BurmaNet News, November 27, 2007

[Editor]

November 27, 2007 Issue # 3351

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Burmese monks urged to boycott state-run exams
DVB: South Dagon man beaten and jailed by ward officials
Mizzima News: Activists group urge people to revive 'Saffron Revolution'
Narinjara News: Conditional release for Arakan NLD chairman
Irrawaddy: Ceasefire groups pressured to support National Convention
Kachin News Group: Christian training hampered in Northern Burma
Mizzima News: Burma's weekly journals faced with declining readership
Narinjara News: Over 1000 soldiers leave for Eastern Frontlines

BUSINESS / TRADE
AFP: Myanmar wraps up gem auction amid boycott calls: report
Khonumthung News: Goods from Burma pile up on Indo–Burma border

GUNS
Irrawaddy: India suspends all arms sales to Burma

ASEAN
Financial Times: Nations aim to secure a string of neighbourly alliances
AFP: Myanmar concerns won't block ASEAN trade deal: official

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: Burma drops further in Human Development Index
BBC Burmese Service: Daw Aung San Suu Kyi wins Lifetime Achievement in
Politics

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INSIDE BURMA

November 27, Irrawaddy
Burmese monks urged to boycott state-run exams - Yeni

Burmese monks are being urged in an anti-government pamphlet to boycott
annual regime-organized examinations to show solidarity with protesting
monks who were dispersed by the authorities and pro-junta thugs in the
September demonstrations.

Buddhist monks eat only in the mornings and only alms collected from the
devotees.
In their statement, the Alliance of All Burmese Buddhist Monks called on
Buddhist monks to "respect the devotion of the monks who were arrested,
disappeared and died in the movement for 'patam nikkujjana kamma'—meaning
a boycott of alms from members of the military regime."

The statement urged monks not to take part in the annual examinations that
follow courses of study in Burmese monasteries.

In a separate statement, the underground network also called on the
state-sanctioned Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, which oversees the
country's clergy, to take the responsibility of finding out and making
public the numbers of monks who were arrested, disappeared or died during
the military government's crackdown.

According to a copy of the leaflet received as an e-mail by The Irrawaddy,
the group said the boycott organized by monks and their chanting of the
Metta Sutta (the Buddha's words on loving kindness) on the streets of
Rangoon and other cities in September did not transgress the code of
conduct for Buddhist monks.

"By not promoting violence, our action was not against the law,” the
statement said.  “But the junta has brutally raided about 60 monasteries
by looting the possessions of monks and ruthlessly beating the monks."

The junta has announced that, as of October 5, it had detained 533 monks,
of whom 398 were released after sorting out what it called “real monks”
from “bogus ones.” Monks and dissidents believe, however, that many more
were detained or disappeared.

Ashin Kawvida, one of the leading monks in the September protests, who
subsequently sought refuge on the Thai-Burmese border, told The Irrawaddy
he was concerned about the safety of many young monks who took an active
role in the demonstrations and who are still in hiding.

"If an ordinary person is arrested, family members and friends can get
information about what is happening to them, but that’s not the case with
monks,” he said. “Many monks came from the rural areas to study at the
monasteries in the cities."

In India, meanwhile, about 1,000 Buddhist monks, nuns and students are
staging a demonstration against Burma’s military regime in the Buddhist
holy town of Bodh Gaya, in Bihar state—where Buddha is said to have
attained enlightenment in the 6th century BC.

The demonstration, in which Buddhists throughout the world are being urged
to unite against the junta, will last three days, accompanied by an
indefinite sit-in at
the famous Bodh Gaya temple, said a Reuters report.

____________________________________

November 27, Democratic Voice of Burma
South Dagon man beaten and jailed by ward officials

A man from South Dagon township, Rangoon, was stabbed and beaten by local
officials after his mother filed a complaint about him to the ward Peace
and Development Council.

Daw Than Win, from South Dagon township, said that she went to the ward
(55) PDC at about 10pm on 29 October after having an argument with her
son, Ko Than Naing.

Ward PDC officials and Swan Arr Shin members came to her house shortly
afterwards and surrounded the building.

