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ASEAN finance ministers to discuss proposed regional bond
market
MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Southeast Asian finance ministers will
discuss a proposal this week to create a regional bond market that would help
support Asian debt, an official said Monday.
``The market is intended to
promote the use of investments from Asia to support Asian issuers,'' Philippine
Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho told reporters, noting that Asian
investments represent at least one-third of the world's total foreign holdings.
This week Manila is hosting the 7th annual meeting of finance officials
from the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or
ASEAN.
Camacho said discussions on the proposed regional bond market
will be informal and include a presentation by an international finance
institution on ways to realize the proposal.
He said several issues _
including credit enhancement for the issuers, a common place of registration and
infrastructure _ still need to be discussed before a regional bond market can
become operational.
He added that credit enhancement is important since
many issuers in Asia, including governments, are below investment grade. The
creation of the Asian bond fund is part of the broad initiative to set up the
proposed regional market, he said.
``To really make it happen, the
involvement of the private sector is necessary,'' he said.
ASEAN groups
Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia,
Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar. Also participating in the meeting are finance and
central bank officials from Japan, China, and South Korea.
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Indonesia, Singapore complete work on new gas pipeline
linking
BATAM, Indonesia (AP) - President Megawati Sukarnoputri said
Monday that a new gas pipeline to Singapore will generate much-needed jobs and
revenue for Indonesia and she called for more exploration into the country's
vast natural resources.
Megawati and Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok
Tong marked the completion of the 477-kilometer (300-mile) natural gas pipeline
linking the two nations at a ceremony on the Indonesian island of Batam.
``This is one important step aimed at not only lessening the pressure of
unemployment in our country, but also at developing common prosperity in the
region,'' Megawati said during the ceremony.
The pipeline, which will
begin operating on Aug. 11, promises to create 700 new jobs and US$9 billion in
revenue for Indonesia over the next 20 years, Goh's office said in a statement.
``We hope that our investments will have a catalytic effect on the
Indonesian economy,'' Goh said. ``Your stability is important to the entire
region.''
Megawati urged her ministers to develop more projects
leveraging the country's natural resources to create new jobs.
``We
should take advantage of this grand project to revive the spirit ... to love and
use our own products,'' she said.
Singapore will receive 350 million
standard cubic feet of natural gas per day from South Sumatra via the pipeline.
A tiny wealthy Southeast Asian city-state, Singapore has few natural
resources and depends heavily on its neighbors for water and energy supplies.
The pipeline took 2 1/2 years to complete and is a joint project between
Singapore's PowerGas and Indonesia's PT Perusahaan Gas Negara, Goh said.
Goh called the pipeline ``an important link'' in the Trans-ASEAN Gas
Pipeline project. ASEAN signed a memorandum of understanding on the pipeline
project last year, which aims to ensure uninterrupted energy supply throughout
Southeast Asia.
Energy ministers and officials from Thailand, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines attended the ceremony.
Indonesia's Minister of
Mines and Energy Purnomo Yus Giantoro said the Sumatra-Singapore pipeline would
also supply Malaysia with gas from next year.
Natural gas is already
piped into Singapore from Indonesia's West Natuna gas fields through a
640-kilometer (400-mile) pipeline launched two years ago.
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The Nation
REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE: Burma
protests: a solid international front
KAVI
CHONGKITTAVORN
Published on Aug 4, 2003
The
consolidation of support from various parts of the world calling for freedom for
Aung San Suu Kyi has reached a tipping point: the Burmese political crisis has
become internationalised. Thanks to the brutal crackdown by the Burmese regime,
international pressure has been solidified, sustained and augmented. Before
long, the United Nations will play a more prominent role in easing the
situation.
In the past two months, these external forces have already
forced Asean as well countries sharing borders with Burma - Thailand, China,
India and Bangladesh - to review their engagement with the beleaguered country.
Tainted by the crisis, Asean was first to respond and since then has
repeatedly called for Suu Kyi's release. Rangoon has turned a deaf ear. Asean is
now looking for a way to use existing mechanisms such as the Asean Troika as a
conduit to exert influence inside Burma.
The Asean Troika was used
successfully on a non-Asean member to end the political impasse over the 1997
coup in Cambodia. Without Rangoon's permission, the troika team would be
rendered powerless. The longer Asean waits, the more frustrated its members will
become and that could influence the summit meeting of their leaders in Bali on
October 7-8.
