News & Articles on Burma-Friday, 21 January, 2011

News & Articles on Burma
Friday, 21 January, 2011
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Suu Kyi Meets Thai FM
Myanmar's Suu Kyi gets web access
All the Senior General’s Men in Burmese Parliaments
Aung Suu Kyi finally plugs into the cyber world
Burma names military figures to sit in new parliament
Internal Power Struggle at Myanmar Times?
Shan party candidate wins lawsuit
Army reps named for parliament
Myanmar fills military quota in parliament with 388 appointees
Myanmar Publishes 383 Name Lists Of Parliament Representative Nominated By Military
Myanmar heads for first parliamentary sessions in two decades
S Korea eyes Burma stock market
Energy minister ‘unhappy’ with privatisation
Gold and Dollar Values Up in Burma
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Suu Kyi Meets Thai FM

Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi had an one-hour talk with Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya at the Thai embassy in Rangoon on Friday morning, said officials of her party, the National League for Democracy. “The discussion was quite frank, but we still have no details from it,” said a party official. The personal meeting was the first between Suu Kyi and another country's foreign minister since her release from house arrest in November.
Published Friday, Jan. 21, 2011 - The Irrawaddy.
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Myanmar's Suu Kyi gets web access
Posted: 21 January 2011 1627 hrs

YANGON: Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has finally had Internet access installed at home after her years of isolation were brought to an end two months ago, an aide said Friday.

Her security chief Win Htein told AFP that the opposition leader was "glad" to be able to go online at her lakeside mansion in Yangon and would use the technology to contact her network of supporters.

"But she cannot use the Internet now as she is not feeling well and is coughing," he said.

It is believed that the Nobel laureate has never before surfed the web.

Suu Kyi, who was locked up for seven straight years with no telephone or Internet until November, has expressed an interest in using the micro-blogging site Twitter or the social network Facebook to reach young people.

She applied to a private company for Internet access soon after she was released, but the request was transferred to Yatanarpon Teleport, a firm run by the country's military authorities.

Citizens of Myanmar, which has been ruled by the military since 1962, must obtain the authorities' permission to be able to go online at home and there is a thriving black market for facilities under assumed identities.

Suu Kyi applied officially under her own name for web access because she wants to use email, Win Htein said.

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders describes Myanmar's legislation on Internet use, the Electronic Act, as among the world's most repressive, with online dissidents facing lengthy prison terms.

Just one in every 455 of Myanmar's inhabitants were Internet users in 2009, based on statistics from the International Telecommunication Union, a UN agency in Geneva.

Some web users believed authorities intentionally slowed services ahead of the country's first elections in two decades in November, while many fear online surveillance by the state.

Myanmar is poised to open a new parliament this month following the polls, which were decried in the West as a sham aimed at shoring up military power and boycotted by Suu Kyi's party.

Her National League for Democracy won a 1990 election in a landslide but the result was never recognised by the regime and Suu Kyi has spent most of the past 20 years in detention.

-AFP/jl http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1106108/1/.html
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All the Senior General’s Men in Burmese Parliaments
By Zin Linn
Jan 21, 2011 7:38PM UTC

Burma’s military junta has appointed 388 members of parliaments to fill the military share of the three chambers of parliament which will first assemble on January 31, junta’s media said today.

The junta has appointed 110 military officers for the people’s parliament (lower house), 56 for the national parliament (upper house), and 222 for regional-and-state parliaments, The New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported Friday.

All appointed MPs are military officers in commission, including one brigadier general, 19 colonels; the other 368 officers are majors and captains in ranks.

Under country’s new constitution, the military can appoint 25 per cent of all lawmakers in three chambers of parliament. It is enough for the military to veto any legislation and to control the picking of a new president and cabinet.

Meanwhile, the controversial Conscription Law, dated November 4, 2010, which is to be ratified in Burma, has been criticized by the National League for Democracy (NLD) on 19 January. As said by the draft law, it will come into force on the day that the military regime endorses the law by an article in an official decree.

