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More News about Burma (r)
17th June 1997
Asia Times
Myanmar opens insurance door with joint venture
Stephen Brookes, Yangon, 17th June 1997
------------------------------------------------------------------------
<Picture>Japan's Yasuda Fire and Marine Insurance agreed last week to
set up a joint-venture company with Myanma Insurance in a move that may
signal an opening up of Myanmar's state-held insurance sector.
The new company - the first insurance joint venture in Myanmar - is
likely to be set up within six months, officials at Myanma Insurance
said. No name or financing details for the company have been settled,
they said.
At a June 12 ceremony marking the agreement, Minister for Finance and
Revenue Brigadier-General Win Tin said: "As the economy expands and
becomes more complex, more insurance activities" were needed. "Now is
the proper time for Myanma Insurance to have a business partner, since
the advent of the market economic system has caused government
organizations to undergo drastic changes to be aligned with market
mechanisms."
Insurance has been a monopoly of the state in Myanmar for more than
three decades. Under the Investment Law of 1988, foreign investors are
required to take machinery, fire, marine and personal accident insurance
with Myanma Insurance, and the company's turnover is more than US$100
million annually.
The Myanmar Insurance Law of 1993 paved the way for privatization of the
insurance industry, and in June 1996 new regulations opening up part of
the insurance market were announced.
Actual privatization of the insurance industry has been stalled,
however, and foreign insurers are only allowed to set up representative
offices.
"Private insurance companies are not allowed to set up yet," said Deputy
Managing Director of Myanma Insurance, Maung Thein.
"New regulations are expected soon. But we expect that the joint venture
will settle the problem of getting reinsurance," he added. "Life will be
much easier."
Reinsurance enables insurers - in this case Myanma - who have sold
policies covering any number of risks, to effectively insure themselves
against possible payouts on those risks. In doing so they spread the
risk they are covering, and therefore increase the amount of coverage
they can offer. Domestic reinsurance is not available in Myanmar and
therefore companies need to approach established reinsurance markets in
Japan, the United States or Europe - hence this latest tie-up.
Without reinsurance, a domestic industry is effectively suffocated by
its own limitations.
Local insurance companies now act as insurance buyers for foreign
investors, arranging full coverage through a foreign reinsurer while
paying fronting fees to Myanma Insurance.
Yasuda's representative office in Yangon refused comment on the new
venture, but in a written statement Yasuda said that it had "high
expectations of what this pioneer company can do to assist the
development of the Myanmar insurance industry.
"The establishment of a joint-venture insurance company in Myanmar will
allow Yasuda to strengthen its worldwide network and improve its client
services such as the provision of insurance cover, and claims handling,"
the company added. "This, in turn, will support the growing Japanese
trend toward investment in Asia."
A number of Japanese companies including Mitsui and Sumitomo had
expressed interest in forming a joint venture with Myanma Insurance,
said Maung Thein. Yasuda was picked, he said, because it was the second
largest insurance company in Japan, and the first to have a
representative stationed in Yangon.
In remarks at the signing ceremony, Win Tin noted Yasuda had "exhibited
its goodwill and enthusiasm towards our country in the most perceptible
manner".
Asia Week (June 20th, 1997)
THE DISSIDENT
Aung San Suu Kyi
------------------------------------------------------------------------
IT IS HARD TO TELL WHEN AUNG SAN SUU KYI FINALLY CONFIRMED THAT HER FATE
WAS BOUND UP WITH THE CAUSE OF DEMOCRACY IN HER COUNTRY. Perhaps it was
on July 23, 1988, when strongman Ne Win announced that he was stepping
down after 26 years of debilitating socialist rule. His surprise retreat
triggered a frenzy of pro-democracy demonstrations. In the ensuing
crackdown, soldiers killed as many as 3,000 people.
Perhaps it was on Aug. 26, 1988, when Suu Kyi addressed a half-million
demonstrators at Shwedagon Pagoda. With the crowd's chants of Daw Aye
Daw Aye ("Our Rights! Our Rights!") ringing in her ears, she called for
the resignation of the government and democracy for Myanmar. On Sept.
18, the military seized power in another round of bloodletting.
What is clear is that at some point during those fateful months, Suu
Kyi, daughter of Myanmar's independence hero Aung San, decided to take
on the generals. It hardly seemed an even match: the delicate-boned,
1.6-meter-tall Oxford academic against soldiers schooled in repression
and little else. Yet the crowds she drew, the attention she commanded
and the courage she displayed and instilled in others, inevitably led to
her becoming the standard-bearer for the fledgling democracy movement.
When two truckloads of troops pulled up and aimed their weapons at a
crowd she was addressing, she could coolly respond: "We are grateful to
those who are giving the people practice in being brave."