Since Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's bashing of Burma,
Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines have upped the ante against Burma beyond
the release of Suu Kyi. They want to see the political dialogue and national
reconciliation process proceed, otherwise there will be punitive measures
against Burma. They also perceive the ongoing impasse in Burma as a threat to
the grouping's security.
Their biggest concern is that the failure of
Asean to develop adequate political mechanisms to address conflicts within the
grouping would tempt external powers to interfere. As a preventive measure,
Asean must establish a common security community based on new rules that reflect
changes in the post Cold War world.
To do so, Asean leaders must support the
Indonesian plan to set up Asean Security Community. it is a prerequisite if
there are to be punitive measures against a member. The Burmese impasse has
accelerated the discussion and the need for such a framework.
Asean's
position has placed Thailand's Burma policy in a dilemma. As it turns out,
Thailand has now become the military regime's closest friend. Bangkok's
willingness to accommodate Rangoon has surprised the international community. In
the past weeks Thailand has been playing a cat-and-mouse game over its proposed
"road map" on Burma. This is a non-paper consisting of suggestions for
confidence-building measures that could lead to further dialogue.
Although several non-Asean countries expressed interest in the Thai
overture, the government has somehow failed to send a strong signal to Burma
that its time is running out and it must act now for face a dire consequence.
As the international pressure intensifies, the UN Security Council is
likely to step in. Special UN envoy for Burma Razali Ismail went to New York in
mid-July to give an informal briefing to the UNSC members on his last visit to
Rangoon, where he was the first outsider to meet Suu Kyi since her detention on
30 May. Later on the UNSC members agreed to invite Razali to make an official
briefing to them in future on Burma. The so-called "Razali porcess", which began
in February in Tokyo, has re-energised his role and furthered UN and UNSC
involvements.
It is an open secret that the UN has its own road map on
Burma, which has been on the drawing board since the UN General Assembly took up
political and human-rights issues inside Burma in the past decade. The UN plan
will be more visible if the regional effort fails to materialise. The UN
successfully ran Cambodia and East Timor during transitional periods and
sponsored elections there that led to elected governments in place today.
Within Asia, the mounting international pressure also disturbs China,
India and Bangladesh, with which Burma has developed closer relations as a means
to counter economic sanctions. Since the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act will
hurt Burma's ailing economy and exports, border trade with these countries will
become even more important for the regime's economic survival. Pressure from
Western countries will now shift to their border trade with Burma.
While
China continues to stand firm on its principle of non-intervention, China-Burma
ties have been put under the world's microscope. With its international standing
and Asean-China ties at stake, Beijing might distance itself a little from
Rangoon in the near future. After all, Asean's frustration over Burma could have
a spill-over effect on its relations with China.
As Suu Kyi's detention
continues, Asean is less likely to defend Burma as the grouping used to do in
the past. If Beijing's backing increases Burma's intransigent attitude, it would
alienate the grouping and jeopardise their excellent ties.
Interestingly, Burma has long been a yardstick for China's influence in
Southeast Asia. To counter China's growing influence, Asean decided to embrace
Burma in January 1995, leading to its membership in 1997. For now, China's
influence is proliferating far and wide in Burma, very much to the chagrin of
Asean.
Burma's effort to stop the internationalisation of protest and
pressure against it will not succeed because of the worsening of domestic
conditions. Economic hardships and political oppression could force the Burmese
people on the streets again.
If this process intensifies with every
player at regional and international levels coming into play, a regime change in
Burma is inevitable.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The Star Online
Cops looking for Myanmarese
trio
Monday, August 04, 2003
PETALING JAYA: Police are
looking for three Myanmar nationals to help with investigations into the murder
of a 35-year-old man at the Septrum Apartment in Bandar Sunway.
The three men in their 30s were said to have last been seen with the
victim, also a Myanmarese, who died of excessive bleeding.
The victim, said to be under the influence of alcohol, threw open the
door of a snooker parlour and broke a few snooker cue sticks in the 1.30am
incident yesterday.
Witnesses said the three men followed him into
an apartment when he left.
District OCPD Senior Asst Comm (II)
Ghazali Mohd Amin said police received a call from a security guard about 45
minutes after the victim was last seen entering the apartment.
?The man?s body was found sprawled in a pool of blood at the lobby,? he
said.
Those with information can call the PJ Selatan
district police headquarters at 03-8948 6222 or the nearest police station.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Asia Times
Thai-Myanmar: Twists in the
roadmap
By Larry Jagan
Aug 5, 2003
BANGKOK - Thailand is pushing ahead with its initiative to bring
democratic change to Myanmar by pursuing discussions on a roadmap to national
reconciliation and democracy, but where this political journey leads to remains
unclear.