According to NLD, a draft law is related to the whole population in the country and it should be approved through lower and upper parliaments. Releasing the draft law ahead of the approaching parliament assemblies looks like a dishonest tactic. And it also shows the military is above the parliament which is really a fake. The military authorities will be misused the rights of grassroots people under this law in the name of ‘the State’, NLD pointed out in its statement.

Although the 1959 Public Military Service Act said the state had the authority to order any person who is qualified to serve in the armed forces, the current junta’s draft law prescribes that all male and female adults between selected ages should be subjects to serve in the military, the NLD statement pointed out.

“If the law comes into life, the authorities will misuse the law as the corruption is prevalent. The law will open the door of evildoings for the authorities and it will put heavy burdens on the people who are under poverty line due to junta’s bad-governance”’, said NLD’s statement dated 19 January.

Burma or Myanmar, under military absolute rule since 1962, held its first general election in two decades on November 7 last year. Parliament is to hold its first session on January 31 to commence the procedure of choosing a new president. The parliament meetings would likely to take at least 14 days and people may only allow perceiving who will be the first president around mid-February, as said by an observer.

Besides the 25-per-cent ratio of appointed military parliamentarians, the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) took 77 per cent of the seats in three chambers of parliament by vote-rigging. Whoever won the presidential throne, there may not be any amazement during the first parliamentary session which will be held under junta’s tightly control.

The 2008 constitution says that the president and two vice-presidents needn’t to be elected members of parliament except acquaintance with military affairs. Many observers deem that Senior General Than Shwe, 77, boss of the junta since 1992 and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, is an expected candidate, while ex-Generals Maung Aye and Shwe Mann are likely to be the deputies under Than Shwe.

If Than Shwe decided to take the presidential office, he has to resign from his military position. The president will have the power to shape the new government. Most of the new cabinet members seem to be chosen primarily from the USDP MPs who also were once high-ranking military officers with the junta.

The over 1,000 representatives-elect and 388 appointed military representatives are preparing for the first parliament session on 31 January. All representatives have been cautiously instructed about dos and don’ts in the parliamentary compound including which costume they have to wear, and which kinds of thing they are not allowed not to bring.

The Members of Parliament will not be allowed to carry mobile phones, recorders and laptop computers into the Parliament, as said by Dr. Myat Nyar Na Soe, a representative-elect from the National Democratic Force (NDF) party.

An invitation letter delivered to the representatives-elect calls on Members of Parliament to inform to the fortified office of the parliament in capital Naypyidaw by 27 January.
http://asiancorrespondent.com/46647/all-the-senior-general%E2%80%99s-men-in-burmese-parliaments/
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BBC ASIA PACIFIC
21 January 2011 Last updated at 11:56 GMT
Burma names military figures to sit in new parliament

Burmese state media has published lists of military officials who will take up seats in parliament when it opens on 31 January for the first time in 22 years.

Under the junta-drafted constitution, the military is allocated 25% of seats in both houses of parliament and the state assemblies.

Most of the 388 officers appointed hold relatively junior ranks.

Military-backed parties won by far the largest number of seats in the November polls, Burma's first in 20 years.

Opposition groups and Western nations have criticised laws under which the polls were held and condemned the elections a sham.

The official first sitting of parliament in Naypyidaw will mark the implementation of the new constitution and see the transfer of power from the military government to a parliament and president.

Representatives of military-linked parties - many of them former officers who stood down to stand in the polls - are expected the dominate the chambers.

The setting of a quota for the military in parliament has been interpreted by some observers as intended to prevent any surprises. More than 75% approval is required for any constitutional change.

The state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported that 110 military officers had been chosen for the lower house, 56 for the upper house, and 222 for regional and state parliaments.

The most senior appointees were a brigadier general and 19 colonels alongside a majority of majors and captains.

Under the new constitution, parliament will elect a president. It is not yet clear whether senior leader Than Shwe is eyeing this role.

The party that won Burma's last elections in 1990 - the Aung San Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy - is not represented in parliament.

