Myanmar Morning News For May 17

Myanmar policeman denies planting documents on Reuters reporters
A Myanmar policeman told a court on Wednesday he met two Reuters reporters on the night of their arrest in December, but denied giving them secret documents to incriminate them.
— Reuters

More than 60 Rohingya babies born in Bangladesh refugee camps every day – UNICEF
More than 16,000 Rohingya babies have been born in refugee camps and informal settlements in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh in the nine months since a spike in violence in Rakhine State, Myanmar forced thousands of families to flee their homes across the border, UNICEF said today.
— Relief Web

India-Myanmar Open Border Policy: A Travesty for Sustainable, Traditional Agriculture
Up in the hills some 1,524 meters above sea level the practice of slash and burn agriculture, popularly known as “jhum cultivation,” has carried on uninterrupted feeding several thousands of people in the Naga hills for generations.
— The Irrawaddy

Myanmar begins to reach out to ASEAN over Rakhine
Myanmar has asked its ASEAN partners to help prepare adequate infrastructure for the eventual repatriation of Rohingya refugees who have fled from violence, marking what an Indonesian official calls a breakthrough for a country that has strongly refused to involve others in the crisis.
— The Jakarta Post

Chinese, Malaysian companies discuss investment in YBS
Three companies from China and Malaysia visited Myanmar and discussed the possibility of investing in the Yangon Bus Service (YBS), according to a report in Myawady Daily yesterday.
— The Global Newlight of Myanmar

Untangling Myanmar’s trade in human hair
Aye Aye Thein, 55, cuts hair for a living at Insein market in the north of Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city.
— CNN

North Korea’s Would-Be Investors Can Learn Lessons From Myanmar
As the world waits to see if U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea leader Kim Jong-Un actually meet, investors hoping to profit from peace on the Korean peninsula could learn lessons from Myanmar.
— Bloomberg

UK preschool franchise set to expand further in Myanmar
A franchise of a UK-based preschool service provider located in northern Yangon has reached its first anniversary and is set to expand to downtown Yangon as well as Mandalay. With aspiring families in the country looking for quality education, demand is on the rise.
— The Myanmar Times

Minimum wage a step forward for democracy and sustainable development
This week the Myanmar government has announced a new daily minimum wage of K4,800 for workers. Arguments will be heard that the new rate is too high or too low from employers and workers alike. But we should not lose sight of the positive impact the minimum wage is already having on the reduction of poverty and inequality on one hand, and the strengthening of democracy and social dialogue on the other.
— Frontier Myanmar

Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan drafted, govt feedback sought
The Ministry of Planning and Finance (MOPF) is in the process of gathering comments from other government ministries for the purpose of drafting the Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan (MSDP) and incorporate relevant feedback into the plan.
— The Myanmar Times

Myanmar: Diamond Dragon, Fraser & Neave, Starbucks plan investments
The Myanmar Investment Commission has approved a spate of investments from Diamond Dragon Co Ltd, Singapore’s Fraser & Neave and US coffee chain Starbucks.
— DealStreetAsia

Germans to purchase up to 50 tonnes of Myanmar tea leaves
A German company has offered to purchase between 20 tonnes and 50 tonnes of tea leaves produced in Myanmar over the next two years, U Kyaw Thiha, chair of the Myanmar Tea Cluster, said on Sunday.
— The Myanmar Times

Myanmar Tells UN to Investigate ARSA at Security Council Meeting
Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations on Monday urged the UN Security Council to investigate the “atrocities” of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) against civilians while Western nations continued pressing Myanmar to cooperate in a credible probe into last year’s violence in Rakhine State.
— The Irrawaddy

AirAsia CEO: Talks on opening Myanmar airline ‘have stopped’
Talks between AirAsia Group Bhd and a partner to open an airline in Myanmar have stopped, the group’s chief executive told reporters on Tuesday.
— The Asahi Shimbun

Transport of containerised goods permitted in Yangon during the day
Transport of selected containerised goods will now be permitted within the city during the day, U Soe Naing, secretary of Myanmar Container Trucks Association, said yesterday.
— The Myanmar Times

MPT subscribers increase four-fold within four years
Myanma Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) gained quadruple times subscribers within four years time after cooperating with Japanese firms KDDI and Sumitomo.
— Eleven Myanmar

Myanmar Charges More Antiwar Protesters as UN, EU Raise Concerns About Kachin Conflict
Three antiwar activists were charged with criminal defamation on Wednesday for leading a protest in Myitkyina during which they called on the Myanmar government to rescue civilians displaced by hostilities between an ethnic army and Myanmar forces in volatile Kachin state, bringing the total number of demonstrators charged nationwide to 45.
— Radio Free Asia

The Truth about Myanmar
2017 marked itself as a year of endless violence. Conflicts, terrorist actions and violence swept the planet. But one of the conflicts caused particular concern among the world community, that of Myanmar. Scary terms of genocide, ethnic cleansing and more have emerged. These terms are branded by Myanmar’s leadership as such- not by some little-known politicians, but by world-class leaders of the type of President of Turkey, Mr Erdogan.
— Georgia Today

Myanmar’s Inle Lake: an ecosystem fighting to survive
Since 6am Myint Soe and his son have been fishing aboard their long-tail boat. It looks as though it’s been a good morning – between their feet lie about 30 fish of a kilo or less in weight, valued, he says, at about 30,000 kyat or €18. Soe is using net traps to catch Inle and common carp and says he will stay out on the lake until one o’clock in the afternoon.
— Irish Times

More than 4,900 acres returned to farmers in Sagaing Region
Confiscated land was relinquished and returned to its original owners at a ceremony yesterday in Kanbalu Sagaing Region, the third such event in recent weeks. A total of 4,932 acres of confiscated land was returned to 528 farmers, marking the third-highest return of confiscated land among all states and regions, said Vice President U Henry Van Thio, the Chairman of the Central Committee for Reviewing Confiscated Farmlands and Other Lands.
— The Global Newlight of Myanmar

Yangon tops DHF transmission list in four months
During the first four months of this year, there were 840 reported dengue infection cases across the country, with Yangon Region topping the list with 421 cases, according to Public Health Department (Dengue Fever and Elephantiasis Eradication Project).
— Eleven Myanmar

Coastal areas need balance between development and conservation
Vice President U Myint Swe has called for negotiation and cooperation between development and conservation groups when infrastructure is built in coastal areas and in other parts of the country.
— The Global Newlight of Myanmar

Researchers Urge Adoption of Multilingual Education
Ethnic studies researchers have urged the government to adopt an education policy that incorporates the mother tongue based-multilingual education (MTB-MLE) approach.
— The Irrawaddy

MR to offer Yangon Central Railway Comprehensive Development project in 2 months
Myanma Railways will offer the contract to upgrade the Yangon Central Railway Comprehensive Development project to the tender winners within two months, according to a report in the Myawady Daily yesterday.
— The Global Newlight of Myanmar

Feature photo Ronald Woan

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 May 17 added by Leakhena Khat on May 17, 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.