Myanmar Morning News For January 12

Myanmar should focus on industrialisation, export strategy for better value
Dr Vilem Semerak, researcher and lecturer at the Institute of Economic Studies of Charles University in the Czech Republic, reckons Myanmar should abandon its import substitution policies and start thinking ahead. Import substitution advocates replacing foreign imports with domestic production.
— Myanmar Times

Is Myanmar ready to end its ‘marriage of convenience’ to North Korea?
The growing pressure on the international community to adhere to and enforce UN-mandated sanctions on Pyongyang has once again revealed the persistence of clandestine military ties between Myanmar and North Korea.
— East Asia Forum

Acer, Excel Myanmar to Bring Cashless Fares to Yangon Bus System
Nearly a month behind schedule, an ad hoc assessment board convened by the Yangon Region government has named Excel KC Myanmar the winner of a contract to implement a cashless payment system for the city’s public bus commuters.
— Irrawaddy

Government expects growth of 6.8pc in 2017-18
Despite the slowdown in economic growth, the growth rate for Myanmar is expected to reach 6.8 percent for the fiscal year 2017-18, U Htin Kyaw, the country’s president, said during the national planning commission’s meeting on Tuesday, according to the president’s office.
— Myanmar Times

‘Beyond comprehension’: Myanmar admits killing Rohingya
Amnesty International has reiterated a call for an independent investigation into rights abuses in Myanmar’s Rakhine state after the country’s army admitted its soldiers were involved in the murder of 10 Rohingya.
— Al Jazeera

Shallow 6.0-magnitude earthquake hits Myanmar: USGS
A strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit a remote region of central Myanmar early on Friday (Jan 12), the US Geological Survey said.
— Channel NewsAsia

Coal-fired power plant project in Hpa-An faces wall of protests
Objections against a multi-billion dollar coal-fired power plant project in Hpa-An township, Kayin State, are mounting despite assurances of reliability from experts.
— Myanmar Times

Digital consulting firm nexlabs attracts six-figure equity injection
Digital consulting firm nexlabs has attracted a six-figure equity investment from Singapore-based venture capital firm Vulpes Innovative Myanmar Investment Company, the four-year-old Yangon startup said.
— Frontier Myanmar

Rohingya survivors dispute Myanmar army massacre account
Rohingya Muslims who fled a village where Myanmar has admitted its forces helped massacre 10 people said Thursday the victims were all civilians, not fighters as asserted by the army.
— Bangkok Post

Aung San Suu Kyi named ‘Biggest Backslider in Press Freedom’
Myanmar’s state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi has been named the “Biggest Backslider in Press Freedom” by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The title is one of several given out by the organization in response to US president Donald Trump’s announcement on Jan. 3 of plans to give awards to the “most dishonest and corrupt media.”
— Coconuts Yangon

60,000 children suffer appalling conditions in Rakhine camps, says UNICEF
About 60,000 Rohingya children in camps in Rakhine State are enduring appalling conditions and unable to receive treatment for health problems, including acute malnutrition, says the United Nations Children’s Fund.
— Frontier Myanmar

Journalists barred from crony’s gun trial
Journalists were not allowed into a Thaketa Township court on Tuesday where ACE Group chairman Phyo Ko Ko Tint San and three other defendants were on trial for illegal firearms possession.
— Coconuts Yangon

For Muslims across Myanmar, citizenship rights a legal fiction
Members of the Muslim community are facing long delays in citizenship applications unless they acquiesce to officials’ suggestions that they be labelled “Bengali”.
— Frontier Myanmar

Survivors say victims of Rohingya killings civilians, not fighters
Rohingya Muslims who fled a village where Myanmar has admitted its forces helped massacre 10 people said Thursday the victims were all civilians, not fighters as asserted by the army.
— Coconuts Yangon

Feature photo Jean-Marie Hullot

Find our previous morning news feature photos in the AEC News Today Morning News Feature Photos gallery where you will find a pictorial display of daily life throughout the Asean Economic Community (AEC).

Myanmar morning news by AEC News Today is your one stop source for Myanmar news on matters of governance and policies affecting Asean business communities. It is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies not politics.

Myanmar Morning News For January 12 added by Leakhena Khat on January 12, 2018
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Leakhena Khat

Leakhena is a junior journalist at AEC News Today who is also currently studying International Relations, which she finds adds perspective to her work reporting on the Asean Community.

“I love what I am doing so much as it gives me a lot of great experience and provides challenges to my mind.