But there will also be a small number of lawmakers representing Burma's ethnic parties and its pro-democracy opposition.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12247940

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Aung Suu Kyi finally plugs into the cyber world
Agence France-Presse
Yangon, January 21, 2011
First Published: 14:45 IST(21/1/2011)
Last Updated: 14:48 IST(21/1/2011)

Myanmar democracy icon, Aung San Suu Kyi has finally secured Internet access at home after her years of isolation were brought to an end two months ago, an aide said on Friday. Her security chief Win Htein told AFP that the opposition leader was "glad" to be able to go online at her lakeside
mansion in Yangon and would use the technology to contact her network of supporters.

"But she cannot use the Internet now as she is not feeling well and is coughing," he said. It is believed that the Nobel laureate has never before surfed the web.

Suu Kyi, who was locked up for seven straight years with no telephone or Internet until November, 2010, has expressed an interest in using the micro blogging site Twitter or the social network Facebook to reach young people.

She applied to a private company for Internet access soon after she was released, but the request was transferred to Yatanarpon Teleport, a firm run by the country's military authorities.

Citizens of Myanmar, which has been ruled by the military since 1962, must obtain the authorities' permission to be able to go online at home and there is a thriving black market for facilities under assumed identities.

Suu Kyi applied officially under her own name for web access because she wants to use email, Win Htein said.

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders describes Myanmar's legislation on Internet use, the Electronic Act, as among the world's most repressive, with online dissidents facing lengthy prison terms. Just one in every 455 of Myanmar's inhabitants were Internet users in 2009, based on statistics from the International Telecommunication Union, a UN agency in Geneva.

Some web users believed authorities intentionally slowed services ahead of the country's first elections in two decades in November last year, while many fear online surveillance by the state. Myanmar is poised to open a new parliament this month following the polls, which were decried in the West as a sham aimed at shoring up military power and boycotted by Suu Kyi's party.

Her National League for Democracy won a 1990 election in a landslide but the result was never recognised by the regime and Suu Kyi has spent most of the past 20 years in detention. http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/myanmar/Aung-Suu-Kyi-finally-plugs-into-the-cyber-world/Article1-652958.aspx
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Internal Power Struggle at Myanmar Times?
By LA PYAE Friday, January 21, 2011

RANGOON — Rumors are rife in Rangoon media circles about a possible takeover of Myanmar Consolidate Media (MCM) group, the company that owns four major publications in Burma: leading weekly The Myanmar Times in both Burmese and English; lifestyle journal Now!; and a weekly tabloid called Crime.

A source close to MCM said the company is entrenched in an internal power struggle between between two major shareholders, co-founder Ross Dunkley who is Australian, and Tin Htun Oo who is the owner of Swezon media group and publisher of The Myanmar Times.

The Myanmar Times co-founder Ross Dunkley.
According to the source, Tin Htun Oo, who won a seat in Pazundaung Township in the November general election representing the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, has been duelling with Dunkley to take over the position of CEO and editor-in-chief of MCM. Dunkley reportedly rejected the move in the past, resulting in an unfriendly relationship between the two shareholders.

On Jan. 17, a report in the state-owned Mirror newspaper indicated that Tin Htun Oo has taken over as editor-in-chief of MCM.

“Myanmar Consolidate Media Group Editor-in-Chief Dr. Tin Htun Oo donated over 2.6 million Kyats worth of journals to the library,” the newspaper said.

The article reportedly sent shock waves around the newsroom at The Myanmar Times. According to sources at the newspaper, MCM sent a official letter to Mirror complaining that Tin Htun Oo is not in an editorial position.

Permission for the publication of The Myanmar Times was originally granted in 2000 to Sonny Swe, the son of former military intelligence officer Brig-Gen Thein Swe. Forty-nine percent of shares were owned by Dunkley while Sonny Swe held onto 51 percent. Following Sonny Swe’s imprisonment in 2005, his shares were handed to Tin Htun Oo, who is close to the military regime's information minister, Kyaw Hsan.

Sources said that Tin Htun Oo's efforts to take over The Myanmar Times may well be successful as the military junta can interfere in the issue at any time.

In 2008, The Myanmar Times was ordered to sack four of its Burmese editors after carrying a report that had not been authorized by the government’s censorship board.

