Thai Govt Will Not Meddle in Dawei Dispute – The Irrawaddy
January 24th, 2012
Thailand says it will continue backing the Dawei/Tavoy deep-sea port project in Burma despite recent setbacks, but won’t intervene on behalf of its Thai developer.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22910
BANGKOK—The Thai Government and key investors are backing the Dawei (Tavoy) harbor and economic zone project despite Naypyidaw’s recent cancellation of a 4,000MW coal-fired power station there and the Karen National Union (KNU) stalling a linking highway.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on the sidelines of a Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) forum in Bangkok, Kittirat Na Ranong, Thailand’s deputy prime minister—who was appointed finance minister in last week’s cabinet reshuffle—said that he remained hopeful that the US $58 billion project will proceed. He added, “Thailand will never interfere with any other country for the benefit of any business group.” (more…)
China Remains Key Despite Burma’s Western Focus – The Irrawaddy
January 17th, 2012
BANGKOK – Leadership changes and economic challenges facing China and the US this year will impact how far and fast Burma goes with its nascent political reforms.
A total of 302 political prisoners were freed on Friday with another 128 still in jail, according to Burmese government figures. Some have criticized the amnesty as incomplete, but it made international headlines and resulted in elated crowds greeting freed prisoners outside jails across Burma, as some of the country’s iconic dissidents emerged from detention.
In response, the US said it will appoint an ambassador to Burma for the first time since the bloody crackdown on student demonstrations in 1988. Leaders of these protests were among those freed last week, after spending many of the intervening years in jail.
However, it remains to be seen how far Burma’s reforms go and what the impact of geopolitical rivalries will be on Burma. Simon Tay, author of Asia Alone, a study US-Asian relations, said that Burma’s reforms are perhaps “an attempt to woo America and wean itself off China, rather than genuine attempt to reform domestic politics.” (more…)
China’s new European trade hub: An Irish town of 18,000 – Christian Science Monitor
January 7th, 2012
Central Dublin, December 2011 (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
ATHLONE, IRELAND – As China’s government readies to buy up European infrastructure, a trade hub slated for the Irish midlands could prove a showcase for the world’s second-largest economy in a struggling continent and provide much needed jobs in debt-addled Ireland.
In December, local authorities gave the go-ahead to a trade hub that would give Chinese business an anchor in Europe. Backers say the 1.4 billion euro ($1.8 billion) project “will become the largest European source of Chinese-branded goods in Europe.” With the World Bank’s growth forecast for China reduced, partly because of the reduction in European demand for Chinese goods, a revived Europe is in China’s interest. (more…)
Inflation a concern as Vietnam’s small businesses struggle – The Diplomat
December 13th, 2011
Trang Hoang Yen (seated) checks over new t-shirt sample (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
http://the-diplomat.com/2011/12/13/vietnam-facing-economic-crisis/
HO CHI MINH CITY – With the streetlights warming to a low glow outside as dusk turns to dark, Trang Hoang Yen is still running t-shirts through a sewing machine as most of her staff leave for home.
“Normally we have a lot more workers, but the past year has been very hard for our sector,” she says, stopping work for a few minutes to talk.
Trang Hoang Yen’s small factory, on a side street in Ho Chi Minh City, has seen better days. Down from 30 to 14 staff year-on-year, she says the company’s input costs “have gone up, and production costs have doubled.” (more…)
EU judge recommends removal of sanctions on Tay Za’s son – The Irrawaddy
December 4th, 2011
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22594
HO CHI MINH CITY – Pye Phyo Tay Za, the 25-year-old son of Burmese businessman Tay Za, could be set to win an appeal against the EU sanctions imposed on him at the European Court of Justice.
A Nov. 29 opinion by a Court Advocate-General said that the previous May 2010 judgment upholding sanctions on Pye Phyo should be reversed, and that the European Commission as well as the United Kingdom should bear legal costs, as the losing parties in the case. The assessment stated that the Court’s original ruling “gave an excessively broad interpretation of those articles (that allowed sanctions on Pye Phyo) and erred in law.”
