New APEC Counter Terrorism Task Force Work Program

The APEC Counter Terrorism Task Force has committed a significant part of its 2003 work plan to building the capacity of developing economies for an increased level of counter terrorism preparedness. Chair of the APEC Counter Terrorism Task Force, Ambassador Makarim Wibisono, said there is broad appreciation of the collective responsibility terrorism imposes on all APEC Members. "No APEC economy is immune from the threat posed by terrorism," said Ambassador Wibisono at the first meeting of the APEC Counter Terrorism Task Force in Khon Kaen, Thailand. "APEC members are sharing the load of strengthening the capacity of the region to fight terrorism while at the same time protecting free trade. "APEC Members accept their collective responsibility that must be achieved through implementing measures laid out in each economy's individual Counter Terrorism Action Plan. "The APEC Counter Terrorism Task Force is identifying areas where individual economies can share skills and also provide additional assistance where it is needed." "In our work plan for the following year, the APEC Counter Terrorism Task Force will work with each member economy to identify areas where capacity building assistance can be provided. "These resources will mostly be provided by APEC members or APEC fora that are able to provide the infrastructure and expertise that is needed. "APEC will also seek the assistance of international financial institutions that are able to provide additional financial resources. "Other support may include advice and training to develop best practices and regulations for which cooperation with international organizations and the business community will be sought." Over coming months the APEC Counter Terrorism Task Force will also continue to implement measures to achieve the targets laid out in the 'APEC Leaders Statement on Fighting Terrorism and Promoting Growth.' This is the statement issued by the Leaders of APEC economies when they met in Los Cabos, Mexico, in 2002. The statement was issued by the Leaders following growing concern of the damage terrorism was inflicting on both the social and economic well-being of the region. The APEC Counter Terrorism Task Force will report back to the Leaders of APEC economies at the annual Leaders Meeting that will be held in Bangkok in October.

From http://www.apecsec.org.sg/ 06/01/2003

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Asia Still Haunted by Japan's Militarism

TOKYO (AFP) - South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun urged Japan to fight any domestic attempt to defend its wartime aggression, saying Asian neighbours are still nervous about signs of Tokyo's return to militarism. "In the past, Japan marched toward imperialism and caused pain to Asian countries," Roh said Monday in a speech at Japan's parliament, winding up a four-day state visit. "Asian countries, including South Korea (news - web sites), cannot help but show sensitive reactions whenever moves related to the past, unfortunate history come out of Japan," Roh said. Roh called on the Japanese government to enhance people's awareness of its war-time history so that the two countries could exorcise the ghost of Japanese militarism. "We have to face the past squarely," said the South Korean president. "We need to persuade people of both countries to praise and understand each other with honest self-reflection. Telling the truth is the real courage. "I sincerely hope that we will help each other and be released from the shadow of past history completely as soon as possible. It is the top priority for leaders of both countries to jointly tackle the issue," he said. Seoul-Tokyo ties are complicated by a history of enmity arising from Japan's harsh colonial rule of the Korean peninsula from 1910-45 and Korean perceptions that Japan has never come to terms with its militarist past.

From http://story.news.yahoo.com/ 06/09/2003

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A New Order of Peace in East Asia

The state visit to Japan by South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun -- the first since he took office in February -- has produced a positive result: a mutual commitment to develop future-oriented relations. In a joint statement issued Saturday, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and President Roh also agreed not to allow North Korea to possess or develop nuclear weapons and to resolve the issue peacefully and diplomatically. That agreement complements similar accords the two leaders reached with U.S. President George W. Bush in May. The Roh visit has highlighted the mutuality of interests that bind Japan and South Korea, close neighbors that share basic values such as a commitment to democracy and market-based economies. Relations between the two nations have improved markedly over the past year, thanks in part to their successful cohosting of the soccer World Cup 2002. Now they have a great opportunity to cooperate more closely to build a new order of peace in all of East Asia. The latest Japan-South Korea summit -- the first was held in Seoul at the time of Mr. Roh's February inauguration -- was also successful from an educational standpoint. Until recently President Roh was largely an unknown quantity for most Japanese. It is welcome, therefore, that the Tokyo meeting has established a personal relationship of trust between Mr. Koizumi and Mr. Roh. This can be expected to help set the tone of bilateral relations, at least during Mr. Roh's five-year term. As expected, North Korea's nuclear program has proven to be a most difficult issue. And that is where delicate differences between Tokyo and Seoul came to the surface. Mr. Koizumi pointed out the need to apply "a certain amount of pressure" to facilitate dialogue. If the North made things worse, he suggested, retaliatory measures such as economic sanctions should be taken. Mr. Roh, on the other hand, placed greater emphasis on dialogue, probably in the belief that it would be counterproductive to provoke the North Koreans. His policy of "peace and prosperity" aims to solve the nuclear problem and other issues through dialogue. It also puts a premium on mutual confidence and reciprocity. Not surprisingly, the joint statement does not include tough language, such as a reference to economic sanctions. It says only that the two nations will "strengthen cooperation by confirming the principles agreed upon in their summit meetings with the United States." North Korea, however, must not misread the message from the Tokyo summit, which is that Japan and South Korea, together with the United States, will not make compromises that reward Pyongyang's misbehavior. The nuclear issue needs to be discussed in detail at the forthcoming session of the Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group. Policy coordination is also needed to take joint action to stop North Korea from developing and exporting missiles, and from selling drugs abroad. In this regard, it is worth noting that the recent Group of Eight summit in France called for a package resolution of the nuclear and abduction issues. This international opinion should be reflected in the U.S.-China-North Korea talks. For that, the talks should be attended also by Japan and South Korea, which are directly exposed to threats from the North. China should act as mediator. Mr. Roh's visit has also given an impetus to cultural exchanges between our two countries. Particularly welcome, from the standpoint of enhancing mutual understanding, is his decision to lift additional South Korean restrictions on imports of Japanese pop culture. Important agreements were also made in other areas, including striving to start full-dress talks on a free-trade agreement, exempting visa requirements for South Korean students making school trips to Japan, and studying the feasibility of opening shuttle flights between Haneda and Kimpo airports. President Roh, the first South Korean president born after the end of World War II, has no direct experience of Japan's 1910-1945 colonization of Korea. At a postsummit press conference, he said, encouragingly, that he wants to avoid the issue of "history" -- Japan's militaristic past -- and that the two nations should make joint efforts to create a better future. The Japanese people need to take that statement humbly, for there are still many people, including politicians, who seem to glorify or whitewash some of our nation's misdeeds. The latest example is a remark by the policy chief of the Liberal Democratic Party that tried to justify Japan's colonial policy of forcing Koreans to take Japanese surnames. Mutual confidence, not narrow nationalism, is what the two nations need most as they look to the future.

From http://www.japantimes.co.jp/ 06/11/2003

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Korea, US, Japan Agree to Push for Five-Plus Talks on NK Nukes

South Korea, the United States and Japan were in agreement at their joint strategy meeting yesterday that a new round of nuclear talks with North Korea must be enlarged to accommodate at least five parties including Seoul and Tokyo, South Korean officials said. ``The United States was adamant that it cannot talk to the North bilaterally,'' Deputy South Korean Foreign Minister Lee Soo-hyuck said. ``The (Seoul) government also shared the (U.S.) opinion that expanded multilateral talks are desirable,'' he added. Lee spoke to reporters after a series of bilateral meetings with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly and Mitoji Yabunaka, director general of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau at Tokyo's Foreign Ministry, as part of their regular strategy forum known as the Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group. The two-day trilateral meeting opened earlier in the day at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Washington wants to expand the nuclear talks to include Seoul and Tokyo while Pyongyang insists that one-on-one talks with the U.S. must precede multi-party discussions. The first round of talks was held in Beijing in April among U.S., North Korean and Chinese negotiators. Japan has adopted the same position as Washington while the South has expressed its preference for a format that is ``workable,'' insisting that top priority should be placed on sustaining the momentum created from the Beijing dialogue. ``The U.S. position is that it strives only for multilateral talks involving the South and Japan and is refusing to consider other forms of dialogue,'' Lee said, adding that the U.S. position has already been conveyed to the North. ``It is difficult to say definitively, however, that the next round of talks will take a five-way format because Russia also expects to participate in those talks,'' an official said asking not to be identified. In the Korea-U.S. bilateral talks, meanwhile, U.S. officials hinted that a project to provide the North with two light-water reactors could be suspended due to technical problems, a source close to the talks said. The official, however, cautioned against interpreting the potential suspension as part of efforts to put pressure on the North to abandon its nuclear development efforts. The problem, he said, is that the project now needs a new U.S.-North Korean agreement to provide major parts, but such an agreement would be impossible to reach given the current confrontational atmosphere. Japan's Kyodo News Service sent out a similar report earlier in the day that the reactor project may be effectively frozen. The provision of the reactors is a key part of the 1994 U.S.-North Korea accord that defused an earlier nuclear crisis. In return for the reactors, Pyongyang agreed to freeze its suspected nuclear weapons program. Meanwhile, Lee said there were no discussions at Thursday's talks of adopting hard-line tactics against the North, such as the U.S. initiative to block shipments of missiles, drugs and other contraband.

From http://times.hankooki.com/ 06/13/2003

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More Asia-Pacific Countries Needed in WTO

Bangkok (UN Information Services) -- Regional business leaders and senior government officials called on the World Trade Organization (WTO) to ease its membership demands to allow more developing countries to accede into the group at a United Nations trade dialogue in Bangkok last week. The issue was the focus of discussions at the Regional Seminar on Facilitating the Accession of UNESCAP Members to WTO though Regional Cooperation (12 - 13 June), organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Guests, including regional vice-ministers, representatives from industry associations and chambers of commerce and senior UN staff, pointed to the WTO's complicated membership process for the low level of representation that developing countries have in the organization. " Trade is an ancient activity for the UNESCAP region," said Mr. Kim Hak-Su, the Executive Secretary of UNESCAP. "Countries in the region have always been dynamic traders...Therefore, a question that is foremost in our mind ...is why almost half of our members continue to remain excluded from the premier club of world trade - the WTO. Of even more concern is why no LDC (Least Developed Country) and no Pacific island country has acceded to WTO." Out of the 146 WTO members, only 24 are ESCAP member countries from the Asia-Pacific. At the same time, the region accounts for the largest share of countries seeking WTO membership. The problem, according to Mr. Kim, lies with both the membership process and the level of information that developing countries have about the WTO. On the part of developing countries, there is little understanding of the commitments involved with becoming a WTO member, especially the costs associated with the domestic legislative and institutional changes required under the organization. At the same time, the domestic reforms expected of new WTO members often goes beyond the commitments made by existing members. Mr. Kim said it is necessary to reform the process so that developing countries can approach WTO membership from a level playing field with first world countries. " There is a need for greater sensitivity to the internal adjustment shocks that an applicant country may confront when complying with the new rules in the absence of reasonable transition concessions. It is detrimental to vulnerable developing countries to have to draw up a time schedule that puts their social and institutional capability under extreme pressure," he said. " All countries had long, difficult and in some cases dramatic experiences (in seeking membership to the WTO)," said Mr. Jose-Antonio Buencamina, the Special Trade Representative from the Philippines." There (is) a need to continue to promote on a regional cooperative basis the sharing of these experiences, and views on how the accession process could be simplified and made more relevant to the development needs of these countries." The Regional Seminar on Facilitating the Accession of UNESCAP Members to WTO through Regional Cooperation was a preparatory meeting ahead of the 5th Ministerial Conference to be held in Canc¨²n, Mexico in September. It was organized to allow regional countries that have acceded to the WTO to share their experiences with the countries currently seeking membership. The seminar also aimed to give regional countries the tools to participate more effectively in WTO trade negotiations, which in the past have been accused of favoring big trading nations. " The objective," said Mr. Kim, "is to build negotiating capacity that will give our members the tools to negotiate and conclude agreements that will strengthen their participation in the multilateral trading system. "UNESCAP is committed to these issues on the long term because I am convinced that despite all the difficulties and harsh realities, a rules-based multilateral trading system represents developing countries' best hope of keeping economies open and trading with each other - and when countries cooperate on trade matters they are more likely to have peaceful relation," he said. The September trade talks in Mexico are especially important for the export-oriented Asia-Pacific region as it prepares for a predicted downturn in economic activity. Trade deals secured at the meeting will help ESCAP countries minimize the effects of the downturn.

From http://www.unescap.org/ 06/17/2003

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Now It's Russia's Turn to Look East

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov's extended trip across Asia - including India, Pakistan and Cambodia - is part of Moscow's "Look East" policy to counter Washington's push in these regions. Ivanov, who met senior Indian leaders, including Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Monday, is seeking economic and security relations across a vast region extending from the oil-rich Central Asian republics to Southeast Asia in a move reminiscent of the Cold War era. Russia remains a close Indian ally and its principal weapon supplier. It is reportedly attempting to revive the five-year old proposal for a Moscow-Delhi-Beijing axis against US ascendancy to ensure a multi-polar world. Ivanov's Delhi visit came a week before Vajpayee leaves for China, the first Indian prime minister to travel to Beijing in a decade to forge closer political and diplomatic links between the world's two most populous countries. Russia's proactive policy across Asia has coincided with the US's post-Iraq plans to re-deploy its forces around the world, particularly the "arc of instability" that stretches from the Central Asian republics to North Korea. In retaliation, a considerably weakened Russia, following the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union, is seeking to forge an "alliance of stability" across this region through subtle partnerships and by playing on latent fears of lone-superpower hegemony. Consequently, a Russian naval task force, the largest after the Soviet Union disintegrated, is now deployed for an indeterminate period in the Indian Ocean and surrounding seas. This area is fast becoming a potential confrontation zone, not only among China, India and Pakistan, but also potentially between Russia and the US. After extended maneuvers with the Indian navy earlier this month, the Russian squadron of nine warships, including strategic bombers, is "marking time" in the Indian Ocean at a time when the US military is firmly ensconced in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Central Asian republics and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is "marching" swiftly eastward toward Moscow. Russian naval officers claimed that their Indian Ocean deployment is not connected to the US-led military presence in Iraq and insisted that their squadron would not enter the Persian Gulf. "This is a continuation of our old dialogue and the good relations between the Indian and Russian navies," said Pacific Fleet commander Admiral Viktor Fedorov. The exercises are not linked to the situation in Iraq, he added. But analysts disagree. "The maritime strategic focus after the Cold War and especially after September 11 has shifted to the Indian Ocean region and Russia wants to register itself there," said Commodore Uday Bhaskar, deputy head of the Institute of Strategic Studies and Analyses in Delhi. Others claimed that the Russian presence in the Indian Ocean underlined the importance of "exercising control" over the Indian Ocean through which pass vital oil routes from West Asia. Russia recently announced plans to boost its military presence in the Central Asian republics by establishing permanent defense bases in Kyrgzystan and Tajikistan in order to offset around a dozen overt and covert "staging points" that the US government had access to in the region - including Georgia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - after the 2001 Afghan war. The US military bases at Manas, 30 kilometers from Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek, adjoining China, and a similar though little publicized presence of US-led allies at Khanabad in Uzbekistan, are of grave concern to Moscow, which anticipates an eventual clash with Washington over the area's vast oil and gas deposits. The US is already the leading foreign investor in Central Asia's energy sector, openly declaring that it wants to promote political and economic stability in the area to safeguard its energy imports and to combat international terrorism and arms trafficking. Russia and China are also proposing to turn the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a regional Central Asian grouping of which they are members alongside Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, into a larger coalition and to extend its mandate beyond the region by inducting India, Pakistan and possibly even Iran. Formed six years ago to deal with border issues, combat ethnic and religious tensions in each other's countries and to safeguard against the export of terrorism by Afghanistan's Taliban regime, the SCO is re-aligning itself given the changed realities in the region. The SCO is seen as the means through which Russia and China now have a "hidden agenda" to frustrate Washington's burgeoning influence in Central Asia. Vajpayee and Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold their next summit in Moscow in November. "Russia has a special place in India's foreign policy and we intend to further strengthen the time-tested relations between our two countries," Indian ambassador to Russia Krishnan Raghunath was quoted as saying by ITAR-TASS news agency in Moscow. From Delhi, Ivanov went to the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh for a regional security meeting with the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN), where his attendance is also part of Russia's "Look-East" strategy. Aided considerably by anti-US feelings in the region - there were widespread anti-US protests before the Iraq war in several ASEAN nations - Russia recently sold its multi-role fighters to Malaysia and Indonesia. Indonesia ordered two Sukhoi-30 and two Su-27 interceptor/ground-attack aircraft, and Malaysia signed a US$1.4 billion deal for 18 advanced Su-30MK fighters - and chose these over US F-18 Super Hornets. Officials say that Kuala Lumpur's decision to buy the Russian fighters would increase India's strategic and business interests in Southeast Asia, as it is expected to provide training and servicing to the Royal Malaysian Air Force for its new Su 30s. "India has acted as a gateway for Russian arms sales to Southeast Asia," Dr Alex Vaskin of the Indo-Russian Strategic Forum said. In the last decade, Malaysia has bought Russian MiG 29 fighters and Mi-17 helicopters, after studying India's experience with these aircraft, he added. (by Rahul Bedi)

From http://www.atimes.com/ 06/19/2003

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WTO, Asia Pacific Countries Urge Travellers to Resume Trips to Asia

Officials from Asia-Pacific countries and the World Tourism Organization (WTO) on Wednesday urged travelers around the world to resume Asia visits as the SARS epidemic is now under control and that the region is safe to visit. "We urge travelers around the world to resume holidays and business trips to Asia with assurance that the region is now safe to visit and is more attractive than ever," they said in a statement adopted at the end of the WTO Asia-Pacific Ministerial Summit on Crisis Management in Manila. Ministers and delegates from 27 countries and regions in Asia and the Pacific as well as several international organizations, including the International Air Transport Association, participated in the one-day conference. In the statement read by WTO Secretary-General Francesco Frangialli, they welcomed the good news that the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic was declared under control by the World Health Organization (WHO) last week, and expressed relief that WHO has lifted all SARS travel warnings with the exception of Beijing. But they are confident that the travel warning against the Chinese capital will be removed in the near future. It was announced that the 15th session of the WTO General Assembly will be held in Beijing in October this year. The participants also expressed confidence that regional tourism "is getting back on track, with reactivation of the industry already under way and full recovery expected by the end of the year." Meanwhile, they encouraged WTO to address the issue of travel advisories, which they said "sometimes have a disproportionate effect on destinations," and to base its work on the principles enshrined in its Global Code of Ethics for Tourism. At a press briefing held after the meeting, Frangialli said, " it is normal and can't be avoided" for governments to issue travel advisories to inform and protect their nationals as it's "part of their duty." But he said that in many cases, the information "is not accurate and updated." Therefore, he said, they urge governments and international organizations like WHO "do that in a very careful and appropriate manner." He agreed that the promotion of intra-regional travel, as recommended by the participants to the meeting, is key to the recovery of the regional tourism industry. Wednesday's conference is the highlight of a four-day series of meetings held by WTO that began here on Monday.

From http://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/ 06/19/2003

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Japan, ASEAN to Issue Document on Ties in Dec.

Japan and ASEAN agreed Thursday to issue a document that would lay the foundation for their relationship in the future when their leaders assemble for a special summit in Tokyo in December, Japanese officials said. They also agreed to announce an action plan at the summit that would further cooperation between the two sides through a variety of projects to be implemented in the medium term, the officials said.

From http://www.japantoday.com/ 06/20/2003

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APEC Health Ministers to Mark New Phase in SARS Fight: Rebuild Confidence and Increase Future Defenses

APEC Health Ministers will meet on June 28 in Bangkok, Thailand, to set common actions for restoring business and consumer confidence in the Asia-Pacific region and to make preparations for potential similar epidemics in the future. APEC Secretariat Executive Director, Ambassador Piamsak Milintachinda, said the APEC Health Ministers meeting will complement the recent World Health Organization (WHO) conference in Kuala Lumpur. "Last week the WHO looked at the scientific and health issues relating to SARS," said Ambassador Milintachinda. "This week APEC will look at the economic and governance implications of SARS. The next chapter in the fight against SARS is the economic recovery and future defense phase." Ambassador Milintachinda said APEC Health Ministers will identify measures for member economies and the APEC Secretariat to implement as part of a regional strategy to move beyond the SARS epidemic. "In its briefings the WHO has spoken of SARS as the first severe and readily transmissible new disease to strike a globalized society. "To defeat SARS and any similar epidemic that may come in the future, the WHO has called for unprecedented solidarity in the international community to overcome the threat. "SARS is not a problem for one economy, it is the collective responsibility of APEC economies to seek solutions and protect our future. "APEC has the task of establishing policy initiatives and guiding principles for economies to implement and prevent the future cross-border spread of epidemic diseases." Ambassador Milintachinda said the other major focus of the APEC Health Ministers will be on the restoration of business and traveler confidence. "With the crisis being contained in most effected areas, the time is right to focus on the post-SARS economic recovery," Ambassador Milintachinda said."Now is the time to assure the business community and tourists that it is safe to return to international travel. Not only has SARS been contained, but there are now tight screening measures to prevent new outbreaks from being spread."The meeting will receive submissions from the APEC Business Advisory Council, the APEC Tourism Working Group, the APEC Transportation Working Group, the APEC Industrial Science and Technology Working Group and other contributors."The APEC Action Plan on SARS is already being implemented and includes a number of proactive measures ranging from the sharing of information to developing a common set of guiding principles to assure the safety of all travelers.

From http://www.apecsec.org.sg/ 06/22/2003

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ADB Drafts Emergency Policy to Help Conflict-Affected Countries

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is drafting a comprehensive emergency policy to assist conflict-affected countries and strengthen links between postconflict operations and its overarching goal of poverty reduction. This was announced Tuesday by ADB in its Annual Report 2002 with a special theme chapter on "Rehabilitation and Reconstruction: ADB's Role in Afghanistan and the Region." ADB has provided assistance for postconflict reconstruction of its developing members to reduce poverty that has been worsened by war and to avert the resumption of conflict. "Postconflict reconstruction is about growth and poverty reduction to accelerate the transition from reconstruction to development, and to minimize the risk of resumed conflict," it added. "Achieving these goals requires developing income-generating activities, providing safety nets, and improving governance and institutional capacity as well as human and social capital," the report said. Afghanistan received assistance totaling 337 million US dollars for 2002 and 2003. In 2002, ADB provided 187 million dollars for the Postconflict Multisector Program, the first since lending was suspended in 1979, two technical assistance grants for 15.1 million dollars and three other grants for 22 million dollars funded by the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction. In 2003, ADB provided 150 million dollars for the Emergency Infrastructure Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Project to help restore damaged infrastructure such as primary roads, electric power transmission lines, and gas production, transmission, and distribution facilities. The report also said ADB created and strengthened bilateral and multilateral partnerships in 2002 as it stepped up the fight against poverty in the Asia and Pacific region.

From http://news.xinhuanet.com/ 06/24/2003

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APEC Ministers OK Joint Action Plan Against SARS

BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) - Asia-Pacific health ministers and senior officials vowed yesterday not to drop their guard against SARS for fear it could re-emerge or that their nations could face an epidemic of another infectious disease. Representatives from the 21member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum held a one-day meeting in Bangkok to map out a joint action plan to contain the disease which swept across the region this year. "Excellent work and cooperation has already been undertaken by APEC member economies to overcome the threat of SARS," they said in a statement, pointing to border screening and quarantine measures. "We are fully aware, however, that this is only the start." Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said that although SARS may fade from attention as the immediate danger of the disease recedes, it is unlikely ever to completely disappear. "There is no telling when it will re-emerge and how much more damage it will do the next time around. What's more, it is possible that the next outbreak will be of another disease just as unknown and mysterious." Thaksin said that SARS caused economic damage to the region more quickly than the Asian financial crisis of 1997 and that its re-emergence could cause even more devastation. "In view of this, I am convinced that we cannot and must not drop our guard," he said in an opening address. China's health minister Wu Yi told the meeting that her country had paid a "heavy price" in the battle against SARS. "We are soberly aware that the complete eradication of SARS is still an uphill journey. As long as SARS remains a threat we cannot afford to lower our guard," she said. Wu admitted that China had not been prepared for the impact of the epidemic. "Our most profound lesson is that there must be a stronger and more effective public health regime, disease control and prevention system and public health contingency mechanism," she said. However, she downplayed the economic impact of the crisis and said she was confident China would still meet its target of 7.0 percent economic growth in 2003. "We have provided necessary support and aid to air service, tourism, transportation and other sectors which were badly hit by the epidemic. Now these affected sectors and industries are ... gradually recovering." The health ministers agreed to implement an APEC Action Plan endorsed by the organization's trade ministers in northeastern Thailand earlier this month. Under the plan, information will be shared and APEC's existing infectious diseases strategy will be examined to see how it can complement the work of organisations fighting SARS. The plan also proposes that APEC economies consider adopting the measures on health screening put in place by Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members along with China, Japan and Korea in Kuala Lumpur in April. The trade grouping also said that SARS control measures must not become non-tariff barriers to trade and travel. Taiwan and Toronto are the only two remaining areas on the World Health Organisation's list of SARS-affected countries, with Hong Kong and China scratched earlier this week after no cases appeared for 20 days, twice the maximum incubation period. Taiwan's health minister Chen Chien-jen told reporters that it expected to be taken off the list by July 5 or 6. In a sign of easing concern over the disease, only nine of the 21 APEC members sent their health ministers to the Bangkok meeting. The grouping includes Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States, and Vietnam.

