BurmaNet News: February 18 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

February 18 2003 Issue #2177

INSIDE BURMA

Myanmar Times: Lt-Gen Soe Win gets nod as SPDC’s Secretary 2

MONEY

Kyodo: Yangon banks hit by rush of withdrawals
Xinhua: Thailand, Myanmar agree to expand account trade
Irrawaddy: Financial panic continues

INTERNATIONAL

Xinhua: Russia: More aid to build a better Myanmar
DVB: Mr. Razali in Japan
Irrawaddy: On the side of peace

REGIONAL

New Straits Times: Myanmar can learn from Malaysia, says ambassador
AFP: Mekong River is key to Southeast Asia’s development: ADB

MISCELLANEOUS

NYT: Mr. Bush’s liberal problem

INSIDE BURMA

Myanmar Times February 18, 2003

Lt-Gen Soe Win gets nod as SPDC’s Secretary-2
By Thet Khaing

The State Peace and Development Council has appointed one of its senior
members, Lieutenant-General Soe Win, as Secretary 2 of the 13-member SPDC.
The post had been vacant since the death of Lieutenant-General Tin Oo in a
helicopter crash in Kayin State two years ago. The appointment was one of
several announced by the SPDC on February 1 and 2 which involved minor
changes to the cabinet and new appointments to the Supreme Court and the
Office of the Attorney General. The cabinet reshuffle, the first since
September last year, included the appointment of Dr Kyaw Myint as Health
Minister. Dr Kyaw Myint, the former Deputy Health Minister, replaces Major
General Ket Sein. The Commander of the Southern Command, Major General
Aung Min, was appointed Minister of Rail Transportation, and the Director
of Ordnance, Major General Hla Tun, was appointed Minister of Finance and
Revenue, replacing U Khin Maung Thein. The former Minister of Rail
Transportation, U Pan Aung, was appointed as a Minister at the Prime
Minister’s Office, the SPDC’s announcement said. In an order announced on
February 2, the SPDC also appointed Judge Advocate General Major-General
Thein Soe as a Deputy Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.  Four new judges
were appointed to the court under changes that bring the number of Supreme
Court judges in Yangon and Mandalay to 15, with three Deputy Chief
Justices. The SPDC also appointed Dr Tun Shin, the former director general
of the Office of the Attorney General, and two senior officials at the
office – U Han Shein and U Myint Naing – as Deputy Attorneys General.

MONEY

Kyodo News Service February 18 2003

Yangon banks hit by rush of withdrawals

A panic to withdraw deposits at Yangon's 20 private banks escalated
Tuesday, with the banks deciding to limit withdrawals to 200,000 kyats (
$32,200), down from a limit of 500,000 kyats last week.

The rush on the banks began with the collapse of some private financial
services groups operating outside government financial regulations, which
triggered rumors the banks were at risk as well. Ironically, an expression
of confidence in the private banks by the central bank governor Feb. 10
actually exacerbated the run on the banks because many account holders
wondered why the central banker was even bothering with such a statement.

So far, the ruling junta has not intervened to alleviate the crisis, which
has seen massive withdrawals from the 20 banks, but no new deposits, in
recent days.
__________

Xinhua News Agency February 18 2003

Thailand, Myanmar agree to expand account trade

Myanmar and Thailand have agreed to expand account trade, which is
expected to help boost overall two-way trade between the two neighbo ring
countries.

Rachen Pachanasunthorn, director-general of the Thai Department of Foreign
Trade, said that the agreement made by the Myanmar and Thai governments
was further discussed with more concrete results at a meeting which was
held recently here between a visiting Myanmar trade delegation and its
Thai counterpart, local TV reported Tuesday morning. Import-Export Bank of
Thailand and the Ministry of Commerce will cooperate in handling the
account trade on behalf of the Thai government.

