Exim Bank reassesses loan to Burma

The Export-Import Bank of Thailand will open talks with the government on whether its four billion baht low inteerst loan to the Burmese government should be reviewed, Deputy Finance Minister Pruektichai Damrongrut says.


Pruektichai: Talks to start this week

Mr Pruektichai would consult Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij and Exim Bank's legal team this week.

The Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions on Friday ruled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra had abused his authority with the Exim Bank loan to Burma.

Mr Pruektichai did not say how the bank would review the contract.

Exim Bank president Apichai Boontherawara said the bank would also assess the possible damage resulting from the contract before forwarding it to the finance minister. But he insisted the Burmese government was a good client which made regular repayments.

Exim Bank's soft loan to the Burmese government was one of five cases in which the Supreme Court ruled Thaksin abused his authority as prime minister.

The bank lent 4 billion baht to the Burmese government for 12 years at 3% interest, which is below its operating costs.

The Supreme Court said lending at an interest rate which was below the bank's operating cost was not an objective of the bank's establishment. The court estimated that lending at 3% over 12 years would cost the bank 670 million baht in damages.

Mr Apichai insisted the bank did not lose money from the lending, but said it would have to study the ruling thoroughly.

The court also ruled that Shin Satellite, a company in which members of the Shinawatra family were majority shareholders, benefited from the loan.

Burma spent it on buying telecommunications equipment and satellite services from Shin Satellite, better known now as Thaicom.

The court found the bank approved the 4 billion baht loan to Burma following an instruction by the Thaksin government.

Initially, it had opened a credit line of 3 billion baht for Burma, but Thaksin asked the bank to increase the credit line by one billion baht. After that, the interest rate on the loan was cut from 5.5% to 3%.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/33889/exim-bank-reassesses-loan-to-burma

Nobels fredspris vinneren besøk Bradford å starte Burma-kampanjen

Nobels fredspris vinneren besøk Bradford å starte Burma-kampanjen


Fredsprisvinner Jose Ramos-Horta besøker Bradford morgen for å starte en verdensomspennende underskriftskampanje for folk krevende demokrati i Burma.

Presidenten i Øst-Timor fikk Nobelprisen for sin Peacemaker rolle i Øst-Timor, som er plaget av fattigdom og delt samfunn.

Og han har valgt å starte protestskriv ved Bradford University som en del av universitetets prestisjefylte PeaceJam hendelse, nå i sin femte året.

Begjæringen vil kalle for utgivelsen av fyren Fredsprisvinner og burmesisk statsminister-utvalgte, Aung Søn Suu Kyi, før den burmesiske valget i oktober.

PeaceJam organisator Fiona Macaulay sa: "Vi er glade for å ha president Øst-Timor bli med oss på universitetet for årets PeaceJam hendelse.

"Det er en fantastisk mulighet for unge mennesker fra hele Storbritannia for å høre om sine egne erfaringer og arbeide med ham for å utforske spørsmål omkring fred og fattigdom."

Pro-demokrati-leder, Ms Suu Kyi, i husarrest i 17 år, ble nektet sin siste appell for utgivelse av Supreme Court siste måneden.

PeaceJam er et opplæringsprogram som startet i USA for ti år siden.

Bradford er det eneste stedet i Europa som vert PeaceJam, som er ledet av Nobels fredspris, inkludert Ramos-Horta og Aung San Suu Kyi.

President Ramos-Horta er ved universitetet i tre dager. Rundt 250 ungdommer fra hele Yorkshire, Storbritannia og Europa, vil tilbringe helgen debattere saker.

Lørdag blir de jobber i grupper med universitetsstudent mentorer, gjør frivillig arbeid designe produkter å lage og selge for å skaffe penger til Haiti, fjerne et naturreservat, til istandsetting snekkerarbeid verktøy sendes til håndverkere i Afrika, og bidra forene hjemløse katter med eldre og funksjonshemmede.

På søndag den unge skal utforske en rekke spørsmål som rasisme, homofobisk mobbing, fattigdom, politisk undertrykkelse i Nord-Korea og fattigdom i Storbritannia.

Også på søndag de unge skal ta del i verkstedene til å utforme sin egen fred prosjekter.

http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/5040080.Global_petition_to_launch_in_city/

International Tribunal

*Myanmar: Cyclone Nargis Emergency Appeal No. MDRMM002 Operations*

*Myanmar: Cyclone Nargis Emergency Appeal No. MDRMM002 Operations*

Update No. 27

Source: International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies
(IFRC)

Date: 02 Mar 2010

Full_Report (pdf* format - 1.1 Mbytes)

GLIDE n° TC-2008-000057-MMR

Period covered by this update: September 2009 to end of January 2010

Appeal target: CHF 73,987,907 million

Appeal coverage: 96%

- 8 July 2008: A revised emergency appeal was launched for CHF 73.9 million
(USD 72.5 million or EUR 45.9 million) to assist 100,000 households for 36
months.

- 16 May 2008: An emergency appeal was launched for CHF 52,857,809 (USD 50.8
million or EUR 32.7 million) to assist 100,000 households for 36 months.

- 6 May 2008: A preliminary emergency appeal was launched for CHF 6,290,909
(USD 5.9 million or EUR 3.86 million) to assist 30,000 households for six
months.

- 5 May 2008: CHF 200,000 (USD 190,000 or EUR 123,000) was allocated from
the IFRC's Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF).

