Rohingya camps “more like prisons” says UN

A rice storage scheme, which will allow farmers to stock surplus rice instead of selling it at low prices during the harvest season, will launch on 15 March, according to the Myanmar Rice Federation’s general-secretary Ye Min Aung. Speaking at an MRF conference in Rangoon on 6 March, the official said that farmers who stock their rice under the scheme – which has UNFAO backing – will be issued insurance documents which can be mortgaged for bank loans.

Rice exports have dropped by 30 percent in the 2013-14 fiscal year, compared to the year before, Trade and Commerce Minister Win Myint announced on Wednesday. According to the Myanmar Rice Association, 1 million tons of rice has been exported in 2013-14, down from 1.4 million tons in 2012-13. The Association believes this is due to both a low yield and a decrease in demand from China. Burma was the world’s largest rice exporter from 1961 to 1963. The Burmese financial year ends on 31 March.

Burma’s national carrier, Myanmar Airways International, or MAI, was transformed into a financially independent corporation at the beginning of the 2013-14 fiscal year and no longer requires state funds, according to Transport Minister Nyan Tun Aung, addressing Parliament on 6 March upon submission of the Aviation Law. MAI currently operates daily flights to Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Guangzhou, Gaya, Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, and last week announced a new route to Pusan in South Korea.

Chicken farms in Tamu, northwest Burma, are being corralled into a “chicken zone” to reduce the risk of bird flu, according to The New Light of Myanmar which cited Tamu officials saying that the prevalence of chicken farms in the area is “causing health hazards to locals”. Currently there are over 30 chicken farms in the Tamu area, keeping a combined total of up to 30,000 chickens. There has not been a reported case of bird flu in Burma.

Asahi Group Holdings Ltd announced on Friday that it has agreed to establish a joint venture with Burmese beverage maker Loi Hein Co to produce and sell carbonated soft drinks, according to Japan’s Jiji Press. Asahi will reportedly invest 2.3 billion yen (US$22 million) to acquire a 51 percent stake in the joint venture. Tokyo-based Asahi Breweries is best known as the manufacturer of Asahi beer. As of 2009, the company had a 40 percent share of the Japanese beer market.

Human traffickers have kept hundreds of Rohingya Muslims captive in houses in northern Malaysia, beating them, depriving them of food, and demanding a ransom from their families, according to a Reuters report on Thursday. “The accounts given to Reuters suggest that trafficking gangs are shifting their operations into Malaysia as Thai authorities crack down on jungle camps near the border that have become a prison for the Muslim asylum seekers fleeing persecution in Myanmar,” the report said. For more background, click HERE

Two long-awaited media reform bills have passed both houses of Burma's Parliament: the government-drafted Printing and Publishing Enterprise Bill and the Media Bill, authored by the Interim Press Council. Both bills still need President Thein Sein's approval to become law. The legislation has bounced between the upper and lower houses for months of revision, as pressure has mounted on Burma to make good on promises of press freedom.

The Yangon [Rangoon] City Development Committee (YCDC) will allow the construction of mandats or pavilions for revellers during Thingyan, the Burmese New Year water festival. Cpt Myo Lwin, YCDC official, said that at least 50 permits will be granted for the construction of 100ft long pavilions to line the streets at popular Thingyan party-spots in Rangoon. Kandawgyi Lake Road, Kaba Aye Pagoda Road, Pyay Road and Parami Road will all host pavilions during the highly anticipated holiday.