Vietnam’s Problems, Promises – Asia Sentinel/RTÉ World Report
December 2nd, 2011
http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4003&Itemid=214
radio report here - http://www.rte.ie/news/player.html?worldreport#programme=World%20Report
Lu Van Thinh at his bamboo farm in Thanh Hoa province (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
Continuing growth is exceeded by stubborn inflation
HO CHI MINH CITY- With average per capital annual incomes of just over US$1,000, Vietnam is officially a lower-middle income country, and in Hanoi, the seat of government, and commercial capital Ho Chi Minh City – still popularly known as Saigon – property prices are on an upward curve and new building and property developments appear shoot up faster than new growth in Vietnam’s lush tropical rainforests.
The appearance is somewhat illusory. The country faces crushing inflation, forecast by Standard Chartered Bank at 19.7 percent in December, with an11.3 percent rise forecast for 2012. The dong is expected to continue to depreciate throughout the year given Vietnam’s US$8 billion current account deficit and low foreign currency reserves. (more…)
Ireland pushes education ties with Vietnam in bid to court student market – Irish Independent
November 28th, 2011
Ireland's Minister of State for Trade and Development Jan O'Sullivan and Vietnam's Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan sign education MOU in Hanoi on Monday (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
Simon Roughneen in Hanoi – Ireland and Vietnam today launched a deal aimed at increasing the number of Vietnamese students taking third-level courses in Ireland.
Speaking in the Vietnamese capital on Monday morning, Minister of State for Trade And Development Jan O’Sullivan said that “Ireland sees our education linkages as central to the future of bilateral economic relations with Vietnam.”
Currently 40 Vietnamese are enrolled in Ireland’s universities, mostly funded by Irish Government scholarships. To compare, 6000 Vietnamese are studying in the UK, and elsewhere, tapping the Asian student market has created a multi-billion dollar industry within Australia’s third-level education system. Last year 25,000 Vietnamese were part of a total of 240,000 Asian students who enrolled in Australia, up from 180,000 in 2008. (more…)
Thailand floods: can-do ethos at the water’s edge – Christian Science Monitor
November 3rd, 2011
Suchida and friends selling boots beside the flood (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
BANGKOK - As floodwaters edge closer to some of Bangkok’s hitherto-dry central areas some enterprising people – including those affected by the waters – are doing a steady business selling flood-related provisions.
For more than two weeks, the floods that have killed 437 people and submerged northern suburbs and towns to the north, have been slowly making their way to the center of Bangkok. The west bank Chao Praya river, the central part of the city, is heavily-flooded, but the main shopping and business districts have been spared – so far.
Squatting on a sidewalk on the Phahonyothin Road, Suchida Kumjit looks over her shoulder at the newly-rising waters less than a foot away. “It was dry here this morning,” she says, “the water only came here at around noon today.” (more…)
Burma in the crosshairs as US, China & India Jostle for Asian Influence – The Irrawaddy
October 11th, 2011
Kurt Campbell speaks at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok on Monday (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22236
BANGKOK—Discussing what he described as early stages of change in Burma, a senior US diplomat on Monday promised his country “will match their steps with comparable steps,” as expectations grow that Burma will release some of the country’s almost-2,000 political prisoners in the coming days.
Burma’s new National Human Rights Commission published an open letter on Tuesday, in which it “humbly requests the President, as a reflection of his magnanimity, to grant amnesty to those prisoners and release them from the prison.”
If the release happens, the US is likely to relax or end some of the economic sanctions levied against senior Burmese officials and business cronies.
Commenting on Burma’s recent decision to suspend operations at the US $3.6 billion Chinese-built Myitsone Dam in war-wracked Kachin State, Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said this development is one of several that “demand closer attention,” confirming that the US is “looking forward in the course of the next several weeks to continuing a dialogue that has really stepped up in recent months.”
Campbell termed the recent discussions between Burmese President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as “very consequential,” and described the president as “a serious interlocutor.” (more…)
Talking about the weather? Thai PM visits Burma – The Irrawaddy
October 5th, 2011
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22196
BANGKOK – Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will today visit meet Burma’s first civilian head of Government in five decades, but will pass up the chance to meet possibly Asia’s best-known female political figure, Aung San Suu Kyi.
“The first reason for the trip is to introduce herself as the first Prime Minister of Thailand”, said spokesperson Titima Chaiseng.
The Thai PM is scheduled to meet the Burma President, former General and junta Prime Minister Thein Sein, with Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul and Deputy PM Yongyuth Wichaidit also participating in the PMs first official visit to Thailand’s energy-rich neighbour. (more…)
