Vol. II, No. 200, 10th Waning Day of Thadingyut 1377 ME Saturday, 7 November, 2015

Khaing Thanda Lwin

pres calls on all to vote

InsIde

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analYsIs

Reap the rewardsof lifelong learning

Results of 2015 general elections will reflect true wishes of the citizens

UEC chairman meets Carter Centre election observers

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political parties should accept election results with magnanimity

Deputy Commander-in-Chief visits Lashio military

Insein prison inmates cast

MYANMAR police uncovered 16 cases of human trafficking in October, rescuing 35 victims – among whom five were children. The victims had beensold into forced labour and forced mar-riages in Thailand, Malaysia and China, according to Myanmar’s Anti-Trafficking in Persons Di-vision.

Authorities arrested 24 traf-fickers, while another 17 suspects

remain at large. Authorities are also hoping to locate one man and four women who have reportedly fallen prey to traffickers.

According to official figures, 105 police investigationswere launched during the past 10 months; which is 11 more cases than the same period last year.

Twenty-nine investigation-swere undertaken in Shan State, while Mandalay and Yangon were the next highest, with 17 and 15 respectively.

There were more than 10 cases of human trafficking in-vestigated in Kachin State, Bago, Sagaing, Magway and Ay-eyawady regions, while in Kay-in, Mon and Rakhine states the number of cases was less than 10. There were no reports of human trafficking occurring in the cap-ital city of Nay Pyi Taw and in southern Taninthayi Region.

Authorities arrested a total of 301 traffickers since the begin-ning of the year and another 100

suspects are on wanted lists.According to official figures,

the number of trafficking cases nationwide since 2006 to October this year stands at 1,228.A total of 2,443 people were rescued and 2,227 traffickers brought to justice.

Forced labour and sexual ex-ploitation are considered among the most pressing international crimes taking place in Myanmar, with women being at particular risk of being trafficked to China for forced marriages.

35 victims of human trafficking rescued in OctoberGains have been made in tackling sexual exploitation and forced labour, but much work remains for Myanmar authorities

PRESIDENT U Thein Sein has urged political parties to accept the results of the November 8 election with magnanimity, say-ing that the upcoming election will be free and fair.

In his election speech broadcast last night, the pres-ident said he firmly believed that the upcoming election will be free and fair and that it will reflect the desires of the peo-ple. He acknowledged that there have been many challenges along the way in fulfilling the administration’s desire to hold smooth elections.

President U Thein Sein re-iterated that the government and the army will respect the results of the upcoming election and added that he is aware that there is some anxiety about this among the public.

He said that his party would welcome a new government as determined by the election results and emphasised that it must be in conformity with the terms of the constitution. He expressed confidence that the leaders of political parties will accept the results of the election.

In order for peace to pre-vail during the post-election period, the president said that he will hold talks with leaders of political parties to discuss solutions for

any potential issues. He also urged all those eli-

gible to vote to cast their votes this Sunday, saying that the upcoming election represents a

key part of Myanmar’s new po-litical climate.

The UEC has already made arrangements for citizens to avoid unnecessarily losing their

voting rights on election day, he added.

President U Thein Sein ended his speech by urging the leaders of political parties to

be far-sighted and magnani-mous during the upcoming elec-tion, which will also be keenly watched by the international community.—GNLM

Viewers watch President Thein Sein’s final address before Sunday’s historic general election. Photo: Aye Min Soe

2 national 7 November 2015

My fellow citizens,As I have done previously, I would like to give you the monthly update on the work of my government, and the develop-ments that have taken place in our country.

since the historic general elections will be held this month, I would like to focus on issues re-lating to the elections and the re-form process.

In a few days, the most meaningful and significant gen-eral elections in Myanmar history will be held. This is because for the first time since independence, all political forces in the country will be contesting general elec-tions. since my government took office, we have focused on liberal-ization and implementing practi-cal reforms to foster a democratic society. We made every effort to breathe life into these reforms, as the prevailing political conditions dictated. This hard work built the foundation that has enabled the holding of the upcoming general elections. Because of this, I firm-ly believe these elections are the most meaningful and important in Myanmar history. Furthermore, Myanmar, its society and citi-zens deserve democracy. These elections show that the country is ready to continue with reforms with increasing momentum.

The elections will not only shape the future of Myanmar, but also advance reintegration with the global community, foreign investment and international co-operation.

I especially urge each citizen to value the importance of his or her ballot, and realize that indi-vidual choice, if harnessed collec-tively, is a powerful force. When making their selections, I encour-age citizens to vote with sincerity, patience, and foresight in keeping with the values of citizenship and society. Every citizen is free to vote for whom he or she wishes.

Results of 2015 general elections will reflect true wishes of the citizensThe following is the monthly radio speech delivered by President U Thein Sein on 3 November.

In so doing, let all of us Myanmar citizens show that we are capable of making good and wise choices.

It is clear that our country still has insufficient democrat-ic experience and institutions for nation building. Because of these constraints, I accept that it will be difficult to hold elections that are perfect. However, my government is fully committed to ensuring that the elections are clean, free, and peaceful.

I believe the results of these 2015 general elections will reflect the true wishes of the citizens. Therefore, I urge political parties and the public to respect the choic-es of the people, and welcome and accept the results. After the elec-tions, political leaders will need to discuss and jointly bring about a political arrangement that all politi-cal forces can accept.

On October 15th, leaders of the government, parliament, and Tat-madaw together with the leaders of eight Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAOs) signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA)—a historical milestone in the peace process. International and respect-ed national political leaders signed as witnesses, attesting to the legali-ty and robustness of the agreement.

The NCA is the first compre-hensive ceasefire agreement to be signed by the EAOs, the govern-ment, parliament, and the Tatmad-aw. This agreement is a pledge by the signatories to work together to implement the peace process. The door is also open for the remaining EAOs to sign the NCA, and discus-sions are continuing.

These are not easy issues to resolve, and some challenges and clashes persist. Despite the obsta-cles, we must continue to strive for a nationwide ceasefire and inclu-sive political dialogue. The NCA must be implemented, and at the same time, we must ensure the people living in conflict areas are able to enjoy the fruits of peace as

soon as possible.For decades, Myanmar suf-

fered under a political system that lacked mutual restraint, and gov-ernance that was undemocratic. The country faced internal armed conflicts, poverty, and internation-al isolation. To fix this, my govern-ment launched and committed to reforms in all sectors. We are striv-ing to create a democratic, peaceful and wealthy future for the people, and for future generations.

It is difficult to accomplish all these challenging tasks during a single term of government. Under my administration, we have had to delicately undertake changing outdated mindsets, habits, and the practice of putting self-interest first. We dealt with every chal-lenge we faced so as to nurture a new political system and new po-litical culture, so badly needed in our society.

In the early days of our coun-try’s reforms launched soon after the 2010 general elections, many countries were also going through democratic transitions. However, these countries today face civil war and lack of effective government. Although our country may be de-ficient according to some interna-tional measures, we are gradually and decisively implementing the required changes. I would like to stress that reforms in each country must take place at the right pace, at the right time, and after carefully considering all the factors.

We also succeeded in bring-ing all the political forces into the political process. The successful holding of the 2012 by-elections, the signing of the NCA, and meet-ings between the top political leaders to resolve issues are prime examples of the new political cul-ture my government has worked to establish taking hold. With this as the foundation, we must work on achieving a nationwide ceasefire and resolving issues that are obsta-cles to nation building. We were

also able to enable inclusive polit-ical dialogue that will represent all political forces. We must continue to strive to achieve the establish-ment of a federal and democratic nation as agreed. At the same time, my government has made tangible improvements to the livelihoods of the people. From telecommuni-cations to delivery of people-cen-tered services, we have gradually improved and raised the quality of services. Moreover, we imple-mented fundamental reforms to enable accountable and responsive bureaucratic mechanisms.

We must unwaveringly con-tinue to work on reforms to improve the delivery of people-centered services, healthcare, education, job opportunities, individual freedoms, and human security.

During my government’s term, I have strived to introduce and implement reforms to the best of my abilities. In this time, we have seen many difficulties, and had to find answers to these challenges. More obstacles to the reforms had to be faced and over-come. These are all valuable and

required experiences for anyone leading the transition and reform process at an increasing pace. We also see that in the area of im-proving people-centered services corruption is a major challenge, and attention must be given to its elimination. Most important-ly, we now have the foundation to continue implementing short, medium and long-term economic plans that are easily understood by the people, and in which they can participate for their benefit. I believe it is especially important to continue to improve people’s livelihoods and maintain political stability.

I am committed to achiev-ing internal peace, improving livelihoods, and ensuring better lives for future generations. By learning from past experiences, I firmly believe we will sustain these processes, accomplish dem-ocratic reforms, and overcome the challenges facing our country. I conclude this month’s radio ad-dress by reaffirming my pledge to work towards a better future for our country.

Esteemed national brethren in Kayin State,

It is a great honour to extend my warm greetings to all Kayin national brethren on the 60th an-niversary of Kayin state Day, which falls on 7 November.

shortly after Myanmar won its independence in 1948, the country’s parliament put the designation of Kayin state for Kayin nationals in the formation of states and regions on top of its agenda.

Thanlwin district was des-ignated Kayin state according

Inclusive participation of all peoples is of utmost importance in creating a modern, developed democracyThe following is the message sent by President Agga Maha Thayay Sithu, Agga Maha Thiri Thudhamma U Thein Sein on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of Kayin State Day which falls on 7 November 2015.

to the Constitutional Amendment Act of 1951. Kayin state extend-ed as far as Kya-In-seik Kyi, Kawkareik, Hlaingbwe, Hpa-an and Thandaung townships in ac-cordance with the Kayin state Extension Act of 1952. Later, Myawady, a township at the foot of Mount Dawna, was in-cluded in Kayin state’s territory, which is now made up of seven townships— Hpa-an, Papun, Hlaingbwe, Thandaung, Ka-wkareik, Kya-In-seikkyi and Myawady. The President of State signed the Constitutional Amend-

ment Act of 1951 on 7 Novem-ber. In commemoration of that historic event, Kayin state Day has been observed every year ever since.

We have seen that post-in-dependence political instability sparked armed conflicts. Now is the time to enjoy peaceful coexist-ence among our national brethren by drawing on lessons based on bitter experiences.

A series of peace talks fo-cused on ending more than 60 years of armed conflict culminat-ed in the signing of a nationwide

ceasefire agreement with eight ethnic armed organisations on 15 October 2015. I am delighted that three armed organisations based in Kayin state signed the histori-cal agreement.

Divisions among ethnic groups gave rise to armed con-flicts, which have thwarted re-gional development and left local people in hard times. Peace is now starting to bear fruit in the region, with significant opportunities for development arising as a result. It is therefore necessary for local people to work together with the

government to seize the oppor-tunities that remained elusive for so long.

The inclusive participation of all of Myanmar peoples is of utmost importance in creating a modern, developed democracy. The government is committed to infrastructural development on all fronts, including sectors such as transportation, education, human resources, infrastructure, health and the economy. I would like to request all Kayin nationals to collectively contribute to and closely cooperate in the process.

national 37 November 2015

President U thein sein delivered an election speech to voters across the country on state-run radio and television networks after the national news was aired at 8pm yesterday. the election speech will be broadcast again at 8am, 6pm and 8pm today, and at 8am, 10am and 12 noon on sunday, the day of the general election. the speech will also be aired on MrtV, MrtV-4 and sky net channels, which are owned by state-run MrtV.—Myanmar News Agency

UniOn election Commission Chairman U tin Aye met with the Carter Center’s election ob-server team yesterday, which is led by Mr Jason Carter and the former president of ireland Ms Mary robinson.

during the meeting, U tin Aye said that Myanmar’s general elections on november 8 will be free and fair and that internation-al observers are invited to judge proceedings without bias and to provide recommendations for fu-ture elections.

they discussed the imple-mentation of strategic plans for the upcoming election, the struc-ture of the commission, the elec-toral system and mechanisms for settling election disputes.—My-anmar News Agency

A MYAnMAr delegation attended the Universal Periodic review in Geneva yesterday and gave a presentation on the pro-gress Myanmar has made in im-proving its human rights record.

the delegation was led by Attorney-General of the Union dr tun shin, who highlighted the recent signing of Myanmar’s nationwide ceasefire agreement, the impending general election, strengthened anti-human traf-ficking measures and anti-mon-ey laundering operations. He also cited Un human rights re-

ports on Myanmar, Myanmar’s cooperation with the Un, the es-tablishment of its human rights commission, the prevention of the recruitment of child soldiers and increased access to educa-tion and health care services for some of the country’s most vul-nerable groups, such as children and the elderly.

the Universal Periodic re-view is held every four years. the Myanmar delegation re-sponded to questions from 97 countries during the meeting. —Myanmar News Agency

U WUnnA MAUnG LWin, Union Minister for Foreign Af-fairs of Myanmar, received the high-level leadership delega-tion of the Carter Center elec-tion observation mission com-posed of Ms. Mari robinson, Former President of ireland, Mr. Jason Carter, grandson of former U.s President Mr. Jim-my Carter, Mr. Bhojraj Pok-herel, former Chief election Commissioner of the election

Commission of nepal yester-day at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, nay Pyi taw.