Last week, Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai
discussed his ideas for this roadmap with his Myanmar counterpart Win Aung in
Bangkok. Win Aung said he would take the Thai ideas back to Yangon for further
discussion.
Since Thai officials met with Myanmar Deputy Prime Minister
Khin Maung Win, who visited Bangkok as a special envoy for General Than Shwe
recently, Surakiart has been canvassing vigorously for support from countries in
Asia and Europe that have expressed interest in helping Myanmar implement
democratic reform.
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has said that
Thailand was taking the initiative because the crisis in Myanmar was more than
Yangon could handle, and that it would be easier for it to deal with friendly
neighbors than for the matter to be brought before the United Nations Security
Council.
"We are doing what we are doing now because we are concerned
about Burma. We are not pressuring Burma or interfering with its internal
affairs," he said. "Since we are Burma's close neighbor, we should initiate
something that leads to the international community's acceptance of developments
in Burma." (The ruling junta changed the country's name from Burma to Myanmar in
1989, but many observers prefer the old designation.)
Under its vision
for this roadmap, Thailand wants the Myanmar regime to propose a series of
concrete and practical steps toward democratization. As part of this process,
the Thai government would then host a meeting of interested parties that would
be tasked with fleshing out the Myanmar roadmap.
But where this will
lead - if it leads anywhere - remains unclear.
To date, the Thai idea of
this roadmap, floated in the wake of the detention of opposition leader Aung San
Suu Kyi, seems rather vague. "It's really only a concept that still needs to be
fleshed out," said a senior Thai Foreign Ministry source.
"It's a
working idea that has to be refined before it gets seriously unveiled," added a
senior Thai diplomat.
European leaders who discussed with Surakiart at
various bilateral meetings during the Asia-Europe Meeting in Bali last month all
seemed to have been given varying versions of it. "It's not really a roadmap as
such," a senior European official at the Bali meeting said in an interview, "but
10 or 12 proposed steps which would help the Burmese military government to move
towards full democracy within the next few years."
For all of the talk
about the Thai roadmap, however, many foreign governments and the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is a member, believe that the
first step on any roadmap must be the release of Suu Kyi.
For more than
two months, she has been held under what the government calls protective custody
after a violent attack on her and her supporters in northern Myanmar. That
attack has been blamed on pro-Yangon elements.
"ASEAN and the Thai
government have called for Aung San Suu Kyi's immediate release, and we would
like to see steps taken that would move towards her release," Surakiart said in
Bali last month. "The recent release of more than 91 political prisoners is a
good signal and if these steps can be spelt out as part of the roadmap as to how
and when she would be released that would be very helpful."
But UN
special envoy Razali Ismail, who helped broker the original talks between Suu
Kyi and the generals, has also been very clear: there can be no dialogue process
when one of the key partners is under detention.
Privately, ASEAN
leaders have made it clear to Yangon that they expected Suu Kyi to have already
been released by now.
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has
warned the generals that if nothing happens soon, ASEAN will have to consider
expelling Myanmar - although this would only be done as a last resort.
At the ASEAN meeting of foreign ministers in Phnom Penh in mid-June,
Myanmar was asked to give them a firm date for Suu Kyi's release. This was
reiterated by Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda last month during Win
Aung's visit to Jakarta.
Myanmar continues to ask its Asian allies to be
patient. "We need some breathing space," Win Aung told his Indonesian hosts.
But international pressure may be having an impact on Myanmar's
generals. Last week, the military authorities allowed the International Red
Cross in Yangon to visit Suu Kyi in the guesthouse in which she is being
detained.
Thai officials say they see the roadmap as having a course of
steps - after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi - which would lead to Myanmar
becoming a fully fledged democracy before 2006, when Yangon takes over the
chairmanship of ASEAN.
The other steps would include Thailand hosting an
international forum, which in the words of the Thai foreign minister would
"brainstorm" with representatives of the Myanmar military government on economic
liberalization, increasing political freedom, drawing up a constitution and then
holding elections within the next two years or so.
In truth, there is
very little new in this framework that Razali has not already been discussing in
detail with the three main players in Myanmar - the military, the democratic
opposition and the ethnic minorities. But what is new is the Thai proposal to
host an international forum on Myanmar. "This would be a senior officials
meeting rather than a ministerial one," said the Thai Foreign Ministry
spokesman, Sihasak Phuangketkeow.