Dunkley is also a key stockholder in The Phnom Penh Post, a Cambodian English-language newspaper.
http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20582
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Shan party candidate wins lawsuit
By NANG KHAM KAEW
Published: 21 January 2011

Burma’s junta-appointed Election Commission has dismissed a complaint filed against a candidate of the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP) by a member of the victorious Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).

The decision will come as a surprise to critics of Burma’s judicial system who claim that the country’s opposition forces rarely triumph in such disputes. The USDP had alleged that Sai Moon, who will be representing the SNDP in the Shan state regional legislature, used armed groups to force voters to vote in favour of him.

The Election Commission, the supreme body for all election-related matters, said that there was insufficient evidence to support the allegations and so dismissed the case. Sai Moon has received an invitation to report to Naypyidaw by 27 January along with the 1000-plus other elected candidates, days prior to the opening of the parliament on 31 January.

The SNDP came third in the 7 November polls with around 60 votes, while the USDP won 882. Ostensibly backed by the 388 seats appointed to the military, the USDP will dominate decision-making in the new parliament.

Nang Wah Nu, an SNDP candidate for the People’s Parliament in Kunhing township, Shan state, said there were two more lawsuits filed by the USDP against SNDP candidates.

The election victors have filed several other lawsuits against elected MPs from other parties, including the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party, the Democratic Party (Myanmar) and the National Democratic Force (NDF).

The NDF’s Myat Nyarna Soe, who is fighting a complaint filed by USDP candidate Myat Thu, said that the tribunal for the case had so far been fair. Myat Thu, who lost the Rangoon division seat, claims that his NDF rival committed slander against the government during the pre-election campaigning phase.

“I witnessed the [Election Commission] being fair in the case,” he said. “There was no strong evidence to support the USDP’s allegations. The commission has formed a tribunal to listen to these cases and I saw that the judges were not letting them pass without any strong evidence to support their allegations.”

Additional reporting by Htet Aung Kyaw http://www.dvb.no/news/shan-party-candidate-wins-lawsuit/13824
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Army reps named for parliament
By MIN LWIN
Published: 21 January 2011


State media in Burma has named the 388 military officials who will take up seats in the country’s new parliament, due to hold its first session next week.

The pre-appointed personnel will sit in all three parliaments – 110 in the People’s Parliament, 56 in the Nationalities Parliament and 222 in the regional legislatures. They rank from brigadier-general down to captain.

The ruling junta announced prior to elections on 7 November last year that each parliament would contain an unelected military quota who will hold significant sway over the decision-making process – under the 2008 constitution, they can appoint 25 percent of all legislators, enabling them the power of veto.

DVB has learnt that the officials, all of whom are men, yesterday finished a two-week parliamentary training course in the capital, Naypyidaw. A source close to the army said that the 388 include Burmese graduates from military schools in Russia, as well as army doctors, but that no personnel from combat and infantry troops were appointed.

The first session of parliament is due to be held on 31 January. The 1000-plus MPs elected in last year’s polls have been carefully instructed in what to wear and what items are forbidden from being brought into the parliament.

The elections were won in a landslide by the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). Observers claim the lines between USDP ministers and the military will be distinguishable only by the uniforms – many junta officials resigned prior to the elections in oprder to compete for the USDP.

Despite the USDP’s overwhelming victory, politicians from 22 parties, as well as several independent candidates, will travel to Naypyidaw next week in lieu of the first session.
http://www.dvb.no/news/army-reps-named-for-parliament/13816
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Myanmar fills military quota in parliament with 388 appointees

Jan 21, 2011, 4:06 GMT

Yangon - Myanmar's junta has appointed 388 legislators to fill the 'military quota' of the three chambers of parliament which will first convene on January 31, state media reports said Friday.

The junta has appointed 110 military officers for the lower house, 56 for upper house, and 222 for regional and state parliaments, The New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported.

The appointees were all military men, including one brigadier general, 19 colonels, and the remainder being either majors or captains.

Under Myanmar's new constitution, the military can appoint 25 per cent of all legislators, enough for them to veto any legislation and to sway the selection of a new president and cabinet.