One Swan Arr Shin member, Myo Lwin, went into the house and stabbed Ko
Than Naing as he was trying to flee through the back door.

Daw Than Win said the officials and Swan Arr Shin members continued to
chase her son as he ran away from the house, shouting to the neighbours
that he was a thief that they were trying to stop.

"They caught him finally and beat him up before taking him in handcuffs to
the ward PDC office," said Daw Than Win.

"I only went to the ward PDC office because I wanted the ward officials to
talk to my son who was very drunk at the time. I never expected them to be
as harsh on him as this."

Daw Than Win said Ko Than Naing’s whole body was covered in bruises after
the attack.

Zaw Latt, a police officer who was also involved in the beating, decided
not to send him to prison straight away, and so he was held on remand at
the local police station for two weeks while he recovered from his
injuries before being sent to Insein prison in Rangoon.

Ko Than Naing has been charged with possession of the knife that Myo Lwin
used to stab him, and told his mother he was forced by Zaw Latt to sign a
document confessing to the offence.

Daw Than Win told DVB that she tried to negotiate with the police to stop
her son being sent to Insein prison.

"The [township] police chief Win Thein said they could drop the case if I
paid them 400,000 kyat. But I begged them to just accept 200,000 Kyat and
they agreed to it,” she said.

“So I mortgaged my house-holder contract and brought the money to them.
But then, they just refused to accept it and sent my son straight to
Insein."

____________________________________

November 27, Mizzima News
Activists group urge people to revive 'Saffron Revolution' - Maung Dee

As the first tentative step towards reviving the September Saffron
Revolution, a new group of activists called – the Generation Wave – today
urged all Burmese people to honor the fallen monks by pinning pieces of
robes on their person.

The group, in a statement released today, urged all Burmese to honor the
fallen monks during the Saffron Revolution, by putting pieces of monk's
robes on their wrist or hanging it around their necks.

"We are asking for only what people can do, things that will not bring
them into harm. We want them to do things that will not harm them but
still show their solidarity and participation in the Saffron Revolution,"
Kyaw Kyaw of the Generation Wave, told Mizzima.

Generation Wave was formed following the Saffron Revolution by artists,
government servants, computer experts and students, Kyaw Kyaw said.

The group said to usher in political changes in Burma, the people should
continue to strive and continue the revolution instead of waiting for the
international community to act.

"We cannot depend on international pressure alone. Though we welcome these
pressures, we cannot have changes unless there is internal pressure that
will force the ruling junta to change," Kyaw Kyaw added.

The 'Peoples Union', another group formed following the September peoples
movement, said it supports the Generation Wave's statement and expressed
optimism for the success of the new campaign.

"I believe this campaign will have an impact as some monks are scared
after what happened to their fellow monks. They obviously think that the
people are not with them, so they dare not begin a fresh movement. At this
time, if the people could show their solidarity and participation, it will
revive back the monks' spirit," a member of the Peoples' Union told
Mizzima over telephone.

Following the September Saffron Revolution and the junta's brutal
crackdown, activists have conducted anti-junta activities under the
banners of secretly formed groups such as "Generation Wave', 'Peoples
Union ', 'Civilian Community' and 'Freedom Fighters'.

While the groups prefer to keep a low profile, their activities including
distribution of pamphlets and posters with the words that includes 'CNG'
(Change New Government) have been seen in various parts of Rangoon.

"To revive the Saffron Revolution, we need to unite all groups. Not only
just our group, but all groups under the banner of the religious flag,
must work together," Kyaw Kyaw added.

____________________________________

November 27, Narinjara News
Conditional release for Arakan NLD chairman

The Burmese military junta recently released Arakan State NLD chairman
from the Sittwe prison in western Burma after he served three years. He
was, however, required to sign a bond that he would not be involved in any
anti-government demonstrations after his release, said an NLD member from
Sittwe.

"U San Shwe Tun was released with another NLD leader, U Aung Ban Than, in
the first week of November, but they had to pledge not to become involved
in any demonstrations against the government," he said.

U San Shwe Tun confirmed that he had to sign an agreement not to become
involved in any anti-government protests in the future, but be he refused
to sign another document that he would resign as an NLD member.