At the meeting, matters re-lated to inter alia preparations of holding of the General elec-tions, international and domes-tic election observers, signing of Nationwide Ceasefire Agree-ment, and recent developments in Myanmar were discussed cordially.—Myanmar News Agency

President U Thein Sein’s election speech to be aired seven times

UEC chairman meets Carter Centre election observers

Union Election Commission Chairman U Tin Aye shakes hands with an official of Carter Center’s election observer team. Photo: MNA

Union FM receives observers from Carter Center

Myanmar delegation sums up human rights efforts in Geneva

Bio-tech research centre opens in Mandalay RegionInsein prison inmates cast advance votes

MOre than 70 percent of insein Central Prison’s 3,852 inmates who applied to cast advance votes for sunday’s general elec-tion were permitted to do so, according to a prison statement

Ko Moe

tHe deputy Command-er-in-Chief of defence servic-es, also Commander-in-Chief (Army) Vice-senior General soe Win met with military of-ficers and their families yester-day at the north-east Command in Lashio, shan state.

the deputy command-er-in-chief stressed that Myan-mar is home to more than 100 ethnic groups and described the army as a “union army”be-cause it is comprised bya variety

Deputy Commander-in-Chief visits Lashio military command

tHe Biological technology research Centre was opened yesterday in Kyaukse, Manda-lay region.

Mandalay region Minis-ter for Forestry and Mining U thin soe Myint took part in the ribbon-cutting ceremony and Union Minister for science and

technology dr Ko Ko Oo un-veiled the centre’s signboard.

the union minister later viewed a thriving Hsin shwese paddy strain plantation, which was cultivated by the centre, as well as visiting its laboratories and research hubs.—Myanmar News Agency

issued yesterday.According to officials, 2,307

male inmates and 269 females cast their votes at insein Central Prison.

those who were deemed in-eligible to vote either lacked the necessary id or have conditions

imposed on their sentences that prohibit voting, said the deputy director of Myanmar Correction-al department U Myo Oo.

“some of the inmates who wished to vote could not cast their ballots due to our inability to con-firm their personal details. Some prisoners assisted authorities in satisfactorily identifying them-selves and were granted voting rights as a result,” he said.

inmates in other Yangon prisons, including those in dala, Kawhmu, seikkyi Khanaungto and Pabedan townships, will cast their votes today, the deputy di-rector added.

A total of 2,307 inmates have cast their ballots since the ad-vance voting process began on 24 October, said U Maung Maung Aye, director of the department in Yangon region.

Officials open Bio-tech research centre in Kyaukse. Photo: MNA

Inmates of Insein Prison casting advance votes. Photo: tuN AuNg KyAw

of ethnic groups.“All military personnel em-

brace the spirit of the union and uphold the country’s integrity, sovereignty and territory,” he said.

Vice-senior General soe Win also visited a military hos-pital at Lashio’s military com-mand and spoke to male and female patients receiving treat-ment. —Myawady

Vice-Senior General Soe Win comforts patients at military hospital in Lashio. Photo: MyAwAdy

4 LocaL News 7 November 2015

THE Department of Ar-chaeology and the Nation-al Museum’s Mandalay Branch are renovating the ancient Gutawthit Pagoda in ancient Inwa city, Tada U Township, with funds of K14.9 million (more than US$11,600) from the 2015-16 fiscal budget. Gutawthit Pagoda, one of the cave pa-godas built during the Ba-gan era, was damaged dur-ing an earthquake in 2012. The department is striving to maintain as much origi-nal art work as possible.

“Experts from the de-partment provide advice to the construction company’s renovation team,” an offi-cial of the department said.

The department as-signed the Myanma Ok-shaung Company to reno-vate the pagoda in August of this year with a goal to complete the project by January 2016. The pago-da was built by King Thi-ha Thu (1350-59 A.D.). —Min Htet Aung

Gutawthit Pagoda in ancient Inwa city under renovation

THE Construction and Housing Development Bank is currently offering loan opportunities to Myanmar citizens depending on their financial situation and the home they wish to purchase.

The bank has so far of-fered loans to facilitate the purchase of 262 apartments in the Hlinethaya Housing Shwelinpan Company in Yangon through an eight-year installment plan and 25 apartments in an apartment building constructed by Mandalay City Development for which a four-year install-ment plan is offered.

CHDB bank aims to lend money to either con-struction entrepreneurs or future home owners at 13 per cent interest. The bank offers customers the opportunity to reduce the interest rate. “If you deposit savings with the bank you will receive an in-terest rate of 8.25 per cent, long-term saving will be subject to 10 percent inter-est. Customers can take out

a loan at 12 per cent and be subject to service charges of 1 per cent only,” said Dep-uty Managing Director U Than Aung of the bank. The CHDB aims to create oppor-tunities for people to become home owners using personal income and government as-sistance. “If a customer de-posits K3 million during one year the bank will lend K10 million. The borrower will be required to pay that money back within 8 years,” said U Win Zaw, Managing Direc-tor of CHDB bank.

The Construction & Housing Development Bank on Shwedagon Pagoda Road in Dagon Township was es-tablished in 2013 and began operating in 2014. The bank handles the shares belonging to Government as private interests including construc-tion companies. The bank maintains links with interna-tional financial institutions. It has branches in Botataung, Mandalay, Nay Pyi Taw and Pathein with plans to open more in regions and states across Myanmar.

CHDB providing loans, encourages home ownership

THE Mandalay Region Management Committee for Security of 2015 Gen-eral Elections held their fourth meeting at the hall of the Region Police Force in Chanayethazan Township on Thursday. Mandalay Re-gion Minister for Security and Border Affairs Col Myo Min Aung issued instruc-tions from the central com-mittee.

Commander of the region police force Police Col Han Tun and deputy commander Police Col Thet Naing discussed security measures for the campaign period and the management of peaceful and accessible voting. Additional police officers and members of the fire brigade will be on hand.

Mandalay Region has been allocated 5,384 poll-ing stations for around 4.4 million eligible voters. A total of 399 candidates from 20 political parties includ-ing independent candidates will compete for seats in the regions of Hluttaw, Py-ithu and Amyotha Hluttaw. —Thiha Ko Ko (Mandalay)

A BASIC traditional med-icine course, conducted by the Ottara District Ma-ternal and Child Welfare Supervisory Committee, concluded at the hall of the

District General Adminis-tration Department in Nay Pyi Taw Council Area on Thursday.

Head of the District Traditional Medicine De-

partment Daw Si Si Nyein gave a concluding speech. Chairperson of the district MCWSC Daw Kyi Kyi Yin and officials present-ed brooches to the trainees

and gifts to lecturers. A trainee thanked the teach-ers for the anatomical ed-ucation they received as well as an understanding of the usefulness of me-

dicinal plants and simple therapies. A total of 40 local residents attend-ed the short-term course from 3 to 5 November. —Shwe Ye Yint

Local residents educated in traditional medicine

Security arrangements for election period discussed

More than 1,900 polling station officers, staff assigned in Tatkon Tsp

HEADS and staff of poll-ing stations were assigned duty rosters for the general election period in Tatkon Township, Nay Pyi Taw Council Area, on Thurs-day. At the ceremony, Dis-trict Election Sub-commis-sion chairman U Soe Tint Thein explained the role of polling station officers and staff while Township Administrator U Yi Mon spoke on the management

of the electoral process and security measures. District Election Sub-Commission chairman U Aung Lwin spoke last to clarify elec-tion policy. Township election sub-commission chairman U Soe Tint Thien gave certificates of duty as-signment to 1,908 staff and officers assigned to 136 polling stations in wards and villages.—Tin Soe Lwin (Tatkon IPRD)

Township election official assigns duty to polling station and staff in Tatkon. Photo: tin Soe Lwin

Renovation tasks being carried out at Gutawthit Pagoda in ancient Inwa city, Tada U Township. Photo: Min htet Aung

Construction and Housing Development Bank. Photo: MAy Zu Zu

May Zu Zu

regional 57 November 2015

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KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysian police questioned for-mer premier Mahathir Mohamad yesterday, who is under investiga-tion after calling on the current prime minister to step down over a financial scandal.

Mahathir, Malaysia’s long-est-serving leader who remains a highly respected and influential figure, has become the fiercest critic of Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is facing pressure over a graft scandal surrounding state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

In July, the Wall Street Jour-nal reported that investigators looking into the indebted fund had found that nearly $700 million had been transferred into Najib’s bank

account. Najib denies wrongdoing or taking any money for personal gain and the state anti-corruption agency said the money was a polit-ical donation from an unidentified Middle East benefactor. But that has not stopped the criticism.

Mahathir, 90, made a surprise appearance in late August at an an-ti-government protest in Kuala Lumpur and called for a “people’s power” movement to topple Najib.

National police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said soon afterwards that the police would take a state-ment from Mahathir on his com-ments and they visited his office yesterday to do so, his aide, Sufi Yusof, said. Yusof declined give any details about the meeting or say what it had centred on.

The main organiser of the Au-gust rally, Maria Chin, was charged this month under the Peaceful Assembly Act for failing to notify authorities about the gathering. She has denied the charges.

Najib, who is chairman of 1MDB’s advisory board, has hit back at dissenters within his party and the government. He sacked his deputy and other ministers who had publicly questioned him and also replaced the attorney-general who was investigating 1MDB.

Authorities also suspended two newspapers and blocked ac-cess to a website that had reported on 1MDB. Legal action was also taken against some opposition pol-iticians and activists.—Reuters

KATHMANDU — Customs officials from Ne-pal and China have agreed to operate border points more effectively, Nepali of-ficials have said.

Immigration authorities are to make arrangements for allowing Nepalese trad-ers, trucks and drivers in Kerung, the Chinese Chi-nese border market that connects Nepal’s Rasuwa district, said the officials.

Kerung is the border point through which Nepal has been importing fuel from China.

Kerung border point is the only trade route current-ly under operation for inland bilateral trade as an-other Khasa-Tatopani route has remained closed since April’s massive earthquake. —Xinhua

China, Nepal aim to improve border trade

Malaysian police question former prime minister

Malaysia’s former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad. Photo: ReuteRs

Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) and Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. Photo: ReuteRs

NEW DELHI — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday said the economy is doing better and stressed that the country should reform to transform the lives of its citizens.

“The economy has improved by every economic indicator. The economy is doing better than what it was when we took over 17

months ago. The economy is doing better in all the parameters like GDP, fiscal deficit, revenue etc,” Modi said, after inaugurating the Delhi Economics Conclave.

He added: “The country should reform to transform the life of the citizens of the country, par-ticularly the poor. Reforms to transform is like a marathon not

sprint.” Spelling out the reasons for success so far, Modi attributed them to the series of well laid-out policies. “We have embarked on a course of fiscal consolidation, we have increased fiscal productive investment,” he said.

