredient of prosperity, and were united by fears of North Korea's nuclear weapons program. The leaders issued a declaration condemning militant violence as a threat not only to people but to prosperity, but urging the rest of the world not to punish their economies. Reeling from last month's bombing on the Indonesian paradise island of Bali, leaders called on the international community not to issue warnings against travel to countries increasingly reliant on tourism or to blame specific religious groups. The group agreed to hold next year's summit in Bali. One accord won particular praise and underscored China's foray to mend fences. It signed a deal with its southern neighbors to avoid conflict over the disputed Spratly islands in the South China Sea over which Beijing has come to the brink of war with Vietnam and the Philippines several times in recent years. Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo welcomed the accord, saying it brought "peace of mind." ASEAN groups the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Brunei, Thailand and Myanmar. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thailand joins four Southeast
Asian countries in anti-terror
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) _ Thailand joined Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines in forming an anti-terrorism coalition on Tuesday, strengthening Southeast Asia's efforts to shake off perceptions of being a terrorist breeding ground. Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai signed the agreement on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit being held this week in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh. Though all five signatories are part of ASEAN, the security alliance is separate from a joint anti-terrorism declaration that members of the 10-nation regional grouping issued Sunday at a pre-summit meeting. Under the agreement, member countries are to intensify exchanges of security information. They plan to establish and standardize search-and-rescue operations, create hotlines, share airline passenger lists, strengthen border controls and conduct joint counter-terrorism exercises. Deadly bombings in Indonesia and the Philippines last month have stirred fears of more terrorist attacks in the region. The other members of ASEAN are Brunei, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore and Vietnam. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Malaysian leader lashes out
against Western travel advisories
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) _ Western governments that warn their citizens not to vacation in Southeast Asia because of terrorism threats were being unfair and hypocritical as their nations can also be dangerous for foreigners, Malaysia's leader said Tuesday. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad singled Australia and the United States for issuing travel advisories that have badly hit the tourist industry among the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. He also criticized recent security force raids against some Muslims in Australia, following the Oct. 12 bomb attack on the Indonesian island of Bali that killed nearly 200 people, most of them Australian tourists. ``I think Australia is as unsafe as the ASEAN countries,'' Mahathir said at a news conference. ``In fact, at the moment Australia is particularly unsafe for Muslims because they are likely to have their houses raided, et cetera. I've seen pictures of doors being broken, which I don't think is essential.'' The Malaysian leader also alluded to the Sept. 11 hijacking of American jetliners that were crashed into New York's World Trade Center, saying travel advisories could be issued for every flight because any jetliner could be turned into a missile. ``America is a very dangerous place. You shouldn't be on a high building in America,'' he said. Mahathir spoke after the end of a three-day ASEAN leaders' summit where terrorism emerged as the key topic. The grouping is made up of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Also on Tuesday about 300 students tossed rotten eggs at the Australian Embassy in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, to protest the security raids against some Muslims in that country. Australian authorities carried out the raids amid fears
that Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asia-based Islamic militant group, blamed for
the Bali blasts might also be operating within Australia.
No arrests were made in the raids.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ASEAN countries' investment in
Myanmar plunges to zero
Xinhuanet 2002-11-05 14:18:09 YANGON, Nov. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- Investment in Myanmar from member states of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plunged to zero in the first half of 2002, the latest data of the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development showed. Such a sharp drop of investment from ASEAN, which used to be Myanmar's largest foreign investor, has never been experienced in the past, it was noted. According to official statistics, Myanmar attracted 32.28 million US dollars of contracted foreign investment from ASEAN members in the first six months of last year, of which Thailand represented 25.75 million dollars, Singapore 3.53 million, Malaysia and Indonesia 1.5 million each. Besides the sharp drop of ASEAN investment in Myanmar during the first half of this year, the same happened with investment from other countries and regions with 1.516 million dollars comingfrom China's Hong Kong only. In sharp contrast, Singapore absorbed foreign direct investment(FDI) of 13 billion dollars in 2001, accounting for 65 percent of ASEAN's total FDI of 20 billion, while Myanmar attracted 58.97 million, representing a negligible 0.29 percent of ASEAN's total FDI during the year. The statistics also showed that during the five years since Myanmar joined the ASEAN in July 1997, Myanmar had brought about atotal of 1,169.5 million dollars' contracted foreign investment, of which ASEAN investment was 673.6 million, accounting for 57.59 percent of the total during the period. Since opening up to foreign investment in late 1988, Myanmar had absorbed a total of 7,399 million dollars of contracted foreign investment, of which ASEAN's took up 3,800 million or 51.35 percent. Major ASEAN investors in Myanmar were lined up as Singapore (1,507 million dollars), Thailand (1,289 million), Malaysia (595 million), taking up 20.36 percent, 17.42 percent and 8.04 percent of the total foreign investment, respectively. The sharp fall of ASEAN investment in Myanmar was inseparable from the negative impact of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Sept.11 terrorist incident, the slowing down of global economic growth and the unfavorable domestic investment environment. Meanwhile, on March 1 this year, the Myanmar government introduced a new measure, which restricted foreign investment by stopping issue of import and export permits to Myanmar-based foreign trading companies. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Japan, ASEAN agree to start
talks on FTA next year
By Takehiko Kajita PHNOM PENH, Nov. 5,
Kyodo - Leaders of Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) agreed Tuesday to kick off negotiations next year to bolster
economic relations through such efforts as creating a regional free trade area
(FTA).