Originally, it was to be to include
representatives of ASEAN, China, Japan and Europe. The United States did not
seem to be on the original invitation list.
But in the course of the
past week or so, ministry officials have realized that the guest list has become
too long and the thinking now appears to be an initial meeting that would
include Thailand, China and India with representatives of the Myanmar military
junta.
Thaksin has said that neighboring countries need to agree first
on political change in Myanmar. "As Burma's neighbors have the greatest interest
in seeing the country become democratic and thereby ensure regional stability
and security," added a senior Thai diplomat, "it would make sense for them to be
the main participants in the roadmap forum."
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'ASEAN-plus-3' should be called E. Asia Economic
Group
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug. 4, Kyodo - A decade after his proposal to form an
East Asia Economic Caucus (EAEC) was shot down, Malaysian Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad spoke vehemently Monday of the need for an East Asia grouping,
beginning with the change of name for the ''ASEAN-plus-three'' to ''East Asia
Economic Group.''
''We would be very happy if we stopped hiding behind
this spurious title and called ourselves the East Asia Economic Group,''
Mahathir said at a conference organized by Malaysia's Institute of Strategic and
International Studies.
The 10 members of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its three dialogue partners -- China, Japan and South
Korea -- hold annual meetings under the euphemism ''ASEAN-plus-three.''
The ASEAN-plus-three structure is essentially the EAEC that Mahathir had
in mind when he first proposed the concept in 1993 to counter the trade blocs of
Europe and North America.
The idea, however, did not take off because
Japan, the crucial participant, backed down after pressure from the United
States, which would have been excluded from the grouping.
''The
countries of East Asia should state openly that they want to form a single
grouping like the North American Free Trade Area and the European (Economic)
Community,'' Mahathir said.
EAEC has since evolved to become
ASEAN-plus-three ''so as not to ruffle the feathers of other countries. But now
we should come out in the open and say we want to have the East Asian economic
grouping,'' he added.
''We in East Asia are the most dependent region in
the world on world trade and economic development. Yet we are without voice and
without clout. The decisions that directly determine our present and dictate our
future are made elsewhere. It is time for us to empower ourselves for the good
of our people and for the sake of our future and the future of the world,''
Mahathir said.
ASEAN's members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
--------------------------------------------------------------
U.N. Human Rights Envoy Reconsiders Burma
Mandate
Big News Network.com
August 2, 2003.
U.N. human rights envoy
Paulo Sergio Pinheiro says he will reconsider his mandate to engage the Burmese
military government in dialogue if the junta fails to make progress on human
rights, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reports.
"I am very sad that until now
there are several hundreds of prisoners that continue in prison," Pinheiro told
RFA's Burmese service. "But if I don't see any development in the situation, I
will be obliged to revise my commitment to this mandate."
Pinheiro, who
has travelled to Burma every November for the last three years in an attempt to
engage the authorities in a dialogue on human rights, said he had already
signalled his readiness to visit at any time to the military government in
Rangoon. "I didn't receive any answer," he said. "And I think that this is a
serious obstacle to any discussion or any possibility of dialogue inside the
country."
The envoy said he had also repeatedly called for the release
of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, along with other opposition activists
detained after a crackdown in May. He has also called on the authorities to
provide information on exactly who died in May 30 attacks on a pro-democracy
rally, which were carried out by government-hired gangs.
"This is a
situation that complicates any discussion about the country," Pinheiro said,
adding that the last official news the United Nations had received of Aung San
Suu Kyi came during the visit of human rights envoy Razali Ismail to Rangoon in
June.
Razali reported at the time that the leader of the opposition
National League for Democracy (NLD) was "well and in good spirits" and that she
was unhurt.
"In principle... my mission takes place in November," he
said. "But I have to weigh the developments of the situation because it's not
normal having Aung San Suu Kyi in prison. I have asked the authorities to invite
me for a visit any time, [and] I informed the authorities that I?m ready to go
there at any moment. But up to now I didn?t receive anything."
"In view
of the circumstances, I am prepared to revise my approach, to revise my
discussions with the authorities. I am really very worried, and I expect that
the authorities will understand the situation and release Aung San Suu Kyi and
her colleagues."
Pinheiro also said he had just received an explanation
from the Burmese government regarding his discovery of a microphone at In Sein
Prison during a visit there in March. But he declined to elaborate, saying only
that he would publish his report to the U.N. General Assembly on Nov. 10.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Getting online's a struggle in repressed
Burma
Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel, FLorida
(U.S.)