Such spirit was not allowed to go unchecked. In June 1989, when she was
first arrested, 100 unarmed supporters clashed with police to try to
snatch her back. She was detained for only an hour then. But a month
later, the State Law and Order Restoration Council, or SLORC, as the
junta calls itself, put her under house arrest that persists to this
day.
The generals miscalculated if they thought detention would blunt her
appeal. They miscalculated again when they carried through on their
pledge to stage Myanmar's first multi-party elections in 30 years.
Perhaps they thought that with well over 2,000 candidates from at least
100 political parties in the race, there was little chance of a
one-sided result.
But Myanmar's 40 million people were of a single mind. In the May 1990
polls, Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won 392 of the 485
parliamentary seats. The military-backed National Unity Party won just
10. SLORC responded by refusing to honor the election results and
jailing NLD leaders, along with most of their elected representatives.
Such flagrant denial of the popular will drew international condemnation
for SLORC, and mounting tributes for the woman who dared defy them. In
October 1991, Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Said the
Norwegian Nobel Committee: "Suu Kyi's struggle is one of the most
extraordinary examples of civil courage in Asia in recent decades. She
has become an important symbol in the struggle against oppression."
Suu Kyi did not plan to become a political activist, let alone a
national hero. She had left her home in England to go to Myanmar's
capital, Yangon, in 1988 to look after her ailing mother. She had spent
most of the previous 28 years outside her homeland, returning just eight
times. SLORC tried to use that against her, saying she was a foreigner
with no real interest in Myanmar. They also criticized her for marrying
a foreigner, Oxford don Michael Aris, a Briton. They have two children.
But Suu Kyi was very much her father's daughter. Born June 19, 1945, she
was barely 2 years old when Gen. Aung San was gunned down while planning
for the country's soon-to-be-granted independence. He is easily the most
revered political figure in Myanmar history. Suu Kyi was researching a
book on his life when she chanced upon a revolution-in-the-making.
She said she wanted to bring her people "freedom from fear." The simple
message she preached matched her own elegance. "What we want are basic
freedoms," she said. "A government that fails to protect political and
democratic rights will never be able to protect the people's economic
rights."
Her jailers cannot bear to speak her name. In interviews, they refer to
Suu Kyi as "the factor" or "the very specific problem." Problem, yes --
and one that literally refuses to go away. SLORC offered her freedom if
she left the country. But the sparrow -- who can be as stubborn in her
convictions as the toughest soldier -- chose to remain in her cage,
demanding the military open political talks. "I want to confront them
across the table," she told a visiting U.S. congressman.
This July will see the sixth anniversary of her arrest. For a time last
year, it looked as if a truce might be in the works: Suu Kyi met with
SLORC leaders for what she said was the first time since her detention
began. Two meetings, both televised, raised hopes that she might be
released. Instead, the only thing raised was the level of rhetoric
against her.
By early this year, Suu Kyi was back to being, in SLORC's words, "the
foreigner who should go back to Britain." But the ongoing detention,
meant to remove her as a vocal conscience and government critic, has
served only to ensure that she will attain a stature rivaling her
father's. Once again, the generals have miscalculated.
Business Time (Thailand)
4 Jun 1997
Easing ties on the side
S'pore, M'sia ministers tackle bilateral tiffs during Asean meeting
breaks
M
INISTERS meet not only to address Asean matters. They also use the
comfort of such occasions to tackle bilateral tiffs among them.
If it's not done at the conference table, it will be through "golf
diplomacy". Or at times even "dinner diplomacy", as was the case at the
special Asean foreign ministers meeting last weekend in Kuala Lumpur.
In the course of a working dinner on Friday night, Malaysian Foreign
Minister Abdullah Badawi asked his Singapore counterpart, S Jayakumar,
whether they could meet the next day to discuss the current row between
their two countries.
Earlier in the day, Singapore had sought "urgent clarification" from the
Malaysian government over reports that Singaporeans in Johor had not
been allowed to leave for Singapore by immigration officials. So the two
ministers met for 20 minutes on Saturday morning, taking advantage of a
break in the Asean talks.
Later, both ministers -- they are known to get along well -- came out
looking satisfied that something had been accomplished merely by
touching base again since they last met in New Delhi on the fringe of
the Non-Aligned Meeting.
"Badawi and I agreed in New Delhi," Prof Jayakumar said, "that during
this period when we are going through difficult bilateral relations, it
is important for the foreign ministers to keep the lines of
communication open and to manage this period as best as possible."
While there would be problems from time to time, he added, it was
important that "we manage it in the overall long-term relationship
because there is tremendous potential for cooperation".
Speaking in his turn, Mr Abdullah rendered his version of the meeting:
"I am very happy that we had a chance to meet when we know that,
Singapore and Malaysia, we have some small problems that have affected
our bilateral relations."