U San Shwe Tun and U Aung Ban Tha were arrested by the Burmese military
junta in July 2005, on accusations that they were holding foreign
currency, mostly Indian rupees.

"The authorities did not seize any currency from us during the arrest but
they imposed three-year sentences on us illegally because we are NLD
members, said U Shan Shwe Tun.

U San Shwe Tun was an active member of the NLD-Arakan State, and his  car
was seized by authorities because he had used it to chauffeur Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi during her visit to Arakan State in 2002.

U Kyaw Aye from Mawlate Quarter in Sittwe said that many Arakanese
politicians believe that the military authorities arrested U San Shwe Tun
and U Aung Ban Tha, who is secretary of the Sittwe Township NLD, for their
politics, and because they took an active role in the NLD in Arakan.

"We are determined to carry on our political work as members of the NLD
party until democracy is ushered into Burma ," said U San Shwe Tun.

____________________________________

November 27, Irrawaddy
Ceasefire groups pressured to support National Convention - Saw Yan Naing

A senior official of the Burmese military government, Minister for Culture
Maj-Gen Khin Aung Myint has arrived at the China-Burma border region in an
attempt to lobby ethnic groups in Shan state—including ceasefire groups,
such as the United Wa State Army, the Shan State Army-(North) and the
Kokang armies—to support the government’s National Convention.

Khin Aung Myint has already visited Monglan, Panghsang and Kokang areas
and is reported to have persuaded ceasefire groups in those areas to
support the junta-sponsored “Seven-step Road Map” for democratic reform in
Burma. However, no statement from those ethnic ceasefire groups has
emerged so far.

Htay Aung, researcher of the exiled Network for Democracy and Development,
told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that as Khin Aung Myint used to work in
public relations and psychological warfare, he is believed to be an
appropriate choice to lobby the ceasefire groups.

According to Htay Aung: “He [Khin Aung Myint] is familiar with the ethnic
groups. He knows about the people’s aspirations, but also their weak
points. It is most likely he can persuade those ethnicities.”

Maj-Gen Khin Aung Myint is former Director of Public Relations and
Psychological Warfare under the Ministry of Defense and took over from
Minister for Culture Maj-Gen Kyi Aung in 2006.

Khin Aung Myint is believed to be a junta hardliner and is also member of
the government’s “Spoke Authoritative Team,”—the group that met with UN
envoy Ibrahim Gambari—led by Information Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan, and
including Foreign Minister Nyan Win and Liaison Minister Aung Kyi.

Khin Aung Myint is also a member of the Central Organizing Committee of
the Myanmar War Veterans Organization.

Recently, several ethnic ceasefire groups, including the UWSA and the
Kachin Independence Organization, were asked by Burmese authorities to
condemn the statement issued by UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari on behalf of
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. However, neither the UWSA nor the
KIO released a statement either opposing or supporting Suu Kyi’s
statement.

Meanwhile, veteran Shan politician Shwe Ohn recently released a statement
saying that the results of the junta’s National Convention could not
guarantee the rights of ethnic groups.

Four ethnic ceasefire groups, including the UWSA, earlier issued
statements criticizing the Burmese military government’s crackdown on
peaceful protesters, but welcoming the United Nations’ role as mediator in
helping to find a solution to the conflict in Burma.

The joint statement was issued by the UWSA, the Myanmar National Democracy
Alliance, the National Democratic Army (Kachin State) and the National
Democracy Alliance Army.

____________________________________

November 27, Kachin News Group
Christian training hampered in Northern Burma

Regular training of Christians have been deeply hampered by military
intelligence agents of the Burmese ruling junta in Kachin State in
Northern Burma since early this month, said local church sources.

According to Kachin Baptist pastors in Myitkyina, capital of Kachin State,
regular development programmes of churches under the Kachin Baptist
Convention (KBC) have been prohibited from early this month.

KBC office, Myitkyina District Baptist Convention (MDBC) and Sanpya
Baptist Church in Tatkone Quarter in Myitkyina Township, were being
regularly checked by the Burmese military intelligence agents also called
Military Affairs Security Unit (Sa-Ya-Pha), sources in Baptist Churches in
Myitkyina told KNG.