The prime minister added: “The government wants to have maximum value for every rupee

spent, the maximum penetration in technology across the masses. My government wants economic trans-formation through technological growth.”

He also said that the govern-ment has started the process of em-powering the unorganised sector and laid the foundation for 12 mil-lion jobs in India.—Xinhua

India must make more reforms to transform lives, says Modi

HANOI — Vietnam agreed to build a “truly trustworthy” rela-tionship with China yesterday during a visit to Hanoi by its Pres-ident Xi Jinping, but at the same time invited Beijing’s old rival Ja-pan for joint military exercises and a visit to a sought-after port.

The diplomatic flurry high-lights the fragility of China’s testy ties with its communist neighbour, and Vietnam’s efforts to diversity its relations through new alliances with states locked in bitter dis-putes with Beijing over its mari-time expansionism.

Vietnam and China’s com-peting territorial claims mush-roomed into a major dispute last year, which Xi aimed to settle on a timely visit close to a scheduled shakeup of a Vietnamese Commu-nist Party leadership increasingly being courted by the United States.

Xi was given the red carpet

Vietnam talks trust with China, invites Japanese warship treatment during meetings since Thursday with the top leaders of Vietnam and he told its National Assembly their joint revolutionary friendship could dispel and sur-vive any “disruptions”.

“Our two parties, countries and peoples should be staunch in their faith, help each other and proceed hand in hand, not allow-ing anyone to disrupt our pace,” he said.

Both sides agreed on Friday to maintain peace at sea and trust each other, but as Xi prepared to leave, Japan’s defence ministry announced Vietnam had invited it to take part in humanitarian exer-cises and to bring a warship to its strategic Cam Ranh Bay once construction of a new dock was complete.

Japan and China have their own territorial dispute in the East China Sea, complicating a rela-tionship coloured by Japan’s oc-cupation of parts of China before and during World War Two.

Cam Ranh is the jewel in the crown of Vietnam’s military, with an air base once used by the US and Soviet forces and a deep water bay home to its modern, Rus-sian-built submarines. Visits by foreign ships are rare and usually reserved for maintenance.

Vietnam’s warm assurances to China and its agreement with Japan on the same day are likely to antagonize Beijing, but show Ha-noi’s intent to engage the West and Asian powers in defence, trade and investment after a histo-ry of at times uncomfortable de-pendence on its giant neighbour.

Trust has become an issue for

China, whose Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday told US coun-terpart John Kerry that a recent US warship patrol near its man-made islands in the Spratlys was of extreme concern.

A website run by China’s of-ficial People’s Daily newspaper displayed rare pictures on Friday of the reclamation work, taken by a worker on Mischief Reef, show-ing diggers and tractors dumping sand into the azure waters.

China’s parking of an oil rig unannounced in waters off Viet-nam’s coast in May 2014 was widely seen as a miscalculation that has given the United States and allies like Japan an opening to steer Hanoi away from Beijing’s orbit.

China’s reclamation of reefs near the contested Spratly Islands has fueled resentment and put Vi-etnam’s rulers in a difficult posi-tion, pressured from nationalists and even some party members to

take a tougher line, but wary of in-curring China’s wrath. It is un-clear what kind of leadership will emerge from the secretive party’s congress in January. Xi referred to Vietnam’s independence hero Ho Chi Minh and his amity with the founder of modern China, Mao Zedong, and their similar political systems.

He made no mention of the South China Sea and referred only to “tests” both had faced in the winds of history. Relations, he added, must “not be allowed to stray from the correct path”.

Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang told Xi that relations had been hurt and made a rare ad-mission about concerns within the Communist Party.

“The trust in the relationship ...was reduced among the public, cadres and party members due to disputes and disagreements,” he said, according to a foreign minis-try statement.—Reuters

“Our two parties, countries and peoples should be staunch in their faith, help each other and proceed hand in hand, not allowing anyone to disrupt our pace.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping

6 regional 7 November 2015

S Korea urges Japan to present measures over ‘comfort women’SEOUL — A senior South Korean official yesterday urged Japan to quickly present measures accept-able to the South Korean people to resolve the issue of Korean women forced to work in wartime brothels for the Japanese military, accord-ing to Yonhap News Agency.

“As an offender, the Japanese side should quickly put forward measures acceptable to the victims and our people to settle the ‘com-fort women’ issue,” the official was quoted as saying. The official said South Korea has “held the position the Japanese government should resolve the issue in the context of a party which has caused a problem resolving the problem.”

The remarks were made a day after a senior Japanese of-ficial called on South Korea to present proposals to settle the is-sue. “The ball is in South Korea’s court now,” Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Hagiuda said in an interview with Kyodo News.Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun Hye agreed in a face-to-face meeting Monday to speed up talks to address the comfort wom-an issue.—Kyodo News

Death toll from Pakistan’s Lahore factory collapse rises to 29

Rescuers search for victims in the rubble of a collapsed factory on the outskirts of eastern Pakistan’s Lahore on 5 November 2015. Photo: Xinhua

ISLAMABAD — Death toll from the collapse of a facto-ry in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore has been risen to 29 on Thursday, local media and offi-cials said.

Rescue teams have pulled out over 100 injured people from the rubble of the factory

which collapsed on Monday in Sundar Industrial Estate area of Lahore, the capital city of the country’s east Punjab Province.

Deputy Commissioner Of-ficer Lahore Muhammad Us-man said that over 150 workers were inside the Rajput Polyes-ter Factory when it collapsed.

He said that some con-struction work was going on at the fourth floor of the build-ing which collapsed, razing the other three floors to the ground too.

All the injured have been shifted to hospitals where the majority of them were found

with broken legs and arms.The provincial government

has imposed a state of emergen-cy in all public hospitals in the city.

The official said the actual number of casualties will be as-certained once the rescue oper-ation is completed.

Reason behind the acci-dent is not known yet, but an injured factory worker said the owner was not allowed by the officials to construct the fourth storey, but despite all warnings he started work on it. Shahbaz Sharif, the Chief Minister of Punjab province, said that fac-tory might have suffered dam-age in the 8.1-magnitude earth-quake that hit the country on 26 October.

Owner of the factory is re-portedly also among the people who are still trapped under the rubble.

Pakistani President Mam-noon Hussain and Prime Min-ister Nawaz Sharif expressed grief over casualties in the in-cident and directed the officials to expedite rescue efforts.

The teams of Pakistan ar-my’s engineering core and Ur-ban Search Rescue have already reached the site and started to remove the debris to pull out the trapped people. —Xinhua

China says US patrol in South China Sea ignites tensionsBEIJING — The patrol by a US warship close to islands China controls in the South China Sea harmed mutual trust between China and the United States and caused regional ten-sions, Chinese Foreign Minis-ter Wang Yi told his US coun-terpart in a call.

Wang’s comments to US Secretary of State John Kerry, reported by Chinese state tele-vision on Friday, come a week after a US guided-missile de-stroyer sailed close to one of Beijing’s man-made islands in the South China Sea.

Beijing has repeatedly ex-pressed its anger with Wash-ington over the patrol.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of world trade transits every year.

Vietnam, Malaysia, Bru-nei, the Philippines and Tai-wan all have rival claims. China hopes the good foun-dation for ties with the Unit-ed States as laid down by President Xi Jinping’s visit there in September does not “receive unnecessary inter-ference”, Wang said.

“The acts by the US naval vessel in the South China Sea

harmed mutual trust and pro-voked regional tensions.

China is extremely con-cerned by this,” the report par-aphrased Wang as saying.

“The US side should re-turn as soon as possible to the correct path of appropriately managing disputes via dia-logue and consultation,” he added.

US Secretary of De-fence Ash Carter flew to a US aircraft carrier transiting the disputed South China Sea on Thursday and blamed China for rising tension in the region. —Reuters

“The US side should return as soon as possible to the correct path of appropriately managing disputes via dialogue and consultation.”

Wang YiChinese Foreign Minister

PHNOM PENH — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday that the government has ended the privatisation of the famed Angkor Wat Temple com-plex and a public enterprise will be established to control revenue from ticket sales at the temple complex from next year.

“A piece of important news for the Cambodian people across the country: from 2016, the roy-al government of Cambodia will control and manage the whole An-gkor Wat Temple, including staff, revenue and expense,” he wrote

on his official Facebook page.Information Minister Khieu

Kanharith wrote on his Facebook account that during a weekly cab-inet meeting yesterday, Hun Sen said Sok Kong’s company had re-turned its right to sell tickets for entering Angkor complex to the government.

He said a state enterprise would be established to contin-ue managing the revenue from selling tickets to foreign tourists visiting the temple.

The Sokha Hotel Company, owned by influential business-

man Sok Kong, had been hired to collect revenue from selling tickets to visit the Angkor since 1999.

Last year, the company earned the gross revenue of 59 million US dollars from ticket sales and in the first 10 months of this year, it made the revenue of nearly 48 million US dollars, according to government reports.

Located in northwestern Siem Reap province, Angkor Wat Temple, is the kingdom’s most popular tourist destina-tion.—Xinhua

Cambodia ends privatisation of Angkor Wat Temple

Angkor Wat Temple. Photo: ReuteRs

world 77 November 2015

BERLIN — A passenger train collided with an articulated lorry at a railway crossing in northern Ba-varia late on Thursday, killing two people and injuring several others, police said yesterday.

The train was carrying around 40 people when it rammed into a lorry that had stopped on the rail-way tracks near Freihung, north-east of Nuremberg at around 2100 GMT on Thursday evening, police said. The trailer was separated from the lorry due to the force of the collision and dragged several hundred metres by the passenger train. Both vehicles then caught fire, police said. The 30-year-old lorry driver was killed and another body was found in the train driver’s cab, they said. The lorry’s co-driv-er escaped with light injuries. Of the sixteen passengers treated for injuries, four were taken to hospital but their condition is not critical, police said.—Reuters

Train crash in northern Bavaria kills two

Firefighters look for the train driver of a regional passenger train that collided with a heavy-duty lorry at a railway crossing near the Bavarian village of Freihung, Germany, on 6 November 2015. Photo: ReuteRs

BRUSSELS — The European Commission expects some 3 mil-lion asylum seekers to arrive in the European Union by 2017, who would boost the EU’s eco-nomic output and even improve public finances in the longer-term if integrated into the work-force.

In its economic forecasts for the 28-nation bloc on Thursday, the EU executive arm assumed for the purpose of its simulation that 1 million asylum seekers would ar-rive in the EU this year, another 1.5 million in 2016 and half a mil-lion in 2017.

If half of the arrivals are granted asylum and three quarters of those are of working age, they would increase the EU’s labour force by 0.1 percent this year and by 0.3 percent in both 2016 and 2017, the Commission said.

If the accepted migrants have the same skills as the citizens in the countries that take them in, EU GDP (gross domestic product) would increase by 0.21 percent in 2016, and 0.26 percent in 2017.

If they are all low-skilled, their contribution to EU GDP would be smaller at 0.14 percent next year and 0.18 percent in 2017, the Commission simulation

showed.The migrants would have a

tiny negative impact on EU public finances, increasing the aggregate EU budget deficit by as little as 0.04 percent of GDP in both 2016 and 2017, but improving it by 0.03 and 0.05 percent of GDP in 2019 and 2020, the simulation showed.

“While unevenly distributed across countries, the estimated ad-ditional public expenditure related to the arrival of asylum seekers is limited for most EU Member States,” the Commission said.

It said that for the most af-fected transit countries, the budget cost would be a maximum of 0.2 percent of GDP in 2015, broadly stabilising in 2016.

For countries that are the fi-nal destination of asylum seekers, such as Germany, the impact amounts to a maximum of 0.2 per-cent of GDP in 2015, with a small further increase in some countries in 2016, the Commission said.