From http://www.mb.com.ph/ 06/28/2003

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CHINA: Rules Issued to Strengthen Control of Online Games

China's Ministry of Culture say it has launched regulations to strengthen the management of online games and products to be sold or used on the Internet, including the approval for import of such products and for the launch of such websites. The rules will come into effect on July 1. The ministry said on its website that companies planning to import products for the purpose of sale or use on the Internet must apply for approval from the ministry. If any website company is found engaging in the illegal import of Internet products, the products will be confiscated and the company will be subject to fines of up to 30,000 yuan. China's revenue from online games surged to 910 mln yuan in 2002 from 300 mln yuan a year earlier.

From CRI 06/05/2003

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China Releases Interim Regulation on State-owned Assets

China has released an Interim Regulation on state-owned assets supervision and management. Xinhua News Agency was authorized to publish the entire regulations on June 4, which will be implemented at the same time. The regulations, which were signed by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on May 27, have eight chapters, with 47 articles, dealing with general principles, supervision and management organization of state-owned assets, management of enterprise leaders, management of major events of enterprises, management of state- owned assets, supervision of state-owned assets, legal liability and supplementary articles. The regulations were discussed and passed at the 8th executive meeting of the State Council.

From People's Daily 06/05/2003

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Methods for Administration of Financial Licenses Issued

Recently, the China Regulatory Commission of Banking Industry issued the Methods for the Administration of Financial Licenses, which makes relevant revisions and improvements to the original financial license system. The Methods is designed to streamlining of administrative examination and approval, relieving burdens on part of the supervisor and the supervised, boosting surveillance transparency, and enhancing the public's knowledge and supervision of financial institutions. The Methods will go into effect as of July 1, 2003.

From http://ce.cei.gov.cn/ 06/06/2003

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New Car-Industry Policy Drafted for Development

The Chinese Government is putting the finishing touches to a long-awaited new policy for the fast-growing car industry and is expected to relax some of its control. The State Development and Reform Commission, the industry's main watchdog, earlier this year drew up and issued a draft of the new policy to Chinese and foreign car makers to solicit their opinions. China is committed to amending its old car-industry policy, formed in 1994, since it joined the World Trade Organization in December 2001. According to a copy of the draft seen by China Daily, the government will relax some of its controls over the industry though there will be no big breakthroughs in the new policy compared with the old one. The requirement regarding the equity structure of Sino-foreign automobile and motorcycle joint ventures - one of the most sensitive issues for the industry - is expected to remain basically unchanged. "The Chinese side must have a stake of at least 50 per cent in Sino-foreign automobile and motorcycle joint ventures," the draft said. However, this requirement will not apply if Chinese and foreign motor manufacturers set up joint ventures in China's export-processing zones and if their products are exclusively for export, according to the draft. But such joint ventures should still be approved by the government. Jia Xinguang, an analyst with the China National Automotive Industry Institute, suggested that the equity structure should be decided by the parent companies of Sino-foreign joint ventures. Japan's Honda Motor Co has become the first foreign car maker to control a majority stake in a Chinese joint venture. Honda has a 65 per cent stake in an export-oriented car joint venture plant, construction on which started last week in the Guangzhou Export-Processing Zone in South China's Guangdong Province. China's Dongfeng Motor Corp controls 10 per cent of the joint venture, while the Guangzhou Automobile Group controls 25 per cent. The draft policy document said: "A foreign auto maker will continue to be allowed to establish at most two joint ventures in China with local partners to produce the same category of products, including passenger cars, commercial vehicles and motorcycles." However, foreign and Chinese auto makers will be able to set up more joint ventures through mergers with and acquisitions of other companies in China, according to the draft. The United States car giant General Motors Corp has formed four joint ventures in China. Last December, General Motors, the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC) and their joint venture Shanghai GM set up a new joint venture in East China's Shandong Province by acquiring a local vehicle plant. In 2001, General Motors and SAIC launched a joint venture in Southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region with the Wuling Motor Co, a local company earlier owned by SAIC.

From China Daily 06/07/2003

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Securities Law Set for Review Later This Year

China's top legislative body is expected to review draft amendments to the Securities Law at the end of the year to tackle problems arising in the market and to better comply with World Trade Organization (WTO) requirements. It is on this year's legislative agenda, which was approved by the chairman and vice-chairpersons of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee on June 16. The nation's securities market is plagued by such problems as falsified disclosure, insider trading and encroachment of the rights and interests of medium and small shareholders, according to the findings of an inspection tour sponsored by the Ninth NPC Standing Committee in 2001. The planned revision of the 1999 Securities Law will improve provisions concerning securities issuance and the supervision of listed companies, according to NPC sources. In addition, the lawmakers will make a second round of deliberations on the draft law on securities investment funds at the latest bimonthly session of the NPC Standing Committee, which will be held next week. The draft is expected to expand access to public investment in the stock market, fuel more institutional investment and bring more order to the securities market, according to a source with the NPC Financial and Economic Committee. The newly adopted agenda includes 13 pieces of legislation with specific schedules and 30 optional pieces of legislation. Lawmakers are expected to review amendments to the laws on the central bank and commercial banks in August to make the institutions more flexible for the country's financial development and reform. They are likely to review a draft law on electronic signatures in October to nail down the legitimacy of the signatures and support the development of the nation's e-commerce and e-government sectors. The 30 optional pieces of legislation on the agenda include the draft law on tangible properties, a major section of the country's first draft civil code which was preliminarily reviewed by lawmakers at the end of last year. In the wake of SARS, the committee is expected to review draft amendments to the law on the prevention and control of contagious diseases. It will also review draft amendments to the law on the protection of wild animals, given the possibility of the transmission of the flu-like virus from wild animals to humans.

From China Daily 06/17/2003

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China Adopts Draft Regulation on Vagrants

The Chinese central government adopted on Wednesday a draft regulation on aid to vagrants and beggars in urban areas and measures to improve workplace safety at coal mines. The executive meeting of the State Council, presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday, held that the regulation the central government issued in 1982 on housing and sending back vagrants and beggars in urban areas is no longer suitable for the current situation. Officials attending the meeting said that great changes had taken place in economic and social fields and the situation with regard to the flow of migrant population had also changed significantly during the past two decades. The draft regulation was designed to resolve the problem of vagrants and beggars in urban areas and improve social relief mechanisms and related regulations, the meeting concluded. It was decided that the existing regulation should be done away with and a new regulation adopted, to be made public for implementation after further revision. The cabinet agreed to throw out the obsolete rule on urban vagrants management at the centre of a major controversy over the death of a graphics designer in Guangdong Province.. One person commenting on the bulletin board of sina.com said it was a pity that the policy change has come by only after "lessons of blood". He was referring to the recent death of 27-year-old graphic designer Sun Zhigang in Guangzhou. The Hubei native was killed on March 20 after being detained three days before because he was not carrying a valid residency permit. Although his employer provided the relevant document within hours, he remained in detention and was beaten to death by his roommates. The ringleader was later sentenced to death after the tragedy was exposed by the media and stirred widespread outrage from the public nationwide. Some legal experts have written to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, appealing for a review of the constitutionality of the detention measures after the death of Sun. In order to fundamentally solve the problems concerning urban vagrants and beggars, and improve China's social welfare system, the meeting examined and passed in principle a new set of management methods concerning such kinds of people. The new rule will be promulgated and implemented based on amendments made to the draft. Details of the new rule were not available. The decision to annul the archaic administrative regulation, the legal basis for internment and deportation by public security authorities, won immediate applause from Internet surfers, who hailed it as great step forward in the country's drive towards a more civilized society. The move suggests that the new government, headed by President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, who took their helms in March, "is ready to do concrete deeds for the benefits and interests of the great masses of people," said one comment on the bulletin board of sina.com. In an answer to public calls, some local governments have already amended their detention measures to ensure they do not violate the human rights of the detainees. For example, Fuzhou, in East China's Fujian Province, has issued a notice recently regulating the city's work on the detention and repatriation of vagrants and beggars. It stipulates that the detainees enjoy the rights of communication and personal property, and their security must be ensured. It strictly prohibits levy of charges from the detainees - a common practice in the country's detention centres - and forbids forced labour. Also adopted at the meeting was a decision to take additional effective measures to reduce coal mine accidents, including increased funding to improve workplace safety for coal miners. Meanwhile, the government officials attending the meeting adopted a draft law on public facilities for cultural activities and physical exercises, which is expected to be issued after additional revision.

From http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ 06/19/2003

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Tax Policy Fine-Tuned for Farmers

Farmers in Beijing's Xiaotangshan area were granted a tax break last month to cover economic losses resulting from the taking over of arable land to build a hospital earmarked for SARS patients. Under the package, farmers are exempt from paying taxes for agricultural speciality items, such as fruit and aquatics, and livestock slaughter for 2003. The tax break is expected to extend to the rest of the country soon. The central government recently decided to reduce the agricultural speciality tax levied on farmers starting from the second half of the year. The tax has already been abolished in some provinces, such as Anhui and Fujian. The purpose of implementing the tax is to encourage farmers to produce more grain instead of cash crops due to an under supply. The speciality tax, which was introduced in 1983, ranges from 8 to 31 percent. It is imposed upon all agricultural products. Grain is exempt from this tax. The situation, however, has witnessed a sea of changes recently. Grain supply has already exceeded domestic demand in contrast to a rising demand for cash crops. The situation made it inevitable to fine-tune the tax policy. Last year, the government generated 9.8 billion yuan (US$1.18 billion) in tax for special agricultural products. After the cutback, the central government will set aside 30 billion yuan to subsidize the lower governments for falling fiscal revenue. The State Council has initially decided to abolish the speciality tax nationwide next year, according to the China Business Post. "It's an inevitable trend to abolish not only the speciality tax and the tax for livestock slaughter, but also the agricultural tax," said Ke Bingsheng, a researcher of the Ministry of Agriculture. The abolition of the speciality tax marks only a prelude to the campaign to lift the financial burden on farmers as the government is going to phase out nearly all taxes on farmers by the year of 2010, said China Business Post, citing an unidentified official from the State tax reform office.

From Eastday.com 06/19/2003

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China, India Sign Declaration for New, Closer Ties

China and India have signed a joint declaration laying out their vision of a new, closer relationship. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao signed the declaration with his guest Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on the first day of a visit by an Indian leader to China for a decade. In signing the declaration, Mr Vajpayee said an era of mutual suspicion with China was now a thing of the past. "We should focus on the simple truth that there is no objective reason for discord between us and neither of us is a threat to the other," said the Indian leader. An Indian official said the joint declaration spelt out goals and rules that would guide cooperation between the two countries which have had uneasy relations since a savage border war in 1962. But it was unclear if the declaration set out ways to tackle the territorial dispute, deemed central to ties between the world's two most populous nations. The two countries also signed agreements which included easier visa rules and a Chinese promise of US$500m for India's infrastructure. Relations between India and China have been marred by distrust for years. Badly bruised after losing the border war to China, New Delhi has long accused Beijing of supporting Pakistan, its arch enemy and nuclear rival. India has also accused China of giving nuclear missile technology to Pakistan, a charge Beijing denies. China in turn resented India's decision to give shelter to the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, following a 1959 revolt against Chinese rule. Relations soured further after India and Pakistan conducted nuclear tests in 1998 and New Delhi began developing missiles capable of targeting Pakistan and nuclear-armed China. The two sides, both keen to assert their independence from growing American influence, also stressed the need to enhance bilateral trade, which has started to grow but is still only worth US$5b a year. But Mr Vajpayee made clear India's concern about China's relationship with Pakistan in a pointed remark criticising what he called Islamabad's failure to crack down on separatists fighting Indian rule in disputed Kashmir.

From http://www.channelnewsasia.com/ 06/23/2003

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Post-SARS Tax Cuts Urged

Economists called on the government to further cut taxes in order to stimulate growth in the wake of the SARS outbreak. The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences senior economist Yuan Gangming noted the negative impact SARS (severe acture respiratory syndrome) had on the majority of the country's industries. But only a few industries, such as tourism and catering, received tax breaks to mitigate the impact of the outbreak. "The limited tax favors, mainly applied to business taxes, are not enough to fuel economic recovery," he said. Chinese companies bear too many tax burdens compared with foreign countries, Yuan said. Liu Heng, a tax expert at the Central University of Finance and Economics, said tax cuts had become an international trend. "If China insists on not cutting taxes, it could have trouble attracting foreign investment," he said. He added a tax policy is an important indicator of a country's investment environment. However, Zhang Peisen, a senior researcher with the Taxation Research Institute, said the country was unlikely to cut taxes further. "The country has already lost some revenue, as the country lowered tariffs and cut the business tax rate for financial institutions by 1 percentage point at the beginning of this year," he said. The SARS outbreak would also lead to tax losses of 20 billion to 30 billion yuan (US$2.4 billion to US$3.6 billion) for the whole year. On the other hand, the country needs more money to spend on investment, health and other public services. Ni Hongri, a senior researcher at the Development Research Centre, said an overall tax cut will be of little help to the country's economic development, because China's tax system was still in its initial stage compared with Western countries. The government still plays an important role in the current economic restructuring, Ni said. "China could not expect more investment from the private sector and individuals by merely cutting taxes," she said. But in the long term, the government should consider "structural adjustment" to make the tax system more efficient, said Ni and Zhang. The tax system's structural reform, which will reduce the tax burden on some industries while increasing taxes on others, will make the primary distribution more rational and effective, Zhang said. Now that China is a member of the World Trade Organization, the country should end the enterprise income tax privileges enjoyed by foreign-funded companies. China is now has a twin-track enterprise income tax policy for domestic and foreign-funded companies. The income tax rate for domestic companies was 33 percent, while that for foreign-funded companies was 17 percent. The country should also speed up shifting the value-added tax levy from the current production-based one to a consumption-based one.

From China Daily 06/23/2003

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Gov't to Regulate Land Market

Chinese Land and Resources Minister Tian Fengshan pledged to establish a "well-regulated, fair and transparent" land market on June 24, on the eve of National Land Day. The theme of this year's event is to "further regulate the land market." Tian said the ministry should use all its legal, administrative and economic powers to prevent land right abuses and severely punish officials who break the law. Shu Kexin, deputy-director of the ministry's Land Use Department, said there are still major challenges ahead for the country's recently established land market. Under the new system, the market allocates land resources in order to prevent corruption. The abuse of power by local officials is still a major obstacle to fair and transparent transfers of land "use rights," according to Shu. "Although the ministry has stipulated that the use of land for profit, such as for tourism and real estate development, should be transferred through public bidding, some local officials are still engaged in backroom deals," he said. Shu said backroom land deals are being targetted in the ongoing national review of the market, which is due to wrap up at the end of October.

From China Daily 06/25/2003

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First Local Law Passed to Protect Wetlands

Wetlands in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province will be better protected after the provincial legislature recently adopted regulations to conserve the so-called "lungs of the earth." The regulations are the first to be adopted by a local legislature in China to protect wetlands, and will come into effect on Aug. 1. Under the regulations, activities like farming, cattle or sheep herding, tree felling, hunting, bird egg collecting, or disposing of sewage in wetland areas will be illegal. Heilongjiang is rich in wetlands, which cover 4.34 million hectares, accounting for 16 percent of the country's total. However, the wetlands in the province were severely affected by over-farming and other human activities, hence putting flora and fauna in the area in great danger. Since 1992 when China signed the international convention of wetlands, Heilongjiang has banned farming in wetland areas and set up 62 wetland nature reserves covering 2.75 million hectares.

From China.org 06/26/2003

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China's Top Legislature Passes Law on Ports

BEIJING -- China's top legislature, Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, passed a law on port administration Saturday to upgrade the construction, management and competitiveness of the country's sea and river ports. To be in effect on Jan. 1 next year, the law sets out new legal competencies of local governments with jurisdiction over ports andcompanies running ports. Governments will merely play the role of supervision and coordination, and companies will run ports in accordance with market principles in a transparent and unbiased manner. All China's ports have to undergo related administrative restructuring before the end of this year, said resources with theMinistry of Communications. The Chinese government opened its ports to overseas investment last year, and the new legislation opens the door even wider. There are 1,467 ports in China, including 165 sea ports and 1,302 river ports. Of these, 55 ports were built with foreign funds. Since China set up its first container cargo joint venture in 1987, over 180 port facility joint ventures have been set up, involving a total investment of over 20 billion yuan (2.42 billionUS dollars), with 11 billion yuan from overseas investors. Since April this year, four new joint-ventures have applied to be established in China, which involve 800 million yuan (96.6 million US dollars) in foreign capital. Currently, China's ports handle 9 percent of domestic cargo transportation and 85 percent of cargo in foreign trade. Given the rapid growth of China's foreign trade, ports are expected to see an annual increase of 10 percent in freight volume,rising from the current 1.6 billion tons to 2 billion tons in 2005. Given this rapid growth trend, the law will help tighten government supervision and improve port administration and operation, said an official with the Ministry of Communications.

From http://news.xinhuanet.com/ 06/28/2003

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New Law Protects the Great Wall

BEIJING - It was built to protect China from nomadic invaders in the north, but now the Great Wall of China is in need of protection itself. To save one of China's greatest landmarks from commercial encroachment, Beijing has restricted development close to the Great Wall and made it a crime to damage its structure, Chinese newspapers reported. No new development will be permitted within 500m of the wall, while commercial activities within 3km of it must undergo a special approval process, the reports said, quoting a new law passed on Thursday. The law bans carving, painting, or plundering of stones or bricks from the wall, and prohibits developers from setting up shops and stalls on it, the Beijing Times reported. It also restricts hiking and climbing along its unrestored sections. Authorisation will be required for television and movie productions and other large-scale events using the wall, the paper reported in its Friday edition. It said violators would be punished, but gave no details. The law would represent the most concrete legislation to date protecting the 624km of wall within the district of Beijing from threats posed by economic development and growing numbers of visitors. Already, chunks of the wall have been carted away to build homes or knocked down to make room for roads and buildings. Developers lease land at the wall's base for hotels and houses, while visitors strew garbage across its surface and carve their names into its bricks. Preservationists have long advocated legislation to protect the wall and its natural setting. They have called on the regional authorities to strictly enforce laws to save the wall from further destruction. A spokesman for one group, International Friends of the Great Wall, said yesterday that parts of the new law appeared encouraging but could not comment further before seeing the law's full text. Beijing has restored about 20km of the wall for tourists to visit. The rest lie in its weathered state that the new law appears intent to keep undisturbed. The wall is about 3,000km long and stretches from the sea coast east of Beijing to Gansu province in the western desert.

From http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/ 06/29/2003

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JAPAN: Wary of China's Debut at G-8

For President Hu Jintao, it's a chance to meet world leaders. The Asahi Shimbun Chinese President Hu Jintao makes his diplomatic debut on the world stage next month when he attends the North-South dialogue session on the sidelines of the Group of Eight summit in Evian, France. While Hu's presence does not signal a formal invitation for China to join the club of rich, industrialized nations, it marks a sea change in how China is viewed as a major power. Japan, for one, welcomes China's participation in the North-South dialogue session as it offers an opportunity for Tokyo to improve its ties with Beijing. Japanese officials are eager to point out that the two countries share several issues of concern, primarily North Korea's nuclear weapons development program. But when it comes to China's participation as a full-fledged G-8 member, officials are more circumspect. One factor working against China is its Communist Party leadership, which goes against the philosophy of G-8 nations advocating democratic political systems and open-market economies. On the other hand, some Foreign Ministry officials regard China as more capitalistic than Russia, and therefore eligible to join the G-8. Officials also note that a regional disproportion exists among G-8 nations, with five situated in Europe. If China strengthens its involvement in summit meetings, Asia could gain more sway, or so the theory goes. But that could mean that Japan's presence would diminish, say some officials. For Hu, it will be his first opportunity to mingle with world leaders. As for China itself, Beijing resolutely intends to actively contribute to North-South dialogue, said Zhang Qiyue, the Foreign Ministry's deputy spokeswoman. ``Recovering world economic growth and addressing globalization are issues common to both developed and developing nations,'' she said recently. China, the world's most populous nation, shunned G-8 meetings in the past because the annual summits group together the world's most advanced nations. However, diplomatic sources in China said the decision to participate on the sidelines this year was because of an invitation to join the North-South dialogue. ``Judging from the development level of China, it is not yet eligible to participate in the G-8,'' said Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Liu Guchang, who will accompany Hu to Europe. ``We have always respected the influence of the G-8 nations in our relationship with them.'' Wang Yizhou, deputy head of the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, expects the G-8 to allow China to come aboard within three to four years. In Tokyo, Foreign Ministry officials are cautiously encouraging China. ``China's participation shows that it is prepared to become more involved in regional and global issues,'' said an official. In the past, Japan has worked hard to get China admitted to summit meetings with observer status. At the Naples Summit in 1994, when Russia first participated in political discussions, Foreign Minister Yohei Kono, who attended the meeting on behalf of Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, proposed that G-8 nations consider inviting China. Similarly, at the Kyushu Okinawa Summit in 2000, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi tried to invite China, but was unsuccessful. Another problem concerns Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, which enrage Beijing. That could hinder talks between Hu and Koizumi when they meet in St. Petersburg on May 31. The underlying hope, though, is that Japan and China can learn to trust each other and be friends.