According to KBC and MDBC offices, the Sa-Ya-Pha agents in the junta's
Northern Command Headquarters in Myitkyina asked them questions on what
they detected in the churches' women's vocational training sponsored with
foreign aid.

A MDBC pastor's list was forcibly demanded from the General Secretary of
MDBC, Rev. Hkalam Sam Sun by the military intelligence, the MDBC office
added.

Church leaders are depressions after the anti-Irrawaddy Dam activists--
Ms. Ja Awng Lu (Pan Tsun) and her other three colleagues were detained by
the junta's police in Myitkyina, said residents of Myitkyina.

According to Kachin Christians churches in Burma, regular activities,
construction and publications of churches have always been blocked by the
ruling junta.

____________________________________

November 27, Mizzima News
Burma's weekly journals faced with declining readership - Htein Linn

Declining readership has hit several news journals hard, leading to loss
of revenue. This despite the fact that the Burmese military junta has
relatively slackened its control over issuing of journal publishing
license, editors in Rangoon said.

Obtaining a journal publishing license has become relatively easier with
the Burmese Information Ministry loosening its tight control. However, the
decline in readership has caused several journals to suffer losses,
Rangoon based editors and journal producers said.

"In Rangoon there are more than 100 news journals and each sell for 300 to
500 kyat. With the people weathering general economic hardship, they
cannot afford to buy journals.

Besides, with the censorship board continuing to censor strictly,
important and interesting news and information cannot be included. So,
people are not interested in buying and reading the journals," an Editor
of a news journal in Rangoon , who wished to remain anonymous, told
Mizzima.

"These days it is easy for any body to obtain a publishing license. Most
of the people who apply will get it. But even those who obtain the license
cannot publish journals. Earlier, when the license was difficult to
obtain, people had to hire from those who had. But it is different now.
People do not want to publish because they know they will run at a loss.
Some have even returned their license," Hein Latt, editor of the 'Popular
journal' said.

Earlier those wishing to publish a journal had to hire a publishing
license with a monthly rent of 20,000 kyat to 30,000 kyat depending on the
number of copies. And to buy the license, it cost about 3,000,000 kyat
(USD 2300), Rangoon based journal editors and publishers said.

"These days a publishing license is not a problem anymore. If we go
through the right channel it is even easier and faster. Another way is to
hire from those already having the license," a journalist in Rangoon said.

Even as the government gives more journal publishing licenses, the
censorship board stopped two Rangoon based weeklies 'Snap Shot' and 'News
Watch' – from publishing their journal for a week, Rangoon based editors
and publishers said.

"What I heard about the 'Snap Shot' journal is that they translated Daw
Suu's [detained opposition leader] statement and published it. That's why
they were stopped for a week," a Rangoon based journalist said.

"I also heard that the 'Snap Shot' had been given a warning. And about two
weeks earlier, during a meeting (of censorship board) officials said the
'Snap Shot' violated censorship rules. Violation of the rules means using
articles that are not meant to be used. He [Snap Shot Editor Myat Khaing]
is close to the Information Minister, so he must have been doing what ever
he wanted to do," said another official from a Rangoon based journal.

The 'News Watch' journal has also been stopped from publishing its
November 15 issue, for using an article on the meeting between Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi and her party leaders as their cover page article, the
official added.

With more publishing license issued by the Burmese junta's Information
Ministry, sources said, new journals such as the Myanmar Times and Mann
Daw Yeik will soon appear in the markets in Burma's ancient city of
Mandalay, besides the already existing Nan Myint, Shwe Mandalay and Upper
Myanmar journals.

____________________________________

November 27, Narinjara News
Over 1000 soldiers leave for Eastern Frontlines

Over 1000 soldiers from several battalions under Sakakha 15 based in
Buthidaung, 80 miles north of Arakan State capital Sittwe, left recently
for the eastern frontlines to wage war against ethnic rebels, reports a
source close to the army.

"The army column left from Buthidaung jetty to Sittwe on 18 November,
proceeding to the eastern frontline in several ships," the source said.

The army column is led by Brigadier General Aung Naing, who is commander
of Sakakha 15, and 105 army officials are present in the army column.

