tombkk Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 USAssistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs JoseFernandez speaks at the UMFCCI office in Rangoon on Feb. 25, 2013.(Photo: The Irrawaddy) The sudden recognition by Washington of four Burmese banks—one ownedby a man accused by the US of arms and drugs trade—appears to have beenmore than coincidence immediately before a top-level American businessteam arrived in Rangoon. It may have eased the handshake meeting on Monday between USAssistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs JoseFernandez, and Win Aung, the president of the Union of MyanmarFederation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI). Win Aung is on a US government blacklist of Burmese company leadersdubbed cronies of the former military regime who benefited financiallyfrom close relationships with army-controlled businesses. That blacklist got a little whiter just ahead of the visit byFernandez, who heads up a 50-strong US business delegation in Burma thisweek. One of the four private banks approved by Washington for use byAmerican business, Asia Green Development Bank, is owned by Tay Za, whoin the past has been accused by the US of involvement in weapons, drugsand money laundering, and remains on the Washington blacklist. Tay Za heads the conglomerate Htoo Trading, whose business interests range through mining, agriculture, hotels and an airline. Win Aung is boss of the Dagon Group of Companies, which is heavilyengaged in natural resource extraction, including rubber and timber,plus construction, property and retailing. Both tycoons and others who built their business empires on the backof a tightly controlled economy run by army generals are advantageouslyplaced as the country’s economy now opens up to foreign investment. The Fernandez-led business group, which will spend this week touringthe country and meeting business and government leaders, includesexecutives and managers from two major oil companies, Chevron andConocoPhillips, plus General Motors, General Electric, Honeywell,Caterpillar, Fedex and Target, a discount retailer similar to Walmart. Although the US government suspended economic sanctions against Burmain May of last year, this is the first large American trade delegationto visit the country. Chevron and ConocoPhillips took part in an energy industryopportunities seminar in Rangoon last September, but few American firmshave registered for a third energy conference being organized by theMinistry of Energy on March 4-6. The continued presence of themilitary-linked state agency Myanma Oil & Gas Enterprise (MOGE) inthe sector has been widely criticized. European Union economic sanctions were also suspended indefinitelylast year, except for a continuing ban on the sale of “arms andequipment that can be used for internal repression.” This restrictioncomes up for review in April. Some of the business leaders in the US delegation, as well as WinAung, expressed concern on Monday that Washington’s sanctions remainonly suspended, the Voice of America (VOA) reported. The radio quoted Caterpillar’s Asia Pacific senior legal counselDarren Brooks as saying, “We would like to see more reliability or morestability in the fact that the sanctions have been lifted. “[The sanctions] are of course temporarily or conditionally lifted …so it’s not like you can come in and invest US $100 million right now.The sanctions could come back tomorrow and we’d be right back where wewere a couple of years ago,” Brooks told VOA. Win Aung told VOA: “It is to be noted that total lifting of sanctionscan only enable investors to come and invest without any hesitation inour new era of new economic development.” Fernandez told a meeting between the US group and Burmese businessleaders in Rangoon that American companies would “bring internationalbusiness standards for transparency, labor rights [and] environmentalprotection.” Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is among those who have criticizedthe state oil and gas agency MOGE, which is a partner with ChinaNational Petroleum Corporation in the pipelines. Their constructionacross Burma, under heavy army security, has been associated withfrequent reports of rights abuses including farmers’ loss of landwithout proper compensation. Suu Kyi called for MOGE to be reformed and become more transparent.There is no evidence that this has happened. In January in Naypyidawduring parliamentary sessions she said that military-linked cronybusiness leaders should be investigated for any evidence of wrongdoingduring the regime years. The US group’s visit coincides with a new risk assessment of doingbusiness in Burma by the British firm Maplecroft, which listed potentialproblems in particular for the oil and gas sector as well as humanrights issues surrounding the Kachin conflict. “Businesses face serious reputational risks from being associatedwith security forces engaging in human rights violations whileprotecting commercial assets,” said Maplecroft in its assessmentpublished on Feb. 25. “Constitutional powers grant the military theability to block legislation, limiting the scope of reforms that electedofficials can implement without military approval. “Military leaders also hold significant power over the oil and gassector, and risk destabilizing the security situation while acquiringland for further investment. “Furthermore, China is worried that the Shwe oil and gas pipelinescould be affected by any growing instability [in Kachin]. While currentscope for direct Chinese military intervention in Myanmar is low, thiscould change in the event of a serious escalation in the conflict.” Source: http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/27941 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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