August 04, 2003.
RANGOON (AP) - Visit one
of Rangoon's only two Internet cafes, glance over a few shoulders, and you'll
see people trying to surf their way to a better future beyond the stiff borders
of their military-ruled homeland.
In theory, anyone can get online in
Burma. But this being one of Asia's poorest countries, access is a luxury few
can afford.
Only about one in 5,000 people have Internet access, and even
that is restricted by firewalls and other government-imposed
limitations.
It was a limited cyber-thaw, then, when Burma's isolationist
regime, which controls all media and communications in the country, allowed the
two cybercafes to open earlier this year.
In one, a dusty warehouse-like
space called Cyberworld, a recent university graduate sat at one of the shop's
27 terminals looking for Web sites for a master's degree program in computers in
the United States.
He had a computer science degree from the university
in Burma, though Internet access was unavailable on campus.
The student,
who like many others interviewed spoke on condition of anonymity, said he had
been able to use the Internet in the last few years only through a private
company's connection. Now he and others who can afford the cafes come to look
for work opportunities or better schools. Others seek escape through video
games.
What you won't find -- at least not openly -- are people visiting
anti-government Web sites. That can land a person in jail.
The military,
in power since 1962, arrested six army officers in 1999 for trying to access
such a site, according to the Paris-based media freedom group Reporters Without
Borders.
Pornography, meanwhile, is taboo. And don't even think of trying
to access a Hotmail account -- the e-mail service is blocked.
"Of
countries worldwide, Burma and North Korea are together at the far end of the
scale of Internet repression," Shanthi Kalathil, author of the book Open
Networks, Closed Regimes, said in a telephone interview from Washington,
D.C.
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Irrawaddy
Opposition Offices Close, Road Map Pitch
Continues
By Kyaw Zwa Moe
August 01, 2003?The Thai
Foreign Minister is busy selling his "road map" to peace in Burma, while
officials in the north of Thailand are cracking down on Burmese dissidents.
Sources said many of the offices of Burmese opposition groups in Mae Sariang
have closed today, as staff members and volunteers try to avoid arrest by local
authorities.
An ethnic Karen women in the town said: "All the offices of
dissident groups shut down. Most members moved to other locations and a few went
into hiding yesterday." The source said she and others had been told authorities
would start arresting dissidents today.
On July 18, Thai officials gave
dissidents until the end of the month to leave Mae Sariang, close to the
Thai-Burma border, opposite Burma?s Karenni State.
Local authorities met
with opposition and ethnic groups to warn them to take the threat of arrest
seriously, and explain that the arrest order had come from the central
government in Bangkok.
On Tuesday morning in Mae Sariang, border police
arrested six members of the Karen Women?s Organization (KWO), but they were
released after being held for eight hours at a local police station.
The
arrests prompted other groups to relocate ahead of the deadline. Offices of the
All Burma Students? Democratic Front (ABSDF) and the Karen National Union were
among the first to close.
Meanwhile Burma?s Foreign Minister Win Aung
arrived in Bangkok yesterday and will be meeting with his Thai counterpart
Surakiart Sathirathai to discuss the Thai government?s "road map" for the
release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Though details on the content of
the road map have yet to be spelt out, Thailand?s idea has already won support
from Japan.
Surakiart also met with ministers from Burma, Laos and
Cambodia for talks today on regional economic cooperation, but news reports say
problems in Burma were not on the agenda.
The Thai Foreign Minister told
the BBC he did not expect Win Aung to agree to the proposals he had in mind but
was confident the generals would respond favorably when they heard the details
of Thailand?s road map.
Dissidents in Mae Sariang said they were
frustrated about Thailand?s ambiguous solution. "If the Thai government really
wants to help solve the political stalemate in our country, they must realize
that they actually need agreement from Burma?s opposition inside and outside the
country, not just a go-ahead from the junta," an ABSDF member told The Irrawaddy
before leaving town yesterday.
"If they want to win the confidence of
opposition groups, cracking down on dissidents working on Thai soil is not the
way to do it. Such action only proves Thailand has no real desire to help
Burma," the ABSDF source said.
Opposition groups have responded to
Thailand?s road map with caution. But the consensus is that opposition and
ethnic leaders, including those elected in 1990, must be invited to participate
if the process is to be deemed legitimate.
--------------------------------------------------------------