Burmese junta prepares for FTA talks with EU
The Irrawaddy News Magazine, Thailand
Burmese Junta Prepares for FTA Talks with EU
By The Irrawaddy
11 May 2007
Asean and the European Union have agreed to allow Burma to participate in free trade agreement talks with the EU, amid signs the military junta is preparing to highlight what it claims are recent democratic advancements.
Observers suggest that a recent workshop in Rangoon, titled "Challenges and Perspectives for the Future of Asean-EU Relations," which included nine foreign experts including pro-military government scholar Robert H Taylor, could be seen as an effort by the regime to work out a public relations strategy.
According to documents obtained by The Irrawaddy, the Track Two Workshop and Field Trip — held from February 25 to March 4 — has recommended that the regime "should accelerate as much as possible the implementation of its seven steps Road Map" to democracy and "should do more to highlight positive initiatives for national reconciliation, including explaining the central features of the power sharing envisaged in the new Constitution and the peace dividends arising from the ceasefire."
During the trip, the junta allowed the group to visit the areas of the newest ceasefire group, the KNU/KNLA Peace Council led by Maj-Gen Htein Maung.
Meanwhile, an agreement was reached last week in Brunei between Asean and the EU to let Burma participate in negotiations after more than two years of wrangling over the military government’s poor human rights record.
EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson told the Malaysia national news agency Bernama that the EU’s stance on Burma’s rights record has not changed although both blocs agreed that a successful FTA could provide for comprehensive trade and investment liberalization.
Political oppositions groups have challenged the workshop’s recommendations for their failure to support a political atmosphere for public participation, including releasing all political prisoners and democratic icon Aung San Suu Kyi who is under house arrest.
"The cause of Burma’s political dilemma is that the military is still ignoring the role of representatives chosen by the people in democratic elections," Dr San Aung, an exiled member of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), told The Irrawaddy. "We need a coordinated policy from the international community to push Burmese generals to create more democratization."
