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REGIONAL NEWS & SPECIAL REPORTS
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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 |
AsiaViews, Edition: 17/III/May/2006
The United States is pushing to open up trade and relations between Central and South Asia, particularly in the energy sector, senior administration officials told a recent Congressional committee hearing.
?The opening of Afghanistan has transformed it from an obstacle separating Central from South Asia into a bridge connecting the two. And this in turn opens exciting new possibilities,? Richard Boucher, assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs, said in his written testimony before the committee on April 26. ?Our goal is to revive ancient ties between South and Central Asia and to create new links in the areas of trade, transport, democracy, energy and communications.?
Energy, however, was the field where the most specific policy goals were laid out. ?Perhaps the greatest potential benefits of intra- and inter-regional collaboration lie in the energy sector,? said Drew Luten, acting assistant administrator for Europe and Eurasia of the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
USAID will soon launch a $3.3 million initiative to help foster the regional electricity market linking power-starved Afghanistan, Pakistan and India to hydroelectric and other power plants in Central Asia, particularly Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The Regional Energy Market Assistance Program will last two years and focus on building a reliable transmission system in Afghanistan, as well as putting in place the legal framework necessary. ?Within the next few years, we expect to see private investment lead to the establishment of a 500 kilovolt power line transmitting much-needed electricity from Central Asia across Afghanistan to Pakistan and India,? Luten said.
US officials also emphasized their work on a trans-Caspian pipeline that would allow natural gas producers like Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan to more easily ship gas via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and onward to Europe. Another aim is to improve the road network linking Afghanistan and Tajikistan, the US officials said.
Ongoing negotiations between the United States and Kyrgyzstan over the use of the Manas air base were also discussed during the congressional committee hearing. James MacDougall, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Eurasia, said the Pentagon hoped to reach a deal with Bishkek within the next two months. Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev recently announced that Kyrgyzstan would seek a massive rent hike for the US use of Manas.
MacDougall said the United States is looking at other countries around the region where an alternate base might be established: ?There are other options we could pursue, we certainly are looking into those, we?re talking to other countries, but it [eviction from Manas] would be a significant loss to our operations,? he said. He declined to offer specifics about other potential countries willing to host an American base. ?The implications of us having to leave, or terminate operations at, Manas would be significant. ? This [Afghanistan] is a landlocked country and we require ? refueling and basing rights somewhere in the region,? he said.
The officials denied that there was a geo-strategic struggle going on between the United States, Russia and China for influence in Central Asia. Instead they framed new efforts to orient the region to the south as diversification. ?We don?t see a competition between [the United State and] Russia and China,? Boucher said. ?A lot of what we do here is to give the countries of the region the opportunity to make choices ? and keep them from being bottled up between two great powers, Russia and China.?
Nevertheless, the officials? comments were clearly coordinated, and indicated a unified strategy to orient the countries of Central Asia toward states in South Asia with close ties to Washington.
Consider the vision of the region?s future that Boucher laid out in his written testimony: ?Students and professors from Bishkek and Almaty can collaborate with and learn from their partners in Karachi and Kabul, legitimate trade can freely flow overland from Astana to Islamabad, facilitated by modern border controls, and an enhanced regional power grid stretching from Almaty to New Delhi will be fed by oil and gas from Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan and hydropower from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.? Russian soldiers in Kyrgyzstan and Chinese oil companies in Kazakhstan are conspicuously absent from this picture.
But one regional expert suggested that US reliance on opening energy trade to the south might not be enough to counteract the pull of China and Russia. ?No matter how enlightened, US policy will only have a marginal effect of minimizing Russian or Chinese presence in the region, as geography (even without the addition of geopolitical pressure) gives each more leverage,? said Martha Brill Olcott, a Central Asia specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
The hearing was held by the Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia of the House Committee on International Relations. Only two of the 18 members of the subcommittee attended.
Editor?s Note: Joshua Kucera is a Washington, DC,-based freelance writer who specializes in security issues in Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Middle East.
By: Joshua Kucera
Eurasianet April 28, 2006
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 )
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REGIONAL NEWS & SPECIAL REPORTS
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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 |
AsiaViews, Edition: 16/III/April/2006
The World Bank's regional update, released in March, attributes Cambodia's high growth rates in 2005 to a dramatic shift in agricultural growth - from minus 2 percent in 2004 to 17 percent in 2005, said Robert Taliercio, World Bank Senior Country Economist.
"What we have seen in 2005 is the volatility of the agricultural sector driving a very high annual growth rate," he said. "High growth in agriculture coupled with better-than-expected performances in the garments sector and tourism, generated a very impressive real GDP growth rate.
"Cambodia's agricultural sector seems to be characterized by a boom-and-bust cycle," he said. "It is a highly erratic sector, it depends mostly on weather conditions."
But a boom-and-bust agricultural growth cycle has negative ramifications for the majority of Cambodia's poor, who rely on agriculture as their primary source of income, said Nisha Agrawal, World Bank Country Manager.