Under the account trade, which is expected to help boost overall bilateral
trade, Thailand will mostly purchase farm and fishery products from
Myanmar, which will, in turn, mostly purchase construction materials from
Thailand.
____

Irrawaddy February 18 2003

Financial Panic Continues
By Taw Taw and Kyaw Zwa Moe

Businesses have been unable to pay staff members and laborers since
private banks halted all significant withdrawals last week, as they are
rumored to be facing a severe financial crisis, according to business
sources in Rangoon.
Due to the rising panic among account holders, anxious crowds eagerly
awaited outside of the Asia Wealth Bank (AWB) today, hoping to receive
something from the bank. "This afternoon, I saw the traffic police trying
to disperse the huge crowd, who were waiting to withdraw money," said a
Rangoon resident today in reference to the AWB branch at Olympic Tower.
One businessman said today that if the situation persists, the businesses
would have no choice but to close down operations until the financial
climate changes. "Companies can’t pay staff wages or even day [labor]
wages," the businessman said today.
Problems surfaced late last week after 20 private banks refused to allow
customers to withdraw their money after it was announced that more than a
dozen general service enterprises had gone bankrupt.
According to one customer, the banks are now allowing 200 customers a day
to withdraw money. Individuals are limited, however, to only 500,000 kyat
(US $450) a week. It is also rumored that this amount is drop even further
to just 200,000 kyat a week.
The Asia Wealth Bank (AWB) is thought to be in the worst shape despite
close military connections, including Sec-1 Gen Khin Nyunt. The AWB is the
largest commercial bank in Burma. The vice-chairman of the AWB, Aik Htun,
is said to be involved in the drug trade.
Last September AWB announced that its loan portfolio had increased by 89
percent year on year, while its deposits jumped by 47 percent during the
same time. Vice-chairman Aik Htun told The Myanmar Times back in
September, "Like the AWB, all other private banks are also experiencing
the same upward trend in both deposits and loans. Which means the people
are using the banks more effectively than any time before."
This week three major private banks, including the AWB, also suspended
credit cards, further fueling rumors that the country is on the brink of
financial collapse.
Burma’s military government, meanwhile, has denied all problems, instead
blaming Burmese dissidents in exile for spreading false information.
During a press conference last Monday, Kyaw Kyaw Maung, chariman of
Burma’s Central Bank, reassured the public that private banks were
functioning regularly.
Sources in Rangoon have also reported that markets and grocery stores have
been packed, as consumers brace for another potential hike in commodity
prices. "This monetary crisis may affect not only economic affairs but
also social and political issues," said Rangoon business editor.
Also, on the first of this month Burma’s Minster of Finance and Revenue,
Khin Maung Thein, retired and was replaced by Maj-Gen Hla Tun. No reason
was given by the Burmese regime.

INTERNATIONAL

Xinhua News Agency February 18 2003

Russia: More aid to build a better Myanmar

A Russian envoy to Myanmar urged the international community to extend
more aid to Myanmar, according to the Myanmar Times Tuesday.

Russian ambassador to Myanmar Oleg Kabanov said the move would bring about
a better Myanmar for stability in the region. He noted that Russia-Myanmar
bilateral relationship had always been friendly without disagreements.

Aid to Myanmar from his country include the Yangon Technical University,
Inya Lake Hotel and Taunggyi Hospital in the 50s and 60s.

In 2001, Russia signed an agreement on the building for Myanmar a nuclear
reactor in principle. Also it endorsed a contract on sale of 10 MIG-29
fighter jets worth 130 million US dollars to Myanmar.

Moreover, 300 Myanmar students are studying and getting training in Russia
currently.
__________

Democratic Voice of Burma February 18 2003

Mr Razali in Japan

It is reported that the meeting on Burma held at the UN University in
Tokyo, Japan has come to an end today. But as the meeting was held behind
closed doors it is not known what they have discussed. According to recent
news from Tokyo, because of the protest of the SPDC foreign minister U Win
Aung, ASEAN countries didn’t send top-level officials to the meeting.
The original plan was Thailand and Singapore were supposed to send
high-level delegates to the meeting, but because of the SPDC’s protest,
they only sent low-level ones. Some ASEAN countries refused to send
delegates, and some were not invited. But the USA, European countries,
Australia and the host nation, Japan sent their high-level officials and
discussed how to help Burma.
The meeting was attended by the UN special envoy, Mr Razali and it is
assumed that he would present the latest situation on the reconciliation
between the SPDC and the NLD. Burmese activists based in Tokyo expressed
their feelings and attitudes in a letter and it was delivered at the hall
where the meeting was held.
According to news from diplomatic quarters, Mr Razali also met Japanese
delegates separately after the meeting. Mr Razali is expected to start his
10th visit to Rangoon with new ideas from the meeting. As the situation in
Rangoon is not like before and there are some tensions that the prospect
for his journey is not known clearly.
_______________

