Mizzima awarded global JTI certificate for reliable news on Myanmar

-
Image
Mizzima Mizzima, one of Myanmar ’s most prominent news outlets and a press freedom advocate, obtained the Journalism Trust Initiative ( JTI ) certification from global audit firm Bureau Veritas , JTI says in a press statement 5 January.  Operating in clandestine mode within Myanmar and supported by an exiled team, Mizzima strives to fulfil its role as reliable source of news and information for the Myanmar public. “Your Journalism Trust Initiative certification affirms what audiences already know: that principled, transparent journalism matters. Congratulations on this achievement and on your continued contribution to informing citizens about Myanmar,” says Benjamin Sabbah , director of Journalism Trust Initiative “Myanmar’s ongoing conflict has created an intensely contested media landscape, where mis- and disinformation are increasingly deployed to reinforce state propaganda and the prevailing “official” narrative. Although Mizzima is already regarded as one of the most trusted ...
Post a Comment

World Bank officer to meet with Burmese leaders

-
Monday, 23 July 2012 15:01 Mizzima News

The World Bank will open its new office in Burma on July 30, officiated by Pamela Cox, the East Asia and Pacific Region vice president.

Pamela Cox, a World Bank vice president for the Asian region. Photo: World Bank

While in Burma, Cox will also meet with senior officials and development partners to continue discussions on ways the bank can structure loans and programs to improve the Burmese economy, especially among the poor and vulnerable.

This is the first visit by a World Bank senior official to the country since the new government took office in 2010.

In press reports in April, Cox said among the bank’s first priorities are determining the country's unpaid debts and getting accurate economic data, while also assessing its financial system.

Cox said the global bank was “heartened by the government's steps in Myanmar” and would respond step-by-step in line with member countries and other agencies.

“We've been working very closely with our board and our shareholders, the other bilateral partners, the IMF, and, of course, the government of Myanmar on plans for moving our relationship forward,” she told reporters in Washington.

Burma owes the World Bank $393 million from lending from the late 1980s, Cox said. It also owes the Asian Development Bank nearly $500 million.

The World Bank will work with the International Monetary Fund on debt-sustainability analysis to see “how much debt stress this country is going to be under once it normalizes relations and how much debt should be forgiven,” Cox said.

A basic analysis includes questions such as, “Does the government have a functioning financial system? Does it have a functioning budget system? Does it have a government that actually works?” she said.

Before restarting loan programs in Burma, the bank said it would make an economic assessment of Burma's arrears and the country’s economic condition and needs.

“We recognize that reforms are fragile, and we are well aware of the risks. The speed of our engagement in Myanmar will depend on whether reforms can be sustained,” Cox said.

Meanwhile, The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will also open an office in Burma starting July 30.

Putu Kamayana, currently the ADB country director in Cambodia, will direct the office whose mission is to re-establish relations with the Burma prior to granting loans and starting other development projects.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

World's longest internet shutdown ends in parts of Myanmar

-
Image
Rakhine people travel by motorcycle in Sittwe, Rakhine State, Western Myanmar, 02 February 2021. Photo: Nyunt Win/EPA By AFP The world's longest internet shutdown -- affecting more than a million people for 19 months in one of Myanmar's ethnic conflict zones -- has come to an end, according to a mobile operator based in the region. The internet in parts of Myanmar's troubled northern states of Rakhine and Chin was suspended in June 2019 following "emergency" orders issued by the telecoms department under Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government. Following Monday's military coup, mobile operator Telenor Group confirmed it had reinstated full services in eight townships in Rakhine and Chin states on Wednesday. "Telenor Group and Telenor Myanmar have been advocating for the restoration of services and emphasised that freedom of expression through access to telecoms services should be maintained for humanitarian purposes," the company said in a stateme...
Read more

First ministerial meeting held

-
Image
Mizzima Myanmar held the first meeting among newly appointed ministers after a recent major cabinet reshuffle by the military in capital city of Nay Pyi Taw on Tuesday morning, according to a release from the Military True News Information Team Xinhua reported. The Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, acting President U Myint Swe and nine newly appointed union ministers were present at the meeting held at the Presidential Palace, the release said. Min Aung Hlaing unveiled plans to include reopening religious buildings and pagodas, resuming domestic travel and hotel businesses as well as industries in line with COVID-19 rules and regulations, and revitalizing the country's economy.
Read more

Indonesia detains British woman on terror suspect list

-
Image
File photo of Indonesian police personnel standing guard. (Photo: AFP) AFP Indonesia has detained a British woman named on a list of global terror suspects and plans to deport her for visa violations, authorities told AFP Tuesday. Tazneen Miriam Sailar -- a Manchester-born convert to Islam married to an Indonesian jihadist who was killed in Syria -- is not charged with terror offences. But she and her late husband are on an Indonesian police list of suspected extremists that includes several foreigners notorious in the West. Sailar, 47, and her 10-year-old Indonesia-born son, were being held in Jakarta after being picked up last year without documents allowing her to remain in the Southeast Asian nation, her lawyer Farid Ghozali said. "She was put (in detention) while awaiting her return, which will be facilitated by the British embassy," Indonesian immigration directorate spokesman Ahmad Nursaleh told AFP. The embassy declined to comment, and it was unclear when...
Read more