The source said most of the soldiers in the column are from Light Infantry
Battalions 551, 552, 354, 535, and 352, all of which are stationed in
Buthidaung Township.

Sakakha 15, or Military Operation Command 15, is comprised of 10 army
battalions stationed in Buthidaung and Rathidaung in the north of Arakan
State.

Many military analysts said that the authority has dispatched a large
number of soldiers from Arakan State to the eastern frontlines to start
the dry season offensive against ethnic rebels such as the Karen and Shan.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

November 27, Agence France Presse
Myanmar wraps up gem auction amid boycott calls: report

Military-run Myanmar has wrapped up a gem auction, a major money-spinner
for the junta, state media said Tuesday, despite sanctions and calls for a
boycott following its deadly crackdown on protests.

A total of 3,618 lots of jade, gems and pearls were sold during the 13-day
auction, which ended Monday, the official New Light of Myanmar newspaper
said. It did not say how much was earned off the sale.

Poverty-stricken Myanmar is the source of up to 90 percent of the world's
rubies, and each auction of precious stones rakes in more than 100 million
dollars, making it a key source of revenue for the military regime.

The most expensive jade lot at the auction was worth 80 million euros (120
million dollars), according to state-run Myanmar Gems Enterprise (MGE),
the country's third biggest state enterprise.

The newspaper did not say whether that pricey green stone was sold during
the auction, but noted the military government "honoured" the highest
bidder of jade lots without giving further details.

The latest gem sales were held as Myanmar faces global pressure over its
violent clampdown on peaceful protests which began in August, with the
United States and the European Union tightening sanctions aimed at the top
generals.

US First Lady Laura Bush urged companies to shun the auction, while top
jewellers Tiffany, Cartier and Bulgari said they would refuse to sell
Myanmar gems.

But the official paper said more than 3,600 gem merchants, including
nearly 2,300 foreigners, had attended the auction despite global calls for
a boycott on Myanmar's gems and tightening Western sanctions.

Nearly 90 percent of the foreigners were from jade-crazed China, one of
Myanmar's closest allies and a major weapons supplier to the regime, with
others from around the world, state media said this month.

China has been widely criticised for not taking tougher action after the
crackdown on the mass protests, the biggest challenge to the regime in 20
years.

Myanmar used to hold gem auctions twice a year but has been holding them
with increasing frequency in a bid to raise much-needed foreign currency
amid tightening sanctions against the junta. It held four auctions in
2006.

Despite the US sanctions, which ban direct imports from Myanmar, the
country's gems are cut or polished in third countries, often Thailand, for
jewellers, and then shipped to the United States under a legal loophole.

____________________________________

November 27, Khonumthung News
Goods from Burma pile up on Indo–Burma border

The ban on import of goods from Burma by Mizoram state in India on
November 19 has hit traders hard.  Traders with cargo from Burma arrived
along Tio River on the Indo-Burma border trade road No (2) but were unable
to enter Mizoram.

The goods from Burma transported by 30 jeeps are now piled up in
Zokhawmawi near Tio River on the Indo-Burma border.

Around 80 traders have sought help from Lalrinzuala, a Village Council
President of Zokhawthar village on the Mizoram side for permission to
transport the goods into Mizoram. However, the VCP reportedly told them he
could not do any thing without an agreement with the Transport Union , the
Import and Export Syndicate and the VCP in Champhai district in Mizoram,
according to a local newspaper.

On November 19, the Champhai District Council announced a ban on the
import of goods from Burma after the growing controversy between
Zokhawthar villagers and the Transport Union in Champhai over the right of
ferrying goods.

"We wish the ban on importing Burmese goods s lifted soon or else the
goods will be ruined," a trader from Burma on the Indo–Burma border said.

The Mizoram authorities exempted the import of goods that is included in
the 22 agricultural items agreed on when a MOU was signed by India and
Burma relating to border trade in 2003.

____________________________________
GUNS

November 27, Irrawaddy
India suspends all arms sales to Burma - Wai Moe

India has frozen the sale and transfer of all arms to the Burmese
government, a decision following the junta's brutal crackdown on peaceful
demonstrations led by Buddhist monks in September.