Sweden, which has among the highest share of refugees as a percentage of the population in the EU, would see an increased impact on the headline budget bal-ance than others at closer to 0.5 percent of GDP this year and

Europe predicts 3m migrants to arrive by 2017

A man throws seawater out of flooded dinghy as refugees and migrants arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos, on 6 November 2015. Photo: ReuteRs

ATHENS — Greece’s parliament approved early yesterday a bill with reforms prescribed by the country’s international lenders, ahead of a euro zone finance min-isters meeting in three days which will decide if Athens qualifies for fresh bailout funds. Greece needs to legislate a series of reforms to pass the first review of a new bail-out worth up to 86 billion euros (£61.45 billion) it signed up to earlier this year. It must also re-

vamp its banking system by the end of the year to start talks on much-needed debt relief which Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has made a priority.

A majority of lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament approved a bill which improves on previous legislation for the calculation of pensions, forces Greece to com-ply with EU energy efficiency rules, lifts obstacles for the sale of Greece’s largest port and scraps

tax breaks for farmers.Passing the bill was crucial,

but there are still issues holding up a review which can unlock 2 billion euros of aid, a sub-tranche of an initial 26 billion instalment. Greece’s compliance assessment to date is set to be on the agenda of a session of euro zone minis-ters, known as the Eurogroup, on Monday. Athens and its lenders are still at odds over an effective mechanism for Greece’s troubled

banks — which will be receiving bailout aid — to address non-per-forming loans affecting business-es, but also thousands of mortgage holders.

A 23 percent VAT tax on pri-vate education is also a thorn in talks with lenders. Athens signed up to the measure to plug a 300-400 million euro fiscal gap but later found it was highly contro-versial in a country where parents supplement perceived shortcom-

ings in the state education system with extra tuition, and is now try-ing to find other ways to raise the revenue.

Deputy Finance Minister Tryfon Alexiadis said the govern-ment would announce its decision over the measures which will re-place the VAT on education “within the day, tomorrow (Fri-day) the latest.”

“The issue will be solved,” he said.—Reuters

smaller positive effects on growth, the Commission said.

The Commission made a sep-arate simulation of the economic impact of asylum seekers for Ger-many because that is the country that will take in the bulk of the refugees.

Due to the migrants, German GDP will be 0.43 percent bigger next year and 0.56 percent higher in 2017. The positive effect would rise to 0.72 percent by 2020, the simulation for migrants of the same skill-set as the local popula-tion showed.

But the additional goods and

services produced by the accepted migrants would not be enough to boost overall wealth for all Ger-mans — German GDP per capita is to fall by 0.6 percent next year and still be 0.3 percent lower in 2020.

The migrants will also have a tiny, but still negative impact on German public finances — in the more optimistic scenario of all mi-grants having the same skills as locals, the German budget would record a net cost of 0.25 percent of GDP in 2016, and a negative im-pact of just 0.05 percent in 2020.—Reuters

Greece approves reform bill, eyes bailout tranche

WASHINGTON — Eight Republican presidential candidates will participate in Fox Business’ prime-time de-bate next Tuesday, but New Jersey Governor Chris Chris-tie did not qualify for the main event, the network said on Thursday.

The eight candidates cho-sen for the main debate by Fox Business’ polling criteria were billionaire businessman Donald Trump, who ranked first, followed by retired phy-sician Ben Carson, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, former business executive Carly Fiorina, Ohio Governor Kasich and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul.

Christie had been on the main stage for the first three televised Republican debates. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee also failed to qualify for the main debate. —Reuters

8 Republicans qualify for next prime-time debate

8 ANALYSIS 7 November 2015

Kyaw Thura

Reap the rewards of lifelong learning

We appreciate your feedback and contributions. If you have any comments or would like to submit editorials, analyses or reports please email thantunaungnlm@gmail.com with your name and title.

Due to limitation of space we are only able to publish “Letter to the Editor” that do not exceed 500 words. Should you submit a text longer than 500 words please be aware that your letter will be edited.

Write for usMosT would agree with the assumption that receiving a good education from an early age maximises our ability to

land lucrative and interesting jobs. It is equally true that a person’s capacity to earn is directly proportional to their motivation to learn.

However is it erroneous to exclusively asso-ciate learning with formal education. There are other options that are equally valuable and should not be disregarded. To bridge the educa-

tional and vocational divide, we need to be in con-stant pursuit of learning opportunities. In other words, we can improve our capacity through the process of lifelong learning, which it itself gener-ates a sense of personal fulfillment.

Lifelong learning is the process of extensive, continuous and flexible learning. It opens the door to new possibilities and builds individual capabil-ities. In a world of rapid change, we must contin-uously update our competencies. Knowledge and ability does not remain fresh for long. Further-more, research has found that continuous learn-ing keeps the brains active and makes us happier.

We should bear in mind that learning is more than the mere acquisition of facts. It also involves improving personal and professional development and those who commit themselves to lifelong learning are almost certainly guaranteed to have a

better quality of life. All things considered, it is lifelong learning

that provides personal and professional satisfac-tion. It also widens our scope of knowledge and possessing transferable skills better enables us to cope with change, which is inevitable in today’s highly competitive world.

OpiniOn

The International community should avoid fueling divisions by taking sides. People in Myanmar want reconciliation

U soe Thane

5 November 2015 1:23pm ETFive years ago, no one could have dreamed of what is happening to-day in Myanmar. Tens of thou-sands of people are attending ral-lies around the country, political parties are organising freely and national newspapers are publishing – uncensored – hundreds of stories on Sunday’s election. Millions more people are following the lat-est news and commentary online, via new mobile phones and lap-tops.

There are clear signs of inter-est world-wide in our upcoming general elections, the first since Myanmar’s transition to a demo-cratic system began in earnest, more than five years ago. Many ob-servers understand the significance of these elections. But too many are still wont to criticise, focusing on the downside of a remarkable

process and ignoring the magni-tude of change unfolding before us.

This is by no means intended to minimize the logistical issues and other problems bedeviling the daunting task of staging nation-wide polls. But just as it was fash-ionable to characterise bold, new reforms in Myanmar three or four years ago as a “miracle” to be em-braced, it is now equally fashion-able to criticise, assuming cynical motives behind key polocies and initiatives.

People in Myanmar want rec-onciliation among opposing groups in society, and above all they want a good future for their children. in this respect we have benefited from international support in various forms. But now is the time for the international community to stand firmly on the side of reconciliation and avoid fuelling divisions by tak-ing sides, either in the run-up to the November 8 polls or in their after-math.

After four years of concerted liberalization and reform measures, the situation in my country is very different from before. These elec-tions take place at a time of grow-ing awareness, openness and a new sense of accountability among public organisations, official and otherwise, toward citizens as well

as to the wider world.We have laid the foundations

for future economic growth, pro-vided macroeconomic stability, overhauled the old and dysfunc-tional exchange rate system, nearly doubled tax revenues mainly through better enforcement, and liberalized trade. We have man-aged two very important interna-tional tenders, on telecoms and oil and gas exploration, which togeth-er have brought in several billion dollars in investment.

Also, we have taken signifi-cant steps towards coming back to the international economic com-munity. We are now working to-gether with the international Mon-etary Fund, World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and other lead-ing institutions.

All this while simultaneously allowing for free labour unions for the first time in decades, passing a new minimum wage bills, and im-proving environmental protection. The Myanmar economy has been growing at 7% to 8% a year, far better than before.

it’s not enough. But it’s a start, a foundation. What we need now is continuity and a stable government that can build on this success. With five more years of stable govern-ment we can oversee a transforma-

tion of the Myanmar economy, and begin to see real progress towards industrialization and the develop-ment of other modern sectors.

Over several weeks, interna-tional observers have been arriving in droves in Myanmar. While many are participating in observa-tion missions in good faith, there are also groups that still need more historical and contextual under-standing of the government’s mul-tifaceted approach to reform.

Many countries that regularly hold elections every four or five years have experienced problems. i still remember during the 2000 US electoral contest between George W. Bush and Al Gore, the latter filed a complaint against the for-mer. Similarly, there were com-plaints in the indonesian presiden-tial elections contested by Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto.

i urge our country’s Union election Commission to do its ut-most to ensure a successful poll, and all parties and candidates to respect the results, no matter what outcome. if necessary, the UeC must penalize offenders just like a football referee shows a red card after bad fouls.

Some independent polls, con-ducted informally by civil society organisations and research insti-

tutes, suggest that the opposition National League for Democracy will do better than the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party in central Myanmar, but not by the margins some believe. The race may be close. The elections in eth-nic minority states will likely be dominated by local parties repre-senting their own communities.

Smart and pragmatic lawmak-ers are needed for our new parlia-ment, above all those who can draft and pass new laws and get things done. They are the ones who can complete Myanmar’s transitions into a democratic, federal, devel-oped and peaceful country.

Reforms initiated by the cur-rent government must be contin-ued. Otherwise, the next five years will be a setback for the country.

The government has pledged to respect the results of the vote. Let us then hope for successful elections and the selection of quali-fied, selfless members of parlia-ment who show the highest levels of integrity.

Mr. soe Thane is a union minister in the Office of the President of Myanmar and a key economic adviser.

vieTNAMeSe airline company vietjet is currently seeking Myanmar employ-ees to work as cabin crew members on its newly launched domestic routes, according to the aviation company.

The company is seeking industry workers between 20 and 30 years of age who have passed the Test of eng-

Vietnamese airline seeks Myanmar employees for new routesMyanmar clients travelling to and from Yangon will soon be able to use Vietjet’s new routes via Ho Chi Minh City

Khaing Thanda Lwin lish for international Com-munication (TOeiC) with a score of over 400 for vacant stewardess and flight atten-dant positions, an official said.

interested candidates may send their applications to farecruitement@vietje-tair.com. Deadlines for ap-plicants who will be inter-viewed in Hanoi are 15 November and those who will be interviewed in Ho

Chi Minh City are 30 No-vember.

vietjet is launching two new routes linking tourist destinations and economic hubs in vietnam—Nha Trang-Hai Phong route and vinh-Buon Ma Thuot route. The new routes will be oper-ational in November.

Myanmar passengers travelling to and from Yan-gon will be able to fly via vietjet’s hubs in Ho Chi

Minh City, Nha Trang and vinh. As part of its plans to expand its network across the region, Vietjet, the first privately owned airline in vietnam, has signed agree-ments with the world’s lead-ing aircraft-manufacturers to purchase modern jetliners.

The vietnam-based air-line first opened their route between Yangon and Ho Chi Minh City in October this year. A airplane of Vietjet on the runway. Photo: Vietjet

LocaL news 97 November 2015

FORMER graduates of Mandalay Regional College (1976 to 1982) opened the former students foun-dation office at Mingala Market in Mandalay on Thursday. The foun-dation aims to provide social and health assistance to faculty mem-bers and students and to organise

gatherings. The foundation holds funds of K80 million (more than US$62,600) for the project. Since its establishment in September 2014, the foundation has provid-ed cash assistance for the medical treatment of 14 faculty members. —Tin Maung (Mandalay)

Former regional college students open foundation office

PALETHWE monsoon paddy is thriving on a 100-acre model farm in Kwetnge village-tract, Meiktila Township, Head of Township De-partment of Agriculture U Maung Maung Nyein said.

“The model paddy plots in Kwetnge, Dahattan and Pantin villages are thriving. The 115-day Palethwe paddy plantation is expected to yield 150 baskets per acre. It can be harvested next month. We will report the exactly amount harvested at that time,” the officer said.

Farmers grow groundnut, chili, sunflowers and sesame plants irrigated by the Chaung-gauk Dam of Pyawbwe Township. —Chan Thar (Meiktila)

District officials inspect road upgrade in Shan StateSPECIAL Road Construction Group No 3 of Public Works un-der the Ministry of Construction is placing asphalt on a 33-mile stretch of the Mongton-Tahsan in Mongpan Township, eastern Shan State.

District’s deputy commis-sioner U Noe Wai, who chairs the Monghsat District Management Committee, Commander of Dis-trict Police Force Police Lt-Col Tun Myat Kyaw and officials in-spected the upgrading process.

Assistant Engineer U Aung Aung and officials of the road construction group briefed them on the progress of tarmacking and the requirements of the tasks. —District IPRD

AN emergency first-aid clinic is under construction near the Theegon 285-mile bus termi-nal on the Yangon-Mandalay expressway in Meiktila, Man-dalay Region. Construction began in May of this year; it is currently 80 percent complete.

