National reconciliation is a prerequisite to “national unity” in countries beset with political problems. In Afghanistan, Mohammad Najibullah's proposals for national unification started in 1987 and ended early in the 1990s to stop the Afghan civil war which had haunted the country since 1978 after the Saur Revolution. At the national reconciliation meeting they came to the conclusion that the Soviet armed forces in Afghanistan should withdraw.
Another example is the so-called national reconciliation in Zimbabwe after it gained independence in 1980. Zimbabwe tried three times for national reconciliation after 32 years of independence on April 18, 2012. However, the outcome was unsatisfactory. More than 30,000 people died while fighting for independence and the violence continues today. However, an agreement of sorts was reached between the tribes.
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe said after he was elected for the first time: “If yesterday I fought as an enemy, today you have become a friend. If yesterday you hated me, today you cannot avoid the love that binds you to me, and me to you." (Courtesy of Eleven Myanmar)
December 10, 2015
Myanmar's new hydropower station to reinforce national power grids
YANGON, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar has added one more hydropower station to reinforce its national power grids, official media reported Thursday.
Inaugurated by President U Thein Sein, the Upper Paunglaung hydropower station, which locates in Nay Pyi Taw's Pyinmana township, was put into service Wednesday.
The Paunglaung hydropower station cost over 31 billion kyats (24 million U.S. dollars) since 2004, is estimated to generate 140 megawatts (mw) of electricity and distribute 454 million kilowatt-hours (kwh) per year to the national power grids.
Over the past five years, Myanmar has built 19 power stations with a capacity to generate over 1,577 mw in total. Nationwide power consumption accounts for over 11,406 million kwh with individual consumption hitting 222 kwh per year.
To meet a 15-percent annual growth of power demand, sever hydropower stations and three gas-fired power stations are currently under construction which are expected to generate 2,042 mw of electricity. (Courtesy of GlobalPost)
Inaugurated by President U Thein Sein, the Upper Paunglaung hydropower station, which locates in Nay Pyi Taw's Pyinmana township, was put into service Wednesday.
The Paunglaung hydropower station cost over 31 billion kyats (24 million U.S. dollars) since 2004, is estimated to generate 140 megawatts (mw) of electricity and distribute 454 million kilowatt-hours (kwh) per year to the national power grids.
Over the past five years, Myanmar has built 19 power stations with a capacity to generate over 1,577 mw in total. Nationwide power consumption accounts for over 11,406 million kwh with individual consumption hitting 222 kwh per year.
To meet a 15-percent annual growth of power demand, sever hydropower stations and three gas-fired power stations are currently under construction which are expected to generate 2,042 mw of electricity. (Courtesy of GlobalPost)
Parliament approves ceasefire
The Union Parliament unanimously approved the nationwide ceasefire agreement with eight ethnic armed organisations in Nay Pyi Taw on December 8.
“We held discussions with 16 armed organisations. Eight signed the ceasefire and we have already paved the way to have talks with five others,” said Aung Min, minister for the President’s Office.
He said the ceasefire was just an initial move in a long process, adding that he hoped the next government would push ahead with national reconciliation.
“The agreement must guarantee that political dialogue can be held. There must be a union-wide conference. The next government should carry the process onwards,” MP Thein Zaw said.
MP Thura Aung Ko said the two National League for Democracy representatives in the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee, established after the ceasefire signing, should be significantly increased. (Courtesy of Eleven Myanmar)
“We held discussions with 16 armed organisations. Eight signed the ceasefire and we have already paved the way to have talks with five others,” said Aung Min, minister for the President’s Office.
He said the ceasefire was just an initial move in a long process, adding that he hoped the next government would push ahead with national reconciliation.
“The agreement must guarantee that political dialogue can be held. There must be a union-wide conference. The next government should carry the process onwards,” MP Thein Zaw said.