At their annual summit here, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his counterparts from the 10-member ASEAN signed a joint declaration outlining a framework to forge a comprehensive economic partnership ''as soon as possible within 10 years.'' Japan signed the declaration one year after China and ASEAN agreed to establish their own free trade zone and one day after they signed a framework agreement to complete their FTA by 2010. Koizumi and ASEAN leaders agreed to establish a committee consisting of relevant senior government officials from both sides to draft a framework by next year's summit for the realization of an economic alliance, ''including elements of a possible free trade area.'' The declaration says the partnership would expand trade and spur growth between the two, thereby bringing greater stability and prosperity to the region and nurturing a sense of community between them. By the year 2020, the value of exports from ASEAN to Japan would increase by $20,630 million, which would be equivalent to 44.2% of those in the base year 1997. The value of exports from Japan to ASEAN would increase by $20,022 million, equivalent to 27.5% of that in the base year, the declaration says. Japan and ASEAN, it says, ''should seek broad-based economic partnership covering not only liberalization of trade and investment but also trade and investment promotion and facilitation measures...and cooperation in other areas.'' The facilitation measures would include customs procedures, standards and conformance, and nontariff measures, while cooperation would be promoted in such fields as financial services, information technology, tourism and energy. Koizumi and ASEAN leaders also agreed to try to form a FTA between Japan and ASEAN as a whole on the one hand, while allowing any ASEAN nation to enter into negotiations with Japan to forge a bilateral free trade arrangement on the other. Japan has already signed a bilateral free trade pact with Singapore and is considering similar arrangements with Thailand and the Philippines. Indonesia and Malaysia have also expressed interest in creating a bilateral free trade area with Japan. Japan and ASEAN have a combined population of 590 million, 11% of the world's total, and a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of $4.9 trillion, 18% of global GDP. During Tuesday's summit, Koizumi and ASEAN leaders agreed to designate next year as a year of exchange between the two and hold a commemorative summit in Tokyo on Dec. 11-12, 2003. ASEAN consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bangkok Post -
Tuesday 05 November 2002
Continuing failure to confront Burma Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra correctly took the problem of security to Phnom Penh for the Asean summit. Terrorists have attacked the region and taken root. But the biggest security threat to Thailand remains the huge influx of drugs, both into and through the country. Drug abuse and its twin problems of a ruined generation and massive corruption also threaten many of our neighbours. It is curious and irritating, then, to see Mr Thaksin proceed to Phnom Penh only to avoid any discussion on the biggest drug menace to Thailand. He went armed with maps of opium cultivation to present to his Burmese counterpart. His plan is to discuss the location of opium fields so Burma can act against them. Thailand will stand ready to help Rangoon if that country seriously wants to help farmers stop growing opium and sow other, more profitable cash crops. This is not a bad idea _ but it is spectacularly unimaginative and dangerously outdated. Mr Thaksin will not be the first to show accurate maps of opium cultivation to the Rangoon generals. Both the United Nations and the United States have been making such information available to Rangoon on a regular basis. Many satellite maps are freely available on the internet. To its credit, Rangoon has moved against many opium farmers in the past two years. In fact, a crackdown on opium farming actually has helped Rangoon achieve its racist programme to move the Shan out of the hills area of the north in order to move in settlers from the Wa minority. This brings up the real drug problem faced by Thailand, and Mr Thaksin's inexplicable failure to confront it. The Wa, specifically their Rangoon-friendly United Wa State Army, have become the biggest drug dealers in Asia. They deal in heroin, for certain. But the main product of their huge and profitable drug trafficking enterprise is methamphetamines. Speed kills, and the methamphetamine tablets produced by the Wa are extremely dangerous to Thailand. Thai officials know who produces the drugs, who sells it, who smuggles it into Thailand. Yet, for complicated if unacceptable reasons, the Thaksin government has completely reversed both its foreign and its drug policies. Neither Mr Thaksin nor any member of his cabinet has mentioned the existence of methamphetamines for more than six months. Last year, the prime minister sponsored and spoke at a large drugs seminar that correctly identified methamphetamine trafficking, once again, as the biggest threat to Thai security. This year's follow-up