• BURMA WINS COBRA GOLD FOR BEING GOOD!
• NO DEBT FORGIVENESS FROM ADB!
• TWO AMERICAN VISITS IN A WEEK!
• THEIN SEIN LEADERSHIP RE-AFFIRMED BY RULING PARTY!
• DIRECT ASSISTANCE FROM JAPAN TO UNFC?

Cartoon
Tips for the President: You should have run into one of them during your foreign trips!


Think Piece
(Aung San) Suu Kyi now has become the de facto spokeswoman of the Thein Sein government.

Pavin Chachavalpongpun, Japan Times, 17 October 2012

Exiles have been t old they need to sign the 5-point undertaking before they will be granted a visa:
(1) avoid actions that would disrespect the government, (2) not to partake in actions that cause public instability, not to motivate people to partake in actions that cause public instability and not to publish anything critical of the government that could destroy the country’s stability, (3) avoid contact with illegal organizations, (4) avoid actions that are against the government and (5) show gratitude to the government and live within the law.

The Independent, 19 October 2012

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The World
15 October 2012
European debt crisis a major theme at the Asem (Asia-Europe Meeting) held in Bangkok. Ollie Rehn, European commissioner, says the worst has passed for the euro-zone. (Bangkok Post)

16 October 2012
Research by Washington-based Pew Research Center says more Chinese people are embracing US democratic ideas, up from 48% in 2007 to 52%. (AP)

18 October 2012
Founded in 1933, Newsweek announces it will cease print publication at the end of the year and move to an all digital format. (New York Times)

19 October 2012

Malala Yousufzai, 15, who was shot on 9 October by a Taliban gunman for promoting education for girls, getting better but “not out of the woods” yet. (AP)

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International Relations
14 October 2012

22 senior military officials led by Lt Gen Francis Wiercinski, head of the US Pacific Command, arrives in Burma at the weekend. (Financial Times)

16 October 2012
Excavation agreement for Spitfire fighter planes hidden in Burma during Japanese occupation signed by Director General of Civil Aviation Tin Naing Tun and David Cundall on behalf of British company DJC. (Myanmar Ahlin/AP)

17 October 2012
Top US delegation, led by Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Michael Posner, signals cooperation between the two countries’ military can only come if Burma makes further progress on human rights. (Mizzima)

17 October 2012

US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns arrives in Naypyitaw as another US delegation is meeting top Burmese officials. (Mizzima)

19 October 2012
The US will be inviting Burma to the annual Cobra Gold exercise as an observer. Apart from US military personnel, Thai troops also take part each year, joined by 5 other countries: Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea. Co-host Thailand lobbied for Burma’s inclusion, say sources. Thai defense ministry says a decision will be made at the end of this month. (Reuters)

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Thai-Burma Relations
14 October 2012

Some 1.3 million out of 1.7 million migrant workers have completed nationality verification, labor minister Padermchai Sasomsap says. The remaining 400,000 face the prospect of being deported after 14 December. (Bangkok Post)

16 October 2012
After 6 years of waiting and envying Laos and Cambodia for getting it first, 3G finally comes to Thailand. (Agencies)

18 October 2012
Max Myanmar will be increasing its daily cement production capacity from 500 tons now to 2,600 tons by the end of 2013 and 4,200 tons in 2014, according to a deal with LVT of Thailand (Bangkok Post/Mizzima)

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Politics/ Inside Burma
14-16 October 2012
The ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) holds conference to choose a new leadership. (AFP)

15 October 2012

The Peace Delegation for Motherland, made up of prominent exiles like Htun Aung Gyaw, 63, after a visit to Burma, 1 September-14 October, says the government must issue a blanket amnesty first to encourage the 6 million exiles to return. (Bangkok Post)

16 October 2012
President Thein Sein reappointed as head of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party. (Bangkok Post)

18 October 2012
New legislative session in Naypyitaw opens with 18 new military faces: 13 colonels to the Lower House and 5 colonels to the Upper House. (Irrawaddy)

18 October 2012
Parliament convenes 5th session. Topics to be discussed include withdrawal of law enacted during the National Convention and withdrawal of land confiscation law. Important bills include Foreign Investment Law and a new media law. (Mizzima)

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Ethnic Affairs
13 October 2012
All Mon Regions Democracy Party (AMDP) and Mon Democratic Party (MDP) release joint statement: The two sides will hold monthly meetings to merge by December 2014. Difference: AMDP supports 2008 constitution, but MDP is against it. (IMNA)

17 October 2012

James Lumdau, KIO’s deputy chief of foreign affairs, says it has agreed to meet in Ruili, but has yet to fix a date for negotiations. (Irrawaddy)

18 October 2012
Chin National Front (CNF) says it has sent a survey team to scout for land to build camps for soldiers and families in Than Tlang township. It is planning to move in later this year, says Maj Solomon. (Khmumthing)

18 October 2012

Visiting UNFC delegation meets Nippon Foundation to discuss details of the $ 3 million emergency humanitarian aid agreed earlier between the two sides. The government and armed groups are expected to make progress toward reconciliation through aid projects. (PR Newswire) Hkun Okker says the UNFC will move forward with ceasefire agreements in order to make the aid available. However, he stresses the ceasefire need to be monitored by international observers if they are going to lead to lasting peace. (Phophtaw) Hkun Okker of UNFC says Nippon Foundation will explain how it will provide aid for ethnic peoples in Burma. (Phophtaw)