Myanmar, under military dictatorships since 1962, held its first general election in two decades on November 7. Parliament is to hold its first session on January 31 to begin the process of selecting a new president.

'I heard that parliament meetings will take at least 14 days and we will only know who will be the president around mid-February,' said a government official who requested anonymity.

Few surprises are expected from the first parliamentary session. Besides the 25-per-cent quota of military appointees, the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won 77 per cent of the seats.

Parliament's first task will be to set up an electoral college with representatives from the three chambers of parliament to nominate a new president.

The president does not need to be an elected member of parliament but must be familiar with military affairs, the constitution says.

According to political observers, Than Shwe, 77, junta chief since 1992 and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, is a likely candidate, as are Generals Maung Aye and Shwe Mann, the second and third-highest ranking officers in the ruling junta.

All three would have to resign their military posts to take political office.

The president will be responsible for choosing the next cabinet, primarily selected from the ranks of the USDP.

Myanmar's elections were strongly criticized by the international community for being unfair and for excluding Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy opposition party.

Suu Kyi, 65, was freed from a seven-year house detention term six days after the polls.

The National League for Democracy won the 1990 general election by a landslide, but it was blocked from assuming power by the military. The party was officially disbanded in May for failing to register to contest the polls.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1613413.php/Myanmar-fills-military-quota-in-parliament-with-388-appointees
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January 21, 2011 11:06 AM
Myanmar Publishes 383 Name Lists Of Parliament Representative Nominated By Military

YANGON, Jan 21 (Bernama) -- The Union Election Commission of Myanmar Friday published 383 name lists of parliament representatives nominated by the military to the three-level parliaments as a follow-up of its announcement on Thursday night for taking part in the first parliamentary sessions set to take place simultaneously at the end of this month.

Directly nominated by the commander-in-chief of the defence services without going through election, 110 military personnel represent in the parliamentary house of representatives (lower house), while 56 represent in the parliamentary house of nationalities (upper house) and 217 in the region or state parliament shared among 14 regions and states, China's Xinhua news agency reported.

The 110 military personnel nominated as parliament representatives to the house of representatives include three with the rank of colonel, 59 with the rank of major, 39 with the rank of major officiating, three with the rank of captain and six with the rank of Lt-Cdr.

The three colonels are Htay Naing, Myint Ko Ko and Tint Hsan.

-- BERNAMA http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsworld.php?id=558201
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Myanmar heads for first parliamentary sessions in two decades
16:28, January 21, 2011

With the Union Election Commission' s announcement and publication of 383 name lists of parliament representatives nominated by the military to the three-level parliaments on Thursday and Friday, the first three-level parliamentary sessions of Myanmar in two decades is to take place simultaneously on Jan. 31.

Directly nominated by the commander-in-chief of the defense services without going through election, the military personnel are to represent in each level of the three-level parliaments, accounting for 25 percent of the total.

1,537 parliament representatives including 1,154 elected through the Nov. 7, 2010 general election and 383 through direct nomination by the military will attend the first parliamentary sessions at three levels -- house of representatives (lower house), house of nationalities (upper house) and region or state parliament shared among 14 regions and states.

Of the 1,154 parliament representatives elected from political parties and independent individuals, 325 represent in the house of representatives, while 168 in the house of nationalities and 661 in the region or state parliament.

Of the 383 non-elected military-nominated parliament representatives, 110 represent in the house of representatives, while 56 in the parliamentary house of nationalities and 217 in the region or state parliament.

Adding up the representatives from the two sides, the total number of the house of representatives is 435, that of the house of nationalities 224 and that of the region or state parliament 878.

Myanmar is due to start its first three-chamber parliamentary sessions simultaneously on Jan. 31 morning with the sessions of the house of representatives (lower house) and house of nationalities (upper house) to take place at the newly-built parliament buildings in the new capital of Nay Pyi Taw.

Sessions of region or state parliament will be held separately in respective regions or states on the same day.

The summon for the sessions of the three-level parliaments by the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) came nearly three months after the end of the multi-party general election on Nov.7, 2010.

The union parliament, made up of the house of representatives and the house of nationalities, will elect the country's president and vice presidents according to the new state constitution.