According to the Hindustan Times, the second largest newspaper in India,
on November 26 the South Block office (India’s prime minister's office,
the ministry of defense and ministry of external affairs) told the
newspaper that India “believes contact with the junta is in its strategic
interest, but also wants to send out a message that it is not quite
business as usual any longer.”

Since the late 1990s, India has shown a greater willingness to engage
Burma’s military rulers in trade and weapons sales. Recent negotiations
have seen the sale of two British-made “Islander” aircraft, light
artillery and T-55 tanks to Burma.

Soe Myint, the editor of the India-based The Mizzima News, said India’s
witholding arms exports to Burma seems to be a result of increased
pressure from Western countries, particularly the US.

“It is a good step," said Soe Myint. "India is the biggest democracy in
the world. So it must show its commitment for democracy.”

However, Tint Swe, the head of the National League for Democracy
(Liberated Area-India), told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that India's foreign
policy response on Burma after the pro-democracy demonstrations was slow.

“India responded to the crackdowns in Burma 19 days later than China’s
response,” said Tint Swe. “But India did call for national reconciliation
in Burma that includes Daw Aung San Suu Kyi." However, he said India
joined the "friends of Burma" team on the United Nations Security Council
when a non-binding resolution was discussed following the crackdown.

During the Asean Summit in Singapore last week, the Indian Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh told his counterpart Burmese Premier Gen Thein Sein not to
exclude pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from the national
reconciliation process.

Navtej Sarna, a spokesperson for the Indian government, said on November
20, “The Indian PM conveyed that the reform process in Burma should be
broad-based and should include the involvement of key opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi and leaders and representatives of various ethnic
nationalities. Dr. Singh also said that it should be carried expeditiously
towards a satisfactory conclusion.”

India strongly backed the Burmese pro-democracy movement in Burma after
the 1988 uprising. But India’s foreign policy on Burma took a U-turn when
the Indian government created a new policy, “Look East,” in 1992.

The “Look East” policy is based on economic ties with Southeast Asian
nations. In the aftermath of India’s liberalization, it was more than just
a foreign policy alternative as it provided a development alternative,
according to the SAAG (South Asia Analysis Group).

SAAG noted that Burma is the only Asean country with which India shares
both land and maritime boundaries. Hence Burma has to be accorded a
special position in its foreign policy, especially in view of India's
strategic and security concerns.

India has become one of the US's most important alliances after the Indian
government singed a nuclear cooperation deal with the Bush administration
on July 25.

Overturning more than 30 years of US nuclear policy, the agreement is
widely expected to form the foundation for a new strategic alliance
between the world's two largest democracies, according to The Economist’s
Intelligence Unit.

____________________________________
ASEAN

November 26, Financial Times
Nations aim to secure a string of neighbourly alliances - John Burton

At its latest annual summit, the Association of South-East Asian Nations
adopted the motto: "One Vision, One Identity, One Community". The slogan
may come back to haunt the 10-member group given the scepticism that has
greeted its plan to create a single market by 2015 and the political
divisions exposed by Burma.

A more appropriate motto might have been "All Roads Lead Through Asean",
as the group's other big economic initiative, to become the main hub for
bilateral trade pacts in Asia, has been highly successful.

Asean's efforts to negotiate a web of trade deals with China, Japan, South
Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand could lay the foundations for the
emergence of the world's biggest trading bloc, which would include nearly
half the global population and have an annual production capacity of
$9,000bn (£4,380bn, €6,080bn). "Just think of it, a free trade area
stretching from Hokkaido [in northern Japan] to Invercargill [in southern
New Zealand]," says Tim Harcourt, chief economist at the Australian Trade
Commission.

Japan last week became the first Asian country to conclude negotiations
with Asean on a comprehensive trade deal that covers trade in goods,
services and investments. South Korea and China have already signed Asean
agreements on goods and services and talks on investments are expected to
be completed shortly. Asean officials say they expect similar progress
with India, Australia and New Zealand in the next year or two. "Our
countries offer complementary advantages to businesses and a neutral core
around which the rest of Asia can build economic ties and a regional
framework of co-operation," Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore's prime minister,
told the Asean summit.