Summary:

- The end of the rains in September enabled greater outreach towards
vulnerable communities through the shelter and livelihoods projects during
this reporting period, thanks to sustained efforts at hub level in these
initiatives. Similarly, water, sanitation and hygiene promotion projects
continued to reach large numbers of vulnerable households across all
targeted townships. The communitybased health and first aid programme also
made good progress primarily through trained community volunteers and Red
Cross volunteers.

- A high level of community participation continues to be an integral factor
in the success of field activities.

- The joint technical visit by three partner national societies in November,
aimed at a preliminary review of the recovery and accountability framework
across the shelter and livelihoods recovery programmes, was conducted
successfully. A draft report of the findings has been prepared, and once
final revisions are approved, this will be circulated to all partners and
will be a topic for discussion during the partnership meeting in Bangkok on
30-31 March 2010.

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/MYAI-8367FZ?OpenDocument

Statement Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada: fordømmer Burma beslutning om Aung San Suu Kyi Appeal
2010 1 mars
tags: 2010 Election, Burma, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Human Rights, Junta, Myanmar, Statement Canada, verdens fokus på Burma
by peacerunning
Norge fordømmer Burma beslutning om Aung San Suu Kyi Appeal

(Nr. 84 - 26. februar 2010 - 1:40 ET) The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, utenriksministeren, i dag gitt følgende uttalelse uttrykker Canadas skuffelse over den burmesiske Høyesteretts beslutning om å avvise klage av pro-demokrati-leder og nobelprisvinner Aung San Suu Kyi:

"Canada er dypt skuffet over at burmesiske Høyesterett har avvist Aung San Suu Kyi siste appell om forvaring henne. Verken hennes opprinnelige rettssaken heller klagen prosessen har møtt internasjonale standarder på grunn av prosessen, viser en fullstendig mangel på respekt for rettssikkerhet. Canada beholder sin posisjon som hun fortsatt fengsling er uberettiget, uberettiget og politisk motivert.

"Det burmesiske regimet har gått glipp av enda en mulighet til å bevise sin forpliktelse til å holde inkluderende, frie og rettferdige valg. Valget planlagt for 2010 vil bare være troverdig hvis den burmesiske regimet tillater alle borgere, inkludert opposisjonsgrupper, til fritt å delta i en gjennomsiktig valg prosess.

"Siden desember 2007 har Canada innførte tøffeste sanksjoner av noe land mot det burmesiske regimet til å protestere sin behandling av sine ansatte. Disse sanksjonene inkluderer et forbud på varer eksportert til og importert fra Burma. Canada samtaler igjen på burmesisk regimet til fri alle politiske fanger, inkludert Aung San Suu Kyi, og å engasjere seg i en genuin dialog med medlemmer av den demokratiske opposisjonen og ulike etniske grupper i Burma.

"I 2007 ga Stortinget Canada Aung San Suu Kyi æres canadisk statsborgerskap for hennes utrettelige arbeid for demokrati i Burma.

- 30 --

For ytterligere informasjon, kan media representanter kontakt:

Catherine Loubier
Director of Communications
Kontoret til utenriksministeren
613-995-1851

Statement Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada : Condemns Burmese Decision on Aung San Suu Kyi Appeal

tags: 2010 Election, Burma, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Human Rights, Junta, Myanmar, Statement Canada, world focus on Burma
by peacerunning
Canada Condemns Burmese Decision on Aung San Suu Kyi Appeal

(No. 84 – February 26, 2010 – 1:40 p.m. ET) The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the following statement expressing Canada’s disappointment over the Burmese Supreme Court’s decision to reject the appeal of pro-democracy leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi:

“Canada is deeply disappointed that the Burmese Supreme Court has rejected Aung San Suu Kyi’s latest appeal of her detention. Neither her original trial nor the appeal process has met international standards of due process, demonstrating a complete disregard for the rule of law. Canada maintains its position that her continued detention is unwarranted, unjustified and politically motivated.

“The Burmese regime has missed yet another opportunity to prove its commitment to hold inclusive, free and fair elections. The elections planned for 2010 will only be credible if the Burmese regime allows all citizens, including opposition groups, to participate freely in a transparent electoral process.

“Since December 2007, Canada has imposed the toughest sanctions of any country against the Burmese regime to protest its treatment of its people. These sanctions include a ban on goods exported to and imported from Burma. Canada again calls upon the Burmese regime to free all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and to engage in a genuine dialogue with members of the democratic opposition and different ethnic groups of Burma.

“In 2007, the Parliament of Canada granted Aung San Suu Kyi honourary Canadian citizenship for her tireless work for democracy in Burma.”

- 30 -

For further information, media representatives may contact:

Catherine Loubier
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
613-995-1851

US criticises Burma on Suu Kyi appeal

The United States has criticized Burma's Supreme Court for not releasing Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

The court rejected her appeal asking to be freed from house arrest.

A State Department official says Washington condemns the Supreme Court's decision.

He says Aung San Suu Kyi is being held under house arrest for purely political reasons.

Suu Kyi's lawyer Nyan Win, who was barred from the courtroom, says he plans to lodge an appeal against the decision.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon expressed disappointment over the court's decision.

Tags:burmaunited-statesworld-politicslaw-crime-and-justicecourts-and-trials
http://www.radioaustralianews.net.au/stories/201003/2832909.htm?desktop