News & Articles on Burma-Sunday, 09 January, 2011

News & Articles on Burma
Sunday, 09 January, 2011
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Foreign investment will impact property market
Thai exports rise
Traders at first Sino-Myanmar expo left with heavy burden
Minister Schwarzenberg supports Burma opposition
Students circulate anti-regime posters on opening day of Kachin Manau festival
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Foreign investment will impact property market
By Kyaw Hsu Mon
January 3 - 9, 2011

THE surge in foreign investment and the accompanying rise in the number of joint ventures are likely to have a sizeable effect on the property market in the coming year, real estate professionals say.

Land in areas where development is planned, and rentals of luxury property in Yangon are both expected to boom, they say.

Business collaboration proposals expected to bear fruit in 2011 include investment in hydroelectric power projects, deep-sea port projects, road works and more.

These would have an impact in Yangon, Mandalay and throughout the country, said U Than Oo, managing director of Mandine real estate agency.

“There will be an impact on the property sector of Yangon because these projects will need offices for their staff,” he said.

The impact would extend to those parts of both upper and lower Myanmar where the projects are actually carried out, he said.

Major developments include the Dawei deep-sea port project in Tanintharyi Region and hydroelectric power projects in Mandalay Region and Kachin State.

According to local media, property prices in Dawei have jumped tenfold since the launch of the port project early last month, with the price of a detached house on the main road leaping from K20 million to K200 million within a month.

“Demand and price will continue to rise, because Dawei is a good place for Thai-Myanmar border trade. Even when the project is complete, the property boom will continue,” one Dawei resident told Popular News on December 16.

Thailand-based company Italian-Thai and the Ministry of Transportation signed the Dawei agreement last month in Nay Pyi Taw.

Since foreigners are not legally able to buy land, the surge in visits by business people and investors from Vietnam, Thailand, China, Singapore and Malaysia is also expected to stimulate the rental market.

“The rental market will grow in the coming year because living standards are very important for businesspeople who invest in Myanmar,” said U Than Oo.

Rentals have already perked up since early December, with investors prepared to pay $5000 for prime locations along Pyay and Kabar Aye Pagoda roads and downtown, said U Min Min Soe of Mya Pan Thakhin real estate agency.

“The rental sector will grow both where the projects are and in Yangon, where the headquarters will be,” he added.

The aveerage rent for a detached house with phone and internet, and reliable electricity and water supplies, has doubled in the past two years, said U Zaw Zaw, of Unity real estate agency.

"The rental charge for a building with main road frontage has doubled as foreign companies look for head offices,” he said, predicting both short-term consequences for 2011 and longer-term advantages.

But tenants also want to get what they pay for, demanding furniture, car parking, good electricity and water supplies, and high-speed internet, brokers said.
http://www.mmtimes.com/2010/business/556/biz55605.html
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Thai exports rise
January 3 - 9, 2011

BANGKOK – Thailand’s exports rose at the fastest pace in five months in November from a year earlier, government data showed in late December, easing concerns about the outlook for its economy.

Helped by strong demand for rice, Thai shipments jumped 28.5 percent from the same period of 2009, to US$17.69 billion, the commerce ministry said.

It was the 13th consecutive monthly rise and the sharpest increase since a leap of 46.3pc in June – the biggest on record.

Imports grew at an even faster pace last month, soaring 35.3pc to $17.29 billion on increased demand for fuel, the data showed.

As a result, the country posted a November trade surplus of $407.9 million, down 59.1pc from a year earlier.

In November Thailand revised up its export growth target to about 25pc in 2010, from a previous projection of 20pc.

The latest data eased concern about an economy that slipped back into technical recession with a second straight quarterly contraction in the three months to September, due to a strong baht and a weak global economy.

– AFP http://www.mmtimes.com/2010/business/556/biz55604.html
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Traders at first Sino-Myanmar expo left with heavy burden
By Juliet Shwe Gaung
January 3 - 9, 2011
CHINESE companies that exhibited their products in Myanmar’s first-ever trade expo devoted to China-made goods were able to meet potential customers and pave the way for future sales. But some were unhappy that they could not sell their wares.

The expo, which attracted more than 100 Chinese companies, took place at Tatmadaw Hall on U Wisara Road in Yangon from December 15 to 18. On show in the 2700-square-metre exhibition space were transport and agricultural equipment, hardware goods and household products.

Participating companies included Shanghai Longen Power Equipment, truck maker Dong Feng and the Shandong Shifeng Group, which exhibited agricultural machinery. They are seeking to further expand trade between the two countries, which reached US$3.427 billion in the first 10 months of 2010, a 54 percent increase over the same period in 2009.

Whatever the long-term results of the expo, some companies felt a chance had been missed.

“The organisers didn’t let us sell with tax. We hoped we could sell our samples, but they insisted I had to send my equipment back,” said Mr Simon Li, business manager of Shanghai Longen, which exhibited Chinese-made generators.

But Mr Li also saw the positives and said he had made many contacts and attracted the interest of potential buyers. “We are very happy about [that aspect],” he said.

Dong Feng exhibited several vehicles, including a DFSK light truck, two town cars and five motor cycles. As they were unlicenced, however, all have to be sent back to China.

“We hoped to sell the vehicles in Myanmar. But because we didn’t get a licence, we have to send them back,” said Ko Nay Lin of Dong Feng.

YTO International, which exhibited tractors, said they understood that the aim of the expo was to encourage communication between buyers and sellers.

Shandong Shifeng Group, which showed tractors and diesel engines, also said it was satisfied, as the company has local dealers for its products.

The expo was organised by China’s Trade Development Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce and the Department of Commerce of Yunn an Province, and supported by the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry. http://www.mmtimes.com/2010/business/556/biz55602.html
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Minister Schwarzenberg supports Burma opposition

Former Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Thailand met Burma opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon on January 5, 2010. Jir(í Šitler delivered a letter of First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Karel Schwarzenberg to Aung San Suu Kyi.

In the letter minister Schwarzenberg expressed his support to Aung San Suu Kyi as well as to democratic efforts of Burma opposition in general. 05.01.2011 17:28

Aung San Suu Kyi appreciated the Czech Republic is still interesting in democracy in the world, in particular in Burma/Myanmar, even after its own democratization. According to Aung San Suu Kyi it is not a matter of course. A lot of countries with the experience of democratization do not help in such a way as the Czech Republic.
http://www.mzv.cz/jnp/en/issues_and_press/events_and_issues/press_releases/x2011_01_05_minister_schwarzenberg_supports_burma_opposition.html
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Students circulate anti-regime posters on opening day of Kachin Manau festival
Friday, 07 January 2011 18:45 KNG

Kachin students circulated hundreds of anti-regime posters today in Burma’s northern city of Myitkyina, on the inaugural day of the traditional four-day Kachin Manau Festival marking the 63rd anniversary of Kachin State Day, according to student activists.

At the same time, security is increasing in the city and renewed civil war is looming between the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and the military regime.
student_poster_movement

Anti-regime poster was found roadside near Kachin National Manau Park in Myitkyina. Photo: Kachin News Group
About 500 copies of the A4-sized posters were scattered on the roadside using motorcycles near Kachin National Manau Park, in Myitkyina, where the Manau Festival will be celebrated until January 11, a student said.

Local eyewitnesses told the Thailand-based Kachin News Group the posters can be seen on roadsides in Shatapru, Manhkring, Tatkone, N’Jang Dung, Du Kahtawng (Du Mare), Yan Gyi Aung and Aye Yar, the main quarters of the city.

According to student activists, the posters called for the dissolution of the military government and the 2008 constitution, the unconditional release of all political prisoners, as well as ending construction of the Irrawaddy Myitsone Dam.

Naw Awng, a student activist and a leader of the All Kachin Students Union (AKSU), an underground Kachin student organization said, “On behalf of Kachin people and people of Burma, we would like to show that we totally oppose the Burmese military regime.”

Civilian activists distributed posters in Myitkyina twice last year. However, in the past, posters were most often circulated by the AKSU.

At the same time, the Kachin people are unhappy because this year’s Manau Festival is being held under the control of the Burmese military, Manau Committee sources said.http://www.kachinnews.com/news/1834-students-circulate-anti-regime-posters-on-opening-day-of-kachin-manau-festival.html