From http://www.asahi.com/ 05/29/2003

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Japanese Businessmen Slam Labor Policy

The Seoul Japan Club invited Minister of Commerce, Industry and Energy Yoon Jin-shik to a breakfast meeting Friday, at which the members had bitter comments on the Korean government's labor policies. Established in 1997, the Seoul Japan Club is a social gathering place for some 300 Japanese businessmen working in Korea. Having been invited right before President Roh Moo-hyun's first Tokyo visit, Minister Yoon naturally expected more discussions on economic issues such as FTA with Japan in the meeting. However, the Seoul Japan Club members had more realistic concerns in mind. President of the Seoul Japan Club Nobuya Takasugi (Fuji Xerox Korea Chairman): "When inviting foreign companies, government support and labor relations are more important than investment opportunities themselves. The Doosan Heavy Industry case broke the principle of 'no-work-no-wage' to settle the walkout. I was also disappointed by the government's unfair judgment in resolving the truckers' strike. These cases are bad precedents that would hurt the reputation of Korea in the global market. I would like to ask the government to help establish fair labor-management relationships. Unstable labor relations make the Korean economy unpredictable, and that would hinder Korea's vision to rise as the economic center of East Asia." Gaznasa Goga (Tokyo Mitsubishi Bank Korea Branch Manager): "After the financial crisis in 1997, the Japanese wanted to follow the way Korea graduated from the IMF bailout package early with financial reform and restructuring. However, they are rethinking the Korean model since the SK Global case and credit card abuses this year. Also, group egoism has become a buzzword in Korea, and that makes foreign investors reluctant to enter the Korean market." Hitoshi Morino (Toray Korea President): "Korea's labor culture is far from the global standards. And I am afraid that the government hasn't shown any sign to lead the labor culture to better fit the global standards. Japanese companies operating in Korea propose plans to reform labor-management relations every year, but there hasn't been a fundamental change." Fumimichi Ebina (Mitsubishi Electrics Korean Branch Manager): "Korea needs to redefine labor-management relations. Twenty years ago, I visited AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations). At that time, Japanese automobiles made an entry into the United States with great success, and there were arson cases all over the States. I asked the AFL-CIO officer how it deals with an individual strike case and overall vision of the labor union, and he responded that a microscopic approach to an individual case will not help with long-term labor issues. He said the union should consider whether its activities help the national development, whether they increase the number of jobs, and whether they enrich the quality of individual lives. I wonder if Korean labor unions have a paradigm to reflect their activities on a national level." Kazuo Hirata (Investment Advisor for the Japan External Trade Organization [JETRO]): "Many autonomous regional government bodies are holding investment fairs in Japan, but they all fall into mannerism. It's a total waste of time and taxpayers' money. The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy used to issue the volume of direct foreign investment every month until last September, but the statistics have only come out every three months since then. It feels like the ministry announces the number often only when the record is favorable, and tries to hide it when the market is weak." Kiyotaka Okuda (President of S1): "I hope the Korean government can be more thoughtful about the families of Japanese businessmen and workers. They are having a hard time using public transportation, for example. I hope Japanese families can enjoy their time in Korea." Minister Yoon said in his speech that the government's ground pursuit of stable labor relations and a flexible labor market remains unchanged, and that the public power will intervene only when labor-management tension cannot be resolved through negotiation and concession. Yoon added that the labor issue is the biggest challenge for Korea, but that dialogue and negotiation are the principles. While some criticize the government for making too many concessions, Yoon defended that the government stick to its principles. (by Lee In-yul)

From http://english.chosun.com/ 05/30/2003

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METI Paper to Call For Creation of E Asia Business Zone

TOKYO - The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) will call for the creation of a business zone in East Asia as part of efforts to enhance economic tie-ups with the rest of the region in an annual paper to be released in early July, ministry sources said Thursday. The 2003 White Paper on International Trade will say the envisioned business zone in East Asia should be modeled on regional economic integration in North America and Europe, the sources said. (Kyodo News)

From http://www.japantoday 06/20/2003

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New Law Sees 15,000 Fewer Drunk Drivers

The number of people charged with drunken driving fell by more than 15,000 in the year since a tougher traffic law went into force on June 1, 2002, the National Police Agency said in a report released Thursday. The report says police took action against 202,985 offenders in the one-year period, down 15,392 from the corresponding period in the previous year. The number of fatal traffic accidents involving drunken driving fell by 357 to 830 during the same period. The NPA said a majority of the offenders were driving under the influence of alcohol. While 108,000 offenders had an alcohol concentration of more than 0.25 mg per liter of breath, 99,609 measured between 0.15 mg and 0.25 mg, a new category of drunken driving introduced under the revised Road Traffic Law. The NPA said 2,368 drivers were fully intoxicated. It said 54,005 driver's licenses were revoked in the 12-month period, up 65 percent from the previous year, and the number of offenders who had their driver's license suspended for more than 90 days rose by 36 percent to 166,214. The NPA attributed the surge to tougher provisions in the new traffic law, which raised the penalty points for drunken driving. 13 years for deathsOSAKA (Kyodo) A 26-year-old man was sentenced to 13 years in prison for killing four people in a traffic accident that occurred while he was driving without a license and under the influence of alcohol. The Osaka District Court found Seiichi Imai guilty of violating the Road Traffic Law and reckless driving resulting in death and injury. A fifth person was hurt in the incident, which occurred at an intersection in the city of Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, in January last year. According to the Justice Ministry, it is the heaviest punishment yet dealt for a fatal reckless driving charge since revisions to the traffic law that made motorists more accountable for such driving came into force in December 2001. Presiding Judge Yoshifumi Asayama called Imai "a lethal weapon on wheels" and said the emotional pain suffered by those who lost their loved ones was great. A couple and their two daughters were killed in the head-on collision, while a woman in Imai's station wagon was injured.

From The Japan Times 06/20/2003

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Japan Upgrades Missile Defence Plan

Japan plans to use advanced interceptor missiles to strengthen its defence system amid fears that North Korea has up to 170 medium-range missiles aimed at the country, a daily newspaper said yesterday. The Security Council of Japan and the cabinet will adopt a plan to allocate funds for two types of missile systems - Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) and Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) - in late July, the Yomiuri Shimbun said, quoting government sources. The Government intends to begin the 200 billion yen ($A2.54 billion) defence program as early as April 2007, the newspaper said. The plan comes after the Government unofficially learnt that Pyongyang had 160 to 170 medium-range Rodong missiles aimed at Japan and that it might have acquired technology to reduce the size of nuclear weapons so they can be mounted on ballistic missiles, the report said. The SM-3, to be mounted on Aegis-equipped destroyers, intercepts ballistic missiles in space. The PAC-3 is designed to intercept missiles closer to Earth's surface, during their descent. SM-3s and PAC-3s are the newest versions of vastly improved missiles developed by the US.

From http://www.theage.com.au/ 06/22/2003

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Japan's 1st Emergency War Bills Enacted

TOKYO - Three war-contingency laws were enacted Friday as they passed the House of Councillors, marking the first time Japan has enacted such legislation in the postwar era. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration had set its sights on getting the set of bills through the Diet during the current session. The administration is now likely to shift focus to another security-related issue - a new law allowing the dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to Iraq. In the plenary session of the upper house, the ruling bloc, led by Koizumi's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), supported the legislation defining the government's response to a foreign attack on Japan or perceived threats of such an attack. The opposition camp was split over the bills with the largest Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and the smaller Liberal Party backing them and the two others - the Social Democratic Party and the Japanese Communist Party - opposing them. The three bills were passed by the House of Representatives on May 15. One of laws specifies decision-making steps by the government so that the SDF and the U.S. military can act smoothly and effectively in the event of armed attacks or perceived threats of attacks on Japan. The two others are revisions of the SDF Law and the law on the establishment of the Security Council of Japan. Japan has never had such legislation since World War II and the bills had stirred public concern that the envisioned laws could run contrary to the war-renouncing Constitution. "I feel times have changed," Koizumi said Thursday evening, commenting on the bills' passage at an upper house committee before they were sent to the plenary session. The government submitted the bills to parliament in April last year during a time when the public had become less apprehensive about such legislation following events like the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, and amid growing fears about unstable regimes like North Korea. But they had become bogged down in parliament on concerns that the definitions of an attack or a perceived threat of such an attack were too vague. The DPJ and some LDP heavyweights also said the set of bills focused too much on administrative procedures and failed to stipulate what civil servants should do to protect people in the event of war. But the LDP and the DPJ struck a deal in early May to revise the bill for the new law on attacks before the lower house cleared the package of bills. The revised version says possible restrictions on people's freedom and human rights guaranteed in the Constitution must be limited to the minimum, and that provisions related to the protection of human rights must be respected to the maximum.

From http://www.japantoday.com/ 06/06/2003

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SOUTH KOREA: Roh Calls for New Labor System

President Roh Moo-hyun said Sunday that he is planning a new system to ease Korea's labor strife, which he called a danger to the country's international competitiveness. "I will never allow labor and management relations to injure international competitiveness," Roh said. "Within the next one or two years, I will make a plan to systematize labor and management relations, in order to raise industry competitiveness." The president made the statement at a luncheon with 26 financial figures, including Sohn Gil-seung, chairman of Federation of Korean Industries. Roh has been urged to focus on developing good labor and management relations, said Lee Hae-sung, chief delegate for public relations. "The labor union has power because it can burn its bridges by conducting a strike. In the same manner, from the company's point of view, talks and negotiations that are not on the premise of law and principles cannot be allowed to happen. There is no change in the fact that talks and compromises are regarded as coming first. However, we must not pursue matters where the entire country's economy is sacrificed for the benefit of a few," Roh said.

From http://english.chosun.com/ 06/01/2003

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Regulator to Enforce Sterner Listing Rules

In the future, listings on the main market or the Kosdaq market are to be immediately appointed as supervised shares if their firm has been reported to the prosecution on book-rigging allegations. Those shares expelled from the markets for accounting fraud will not be able to be re-listed for the next three years. In a plenary session on Friday, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) passed a revision measure setting forth the sterner market regulations. The regulator said that the measure would take effect on Monday. The current market regulations have dealt with accounting chicaneries by giving slaps on the wrist, such as a trade suspension for one day and immediate re-listing when the expelled firms meet listing criteria. Shares are appointed for supervision when the listed firms are highly likely to face management trouble. Investors usually avoid buying such shares.

From http://english.chosun.com/ 06/13/2003

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BOK Revision Bill Stirs Debates

The National Assembly is to hold its first hearings Monday on a revision bill submitted by 126 assembly members. The bill deals with the central bank's regulations and is aimed at reinforcing the bank's independence. Officials from the Ministry of Finance and Economy (MOFE), the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) and the Bank of Korea (BOK) itself are expected to deliver their positions on the issue during the hearing. The revision bill stakes out a more independent system of operation for the BOK, including a new appointment system for private-sector members on the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), the bank's top decision-making body for currency policies, a new right for the bank to audit financial organizations exclusively, and the abolishment of the requirement for government approval prior to the implementation of the bank's budget. The MOFE has officially said that it would oppose a revision of the central bank laws, as the bank has been operating its currency policy independently. The BOK, however, called for the passage of the revision bill, claiming that under the current regulations, the government could intervene and hurt the neutrality of the bank. Both the rival camps predicted that the fight over the revision bill would take a long time to resolve. A high-ranking senior official at the opposition Grand National Party (GNP) said that he does not expect the bill to be settled in the current special session of the assembly, suggesting that the conclusion on the bill could come in the main session in September. (by Park Yong-keun)

From http://english.chosun.com/ 06/15/2003

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N Korea Threatens to Step Up Weapons Plan

North Korea on Wednesday threatened to accelerate its nuclear weapons programme and dismissed US calls for multilateral dialogue, dashing hopes of an imminent diplomatic solution to the crisis. Pyongyang's comments came as Colin Powell, US secretary of state, said there was "no issue of greater urgency to the US" than North Korea's nuclear weapons programme. Washington has been pressing Pyongyang to enter five-party talks about the nuclear issue, involving the US, North Korea, China, Japan and South Korea. However, Pyongyang said it was becoming clear that the US offer of dialogue disguised "a plot to take harsh measures against us". North Korea's foreign ministry said: "We will step up the strengthening of our nuclear deterrent force as a justified self-defence measure to counter the threat increasing daily from the US strategy to isolate and stifle North Korea. "Talks between the US, North Korea and China in April ended in acrimony after Pyongyang used the meeting to admit for the first time that it possessed nuclear bombs. Washington declared the Beijing talks a "useful" start to the diplomatic process but called for Japan and South Korea to be invited to future meetings. Mr Powell, attending a meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations in Phnom Penh, said Washington was committed to working with other countries to resolve the nuclear crisis. "The sooner North Korea realises this and agrees to an expanded forum, the sooner we may find a way to solve this problem," he said. "We can't help a North Korea that does not abandon the goal of having nuclear weapons. "China appealed to both North Korea and the US when Li Zhaoxing, the country's foreign minister, said that all countries should work for a peaceful solution to the nuclear dispute and avoid "actions or words that could irritate the other side". A European diplomat in Seoul said further talks were likely despite Pyongyang's resistence, pointing out that North Korean statements can rarely be taken at face value. However, he cautioned that a negotiated solution to the crisis would be difficult to reach. North Korea has demanded security guarantees and economic assistance in return for abandoning its nuclear programme but the US has refused to offer any reward for Pyongyang's disarmament. The US has insisted that it would prefer a diplomatic resolution while not ruling out sanctions or military action. Plans by the US and its allies to clamp down on North Korea's lucrative trade in missiles and illegal drugs could be the start of efforts to put pressure on the country's fragile economy. In addition to its admission to possessing nuclear weapons, North Korea has also claimed to be reprocessing spent fuel rods that could be used to produce more weapons-grade plutonium. US officials admit they do not know whether Pyongyang is bluffing. (by Andrew Ward)

From http://news.ft.com/ 06/18/2003

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Roh Promises Robust Increase in Defense Budget

President Roh Moo-hyun said Saturday his administration aims to raise the nation's defense spending back to the level before the foreign exchange crisis of late 1997. This means Roh is willing to boost the defense budget from its current 2.8 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) to 3.2 percent for next year, as requested by the Defense Ministry. ``The government will seek to increase its spending on defense to the pre-crisis level,'' President Roh said during his speech to Defense Minister Cho Young-kil and 127 top Army brass at the Armed Forces Headquarters near Taejon. However, the government will try to arrive at a national consensus on increased defense spending and hike the nation's defense budget gradually, vice presidential spokesman Kim Man-soo quoted Roh as saying. ``Defense spending needs to be increased to ensure independent national defense. The country should have the military power to defend itself under any circumstances.'' President Roh also stressed that North Korea should abandon its program to develop nuclear missiles to guarantee peace on the Korean Peninsula, Kim said.

From http://times.hankooki.com/ 06/22/2003

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GNP Submits New Bill on Payoff Scandal

The main opposition Grand National Party yesterday referred to the National Assembly on a bill calling for the appointment of a new independent counsel to look further into the allegation that the former Kim Dae-jung government bought the 2000 inter-Korean summit with North Korea. The GNP's action came as the independent counsel office wrapped up its 70-day probe into the so-called cash-for-summit scandal. The counsel asked President Roh Moo-hyun to allow the extension of the probe to get to the bottom of all the suspicions surrounding the scandal, but the president turned down the request. Angered by Roh's refusal, the opposition GNP has threatened to push ahead with a fresh bill to appoint a new special prosecutor. The GNP said it would pass the bill through the National Assembly on June 30 or July 1. But the ruling Millennium Democratic Party, which was founded by ex-President Kim Dae-jung, has vowed to thwart any unilateral attempt by the GNP, which controls the National Assembly, to railroad the bill. Under the bill submitted by the GNP, the independent counsel would look into a new allegation that Kim's top aide, Park Jie-won, took 15 billion won in bribes from Hyundai leader Chung Mong-hun before the two Koreas held their historic summit in Pyongyang in June 2000. It also stated that the counsel can extend the period of the probe, if necessary, and he or she has no need to obtain the approval from the president to do so. However, political analysts said in the event that the opposition GNP passes the bill through the National Assembly, the ruling party will certainly ask Roh to veto the proposal. The GNP has 153 seats in the 272-member National Assembly, while the MDP controls 101 seats. The special probe into the North Korea payoff scandal started after the GNP unilaterally passed the old bill on the appointment of an independent counsel to deal with the case through the parliament, one day after Roh's inauguration as president on Feb. 25. The president has ignored the ruling party's plea to veto the bill and made it into a law, hoping for the probe not to undermine inter-Korean cooperation and exchanges.

From http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/ 06/26/2003

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INDONESIA: Money Laundering Bill Sent to House for Deliberation

The government submitted on Monday a bill to the House of Representatives to amend the antimoney-laundering law amid increasing pressure from the international community to cooperate in the struggle against money laundering. Yunus Husein, the chairman of the Financial Transaction and Report Analysis Center (PPATK), said that the State Secretariat submitted the draft law to the House on Monday afternoon after it was approved by President Megawati Soekarnoputri. "Hopefully, it (the deliberation process) will be completed during this sitting period. Leaders of the House have pledged their commitment in speeding up its deliberation," Yunus told The Jakarta Post by phone on Monday. PPATK is a body tasked with analyzing and investigating questionable financial transactions. The submission of a new draft law came in the wake of threats from the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) to take tough action if Indonesia failed to meet its target of completing the amendment of Law No. 15/2002 on Money Laundering crimes before September 2003. Yunus said the FATF had warned that it may impose high-risk premiums on all financial transactions by Indonesian financial institutions with their offshore counterparts. Yunus said the organization was set to have a plenary meeting from June 18 to June 20 in Berlin to discuss actions to be taken against countries listed as Non-Cooperative Countries and Territories (NCCTs). "They will review our progress. So they may take us off the blacklist or impose a new deadline (for Indonesia) to speed up the amendment process," Yunus said. Indonesia remains on NCCT's list, despite the anti-money laundering law passed in April 2002 amid pressure from foreign donors, particularly the U.S. in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, in an attempt to cut the financing of terrorist groups. However, the law was considered insufficient as FATF demanded that some clauses be revised to meet international standards. Rampant corruption and weak legal enforcement have made Indonesia a safe haven for crime, analysts have said. Key clauses in the draft law include one that shortens the time period for banks to report suspicious transactions from 14 days to three days. The draft law also revokes a clause in the current law that requires banks and financial institutions to report any suspicious transactions valued at Rp 500 million or more. The clause will be replaced with one stipulating that all dubious transactions have to be reported to authorities. Unlike the current law, the bill has a clause banning banks or other financial institutions from passing on information about the reported transactions to other parties. Money laundering is the practice of converting money generated from corruption, bribery, smuggling, bank-related crimes, drug-related crimes, human-trafficking, gambling and terrorism into legal investments. Based on past reports, funds alleged to have been part of money-laundering networks reach about 2 percent to 5 percent of the world's gross-domestic product or about US$600 billion. Chronology of Indonesia's antimoney-laundering law June 2000: Indonesia is put on the list of Non-Cooperative Countries and Territories (NCCTs). April 2002: The government passes Law No. 15/2002 on Combating Money Laundering crimes and establishes the Financial Transaction and Report Analysis Center (PPATK). February 2003: In a plenary meeting in Paris, FATF decides Indonesia remains on the NCCT list but no countermeasure sanctions are imposed. The agency also demands Indonesia to amend the newly enacted antimoney-laundering law. June 2003: PPATK meets with representatives of FATF in a preliminary meeting before a plenary session of FATF scheduled for June 18 to June 20 in Berlin. (By Fitri Wulandari)

From http://www.thejakartapost.com/ 06/10/2003

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House Passes Education Bill

The House of Representatives endorsed the controversial education bill on Wednesday despite the absence of the largest faction, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).In its letter read out by deputy House secretary general Faisal Djamal, PDI Perjuangan said it would stick to the previous agreement signed by representatives of all factions to delay the endorsement until June 17 in order to give the House time to disseminate information on the bill to the public. The plenary session was adjourned overnight to allow the PDI Perjuangan faction to present its view of the bill after it boycotted the assembly. "We originally agreed with the substance of the bill, we just want time for dialog with the people and religious leaders to ease the controversy," PDI Perjuangan legislator Noviantika Nasution told The Jakarta Post by phone. The party's chairwoman, President Megawati Soekarnoputri, reportedly ordered the faction to push for a delay due to the opposition. PDI Perjuangan faction members boycotted the plenary session on Tuesday, forcing lengthy lobbying that resulted in an agreement to postpone the bill's passage for a week. It remains unclear why PDI Perjuangan, the largest faction with 153 seats, made the belated move. Debate on the bill began on Oct. 1, 2001 and the faction did not clearly communicate its opposition to the bill until the final day of deliberations on June 9. The bill has apparently divided the nation by religion, with most of Muslim community in favor of it and the minority Christian community against it. The two sides have persistently put pressures on the House to heed their demands. A PDI Perjuangan legislator and a close aide of Megawati who requested anonymity, acknowledged the party chairwoman was late in understanding the substance of the bill. Despite their faction's approval, a number of legislators expressed their opposition to the bill, including Tunggul Sirait, Gregorius Seto Haryanto, Arnold Nicolas Radjawane, Manasse Malo from the Love the Nation Democratic Party (PDKB), Berni Tamara and Emanuel Blegur both from Golkar. Spokeswoman for the Indonesian Nationhood Unity (KKI) faction Astrid Susanto said that although the bill made some progress, it also contained controversial articles. KKI joined PDI Perjuangan in opposition to immediate endorsement of the bill on Tuesday but voted in favor of it on Wednesday. Golkar legislator Baharuddin Aritonang admitted that the debate on the education bill could not be separated from the vested interests of the parties ahead of the 2004 elections. He said political parties, including Golkar, agreed to endorse or reject the bill to win the hearts of constituents or lure votes ahead of the 2004 elections. Like PDI Perjuangan, Golkar is a nationalist-oriented party. It took the House just one hour to complete the session, which was chaired by House deputy speaker Muhaimin Iskandar. Representing the government, Minister of National Education Abdul Malik Fadjar asserted the need to disseminate the bill to the public in a bid to reduce controversy and tension. The minister admitted he met President Megawati on Wednesday afternoon to tell her the intentions of the seven House factions. "As the President, she let the House continue its agenda," Malik told the press after the plenary meeting, which ended at 8:30 p.m. Nur Iskandar Albarsany of the National Awakening Party (PKB) and Priyo Budi Santoso of Golkar regretted the absence of the PDI Perjuangan faction, saying it would give Megawati a pretext not to sign the bill. The 1945 Constitution states that a bill will come to effect within 30 days of the House's endorsement, even without the President's approval. Highlights of the education bill Article 7: All citizens aged between seven and 15 years must obtain basic education. Article 12: Central and regional administrations must provide funds for the education of citizens aged between seven and 15 years. Article 13 (1): Each student has the right to get religious instruction by teachers of the same faith. Article 37: Educational subjects must consider: Improvement of faith, good conduct, potency, intellectuality, talent, development needs, demands of the industrial sector, religion, and national unity. Article 68: Individuals or institutions that issue illegal education certificates face a maximum 10 years in jail or Rp 1 billion (US$120,000) fine. Article 71: Thesis fraud punishable by two years imprisonment or Rp 200 million fine. (By Kurniawan Hari)

From http://www.thejakartapost.com/ 06/12/2003

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Experts Urge Enactment of Constitutional Court Bill

Legal experts urged legislators and the government on Wednesday to finish the deliberation of the constitutional court bill soon and to establish the court before the Aug. 17, 2003 deadline set by the 1945 Constitution. Solly Lubis, an expert from North Sumatra University (USU), suggested that the government take the spirit and optimism of the legislators into account. "The constitutional court will be the key to our commitment in law enforcement. The deliberation must go ahead," Solly told The Jakarta Post after a hearing on Wednesday with the House committee in charge of the bill's deliberation. Firmansyah Arifin of the National Consortium for Legal Reform (KRHN) said the government's demand for revisions to the transitional provisions of the Constitution showed its reluctance to finish the deliberation. Both experts were responding to a statement by Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra, who suggested the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) to amend transitional provisions in the Constitution to delay the establishment of the constitutional court. The formation of the court was mandated last year in the amended 1945 Constitution to handle constitutional disputes. The transitional provisions also stipulate that until the court's establishment, the Supreme Court would be vested with this authority. Yusril said the government doubted the lawmakers would be able to finish within the set timeframe, so he preferred that the transitional provisions be amended in order to extend the time of deliberation. Although the idea might be logical, Firmansyah said it would only add to the burdens of the Supreme Court, which has about 17,000 backlog cases at present. "The House must optimize its deliberation process and finish the bill as scheduled," he said. Legislator Baharuddin Aritonang of the Golkar faction, who was a member of the ad hoc committee in charge of constitutional amendment last year, regretted the government's discouraging response. He said revisions to the transitional provisions could revive the classical debate on the amendment to the constitution. "This may lead to demands for revisions of other articles in the Constitution," he said, referring to those groups who rejected the constitutional amendment last year. Aritonang suggested that the lawmakers work during their recess between July 8 and Aug. 18 to meet the deadline for the establishment of the constitutional court. The House will have to pass the bill long before the Aug. 17 deadline to give ample time for the President to endorse it, the related institutions to select judges and the head of state to install them. The bill stipulates that the court is to have nine judges, with the President, the House and the Supreme Court to choose three judges each. At the hearing presided over by Zainal Arifin of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), Solly emphasized the necessity for separating the judicial role of the constitutional court from the political role of the Assembly regarding impeachment. Solly was referring to the authority of the constitutional court to assess any alleged misconduct or abuse of power by the President. (By Kurniawan Hari)

From http://www.thejakartapost.com/ 06/26/2003

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WTO to Review RI's Economic, Trade Policies

Member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are to assess Indonesia's economic and trade policies over the past four years on Friday in Geneva, to see whether or not the policies have violated the WTO ruling, said a top official at the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The ministry's director general for international cooperation, Pos M. Hutabarat, will lead the Indonesian delegation at the WTO Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM) meeting. Pos will be accompanied by several officials, including those from the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) and Bank Indonesia. Pos said that the meeting would also examine the impact of Indonesia's policies on multilateral trade. During the two-day meeting, all the 145 WTO member countries will provide an assessment of Indonesia's economic and trade policies, based on a report prepared independently by the WTO Secretariat. Pos said the report followed a survey conducted in February by the WTO Secretariat, which studied all economic and trade policies issued by the government since 1998, shortly after the country plunged into a combined economic and political crisis. "The meeting is important for us, as we can use the occasion to assure the international community that Indonesia's policies are still in line with the WTO," he said. Pos said that those policies likely to be questioned at the meeting might include the licensing of textile imports, a ban on mining activities in protected forests, import tariffs on luxury cars, a ban on the import of U.S. chicken drumsticks and the diplomatic ties between Indonesia and Israel. Article XI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) stipulates that no WTO member is allowed to impose any prohibition or restriction on international trade other than duties, taxes or charges, whether they are made effective through quotas, import- or export licensing or other measures. Minister of Industry and Trade Rini MS Soewandi, however, has issued several protective decrees that limit the import of several commodities, such as textiles, sugar, clove and steel. On Oct. 30, 2002, Rini issued a decree that allowed only textile producers to import textile products following repeated complaints by local producers over the influx of illegally imported, cheap textiles, mostly from China. Pos said the decree did not go against the WTO ruling, as Indonesia had notified the WTO textile committee of the decree in May 2003. "We will fight for the decree, as we want to prevent the sale of illegally imported textiles here, which has created unfair trading and inflicted losses on local textile producers," he said. Another of the much-criticized policies is a decree issued on Sept. 24, 2002, which drastically reduced the number of sugar importers, from 800 to only four companies. Analysts have repeatedly warned that such protective policies would only harm the country's reputation among the international community. (By Adianto P. Simamora)