“More than K35.5 million (US$27,000) was donated by Singapore’s Red Cross Society to the construction of the first-aid clinic. Construction entre-preneur U Soe Aung, who built the first-aid clinic at Pyu 115-mile station, is leading the The-egon construction programme.

“Construction is expected to be completed by Novem-ber,” said deputy command-ing officer U Nay Oo of the Meiktila Township Red Cross Brigade.

A temporary first-aid clinic was opened in July 2013 north of the Theegon 285-mile terminal. So far the clinic has provided emergen-cy services to more than 220 persons injured in around 120 road accidents. The clinic re-ported that 39 additional peo-ple died from road accidents. —Chan Thar (Meiktila)

Theegon terminal first-aid clinic nears completion

Palethwe monsoon paddy thriving in villages of Meiktila

Palethwe monsoon paddy plantation thriving in farmland of local farmers in Meiktila Township. Photo: Chan thar

Officials inspect progress of road construction in Mongpan. Photo: DistriCt iPrD

Old students of Mandalay Regional College pose for documentary photo. Photo: tin Maung

CJ Korea Express RT Myanmar launched its freight forwarding, third party logistics and warehouse services during a ceremony at No-votel Yangon Max Hotel in Yan-gon on 5 November.

The company’s local head-quarters are located on a site com-prising 3.25-acres at the Yangon Freight Transport Branch of the department in Insein Township. The company has 60 vehicles on

hand to serve its customers.CJ Korea Express RT My-

anmar was established as a joint venture between the Road Transport of the Ministry of Rail Transportation and Singapore’s

CJ Korea Express Asia Pte Ltd.Yangon Region Minister for

Transport U Aung Khin and the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea Mr Lee Baek Soon officiat-ed the opening ceremony.—MNA

Korean company launches freight forwarding service

10 world 7 November 2015

Palestinian government shuts Arab newspaper over report on Israel tiesRAMALLAH — The Palestinian administration in the occupied West Bank shut down the local office of a pan-Arab newspaper this week after accusing it of “offensive” reporting on Pales-tinian security coordination with Israel, officials said.

As Palestinian-Israeli street violence surged last month, Al Araby Al-Jadeed daily accused the administration of jailing “dozens of (Palestinian) political prisoners on charges of resisting (the Israeli) occupation”.

The newspaper, which pub-lishes a broadsheet in London, Beirut and Doha, also alleged torture within Palestinian jails. It branded the closure as politically motivated.

Such domestic scrutiny is touchy for the US-backed Pales-tinian president, Mahmoud Ab-bas, whose forces have quietly helped Israel curb violence in the West Bank while he public-ly condemns Israeli crackdowns and policies regarding a contest-ed Jerusalem shrine.

The Palestinian admin-istration closed Al Araby Al-Jadeed’s Ramallah bureau on Tuesday “as it lacked a license to operate”, Deputy Information Minister Mahmoud Khalifa told Reuters.

He did not elaborate. An 20 October letter from the In-

formation Ministry to the attor-ney-general, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, said the newspaper had published a re-port that was “offensive to the State of Palestine and its security services”.

The report “made it look as if the security services have no job except to make arrests and to carry out security (coordination with Israel) which in itself an in-citement against the authority”, the letter said.

Naela Khalil, head of Al-Araby Al-Jadeed in the West Bank, described the bureau’s lack of a license as a pretext for the closure, which, she said, the Palestinian journalists union was trying to reverse. Failing that, she said, the newspaper will ap-peal the decision at the Palestin-ian high court of justice.

“The closure of the office is politically motivated and it has to do with the freedom of expression,” Khalil told Reuters.

“We applied for a license more than a year ago, provided all necessary documents and started our work, and we had received no notification from the Information Ministry about any legal problem with the li-cense,” she said. “The Infor-mation Ministry said they were some reports we wrote that they did not like.” —Reuters

Chemical weapons used by fighters in Syria

Mustard gas-filled 155mm projectiles are seen inside a chemical storage igloo at the Pueblo Chemical Depot in an undated photo provided by the US Army Chemical Materials Activity (CMA) in Pueblo, Colorado. Photo: ReuteRs

THE HAGUE — Chemical weapons experts have determined that mustard gas was used in a Syrian town where Islamic State insurgents were battling another group, according to a report by an international watchdog seen by Reuters.

A confidential 29 Octo-ber report by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), a summary of which was shown to Reuters, concluded “with the utmost con-fidence that at least two people were exposed to sulphur mus-tard” in the town of Marea, north of Aleppo, on 21 August.

“It is very likely that the ef-fects of sulphur mustard resulted in the death of a baby,” it said.

The findings provide the first official confirmation of use of sul-phur mustard, commonly known as mustard gas, in Syria since it agreed to destroy its chemical weapons stockpile, which includ-ed sulphur mustard.

The report did not mention Islamic State, as the fact-find-ing mission was not mandated to assign blame, but diplomatic sources said the chemical had been used in the clashes be-tween Islamic State and another rebel group taking place in the

town at the time.“It raises the major question

of where the sulphur mustard came from,” one source said. “Ei-ther they (IS) gained the ability to make it themselves, or it may have come from an undeclared stockpile overtaken by IS. Both are worrying options.”

Syria is supposed to have completely surrendered the toxic chemicals 18 months ago. Their

use violates UN Security Council resolutions and the 1997 Chemi-cal Weapons Convention.

The report, which will be formally presented to UN Secre-tary General Ban Ki-moon later this month, adds to a growing body of evidence that the Islamic State group has obtained, and is using, chemical weapons in both Iraq and Syria.

Kurdish authorities said ear-

lier this month that Islamic State fighters fired mortar rounds con-taining mustard agent at Kurdish peshmerga fighters in northern Iraq during clashes in August. They said blood samples tak-en from around 35 fighters who were exposed in the attack south-west of the regional capital of Er-bil showed “signatures” of mus-tard gas.

A team of OPCW experts has been sent to Iraq to confirm the findings and is expected to obtain its own samples later this month, one diplomat said.

A special session has been called by the OPCW’s 41-mem-ber Executive Council to discuss the Syrian findings and it will be held in The Hague on 23 No-vember, sources at the OPCW told Reuters. Sulphur mustard — which causes severe delayed burns to the eyes, skin and lungs — is a so-called Schedule 1 chemical agent, meaning it has few uses outside warfare.

A second report by the OPCW fact-finding mission to Syria said the team had so far been unable to substantiate claims from the Syrian govern-ment that its forces had been tar-geted by insurgents using chemi-cal weapons.

The mission “cannot confi-dently determine whether or not a chemical was used as a weapon” by militants in the Jober area on August, 2014, it said.

Syria agreed in September 2013 to destroy its entire chem-ical weapons programme under a deal negotiated with the United States and Russia after hundreds of people were killed in a sarin gas attack in the outskirts of the capital, Damascus.

The last of 1,300 tonnes of chemical weapons declared to the OPCW was handed over in June, 2014, but several Western gov-ernments have expressed doubt that the government of President Bashar al-Assad declared its en-tire arsenal.

With Syria’s civil war in its fifth year, chlorine has also been used illegally in systemat-ic attacks against civilians, the OPCW found.

In the Idlib province south of Aleppo, the report said, there were several incidents between March and May of 2015 which “likely involved the use of one or more toxic chemicals”.

A UN-OPCW joint investi-gative mission has been assigned to determine who was behind those attacks.—Reuters

Tourists leave after finishing their holidays, at the airport of the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Photo: ReuteRs

British attempts to return tourists from Egypt thrown into chaosLONDON — British attempts to return thousands of tourists stranded in the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh were thrown into chaos yesterday when the easyJet airline said it had been re-fused permission to fly some of its planes to Egypt.

Prime Minister David Cam-eron halted flights to and from the Egyptian resort on concerns that a bomb planted by Islamic State militants downed a Russian airplane which had left the same airport on 31 October, killing all 224 people on board.

But Britain, which has about 20,000 of its tourists in Sharm al-Sheikh, was planning to return them from the resort yesterday.

They were due to travel only with hand luggage due to security con-cerns.

easyJet said just two of its 10 planned flights had been giv-en permission to fly out of Egypt. Other airlines said their flights would go ahead.

Egypt’s civil aviation min-istry denied it was blocking any flights but said the numbers were limited by airport capacity.

“The situation for UK flights in Sharm el Sheikh remains flu-id. We are being advised that the Egyptian authorities will allow a restricted number of UK flights,” easyJet said.

“We are working with the UK Government at the highest

level on a solution,” it added in a statement. Britain’s public air-ing of its concerns about a bomb being responsible for the Russian air crash angered Egypt, which depends on tourism revenue, and drew criticism from the Kremlin, which said it had not been given details of the intelligence behind Britain’s move.

Thomas Cook Airlines, easy-Jet, privately-held Monarch, Brit-ish Airways and Thomson operate direct flights between Britain and Sharm al-Sheikh.

Monarch said all of its five planned flights from the resort would leave yesterday. British Airways said its one planned flight would go ahead.—Reuters

business & technology 117 November 2015

Volkswagen salesin Japan halve in October

A drone is seen next to a television antenna in Pinecrest, Florida. Photo: ReuteRs

TOKYO — New Volkswagen vehicle sales in Japan suffered a precipitous drop of 48.0 percent in October from a year earlier amid the German automaker’s public relations disaster stem-ming from a diesel emissions scandal, an industry body said yesterday.

Sales of new imported ve-hicles in the country, including those built abroad by Japanese automakers, fell 6.6 percent to 21,068 units, according to the Japan Automobile Importers Association.

Sales of foreign-brand ve-hicles dropped 10.0 percent to 17,535 units, while those of Japanese-brand cars rose 14.8 percent to 3,533 units.

By brand, Mercedes-Benz ranked top with 4,109 units sold, down 4 percent, for a mar-ket share of 19.50 percent. BMW was second with 3,190 units, up 10.0 percent, for a 15.14 percent share, followed by Volkswagen with 2,403 units, down 48.0 percent, for a share of 11.41 percent.

Among Japanese brands, Toyota’s sales decreased 9.9 percent to 1,310 units, while Nissan sold 1,281 units, down 8.4 percent.

Although Volkswagen die-sel vehicles have not been sold in Japan, the revelation of its diesel emission scandal in mid-September led to a fall of 9.1 percent in sales in the month, which significantly de-creased further in October.

Volkswagen came third for the first time in five years and one month in the monthly sales ranking. Before the scandal emerged, however, its sales were robust in August with an increase of 16.4 percent.

The image of German auto-maker is expected to be dented further after the exposure of an-other scandal related to the emission of carbon dioxide in gasoline cars, making it certain that Volkswagen will slip from the top sales position in Japan among imported vehicles that it has maintained for 15 years since 2000.—Kyodo News

US pushes spectrum for 5G, civil drones, flight trackingGENEVA — The United States wants a global deal to reallocate parts of the radio spectrum for the next “5G” generation of mobile devices, a boom in civilian drones and a worldwide flight tracking system, senior US officials said on Thursday.

Tom Wheeler, chairman of the US Federal Communications Commission, told a news confer-ence that world powers would have to decide whether to follow the US example in allocating more of their spectrum to mobile telephony.

“The big question here is will the other countries of the world be participating in meeting that spectrum need in a way that produces scope and scale econo-mies that allows the wonder of wireless and truly the transforma-tive power that this represents to individual human beings, let alone to economies,” he asked.

The United States will start auctioning part of its VHF spec-trum on 29 March next year, and wants others to join in to reduce costs for global business.

Wheeler was speaking dur-ing the first week of the month-long World Radiocommunication

Conference in Geneva, held every four years by the United Nations’ International Telecom-munication Union.

Ambassador Decker An-strom, head of the US delegation to the conference, said there were a “variety of views” among dele-gates on the issue, and on another debate about spectrum for civil-ian drones, which are expected to become an $80 billion business in the United States alone over the

next decade. Civilian drones could moni-

tor incidents at nuclear power sta-tions, check the safety of pipe-lines, watch over wildlife preserves and help in weather forecasting, he said.

