Revisiting country risk for Myanmar

Expectations on Myanmar’s new government are sky high, but is it up to tackling the significant challenges the country faces? Trevor Wilson outlines the areas for optimism and those where pessimism prevails.

After Myanmar’s 2015 elections, the international credit rating agency, Moody’s, initially issued a very positive response to the results, describing the National League for Democracy’s (NLD’s) landslide victory as “credit positive”.

This judgment is consistent with the generally favourable response to the election outcome, which seemed to confirm the overall popularity of the NLD and its leader Aung San Suu Kyi. But is it more complicated than this? What is really known about the NLD’s likely policies and attitudes to defining and shaping the country, and what is known about their experience and likely competence in handling the complexity and pressures of governing? (Courtesy of policyforum.net)

Rakhine State parliament to release report on damages caused by Chinese pipeline

A report on losses suffered by residents of Rakhine State’s Kyaukphyu and Ann townships caused by the nearby Chinese oil and natural gas pipeline will soon be submitted to the Rakhine State parliament.

MP Khin Maung Htay from Ann Township said the report will be based on interviews with residents who lost farmland and or suffered other damages associated with the construction of the pipeline.

He said local people expressed disgust at the irresponsible behaviour of officials visited the pipeline to gather information recently. He added that the report will also include information about compensation distributed for lands lost to the pipeline. (Courtesy of elevenmyanmar.com)

Aung San Suu Kyi, Military Chief Pay Tribute to Myanmar’s Independence Heroes

Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the country’s military commander-in-chief attended a commemorative ceremony on Tuesday in the commercial capital Yangon honoring the fallen heroes of the country’s independence movement, including her father, General Aung San.

The Martyrs’ Day national holiday is observed annually to commemorate the deaths of Aung San and seven other leaders of the pre-independence interim government who were assassinated on July 19, 1947, a year before Myanmar, then called Burma, gained its independence from British colonial rule.

On this day, top-level government officials visit the Martyrs’ Mausoleum, dedicated to Aung San and the others who were killed, near the northern gate of the gilded Shwedagon Pagoda in the commercial capital Yangon. (Courtesy of rfa.org)

Martyrs’ Day Openly Commemorated by Thousands Nationwide

Burma Army Chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing’s attendance at the annual commemoration of Martyrs’ Day in Rangoon on Tuesday generated hope for restoring relationships in the war-torn country, said representatives from the country’s ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD).

“It’s a good sign for national reconciliation,” said Nyan Win, one of the party’s central executive committee members. (Courtesy of irrawaddy.com)