Asean's good record in forging trade alliances with neighbours is perhaps
not surprising given that nearly 80 per cent of its total trade goes
outside south-east Asia. But Asean also has other advantages. It is the
oldest and most developed multinational economic group in Asia, while its
rich storehouse of natural resources - from gas and oil to timber - is
attracting eager buyers such as China.

"Asean is of strategic importance because of the role it is playing in
Asia's economic integration," says Haruhiko Kuroda, the Asian Development
Bank president.

More than 40 per cent of Australian exporters think a trade pact with
Asean would be beneficial, according to a recent DHL Export Barometer.
Australia sees Asean as a growing market for beef, aluminium, crude oil,
steel and dairy products.

Akira Amari, Japan's minister for trade and investment, predicts that more
Japanese companies will use Asean as a production base under the new
agreement. Officials in Tokyo also see a strategic importance in
strengthening ties with Asean. As well as gaining greater access to
energy, notably Indonesian and possibly Burmese natural gas, Japan is keen
to ensure that its southern sea lanes remain open. The prospect of China
gaining access to Russian energy and, with it, a stranglehold over
continental supply routes, makes Japan even more sensitive to securing the
safety of such sea lanes as the Malacca Strait.

But critics warn that while the trade deals are likely to boost economic
growth for Asean, they also carry the risk that the region may be
relegated to becoming a supplier of raw materials and half-finished goods.
China could flood the region with cheap consumer products, wiping out
local manufacturers. Malaysia has been forced back into its traditional
role as a supplier of palm oil and other commodities as its
industrialisation programme has withered under foreign competition.

Moreover, Asean has failed to gain access to the Japanese and South Korean
markets for some of its most important products. Although Japan agreed to
eliminate tariffs on 90 per cent of imports from Asean countries, it
refused to make concessions on rice, sugar and livestock, due to
opposition from Japan's powerful agricultural lobby. Thailand opted out in
protest over the exclusion of rice from Asean's trade deal on goods with
South Korea, which also has a strong farm lobby. India's insistence that
up to 1,400 items, including textiles and farm products, should be
excluded from its proposed pact with Asean has stymied talks, although a
compromise is still being sought.

However, Asean has also won concessions, including the phased dismantling
of trade barriers to give local industries more time to prepare for
foreign competition. Japan, for example, agreed that Asean's six richest
members would have up to 10 years to eliminate restrictions, while the
four poorest would have up to 18 years.

With Asean's trade deals with China, Japan and South Korea near
conclusion, those three are discussing ways to improve closer co-operation
among themselves. "Once all three north-east Asian countries have trade
agreements with Asean, sooner or later these should be able to be
integrated," says Bark Tae-ho, a professor of international trade at Seoul
National University.

An economic grouping in north-east Asia would in turn serve as a main
building block for the more ambitious goal of creating a pan-Asian trade
zone that would use Asean's bilateral deals as the point of departure.

But the concept has become embroiled in economic rivalry between Japan and
China, Asia's two biggest powers: the two are vying to be first to
complete a deal with Asean.

A Japanese official expresses concern that some Asean nations are China's
"client states". Beijing's influence in Asean has grown due to the
relative diplomatic passivity of Japan and what is seen by some as neglect
by the US.

China wants to limit the size of the proposed Asian economic zone to Asean
and north-east Asia, known as Asean+3. But Japan, fearing that China will
dominate the group, has sought to have its democratic allies, India,
Australia and New Zealand, join the zone as part of a Asean+6 proposal.
Asean agreed last year to study the Japanese plan. "I don't see why we
need to place India, with its large market of 1bn people, outside of the
territory" to be covered by such a zone, says Mr Amari.

Asean leaders have suggested they will delay proposed trade deals with the
European Union and the US until they have made progress on an Asian zone.
But Peter Mandelson, the EU trade commissioner, says that would be a
mistake.

He maintains: "The Asean economies have great economic potential but they
are in danger of failing to realise that potential if they don't look to
the rest of the world as well as their own neighbourhood." Additional
reporting by Mure Dickie, Anna Fifield, David Pilling and Peter Smith

____________________________________

November 27, Agence France Presse
Myanmar concerns won't block ASEAN trade deal: official

EU sanctions on military-ruled Myanmar will not hold up talks on a free
trade deal with Southeast Asia, a top European negotiator said Tuesday.