Anstrom said he was very optimistic that a global agree-ment was possible as early as next week on a third issue — pro-viding spectrum for global flight tracking.—Reuters

Talking robots a hit at Shanghai expoSHANGHAI — “Can I buy you a cup of coffee?” said Jiao Jiao, who was stationed at a booth at the National Exhibi-tion and Convention Centre in Shanghai.

“I can also sing songs, too,” the tiny voice continued. As she finished, the hit song “Little Apple” started blasting from speakers in the hall.

Jiao Jiao, is a robot devel-oped by a technology company in east China’s Jiangsu Prov-ince. She is one of the many high-tech robots drawing the crowds at the ongoing China International Industry Fair in Shanghai.

Expectations are high among manufacturers as they rush to make industrial robots to offset China’s lack of work-ers and soaring labour costs.

At the Shanghai expo, which runs from 3 to 7 Novem-ber, both domestic and foreign manufacturers have brought their latest robots in sate to China’s appetite for smart products.

Siasun Robot & Automa-tion Co. Ltd, which has its headquarters in northeast Chi-na’s Shenyang City, chose the expo to unveiled China’s first domestic seven-axis robot.

“Our product is of highly flexibility and precise,” a

Siasun spokesperson said at the expo. “It will contribute to in-dustrial manufacturing.”

The importance of indus-trial robots is reflected in the decision to expand the robot exhibition area to 30,000 square metres this year, 20,000 square metres more than last year, according to the event or-ganiser.

Chinese businesses are looking to industrial robots to ease the pressure of a lack of manpower.

China is currently the world’s biggest robot market. Some 56,000 industrial robots were sold here last year, up 55 percent year on year — ac-counting for one quarter of global robot sales, according to China Economic and Social Council.

The government has named robots one of the ten key industries to develop in a fresh government blueprint that outlines China’s develop-ment for the next five years.

“As the robotics industry gains steam, robots will not only expand to dangerous jobs, but also replace cheap labour at repetitive and boring jobs,” said Dai Liu, head of the Shanghai Robot Industry Asso-ciation. “I see bright prospects for the industry.” —Xinhua

Facebook set to steal more TV ad dollars as video views soar

People are silhouetted as they pose with mobile devices in front of a screen projected with a Facebook logo, in this picture illustration. Photo: ReuteRs

SAN FRANCISCO — Watch out, Time Warner (TWX.N). It’s not just Netflix (NFLX.O) and Hulu you have to worry about.

Along with Facebook’s (FB.O) strong financial results released on Wednesday was a number that should send a chill through the cable and broadcast-ing industry.

The social network — whose shares rose 5 percent to hit a record high of $109.44 on Thursday — said its video views surged to 8 billion per day in the third quarter, from just 1 billion a year earlier, highlighting a ris-ing threat to TV ad revenue.

The growth in video views presents the most significant near-term opportunity for Facebook as the company looks to grab a bigger slice of the TV advertising market, analysts said. Cable companies in par-ticular face an increasing threat to revenue as consumers switch to online streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu — a trend known as “cord-cutting”.

“We think (Facebook) looks well positioned to capture an in-creasing portion of TV ad budg-ets as markets migrate toward data-driven, highly targeted on-line video ad campaigns,” Jef-feries analyst Brian Pitz said in a client note.

The online video ad market

is likely to be worth about $17 billion a year by 2017 in the United States alone, Pitz said.

Time Warner Inc, the owner of cable channels TNT, TBS Cartoon Network, said on Wednesday that ratings for its key US entertainment networks had dropped more than expect-ed, which will result in a fall in ad revenue next year.

Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) owner of cable sports network ESPN, as well as broadcaster ABC, offered a gloomy outlook for its cable business in August.

Disney reports results later on Thursday.

“Video ad dollars will be the next big budget to shift online

and FB is well positioned as one of the top properties to benefit,” Susquehanna Financial analyst Shyam Patil said.

Atlantic Equities analyst James Cordwell said that about 50 percent of all media con-sumption was now online, but only 17 percent of non-search ad budgets were spent online.

“So, the opportunity for Facebook is to drive that 17 per-cent up to 50 percent, which would represent a $150 billion incremental advertising spend shifting from offline platform to online platforms,” he said. “And the only place that can come from in meaningful volumes is TV.”—Reuters

12 world 7 November 2015

Ministry of TransportMyanma Port Authority

Invitation for Open Tender1. Myanma Port Authority is planning to construct the Offshore Fixed Pilot Station and Installation of related equip-ments at the near Yangon River Mouth Area. Therefore, in-terested Tenderers are cordially invited to submit complete project proposal for the following project- Construction of Offshore Fixed Pilot Station near the Yangon River Mouth Area of Latitude 16° 12.7´ N and Longitude 96° 17.3´ E, installation of related equipments and procurement of pilot boats.2. The Tender Forms together with the Tender Terms and Conditions will be purchased by the contractors, companies or their legal representatives.3. Tender Forms can be purchased with 500,000 Kyats at Civil Engineering Department, Third Floor of Myanma Port Authority, Head Office, No. 10, Pansodan Street, Kyauktada Township, Yangon during office hours between 9.11.2015 and 25.11.2015.4. Detailed information can be inquired at 01-253358, 01-387116 (Ext: 307).

Myanma Port Authority

More information on the terms of reference for the above positions can be accessed via www.asean.org/opportunities/vacancies.

If interested, please send your application to asean.hr@asean.org highlighting your suitability and potential contribution to the position together with a detailed CV, including a recent passport-sized photograph, certified true copies of educational certificates obtained and completed Employment Application Form which can be downloaded at www.asean.org.

Incomplete applications will not be considered.

1. DIRECTOR COMMUNITY AFFAIRS DEVELOPMENT2. ASSISTANT DIRECTOR PUBLIC OUTREACH & CIVIL SOCIETY 3. SENIOR OFFICER SECURITY COOPERATION4. SENIOR OFFICER HUMAN RESOURCES (ARISE)

THE ASEAN SECRETARIAT INVITES ASEAN NATIONALS

TO APPLY FOR THE POSITIONS OF:

LONDON — Renewable energy supply in eight ma-jor economies will collec-tively more than double by 2030 due to new national climate and energy plans, according to a study by the think tank World Resourc-es Institute (WRI).

Total clean energy supply from eight of the world’s 10 largest green-house gas emitters - Bra-zil, China, the European Union, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico and the United States -will jump to 20,000 terawatt hours (TWh) from around 9,000 TWh in 2009.

That is equivalent to India’s current energy de-

mand. “These new renew-able energy targets send strong signals to energy markets and investment circles,” said Jennifer Mor-gan, Global Director, Cli-mate Programme, WRI.

“Combined with the Paris climate agreement, it’s clear that renewable en-ergy is poised to surge for-ward in the next 15 years bringing clean and afforda-ble power to millions of people worldwide.”

These economies are among many which have announced new renewa-bles targets in the past 12 months ahead of a United Nations’ climate confer-ence in Paris from 30 No-

Renewable energy supply to double in major economies by 2030vember to 11 December to fight global warming from 2020.

Canada and Russia, which are also among the world’s top 10 emitting countries, were not includ-ed in the study because they have not announced post-2020 renewable ener-gy targets.

So far, plans submitted to the UN by around 150 countries to cut greenhouse gases will only slow cli-mate change and not limit rising global temperatures to two degrees Celsius, a threshold seen by scien-tists as avoiding the worst effects of climate change. —Reuters Wind turbine generators are pictured in Desert Hot Springs, California. Photo: ReuteRs

HELSINKI — Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila said his centre-right coali-tion government could col-lapse if it fails to reach an agreement on healthcare re-forms that include spending cuts of up to 3 billion euros (£2.14 billion).

The reforms are a key part of the government’s plan to balance the public fi-nances over the long term in Finland, a eurozone member country now mired in reces-sion.

“It is very likely that I will go to meet the president tomorrow,” Sipila told a news conference yesterday, meaning the resignation of the three-party government.

Sipila added that, in the

absence of a compromise deal on health reform, he would prefer not to call snap elections but to form a new government from the current parliament.

Sipila and his Centre party, which has rural roots, wants to divide the country into 18 regions where gov-ernmental bodies would de-cide on health care services.

But the National Coa-lition party, led by Finance Minister Alexander Stubb, favours a model of just five regions, arguing that a smaller number would en-sure a more equal share of resources between the re-gions. It also says a larger number would threaten fi-nancial savings.

The third coalition part-ner, the nationalist Finns Party, has accepted Sipila’s proposal.

National Coalition ear-lier on Thursday asked for a time-out, but Sipila said they had spent quite a lot of time already seeking a solution.

“It is not about just a number (of regions), it is about the whole structure and content of the reform,” he said.

The coalition, which took office in May, has had difficulty finding common ground on several thorny issues, including labour market reform and the han-dling of Europe’s migrant crisis.

The anti-immigration

Finns Party has already withdrawn its support for some government plans fol-lowing a steep decline in its support.

Overhauling the health care system, billed as the country’s most important re-form of the decade, has long vexed politicians. The pre-vious left-right government put the reform on hold due to disagreement among the parties as well as constitu-tional worries.

Finland has a generous welfare system but its popu-lation of 5.5 million is age-ing fast and is also spread thinly over a large territory, with many Finns living in small, remote communi-ties.—Reuters

Finnish PM says government could collapse

ROME — A one-eyed former neo-fascist gangster and 45 other defendants went on trial on Thursday accused of running a mafia crime ring in Rome that skimmed millions of euros off city hall contracts.

Prosecutors say their year-long investigation has

laid bare systematic cor-ruption in the city as pol-iticians, bureaucrats and businessmen hooked up with mobsters to rig public tenders on everything from creating refugee centres to rubbish collection.

Massimo Carmina-ti, a one-time member of

Rome’s notorious far-right Magliana Gang, and his sidekick Salvatore Buzzi, a convicted murderer, are accused of running the op-eration, which prosecutors say represented a new type of mafia in Italy.

Neither man will ap-pear in court during the

Major mafia trial opens in Rome over case that rattled Italy

Giosue Naso, lawyer of Massimo Carminati, is surrounded by media as he arrives at Rome’s Justice Palace before the start of ‘Mafia Capital’ trial in Rome, Italy. Photo: ReuteRs

trial, which is expected to last until at least next July, but they will follow pro-ceedings via video links from the high security jails where they are being held.

They have denied they have links to the mafia, which would bring them longer prison terms and tougher jail conditions than simple corruption convic-tions. “In this whole story, the thing which has really annoyed Carminati is the fact that his name has been associated with the words ‘mafia’ and ‘drugs’. He has nothing to do with the ma-fia,” said his lawyer Giosue Naso as he arrived at the courthouse.

Buzzi’s lawyer said his client wanted to strike a plea bargain with prose-cutors, looking for a maxi-mum four-year prison term.

“That is reasonable, given that we deny any ma-fia involvement,” Alessan-dro Diddi told reporters on Thursday.—Reuters

world 137 November 2015

picture of the day CLAIMS DAY NOTICE MV MOUNT BOKOR VOY NO (002)

Consignees of cargo carried on MV MOUNT BOKOR VOY NO (002) are hereby notified that the vessel will be arriving on 7.11.2015 and cargo will be discharged into the premises of H.P.T where it will lie at the consignee’s risk and expenses and subject to the byelaws and conditions of the Port of Yangon.

Damaged cargo will be surveyed daily from 8 am to 11:20 am and 12 noon to 4 pm to Claim’s Day now declared as the third day after final discharge of cargo from the Vessel.

No claims against this vessel will be admitted af-ter the Claims Day.

SHIPPING AGENCY DEPARTMENT MYANMA PORT AUTHORITY

AGENT FOR: M/S YANG MING LINEPhone No: 2301185

CLAIMS DAY NOTICE MV SEN TREASURE VOY NO (001)Consignees of cargo carried on MV SEN TREAS-

URE VOY NO (001) are hereby notified that the vessel will be arriving on 7.11.2015 and cargo will be dis-charged into the premises of M.I.T.T (3) where it will lie at the consignee’s risk and expenses and subject to the byelaws and conditions of the Port of Yangon.