seminar was remarkable for its lack of any discussion on the subject. Army officers indiscreet enough to mention Burma-based drug trafficking of methamphetamines have been quickly and publicly replaced. This policy decision not to confront the Burmese generals over their drug-smuggling allies is curious given the lack of achievement. To many, the refusal to face Rangoon on the subject has gained nothing. Burma recently reopened some Thai border crossings but trade between Thai and Burmese companies remains banned. Nor has Rangoon restored any privileges removed during past confrontations. When Mr Thaksin swept to power in such a convincing manner last year, one of the top planks in his policy platform was a strong war on drugs. This made excellent sense because of the major threats posed to Thailand by drug traffickers. It is time for the prime minister to explain to the country why he has changed _ some say abandoned _ his vigorous campaign against smuggling and the sale of methamphetamines. The threat from heroin trafficking is serious but small when compared with speed tablets. The country would like to know why Mr Thaksin has backed off and is refusing to address the problem of methamphetamines. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bangkok Post -
Tuesday 05 November 2002
PM demands report on Burmese deaths Wassana Nanuam Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has ordered the army chief to explain a Rangoon protest over the killing of two Burmese nationals by Thai troops. A source said the prime minister had asked Gen Somdhat Attanand to report the incident in detail to him. Burma lodged a protest over the killings in Chiang Rai province last week. According to a Third Army report, a border patrol unit stopped three Burmese villagers for a search near the border in Mae Chan district on Oct 26 following a tip-off of a drug deal under way. However, the three opened fire, prompting the patrol unit to return fire. One of the gang members was killed while the other two fled to Burma. The border unit gave chase but ran into Burmese soldiers. The badly injured Burmese later died. The report said a pistol and 10,000 speed pills were seized from the first Burmese national who died. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Financial
Times
Beijing looks to bring
neighbours under its wing
By Amy Kazmin Published: November 5 2002 4:00 | Last Updated: November 5 2002 4:00 China has wooed south-east Asia ever since the 1997 Asian economic crisis, when several countries began nursing grievances that their old cold war ally, the US, had let them down in their hour of need. That courtship deepened yesterday in Phnom Penh, where leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations agreed to hitch their wagons to a rising China - in the tentative hope that they can share their giant neighbour's growing prosperity. The centrepiece of the raft of agreements signed at the China-Asean summit yesterday was the framework deal for establishing a China-Asean free trade zone by 2010, a proposal seen as largely symbolic when it was endorsed last year but that China since pushed aggressively. Nicholas Thomas, a researcher at the China-Asean Project of the University of Hong Kong, says the framework deal "sets the scene for a 10 year period where we are going to see China and Asean growing a lot closer together - for better or worse". Despite continued doubts in some countries, Asean has agreed to embark on a process of economic integration with China as its best chance for continued economic survival relevance in the face of a powerful trade competitor. While Beijing too touts its desires for regional economic prosperity, analysts see China as driven more by a intense desire to bring the countries in its backyard firmly within its sphere of influence. It is a desire that has been heightened by Washington's increased projection of its military power in far-flung corners of the globe, including central Asia, where, before September 11, Beijing had been seeking to build up its influence. "China is now building a safety cushion around itself to relieve its security worries," Sheng Lijun, a senior fellow at Singapore's Institute for Southeast Asian Studies, told a recent conference in Bangkok. While a free trade deal with south-east Asia will not explicitly address security issues, he said, closer economic relations would tend to act as a constraint on the region if China were engaged in any conflict with the US in the future. In its quest for regional leadership, China isn't restricting its overtures to economic and development matters, either. Along with agreeing yesterday to refrain from provocative activities in the disputed South China Sea, China and Asean issued an unexpected declaration on joint efforts to combat non-traditional security problems, like the smuggling of arms, drugs and people, money laundering, cyber-crime and terrorism. While China has already been working closely with the countries that share the Mekong River on some of these issues, the declaration provides for the beginning of broader security co-operation between China and the wider region. South-east