The EU and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed
earlier this year to launch talks on creating a free market zone embracing
37 countries and roughly one billion people, but neither has said when it
might begin.

"Hopefully, we can make progress in the next round of negotiations set for
next year," Philippe Meyer, chief EU negotiator on the pact, told
reporters before he met Tuesday with ASEAN representatives to discuss the
deal.

Myanmar is one of ASEAN's 10 members, and negotiations on the accord have
been delayed partly over concerns about human rights abuses by the
military regime, especially after a deadly crackdown on pro-democracy
protests in September that left at least 15 dead and 3,000 jailed.

"The political stance of the EU on Myanmar's human rights is clear.
(However) we will not try to fix all the problems in the negotiations
because that could lead to failure of the process," Meyer said, adding
that the deal could be completed within three years.

Surin Pitsuwan, ASEAN's incoming secretary general, said the two sides
should be flexible in setting a timeline for FTA talks.

"I don't think it would take two to three years to finish the agreement.
If we get it to happen in four years, we will be lucky," Surin, a former
Thai foreign minister who takes over the top ASEAN job on January 1, said
after Tuesday's talks.

Last week, the EU imposed fresh sanctions on Myanmar, including an embargo
on the import of timber, gems and metals -- key revenue earners for the
junta.

Friedrich Hamburger, head of the European Commission's delegation to
Thailand, said the EU was not trying to solve Myanmar's problems through
the trade talks.

"We believe that the United Nations mechanism and the roles of
neighbouring countries of Myanmar could have proper roles in solving the
problems in Myanmar," he said.

The EU is ASEAN's third-largest trade partner after the United States and
Japan, with bilateral trade of 126 billion euros (185.8 billion dollars)
last year, Meyer said.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

November 27, Irrawaddy
Burma drops further in Human Development Index - Lalit K Jha

Burma slipped two ranks last year to 132nd position out of a list of 175
countries in the latest Human Development report released by the United
Nations Development Program on Tuesday.

Top of the list this time is Iceland, narrowly overtaking Norway, which
held the top slot for six years. The Human Development Index is an
assessment of the state of human development in countries all over the
world, based on parameters such as life expectancy, adult literacy and
school enrolment at primary, secondary and tertiary levels, as well as
personal income.

However, a top UNDP official told The Irrawaddy that analysis of Burma’s
human development is based on doubtful data, due to the non-cooperation of
the Burmese military government.

“We have a very old figure for gross domestic product per capita for
Myanmar [Burma], which comes from an alternative source,” said Alison
Kennedy, head of the statistics team for the human development report.
Normally the figure related to GDP per capita is provided by the World
Bank, but in case of Burma and more than a dozen other countries, the
figure has been taken from the University of Pennsylvania in the US, which
has been compiling its own GDP estimates and the purchasing power
estimates.

The UNDP decided not to include Afghanistan and several other countries in
the latest Human Development Index for the same reason that the source of
information was not authentic and is considered doubtful.

“Because Myanmar [Burma] is already in the index, we decided to leave it
in. The countries that are already there we left them, even though we do
have doubts about some of the data for some of these countries,” Kennedy
said.

At the same time, Kennedy said the situation in Burma is a little
different from Afghanistan. “Here we were a little more confident perhaps
because of some of the other indicators,” she said.

“UNESCO which gives us the Education figure, for example, has been
receiving data fairly regularly over the years from Myanmar [Burma],”
Kennedy said.

The University of Pennsylvania has been compiling estimates of these
purchasing power parities using much the same data as that of the World
Bank, but having a slightly different methodology, Kennedy said.

____________________________________

November 27, BBC Burmese Service
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi wins Lifetime Achievement in Politics

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been awarded a Special Award for Lifetime
Achievement in Politics by the Political Studies Association, PSA of the
United Kingdom.

The awards are given at the Institute of Directors in London. Zoya Phan of
Burma Campaign UK recieved the prize on behalf of her since she is under
house arrest.

The prize is to mark the achievements of politicians, academics and
journalists during 2007.