Burma: Police reforms expand women's roles. There was a time when there were very few women in Burma’s national police force, and they were practically invisible.
Under an ambitious plan to enlarge, modernise and reform the Myanmar Police Force (MPF), however, that situation is rapidly changing. Not only are there now many more female police officers in Burma, but their roles are expanding, both locally and internationally. Burma has always prided itself on the fact that, compared to other Asian countries, its women enjoyed high social status. They were not considered quite the equal of men (after all, one had to be born a man to become a Buddha), but under both custom and the law they were accorded many rights denied to their sisters elsewhere.
This picture changed after the 1962 military coup, but women have played an important role in modern Burmese history, rising to senior positions in politics, the civil service and business. The Guilty and the Innocent: China and Illegal Logging in Myanmar. Trucks loaded with Burmese timber wait to cross a river on the Burma-China border.
(Photo: EIA) The recent escalation of tensions in northern Myanmar as the result of the Myanmar military’s crackdown on illegal logging and timber trade once again pushed the issue of Myanmar high up on China’s foreign policy priorities. Some are worried about rising armed conflict along the Chinese border, refugee inflows and the attendant national security challenges. Some are concerned with the potential role the United States has played in the escalation of tensions and China’s strategic vulnerability if the United States is seeping into China’s “backyard.”
More importantly, since more than 100 allegedly Chinese illegal loggers were arrested during the crackdown and hundreds of Chinese workers reportedly trapped in the volatile conflict zone, the security of overseas Chinese nationals has once again become a heatedly discussed topic in China. The ethnic groups also plead “not guilty.” Understanding Typical Financial Behavior in Myanmar. Putting customers at the center and better understanding demand for financial services among different segments of an unbanked population is a key priority for the development community.
The recent Making Access to Financial Services Possible (MAP), undertaken by UNDP/ UNCDF, CENFRI and Finmark Trust with funding from LIFT, provides a gold mine of information on the demand for and supply of financial services in Myanmar. It is based on interviews with 5,100 households, and the results were presented on 22 and 23 May at a conference in Naypiytaw. Some of the figures from the survey tell us a lot about what a typical household in Myanmar looks like.
For example: Photo Credit: Khant Zaw. Myanmar to Launch Online Visa System for Tourists. Foreign tourists sightsee at Shwe Indein Pagoda near Shan State’s Inle Lake.
(Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Burma plans to launch an online application system for tourist visas later this year, according to the Ministry of Immigration and Population, which announced on Friday that it was opening a tender for the project. Incheon Named Preferred Bidder on Myanmar’s New Global Air Hub. Incheon International Airport Corp. leads a group picked as the preferred bidder on Myanmar’s new $1.1 billion air hub, the latest in a series of global deals as the Southeast Asian nation opens itself after decades of isolation.
Incheon is in talks with Myanmar’s Department of Civil Aviation on details, aiming to sign a contract this year, open the facility in 2018 and operate it for 50 years, South Korea’s Transport Ministry said today in a statement. Hanthawaddy International Airport will be capable of handling about 12 million passengers per year, the ministry said. Myanmar President Thein Sein has expanded political freedom and loosened economic controls since coming to power two years ago, prompting nations including the U.S. to ease sanctions.
That’s opened the door to a flood of foreign investment as companies worldwide seek to profit from Myanmar’s resources and cheap labor. To contact the reporter on this story: Jungah Lee in Seoul at jlee1361@bloomberg.net. Myanmar Will Build Billion Dollar International Airport To Be Completed by 2017. By 2020, Myanmar is projected to host 7.5 million tourists annually, a figure far larger than the country’s current infrastructure is prepared to handle.
As such, Myanmar is planning to invest heavily to build new airports and add to existing ones. ThomasfullerNYT : Radical Buddhism: Photo of... Myanmar’s economic prospects and its real potential. Author: U Myint, Chief Economic Adviser to the President of Myanmar Myanmar’s economic potential has been vastly enhanced by the access to foreign resources — in the form of new trading opportunities, the inflow of foreign investment, elevated levels of bilateral and multilateral assistance — that President U Thein Sein’s commitment to political, social and economic reform has unleashed.
The relaxation of sanctions and improved relations with the major powers have both opened a new opportunity for development after years of economic isolation and consequent economic stagnation. Already, over the past few years, real growth has been strong, but how strong is not exactly clear. Myanmar cleans house – China’s worst nightmare? Burma-watching on film. Andrew Selth is a Research Fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute and author of Populism, Politics and Propaganda: Burma and the Movies. Before 1988, when a nation-wide pro-democracy uprising thrust it into the headlines, Burma was studied only by a small circle of officials and academics.
With some notable exceptions, journalists and members of the public tended to pay it little attention. Since then, however, official, scholarly and popular interest in Burma has grown markedly, with a commensurate increase in the output of published works. This year alone, there has been an outpouring of news, analysis and comment — of all kinds — on topical issues such as Burma's alleged nuclear weapons program, its apparent links with North Korea, the elections for a new national government, the release from house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and the dangers of a renewed civil war with the country's ethnic minorities. Photojournalist Ed Giles explores the new Burma – in pictures. Political, economic and social reforms are reshaping the country of Burma, and Getty photographer Ed Giles has been there to document them.
After a nominally civilian government took power in March 2011, the changes it has instituted have spurred hopes of a new democratic era for the south-east Asian nation, as it begins slowly to open up to the international community. PacNet #32 - Burma’s New Challenges. Myanmar’s economy confronts tough policy challenges. Author: Lex Rieffel, Brookings Institution.
Chroniques birmanes pingouinières. Minorities in Myanmar. Politics in Burma from 2009 to now on. Myanmar Foreign policy. Tatmadaw - Myanmar 's army. A nuclear Burma ? or an unclear Burma ? ;=) Myanmar and the narcotics.