Meanwhile, the SPDC on Jan, 10 made public 17 laws and bylaws under the new state constitution for reference in discussions in the first parliamentary sessions.

These laws and bylaws include those related to state seal, election of president and vice-presidents, union government, region or state government, self-administered division or zone leading body, Nay Pyi Taw Council, state constitution tribunal, union appointment judicature, state flag, national anthem, union parliament, house of representatives, house of nationalities, region or state parliament, union judiciary, union attorney- general and union auditor-general.

In Nov. 7, 2010 general election, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), led by Prime Minister U Thein Sein, won the majority of 882 parliamentary seats or 76.43 percent out of the final total of 1,154 at three levels.

The USDP is followed by the National Unity Party (NUP) with 64 seats, in which 12 with the house of representatives, 5 with the house of nationalities and 47 with the region or state parliament.

The Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP) took 57 seats, in which the party shares 18 with the house of representatives, 3 with the house of nationalities and 36 with the region or state parliament.

The Rakhine Nationalities Development Party held 35 seats with 9 in the house of representatives, 7 in the house of nationalities and 19 in region or state parliament, while the National Democratic Force (NDF) and the All Mon Region Democracy Party ( AMRDP) each with 16 at three levels of parliament.

Some minor number of seats were won by other parties which fielded a lesser number of candidates for the election.

In the general election, a total of 29 million people across the nation were set as eligible to cast ballots.

Nationally, a total of over 3,000 parliamentary candidates from 37 political parties including 82 independents took part in the competition across the country's seven regions and seven ethnic states.

After completing the election, the 5th step of the government's seven-step roadmap to democracy introduced in 2003, the country is heading towards the 6th step, which is calling the parliaments and form a new government.

Source: Xinhua http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/7268859.html
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S Korea eyes Burma stock market
By JOSEPH ALLCHIN
Published: 21 January 2011

South Korean stock market operator Korea Exchange has confirmed that it is looking into the possibility of setting up a stock market in Burma.

Lee In-pyo, a project director at Korea Exchange, was quoted by Reuters as saying that they had “had a discussion [with Burma] before”, adding yesterday that “anything is possible, anything can happen” in regards to the possibility of setting up the bourse.

Korea Exchange has already created stock exchanges in Laos and Cambodia, regarded as the other two new frontiers in Southeast Asian economic development.

Burma economics expert Sean Turnell from Australia’s Macquarie University says that “Burma will need one – stock exchanges are the main source of long-term financing for companies”.

An anonymous official at the Seoul-based company told Reuters however that while the company had visited the pariah twice, “nothing has been decided”.

The move is a further sign of the Burmese military’s commitment to liberalising the economy and attracting foreign investment, a process that has been viewed critically for its management and lack of transparency.

A foreign businessman in Rangoon confirmed that business was hindered by the lack of security that investors possessed in front of the law, pointing out that licenses for business property were only given for one year and subsequently had to be renewed annually, with no guarantees.

Indeed Turnell told DVB that “Burma tried to establish one [a stock exchange] before about 10 years ago, but that went nowhere”.

“The big problem with stock exchanges, unlike banks and so on, is that they require very strict legal rights, like property rights and so on, because of course the key is the legal entitlement to ownership. So if you have a case like Burma where the legal ownership claims are often highly subjective to the actions of the state, then it can be quite difficult.”

Increased South Korean investment will also further highlight the military’s adept handling of rival nations. In this case they have seemingly played both bitter enemies from the Korean peninsula off against one another, as recent leaked cables corroborate fears of a military relationship between North Korea and Burma, whilst trade relations with the South continue to appear buoyant.
http://www.dvb.no/news/s-korea-eyes-burma-stock-market/13820
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Energy minister ‘unhappy’ with privatisation
By JOSEPH ALLCHIN
Published: 21 January 2011

Burma’s energy minister Brig. General Lun Thi is unhappy with the recent privatisation of petrol retailing in the country, business sources in Rangoon have told DVB.

His alleged dissatisfaction echoes critical analysts who state that the scheme is economically unsound and leading to problems with distribution. This has resulted in long queues and a thriving black market that the privatisation drive was designed to solve.