Asia's strengthening ties to China with have not escaped the attention of the Bush administration, which - before September 11 - had prickly relations with China, epitomised by the crisis over the downed US spy plane on Hainan Island. At the recent Apec summit, President George W. Bush offered to enhance US economic co-operation with Asean by entering into bilateral free trade agreements with the more developed members, a largely symbolic move to reassure Asean it is not forgotten. Washington has also offered more aid for efforts to bridge the development gap between different member states. Mr Thomas said the designation of south-east Asia as a second front in the war on terrorism also provides the rationale for an enhanced US engagement. Within Asean, many have qualms about China's rising influence. In Cambodia, many activists blame China for scuttling a proposed war crimes tribunal for surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge, a proceeding that would highlight Beijing's support for the genocidal regime. In Thailand, critics accused Beijing of bullying after Bangkok cancelled the signing of a deal with Taiwan aimed at improving conditions for 250,000 Thai labourers working there. The smaller countries along the Mekong river are deeply worried about the consequences to them of China's ambitious dam building schemes along the branches of the river, even as China pledges greater involvement in the region's development. Yet Asean, which has always operated on a consensus basis, still lacks the ability to speak with a unified voice on sensitive political issues, which leaves it in a weak position in dealing with China. So, even as it commits to a tighter embrace of Beijing, Asean is courting other regional powers such as India. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Asian Tribune
Date : 2002-11-05 Asian Leaders to arrive in Bangkok for the 2nd Asian Political Parties Conference. By K.T.Rajasingham Bangkok, Nov. 05:The second international conference of Asian political parties, scheduled for November, is expected to be attended by representatives of 59 parties in 22 countries. Several Asian Leaders are expected to attend the conference. The Conference is expected to be one of the leading and important events for Asia. The First International Conference of Asian Political Parties was held on September 17 - 20, 2000 at Manila, Republic of the Philippines. The conference was to initiate the process of building bridge and creating a culture of cooperation among Asia's political parties; so that through such solidarity and partnership, they can begin to articulate a common strategy for Asia in the next 25 years together. The consensus of the first conference agreed to hold the conference every two years and the second conference will be hosted by Thailand in the year of 2002. Between November 22-24, the second International Conference of Asian Political Parties is scheduled to be held at Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand. Dr. Surakiart Sathirathai, Deputy Leader of Thai Rak Thai Party and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand would deliver the welcome address. The Bangkok conference, aimed at promoting democracy, will address economic issues, regional security issues, and define mechanisms for regional political and economic cooperation at the level of political parties, the Thai Rak Thai party said. Prime Minister of Thailand Thakshin Shinawatra will deliver the keynote address, with emphasis on Enhancing Political Party Cooperation? at the Asian Cooperation Dialogue meeting. Proposed Topics of Discussions are listed as: (1) Political Dimension, * Building Community Participation * Regional Security * Good Governance and Transparency (2) Economic Dimension * Asia Cooperation Dialogue * Rational Economic Solution for Asia * New Financial Architecture (3) Social Dimension * Human Security in Asia * Regional Eco-system Strength in Cultural Diversity. To date, 59 political parties from 22 countries - in both government and opposition camps-have confirmed their participation. Among leading politicians to join the conference are Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, who will give a luncheon speech on Nov23, House Speaker Jose de Venecia from the Philippines, Prince Norodom Rannariddh of Cambodia's Funcinpec party, Sam Rainsy of Cambodia's opposition Sam Rainsy party, and former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Safina of the Awami League party. Sonia Gandhi, president of India's Congress party, V.Ananadasangkari, the President of the Tamil National Alliance of Sri Lanka are few of the leading political leaders of South Asian region who have confirmed their attendance. Representatives of North Korea's ruling Workers party will be sitting next to their counterparts from South Korea's Grand National party at the Bangkok conference. Gen Than Shwe, chairman of Burma's ruling State Peace and Development Council, and Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of Burma's opposition National League for Democracy party, have yet to confirm their participation ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |