May 20, 2016

S'pore exploring investment treaty with Myanmar

Singapore is exploring the possibility of negotiating a bilateral investment treaty with Myanmar, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said yesterday during an introductory visit to Naypyitaw.

Such a deal will give potential investors "a greater sense of assurance, of security, of policy and regularity certainty", he said, adding that it will also accelerate investment.

Dr Balakrishnan was speaking at a joint press conference with Myanmar State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday morning. (Courtesy of straitstimes.com)

Engage with Myanmar for transition to civilian rule: WH

From Lalit K JhaWashington, May 19 (PTI) The US is carefully exploring thepossibility of using a calibrated military-to-militaryengagement with Myanmar to support a transition to civiliangovernment, a top White House official has said, a day afterAmerica eased economic sanctions on the country.

"We are carefully exploring in close consultation withCongress what can be done to use calibrated military-to-military engagement to support a transition to civilian rule,"Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said this weekafter the US eased as series of sanctions against Myanmar.

Rhodes, who has played a key role in the Obamaadministration's Myanmar policy and is said to be the manbehind pushing for a new policy with this country, said thatsome problems remain inherent in Myanmar's constitution. (Courtesy of msn.com)

Vivian Balakrishnan meets with ex-Myanmar president Thein Sein

On the last day of his 3-day introductory visit to Myanmar on Thursday (May 19), Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan met Myanmar's former President, Thein Sein in the capital Nay Pyi Taw before leaving for Yangon.

Since handing over power to the National League for Democracy party earlier this year, Mr Thein Sein has resumed his position as the chairman of the former ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). (Courtesy of channelnewsasia.com)

Heating up and cutting out

In case we had forgotten the challenges Myanmar is facing in meeting electricity demand, the past few weeks have provided a timely reminder. Weeks of regular blackouts at the height of summer have made life uncomfortable for millions.

The new government has not helped the situation. Its communication on power supply has been non-existent; reading the state newspapers you could be forgiven for thinking nothing was amiss.

Instead, electricity users have been told repeatedly through Facebook that the outages are due to system failures. It may be the weather, creaking infrastructure or simply an inability to meet demand, but we’ve been left in the dark. A government that came to office promising accountability and transparency has failed to uphold these same standards.

But, as we explore elsewhere in this issue, those with a power supply – working or not – should count themselves lucky. (Courtesy of frontiermyanmar.net)

Myanmar Flag flies atop Everest for first time

Ko Pyae Phyo Aung and Ko Win Ko have become the first Myanmar climbers to summit the world’s highest mountain.

They successfully reached Everest’s 8868m high peak at 7:17am local time on May 19.

The two mountaineers and their four Sherpa guides had set off from Camp 4 at 9pm the previous day and climbed through the night towards their goal. (Courtesy of mmtimes.com)

Frontier Markets: Rushing into Myanmar

The rush appears to be on to fill the void that Myanmar has presented to the world. Japan is in there, as is China. India is holding bilateral talks with Myanmar in the hope of boosting trade between the two countries in the areas of agriculture (note to AVC Global), manufacturing, information technology, and of course infrastructure development. The U.S. is represented there by way of Pizza Hut and now Bell Helicopter, a division of Textron (
TXT
), which is showcasing their aircraft across Southeast Asia, beginning in Myanmar.

Why Myanmar you may ask? Last year, Bell put their toe in the water in that country and received little interest. But now, private companies involved in things like tourism, search and rescue, and the oil and gas sectors have all expressed interest in purchasing Bell’s aircraft. Airbus with their EC225 helicopter is Textron’s main competitor. (Courtesy of nasdaq.com)

Htin Kyaw leaves for Russia

President Htin Kyaw has left for Russia to attend the Asean-Russia Commemorative Summit to mark 20 years of relations.

He was accompanied by Kyaw Win, minister for planning and finance, Kyaw Tin, deputy minister for foreign affairs, and senior civil servants from the Foreign Affairs and Religious Affairs ministries.

They were seen off at Yangon International Airport by Phyo Min Thein, Yangon Region chief minister, Myo Zaw Thein, Yangon's military commander, regional ministers, Tin Oo, patron of the National League for Democracy, and the Russian ambassador to Myanmar, Mikhail Mgeladze. (Courtesy of elevenmyanmar.com)