"High fluctuations in agricultural growth rates create a lot of vulnerability for poor people," she said. "A new agricultural policy - linked to an irrigation policy - is urgently needed to point the way forward."
Taliercio said the government is aware steps are needed to ensure growth is sustainable.
"The government has noticed that a lack of rural infrastructure is a major impediment to allowing sustained agricultural development," he said. "[The high growth in agriculture] is good news, is great news, but it is not necessarily sustainable. The question now is how do you make the sector sustainable in terms of growth?"
Developing rural infrastructure, coordinating irrigation projects, and resolving land title disputes were the key steps recommended by the report, and have also been recognized by the government as crucial to achieving sustainable agricultural growth.
"On these three issues it is technical capacity, not political support, which is impeding development," Taliercio said.
The report cited the narrow base of Cambodia's economic growth - garment manufacture, tourism and (sometimes) agriculture - as a cause for concern, with growth rates slowing during 2005 in all sectors save agriculture.
The report highlights areas where improv ement has manifestly been due to improved government policy and performance.
"The growth in tax revenue - from 11.3 percent of GDP [gross domestic product] to 11.7 percent of GDP - is a major achievement," Taliercio said. "It is a result of increasing compliance, and that requires political backing."
The World Bank aims to encourage further government reform, and consequently ties its loans to Cambodia's continued improvement in certain key areas.
Talierco said the World Bank has shifted from "structural adjustment" to the new Poverty Reduction Support Operation (PRSO).
"You will only get reform in areas the government is interested in reforming," he said. "The PRSO is trying to build ownership and work with reformers... We are working to build a common understanding of the goals we are working towards."
By: Cat Barton
Phnom Penh Post Issue 15 / 08, April 21 - May 4, 2006
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 )
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REGIONAL NEWS & SPECIAL REPORTS
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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 |
AsiaViews, Edition: 16/III/April/2006
Sopheap has been groomed for sex since he was eight years old. For the last five years, his parents have received money, land, a new home, and numerous family holidays from a sinister benefactor who asked only one thing in return: to sexually abuse their son.
Belgian national Philippe Dessart, 47, initially began supporting Sopheap - now 13 - through a local NGO before cultivating a private relationship with the child's family. Dessart's arrest on April 8 in Phnom Penh by the government's Anti-Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Unit - acting on a tip from Action Pour les Enfants (APLE) - finally released Sopheap from his nightmare of sexual abuse.
But, as law enforcement improves in the capital, foreign pedophiles are relocating to the provinces where police are less proactive about pedophilia, said Katherine Keane, Sihanoukville project officer for Action Pour les Enfants.
"Over the last 12 to 18 months we have seen less child sex abuse in Phnom Penh and more in the provinces," said Keane. "In rural areas there is no monitoring at all."
Huge progress has been made in Phnom Penh in both prosecuting and preventing foreign pedophilia, according to Keo Thea, deputy chief of the Phnom Penh municipality's Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection office.
"The police at my office are very closely observing the pedophile issue and now as a result foreigners are afraid to commit child sex crimes [in Phnom Penh]," he said.
According to Keane, the situation outside Phnom Penh is a different story. The April 10 arrest of German national Alexander Watrin, 36, in Sihanoukville, illustrates the discrepancy, she said.
"The way both cases have been handled so far has been different. Things take far longer [in Sihanoukville]; in Phnom Penh they are able to act quickly."
Foreign pedophilia represents only a small percentage of overall child sex offenses in Cambodia. According to Ministry of Interior 2005 statistics there were 665 reported cases of child sex offences, resulting in 280 investigations with 397 offenders arrested. Only a little more than 1 percent of these child sex offenders were foreign nationals, compared with 3 percent in 2004.
Prosecuting a foreign national in Cambodia is more of a problem for authorities than prosecuting a Cambodian, says Naly Pilorge, director of human rights NGO LICADHO.
"Police are hesitant and cautious about the prosecution of foreigners since they are high profile," she said.
Keane claims that police in Sihanoukville are more hesitant about making arrests when the accused is a foreign national.
"It is very hard dealing with foreigners," she said. "[The police] are nervous of the consequences of arresting and prosecuting - there can be a huge political fallout if they get it wrong."
In Phnom Penh police have overcome such barriers and are now adept at identifying and gathering evidence against foreign pedophiles, said Keo Thea.
"We follow [suspected pedophiles] secretly by pretending to be a motodop - so the foreigners will not know they are watched by police," he said. "Then, if they commit sex crimes with children, the police are already monitoring the situation and will catch them."
The police force is also working with tourism officials to ensure child abusers are not tolerated.
"We have built good cooperation with guesthouse and hotel owners. They no longer allow foreigners to stay in the guest house or hotel with young people," said Keo Thea.
In addition to leaving Phnom Penh, foreign pedophiles have evolved alternative methods of accessing children in response to police improvements.
"It is more of a trend now to see long-term residents move to Sihanoukville, provide financial support to the child and family, even provide schooling," said Keane.
"Travelling sex offenders are using provincial orphanages and shelters as part of their 'grooming techniques' to gain access to children, for example, by offering to sponsor a child - there are often no background checks in place."