From http://www.thejakartapost.com/ 06/26/2003

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LAOS: Lao Women's Union Prepares Legislation Relating Children and Women

In an attempt to protect the benefits and rights of children and women, the Lao Women's Union held a workshop on legislation relating to children and women on 18 June. The workshop was chaired by Mme. Onchanh Thammavong, President of Lao Women's Union. It was attended by representatives from the concerned sectors. In order to administer and protect the rights of women and children, any new legislation must meet the requirements of the Party's new socio-economic development plan, custom, culture and international treaties, Mme Onchanh said in her speech to open workshop. For this reason, the Lao Women's Union, being children and women's best representative and organiser, together with non-governmental organisations and other concerned sectors, should prepare the draft legislation relating the rights of children and women. This follows an agreement with the National Assembly and the Government. The workshop's objective was to exchange a variety ideas from veterans, experts, and personal sources, who could contribute to the legislation regarding children and women's rights. Item ends

From http://www.kplnet.net/ 06/19/2003

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MALAYSIA: Property Projects Still Being Approved

State Governments and local authorities are still approving unnecessary property development projects in spite of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad directive to stop because of the serious overhang. Housing and Local Government Deputy Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui said the ministry only issued licences to developers. "When the State Government approves the project and the developer complies with the licensing conditions, we have to issue the licence," he said after launching the Fifth Malaysian Surveyors Congress. He said the ministry had no authority to overrule the State Governments. A recent report by the National Property Information Centre (NPIC) revealed that the combined value of the property overhang as of the end of last year was RM29.15 billion, which has increased from RM27 billion in 2001. Unsold property comprises housing, industrial and retail shop units unsold after nine months of their launch dating back to January 1997 as well as vacant shopping complexes and purpose-built office space. As at the end of last year, the country has close to 60,000 residential units, 2,200 industrial and 9,700 shop units unsold, besides close to 1.38 million square metres of shopping complex space and 2.76 million square metres of purpose-built office space still empty. Chin said the ministry was studying the NPIC statistics and had also asked the Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association (Rehda) to confirm the figures, so that the Cabinet could be advised on the matter. On June 10, Dr Mahathir directed State Governments to stop approving unnecessary property development projects as the overhang in the sector was serious. He also urged local authorities not to be influenced by developers wanting to implement more projects without due consideration for their marketability. Institution of Surveyors Malaysia vice-president Ong See Lian said developers should not jump onto the bandwagon and put more houses into the already-saturated market without careful evaluation of demand. He also said that a recent survey by the Board of Quality Surveyors revealed that only 10 per cent of the 270 registered consulting firms had the capacity and the ability to expand their services overseas. (by Annie Freeda Cruez)

From http://www.emedia.com.my/ 06/19/2003

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Malaysian Youth Service Bill Attacked

PENANG - Malaysia's proposal to introduce national military service for youths has already come under fire. But there is a new threat: if the bill is approved in parliament - as it likely will be - the critics could be penalized. Parliament heard the first reading of the National Service Training Bill 2003 on Tuesday. The bill is expected to be passed in the current sitting of parliament. Already opposition politicians have expressed alarm over several provisions in the bill, which make it an offense to oppose national service after the bill becomes law. So the wisdom on the street is: if you want to criticize the bill, better do it now while you can. An elected representative who opposes the national-service program faces disqualification from parliament or the state assembly. Other Malaysians who criticize the bill could be barred from running for office. Anyone who instigates others to oppose the program could face a fine of up to RM10,000 (US$2,630) or up to two years' jail, or both. The proposal comes at a time when Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is bidding farewell to delegates of his United Malays National Organization, which is holding its annual party assembly in Kuala Lumpur over the weekend. Mahathir is due to step down in October, a general election is expected soon after, followed by UMNO party elections in the middle of next year. The national-service scheme is supposed to be aimed at instilling patriotism and loyalty and fostering national unity and discipline among school graduates. Initially, the plan was for 20 percent of the 480,000 18-year-olds to be enlisted for three months at a cost of RM500 million ($131 million). An earlier proposal for a longer period covering all graduates was shelved because of the huge costs involved. There also appears to have been a shift in emphasis from boosting defense and national security to instilling patriotism and national unity. Critics have pointed out that the bill has now considerably widened the targeted group to make any citizen or permanent resident between the ages of 16-35 liable to be called up. Various groups have already expressed concern at the government's apparent haste in pushing the bill through the present session of parliament without giving the public and elected representatives sufficient time to study and debate such an important proposal. Neither have the findings of four cabinet subcommittees - on curriculum, finance, logistics and law - been disclosed for public discussion. It was only on June 13 that Defense Minister Najib Razak revealed selected details of the plan, which would include basic military training, and courses on patriotism and personal development. Critics have argued that if the government is really keen on tackling ethnic polarization, it should examine the root causes. They point out that deep-seated problems such as ethnic polarization and disenchantment cannot be corrected by a three-month program. Analysts argue that ethnic polarization has been aggravated by the tendency toward racial and religious politics every now and then. This is largely triggered by ethnic- and religious-based political parties - both in government and in the opposition - that tend to fan communal sentiments in the hope of winning support. These parties pay lip service to national unity and harmony while in practice championing the interests of their respective groups. Not surprisingly, this spills over to the public - reinforcing primordial ethnic and religious sentiments that hinder attempts to realize genuine national unity. The definition of "patriotism" has also raised concern. In the past, the government has appeared to equate loyalty to the country with loyalty to the government. Any criticism or dissent is interpreted by some quarters as a sign of lack of patriotism. Civil servants and academics have already been made to swear an oath of allegiance not just to the nation but also to the government. Others wonder whether the national-service scheme is being introduced with political considerations in mind, especially the coming general election due by the end of 2004 but expected to be held earlier. In the last general election in 1999, some 680,000 new voters were denied the chance to vote, as their registrations were not processed in time for the polls. Many of them were disenchanted young people who wanted to express their unhappiness at the ballot boxes. Upset with the ouster and jailing of ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim in 1998, these would-be first-time reformasi voters felt that they could make a difference at the ballot box. In the months after reformasi was unleashed, many registered themselves as new voters. In the event, they were unable to vote, as Malaysia's Election Commission takes several months to process voters. Now that they are on the electoral rolls, these young voters could make a difference in constituencies where the ruling coalition parties squeezed through with slim majorities. In the last general election, the ruling coalition won with 55-56 percent of the popular vote. This time, the new voters - if they are still disenchanted - could make a difference in many closely fought seats. "National service" could also be aimed at forcing Muslim and non-Muslim youths to mingle together - a tacit acknowledgement that 11 years of school education has somehow failed to foster meaningful, genuine interaction among the various ethnic and religious groups. Many young Muslims, disillusioned with corruption, abuse of power and other social woes under the present government, have also gravitated toward the opposition Islamic Party, PAS, in search of an alternative model. Whatever the real objectives of the proposed national-service scheme, it could do with a dose of critical re-evaluation of its objectives. If the aim is to foster unity and loyalty, the question of allegiance to whom must be answered honestly. Love for country is not the same thing as love for the government. (by Anil Netto)

From http://www.atimes.com/ 06/21/2003

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Malaysia to Allow Foreigners Full Ownership in Manufacturing

Malaysia is to allow international companies to fully own their manufacturing operations in the country, in a key concession to foreign investors. The policy change marks a significant reversal in the government's 30-year policy of trying to promote the economic interests of the ethnic Malay majority by requiring foreign companies to give a 30 per cent stake to Malay interests. The bumiputra policy of affirmative action for ethnic Malays has been considered an obstacle to foreign investment in Malaysia amid tough international competition, particularly from China. "In continuing efforts to further improve the investment climate, the government has decided to fully liberalise equity holdings in all manufacturing projects with immediate effect," said Rafidah Aziz, the international trade minister. Foreign direct investment in Malaysia has been falling over the past few years, including a 40 per cent drop last year to M$11.2bn (US$2.9bn, €2.5bn, ¡ê1.8bn). "The Chinese give 100 per cent equity and we don't. Well, [foreign investors] say [they will] go to China. So we have to compete on even terms," said Ms Rafidah. The new rules will apply to new investors or those expanding their operations, although the government said it was prepared to adopt a "flexible" attitude to existing investments as well. Although foreigners must still meet bumiputra requirements in the service sector, including the financial industry, Ms Rafidah indicated the policy would be relaxed further. The bumiputra policy was adopted in the early 1970s after race riots underscored the poor economic condition of the Malay population in the multiracial country, where business was dominated by the ethnic Chinese minority. The government has claimed the policy has been successful in raising living standards for ethnic Malays in the past 30 years, with its requirement that they must have a 30 per cent stake in all listed companies. However, Mahathir Mohamad, the prime minister, has recently suggested phasing out the bumiputra policy because ethnic Malays have become too dependent on it, while saying that Malaysia needs more foreign investment if it is to achieve sustained economic growth. The government has chipped away at the bumiputra requirements for foreign investors in recent years. Factories geared for exports were allowed complete foreign ownership in the late 1980s and this was extended to some other manufacturing sectors in the late 1990s. The latest move may also be linked to efforts to improve relations with the US, Malaysia's biggest trading partner and foreign investor, in the wake of Dr Mahathir's blistering criticism of Washington for the war in Iraq. (by John Burton)

From http://news.ft.com/ 06/24/2003

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Dewan Rakyat: New Law on Underground Car Parks Being Drafted

THE Government is drafting legislation to compel owners of buildings with underground car parks to ensure they are safe. Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting said the Ministry was directed at yesterday's Cabinet meeting to submit guidelines for the drafting of the law. He said it would do so in a few days' time. He said owners should have by now upgraded the security of their underground car parks, especially in view of recent incidents. The Ministry, he added, would hold talks with shopping and commercial complexes managers' association as well as representatives of local councils to get practical suggestions for the guidelines. Speaking to reporters at the Parliament lobby, Ong reminded owners that the commercial premises' parking regulations issued before, stipulating safety measures they had to take, were still effective. "There is no compromise on requirements that they have to ensure the parking areas are well lit, installed with adequate number of closed circuit television sets and sufficient security personnel." When asked on the validity of signs at parking areas that building management would not be held liable for any unwanted incidents, Ong said this was unbecoming. "Some premise owners do this to run away from the responsibility of making their underground car park safe. Also reminding local authorities not to forget cases of sexual assualts and murders that had taken place before, he urged all local councils and the Kuala Lumpur City Hall to install and monitor CCTV at crimeprone areas, expecially pedestrians' tunnels and parks. Female MPs concerned with the escalating crime and assault against women later gathered at the lobby to express their worry. Datuk Napsiah Omar (BN-Kuala Pilah), said the duty of ensuring premises were safe must be better ad-dressed by the authorities. Referring to the Canny Ong case, Chong Eng (DAP-Bukit Mertajam) urged the police and Road Transport Department to ensure their computer systems were operational at all times so that a repeat of "system-downunable-to-check-details" could be avoided. "This is something within their control," she said.

From http://www.emedia.com.my/ 06/27/2003

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PHILIPPINES: JDV Cites House Action on Red Tape Act of 2003

The House of Representatives approved on second reading the "Red Tape Reduction Act of 2003'' which seeks to address complaints of service inefficiency and corruption in government agencies, before its recent adjournment. Speaker Jose de Venecia lauded the efforts of lawmakers, especially the authors of House Bill 6041, in speeding up deliberations and second reading approval of the measure. "No government can claim success without honesty and integrity in the public service,'' he said. Cited for filing the bill were Reps. Antonio Cuenco (Lakas, Cebu), Cynthia Villar (LDP, Las Pi?as), and Emmanuel Joel Villanueva (Partylist, CIBAC). Their proposals were consolidated in HB 6041. De Venecia said the third reading approval of the measure will also be hastened once Congress resumes session next month. "Strengthening the bureaucracy is one vital component under President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's campaign for a strong republic and her efforts to unite our people against poverty and terrorism,'' De Venecia pointed out. Villar said the proposed law imposes penalties for officers and employes found guilty of any violation mentioned among its provisions. The penalties range from one month suspension and fine to dismissal and perpetual disqualification from government service. Any government employe charged under the provisions of the measure may also face the other criminal complaints "from the same act or omission which are punishable under other existing penal laws.'' Villanueva, on the other hand, said the proposed law will clearly stipulate and define the act and omission that constitute violations of public trust. "It is the people paying officials and employes in government. They deserve honest and efficient service,'' said Villanueva. Rep. Fredenil Castro (LP, Capiz) and Danton Bueser (LP, Laguna) said the bill would further bolster government's campaign against graft and corruption in the bureaucracy. "The bill will support the computerized bidding measure that was recently passed by the House. We expect our colleagues to also pass a number of anti-graft bills before the curtains fall in{-qj} 12th Congress next year,'' Castro said. On the other hand, Bueser noted that red tape in the government service are being resorted to by "small time crooks'' in public services. "These crooks are expected to invest fresh ideas to enrich themselves but I do hope we in Congress would not stop putting up counter measures to finally put an end to graft and corruption in the government,'' said Bueser. (by Ben R. Rosario)

From http://www.mb.com.ph/ 06/16/2003

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Govt Insists Education Given Highest Priority

COMPARE apples with other apples. That's how Budget Secretary Emilia Boncodin interprets the results of a study released by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), which showed that the Philippine government's spending on education is the lowest in Asia. Boncodin insisted on Friday that education is accorded the highest priority by the government, contrary to the UNDP report. The budget secretary said she is not surprised with the analysis since the UNDP compared the Philippines with countries with higher national budgets. "Of course, if the pie is big, if you will divide it, the slice would be bigger," Boncodin told The Manila Times. She said that although the Philippines has only a "small pie" of P804 billion, education received the biggest slice at P130 billion. Improving the country's transportation and communi-cations network is the government's second priority with a budget of P59.3 billion, or less than half what is spent on education. "In terms of magnitude, no other agency came close to the budget we have allotted for education," Boncodin said. According to the UNDP, the Philippine government is spending only $138 a pupil annually. Other Asian countries like Thailand have a per-capita investment of $852 and Japan pays out $3,872 each student a year, according to the UNDP. On Thursday, the House minority leader, Carlos Padilla of Nueva Vizcaya, described this scenario as "a regional tragedy," particularly considering that President Arroyo is a former educator herself. Before joining the government, Arroyo taught economics at the University of the Philippines. Boncodin, however, disagreed with this interpretation. "We know how important education is and this would always remain the government's highest priority," Boncodin said. Meanwhile, President Arroyo ordered Education Secretary Edilberto de Jesus to adopt "shifting" schedules to accommodate the increasing number of elementary and secondary students. The President gave the order after she met with local officials of Quezon City to discuss student's safety. In Quezon City alone, the President said 26 elementary schools are holding 50 students to a classroom while two high schools have up to 200 students in one classroom. The President allotted P8 million for the construction of additional classrooms in Batasan Hills. At the same time, the House Electoral Tribunal also allowed Batasan Hills students to utilize its office as a temporary classroom. Earlier, presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said "shifting" is but an initial solution of the government as other necessary steps are being taken to address the need for more classrooms. President Arroyo has approved the release of P40 million to the Department of Education for the construction of new classrooms in public schools nationwide. Currently, the ratio for students in a classroom in public schools is 70:1 which makes teaching and learning more difficult. The advisable ratio is only 35:1. Nearly 20 million elementary and high school students nationwide trooped to schools last Monday. Of this total, more than 17 million attend public schools while only a little more than 2 million are enrolled in private schools. (by Ma. Theresa Torres)

From http://www.manilatimes.net/ 06/21/2003

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No-Smoking Law Signed Absolute Ban in Public Places, Other Restrictions Imposed by RA 9211

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed into law yesterday Republic Act (RA) 9211, the 2003 Tobacco Regulation Act, which imposed an absolute ban on smoking in public places and restricts the packaging, use, sale, distribution, and advertisements of cigarettes and other tobacco products. With Congress leaders who stood as witnesses in Malaca?ang, the President signed the new law in an apparent response to the ballooning mortality rate due to tobacco-related deaths and diseases where about 20,000 Filipinos are estimated to die every year. "With the signing of the new law, the Philippines set a historical precedent as the first country in the world to comply with the immediate call of the World Health Organization (WHO) to regulate the use, sale, and advertisements of nicotine products," Malaca?ang said. The enactment into law of the long-overdue anti-smoking measure, principally espoused and authored by former health secretary now Sen. Juan M. Flavier, coincided with the country's participation with the rest of the global community in observing the "No-Smoking" campaign this month. Under the new anti-smoking law, smoking in public areas is strictly prohibited, notably in "centers of youth activity," location in which fire hazards are present," within the buildings and premises of public and private health institutions, public conveyances and public facilities, and food preparation areas. Specifically, such public places where smoking is absolutely banned include elementary and high schools, colleges and universities, offices, conference rooms, educational centers, hospitals, clinics, restaurants, hotels, elevators and stairways, shops, trains, and other passenger vehicles, gas stations and laboratories, among others. Smoking, a highly addictive habit of most Filipino adults, is only allowed in a separate and enclosed room set up for such purpose by public institutions or establishments or in other places open to the public where there is no "No Smoking" sign posted near or within the vicinity. The new law also provides a minimum age requirement for the sale and purchase of tobacco and limits the sale and advertisements of tobacco within 100 meters from the perimeter of any educational institutions, such as schools, universities and colleges. RA 9211 also calls for a graduated ban on tobacco advertisements on television {-hnj:break}{-cp:9.5}and radio starting on Jan. 1, 2007, and absolute ban on Tobacco ads on cinema and outdoor advertising to take effect on July 1, 2007. It also requires tobacco companies to reserve 30 percent of the front panel of all packages of Tobacco products effective July 1, 2006 for a health warning to be conspicuously printed either Filipino or English on rotating basis or separately and simultaneously. The health warning shall carry either of the following statements, to wit: "Government Warning: Cigarette Smoking is Dangerous to Your Health," "Cigarettes are Addictive," "Tobacco Smoke Can Harm Your Children," or "Smoking Kills." Effective July 1, 2008, the law also strictly prohibits sponsorships by the tobacco companies of sports, cultural or educational programs. Most tobacco firms spent millions of pesos in sponsorships and advertisements. The law likewise prohibits and penalizes tobacco smoking among minors or teenagers below 18 years old, as well as cigarette vendors or distributors with stiffer jail term of 30 days to three years and heavier fines from R500 to 400,000, including administrative sanctions, such as cancellations of business licenses. The education sector yesterday hailed President Arroyo for signing into law the no smoking bill in public places, including school campuses throughout the country. "It's about time the government did something about it, especially in schools so that students will instead buy educational materials instead of cigarettes," Laguna State Polytechnic College (LSPC) President Dr. Ricardo Wagan said. "We salute President Arroyo for this measure. As the saying goes, it's better late than never," New Era University (NEU) President Dr. Corazon Osorio said. "It's beautiful. It does not only reflect on the health and values of students but particularly some professors who are violating the no smoking ban in campuses," Philippine National Association of School Securities Organization President Jose Di?o said. (by Joel C. Atencio)

From http://www.mb.com.ph/ 06/23/2003

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President Arroyo Taps 'Dirty Harry' for Antidrug Role

PRESIDENT Arroyo on Monday thumbed down Sen. Robert Barbers' proposal to create an antidrug "superbody" that would oversee the government's all-out war against illegal drugs, saying the role was already filled competently by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA). On Barbers' recommendation, however, the President appointed former Manila mayor Alfredo Lim as the new presidential adviser on anti-illegal drugs. She also approved the creation of a "special operations group" within the PDEA. Retired colonel Reynaldo Jaylo and retired major Lucio Margallo would be on top of the group. According to presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye, Mrs. Arroyo turned down Barbers' proposal since the antidrug superbody would only duplicate the responsibilities held by the PDEA. The President last week gave Barbers blanket authority to plan and carry out strategies to disable the country's biggest drug syndicates. Bunye pointed out that although Barbers had oversight authority, the PDEA would not be directly under his supervision. "That is not possible under the present separation of powers unless he relinquishes his job as senator," Bunye said. Malaca?ang also welcomed the challenge of Cavite Rep. Gilbert Remulla for members of the Arroyo cabinet to undergo a drug test. "We believe nobody is above the law, so if the situation really calls for it [drug testing], then why not?" Bunye said. The President also called on all political leaders to support her campaign against drugs.She believes narcopolitics is the root of the country's security problems. "For as long as there are elected officials who traffic in drugs, aided and abetted by others in government, we will never decisively defeat this menace," she said in her speech at the inauguration of the Muelle del Rio Linear Park project along the Pasig River in Intramuros. She noted that since the drug trade tends to "enforce silence in the community" the government should have leaders committed to stamping out drug trafficking. "Every citizen must be responsible for the well-being of his fellow men," she said.

From http://www.manilatimes.net/ 06/24/2003

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THAILAND: New Accounting Rules Due

The State Enterprise Policy Office plans to launch a new accounting system for state enterprises next year, aimed at improving transparency and clearly defining the level of efficiency in operations. Puntip Surathin, director-general of the State Enterprise Policy Office, said the new accounting system would identify the extent of state subsidies offered for public services by different agencies. State enterprises such as the State Railways of Thailand, the Bangkok Mass Transit System, the electricity and water utilities all maintain service prices below actual costs due to government policy. Mrs Puntip said the new public service obligation system would allow subsidies to be stripped out of the accounts from actual operating costs. Accounts of the State Railways of Thialand, for instance, would specify in detail the operating costs of each class of service, with the difference in costs and actual ticket prices representing the amount of state subsidies offered. Mrs Puntip said the SEPO was also preparing an assessment system to measure key financial ratios of each state enterprise to help give executives and policymakers a better understanding of the performance of each institution. Agencies with poor return-on-asset ratios and other performance measures would be singled out for specific action. Authorities also hope the new system will help agencies prepare better for eventual privatisation and listing on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. Agencies slated for listing next year include the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, the Metropolitan Electricity Authority, the Provincial Electricity Authority, the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority and the Provincial Waterworks Authority.

From http://www.bangkokpost.com/ 06/09/2003

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PEA Fears Policy on Tariffs to Affect IPO

Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) is concerned that its initial public offering (IPO) scheduled for the fourth quarter of next year, will not be successful due to inequities in the power tariff structure which limits the profitability of the institution. Governor Paichit Thienpaitoon said PEA's offering would not attract investors as there was no clear-cut policy about the power tariff structure which was not fairly distributed among the three power utilities. The other two are Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA) and Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat). Energy Minister Prommin Lertsuridej is looking into the option of hiring a consulting firm to come up with an appropriate tariff structure before PEA's privatisation begins. He said PEA was required to buy power from Egat at 1.70 baht a unit even though its costs had reached three baht a unit due to the construction of an electricity transmission line and being forced to sell power to small users at below cost. MEA has compensated PEA with about 8.4 billion baht per year for the power price subsidy provided to small users but the amount was about 200 million baht short of the subsidisation cost. PEA posted revenues of 145 billion baht last year with a net profit of 3.82 billion, which included a 1.3-billion-baht gain from foreign exchange. But without the subsidy from MEA, the authority would have posted a large loss. PEA plans to invest 11.2 billion baht next year to enable 440,000 households to have access to electricity supply, of which 7.6 billion baht is being set aside for installing home solar cells for unelectricfied areas and the remainder for constructing transmission line systems, linking the existing network.