Irrawaddy February 18 2003

On The Side of Peace
By Kyaw Zwa Moe

While millions worldwide took to the streets in protest against a possible
US-led war on Iraq last weekend, people in Burma remained totally quiet.
However, a few prominent figures inside the country have since said they
are against the war.
"I don't want any kind of war. The reasons of the US to wage a war on Iraq
are not rational enough," Ludu Daw Amar, one of Burma's most respected
female writers, told The Irrawaddy yesterday. The US government's "war
will not make much difference to Saddam Hussein, only innocent Iraqi
people will die in the war. Saddam will hide somewhere safe."
At the same time, the 87-year-old social critic and author expressed her
dislike of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. She is convinced that the US
government should find other ways to depose Saddam.
Some other Burmese intellectuals concurred. Another well-known journalist
said the US government does not need to resort to military combat to
remove Saddam, and that the US President has other ways out.
"In my view, the US wants to attack Iraq to show its power and to
monopolize Iraq's oil. Even though it keeps saying that the war on Iraq is
to save the Iraqi people," he added.
The editor of a weekly journal reported that there have been no anti-war
demonstrations on the streets of Burmese cities and towns, and said
reports on the war have rarely appeared in Burmese journals and magazines,
even those run by the state. At this stage, no one can be sure whether the
lack of obvious anti-war sentiment is a result of military interference.
A lawyer in Rangoon believes many people changed their view on the threat
of war on Iraq after American troops attacked Afghanistan.
Sentiment against the war has not enraged everyone, as many people have a
hard enough time making sure their work is done and their families are
fed. "To be honest, I have no idea about that war," a Rangoon resident
said. "I can't give you a comment on the issue because I don't even have
time to read the newspaper."
In neighboring Thailand last Saturday, more than 20,000 people gathered to
protest against the looming threat of war, while millions of people in
more than 600 cities and towns around the world also marched for peace.

REGIONAL

New Straits Times February 18 2003

Myanmar can learn from Malaysia, says ambassador

Myanmar has a lot to learn from other Asian
countries such as Malaysia and Japan, which it regards as among Asia's
models of development, its ambassador to Malaysia, U Hla Maung said today.
He said both Malaysia and Japan were "time-tested" friends of Myanmar
and the lessons learned from them would help Myanmar to develop its
country.

He said this at a training programme for 17 Myanmar diplomats and
administrators organised by Universiti Malaya's International Institute of
Public Policy and Management.

The two-week programme, the third of its kind for Myanmar officials, is
sponsored by the Economic Planning Unit in the Prime Minister's Department
and the Japan International Co-operation Agency.

The programme is mainly to provide Myanmar government officials a
grounding in the theory, history and practice of international politics
and economics, and Asean and Japan.

The programme was opened by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department
Tan Sri Bernard Dompok. Also present were UM vice-chancellor Professor
Datuk Dr Anuar Zaini Md Zain and the Japanese ambassador to Malaysia,
Masaki Konishi.

Dompok said such programmes helped strengthen ties.

"In the current uncertain environment that carries with it both threats
and opportunities, positive relationship between Asean officials can play
an important role in over-coming problems," said Dompok.

He said Myanmar could learn a lot from Japan because it was the first
Asian nation to transform itself into an industrialised nation, while
still retaining its tradition and culture.
____________

Agence France-Presse February 18 2003

Mekong River is key to Southeast Asia's development: ADB

The Mekong River, which meanders through Southeast Asia from its source in
Tibet, is the key to regional development and cooperation, the Asian
Development Bank (ADB) said Tuesday.

"The Mekong River for us is really the linking feature of the whole
subregion," said Rajat Nag, director of the ADB's Mekong region
department.

"We see it as the river of hope and the river of peace, but also as a
river with very significant economic potentials for these countries," he
told reporters in the Vietnamese capital. However, he also warned that if
it is "not exploited properly, it can be extremely divisive and damaging".

The ADB played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Greater Mekong
Subregion (GMS) in 1992, which oversees development projects involving
Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the Chinese province of
Yunnan.

The leaders of the six countries and provinces met in Phnom Penh in November.

"In a region which was in conflict 20-30 years back, the very fact that
six leaders sat around a table talking about sharing all the resources,
was a very positive step," said Nag.

The river is set to undergo a series of important changes over the coming
years. China is planning to construct a dam across the river, while some
rapids in Yunnan and Laos have been blasted to help navigation.