MP Thura Aung Ko said the two National League for Democracy representatives in the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee, established after the ceasefire signing, should be significantly increased. (Courtesy of Eleven Myanmar)
Myanmar faces high barriers to joining AEC: economists
The challenges Myanmar faces as it prepares to join the Asean Economic Community are formidable, said economists, as regional countries prepare to form a unified economic group on December 31.
The AEC vision is a globally integrated single market and production base in a highly competitive economic region, with equitable development. In theory, the economic bloc will lead to unlimited investment and trade opportunities between members.
In practice, the barriers are high. Along with Cambodia and Laos, Myanmar has been granted an extension and will not join the AEC until 2018, but economists say even this target may be hard to meet.
“It is true that we are struggling to prepare for the AEC,” economic adviser to the president U Zaw Oo told The Myanmar Times.
“So we are stepping very carefully. We of course need to develop our economic infrastructure, but we must build it without leapfrogging.”
In infrastructure development, a key driver of economic growth, Myanmar lags well behind other countries in the region, including Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
Poor infrastructure is a major barrier to competitiveness. Myanmar is rated 145 out of 160 countries in the World Bank’s 2014 Logistics Performance Index – the lowest score in Asia. This will put it at a disadvantage once it joins the regional community. (Courtesy of MMTimes)
The AEC vision is a globally integrated single market and production base in a highly competitive economic region, with equitable development. In theory, the economic bloc will lead to unlimited investment and trade opportunities between members.
In practice, the barriers are high. Along with Cambodia and Laos, Myanmar has been granted an extension and will not join the AEC until 2018, but economists say even this target may be hard to meet.
“It is true that we are struggling to prepare for the AEC,” economic adviser to the president U Zaw Oo told The Myanmar Times.
“So we are stepping very carefully. We of course need to develop our economic infrastructure, but we must build it without leapfrogging.”
In infrastructure development, a key driver of economic growth, Myanmar lags well behind other countries in the region, including Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
Poor infrastructure is a major barrier to competitiveness. Myanmar is rated 145 out of 160 countries in the World Bank’s 2014 Logistics Performance Index – the lowest score in Asia. This will put it at a disadvantage once it joins the regional community. (Courtesy of MMTimes)
Yangon police hunt drug fugitives
Many of the drug dealers behind the large quantities of narcotics seized in Yangon earlier in the year cannot be tracked down, admits an unidentified high-ranking officer at the region’s drug control unit.
The abandoned drugs were found in Thaketa, Mayangon and Hlaingthaya townships in Yangon Region.
Police said they found nearly 600,000 abandoned pills and a block of wet opium in a drainage ditch near Kuaksein Street in Thaketa on August 12.
The case was opened at Thaketa Myoma police station.
Similarly, 65,400 pink tablets worth more than Ks320 million were found drifting in the Yoegyi River at ward no.1 in Mayangon Township on September 25.
Police claimed to have seized more than 200,000 pills bearing the letters “WY” on the western embankment of the Pan Hlaing River in Shwelin Ban Industrial Zone, Hlaingthaya, on December 5. (Courtesy of Eleven Myanmar)
The abandoned drugs were found in Thaketa, Mayangon and Hlaingthaya townships in Yangon Region.
Police said they found nearly 600,000 abandoned pills and a block of wet opium in a drainage ditch near Kuaksein Street in Thaketa on August 12.
The case was opened at Thaketa Myoma police station.
Similarly, 65,400 pink tablets worth more than Ks320 million were found drifting in the Yoegyi River at ward no.1 in Mayangon Township on September 25.
Police claimed to have seized more than 200,000 pills bearing the letters “WY” on the western embankment of the Pan Hlaing River in Shwelin Ban Industrial Zone, Hlaingthaya, on December 5. (Courtesy of Eleven Myanmar)
Myanmar stays young while East Asia faces elderly demographic shift
Myanmar is an outlier in a new World Bank report that reveals most Asian countries are facing ageing populations and a rapidly diminishing workforce.