From http://www.bangkokpost.com/ 06/09/2003

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Import Restrictions Weighed

The Commerce Ministry plans to regulate some luxury goods and liquor imports with strict regulations as part of the government's attempt to reduce imports and improve the country's trade balance, according to a ministry official. Tighter import restrictions would likely be imposed on leather goods, cosmetics and liquor, the official said, adding that the government wanted to discourage consumers from purchasing imported luxury goods. The new requirements will likely see the cost of these imports substantially raised. In the first four months of this year, imports rose 7.2% year-on-year to US$23.2 billion, while exports rose 21.9% totalling $24.8 billion. Thailand's trade surplus soared 180% year-on-year to $1.6 billion. Capital goods dominated, accounting for 44% of the total imports in the Jan-April period, with their value rising 9.6% to $10.2 billion, followed by raw materials and petrol, accounting for 29% and 12% respectively. The import value of raw material and petrol was $6.9 billion (up 18%) and $2.7 billion baht (up 31%). Imports of automobiles and parts as well as other goods also increased significantly in the first quarter. The country imported $904 million worth of automobiles and car parts, representing a 52% year-on-year gain. The value of other goods surged 65.5% to $404 million. The Office of Import Policy Administration, a new agency under the Commerce Ministry, is scheduled to submit a list of products to a committee on import policy administration to be chaired by Commerce Minister Adisai Bodharamik, later this month. The official said the office would urge the committee to consider television and TV tubes as products to be regulated under the import management plan in order to protect consumers from low quality imported products. The office, as secretary of the committee, would submit guidelines for additional import restrictions to the committee to consider, such as having cosmetic imports with Thai-language labels on packaging from overseas plants. Earlier, the committee had issued restrictions on food imports by demanding import food certificates from local authorities. It soon found that existing food certified bodies were overworked inspecting food exports as required by foreign importers. As a result, the committee plans to help those authorities by increasing the workforce and equipment needed to certify food imports.

From http://www.bangkokpost.com/ 06/16/2003

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ISOC Demands Specific Law to Fight Terror

The Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) is demanding passage of an anti-terrorism law in the form of parliamentary legislation, and is supporting the military's request for a national security law. The army has declared it would not be able to effectively combat terrorism without an anti-terrorism law or the new security law. The move follows the government whips' proposal for an amendment to the Criminal Code to include penalties for terrorists and their accomplices. Isoc deputy director Gen Pallop Pinmanee said Thailand, as a United Nations member, must have an anti-terrorism law in line with international standards as it was taking part in the fight against terrorism worldwide, and no criminal laws could cover its actions. A separate and specific anti-terrorism law was necessary as several terrorist groups were moving into Thailand and suspected members of the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist group had been arrested here, he said. Isoc and the military are pushing for a new security law to replace the now-defunct anti-communism law, to legalise anti-drug and border operations by the military. The draft law is now pending deliberation by the National Security Council and the Council of State. Army commander-in-chief Gen Somdhat Attanand said the military still wanted the new national security law because it believed the anti-terrorism law would not cover all kinds of military operations, including anti-terrorism and border security operations. He suggested the revoked anti-communism law be temporarily reinstated until the new security law or the anti-terrorism law was passed. We only ask for a law to protect us. Otherwise we could become defendants for undertaking such operations. No soldier will take part in such operations without the backing of the law. Only police, as law enforcement officers, can do the work. In some cases, police have inadequate tools and weapons to fight terrorism. As we must work together, we need a law to protect us, or it will be difficult for us to work,'' the army chief said. The anti-terrorism draft now being considered by the Council of State was prepared by a panel set up by Supreme Commander Gen Surayud Chulanont. Under the proposed new version of the Criminal Code, any action aimed at causing fear among people or intimidating the Thai government, any foreign government or any international organisation, would be considered an act of terrorism and a criminal offence. Anyone threatening terrorist attacks or giving any kind of support to terrorists would be charged with terrorism under the new version of the Criminal Code.

From http://www.bangkokpost.com/ 06/24/2003

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VIETNAM: Viet Nam Vows to Bid for Early WTO Entry

Viet Nam was determined to accelerate negotiations and become a member of the World Trade Organisation as soon as possible, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said on Tuesday. The country was highly committed to trade liberalisation and considered it the top priority in the country's economic integration agenda, he told the two-day Viet Nam: Readiness for WTO Accession forum. The forum is co-hosted by the National Centre for Social Sciences and Humanities, NCSSH, and the World Bank. "Viet Nam's non-membership of an organisation that has 146 member countries and accounts for 97 per cent of the world's international trade is a major drawback for economic growth, especially in international trade and investment," he said. The Government considered WTO accession important to enlarging Viet Nam's export markets; attracting more investment, enhancing business competitiveness and raising the nation's position in the global economy. But Viet Nam was bidding for the WTO membership at a time when the world economy was experiencing prolonged uncertainties and emerging challenges. "Although becoming a WTO member is not easy, being prepared to stand firm after joining, could be much more difficult," Dung said. Dung said the Vietnamese Government and businesses are aware of the challenges ahead. After 15 years of economic reform, Viet Nam now has one of the fastest growing economies in the world with an impressive record in poverty reduction, the Deputy Prime Minister said. People's living standard has been raised and the nation has enjoyed stable socio-economic stability. It traded with 165 countries and had signed bilateral trade agreements with 72. It had also joined the ASEAN Free Trade Area, AFTA, in 1996, the Asia-Europe Meeting, ASEM, in 1996 and the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation forum in 1998. "But Viet Nam remains a low-income country facing many difficulties," Dung said Viet Nam launched its WTO bid in 1995 and has been granted observer status. It has set 2005 as the target date for its accession. A NCSSHs survey of 160 domestic businesses shows that most are optimistic about entry into the WTO. Ninety per cent believe that joining will generate more economic growth and 86 per cent believe it will improve living standards. Sixty per cent think that the economy will be stabilised and almost 99 per cent are sure that quality of goods and services will improve. But 69 per cent of businesses believe WTO accession could increase the gap between the rich and the poor while 23 per cent are afraid that unemployment will rise. Sixty one per cent of the businesses thought their will be more competition and 46 per cent that more businesses will go bankrupt. Flexibility needed Viet Nam's Trade Minister Truong Dinh Tuyen has called on the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation forum, APEC, to support Viet Nam's early accession to the World Trade Organisation by allowing it to enjoy some flexibility as a less developed nation. Speaking at the APEC trade ministerial meeting on Monday, Tuyen highlighted the measures that the Viet Nam Government had taken in order to help domestic businesses reduce transaction costs and to promote trade. He asked the developed member nations to help the less-developed countries with building capacity and technical support.

From http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/ 06/04/2003

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INDIA: Cabinet Backs Vajpayee, BJP Denies Rift Between PM, Advani

The BJP decided against going through with another ritual to reaffirm faith in Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee's leadership after he called BJP chief Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday to apply the healing touch. Vajpayee and the party decided to bury the leadership controversy - a day after he expressed his displeasure over the party's decision to project both him and Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani as mascots for the next general elections. Vajpayee told Naidu the party should not be too exercised over reports of his remark that Advani would lead the party to victory in the next elections. Naidu should, in fact, "enjoy" the attention he was getting and not lose confidence, Vajpayee said. Vajpayee's call eased tensions in the party. HRD Minister M.M. Joshi, raised the issue at Thursday's Cabinet meeting. He congratulated Vajpayee on his successful European tour and went on to say that the Cabinet hoped he would continue to lead the country successfully. But there was no Cabinet resolution reaffirming faith in Vajpayee's leadership. BJP leaders said Naidu had said on Wednesday that the BJP's candidate for the prime minister's post was Vajpayee and he would lead the party in the next Lok Sabha election campaign. BJP sources said Vajpayee told Naidu the organisation should be readied to fight the next elections. Later, Naidu met Advani to discuss the issue in the context of Vajpayee's call. In fact, soon after Vajpayee told a gathering of BJP leaders at his home on Wednesday that Advani would lead the BJP in the next polls, Advani and Naidu met him and assured him that the party stood behind him. Dismissing reports of differences in the BJP, the RSS endorsed Naidu's statement that Vajpayee was the party's top leader. Asked about Vajpayee's remark that Advani would lead the party to victory in the next elections, RSS spokesman Ram Madhav said: "If you read anything, it shows the mutual respect and confidence among the two leaders." (by Shekhar Iyer)

From http://www.hindustantimes.com/ 06/05/2003

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India Readies Plan for WTO Dialogue

The government on Thursday approved the broad strategy for World Trade Organization services negotiation under which India would be willing to open up several services including health, financial, computer-related, architecture, tourism and book keeping. The strategy approved by the Cabinet Committee on WTO, headed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, made it clear that India was not willing to negotiate opening up of four services -- distributive (retail and wholesale business), legal, posts and courier, and audio-visuals like films. Official sources told PTI that there are a few other services like energy, education, environment, recreation, culture and sports, which could be considered for opening up only after undertaking more studies on these sectors. The government was trying to play a pro-active role in the services negotiations and was willing to open up many of the sectors that included maritime services and urban land services. Under the service negotiations, India has already made its offer to 62 countries, of which 25 have responded including the United States and European Union, the sources said. The strategy was approved by the Cabinet Committee on WTO, which enables the commerce ministry to make the offer in services in consultation with the concerned ministries. The sources also said the negotiations could be bilateral, multilateral and pluralistic and the government would adopt a strategy that would maximize gains to the country while protecting national interest as in any other trade. The General Agreement on Trade in Services provides for categorization into four modes. The Mode 1 negotiations pertain to business process outsourcing, which are generally known as cross-border services like doctors providing consultation to a patient in the US sitting in India through e-mail. Under Mode 1 negotiations, India wanted it to be totally liberalized so that there were no restrictions for carrying out the outsourcing services. Under Mode 4 negotiations, which provides for movement of natural persons, India has been demanding that the bound rate for granting visas for professionals should be substantially increased. To cite an example, under Mode 4, the US has bound itself to give up to 65,000 H1B visas for professionals from outside the country seeking employment. But Washington on its own has increased that number to 190,000 professionals in the face of growing demand in that country. However, it still maintains the bound rate at 65,000 giving it a leverage to lower the number of such visas from 190,000. India is pressing for the bound rate to be raised substantially from 65,000 so that movement of professionals becomes easier. The Mode 3 is related to the flow of foreign direct investment as it pertains to the commercial presence of organisations in various countries. The issue of Mode 3 was crucial for telecom and financial services where there is a sizeable flow of FDI.

From http://www.hindustantimes.com/ 06/05/2003

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Govt to Bring in Christian Adoption Bill

The Centre would bring in a Christian Adoption Bill to speed up the formalities for adoption among Christian community, Union Minister of State for Law PC Thomas said on Sunday. "Catholic Bishop Council India (CBCI) had recommended for such a bill and they have also forwarded the draft of it to the Law Department," Thomas told reporters here. Adoption among Christain was now being governed by the Guardian Act, which caused delay in formalising the process of adoption, he said. At present the Hindu community has separate adoption law and Muslim community has not asked for such a bill, he said. He said there was no proposal before the Government at present to bring out a uniform personal law for all religions in the country.Thomas said he had convened a meeting of state and high court representatives on July two to discuss the matters concerning the development of infrastructure in courts in the state under a Centre sponsored scheme. To a question, he said the initiative for setting up a High Court bench at Thiruvananthapuram should come first from High Court and state government. Currently there was no moves by the Centre to set up a Supreme Court bench in South India, he said adding, "It was a long pending demand and I think at least there should be a case filing facility in South India." He said a CBI inquiry into the Marad caranage, that left nine people dead on May 2, would be proper.

From http://www.hindustantimes.com/ 06/08/2003

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Govt to Enact Law to Protect Data Provided by Foreign Firms

India plans to enact a law to protect unauthorised use of data provided by foreign companies that subcontract to Indian firms, a government official said on Thursday. "We are nearly ready with the draft of the Data Protection Act. It might be possible to enact it in the winter session of Parliament," Secretary in the Ministry of Information Technology, Rajeeva Ratna Shah told a conference in Bangalore. Shah said the law would ensure that data from foreign companies outsourcing to Indian companies would not be revealed to rivals. "This law will increase the comfort level of global companies with outsourcing to India," he said. The National Association for Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) said foreign companies and their Indian partners now rely on informal arrangements to protect confidential data, but a law was needed. "As we expand our global reach, some companies will insist on such a law before outsourcing work to India," Nasscom president Kiran Karnik said. Indian firms, which handle call answering, payroll accounting, telemarketing and other such services for companies abroad, earn a total of around $2.3 billion annually. Their revenues are expected to grow by 55 per cent for the current fiscal. Meanwhile, Nasscom chairman Som Mittal said he doubted legislation introduced in some US states that would prohibit outsourcing would be enacted. Several US states including New Jersey, Maryland, Connecticut and Washington have moved to introduce anti-outsourcing bills. The bills aim to ban outsourcing of data work to overseas companies or workers who are not American citizens. Resistance is building up from some labour unions against subcontracting to India.

From http://www.hindustantimes.com/ 06/12/2003

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China Policy--Vajpayee Falls Back on Nehru's Panchsheel

It was a speech that quoted Rabindranath Tagore, Deng Xiaoping and Lao Zi. But when Atal Bihari Vajpayee spelt out his view of the India-China relationship in a major address at Peking University, the strongest influence seemed to be Jawaharlal Nehru. Not only did Vajpayee consciously echo Nehru's phrases - "tryst with destiny", "when we redeem it", "in same measure", etc. - he even enunciated the principle of Panchsheel. The speech marks Vajpayee's clearest attempt yet to characterise the complex subject of India-China relations. Earlier in the day, Chinese PM Wen Jiabao had reminded Vajpayee of Deng Xiaoping's famous remark to Rajiv Gandhi: The 21st century can only be the Asian century if India and China combine to make it so. Vajpayee quoted Deng in his speech and argued that while India and China will always compete with each other ("there is always a sense of competition between two close and equal neighbors"), the two countries need to "understand the difference between healthy competition and divisive rivalry". In his view, the India-China relationship needed to go back to the co-operation of the past, forgetting the "state of estrangement" and the "dead end of mistrust". The India-China partnership (as he described it) needed to "transcend bilateral relations to encompass international issues". Both countries had "overlapping concerns on globalization", needed "to restore the authority of international organizations which have been undermined in recent months", and wanted to develop "a multipolar world order". Nothing Vajpayee said was very different from the kind of thing that Nehru would say in the 1950s. Significantly, he made no mention of the two major irritants that destroyed Nehru's dream of an India-China partnership from the 1960s onwards: the border dispute and China's role in arming Pakistan. The Indian position is that both irritants can be removed in time. And that India must concentrate on building a relationship with China that looks beyond the border disputes with neighbours. Vajpayee's well-received speech at Peking University was a formal attempt to put the relationship in perspective.

From http://www.hindustantimes.com/ 06/23/2003

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Cabinet Passes Anti-Corruption Lok Pal Bill

New Delhi - The Lok Pal Bill seeking to check corruption in high places and bringing within its ambit Prime Minister was approved by the Union Cabinet on Saturday with plans to get it passed in the ensuing monsoon session of Parliament. The cabinet gave the nod after rejecting a suggestion of a Commission that the Prime Minister be kept out of the ombudsman's purview. The report of the Parliamentary standing committee on the legislation including the recommendation that it be a simple measure and not a constitutional amendment Bill, was accepted by the cabinet, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told reporters. It also agreed to the suggestion of deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani that the Bill should be passed in the monsoon session of Parliament. The committee had submitted its recommendations on December 31, 2001. The Bill was introduced for the fourth time in Parliament on August 14, 2001 and then referred to the parliamentary committee. It was earlier introduced in 1989, 1996 and 1998 but all the attempts had failed in the past. Swaraj said the Government rejected a recommendation of National Commission to Review the Constitution headed by Justice MN Venkatachelaiah that the Prime Minister's Office should not come within the purview of the Lok Pal. The Government, in turn, accepted the recommendation of a Group of Ministers headed by then Home Minister Advani that the Prime Minister's Office should form part of the Lok Pal. The Standing Committee had also recommended that the Prime Minister's Office should come under the purview of the Lok Pal. The Government also agreed with the recommendation of the Standing Committee that the Bill need not be a Constitution Amendment Bill and that it could be a simple Bill. "All the recommendation of the Standing Committee have been accepted by the Cabinet," she added.

From http://www.expressindia.com/ 06/28/2003

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MALDIVES: Land Law Will Bring Constructive Changes: Law Society

MALE (HNS) -- The newly implemented Land Law will bring positive and constructive changes, according to the Law Society of Maldives. Ahmed Muizzu, Vice Chairman of the Law Society noted that the maximum land area for a house will be 4,000 square feet. No person will be provided two plots of land on the same island. If the person does not have state-owned land ("bandaara goathi"), rent has to be paid in accordance with the regulations adopted by the government. Muizzu noted the significance and firmness of the Land Law that mentions the provision of state-owned land, which will be provided only in accordance with the normal procedures. Division of state-owned land and private land, owning of state-owned land, rent of land, and owning of land and buildings have been mentioned in the Land Law. The regulations, which have to be formulated under this law, have not yet been publicized.

From http://www.haveeru.com.mv/ 05/25/2003

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PAKISTAN: Govt Is Giving Top Priority to Development Projects

ROHJAN JAMALI, Pakistan (PNS) - Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali has said the government is giving top priority to the development projects and funds have specially been allocated for the uplift of backward areas. Talking to Nazims and prominent political and social figures in Rohjan Jamali he said the funds have been earmarked in the next year's development budget to bring the backward areas of the country at par with the developed ones. The Prime Minister said the government is working at an accelrated pace to complete the ongoing development projects and launch new ones to bring about a qualitative change in the life of the people. Moreover the construction of roads and initiation of new power projects will help create new job opportunities in the country.

From http://www.paknews.com/ 05/31/2003

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New Rules for NSS Soon

ISLAMABAD: The government would introduce new rules and regulations for national saving schemes (NSS) within a couple of weeks to contain misuse of these schemes by certain quarters. Finance minister Shaukat Aziz said there were indications that people were borrowing from the banks and investing in national savings schemes because of their higher rate of return. Speaking at the launching of Automation Project of the National Savings Organization here on Saturday, the minister said the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has sent inspection teams to the banks to examine the situation and come up with new measures and rules and regulations to address the problem. He said the saving schemes was the most expensive way of borrowing but the government was doing a service and was even providing higher rates of return to the pensioners, retirees and people with limited income to protect their investments. He said that the interest rates were coming down but the government would protect these investments and may expand the social base of these schemes to create a balance between the social responsibilities and borrowing rates. He said the schemes would be redesigned, re-energized and new products would be introduced shortly. Sources said there were reports that people have been borrowing from the normal banking system because of lower interest rates and investing in NSS which have at least 2 per cent higher rate of return. Earlier, he told reporters that Pakistan has asked the United States to write off $1.8 billion bilateral debt and the issue would be raised again during the visit of President Musharraf next month. "We are not going there with a begging bowl", he said when asked whether Pakistan would ask for $10 billion compensation. However, responding to the next question he agreed that Pakistan was asking for $1.8 billion debt write off. "We are asking them to set it aside ($1.8 billion debt) one way or the other", he said. The discussion has already started, he added. The minister said the matter of debt write off would be definitely discussed during the President's visit. He would accompany the President during visit to the US in June. He said he would talk to Alan Larson, the US under secretary of state for economic and business affairs on Sunday on the subject again. He did not agree that Pakistan was asking for $10 billion compensation from the United States for its cooperation in the post 9/11 period. He said it was even beyond one's thinking capacity tobelieve Pakistan lost $10 billion which was 1/6 of Pakistan's total GDP. Asked then how the US Central Command gave the $10 billion figure as loss to the Pakistan economy, the minister said "what they know about Pakistan's economy" and then added "perhaps it was a typo" (typographical mistake). Responding to another question, the minister said the summary on budget date was lying with the prime minister who was currently in his hometown Rojhan Jamali and would be back perhaps on Monday. He said the budget date would be confirmed only on the return of the prime minister. He said the economic survey would be launched next week but date was not final as yet.

From http://www.dawn.com/ 06/01/2003

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Govt to Reduce Poverty by 25 % in Next Five Years

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (PNS) - Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs Senator Shaukat Aziz Saturday said that government was determined to reducing poverty by 25 percent in the next five years. He expressed these views while addressing as chief guest at the launching ceremony of the Education and Schools , Health and Population Welfare Facilities Atlas here on Saturday. The Atlas has been prepared and published by Center for Research on Poverty Reduction and Income Distribution (CRPRID) of the Planning Commission. Minister for Education Ms.Zobaida Jalal, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Dr. Shahid Amjad Chaurdhry, Secretary Planning and Development Division,Dr.Muttawakil Kazi, Director CRPRID,Dr.Mushtaq A Khan and Secretary Health Ejaz Rahim were also present on the occasion. Shaukat Aziz said that government was giving top priority to development sector and Rs.160 billion have been earmarked for the sector in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP ) 2003-04 focusing largely not only on human development and social sector but also on transports, communication and infrastructure, water and power projects. Shaukat Aziz said that reforms introduced by the government in the past three years are producing good results and national economy has also strengthened. The Finance Minister said "Pakistan is at a turning point in its history because we have come a long way in improving our macro economic situation". As a result of these reforms, he said Pakistan's economic growth rate for current fiscal is 5.1 percent. He said that Pakistan is now fourth fastest growing country in Asia after China, Korea and Thailand. Shaukat Aziz said that Pakistan like many other developing countries has a huge social gap which "We have to attack and improve on". He said all this macro economic stability we have attained and do better Inshallah as time passes has to translate into in improving the lots of people and reducing the social gap. Otherwise, he said that all these advantages of economic gains and indicators will be lost. He called for ensuring the efficient, judicious and transparent utilization of the funds for the implementation of the development projects for the benefit of the people in the country. The Finance Minister said that Prime Minister Mir Zafar Ullah Khan Jamali has instructed that National Economic Commission will meet twice in a year while the meeting of ECNEC will meet four times in a year and there will be review sessions with the provinces in order to ensure the proper implementation of the development projects in the country. Shaukat Aziz also called for spending funds wisely and focusing on out come based results of these development projects for the benefit of the people. He called upon all the stake holders to manage for out comes and added that PRSP plan of the government also focuses on outcomes by sector. He added that spending of government is important but the spendings of the Non Government is equally important. Shaukat Aziz on the occasion called for focusing on fighting poverty and improve the lots of the people in the country. He added that government was doing a lot for the alleviation of poverty and improve the living conditions of the common man and will spend more on social sector development. The Finance Minister said that government was effectively checking the un-necessary expenditures in the government departments and focusing more on spendings on social sector development projects. He on the occasion appreciated the efforts and work of the CRPRID. Speaking on the occasion Minister for Education Zobaida Jalal said that government was focusing on social sector development including health and education. She also appreciated the role of CRPRID for the research and data work on eduction, health and population welfare sectors. Zobaida Jalal also highlighted the measures taken by the government for the promotion of education sector in the country.

From http://www.paknews.com/ 06/02/2003

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Income Tax Law May Be Amended

ISLAMABAD: The government is considering various proposals to introduce further amendments in the new income tax law 2001 to make it more user-friendly. A senior official told Dawn on Monday that a committee of senior officials has been constituted to give final touches to the proposals received from all the stakeholders. These proposals, after vetting, would be incorporated in the new income tax law to be effective from July 1, 2003 through the finance bill 2003-04, the official said. Elaborating, the official said that changes are mostly aimed at improving the editorial language of the new law and making explanations more understandable for the taxpayers. The committee would also consider the proposals of reducing the litigation process in the dispute related cases, which resulted into harassment of the taxpayers. The official said the introduction of self-assessment scheme would encourage voluntary compliance, which would reduce the chances of harassment. For the effective implementation of the system, the official said the committee is also considering various proposals for improving the effectiveness of the present dispute resolution system not only to meet the difficulties arising under the present system but also to provide a needed adjustment to a modern self-assessment scheme.

From http://www.dawn.com/ 06/03/2003

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Senate Starts Debate on Finance Bill 2003

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (PNS) - The upper house of the Parliament on Tuesday initiated debate on the Finance Bill 2003 tabled by Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz. Chairman Muhammadmian Soomro who presided over the session read out the Motion and allowed the debate to be held. The floor was given to Senator Mohim Khan Baloch of BNP (Awami) who praised the annual budget for 2003-04 and expressed the hope it will help generate economic activity in the country.

