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‘Economic Growth Is Not the Best Way to Solve Economic Problems’: Policy Advocate

By Nantiya Tangwisutijit

A public seminar entitled “Myanmar’s Special Economic Zones (SEZs): Opportunities or Threats to Local Communities” attracted regional development specialists to Rangoon this week, including Penchom Saetang, Director of Ecological Alert and Recovery Thailand (EARTH).

In her work as a community and policy advocate, Saetang fights for corporate and government accountability concerning health and environmental problems from industrial pollution.

As Burma is developing three SEZs in Arakan State and Rangoon and Tenasserim divisions, respectively, problems have been highlighted concerning land confiscation, a lack of public consultation and forced relocation.

The Irrawaddy’s Yen Snaing spoke with Saetang about Thailand’s experience promoting industrialization, and what experiences Burma might be able to draw upon from its neighbor.

Dawei road start faces delays

By Nantiya Tangwisutijit

Construction of a road linking the Dawei deep-sea port in Myanmar with Kanchanaburi will be delayed after Japan determined that 15-degree inclines along seven stretches of the road would be unsafe for lorries.

Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said on Friday construction of the 138km road from the Dawei deep-sea port to Ban Phu Nam Ron in Kanchanaburi must be postponed.

The project was due to start in March.

The delay comes following an inspection by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica).

Myanmar Oil Gas Industry Opportunity, Analysis and Forecast Report 2016

By Paritta Wangkiat

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the “Myanmar Oil Gas Industry Analysis and Forecast Report (Q1 2016). The premier report provides analysis of key opportunities and associated challenges facing Myanmar oil and gas industry. Amidst several challenges confronting the oil and gas industry including fall in prices, changing market conditions, oil and gas sector risk and shift in competitive landscape, the report provides detailed insights into critical short and long term factors set to shape the outlook.

China Contractors Wreck Myanmar Villagers’ Lives

By Nantiya Tangwisutijit

Hkawn San is one of about 5,000 people who were resettled by Chinese contractors from the catchment area behind the projected Myitsone Dam, which Myanmar President Thein Sein abruptly and unexpectedly cancelled in 2011, shortly after he took office. Like those in far too many other resettlement villages, Hkawn San is not happy.

“The house here has problems, we get barely enough food to survive, but we do not get enough money, so people have to go around trying to find day work,” she said, sitting in front of her new but already decaying house in Aung Myint Thar, one of the two resettlement villages located north of Myitkyina, the capital of Myanmar’s Kachin State.

The Mytsone Dam was meant to be one of the world’s largest, to be built at the confluence of the Mali Hka and the N’Mai Hka, the two streams that form the Irrawaddy, Myanmar’s most fabled river. The Irrawaddy Valley is considered to be the birthplace of Burmese civilization . It is now a bone of contention between Myanmar, with whom the cancellation was enormously popular, and China, which is seeking to restart construction.

Eye On: Baht Beyond Borders

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With public opposition to major infrastructure projects a growing concern, and willing partners in neighboring countries eager to pick of the slack, Thailand’s industrialists are fanning out in all directions. Energy projects dominate the mix, including coal, gas and hydropower. As a result, it’s the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand driving much of the activity.

Myanmar expects entry of more US businesses

By Nantiya Tangwisutijit

Representatives of US companies have become frequent guests at the Myanmar Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry these days as they explore business opportunities in the long-isolated country.

The visits have gathered pace since the National League for Democracy (NLD) won the election and the power transition from military rule appeared to be going smoothly, Win Aung, president of the federation, said last week.

“I strongly believe that Myanmar-US economic relations will strengthen in the next government’s term.

Myitsone dam is as much Aung San Suu Kyi’s problem as Beijing’s

By Nantiya Tangwisutijit

In September 2011, Myanmar President Thein Sein announced that construction of China’s largest hydroelectric project in Southeast Asia — the $3.6 billion-plus Myitsone dam in northern Myanmar — would be suspended for the duration of his term.

This came as a shock to China, which had believed that Myanmar was securely within the Sinocentric orbit, if not quite a “client state.”

Salween Farmers Demand Government Accountability for Land Confiscation

By Nantiya Tangwisutijit

Participants at a land rights seminar in Mon State urged the incoming National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government to address past practices of land confiscation with a special court dedicated to the issue.

Mon State’s Salween Eastern Farmers and Land Users Seminar was held in Moulmein for two days, from February 14-15, with over 90 representatives participating from five Mon State townships and one Tenasserim Division township, all selected for their locations east of the Salween River. Also present were Moulmein-based farmers’ organizations and civil society groups focused on land rights.