The abject poverty pervasive across much of rural Cambodia is exploited by comparatively wealthy foreign nationals seeking to sexually abuse children and evade prosecution, Keane said. Elaborate networks of support - such as that built between Dessart and Sopheap's family - are carefully constructed.
"Some [foreign pedophiles] target street children, but we have some victims who do have families; in some situations the families will be actively encouraging the child to develop and continue the sexually abusive relationship," said Keane. "These children and families know where the money is coming from and are often reluctant to provide evidence of abuse if it will jeopardize that financial relationship."
In addition to co-opting the victim's family, a facade of "support" serves to disguise the true nature of the relationship from under-resourced and inadequately trained provincial police forces.
"The police don't have the capacity to identify long-term, settled-in abusers," said Keane. "In Sihanoukville they are not trained and lack the education and resources."
By: Cat Barton
Phnom Penh Post Issue 15 / 08, April 21 - May 4, 2006
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 )
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REGIONAL NEWS & SPECIAL REPORTS
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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 |
AsiaViews, Edition: 16/III/April/2006
NOT heard of for a long time, all of a sudden the name of Marzuki Usman is now spread all over the news. Starting as from several weeks ago, when he brought a group of Indian businesspeople to meet Vice President Jusuf Kalla.
According to Marzuki, the businesspeople only wanted to meet a government official. This former Forestry Minister accompanied them because he is Chairman of the Economic Association of Indonesia and India. However, according to media reports, these businesspeople intend to retreat because production costs in Indonesia are high.
On hearing these reports, Marzuki laughed. ?That just is not true,? he said. However, he acknowledged that during the meeting at the Vice-Presidential Palace, the businesspeople complained about the investment climate in Indonesia.
They told Jusuf Kalla about how expensive the price of electricity and gas is in Indonesia. ?Electricity and gas prices in Indonesia are twice as expensive as in Egypt,? he said. In Egypt, the price of gas is only US$1 per mmbtu (million British thermal unit). However in Indonesia, the price of gas can reach up to US$3.5 per mmbtu.
In terms of electricity tariffs, in Egypt these amount to only US$0.03 per kilowatt/hour (kWh), while in Indonesia tariffs are in the region of US$0.08 per kWh. ?Egypt also provides attractive facilities,? said Marzuki. In essence, these businesspeople from India, many of whom are active in the textile sector, presented data that creates difficulties for their businesses.
Indonesia?s textile sector is in third position in the world, after China and India. According to Marzuki, these Indian businesspeople have in the region of US$2.5 billion invested in Indonesia. During the next two to three years, there will be an additional US$250 million in several industrial sectors. Currently, Indian investors own a total of 71 companies in Indonesia and provide employment for in the region of 150,000 workers.
Marzuki is worried that this investment could just fly away if the climate is not supportive. In addition, according to him, some businesspeople are predisposed to move their manufacturing complexes to India. ?In India, workers? wages are lower and there are also incentives from the government,? he said.
Chris Kanter, Assistant General Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (Kadin), has acknowledged that the investment climate in Indonesia is not yet conducive. Many problems arise because regulations are unclear and keep changing. ?There is no guarantee that existing investment regulations at the current moment will not change in the near future,? said Chris.
It seems that the complicated procedures result in high costs. This does not take into account all the problems regarding the interests of workers and businesspeople. As a result, according to Chris, many businesspeople have chosen to invest in Cambodia, Vietnam, India or China.
This even includes Indonesian businesspeople. ?In the previously mentioned countries, investment regulations are clearer and can be fully taken into consideration,? added Chris.
Despite these ?implicit? threats to investors, according to Yusan, General Secretary of the Investment Coordination Board, investment in Indonesia keeps increasing. Since the economic crisis of 1997, the average investment figure has totaled US$10 billion per year. ?In 2005, investment in Indonesia increased to US$14 billion,? said Yusan.
However, this amount of investment has not yet been able to create any new work opportunities for Indonesia?s employed who now number some 100 million people?this does not include a further 40 million employed in the informal sector. In addition, investment has not yet been able to equal levels prior to the economic crisis when it was able to reach up to US$34 billion per year.
Yusan however remains convinced that investors are still attracted to Indonesia. According to him, Indonesia?s potential natural resources and large population are the country?s major investment attractions. Because of this, the government has prepared a new policy through Presidential Instruction 3/2006 regarding Improved Investment Climate Policy Package. The aim is to maintain continued investment in Indonesia.
President Yudhoyono himself is also concerned if investment moves abroad. "I am sad if businesspeople choose other countries in which to invest, said the President when officially opening production facilities at PT Tempo Scan Pacific Tbk in Cikarang, West Java, on Tuesday last week.
As regards the Indian businesspeople ?guided? by Marzuki earlier, according to him, they will not run away from Indonesia. ?They already enjoy Indonesia food, such as Gado-Gado (dish made from vegetables with peanut sauce), far too much? he said.
Tempo No. 34/VI/April 25 ?May 1, 2006
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