From http://www.paknews.com/ 06/11/2003

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Istanbul Conference: Quiet Concern over Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline's Fate

Corporate executives and energy experts are quietly concerned about the future of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which is viewed as the engine for the Caspian Basin's economic development. Many participants at a recent energy conference in Istanbul raised the possibility that a significant rise in Baghdad's oil and gas exports would change the investment climate and the geopolitical reality for the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan route. Official presentations at the May 27-28 Caspian Oil and Gas Conference generally painted an upbeat picture concerning the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) project. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive]. However, the mood on BTC during private discussions among experts and executives was significantly more restrained. The ouster of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has altered the regional energy outlook. Many believe the prospect of expanded access to Iraqi energy reserves could cause investors to reconsider relatively expensive Caspian off-shore projects and the construction of the lengthy BTC route. Work on BTC is ongoing. On May 23, Georgia's president, Eduard Shevardnadze, attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony, formally launching BTC construction work on Georgian territory. Overall, BTC work is expected to generate thousands of well-paying jobs in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. Over the longer term, Azerbaijan is counting on the pipeline to serve as the main export conduit for the country's abundant energy reserves. At the same time, Georgian officials hope their country's transit role will enable Tbilisi to reduce its energy dependence on Russia. Even though it is already under construction, several recent developments have increased speculation on whether BTC will be able to stick to its existing timetable, under which the pipeline should be operational in 2005. Among the two most significant developments are; growing concern over Azerbaijan's BTC financing; and the state of Azerbaijani President Heidar Aliyev's health. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. In addition, there are unresolved issues ?including the stalemated Nagorno-Karabakh peace process [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive] and the deadlocked Caspian Sea territorial talks [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive] ?that could hamper BTC's ability to realize its full potential. Thus far, Azerbaijan has served as the chief catalyst for BTC, a fact that isn't so surprising since Baku stands to benefit from the pipeline more than any other Caspian Basin state. Of late, however, BTC construction in Azerbaijan has been clouded by financing uncertainty. The International Finance Corp. is withholding a $150 million loan until Baku addresses ecological concerns connected with BTC construction in and around the Borjomi Gorge. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. The IFC is expected to make a final decision on the loan in October or November. In the meantime, some experts are wondering whether Aliyev's recent health woes will force him from the political stage. If Aliyev's forceful leadership is lacking, Azerbaijani officials may be hard-pressed to keep the BTC project on schedule. A serious construction delay or other problem could endanger BTC altogether, given that the project is facing growing competition from other existing and potential energy export routes. For example, Kazakhstani representative Uzakbai Karabalin, president of the government-owned KazMunaiGaz, said that Kazakhstan wants to work with several oil conglomerates, including TotalFinaElf, Phillips and ENI ?to develop a pipeline that will allow Astana to export oil from the giant Kashagan field via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC). [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archives]. Karabalin added that connecting Kazakhstan to BTC is also under consideration, but stressed that if Western investment declined, Kazakhstan would "turn to the East," and explore the feasibility of building a pipeline that could supply China's burgeoning and lucrative market. Kazakhstani participants also indicated that Astana may increase oil swaps with Iran. These swaps already have risen from 50,000 tons a month in 2002 to 180,000 tons in January 2003. At present, Iran is undertaking the expansion of its Caspian port of Neka. Iran is also interested in building a refinery along the Caspian coast. Iranian representatives at the Istanbul conference aggressively promoted Iran as a transit country for Kazakhstani oil via a proposed North-South oil pipeline ?a suggestion supported by a number of participants, including those from the French TotalFinaElf and a small Georgian company that currently specializes in rail transport of Kazakh oil to Iran. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Iran's claim of a 20 percent share of the Caspian is widely viewed as the most significant obstacle to a five-nation accord governing the sea's territorial status. At the Istanbul conference, Tehran's special envoy on Caspian Sea affairs, Mehdi Safari, struck a relatively moderate public stance on the Caspian territorial division question. However, in private, Iranian officials engaged in obstreperous rhetoric. One Energy Ministry official castigated the United States as being "ruled by a 2-percent minority of the population," adding that the Bush administration "went to war in Iraq for oil." The British-educated official identified himself as a "reformer" and a supporter of President Mohammed Khatami. He claimed that the US policy "undermines the reformers like himself." Also at the conference, participants reacted with interest to two pipeline proposals that are designed to relieve congestion in the Bosphorous straits. One presentation concerned the proposed Burgas-Vlore (Albania) pipeline by the Albanian-Macedonian-Bulgarian (AMBO) corporation. Project proponents claimed Burgas-Vlore could offer cheap transit fees due to the ability of the deep water port in Vlore to accommodate large tankers. The other presentation, a Romanian-sponsored scheme called Constanta-Pancevo-Omisalj-Trieste, would feature a pipeline linking Romania, Yugoslavia and Croatia. Meanwhile, Azerbaijani Energy Minister, Mejid Kerimov, in his concluding remarks, called for the expansion natural gas exports to already gas-inundated Turkey, which currently receives gas from Russia and Iran. Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field, one of the largest in Eurasia, is planned to supply 6.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Construction on the planned Shah Deniz-Erzurum pipeline will cost an estimated $3.2 billion, good part of it coming from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. (by Ariel Cohen)

From http://www.eurasianet.org/ 06/02/2003

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China Making Diplomatic Push in Central Asia

China is intensifying its diplomatic activity in the Caspian Basin, seeking to bolster national security interests and secure reliable energy supplies to fuel economic development. Central Asian states, in particular Kazakhstan, are welcoming Bejing's higher regional profile, as China offers an export alternative in an uncertain Caspian Basin energy development environment. A highlight of Chinese President Hu Jintao's first foreign trip as chief of state was a stop in Kazakhstan. During the early June visit, Hu focused on the development of energy-related projects. Kazakhstani officials announced June 5 that the China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) had purchased Astana's 25 percent state in an energy venture known as CNPC-Aktobenumaygaz. In addition, officials discussed several pipeline projects, including the China-Atasu-Alashankou oil route and a gas link to Turkmenistan via Kazakhstan. At the conclusion of the visit, Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev indicated that China was intent on becoming a significant player in the Caspian Basin. "The participation of Chinese companies in the future development of the Caspian shelf is, I think, a timely issue," Nazarbayev said. In a related development, officials in Azerbaijan announced June 4 that China's Shengli oil company had signed an $80 million deal with the Azerbaijani state oil company, SOCAR, to develop the Pirsaat field, located south of Baku. Pirsaat holds an estimated 7 million tons of oil. Prior to his arrival in Astana, Hu met with other Central Asian leaders, including Tajik President Imomali Rahmonov, during a late May meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Moscow. A May 29 report on Tajik state-run television noted that "the positions [of both Tajikistan and China] were close, or the same on the absolute majority of issues." US-based China observers note a sense of urgency in Beijing's growing interest in Central Asia. The region may hold the key to the Chinese leadership's ability to maintain the country's dynamic economic growth pace. The expanding US strategic presence in Central Asia over the past two years has dramatically raised the stakes for Beijing. China imports nearly half the oil it uses, most of it from the unstable Middle East. With demand growing and domestic production unable to meets its needs, China now sees Central Asia as a vital energy source. China's Ministry of Finance estimated that by 2010, the country's annual energy needs will require the country to import 120 million tons of oil per year, up from the 60 million tons it imported in 2002. A pipeline from Kazakhstan to China would help alleviate potential supply problems, experts say, especially if such a route can tap into resources in Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan. At present, China doesn't control enough oil in Kazakhstan to make the pipeline economically feasible. Nevertheless, national security interests are likely to compel China to proceed with the pipeline project. "For the Chinese, a lack of domestic energy supply and a volatile external source is a threat to domestic development," said Matthew Oresman, a research assistant for the Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Washington, DC-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. "They have no strategic oil reserves. There's a certain point where a Kazakhstan pipeline almost becomes a national security need." "The Chinese need a secure route for oil, and Central Asia is a great option," Oresman added. "The Chinese are taking big risks by gambling on places that are far away." For Caspian Basin states, China's rising role in the region is a welcome development. Following the US-British ouster of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship in Iraq, the outlook for Caspian Basin energy exports, especially for the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, has become increasingly murky. US experts and officials have suggested that expanded Iraqi oil exports could hurt Western demand for BTC resources. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archives]. Washington's envoy for Caspian energy issues, Steven Mann, recently indicated that the increased competition could put pressure on Caspian states ?especially Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan ?to reform their legal frameworks to make their respective countries more appealing for foreign investors. Mann's comments stand in sharp contrast to the regional trend over the past few years. Regional leaders, such as Nazarbayev, have exhibited increasing authoritarian tendencies. In recent months, officials in Central Asia have been annoyed by US criticism, mainly concerning political issues and human rights. Some appeared to have become more wary of a dominant US economic and strategic presence in the Caspian Basin, and have sought to dilute Washington's regional influence. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archives]. By engaging China, Central Asian leaders can gain additional leverage in their dealings with Washington, said Richard Bush, the director of the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution. In addition to China and the United States, most regional leaders have maintained strong ties with Central Asia's traditional protector ?Russia. In pursing a "multi-vectored policy," Central Asian leaders hope to utilize the intense competition among regional powers to maximize their strategic and economic benefits. "The Chinese counter or balance the US role in the region," Bush said. "China is [already] the biggest trading partner for many of these Central Asian countries. They want to balance their economic interests." Closer cooperation among China and Central Asian states also offers security benefits for all sides in an area that has witnessed the dramatic growth of militant Islam. The chief vehicle for security cooperation is the SCO. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. At the group's Moscow summit, SCO leaders agreed to speed development of an anti-terrorism center, based in Kyrgyzstan. In addition to combating clandestine radical Islamic activity in Central Asia [for background see the Eurasia Insight archive], the SCO center would focus on containing a Uighur separatist movement in China's eastern Xinjiang Province. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archives]. Some observers, including Bush, characterize the Uighur threat as overblown. "My impression is that they [Chinese leaders] are using terrorism to combat what is basically political opposition," he said. Other US experts suggest that militant activity in Central Asia is more of a symptom, rather than the source of instability. Promoting stability and prosperity in the region requires governments to liberalize their political and economic systems. Oresman said an expansion of Chinese influence in Central Asia would likely hamper liberalization efforts, thus undermining US interests. "If this part of the world is going to stop being a source of disgruntled citizens who turn to terrorism, they have to liberalize," Oresman said. "China and Russia don't have very good records when it comes to promoting liberal regimes." (by Ted Weihman)

From http://www.eurasianet.org/ 06/09/2003

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Policy Makers in Russia Concerned About Possibility of "Losing" Azerbaijan and Georgia

A recent Russian media campaign claimed the United States had prepared a plan for military operations against Iran that would require the deployment of American military forces in both Azerbaijan and Georgia. US and Georgian diplomats labeled the reports "a joke," and even an Iranian envoy in the region described rumors of war as "frivolous." Nevertheless, political observers see the media campaign as a sign of intensifying geopolitical jockeying in the Caucasus. The reports concerning a potential US attack against Iran began with a late May series of articles in the Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily, which is reputed to have strong connections with Russian policy makers. Citing "diplomatic sources," the newspaper alleged May 29 that the "process of getting White House approval" for military operations against Iran "is almost complete." The report went on to say that the attack blueprint would require the deployment of US forces in Azerbaijan and Georgia. "So, forces for the overthrow of the Iranian regime could in the near future be deployed right next to the Russian border," the report said. The next day a second Nezavisimaya Gazeta article suggested that Iran might engage in preemptive military action against Azerbaijan and Georgia if US troops were to be stationed in both counties. Over the next week, a broad array of media reports examined the Iran attack possibility, as well as the implications of the US strategic presence in the Caucasus. For example, a commentary published in the Vremya MN daily focused on the rapidly expanding military contacts between the United States and Georgia, suggesting that the foundation for large troop deployments has already been laid. "It is not an accident that Georgia and the United States have signed and ratified an unprecedented agreement in the military sphere that grants the American troops [deployed] in Georgia broad rights," wrote regional analyst Irina Jorbenadze. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Some Russian political observers believe the media campaign itself was a preemptive strike, designed to intimidate Baku and Tbilisi and discourage them from enhancing their strategic ties with the United States. Accordingly, Russian reports suggested that, in the event of hostilities, Azerbaijan and Georgia would be devastated by an Iranian military blitz. Mikhail Khodarenok, Nezavisimaya Gazeta's military analysts, suggested that Tehran would use Scud and Sahab tactical missiles in a "bombardment [that] would focus on big cities in Georgia and Azerbaijan." Khodarenok added that "fanatical" Iranian ground forces might invade Azerbaijan, predicting that Iranian troops "would reach the outskirts of Baku" within three days. US, Azerbaijani and Georgian officials immediately denounced the reports. The US Ambassador to Georgia, Richard Miles, dismissed the media campaign as "a joke," a characterization endorsed by Georgia's Deputy Foreign Minister, Kakha Sikharulidze, the Prime News agency reported May 30. On June 2, Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze told Caucasus Press that the United States was unlikely to use force against Tehran, noting that "Iran is not Iraq." Meanwhile, Fuad Akhundov, an aide to Azerbaijani President Heidar Aliyev, said in an interview with Ekho Moscvy that the Russian media campaign was "a total lie aimed at torpedoing the improved relations between Baku and Tehran." The US envoy to Baku, Ross Wilson, told the Baku-based web site Zerkalo.az that the Bush administration would like to see changes in the way Iran is governed. But Wilson added that Washington would go about achieving its aims vis a vis Iran "in a way that differs from the [strategy] used in Iraq." Iran's leadership has expressed concern about geo-strategic "encirclement" by the United States. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Yet, even Iranian officials scoffed at the suggestion of looming military action. Mohammad Farhad Koleini, the Iranian envoy to Armenia, told the Arminfo that "it is not worth speaking seriously about them [the US attack plan rumors]." An Iranian Foreign Ministry official indicated that Tehran and Baku would "not allow a third side to create a conflict between them," according to a May 30 report by the Turan news agency. Political analysts in Moscow say Russia's political leadership is unlikely to feel reassured by the vehement denials of Iran attack plan. The media campaign, some say, is a reflection of simmering concern among policy makers in Moscow that Russia is in danger of "losing" Azerbaijan and Georgia. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Indeed, the concerns of Russian policy makers over Moscow's position in the Caucasus now appear likely to expand following a June 10 report in the Wall Street Journal stating that the Pentagon was finalizing plans to expand the US military profile in Azerbaijan and Georgia. According to the report, US military planners say an increased American strategic presence in the Caucasus is necessary to secure Caspian Basin energy export routes and to combat the threat of terrorism. Aleksander Khramchikhin, a leading analyst at the Institute of Political and Military Analysis in Moscow, has said that President Vladimir Putin's administration must utilize all of its political and economic leverage if Russia is to preserve its geopolitical position in the Caucasus. Such comments are indicative that Moscow's maneuvering in the Caucasus is likely to pick up in the coming weeks and months. (by Igor Torbakov)

From http://www.eurasianet.org/ 06/10/2003

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AFGHANISTAN: Huge Problems Over Rule of Law, Security Hold Back Economy

Almost a year since a Loya Jirga, or grand tribal council, put Afghanistan on a democratic development path, the country continues to face daunting security challenges. At the same time, diplomats in Kabul say the Afghan economy, which largely lacks a banking and legal framework, is growing at a snail's pace. Drug cultivation and trafficking constitute major threats to Afghanistan's security. Recent media reports say the narcotics trade may account for up to 19 percent of the Afghan economy. According to Russian Foreign Minister Ivan Ivanov, the "Afghan drug industry" took in $1.2 billion in 2002. The United Nations estimates that average gross income generated from a hectare of opium production reached $16,100 in 2002, up from $7,363 in 2001. The government officially bans opium production, but President Hamid Karzai's weak authority in the provinces has rendered the ban ineffectual. Since Kabul's authority is tenuous in outlying provinces, investors are hesitant to sink capital or send workers to the country. One of the few growth industries in Afghanistan is private security. "Karzai is only the mayor of Kabul," said a Westerner who has found work protecting executives or project sites. Karzai has acknowledged the crisis. He faced down regional warlords on May 19, threatening to quit unless governors in border provinces started paying an estimated $600 million in customs duties to the central bank. A visible flow of money into the government's coffers may help encourage foreign investors to take a risk in Afghanistan. A recent commentary in the local Kabul Times cited three factors that discourage investors: the absence of the rule of law; an inefficient bureaucracy; and pervasive corruption. However, some expatriate observers claim conditions are gradually turning around. "There are very visible signs of improvement," said Ercan Murat, the United Nations Development Program country director. "The economy is moving slowly. People are eager to make a better life for themselves and their families." In an attempt to stimulate the Afghan economy, according to one Western diplomat, the United States is promoting private sector and commercial activities. One American initiative is a monthly business roundtable, which offers potential investors the chance to network with each other and with Afghan government officials. "Over the last two months we've seen a lot more interest in Afghanistan," said the diplomat. The US Commerce Department is hosting a conference on rebuilding Afghanistan in Chicago from June 8 to 10. So far, the most visible American project is a $400-million Hyatt Regency hotel that reportedly will be developed near the American embassy in Kabul. The United States-backed Overseas Private Investment Corporation is providing $35 million in financing and insurance to a consortium of private builders for the potential deal. In July, World Airways - a niche firm specializing in flights to distressed areas - will start flying twice a week from Washington to Kabul, via Geneva. The flights will make it easier for potential investors and aid workers to travel to Afghanistan. The lack of a banking sector has so far posed a major obstacle for investors. The country's Central Bank, in the absence of commercial banks, has assumed some commercial services, such as transferring money in and out of the country. It has, however, done little else. Diplomats in Kabul claim that several foreign banks, including ING Group, the Dutch giant, are contemplating establishing a presence in Afghanistan. ING is supposedly considering opening branches all over the country, diplomats said. But it is unlikely that banks would rush into Kabul without a firm, well-developed banking law. On the bright side, the Afghan currency has shown signs of stabilizing. Afghanistan's Central Bank converted the old, worthless afghani to a new one in January. The old Afghani was so easy to counterfeit that central authorities reportedly didn't even know how many notes were in circulation. The new afghani has remained relatively stable since its introduction. "This has boosted confidence in the afghani," a diplomatic source said. In an effort to stimulate exports, the United States and European Union are reportedly giving preferential treatment to Afghan products, according to a British diplomat. For example, Washington has designated Afghanistan as a "least-developed beneficiary developing nation," which removes import duties from several kinds of Afghan goods. But this apparent boost illustrates how slow and contingent Afghan's economic progress remains. Since Iran gave Afghan exporters the right to use the port of Chabahar with a 90 percent discount on port fees and steep discounts on warehousing charges, many Afghan goods reach the United States via Iran. A Western diplomat says the Americans will probably maneuver to deny Iran the shipping revenue and import directly. As this suggests, there are few simple paths to Afghan prosperity.

From http://www.eurasianet.org/ 06/05/2003

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IRAN: Endorses Russia's Position on Regional Disarmament

Iran on Monday hailed Russia's position to call for making the whole Middle East region free from nuclear weapons, stressing that the yesterday remarks by President Vladimir Putin to the effect illustrated an exact attitude, IRNA reported. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid-Reza Assefi said Iran agrees with Putin's remarks arguing that this was because the Islamic Republic had first taken the initiative to raise the issue and is still persisting on it. He confirmed Putin's remarks that the economic relations between Tehran and Moscow should not be used as a lever by others, stressing that Iran's nuclear programs are meant for peaceful purposes. "Iran's nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes, and the Russian officials have in practice testify to this," Assefi told reporters at his regular briefing. "And President Putin's remarks fall within the same framework." Spokesman also put up a serious challenge to the U.S., inviting American firms to participate in the Islamic Republic's nuclear programs if Washington had serious qualms about Tehran's nuclear ambitions. "I don't think America is worried about Iran's nuclear programs; if they are, we invite them to come and participate in these programs and construct the facilities," he said. Washington has turned up the heat against Tehran in recent weeks, accusing Iran of pursuing an aggressive nuclear program and harboring suspected terror Al-Qaeda elements. The Islamic Republic rejects the charges. Iran says its nuclear programs are transparent and peaceful, aimed at producing 7,000 megawatts of electricity in the next 20 years when the country's oil and gas reserves become overstretched. "Most of these statements are pretexts they (Americans) had told the former (Pahlavi) government to come to Iran and build atomic plants," Assefi said. "We have clearly said we want the nuclear know-how for peaceful objectives. We have other concerns about the country's reconstruction and development and there is no room for nuclear arms in our programs," he added. The official renewed Tehran's preconditions for joining the additional protocol of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), to which Iran is a party, asking Western companies to lift their sanctions against the country's nuclear programs. "The Additional Protocol is a separate issue. It must be confirmed first how the sanctions have affected us while we are a member of the NPT. They (Western countries) must help us achieve the nuclear know-how instead of putting restrictions," Assefi said. He also condemned a recent ruling by a U.S. court declaring Tehran liable for a 1983 bombing of Marine barracks in Lebanon. He stressed that the issue was a repetition of similar measures by Washington against the Islamic Republic. "The court ruling was not unprecedented. We have previously said that the Islamic Republic was not involved in the incident, and that the allegations in that connection are provoked by the Zionists," Assefi stressed.. He said U.S. courts are engaged in political activities instead of practicing legal issues, adding that their verdicts are thus not credible. "It seems that certain circles in the U.S. are beginning to resort to whatever means they can to increase pressure against Iran and to further push forward their hostile policies against the Iran, even if this cost the credibility of the U.S. judicial apparatus," he said. "Such measures will bear no fruit, but will only discredit the U.S. judicial system." A U.S. federal judge on Friday found Iran liable for the 1983 bombing of a U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut which claimed the lives of 241 troops. On the relations between Iran and the European Union, Assefi said both Tehran and the EU are determined to continue bilateral talks with the aim of forging new strategies to strengthen their economic and political relations. "The two sides are currently holding economic talks and have agreed to institutionalize their ties and draw up a new framework for economic and political relations touching all areas," he said. Assefi termed Iran's current negotiations with the European Union "very constructive, transparent and positive," adding that "Of course, the two sides have different views in some cases which is quite natural." "The two sides decided to activate their parliaments due to the very sensitive role they play in support of their governments and social institutions," he added. "An initial understanding has been reached between Iran and the European Union to come up with a commercial agreement and the two sides believe the agreement would meet their mutual iterests," he said. In addition to the political will shown by both governments, any such agreement would necessitate debates on its technical aspect which should not be ignored, Assefi noted. A fourth round of Iran-EU talks for a possible Trade and Cooperation Agreement is ongoing and seeing progress, said the spokesman, reiterating that the two sides are determined to establish serious and long-term ties.

From http://www.tehrantimes.com/ 06/03/2003

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KAZAKHSTAN: Draft Law "On State Property and National Companies"

Tomorrow, on 3 June, a regular session of the scientific expert council by the bureau of parliament mazhilis of the Republic of Kazakhstan will take place, the mazhilis press service informs. According to the press service, a preparation of an expert conclusion on the draft law "On state property and national companies". This document was forwarded to the council as per decree of the chamber bureau as of 4 April of this year in order to carry out its scientific expertise. On the same day in the mazhilis committee for finance and budget will start a review of the government report on the execution of the republican budget for 2002, while in the chamber committee for economic reform and regional development the deputies will meet Norwegian businessmen.

From http://www.gazeta.kz/ 06/02/2003

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Kazakhstan Ministry of Labor and Social Protection Discussed the Draft Law about Social Insurance

"Introduction of Obligatory Social Insurance System" round table meeting has taken place in the Kazakhstan Ministry of Labor and Social Protection with participation of the representatives of the ministries and departments, the State Center for Pension Payments, a group of consultants of the European Union for TACIS project, the Kazakh information agency with reference to the press service of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection communicates. The main subject was the discussion of "About Obligatory Social Insurance" draft law which has been considered in both houses of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan now. The social insurance will be the second level of three-level system consisting of the state social allowances, social insurance payments and payments of employers' responsibility insurance against industrial accidence and occupational diseases. The bill "About Obligatory Social Insurance" will cover three kinds of risks: disability, loss of the supporter and loss of work.It is planned that the law will put into effect on January 1, 2005 in parallel with the introduction of medical insurance system. The sum of deductions into the system will be as follows: 2005 - 1,5% of the employees profits, 2006 - 2%, 2007 - 3%. It must be noted that the employers will be the payers of deductions. The system of social insurance will be organised by means of foundation of the State Fund of Social Insurance in form of non-commercial organisation - joint stock company. The State will be its sole founder and sharer.

From http://www.herald.kz/ 06/17/2003

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Kazakh Parliament Passes Land Reform Bill

ASTANA, Kazakhstan (AP) - Kazakhstan's parliament on Friday passed a bill allowing private ownership of land for the first time in this vast former Soviet republic. Disputes over the bill caused Prime Minister Imangali Tasmagambetov to resign last week. A new government led by Daniyal Akhmetov has since been appointed by President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Nazarbayev has pushed the land reform issue since December, calling it ``the last great step to reforming our agricultural sector.'' The version passed Friday included amendments he had introduced this week. Earlier, lawmakers had argued over how to divide the land into parcels and a moratorium on subleases of property for people who now get free leases from the government. In the version approved Friday, the moratorium on subleases of land was extended to 2005 rather than 2004, because Nazarbayev had insisted more time would be needed to carry out the far-reaching reforms. Opposition parties, including the Communists and Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan, are pushing for a referendum on the land reform proposals. They want more restrictions on sales, thinking ahead to next year's elections and rural residents' widespread opposition to the reform. One-third of Kazakhstan's 667 million acres is used for agriculture, according to the Agriculture Ministry. About half the Central Asian country's population, or about 7 million people, live in rural areas where many don't have enough money to cultivate their land. The legislation was passed in a joint session of both parliamentary chambers. Thirty-two of the 39 senators in the upper house voted for the bill and 54 of 77 deputies in the lower house were in favor.