Damaged cargo will be surveyed daily from 8 am to 11:20 am and 12 noon to 4 pm to Claim’s Day now declared as the third day after final discharge of cargo from the Vessel.

No claims against this vessel will be admitted af-ter the Claims Day.

SHIPPING AGENCY DEPARTMENT MYANMA PORT AUTHORITY

AGENT FOR: M/S COSCO SHIPPING CO LTD.Phone No: 2301186

CLAIMS DAY NOTICE MV TAUNG GYI STAR VOY NO (TGS-005W)

Consignees of cargo carried on MV TAUNG GYI STAR VOY NO (TGS-005W) are hereby notified that the vessel will be arriving on 7.11.2015 and cargo will be discharged into the premises of M.I.P where it will lie at the consignee’s risk and expenses and subject to the byelaws and conditions of the Port of Yangon.

Damaged cargo will be surveyed daily from 8 am to 11:20 am and 12 noon to 4 pm to Claim’s Day now declared as the third day after final discharge of cargo from the Vessel.

No claims against this vessel will be admitted af-ter the Claims Day.

SHIPPING AGENCY DEPARTMENT MYANMA PORT AUTHORITY

AGENT FOR: M/S CONTINETAL SHIPPING LINE PTE LTD.

Phone No: 2301185

Email: thantunaungnlm@gmail.comPhone: (01) 860 4532

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russian artist Maria Gasanova works on “the alive painting” art work during the art Krasnoyarsk annual festival in Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, russia on 4 November 2015. Photo: ReuteRs

Syed Hamid said in his welcoming speech that Malaysia is now at a phase where it has launched a “market sensing” exercise for interested companies to submit their proposals about the project.

The exercise via a pro-cess called “request for in-formation” is “intended to gauge market interest and gather industry opinion on selected commercial and technical aspects of the pro-

ject,” according to a state-ment issued by transport authorities of Malaysia and Singapore last month.

“The feedback will in-form the ongoing bilateral discussions and the formal tender process subsequent-ly,” the statement said.

As of 16 October, around 150 companies from across the globe have responded. The exercise is expected to end next month.—Kyodo News

KUALA LUMPUR — Japan’s Land, Infrastruc-ture, Transport and Tour-ism Minister Keiichi Ishii pitched his country’s shin-kansen bullet train system in his meeting with Ma-laysian regulators in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.

Ishii paid a visit to the Land Public Trans-port Commission which is tasked with overseeing Malaysia’s first high-speed railway project that will be jointly built with Singapore.

Ishii’s first trip abroad since becoming transport minister in October “is a clear message to Malaysia about the enthusiasm of the Japanese government on the high-speed rail project,” a ministry spokesman told reporters.

At the meeting with

commission Chairman Syed Hamid Albar and other sen-ior officials, Ishii gave a presentation on Japan’s safe and advanced shinkansen technology and the funding available through entities such as the Japan Bank of International Cooperation or the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

The ambitious project was first announced by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsieng Loong in Feb-ruary 2013.

The railway line is en-visioned to stretch about 330 kilometers along the west coast of the Malay Peninsula, from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore, in a journey that is estimated to take about 90 minutes.

HANOI — China and Vietnam agreed to launch joint inspection on the wa-ters outside the mouth of the Beibu Gulf in December, said a joint communique re-leased yesterday.

The inspection can be seen as an important thresh-old for further maritime co-operation between the two countries, according to the

document. The two sides also planned to steadily pro-mote the negotiation of de-marcation of the waters out-side the mouth of the Beibu Gulf, and actively foster the joint development of these waters.

The joint communique was issued during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s two-day state visit to Vietnam.

The Beibu Gulf is an half-closed bay surrounded by Chinese and Vietnamese territories and a tradition-al fishery place for the two countries.

In 2000, the two coun-tries signed agreements on the demarcation of the Beibu Gulf and fishing cooperation in such area. On maritime issues, the two sides should

seek basic and long-stand-ing solution acceptable to both sides through friendly consultations and negotia-tions, and actively explore transitional ways, which would not affect each oth-er’s stance and viewpoints, including the study and ne-gotiations on joint develop-ment, according to the com-munique.—Xinhua

china, Vietnam to launch joint inspection of waters outside mouth of Beibu Gulf

Japan transport minister promotes high speed rail in Malaysia

Japan’s Land, infrastructure, transport and tourism Min-ister Keiichi ishii (r) and Syed hamid albar, chairman of Malaysia’s Land public transport commission.Photo: Kyodo News

14 EntErtainmEnt 7 November 2015

Actors and staff pose as they arrive for the world premiere of “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2” in Berlin, Germany, on 4 November 2015. Photo: ReuteRs

‘Hunger Games’ stars begin their goodbyes in Berlin

Berlin — Stars of the ‘Hunger Games’ films said they were sad to see the end of the box office smash franchise as they assem-bled on a black carpet for the premiere of the last installment in the series “Mockingjay - Part 2”.

Based on the books by Su-zanne Collins, the movies have

won a global following since their launch in 2012.

“I’ve been too overwhelmed trying to sign for everybody. I haven’t been able to process that this is the last world premiere,” actress Jennifer Lawrence said at the Berlin premiere on Wednes-day night.

“Oh my God, it’s the last world premiere. Oh my God, that’s so sad.”

Despite the autumn chill in Berlin — where some “Mocking-jay - Part 2” scenes were filmed — thousands of fans waited to catch a glimpse of the cast and crew.

“I think what we’ve all really enjoyed are the people,” actress Julianne Moore said. “It’s a tre-mendously, wonderfully talented, fun group of people.”

“The Hunger Games: Mock-ingjay - Part 2” hits cinemas worldwide from 18 November. —Reuters

LONDON — One of the golden couples of ballet, renowned Rus-sian ballerina Natalia Osipova and Ukrainian dancer Sergei Pol-unin, said on Thursday they hope their real-life romance will infuse a dance version of “A Streetcar Named Desire” to be staged in London.

Osipova, formerly of the Bolshoi and now a principal at The Royal Ballet in London, and Polunin said they will appear in the roles of Blanche and Stan-ley next June in a newly choreo-graphed dance work inspired by the Tennessee Williams play as

part of the 2016 season at Sadler’s Wells.

They also confirmed long-standing speculation in the tabloid British press that they are a cou-ple — with Polunin, when asked point blank at a press conference if they were romantically linked, responding: “Yes”.

“It’s actually a bit hard be-cause for some reason big theaters are trying to separate us,” he said.

“But we are fighting for art-ists to feel the real emotion, to your partner it’s very important and the audience always feels and sees the truth.”

The dance adaptation in-spired by the steamy 1947 play is to be choreographed by Arthur Pita, with whom Osipova has worked before.

The programme also includes two other works choreographed especially for Osipova and will mark her first foray into contem-porary dance, Sadler’s Wells said.

Polunin, translating from the Russian for Osipova, said that she thinks Blanche is “a fantastic role...she’s always wanted to do that role”.

He also said that Osipova, who had to withdraw from some

ballet performances in the United States earlier this year due to in-jury, wanted to tackle new styles while she was still young.

“It’s important not to do it at the end of your career but at your peak,” he said, translating her comments. The 2016 season at Sadler’s Wells, one of the pre-miere dance venues in Britain, also includes a performance by the French artist Bartabas that will involve four horses and a donkey on stage, a hip-hop programme and a flamenco festival, plus an extensive programme of modern dance.—Reuters

LOS ANGELES — A terminally ill “Star Wars” fan, who was giv-en just a few months to live, was granted his wish to see the new “The Force Awakens” film on Thursday, nearly two months be-fore it comes out in theaters.

Daniel Fleetwood, a 31-year-old Texas man suffering from an aggressive form of cancer that has spread to 90 percent of his

lungs, was able to watch an early cut of the highly anticipated new “Star Wars” film, due in theaters on 18 December, his wife Ashley Fleetwood said on Facebook.

“Daniel just finished watch-ing an unfinished version of Star Wars: The Force Awakens!!! We would like to thank the awesome-ly talented JJ Abrams for calling us yesterday to tell us Daniel was

getting his wish granted!” she said.

Daniel Fleetwood’s dying wish to see “The Force Awak-ens” went viral on social media in the past week with the hashtag #ForceForDaniel, which garnered the support of “Star Wars” actors Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) and newcomer John Boyega.

Hamill tweeted on Thursday that he was “elated” that Fleet-wood had been able to see the film.

Fleetwood and his wife have been documenting his health on social media, and in September he posted an update saying he had been given one or two months to live, due to how fast the cancer had spread. —Reuters

Russian prima ballerina Osipova to dance Williams’ ‘Streetcar’

Terminally ill ‘Star Wars’ fan granted wish to see ‘Force Awakens’

NEW YORK — The Rolling Stones on Thursday announced they will tour Latin America after a 10-year absence, saying they will play dates in Peru, Co-lombia and Uruguay for the first time.

“We love playing Latin America and are excited about going to some cities for the first time! The audiences are among some of the best in the world, they bring incredible energy!” frontman Mick Jagger said in a press statement. The tour will kick off in Santiago, Chile, on 3 February and will include con-certs in Brazil and Mexico City as well as Lima and Bogota. Tickets will go on sale on 9 No-vember.—Reuters

Rolling Stones to tour Latin America for first time in 10 years

LOS ANGELES — Singer Adele has revealed that Queen of Pop Madonna’s 1998 album Ray of Light was a direct inspi-ration for her own highly-antici-pated record “25”.

Adele’s new album “25” is scheduled for release 20 No-vember, reported Rolling Stone.

“You know what I found so amazing about that record? That’s the record Madonna wrote after having her first child, and for me, it’s her best. I was so all over the place after having a child, just because my chem-icals were just hitting the roof and shit like that.

“I was just drifting away, and I couldn’t find that many examples for myself where I was like, ‘they truly came back to themselves,’ until someone was like, ‘Well, obviously, Ray of Light’,” Adele said. —PTI

Adele was inspired by Madonna for new album ‘25’

LOS ANGELES — “Game of Thrones” actress Lena Headey will play the lead in thriller “The Woman in the Woods”. Film-maker Russell Friedenberg will direct the project from his own script, reported Variety.

“Frozen River” and “The Dry Land,” producer Heather Rae will back the project. The story will revolve around Head-ey’s character and her husband deciding to separate and going on one last family camping trip. But an evil presence lurks in the woods — and it soon influences the daughter.—PTI

Lena Headey to join thriller ‘Woman in the Woods’ cast

lifestyle & travel 157 November 2015

(7-11-2015 07:00 am~ 8-11-2015 07:00 am) MST

MyanmarInternational

Today Fresh07:03 Am News07:26 Am Great Shwedagon: The Ten Traditional Arts & Crafts 07:47 Am Moving Meditation: Aikido08:03 Am News08:26 Am The Long-Lasting Royal Tradition08:52 Am Sagaing: Gold Leaf09:03 Am News09:26 Am Welcome To Naga Land10:03 Am News10:26 Am Cruising To Precious Islands (Part-1)

(11:00 Am ~ 03:00 Pm) - Friday Repeat (07:00 Am ~ 11:00 Am)(03:00 Pm ~ 07:00 Pm) - Today Repeat (07:00 Am ~ 11:00 Am)

Prime Time07:03 Pm News07:25 Pm Moyingyi Wildlife Sanctuary07:43 Pm Human Right Human Dignity International Film Festival07:49 Pm Today Myanmar “Technology in Election”08:03 Pm News08:26 Pm The Stories Of The Great Souls (U Pyae Son)

(09:00 Pm ~ 11:00 Pm)- Today Repeat (09:00 Am ~ 11:00 Am)(11:00 Pm ~ 03:00 Am)- Friday Repeat (07:00 Am ~ 11:00 Am)(03:00 Am ~ 07:00 Am) -Today Repeat (07:00 Am ~ 11:00 Am)

(For Detailed Schedule – www.myanmaritv.com/schedule)

(7-11-2015, Saturday)

6:00 am• Classical Songs6:20 am• Real Story, Real Movie6:40 am• Myanmar Series7:00 am• Cassette Drama

8:00 am• Documentary8:40 am• Fine Arts-Boson of

Dramatic Performance10:00 am• Myanmar Video

EntertainmentChannel

Korean woman goes to school at 96

Pak Sang Im, a Korean resident, studying how to read and write Japanese language at a night junior high school in Tenri, Nara Prefecture. Photo: Kyodo News

OSAKA — Pak Sang Im, a Korean resident of Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, is going to school at age 96, realising a childhood dream.