The report, entitled “Live Long and Prosper: Ageing in the East Asia and Pacific”, notes that the East Asia Pacific region is now home to one-third of the world’s over-65 population, roughly 211 million people. As these people leave the workforce and enter into more intensive healthcare services, economies and government policies will have to adjust in order to continue positive growth.
But Myanmar’s 65 and older population makes up just 5.8pc of the total, making it one of the youngest countries studied in the report.
China, Japan, Korea, Thailand and Singapore are all expected to face quickly shrinking working-age demographics, losing more than 10 percent of the labour force by 2040, which would translate to about 90 million fewer workers in China alone.
But Myanmar is expected to grow about 1pc in that age demographic over the same period, joining Cambodia, Philippines, Indonesia and Laos as countries that will see growth in the employment pool.
Countries’ development and wealth were found to be factors in the shift, correlating with rising life expectancies and lower fertility rates. The 65 and older populations in high income economies like Japan and Korea stood at 14pc of the total in 2010, and are expected to reach 36pc by 2060. (Courtesy of MMTimes)
The report, entitled “Live Long and Prosper: Ageing in the East Asia and Pacific”, notes that the East Asia Pacific region is now home to one-third of the world’s over-65 population, roughly 211 million people. As these people leave the workforce and enter into more intensive healthcare services, economies and government policies will have to adjust in order to continue positive growth.
But Myanmar’s 65 and older population makes up just 5.8pc of the total, making it one of the youngest countries studied in the report.
China, Japan, Korea, Thailand and Singapore are all expected to face quickly shrinking working-age demographics, losing more than 10 percent of the labour force by 2040, which would translate to about 90 million fewer workers in China alone.
But Myanmar is expected to grow about 1pc in that age demographic over the same period, joining Cambodia, Philippines, Indonesia and Laos as countries that will see growth in the employment pool.
Countries’ development and wealth were found to be factors in the shift, correlating with rising life expectancies and lower fertility rates. The 65 and older populations in high income economies like Japan and Korea stood at 14pc of the total in 2010, and are expected to reach 36pc by 2060. (Courtesy of MMTimes)
Understanding Myanmar’s communal violence
Last year I had the accidental experience of examining attitudes toward incidents of violence between Buddhist and Muslim communities in Myanmar.
It was accidental in the sense that I had not set out to explore this issue at all. I was doing my PhD research on how people – who are involved with work on fostering democracy – tell the story of Myanmar’s democratisation.
But as I spoke to Western aid workers, Myanmar activists and NGO workers about democracy I found that they often linked back to examples of Buddhist-Muslim tensions. As this continued to happen I realised that the way people reacted to news of communal violence was closely related to the wider story of democratisation that they told.
Some people – most commonly Western aid workers – told a wider story of democratic modernisation based on liberal values and institutions and how communal violence was an awful affront to the core value of human rights. And in some cases, anti-Muslim attitudes were portrayed as being associated with a ‘crazy nationalism’. Some aid workers even said that they simply couldn’t talk about the issue any more without getting too emotional.
Another common story – within some circles of activists and NGO workers in Myanmar – was that a central element of the country’s democratisation was about unity. (Courtesy of asiapacific.anu.edu.au)
It was accidental in the sense that I had not set out to explore this issue at all. I was doing my PhD research on how people – who are involved with work on fostering democracy – tell the story of Myanmar’s democratisation.
But as I spoke to Western aid workers, Myanmar activists and NGO workers about democracy I found that they often linked back to examples of Buddhist-Muslim tensions. As this continued to happen I realised that the way people reacted to news of communal violence was closely related to the wider story of democratisation that they told.
Some people – most commonly Western aid workers – told a wider story of democratic modernisation based on liberal values and institutions and how communal violence was an awful affront to the core value of human rights. And in some cases, anti-Muslim attitudes were portrayed as being associated with a ‘crazy nationalism’. Some aid workers even said that they simply couldn’t talk about the issue any more without getting too emotional.
Another common story – within some circles of activists and NGO workers in Myanmar – was that a central element of the country’s democratisation was about unity. (Courtesy of asiapacific.anu.edu.au)
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