From http://www.guardian.co.uk/ 06/20/2003

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Parliamentary Assembly of European Council to Submit a Draft Agreement on Cooperation to the Kazakhstan Parliament

Results of the trip of Kazakhstani delegates to the session of Parliamentary Assembly of European Council and meetings in European Parliament in Strasbourg were focused upon during the press conference today in Almaty. Members of Parliament Zhazbek Abdiyev, Zhabaikhan Abdildin, Tatiana Kvyatkovskaya and Vice-minister of Foreign Affairs Kairat Abuseitov underlined that thanks to the meetings a good base was laid down for further cooperation of parliamentarians of Kazakhstan and European Council member states.The delegates took part in the PAEC session on the invitation of chairman of PAEC Committee for Political Issues R. Yakic and worked in the European Parliament between 7 and 9 April. The main mission was to prepare to the meeting of EP Delegation for Central Asia and Mongolia that was dedicated to the discussion of situation in Kazakhstan and prospects of bilateral links. Members of Kazakhstani Parliament reported the reforms conducted in Kazakhstan, marked the availability of problems the legislators and executive power work over. PAEC administration announced to submit the draft agreement on cooperation to the Parliament of Kazakhstan. Regarding European Parliament's resolution in February the arguments of Kazakhstani party were taken into consideration. Administration of European Parliament welcomed the openness and readiness of Kazakhstani power to the dialogue and assured that opinion of official powers will be listened to at evaluation of democracy, human rights, political and civil liberties in Kazakhstan.

From http://www.herald.kz/ 06/23/2003

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UZBEKISTAN: Uzbekistan, Russia Sign Military Cooperation Agreement

A working group of the Russian Federation's military delegation has recently paid a visit to Uzbekistan. They spent two days working with country's representatives on plans for future military and technical cooperation, Uzbek TV reported on 15 June. Following the visit, a delegation headed by Russian Deputy Defence Minister and Chairman of the Committee for Military-Technical Cooperation With Foreign Countries [Mikhail] Dmitriyev paid a visit to Uzbek capital. Plans for military and technical cooperation were thoroughly discussed during a meeting at the Officers' Central House of the Uzbek Armed Forces. After specific agreements concerning the matter had been reached, Uzbek Defence Minister Qodir Ghulomov from the Uzbek side and Russian Deputy Defence Minister Dmitriyev from the Russian side signed an agreement on military and technical cooperation between the armed forces of the two countries.

From UzReport 06/04/2003

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Monetary-Credit Policies Commission Discusses Cash Circulation

Republican commission for monetary and credit policies held an extended session to discuss cash circulation issues. Questions such as timely payment of wages, pensions and transfers, and commercial services were high on the agenda. According to Akhborot insufficient efforts by territorial departments of the commission were deliberately pointed out. Stable operation of consumer goods market, bringing in additional high quality goods were stated as main factors of meeting population's demand for cash. Functioning of wholesale outlets of Uzbeksavdo (Uzbek Trade) and Uzbekbirlyashuv (Uzbek Retail Network) in seven regions was noted as poor. Many of mentioned outlets lack cash and sufficient inventory to perform trade operations.

From http://www.uzreport.com/ 06/18/2003

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Parliament Reviews the Bill " On Banking Secrets"

Uzbek parliament discussed main issues of the bill "On Banking Secret", which passed the first reading on the eleventh session.The bill, submitted previously for nationwide discussion has caused, as predicted, certain resonance in different social groups. Each citizen is a potential client of a bank, and the level of confidence in these relations depends on rating of a financial institution and its ability to ensure privacy of deposits. Ravshan Okhunov, editor-in-chief editor of Bankovskiye Vedomosti (Banking Herald) newspaper comments that the special hot line was operating for a month to accept proposals, which are now generalised and introduced to the bill. The "banking secret" concept is not at all customary for us. It is a complete system of protection and guarantees, storage and granting of information between banks, clients and third parties - mainly law-enforcement bodies. This aspect, in opinion of experts, requires accurate regulation of data distribution. It is offered to introduce completely new regulation, according to which name of a client, sizes of his property, transaction details will be considered as banking secret. Parliament members believe that the bill is more liberal compared to those effective in many other countries. Effectiveness of this document relies heavily on proper enforcement and absence of contradictions during execution and interaction with legislative base of all system. Members of the Parliament committee on budget, banking and finance issues will prepare the final draft of the bill.

From http://www.uzreport.com/ 06/21/2003

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The Federal Government is reportedly considering introducing a flat $5000 allowance as an alternative to paid maternity leave to help low-paid and part-time working women. The Australian says a proposal before Prime Minister John Howard would provide all women having babies with the minimum wage, of about $500 a week, for three months. The scheme is intended to protect small businesses from having to pay compulsory maternity leave, while also helping part-time working women who don't qualify for maternity pay. The across-the-board payment would be available to high-flying executive women as well as hundreds of thousands of women who have no access to paid maternity leave. Mr Howard has been considering various models to support working mothers for some time. "The proposal is indicative of a recasting of the 'white picket fence' stereotype of Mr Howard's attitudes, which springs from his protection of 'family values' and a portrayal of him taken from Liberal Party electoral literature 15 years ago,". Meanwhile Australian Council of Trade Unions president Sharan Burrow said today that John Howard's slow response on paid maternity leave was confusing business and costing workers. She said that businesses were waiting for Mr Howard to act before finalising workplace agreements. The Australian newspaper today reported the federal government was considering introducing a flat $5000 allowance as an alternative to paid maternity leave. All women having babies would receive the minimum wage, of about $500 a week, for three months. Ms Burrow said the proposal was not far short of Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward's plan of maternity leave equivalent to the minimum wage for 14 weeks. She urged Mr Howard to act. "This is the third term he's raised a similar idea but there's been no policy action," Ms Burrow said. "The prime minister should end the confusion about paid maternity leave policy." She said a recent Work/Life Balance study showed 15 per cent of businesses had put workplace agreements on hold until the government revealed its stance. "The uncertainty is stopping business from negotiating for paid maternity leave," she said. "Last month's federal budget contained nothing by way of work and family policy. "The government should support 14 weeks paid leave at least at the level of the minimum wage so that all Australian women can have some income and job security."

From http://www.smh.com.au/ 06/09/2003

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The Federal Government would consider an approach from the United States about basing US military forces in Australia, Prime Minister John Howard said today. But he said there had been no formal US moves to provide bases for US forces as part of a plan to combat terrorism in South-East Asia, especially Islamist extremists based in Indonesia. Mr Howard said neither he nor his senior ministers had been approached about the bases. "We haven't had any approaches," he told radio 4BC. "But clearly if the Americans came to us with a proposal, of course we would consider it. "We'd consider it very carefully, why wouldn't we? We're very close to them. "But they haven't and it doesn't mean that any proposal that would come to us would automatically be accepted."

From http://www.smh.com.au/ 06/12/2003

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LOW-risk offenders will be able to serve part of their sentences at home under new Victorian laws. The Bracks government's controversial home-detention bill, which passed through parliament late yesterday, will allow criminals to be monitored at home by radio transmitters attached to their bodies. However, opposition corrections spokesman Richard Della-Riva warned similar programs in other states had resulted in home-based offenders committing crimes including burglary, receiving stolen goods and armed robbery. "We all know the prison system is at crisis level, with record numbers of prisoners in Victorian jails, but it doesn't mean the government should dump prisoners in the community," he said in a statement. "All Victorians should be concerned that this scheme will proceed without adequate funding." Mr Della-Riva said families would also be disrupted. "It is plain wrong to expect family members to now become correctional officers in their own home," he said. "The home, which should be your castle, now becomes your fortress."

From http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/ 06/12/2003

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The Australian Government said yesterday that it would try next week to get approval for its proposals to overhaul foreign and cross-media ownership laws before Parliament rises for a six-week winter break. A spokesman for Communications Minister Richard Alston said the Liberal-led Government was still negotiating with some independent senators to get the long-awaited proposals approved by the Upper House, where the Government is in a minority.

From http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ 06/17/2003

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CANBERRA (Reuters) -- Australia's main spy agency has been given the power to hold anyone aged 16 and over for up to a week without charge if they are suspected of knowing of terrorist activities. Parliament passed the new powers for the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) late Wednesday after the government watered down a proposal that critics said would create a draconian secret police. Attorney-General Daryl Williams said ASIO now had the tools it needed to identify and prevent planned attacks in Australia. "ASIO can get on with the job of protecting Australians and Australian interests against terrorism and other threats to our security," Williams said in a statement released Thursday. The proposed law changes were unveiled after the September 11 attacks on the United States, but it has taken the conservative government over a year to negotiate their passage with opposition parties, which hold the balance of power in the parliament's upper house. Human rights groups and minor opposition parties criticized the center-left Labor opposition for agreeing to a bill they argue will limit civil liberties and allow ASIO to detain people without having to give a reason or justification. To get the law passed the government agreed to raise the age at which people could be arrested on suspicion they may know of a terrorist act to16 from 14 years. Then, in a last ditch move this week to break a deadlock, the government also agreed that anyone held for seven days could only be detained further if new information came to light.

From http://edition.cnn.com/ 06/26/2003

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NUKU'ALOFA- The Kingdom of Tonga released a statement on Friday defending its position on the Taimi 'o Tonga newspaper ban and its proposed constitutional amendments that have met widespread criticism. The statement says the king's refusal to acknowledge two Supreme Court rulings calling the ban unconstitutional are not unusual in Tonga. The statement also says that under English law, the courts have no right to interfere with the internal proceedings of parliament or the Privy Council, both of which have law-making roles. It says Tonga is doing nothing more than clarifying the demarcations relating to the separation of powers between the executive, the parliament, and the judiciary. And as far as the Taimi 'o Tonga is concerned, the statement says Tonga is simply exercising its sovereign rights in determining who should be allowed to operate a newspaper business in the country. - Pacific Magazine

From http://www.pacificislands.cc/ 06/08/2003

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The Government will not review New Zealand's nuclear policy, Prime Minister Helen Clark pledged yesterday. Trade Negotiations Minister Jim Sutton said last week that New Zealand's nuclear policy might some day change - a remark that drew outrage from the Greens and a demand from ACT that he put his views to the cabinet. Mr Sutton said the country's nuclear-free status could be reconsidered "in the fullness of time" and if it became safer to dispose of spent fuel. But he did not think the ban on nuclear weapons would ever change. Miss Clark yesterday played down Mr Sutton's comments. "He wasn't suggesting that had anything to do with the debate (on a free trade deal with the United States) of recent days or suggesting any review on the part of Government, and there isn't any review on the part of the Government," she said. "That's not something that's on the agenda of this Government." The issue was regularly raised in meetings between senior ministers from the US and New Zealand and the difference between the two countries stances noted. "They would still like to see it changed. We still support it. We've registered that difference," Miss Clark said. "It's been an ongoing issue from the American point of view, just as other issues are ongoing issues for us to raise."

From http://www.stuff.co.nz/ 05/26/2003

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Controversial law outlawing computer hacking is being dusted off by the Government and is expected to be enacted this year after more than a decade of delays. The Crimes Amendment Bill (No 6) creates a series of new offences that make it illegal to intercept, access, use or damage data held on computers without proper authorisation. The bill received its second reading in October 1999 and passed through the select committee process in August 2001, but then stalled to the chagrin of IT industry bodies such as the Information Technology Association. Computer crime legislation was first proposed in 1989 and New Zealand remains one of only a few developed nations not to have specific anti-hacking laws. It is understood the Crimes Amendment Bill may proceed to the house committee stage in parliament within weeks. This is the last step in the legislative process before its third and final reading. A spokesperson for Justice Minister Phil Goff is unable to put an exact timeframe on the bill's reintroduction to parliament, but says Leader of the House Michael Cullen has indicated it will come up soon.It is expected to be given some attention. A spokesperson for Dr Cullen confirms the anti-hacking law is on the radar screen and is a priority. The legislation is expected to be hotly debated by the Greens, who have concerns over people's privacy. The bill will force ISPs to ensure traffic on their networks, including e-mail, can be intercepted by police and the security services. A new offence of accessing a computer system for a dishonest purpose will carry a maximum jail term of seven years in cases where such access results in any kind of an advantage to the person accessing the computer and a disadvantage to its owner. At present, hackers can only be convicted of offences which fall within the gambit of general criminal legislation - such as theft and criminal damage. With the passage of the Crimes Amendment Bill, initiating denial of service attacks designed to put Internet sites offline and deleting or changing other people's data will also carry a maximum seven-year penalty. Intentionally or recklessly damaging a computer will carry a maximum 10-year prison term if it is likely to endanger life. Merely accessing a computer system without authorisation will also become an offence, carrying a maximum two-year jail term. The penalty could apply to employees who access computer systems in their workplace without their employer's permission. Intellectual property law firm AJ Park says the justification for such tough penalties for unauthorised access is that it forces extra costs on businesses to check against and protect themselves from damage. Critics of the bill claim it is unnecessary and that judges have been interpreting laws covering fraud, theft, criminal damage and even trespass sufficiently broadly to bring all activities which need to be outlawed within the ambit of existing legislation. The Police, the Security Intelligence Services and the Government Communications and Security Bureau are exempt from the bill's provisions and can't be hauled up for any breaches. Also exempt will be people under 16, who can't be charged under the bill but are known to be responsible for a significant proportion of Internet-related computer crime, such as denial-of-service attacks. The executive director of the Information Technology Association, Jim O'Neill, said in March last year that the bill was urgently required - warning the delay in the passing the legislation was preventing the full economic potential of information and communication technologies from being realised. Internet Society executive director Peter Macauley says the society doesn't have a formulated position on the bill. However, former executive director Sue Leader cautioned in 2001 that aspects of the legislation might go too far, potentially criminalising actions that might have no malicious intent.

From http://www.stuff.co.nz/ 06/10/2003

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Foreigners will not be able to come to New Zealand to act as sex workers or run brothels if a bid to decriminalise prostitution becomes law. The planned law last night edged closer to being adopted after MPs approved a number of changes to the Prostitution Law Reform Bill. A final vote is expected in two weeks after MPs voted 62 to 57 to move the bill to its final stages before Parliament. Under the changes, no immigration permits will be issued to anyone intending to work as a prostitute, and no one can come here to invest in a brothel or run one. Offenders could be forced to leave the country. The changes are aimed at meeting New Zealand's international obligations to try to stop the trafficking of women and children for prostitution. Under present laws, prostitution itself is not illegal, but associated acts such as brothel-keeping, soliciting and pimping are. Labour MP Tim Barnett's bill aims to decriminalise prostitution by repealing those offences. It also seeks to provide greater protection for sex workers by ensuring that they have the same health and safety protections afforded all workers by law. In other changes agreed by MPs yesterday, local authorities would be able to prevent a building being used as a brothel if that was out of keeping with the "character" of an area or was likely to seriously offend people. Signs for such a business could also be barred for the same reasons. Under a change promoted by Justice Minister Phil Goff, brothel-keepers will be issued with certificates by district court registrars and must not have been convicted of a serious offence such as murder, assault or a sexual crime. Green MP Sue Kedgley's amendment banning radio, television and public cinema advertisements was passed. But some newspaper classified advertising would be permitted. An attempt by Labour MP Dianne Yates to make it a criminal offence to buy sexual services failed. (by Helen Tunnah)

From http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ 06/12/2003

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Sweeping reforms to Britain's judicial system are expected to have little impact on the London-based Privy Council at the centre of contentious New Zealand Government plans for a court shake-up here. Labour wants to end New Zealanders' right to appeal to the Privy Council by introducing a new domestic court, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair has also announced a radical shake-up of Britain's court system. Mr Blair is to create a new Supreme Court as the highest court in Britain and abolish the 1400-year-old post of Lord Chancellor. The intent of the changes is to remove political influence from the appointment of judges, the Lord Chancellor holding potentially conflicting roles as a Cabinet minister, Speaker of the House of Lords and recommending on the appointment of judges. The changes coincide with Attorney-General Margaret Wilson's proposal to scrap appeal rights to the Privy Council and introduce a Supreme Court comprising local judges. Margaret Wilson has been in London, attending a Commonwealth conference on the Privy Council, but the Herald has been told the British changes would have little impact on New Zealand. Victoria University's Dean of Law, Professor Matthew Palmer, said the changes seemed designed to fix an anomaly whereby a political figure could influence the appointment of judges. "I don't think it has any implications for the Privy Council." The Privy Council includes the Lord Chancellor and past Lord Chancellors, some Law Lords from the House of Lords and other senior judicial figures from overseas. Details of the changes have yet to be issued, but it is expected the Law Lords will become judges of Mr Blair's proposed Supreme Court. That should not rule them out of sitting on the Privy Council, which hears mainly overseas appeals and whose powers might be widened by Mr Blair to more domestic matters. Labour MP Tim Barnett, chairman of Parliament's justice and electoral select committee which is hearing submissions on the Supreme Court Bill, said Mr Blair's changes were interesting, but he did not think appeals to the Privy Council would be affected. Acting Attorney-General Pete Hodgson declined to comment. Act justice spokesman Stephen Franks, whose party strongly opposes Labour's planned changes here, said there was nothing in Britain's actions that threatened Privy Council appeals. He said there was no reason House of Lords judges could not sit on the Privy Council if they were simply renamed British Supreme Court judges. Mr Barnett said recently that interest in the Supreme Court Bill was so high that extra public submissions would be received and MPs would consult more widely on the bill, particularly with Maori. (by Helen Tunnah)

From http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ 06/16/2003

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Melbourne - In an interview with Radio Australia, Joseph Urusemal, the new President of Federated States of Micronesia, stated his desires to improve his country's relations with its Pacific Island neighbors. Urusemal, a former Floor leader in the FSM Congress, was sworn into office on May 11th. He said he already had the pleasure of meeting with President Kessai Note of the Marshall Islands when the former passed through Pohnpei. Urusemal is looking forward to meet other Pacific Islands leaders, in order to work together and not undermine each other. The new president also said that he considers the Pacific Islands Forum very important to the FSM because the forum provides the Pacific Islands countries a place to discuss issues of mutual interest and deal with similar problems. Urusemal said he is looking to past FSM presidents for guidance in his new position.

From http://www.pacificislands.cc/ 05/31/2003

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Global Forum III on Fighting Corruption and Safeguarding Integrity

On May 31st, President Roh Moo Hyun addressed the Closing Plenary of the Third Global Forum on Fighting Corruption and Safeguarding Integrity at the COEX Convention Center. The three-day conference on anti-corruption officially adjourned on May 31st with the adoption of the Final Declaration. President Roh attended the Closing Plenary chaired by Justice Minister Kang Kum-Sil, and delivered the speech in front of roughly 1,000 of participants from 123 countries and other dignitaries. President Roh emphasized that corruption has become a transnational issue, requiring concerted and coordinated efforts of every member of today's global community, and commended the Global Forum process in uniting international efforts to fight corruption. He referred to transparency and fairness as fundamental principles with which to guide the administration, and claimed his unwavering commitment to eradicating corruption in all quarters of society. Donald L. Evans, the Secretary of Commerce of the United States, Jan Piet Hein Donner, the Minister of Justice of the Netherlands and Waldir Pires, the Minister of State of the General Correction Office of the Federal Administration of Brazil also gave closing remarks following President Roh's speech. The Closing Plenary later unanimously adopted the "Final Declaration of the Third Global Forum", incorporating the outcomes from the three days of enthusiastic discussions and debates. The Final Declaration reaffirmed participants' common will to fight corruption and safeguard integrity through efficient law enforcement measures and preventive measures packaged under the "Plan of Action". It also called for enhanced international cooperation and adopt the Global Anti-corruption Network to its Annex. The Global Forum is scheduled to reconvene in 2005 Brazil.

From http://www.globalforum3.org/ 06/01/2003

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Waging a Global War Against Corruption

The 11th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) concluded last week in Seoul, Korea, with a set of concrete recommendations from the world-wide anti-corruption movement, including calls to clean up political party financing, deal with conflicts of interest, and institute restraints on "revolving doors" between business and government. The conference highlighted the need to tackle endemic corruption in the health sector and pharmaceuticals industry and focused on an honest and competent judiciary as critical to the rule of law, without which "few benefit, and many suffer." The proposed actions were aimed at heads of state and key government officials attending the Global Forum III, the governmental anticorruption conference to be held in Seoul immediately after the IACC. Over the last 20 years, the IACC has evolved into a leading international anti-corruption conference that gathers practitioners, experts, and activists on corruption to exchange knowledge and experiences about how best to contain corruption and minimize its consequences for poor people in developing countries. This year's conference, held on May 25-28 in South Korea, drew more than 900 leading representatives from the private and public sectors, international institutions and civil society. An active participant in the IACC since 1997, this year marked the first time the World Bank was invited to be part of the Program Committee which shaped the conference agenda. This reflects a recognition of the Bank's increasingly important role in helping to strengthen governance and reduce corruption in countries which seek its help. Over 40 percent of all IBRD/IDA operations now include public sector governance components. Even more important, the Bank's commitment to eliminating corruption has helped inspire a truly global response to the problem. "Corruption remains one of the greatest obstacles to economic and social development," said Helen Sutch, Sector Manager for the World Bank's Public Sector Governance team and a member of the IACC Program Committee. "It undermines development by subverting the rule of law and distorting policy and budget choices, weakening institutions on which society depends, raising the costs of investment, lowering tax revenue while imposing a 'corruption premium' on public expenditure, and in extreme cases destroying the credibility of the state and social order. "Reducing corruption requires a coordinated global response, which is why the IACC is such a significant forum. It unites diverse stakeholders who share the common goal of eradicating corruption through meaningful political and economic reform." The distinguishing theme of the conference was "Different Cultures, Common Values," reflecting the IACC's aim "to nail the great lie that corruption is culturally determined," to quote its chairperson, the Honorable Justice Barry O'Keefe (Australia). The conference traced this theme through workshops focusing on the lessons learned from recent corporate scandals like Enron and WorldCom, to corruption in the arms trade, and to the OECD Convention Against Bribery of Foreign Public Officials, which seeks to stem the bribery from companies in the developed world that undermines development in the poor world. In 1996, World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn identified the war against corruption as critical for development. Since then, the institution's governance and anticorruption work has broadened and expanded. The most recent step in deepening this work and strengthening partnerships in this area was a World Bank-Transparency International meeting led by Wolfensohn on Combating Corruption in March 2003. This meeting concluded with recommendations that could significantly push the frontier of governance and anticorruption work in the Bank.

From http://web.worldbank.org/ 06/03/2003

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CHINA: Shanghai Billionaire Suspected of Stock Manipulation, Tax Fraud

A Shanghai tycoon whose company is under investigation is under police surveillance, suspected of stock manipulation and tax fraud, a newspaper reported yesterday. China Securities Journal, the official newspaper of the Chinese securities regulator, said Zhou Zhengyi, with a personal wealth of US$320 million according to last year's Forbes list, is alleged to use bank loans illegally to invest in stocks and to conduct corporate restructuring involving his listed companies. The 42-year-old Shanghai native, also known as Chau Chingngai in Hong Kong, is also suspected of issuing fraudulent tax receipts and overstating revenues through his complex and complicated affiliated units, the paper said. Zhou is currently the president of Shanghai Nongkai Development Group, which actually controls four listed companies in Shanghai and Hong Kong. He is involved in the agriculture, real estate, expressway construction, trade and finance businesses. The two firms listed in Shanghai are property developer Shanghai Hainiao Enterprise Co Ltd and Daying Modern Agricultural Holdings Co Ltd. The two in Hong Kong are Shanghai Land Holdings Ltd and Shanghai Merchants Holdings Ltd. Nongkai Development Group, which started in 1997 with a registered capital of 100 million yuan (US$12 million), reported total assets of 2.33 billion yuan at the end of 2001. The company, which is believed to have under its umbrella a complicated litany of subsidiaries, lost 2.25 million yuan in 2001. At a press conference held by the Shanghai municipal government on Tuesday, spokeswoman Jiao Yang said Zhou's Nongkai Group was being investigated for questionable business operations. There was no official comment from the company, however a receptionist at Nongkai denied reports that government officials were at the offices to check its books. "I don't see any person here as you described. Everything is going on as normal," said the receptionist. She refused to give her name. Mo Yuk-ping, Zhou's wife and chairman of Shanghai Merchants Holdings, was also questioned by Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption. Reports from Hong Kong said Mo has been freed on bail of HK$10 million (US$1.3 million). But official confirmation was not immediately available. Share trading in Zhou's two listed units in Shanghai were suspended yesterday pending the release of important statements. On Tuesday, yuan-denominated Class A shares in Shanghai Hainiao dropped 4.61 percent to 10.13 yuan and shares of Daying Modern Agricultural closed 5.26 percent lower at 9.71 yuan.