Lun Thi is now reportedly willingly waiting for the privatisation experiment with fuel retailing to fail, a Rangoon-based businessman close to the ruling junta has said. Failure would mean his Ministry of Energy (MOE) will have to intervene and reinstate its management of fuel retailing.

The main problem is seen as the strict controls on the price at which retailers can sell petrol. This only allows for a small profit margin and thus limits the incentive to distribute fuel widely throughout new stations in more remote areas of Burma.

As a result black marketeering has been occurring whereby third parties would hoard cheap fuel in order to sell it for profit in areas where there was no licensed retailer. The discrepancy in price, reportedly almost double in some areas, was meanwhile responsible for long queues at official retailers who resultantly placed a quota on the number of litres for sale per person, per visit.

The low prices are for domestically-refined petrol, which is of a lower quality than imported fuel.

Why Lun Thi is seemingly willing the project to fail is not fully known but some analysts, including Burma economics expert Sean Turnell, believe it is political; that the minister will be smarting from the loss of control over this vital area of the economy.

“This is why Burma is not a normal developing Southeast Asian nation” Turnell told DVB. “It’s why I think the whole notion of privatisation in Burma is highly questionable.”

The situation was being compared to a similar occurrence in the 1990s when the MOE transferred control over petrol pumps to the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings (UMEH), a military “company” run by the quartermaster general, only for their management of operations to fail. They were subsequently transferred back to the MOE.

Petrol retailing has now been transferred to a number of crony-run conglomerates, such as Htoo Trading and Max Myanmar. Some have alleged that the conglomerates themselves were involved in the black market in order to turn a profit from the operations.

With the privatisation drive in full swing, it was recently reported that as much as 90 percent of state-owned enterprises would be sold off.

The move to fix fuel prices however was also seen as an effort to prevent social unrest linked to fuel price rises, as was witnessed in September 2007 with the so-called Saffron Revolution and prior to the 1988 uprising. Turnell notes that “petrol prices are always very politically sensitive”.
http://www.dvb.no/news/energy-minister-unhappy-with-privatisation/13833
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Gold and Dollar Values Up in Burma
By THE IRRAWADDY Friday, January 21, 2011

RANGOON — The price of gold and the value of the US dollar both took a sudden leap in recent days in Burma following the military junta's announcement to hold the opening sessions of the new parliaments at the end of this month, according to business sources in Rangoon.

With fears high of political and economic instability ahead, Rangoon businessmen and traders reportedly invested in gold and dollars, the sources said, resulting in the hike in values.

“Gold and dollar buyers have increased since Jan. 18,” said a Rangoon-based day trader. “The number of buyers has increased on a daily basis.”

Among the investors are family members of the military generals, elected cabinet ministers, senior government officials and high-ranking police officers, the sources said.

Due to this increase in demand, the price of gold has increased by more than 10,000 kyat (US $11.65) per kyat-thar (0.035 ounce), and the black market exchange rate for dollars has gone up by 30 kyat ($0.03) for every dollar.

“The demand for gold has increased unexpectedly,” said a gold shop owner. “We are even getting requests from buyers living in remote areas.”

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Friday, a foreign currency speculator said, “Several buyers demanded large quantities of dollars—some over $100,000 and $200,000. The value immediately followed, jumping from 830 kyat on Jan. 17 to 858 kyat per dollar on Jan. 20.”

Burma's second currency, the Foreign Exchange Certificate (FEC), which was introduced by the military regime at an equal value to the dollar to stem the demand for foreign currencies, dropped to 800 kyat in recent days as demand for it was generally low.

The Burmese junta's official dollar-kyat exchange rate is slightly more than 6 kyat per dollar.

Although Burma's gold and dollar markets are active, other businesses are said to be relatively stagnant this week.

“Burma's citizens are keenly interested in what will happen after the formation of a new government,” said an investor who is a member of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commence and Industry. “With the exception of the gold and dollar markets, there is little spending in other markets because investors are waiting to see what unfolds politically.

“They all want to know what kind of new economic policy will be introduced by the new government,” he said.
http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20580

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