18 October 2012
Zagana, popular entertainer who is one of the 27 fact-finding commission to investigate the June communal violence in Rakhine State, says it has not been getting enough cooperation “from all sides” including government offices and members of parliament. He is afraid the report may not be completed by the 14 November date set by the president. (RFA/Mizzima)

19 October 2012
Hkun Okker, joint secretary of the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) says Nippon Foundation will provide $ 3 million to the ongoing peace process to help ethnic refugees some time around the end of the year. The delegation also asked Japan to observe and monitor the peace process, to which the Nippon Foundation said it was willing to help but first needed approval from Naypyitaw. (Irrawaddy)

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Shans/ Shan State
15 October 2012
Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) will hold a conference in November with other Shan groups to discuss solutions for peace in Taunggyi. A common strategy for peace is expected to emerge from the conference. President Thein Sein publicly asked him to cooperate in working with his government to find peaceful solutions to the conflict. The upcoming conference, Hkun Tun Oo says, has the president’s blessing. (Irrawaddy)

22 October 2012
Ehi Passiko – Come and See: An Applied Message of the Buddha in Meditation and Psyshology, an international seminar will be held in Rangoon on 21-22 December. Renowned Shan monk Dr Khammai Dhammasami is one of its organizers. (SHAN)

22 October 2012
The main festival for Shan New Year’s Day which falls on 14 December this year will be held in Kengting, according to its organizers. It will include a seminar on Shan cultural heritage on 13 December. (SHAN)

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Economy/ Business
15 October 2012
With factory land selling for as much as twice the price of lots in Thailand, millionaires are hampering the country’s fledgling efforts to draw labor-intensive industries. A significant barrier to foreign investment, says Cyn-Young Park, ADB’s assistant chief economist. (Bloomberg/Bangkok Post)

15 October 2012
Burma’s foreign investment has decreased, according to Flower News, quoting Directorate of Investment and Companies Registration.

• Registered contracted investment: 485 projects from 32 countries
  Actual investment: 232 projects from 22 countries
• Permitted investment: $ 41 billion
  Actual investment: $ 31 billion

(Mizzima)

15 October 2012
Asian Development Bank (ADB) has ruled out any possibility of “debt forgiveness” to Burma, according to Stephen P. Groft, ADB’s vice president (operations) in Washington. Burma has an arrear of $ 500 million with ADB and another about $ 400 million with the World Bank. (Irrawaddy)

16 October 2012
Businessmen want state-owned Myanmar Economic Bank to step in and regulate the import-export system. So far they receive earning papers for exports which they have to sell to importers in order to change the paper into cash. (Irrawaddy)

17 October 2012
NTT, ranked the # 1 telecommunications company in the world, has announced a subsidiary has opened a branch office in Burma. (Mizzima)

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Human Rights
15 October 2012
Following protest by monks and laymen against the plan, Information Ministry, citing the President’s Office, says it will not allow the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to open a liaison office in Burma. (AP)

16 October 2012
Several Kachin refugees injured after government soldiers shot at them at Pha Ye camp in China. (Phophtaw)

16 October 2012
The Messenger journal reports a number of people are receiving death threats, including Dr Aye Maung Ko Ko Gyi and ex-Gen Khin Nyunt. No reason was given, but all those threatened are people who don’t recognize Rohingyas as Burmese nationals. (Narinjara)

17 October 2012

Zaw Htay, director of the President’s Office, says several ministries are being urged to remove the remaining 4,000 names from their blacklists, after the government excised more than 2,000 names from the list in August. (DVB)

17 October 2012
Myanmar Music Association (MMA) general secretary Phyu Phyu Kyaw Thein says artists are now allowed to publish their music without prior approval from the state censor board. The Lyrics Scrutiny and Registration Committee, a department under the MMA, will scrutinize the lyrics instead. (DVB)

17 October 2012

Myanmar Times defends its publication of cartoon on 8 October as part of its effort to encourage public debate. Myawaddy Daily, owned by the military, criticized it yesterday for creating “misunderstandings” the army’s role in the peace process. (Irrawaddy)

18 October 2012
New Light of Myanmar editorial says it is transforming itself into a “public service media”, focusing on “neglected social groups”. (Mizzima)

18 October 2012
State-run dailies launched with a new look. It costs 140 kyat to produce one copy which will be sold for 50 kyat. (Irrawaddy)

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Environment
19 October 2012

Australia’s Woodside Petroleum says it has bought a 40% stake in an oil and gas exploration block in Rakhine basin. (Wall Street Journal)

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Drugs
16 October 2012
More youth in Mon South and Karen State are using Bai Kratom (Mitragyna Speciosa Korth), or Bein Sa Ywet, and more people are growing it commercially, says Mon MP Naing Oo from Thanbyuzayat Constituency # 2. (IMNA)

17 October 2012
A tourist ferry carrying 21 Britons and 2 South Africans set off from China’s Jinghong to Thailand’s Chiang Saen, marking resumption of tourist services suspended since the murder of 13 Chinese sailors in October last year. (Xinhua/Mizzima)

22 October 2012
Border security sources say Naypyitaw launched Operation Aung Myin Hein, campaign against drugs, on 15 October. No details known. Earlier, UNODC had told Voice of America the government was developing a 3 year alternative development strategy. (SHAN)

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Obituary
14 October 2012

David Taw, 64, an outspoken leader of the Karen National Union (KNU), passes away after suffering from lung and diabetes for 3 months, in Rangoon. Born on 10 March 1948 in Insein, Taw was a graduate of Rangoon University, where he majored in history. (KIC/Irrawaddy)

15 October 2012

Revered Cambodian ex-king Norodom Sihanouk, 89, passes away in Beijing. (Agencies)

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