At least six leading garment manufacturers plan to set up plants in Burma in the second half of the year after the country has made clear moves towards democracy and flexibility in its investment laws. (more…)

Health-threatening haze has settled over large portions of northern Thailand and immediate border areas. Thailand’s army chief has asked the governments of Burma and Laos to help reduce the annual forest and farmland fires near border areas. (more…)

While a controversial government amnesty program for illegal migrants in Malaysia is expected to run out next month, a similar scheme may soon affect  tens of thousands of Burmese refugees in the nation. (more…)

Tokyo – Japan plans to resume full-blown development aid to Myanmar to help finance its infrastructure projects as the Southeast Asian country takes steps towards democracy, Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba said on Tuesday. (more…)

Chittagong, Bangladesh: The Burmese envoy to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia met with Rohingyas during his visit to Jeddah on February 17, according to an elder from the Rohingya community in Jeddah. (more…)

Speaker of Myanmar’s [Burma's] parliamentary House of Representatives (Lower House) U Shwe Mann left Yangon Wednesday [22 February] for Beijing on a five-day official goodwill visit to China. (more…)

On a cold winter Sunday morning, a group of some 30 ethnic people from Myanmar and human rights activists met at the Myanmar embassy in Seoul to hold a pro-democracy and ethnic freedom of rights demonstration. (more…)

Burmese President Thein Sein has denied his country is trying to obtain nuclear weapons from North Korea, describing allegations of an illicit programme as “unfounded”, in remarks published Tuesday.

“We are not acquiring nuclear weapons from North Korea,” the Straits Times quoted him as saying in an interview during a four-day state visit to Singapore. (more…)

The recent developments in Burma are increasingly being followed by the international community.

On January 23 the European national foreign ministers met in Brussels to discuss the latest events and developments in Burma, including the release recently of a significant number
of political prisoners. As a result of the meeting, the European Union’s visa ban on Burma’s president, vice presidents, cabinet members and parliamentary speakers was suspended. (more…)

The Philippines has called on the West to end sanctions against Burma, because of its “unprecedented political and economic reforms.”

A staunch critic of the former Burmese military regime, the Philippines said in a foreign affairs statement the recent political prisoners’ amnesty justifies the removal of sanctions. (more…)

Beijing — China said on Monday it is “glad” to see more contact between Myanmar and Western countries including the United States.

“We are glad to see the United States and other Western countries increasing contact; resuming and developing relations with Myanmar,” said Foreign Ministry Spokesman Liu Weimin in response to a question on the relationship between the United States and Myanmar. (more…)

In a move that could go a long way in enhancing defence ties, India has offered training spots at the National Defence Academy to Myanmar. While Myanmar is yet to respond to the offer, it has expressed interest in sending its officers and soldiers for training at the Counter Insurgency Jungle Warfare Training School in Mizoram. (more…)

In order to meet energy demands in its resource-crunched eastern, southern and central parts, China is constructing oil and gas pipelines in Myanmar, almost reaching to the seashores of Bay of Bengal. Currently, the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), in agreement with the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) and the Myanmar state security forces, is engaged in laying a 982 km (620 miles) long crude oil pipeline from Kyaukpyu Port on the western coast of Arakan State linking Kunming after entering the border city of Ruili in Yunnan Province of China at a cost of US $2.5 billion. (more…)

Bangkok – Myanmar’s army chief held a rare meeting with Thailand’s defence minister on Monday, when they discussed the opening of new border checkpoints close to a planned multi-billion dollar industrial zone in Dawei. (more…)

Sydney—Australia will remove some individuals from its Myanmar sanctions target list, a move that Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said on Monday reflects progress towards democracy in the Southeast Asian nation.

Canberra currently applies targeted financial sanctions and travel restrictions on nominated individuals in Myanmar. Tourism officials, former government ministers and deputy ministers who have left politics will now be removed from the list. (more…)

Tokyo (Kyodo) — Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba’s tight schedule for the year-end and New Year holiday season was rearranged quickly after the abrupt announcement last week of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il’s death. But his visit to Myanmar was not subject to change. (more…)

Bangkok – Thailand’s premier Yingluck Shinawatra offered Aung San Suu Kyi her support in a coming by-election during a historic meeting with the democracy icon in Myanmar, a Thai official said Wednesday.

In Suu Kyi’s first-ever meeting with the leader of a foreign country, the pair’s half-hour talks in Yangon on Tuesday were held in a “good atmosphere”, Titima Chaisang, chief Thai government spokeswoman, told AFP. (more…)

Vietnam and Myanmar have agreed to boost cooperation in trade and investment, with two-way trade expected to reach 500 million USD in 2015.

The agreement was reached between Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Myanmar President Thein Sein during their talks in the Myanmar capital city of Nay Pyi Taw on Dec. 21.
(more…)

Former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra has confirmed that he visited Burma last week to pave the way for a trip to the country by his sister, the current Thai PM Yingluck Shinawatra, raising concerns that relations between the two neighbors could once again become entangled in Thaksin’s business interests. (more…)

Beijing – China’s top diplomat and Myanmar’s president agreed on Monday to steer a steady course on relations which have been strained by the former Burma’s suspension of a China-funded dam and Washington’s tentative moves to re-engage with the country. (more…)