Welcome to the Myanmar morning news roundup by AEC News Today, your one stop for Myanmar news on matters of governance and policies affecting Asean business communities.

Minister demands end to jade landslides

Dr Win Myat Aye, minister for social welfare, relief and resettlement, says cooperation is needed for preventative measures to save lives in the Hpakant jade hub.

— Eleven

Bid to boost Myanmar shrimp trade begins

THOUGH MYANMAR’S shrimp export is much less than that of Vietnam and Thailand in terms of tonnage and value, the nation is set to leapfrog its production with American experts’ technical assistance, said Kyaw Tun Myint, president of the Myanmar Shrimp Association.

— The Nation

Ministry plans to reduce imports

Maung Maung Win, deputy minister for planning and finance, says measures are being taken to cut the trade deficit without hampering trade policies.

— Eleven

Myanmar: Credera Group gets $50m in commitments for $100m vehicle

Singapore based Credera Group has got $50 million soft commitments for its $100 million Myanmar focused fund that it has been raising since August 2016, Gaurav Manghnani, senior portfolio manager of Credera Group, told this portal.

— Deal Street Asia

Myanmar Gov’t Tempts Rohingyas for NVC with Ludicrous Leaflets

The Myanmar government handed some ludicrous leaflets with rhetorical lines written in three languages — Myanmar, English and Bengali — to the Rohingyas during a meeting in Maungdaw on Saturday (Mar 4) tempting them to accept the NV Card (the National Verification Card).

— Rohingya Vision

49% of power industry in private hands

The ownership ratio between the government and the private sector in the electricity sector is 51:49, Dr Tun Naing, deputy minister for electricity and energy, told a forum at the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Yangon.

— Eleven

Total, PTTEP equal in Myanmar project

Myanmar has given approval for Total E&P Myanmar Co to hold a 50% stake in the Myanmar MD-7 project in which PTT Exploration and Production Plc (PTTEP) has the other 50%.

— Bangkok Post

Rakhine airport in Myanmar to be built by tender

The Rakhine State government will invite tenders for the construction of an airport in Mrauk-U, State Planning and Finance Minister Kyaw Aye Thein said.

— Bangkok Post

The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal Hearings On Myanmar Crimes Against Rohingya & Kachin

The Rome-based International Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT),will hold hearings in London on March 6-8 at Queen Mary University (LIVE Feed) where evidence will be presented, and expert testimony heard on crimes committed by the Myanmar (Burma) state against persecuted Rohingya and Kachin minorities.

— The Chicago Monitor

Myanmar set to undertake much-needed electricity reforms

AS THE GOVERNMENT subsidy in the electricity sector amounted to Ks470 billion (Bt12.2 billion) last year, Myanmar plans to draw an effective action plan to undertake electricity reforms urgently.

— The Nation

Myanmar seeks to revive Dawei development

Myanmar has formed a high-level committee and task force to restart and speed up the Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ) project in the southern Tanintharyi region, which was suspended for years.

— The Straits Times

Why Myanmar’s New Peace Process Is Failing

Politically, Myanmar is experiencing a new phase under its new government. Undoubtedly, the approach toward national reconciliation in Myanmar has changed after the installation of National League for Democracy (NLD) in 2016. The 21st Century Panglong Conference, which is going to be held this year in March, is part of the NLD’s new way of pursuing peace. However, the persistent armed conflict simmering between the Myanmar Army and ethnic armed groups poses a big challenge to the government’s credibility.

— The Diplomat

Despite calls for reform, prisoners continue hard labour in shackles

ZIN KYEIK LABOUR CAMP, Mon State – Prisoners continue to conduct hard labour in shackles in a Mon State labour camp, Myanmar Now has found, despite calls for reforms by lawmakers and investigations into prison abuses by a UN rights envoy and the International Labour Organisation.

— Myanmar Now

Smog blowing in from Myanmar affects air quality in the North

SMOG FROM Myanmar has intensified the haze problem in northern Thailand, according to hotspot statistics from the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA).

— The Nation

Thai pink card workers ripped off by brokers

Myanmar nationals who hold “pink cards” in Thailand are being fleeced of some 7000 baht by brokers for identity documents from the homeland, according to the Migrant Workers Right Network (MWRN).

— Myanmar Times

Tanintharyi chief demands fish protection

Officially registered fishing boats docked in Myeik in Tanintharyi Region (Photo-Zaw Moe Oo/EMG)

Chief Minister Dr Le Le Maw for Tanintharyi Region says strict action is needed against illegal fishing off her coast.

— Eleven

Army and TNLA clash in Kutkai

The army and Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) clashed near Mongyu village, northern Shan State, between Kutkai and Nant Phet Kar on March 4 and sources said three civilians were injured.

— Eleven

Much smaller trade deficit tipped for next fiscal year

With trade deficits every year, Myanmar has had a negative balance of payment in international trade since the 2012-13 fiscal year.

— Eleven

Local philanthropy groups are bringing clean water to citizens during city-wide water shortage

Although the government claimed that they would be working hard during the current water shortage to ensure that everyone in the city still had access to clean water, it seems that they haven’t exactly kept their word. Fortunately for citizens however, local philanthropy groups have stepped up.

— Coconuts Yangon

Report: Myanmar Security Forces Remain ‘Outside Civilian Control’

More than a year after Myanmar’s National League for Democracy swept national elections in the formerly military-ruled country, bringing an end to government by generals or by army-backed civilians, security forces remain outside effective civilian control, the U.S. State Department said in a report released on Friday.

— Radio Free Asia

Bangladesh banning cold pills to fight surge as regional meth hub

Bangladesh is to ban the import of the cold-medicine component pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in illicit methamphetamine production, anti-narcotics officials said, after purchases spiked in tandem with a boom in the illegal drug “ya ba”.

— Coconuts Yangon

Feature photo: Francisco Anzola

The Myanmar morning news roundup is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies not politics.