Pak is a student at a night junior high school in Tenri, also in Nara. The school, which uses an elementary school’s class-rooms, has some 40 students ranging in age from their 20s to 90s. Classes start at 5:30 pm.

Pak said she had a dream since her childhood to go to school “even just once in my lifetime.”

In a recent class of nine students, Pak slowly read a Jap-anese-language text prepared by her teacher.

Night junior high schools are for people who were una-ble to receive an education as children, for reasons such as the disruption caused by World War II or economic woes.

There are 31 such schools across Japan run by the state or municipalities, while others are organized by volunteers.

Unlike ordinary schools, where students study for their futures, night schools are in part “places where students look back on their life,” said Toshihiro Fukushima, 61, a retired teacher who has taught Pak.

Fukushima used to ask each student about his or her personal history.

In Pak’s case, this included her memories of Korea before her move to Japan at the age of

21. “I cannot image the loneli-ness Ms. Pak experienced in a foreign land where she did not understand the local language,” he said.

Pak was born in 1919 in a village in Gyeongsangnam-do in the southern part of the Ko-rean Peninsula, which was then under Japanese rule.

Her mother did not believe girls should receive an educa-tion, but Pak sneaked out of her home to a nearby elemen-tary school from time to time and enjoyed watching classes through the window.

Pak got married in the village and then followed her husband to a village in Kyoto Prefecture in 1940, when there was a strong feeling of war ap-proaching.

Encountering deep-rooted discrimination against Kore-ans and a shortage of rations for them, she learned at a community chief’s home how to appear to be Japanese, such as how to drink tea and de-port herself. She also learned “Kimigayo,” the Japanese na-tional anthem.

As war conditions wors-ened for Japan, Pak’s husband received a draft notice. Pak was scared because another Korean man who had settled in the vil-lage had been drafted and had yet to return.

Fortunately, her husband was not drafted because he was prone to illness.

But the family moved to

a further remote area in the western Japan prefecture in the search of new jobs and ended up in a settlement of six Korean households. The war then end-ed.

The family remained mired in extreme poverty after the war. But Pak managed to have her six children complete junior high school despite her hus-band’s opposition, blaming il-literacy for the hardship in her life.

Nearly 50 years after her arrival in Japan, Pak returned to her birthplace in Korea for the first time.

She visited her mother’s grave on a high hill and shed tears after she was told that her mother had wanted to be buried in a place high enough to “see my daughter.”

Her mother had been aware of Pak’s hard life in Japan though Pak had not written to her about it.

One day, Pak received a letter from her mother saying she would pay for her to return to Korea, but she did not reply because she had North Korean citizenship at the time and was not allowed to enter South Ko-rea following the Korean War.

After all of the six children became independent from pa-rental support, Pak enrolled in the night junior high school, as encouraged by a friend of hers, and began to learn the Japanese alphabets.

That allowed her to leave written messages to one of her daughters who is still living with her, saying for instance, “I’ll be at school.”

Pak and her husband have decided to spend the rest of their life in Japan, although many of their neighbours have returned to Korea.

“Our children consider Ja-pan their country because they were born and raised here,” Pak said.

She now enjoys writing es-says in her classes. “I hope our grandchildren will live in an age free of discrimination,” she wrote in an essay.

Fukushima said, “I hope study (at the school) will help students see their life in a posi-tive light.”—Kyodo News

Greek fortress, key to ancient Jerusalem, uncovered, researchers say

An Israeli antiquity authority worker removes dust at a site that archaeologists say contains the remnants of an ancient Greek fortress, outside the walled Old City of Jerusalem on 3 November 2015. Photo: ReuteRs

JERUSALEM — After a century of searching, archaeologists say they have found the remnants of an ancient Greek fortress once a center of power in Jerusalem and a stronghold used to hold off a Jewish rebellion celebrated in the scriptural Book of the Mac-cabees.

Researchers have long de-bated over the location of the Acra, built more than 2,000 years ago by Antiochus Epiphanes, king of the Hellenised Seleucid empire. Many asserted it stood in what is now Jerusalem’s walled Old City, at spots like the Church of the Holy Sepulchre or by the hilltop where two Jewish temples once towered and which now houses the Al Aqsa mosque com-pound.

But the remains unearthed by the Israel Antiquities Author-ity and made public on Tuesday are outside the walls, overlook-ing a valley to the south, an area where archaeologists say Jerusa-lem construction was concentrat-ed under the biblical King David.

Antiochus, who lived from 215-164 BC, chose the spot for the Acra in order to control the city and monitor activity in the Jewish temple, said Doron Ben-Ami, who led the excavation.

With an estimated length of up to 250 metres (yards) and 60 meters in width, it would have dominated the countryside.

Beneath what a decade ago was a paved parking lot, Ben-Ami’s team sifted through an artificial hill made of layers of earth left behind by successive cultures.

In one area they uncovered stones from a section of a mas-sive wall, the base of a tower and a sloping defensive embankment that nearby artifacts like coins and wine jug handles suggest date to the period of Antiochus.

Lead sling stones and bronze arrowheads from the period were also found, perhaps left over from battles between pro-Greek forces and Jewish rebels trying to take over the fortress.

“This is a rare example of how rocks, coins and dirt can come together in a single archae-ological story that addresses spe-cific historical realities from the city of Jerusalem,” Ben-Ami said. The Acra’s location was referred to vaguely in at least two ancient texts — the Book of Maccabees, which tells of the rebellion, and a written record by historian Jose-phus Flavius.

Historians tell how the re-bels, lead by Judas Maccabeus, took back Jerusalem from the Greeks, a victory marked in the Jewish festival Hannukah. But the Acra held out until rebels un-der Judas’ brother, Simon, later lay siege and forced its surren-der.—Reuters

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LONDON — Borussia Dortmund and Napoli were the headline acts to qualify for the Europa League knockout stage as both sides plun-dered a glut of goals in Thurs-day’s group matches.

Dortmund brushed aside Azerbaijani outfit FK Qabala 4-0 in Germany while Napoli went one better with a 5-0 home thrash-ing of Danish side Midtjylland.

They will be joined in the last 32 by Molde, who beat for-mer European champions Celtic 2-1 away and Rapid Vienna, who won by the same score at Viktoria Plzen.

Braga, Sion, Schalke 04 and Lokomotiv Moscow, however, will have to wait after missing out on the chance of moving forward with two group matches to spare.

There were some superb finishes to savour as Dortmund eased past Qabala with Germany forward Marco Reus scoring first with an unstoppable low drive af-ter 28 minutes to ensure the Ger-mans had found the net in each of their last 31 competitive games.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang doubled the lead with a left-foot effort before halftime and a Ser-gei Zenjov own goal made it 3-0.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan round-ed off the scoring with a shot that thundered into the net off the bar with 20 minutes remaining, leav-ing Dortmund top of Group C with 10 points.

Napoli waltzed into the knockout rounds and equalled their record European victory with goals from Omar El Kad-douri, a Manolo Gabbiadini dou-ble, Christian Maggio and Jose Callejon.

The Italians are now unbeat-en in 14 matches across all com-

Borussia Dortmund’s Marcel Schmelzer challenges Qabala’s Dodo during their Europa League group C soccer match in Dortmund, on 5 November 2015. Photo: ReuteRs

Dortmund, Napoli seal Europa League last 32 spots

Federer downed by Isner, Nadal lucky to survivePARIS — A long season took its toll on Roger Federer on Thurs-day as the Swiss was knocked out of the Paris Masters follow-ing a 7-6(3), 3-6, 7-6(5) third-round defeat by big serving John Isner.

The third-seeded Swiss held serve throughout but lost two tiebreaks against his Amer-ican opponent, who will face Spain’s David Ferrer in the quarter-finals.

Federer, who won the Basel title last Sunday, seemed to be cruising after breezing through the second set, but Isner pushed him to another tiebreak, using his devastating serve to prevail in the deciders. Isner, who fired down 27 aces, ended the contest on his fourth match point with a service winner.

“It’s tough to get out of the tournament not having lost your serve but that’s how it can go against John,” the former world number one told reporters.

“At the very end of the sea-son, going two tournaments in a row after playing a lot of ten-nis in Basel the week before... there’s maybe a bit of a letdown after Basel.”

Federer’s defeat was the first upset at Bercy after world number one Novak Djokovic and second seed Andy Murray were joined by Rafa Nadal in the quarter-finals. Nadal saved a match point before subduing South African Kevin Anderson 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-2. The seventh seeded Spaniard appeared to be on his way out but a risky fore-hand winner allowed him to save match point at 5-6 down in the second set tiebreak. Anderson, who served 20 aces, cracked in the final set as Nadal secured a meeting with fourth seed Stan Wawrinka after the Swiss eased past Serbian Viktor Troicki 6-4, 7-5. Djokovic’s serve suffered a second-set malfunction against Gilles Simon but the Serb stayed on course for a third consecutive title on the banks of the River Seine with a 6-3, 7-5 victory.

He dropped serve four times in the second set but Simon could not capitalise as Djokovic set up a quarter-final against To-mas Berdych, who defeated lo-cal favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 6-4. Djokovic, however, will need to raise his game if he is to win a fourth title here as his possible final opponent, Mur-ray, looked in ominous form. —Reuters

MANDALAY District’s women’s (A) team and its men’s (B) team emerged victorious in the 2015 Inter-District Badminton Tourna-ment in Mandalay Region, which was held at Bahtoo Gymnasium on Thursday.

The secretary of Mandalay Region Badminton Subcommittee U Tun Nwe Lin presented priz-es to the winners of the women’s singles event, men’s singles event and mixed doubles event.

Officials from Meiktila, Kyaukse, Myingyan and Manda-lay District Sports and Physical Education Departments presented cash prizes and sports equipment to the winners.

Mandalay Region Minister for Social Affairs Dr Win Hlaing presented K300,000 each to the women’s and men’s top perform-ing teams, while officials from Kaung Myat Company and New Cherry Trading gave sports equip-ment to other winners, as well as gifts for the coaches.—Tin Maung

Badminton tournament held in Mandalay

petitions and sit top of Group D with an unblemished 12 points from their four games.

Mohamed Elyounoussi and the 40-year-old Daniel Hestad were on target for Norwegian champions Molde as they extend-ed their Group A lead and secured their spot in knockout stage.

There were also celebrations for Rapid Vienna who scored a goal in each half through Philipp Schobesberger to beat Plzen and maintain their 100 percent record in Group E.

New Liverpool boss Juergen Klopp made it three wins from his last three matches with a 1-0 success at Rubin Kazan in Russia that left them second in Group B, two points behind Sion.

Jordon Ibe netted his first goal for Liverpool, latching on to a neat pass from Roberto Firmino to power into the penalty area and fire right-footed into the bottom corner.

It was a good night for Pre-mier League clubs as Tottenham Hotspur beat Anderlecht 2-1

to go top of Group J thanks to a stunning 87th-minute winner from Mousa Dembele.

After Anderlecht’s Imoh Ezekiel had cancelled out Har-ry Kane’s first-half opener in the 72nd minute, Dembele fired home an unstoppable left-foot shot from outside the area.

Sion had the chance to secure an early spot in the last 32 with a win over Girondins Bordeaux, but needed a 94th-minute own goal from Clement Chantome to snatch a 1-1 draw.—Reuters

Officials present prizes to winers in the Inter-District Badminton Tournament in Mandalay Region. Photo: tin Maung