Such tampering with the river's natural flow has raised environmental and
social concerns among other members of the sub-regional grouping,
particularly in Thailand.

Nag said the ADB had raised the need for all countries seeking to harness
the river's capacity to take into full consideration the impact
downstream.

"We are fully aware that there are developments being made upstream that
causing concerns downstream. We are raising these concerns with the
upstream countries."

He also downplayed any lingering negative effects of the January 29
anti-Thai riots in the Cambodian capital.

"The recent event between Thailand and Cambodia were very unfortunate but
they were contained rather quickly. So we do not foresee any negative
impact on the programs."

MISCELLANEOUS

New York Times February 18 2003

Mr. Bush's Liberal Problem
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

The big problem with liberals in international affairs is that ever since
Woodrow Wilson, they've been too idealistic.

Liberals hamstrung the C.I.A. (thus impairing intelligence collection),
scorned the military (undermining a humanitarian force in places like
Bosnia and Afghanistan), campaigned against sweatshops in Bangladesh and
Cambodia (forcing teenage girls out of manufacturing jobs and into the sex
industry), and imposed economic sanctions on Myanmar (destroying the
middle class and propping up military dictators). Now, alas, President
Bush is also trying to be a foreign policy idealist -- from the right --
and is showing the same cavalier obtuseness to practical consequences.

Mr. Bush is, for example, outraged at the way the Chinese government
sometimes forces peasants to have abortions. Fair enough. But his solution
was to cut off all $34 million in U.S. funding for the United Nations
Population Fund, leading to the cancellation of programs in Africa to
train midwives, fight AIDS and help pregnant women. The upshot is that
women and babies are dying in Africa because of Mr. Bush's idealism.

Many conservatives are deeply sincere in their revulsion for abortion. But
they have blindly pursued moralistic policies -- like cutting funds for
family planning, undermining sex education and stigmatizing condoms --
that lead to more abortions. The U.N. estimates that cutting the money for
the Population Fund will lead to 800,000 more abortions per year.

Then came North Korea, the place where President Bush has muffed up most
dangerously, albeit for the noblest of reasons. Instead of devising a
policy toward North Korea, Mr. Bush devised an epithet: "the axis of
evil." It's the conservative version of liberal shibboleths like "Make
love, not war" -- and equally hollow.

Mr. Bush has refused to talk to the North Koreans, because of a highly
principled -- and entirely impractical -- policy that we will not reward
bad behavior. The predictable result was that North Korea started up its
plutonium assembly line, and in a few years it will be capable of turning
out 60 nuclear warheads per year.

Then there's the Middle East. Mr. Bush has a perfectly realistic view of
Yasir Arafat -- an incompetent leader who dabbles in terrorism -- but it's
a catastrophic mistake to then wash our hands and walk away. A Middle East
peace now seems further away than ever.

Finally, Iraq. Mr. Bush and his aides, like Bobby Kennedy, dream things
that never were and say why not. Mr. Bush imagines the transformative
effect that a democratic, stable and prospering Iraq would have on the
entire Arab world.

Maybe. But it would be helpful if he also had nightmares of things that
never were, to understand how policies can go wrong. It seems equally
possible that invading Iraq will trigger precisely the scenario we fear --
Saddam handing out anthrax or even smallpox to terrorists -- and that our
invasion will lead thousands of young Arabs to join Al Qaeda. Instead of
becoming safer, we could be in a more perilous state than ever.

There's a macabre sign of what's ahead in Iraq. The federal government
publishes notices of contracts awarded, and recent listings include
announcements from the Defense Personnel Support Center for a total of
more than $400,000 for the likes of "Pouch, human remains, type II. Nylon;
chloropene."

The irony is that some on the right seem to be sinking into ineffectual
idealism just as the left has shown signs of growing out of it. President
Clinton moved away from his early demagogic Republican-bashing on China
(coddling dictators) and came to appreciate the need to engage China's
leaders and bring about change through engagement.

The model in this respect is Jimmy Carter, who first made human rights an
essential part of American foreign policy; he stands for ideals but does
not let them trample real people. In his travels to third-world hot spots,
staring down dictators and fighting disease, Mr. Carter recognizes that
what matters most to Nigerian women or North Korean peasants isn't whether
the White House mouths pious slogans on their behalf, but whether their
children survive.

So let's hope President Bush learns from liberal mistakes and worries less
about ideals and more about practical results. The world may not be able
to afford much more of his idealism.