It was important that this meeting was held, he added, and in an
atmosphere of friendship. They had the responsibility to manage
relations, he said, as their two countries had a mutual desire to have
better ties "because good relations are to the advantage of both
Malaysia and Singapore".
"It's important that Jaya and I talk things over and also see what is
really happening. It's a chance for us to exchange information and try
to understand what is really happening," Mr Abdullah said.
Having said just enough for the press to hear, the two ministers chose
to say no more. "We have to keep some parts of our discussion
confidential because that is the value of bilateral relations," said
Prof Jayakumar. So far, it is still not known what they said to each
other on the greens.
* * * *
ON the same day the media reported the Singapore-Malaysia meeting, a
leading Malay-language newspaper in Kuala Lumpur ran a commentary
calling for more maturity on both sides in handling bilateral spats.
Writing in his weekly column, Komentar, Berita Minggu Malaysia's
editor-in-chief A Nazri Abdullah said problems between the two countries
would recur, but there was a need for neighbours to show more restraint
as well as more patience towards each other.
Describing as "a mistake" recent cartoons in another Malaysian newspaper
to which Thailand had taken offence, the writer called for more
sensitivity among journalists, whether they were writers or cartoonists.
"Do not think we are free to write or draw as we like because as human
beings, we too are exposed to mistakes," he lectured.
Turning to the issue of maturity in handling difficulties in
Malaysia-Singapore relations, he wrote: "There is no need to shout out
to sue Lee Kuan Yew, or cut the water supply, or stop Singapore Airlines
from flying into Malaysia because all this is not going to happen."
Hong Kong Standard
Indonesia issues shoot-at-sight orders on rioters
JAKARTA: Indonesian authorities have pledged to track down those
responsible for weekend riots in East Java and ordered troops to
shoot-at-sight if there are more disturbances, official media and
newspapers reported on Tuesday.
A Muslim crowd in Bangkalan on the island of Madura rioted on Saturday
night after a service to commemorate the death of local religious leader
Amin Imron, who was also a member of the regional assembly for the
Muslim-backed United Development Party (PPP).
Authorities have arrested 15 people for the violence, in which a number
of shops, a Protestant church and a Buddhist temple were burned.
``We are ready to take stern action against rioters in accordance with
existing regulations. We have deployed police elite forces,
detectives...to anticipate and hunt masterminds of the riots,'' East
Java police chief Major-General Sumarsono was quoted as saying on Monday
by the official Antara news agency.
Republika newspaper said the military had also issued a shoot-at-sight
order to contain unrest.
The paper gave no further details.
Some news reports said the Bangkalan riot was sparked by anger that
civic authorities had held a celebration after the town was named one of
the cleanest in Indonesia.
Muslims felt the celebration should have been delayed until after the
Islamic 40-day mourning period for Amin Imron.
On Friday, at least eight people were hurt, mainly by gunfire, in a riot
by PPP supporters in the town of Jember in East Java.
The rioters were angered by rumours that the PPP may not receive any
seats in the local legislature after a poll last month held alongside
general elections.
Indonesia's ruling Golkar party swept the national poll with over 74
percent of the vote, while the PPP got just under 23 percent.
The only other party legally entitled to contest the election, the
fragmented Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), got about three percent.
Some PPP leaders have said the elections were marked by rigging and
voter intimidation. - Reuter
South China Morning Post
Tuesday June 17 1997
Burma
Refugees moved to safer site
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE in Bangkok
Thailand yesterday began to relocate 2,400 Karen refugees from a camp
near the Burmese border to a larger and safer centre further inside Thai
territory, a senior military official said.
Thailand's Ninth Army Infantry division started early yesterday to truck
refugees from the Phu Muang border camp in the western province of
Kanchanaburi to Tham Hin camp in Ratchaburi province to the south.
Colonel Somdej Seumak, the division commander, said they were being
relocated to Tham Hin, 10 kilometres from the frontier, because it was
safer for both refugees and aid workers.
He added it would be easier to take care of the refugees if they were
kept together in one place.
The 2,400 refugees were among the more than 10,000 Karens who fled this
year's Burmese Government offensive against the rebel Karen National
Union, the only major insurgent group still to reach a cease-fire with
Rangoon.
They joined about 5,000 refugees already staying at Tham Hin,
effectively consolidating all the Karen refugees who fled the
insurgents' Fourth Brigade Division.
"THERE WILL BE NO REAL DEMOCRACY IF WE CAN'T GURANTEE THE RIGHTS OF THE
MINORITY ETHNIC PEOPLE. ONLY UNDERSTANDING THEIR SUFFERING AND HELPING
THEM TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS WILL ASSIST PREVENTING FROM THE
DISINTEGRATION AND THE SESESSION." "WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING THEIR
STRENGTH, WE CAN'T TOPPLE THE SLORC AND BURMA WILL NEVER BE IN PEACE."
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