From Shanghai Daily 06/05/2003

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China Replaces Top Navy Officers Over Sub Disaster

The government has replaced the navy's two top officers in a move apparently connected to a deadly submarine disaster in late April, the worst acknowledged military accident since the Communist takeover in 1949. The state-run New China News Agency said today in a brief dispatch that the navy's commander, Adm. Shi Yunsheng, and his chief political commissar, Adm. Yang Huaiqing, were stepping down. Chinese reporters said they were told Shi and Yang were leaving their posts because they bore command responsibility following the deaths of 70 sailors and officers aboard submarine No. 361, which sank during maneuvers in the Bohai Sea in late April. State-run media still have not revealed the cause of the tragedy, discovered when fishermen noticed the submarine's periscope bobbing at the ocean surface. Those on board apparently suffocated. Bernard D. Cole, an expert on the Chinese navy at the National War College in Washington, said the dismissals "showed an accountability we have rarely seen before." The news report said Shi was replaced by Adm. Zhang Dingfa, the former commander of the North Sea Fleet who since November had been the commander of the Academy of Military Sciences, the top research arm of the Chinese army. Zhang is known as a rising star in the military and is believed to be close to Xu Caihou, the military's top political commissar. The pair worked together for years in the Jinan military region. Cole said Zhang's appointment to the top naval spot so soon after he had won the prestigious position as chief of the military academy was a clear sign that the decision to replace Shi was linked to the submarine accident. James Mulvenon, an expert on Chinese security issues at the Rand Corp., said the decision underscored the government's complex and troubled progress toward creating a professional military. "In our system we regard accidents like losing aircraft or accidents on a submarine as the cost of doing business," he said. "In their system it's still much more political." Zhang became commander of the navy in November 1996 and his tenure was marked by a period of intense expansion of the force's firepower and diplomatic profile. Zhang also led the navy into the open seas, supervising official visits to U.S. and Canadian ports, and trips to the Middle East and Europe, the farthest a Chinese navy has sailed since Zheng He, a eunuch from the Ming imperial court, sailed Chinese galleons to the coast of East Africa about 600 years ago. (by John Pomfret)

From http://www.washingtonpost.com/ 06/12/2003

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New Monetary Policy Committee Unveiled

The People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, unveiled its new monetary policy committee Monday, which acts as a consultant to the bank. Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the bank, serves as chairman of the committee, while 12 other high-ranking economic and financial officials or experts were appointed as its remaining members. They include You Quan, deputy-secretary general of the State Council, the central government, Zhu Zhixin, vice-minister in charge of State Development and Reform Commission, and Jin Liqun, vice-minister of Finance. The other members include two central bank vice-governors, Li Deshui, director of National Bureau of Statistics, Guo Shuqing, director of State Administration of Foreign Exchange, Liu Mingkang, chairman of China Banking Regulatory Commission, Shang Fulin, chairman of China Securities Regulatory Commission, Wu Dingfu, chairman of China Insurance Regulatory Commission, and Xiao Gang, president of China Association of Banks and governor of the Bank of China. Li Yang, director of the Institute of Finance under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, also sits on the committee. Leading officials with the central bank said it was the first time that the deputy-secretary general of the State Council in charge of financial affairs was included in the committee. China Banking Regulatory Commission and China Association of Banks were also included in the committee for the first time. The committee was initially set up in July 1997.

From Xinhua News Agency 06/17/2003

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Disease Control Center Replanned

China has decided to relocate its national disease prevention and control center from downtown Beijing to an outskirt an area in a bid to improve its disease prevention capacity. An official with the Planning Commission with the Beijing municipal government said that Baishan Township in Changping District had been selected as the site for the new center of disease control (CDC). The Chinese central government made the decision to build a new CDC to house the existing one, including 11 research institutes in Beijing's city proper, said the official. The officials further noted that the planned national CDC, which is expected to cost 1.52 billion yuan (nearly 200 million US dollars), was designed to raise the country's capacity to monitor and control contagious diseases and non-contagious chronic diseases, and guard against and prevent biological and chemical terrorist activities. The new site will cover an area of 55 hectares with planned floor space totaling 170,000 square meters. Construction of the center is expected to be completed before 2008.

From China Daily 06/19/2003

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Suspended Death Sentence Upheld for Ex-Provincial Governor

A Beijing appeal court on Friday upheld a suspended death sentence for former governor of southwest China's Yunnan province, Li Jiating, who was convicted of corruption. In the verdict, the Beijing Municipal Higher People's Court upheld the first trial ruling by the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court that sentenced Li to death with a two-year reprieve. Li was convicted of taking over 18.1 million yuan (US$2.2 million) in bribes from early 1994 and July of 2000 when he served as deputy Party secretary of Yunnan provincial committee, and vice-governor and governor of the province. The intermediate court gave its verdict based on the fact that Li had worked in cooperation with the law enforcement departments after his arrest, and all of the bribes were retrieved. The court also ruled that all Li's personal property be confiscated. The Beijing higher court rejected Li's appeal, maintaining that the verdict by the city's intermediate court was justified.

From Xinhua News Agency 06/20/2003

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JAPAN: Seventh Central Disaster Prevention Council

The seventh Central Disaster Prevention Council was held at the Prime Minister's Official Residence. At the meeting, the Council approved the "Guidelines for Tokai Earthquake and Disaster Prevention Measures," the basic plan of measures to be taken for Tokai earthquake, based on the report from the Expert Committee on Tokai Earthquake. In regard to the holding of the United Nations World Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction (tentative name) in Hyogo Prefecture to commemorate 10th anniversary of the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Disaster in January 2005, the Council decided in advance of Cabinet approval on a basic policy to hold the conference. The Council also decided to establish new expert investigation committees, including a committee to study a wide-area disaster prevention plan for the southern Kanto area and a committee to study natural disaster countermeasures that harness the capacities of the private sector and the market. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi who stood to make his opening remarks, referred to the earthquake of May 26 that was centered in the waters off Miyagi Prefecture and said, "We may not avoid any outbreaks of natural disasters, but are able to reduce the damage by prior preventative measures" to emphasize the importance of disaster prevention measures.

From http://www.kantei.go.jp/ 05/29/2003

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Keep Political Donations Transparent

Stung by a series of corruption scandals since last year, the ruling-coalition parties have begun talks aimed at updating some of the rules governing the financing of political campaigns in Japan. The Liberal Democratic Party seeks to raise the legal limit on donations that do not require disclosure of a donor's name -- to 300,000 yen a year from 50,000 yen at present. The party says the current standard is so severe that it discourages many prospective donors, thus putting a damper on bona fide contributions. But disclosure of donors' names, as well as donations themselves, is essential to ensure transparency and openness in campaign funding. Raising the disclosure limit goes against these principles. The Political Funds Control Law, designed to subject political activities to "constant public scrutiny and criticism," has been revised again and again in the wake of major corruption and bribery scandals. In 1994, the disclosure limit was lowered sharply to 50,000 yen from 1 million yen as part of political reform. As a result, nearly 90 percent of all contributions were linked to identified donors. LDP legislators, however, have been seeking to increase the limit on grounds that the tougher requirements for name disclosure have made it more difficult to solicit donations. Many also complain that collecting small-lot contributions of less than 50,000 yen from anonymous donors takes up too much time and energy. They have their priorities wrong. Instead of elevating the threshold of disclosure, they should try to convince donors of the need for transparency. The latest move to revise the campaign finance law follows a series of scandals that have roiled the LDP in the past year or so. These include the arrest of Lower House member Muneo Suzuki on bribery charges, illegal donations collected by an LDP prefectural chapter from public works contractors and illicit contributions to Lower House legislator Takanori Sakai. Two issues are involved here: One concerns business donations to party chapters, which are said to serve as conduits for contributions to individual politicians who represent these branches. Reportedly this "detour" has been used since 2000, when business donations to politicians were banned. The other issue involves donations from private companies that receive public works contracts. As a step toward curbing roundabout donations, New Komeito, a member of the three-party ruling coalition, has come up with a plan that would limit contributions from the same business or organization to 1.5 million yen a year per chapter. Currently, corporate donations are limited to between 7.5 million yen and 100 million yen a year, depending on the company's stock capitalization. The Komeito plan would keep these overall limits intact, but would help prevent collusion between businesses and politicians by restricting donations to specific chapters. By contrast, a proposal put forward by the LDP looks far too lenient. The party maintains that a per-chapter donation limit of 1.5 million yen a year should apply only to corporations whose sales from public works projects exceed 50 percent of total sales. The Komeito proposal, it should be noted, covers all companies, not just public works contractors. The LDP plan is also "soft" compared with the measure recommended last July by a private study group on campaign funding. That measure would halve maximum allowable contributions when a company's sales share of public works contracts is more than 50 percent. The group also called for Internet disclosure of campaign finances and a ban on direct cash contributions from corporations. By and large, these proposals are still pending. Politicians would do well to remember the campaign finance reforms of 1994, when a public subsidy system for political parties was instituted. Such grants were approved on the assumption that, in the long run, political donations would be made by individuals, not businesses. However, the LDP still appears unable to cast off its dependence on corporate donations. Parts of the business community also appear willing to help meet the party's financial needs. Recently Nippon Keidanren, the nation's largest business lobby, decided to resume its longstanding practice of arranging for donations from its member corporations. The governing coalition is trying to get a legislative revision through the current regular Diet session, which is scheduled to adjourn in mid-June, barring an extension. Under the circumstances, however, higher disclosure limits are likely to reduce, not increase, public confidence in politics.

From The Japan Times 06/02/2003

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Support Rate for Koizumi Cabinet 49%

TOKYO - The support rate for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's cabinet rose to 49% in a recent survey, up 1 percentage point from a month before, the Mainichi Shimbun said Monday. Fifty-nine percent of respondents said the cabinet should prioritize economic recovery rather than economic structural reform, compared with 27% who favor continued reform, the daily said.

From http://www.japantoday.com/ 06/02/2003

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Koizumi Earns Passing Grade for Structural Reform Drive

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi needs to accelerate the speed of structural reforms if he wants to get a better grade for his handling of the economy, the leader of a major business group said Wednesday. Speaking at the Japan National Press Club, Kakutaro Kitashiro, chairman of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai) said, "I would give Koizumi only 50 to 60 points (out of 100) for the economic measures he has implemented" since taking office some two years ago. But he added he would give 70 to 80 points for Koizumi's handling of national security issues and international affairs. "Prime Minister Koizumi is heading in the right direction in his efforts to reform the nation's economic structure," the Doyukai chief said. "But it is taking too much time (for the reforms) to bear fruit," and the public is only seeing the pain of the measures, which include financial reforms and the revamping of ailing industries. To get positive results soon, Koizumi needs to focus his deregulation efforts on business areas that can easily meet consumers' needs, such as in nursing services for children and the elderly, medical services and education, Kitashiro said. Deregulation in such sectors could encourage people to start up new businesses and lead to the creation of more job opportunities, he added. (by Akemi Nakamura)

From The Japan Times 06/05/2003

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Japan: An Autocracy Ruled by Bureaucrats

When summit talks between Japan and the United States were recently held at US President George W Bush's Texas ranch, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi put emphasis on the need for "communication and pressure" toward the most worrying factor in East Asia, North Korea. In Japan there has been a general public displeasure with the soft line on North Korea by Japanese diplomacy and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party; therefore, commentators and the public were overjoyed with the prime minister's tougher remarks. However, the diplomatic councilor, Hitoshi Tanaka, was stubbornly opposed to the word "pressure" and demanded and conspired to have the prime minister refrain from using it. It gradually became clear that Tanaka had secretly visited the United States on his own a few days prior to the summit talks and engaged in negotiations with US officials in charge of the Asia-Pacific region for the purpose of "preserving the Kim Jong-il administration". The US side rejected his views on the matter. In spite of being a high official in the Foreign Ministry, Tanaka is, of course, merely a bureaucrat. And yet he took it upon himself to travel to the US ahead of Koizumi and engage in activities against the prime minister's will. Moreover, he deleted the word "pressure" from the prime minister's speech at a press conference held immediately after the summit. Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, who accompanied Koizumi, was aghast and angrily informed the press about the prime minister's original intentions, ie "the need to put pressure on North Korea". Abe has taken the most unyielding stance against North Korea among the members of the present Japanese cabinet and devoted a great deal of effort in support of the families of Japanese citizens who were abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s. How could all this come to pass and a mere bureaucrat come close to subverting and changing the highest-level policy of the Japanese government? Tanaka played a unique and crucial role in the summit talks between Japan and North Korea held unexpectedly in Pyongyang last year. Regardless of the objections by those inside and outside the Foreign Ministry, he was promoted to councilor because of his remarkable contribution to the success of the talks that resulted in increased public support for Koizumi. It has been suggested that a school friend of Tanaka's had gone to North Korea and helped arrange his contacts with the Pyongyang regime. At any rate, it is understood that he has strong links with one of Kim Jong-il's top aides. But that's not really the issue here. The logic behind Tanaka's firm insistence on harmonious relations with the Kim regime is a combination of personal ambition and the unswerving conviction of the bureaucracy that it and no one else knows what's good for Japan. Tanaka has the ultimate ambition to work his way up to the highest position for a bureaucrat, that of ambassador to the United States. This would be the reward for being the key person in having achieved satisfactory progress in the most difficult task of establishing diplomatic relations with North Korea. A change in policy toward a harder line on the Kim regime would thwart that ambition. In addition, it would reverse a policy course major sections of the Foreign Ministry have pursued and are determined to continue to pursue. Naturally, there is no sanction for such bureaucratic policymaking in the Japanese constitution - in particular when it's in clear contravention of the will of elected national leaders. But note that though Tanaka went directly against the government's policy direction on a key issue and tried to change the prime minister's speech, Koizumi not only did not lose his temper, he did not even reprimand the councilor. Neither did the minister of foreign affairs, Yoriko Kawaguchi. In Japan, politically unaccountable bureaucrats manipulate those who are politically accountable. Politicians do whatever the bureaucrats tell them to do. There are numerous other examples illustrating this peculiar structure. Japan has a large number of mega-banks on the verge of bankruptcy. It is not an exaggeration to say that management failures were predominantly caused by the bureaucrats in the Finance Ministry who provided "administrative guidance" to incompetent managers, often themselves retired bureaucrats. Those bureaucrats paid special attention exclusively to the expansion of the banking system - reminding one of the World War II Imperial Navy leaders and their faith in battleship militarism. The Yamato was the biggest battleship in the world at the time and was ultimately blown to pieces by US air attacks in the sea near Okinawa. At present, Japanese mega-banks are, to varying degrees, the equivalents of the Yamato and have every chance of suffering the same fate. And take a look at what the bureaucrats in the Ministry of Education and Science are promoting. Widely known as "education reform", the policy can, on the contrary, be taken as "education destruction" in practice. It was agreed that there was too much pressure on primary-school students. So now, thanks to officious bureaucrats, Japanese primary education is being devastated. Teachers are forced to use 3 for the ratio for calculating the circumference of a circle instead of the previously used 3.14, a more correct approximation of pi. Making too much of English-language schooling produces children who are unable to speak, write and read proper Japanese or English. Similarly in higher education, universities are forced to merge and teaching and research plans are drawn up centrally, all in the interest of budgetary efficiency and "fairer", more uniform national standards. They put an emphasis on the forced integration of a number of national and public universities and assess academic research plans submitted by teaching staff in order to draw up a budget. We are facing bureaucratically imposed educational totalitarianism. The study of philosophy or history, the basic issues in the humanities, is becoming impossible. Such subjects are "impractical". Japan - after numerous failed efforts at reform - remains filled with politicians who are only interested in power and their ability to hand out concessions to stay in power. Bureaucrats rule. Japan is neither a democratic nor a liberal state. It is an autocratic state ruled by unaccountable bureaucrats manipulating unthinking politicians buying off a dwindling number of voters participating in elections. (by Katsuo Hiizumi)

From http://www.atimes.com/ 06/11/2003

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Gov't Receives Mysterious 'Donations'

A mysterious benefactor has sent nearly five million yen to five government bodies to the bewilderment of bureaucrats, it was learned Friday. The Ministry of Finance, the Board of Audit, the Meteorological Agency and the Social Insurance Agency received an envelope containing 1 million yen each, while the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare had 950,000 yen sent to it in the past few days. "We are totally puzzled. We have no idea of the sender's intent," said a senior official of the Metropolitan Police Department, which is dealing with the matter as a "lost property" case. "The fact that the Health Ministry received 50,000 yen less than others could be a simple counting mistake but we are not sure." Police said the envelopes were postmarked on June 10 at a post office in the Kanto region. The 10,000 yen notes inside were not crisp and had no wrapper. The addresses of the government offices were handwritten but there were no messages attached. If the sender cannot be found within six months, the money will be deposited in state coffers.

From Mainichi Shimbun 06/13/ 2003

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Koizumi Loyalist Says PM May Reshuffle His Cabinet If Re-elected in September

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi may reshuffle his Cabinet in the fall if he is re-elected LDP president in September, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda indicated Monday. Fukuda was commenting on media reports that Koizumi plans to reshuffle the Cabinet in the immediate wake of the Liberal Democratic Party poll -- as a gesture of compromise toward LDP lawmakers who oppose his economic policies. "The Koizumi Cabinet has served for more than two years now, and usually one would expect that there will be one or two more Cabinet reshuffles," Fukuda told a news conference. "Some people (in the LDP) feel that new faces should be put into the Cabinet, while there are some (Cabinet ministers) like myself who are totally worn out." Fukuda has served as the top government spokesman since October 2000 under Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori. As of June 2, he became the longest serving chief Cabinet secretary in postwar history. If re-elected, Koizumi will have three more years to serve as the party's head. Koizumi brushed aside the question of a Cabinet reshuffle during his daily appearance before the media, stating that no one knows who will be elected in the LDP leadership poll. But he reiterated the view that there will be no reshuffle before the September poll. Koizumi's critics within the LDP have called for a reshuffle before the party poll as a precondition for Koizumi's re-election. They especially want to see Financial Services Minister Heizo Takenaka replaced in order to effect an economic policy turnaround and a return to big government spending. While he has rejected calls for a pre-election reshuffle, Koizumi reportedly told Mikio Aoki, secretary general of the LDP's Upper House caucus, earlier this month that he plans to reshuffle the Cabinet immediately after the poll. Aoki is a key man in bridging the gap between Koizumi and his LDP critics. By showing signs of compromise, Koizumi is apparently seeking to secure widespread support for his re-election. Meanwhile, Koizumi and the leaders of his coalition partners, New Komeito and New Conservative Party, agreed Monday evening to extend the current Diet session for 40 days until July 28. An extension is necessary for debate on an Iraq reconstruction bill that was submitted to the Diet last week. The session, which began Jan. 20, is scheduled to end Wednesday. The plan will be finalized with the agreement of the House of Representatives and the House of Councilors. The government and the ruling parties aim to enact the new Iraq law by the end of the extended session. It is not clear how quickly the bill will be passed, as opposition parties have voiced caution over its contents. The coalition also agreed to pass a bill aimed at extending the antiterrorism law by two years after it expires in November. The extension is to enable Japan to continue providing fuel to U.S.-led forces operating in and around Afghanistan.

From http://www.japantimes.co.jp/ 06/17/2003

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Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Criticizes Government Policy

Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi criticized the government's so-called "big-boned" reform blueprint that includes drastic reduction in pension payments. He expressed his intention to finalize the Ministry's own pension reform plan by the end of August, earlier than originally scheduled. SOUND BITE: Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi "The argument is concentrated on bringing down pension payments. That is unacceptable." The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry had been scheduled to finish compiling the next pension reform plan in the fall. But Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi showed his intention to finalize it as early as in August when the budget plan for the next fiscal year will be compiled. This is a move to go against the government's "big-boned" reform plan that incorporated an idea to set a cap of 50% for the Japanese people's overall burden including fiscal deficit, taxes and social security, such as retirement pension. Sakaguchi asserted the idea is to say it is OK to shrink pension payments and other social security payments as long as the fiscal deficit continues and it is unacceptable.

From http://news.tbs.co.jp/ 06/24/2003

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More Diplomats Treated to Meals Than Other Civil Servants

TOKYO - Foreign Ministry personnel were wined and dined by nongovernmental people far more often than their fellow civil servants at other ministries and agencies in fiscal 2001, according to a government document released Tuesday. The Foreign Ministry topped the list of such entertainment with 926 cases, followed by the National Tax Agency at 411, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry at 239, the Food Agency at 162, and the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry at 154

From http://www.japantoday.com/ 06/25/2003

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SOUTH KOREA: President 70% Progressive, Poll Says

The Roh Moo-hyun administration, over its first 100 days in office, handled state affairs in a progressive manner, except in diplomacy and security, according to a recent survey. The Chosun Ilbo and Ham Sun at Korea National University polled 155 specialists in diverse fields, asking them about the policies of the Roh administration. The results showed progressive tendencies in unification, labor, social, and media policies, and conservative tendencies in diplomatic and security policies. With the criterion of minus one for "strongly progressive" and one for "strongly conservative," the Roh government was most progressive in the labor category, at -0.486, followed by media, at -0.485, social policies, at -0.460, and economic policies, at -0.337. Diplomacy and security were both 0.080 and unification was -0.160. Of the 10 main policies pushed by the administration, seven were analyzed to be progressive and three conservative. On prosecution reform, 94 percent said Roh's policies were strongly progressive. Other issues also evaluated as progressive were labor policies, including the management of the freight labor union, real estate policies, new reporting rules for the media, management of the online database for schools and reservations about privatizing the Korea Electric Power Corporation. Policies considered as progressive were in the areas of unification, diplomacy and security. Dispatching troops to Iraq was considered progressive by 92.7 percent of the respondents, as well as Korea-U.S. relations and introducing a special prosecutors team to investigate the secret funds sent to North Korea. (by Kim Chang-gyun)

From http://english.chosun.com/ 06/02/2003

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Myth of a Participatory Government

The entire situation distresses the people profoundly these days. There does not seem to be any solution in sight with many people asking President Roh Moo-hyun where he stands on a variety of politically sensitive policy issues such as the National Educational Information System (NEIS), the tideland reclamation project in Saemangeum, North Cholla Province, North Korean nuclear weapons and foreign policy toward the United States. As might be expected, he does not clearly express his stance even though he talks about the power of the presidency. He is invariably more forthright in rhetoric if rarely in action. In a sense, he seems to pass the buck instead of directly dealing with these issues. Thus, it seems to people that, as a whole, his policy strategy is to start with a bold measure and then temporize to pick up the conservative forces. Simply put, it is political backtracking after an initial jumpstart. My impression is that what has been taking place in this South Korea over the past 100 days of the current administration is little short of a catastrophe in many respects. Also true is the anger many feel at how unprincipled and unclear the regime has been so far. There is little doubt that President Roh had long established his image as a liberal politician in the eyes of liberals. In the last presidential election, progressives asked him to follow in the footsteps of former President Kim Dae-jung, particularly on North Korean and U.S. affairs in view of the distinct possibility that the agenda of the conservative Bush administration could negatively affect the future of this country. For this reason, progressives praised him for his independent and courageous stand against Uncle Sam. At the time, he reluctantly refused to take any action that might antagonize his political supporters so as to maintain and cultivate his liberal image. In spite of his liberal credentials, he failed to prove aggressive on the most controversial fronts. Furthermore, Mr. Roh defended his policies by saying that the instability in the government is a direct result of casting off the so-called authoritarianism deeply rooted in our society. That's not quite right in some respects. First, given the less authoritarian but more democratic civil governments of over the past 10 years led by Young-sam and Dae-jung, there has been striking progress in democratization of South Korea. Excessive or unbalanced development of output institutions such as the bureaucracy and the military is rare relative to input organizations, such as political parties and interest groups. The bureaucracy that has long stood above civil society has sharply lost its influence in private sectors, failing to keep abreast of the times of reform. In other words, the current government misappropriated the bureaucracy as an enemy of reform instead of embracing it closely towards achieving a wise and swift reform. Second, Mr. Roh has not been well prepared to perform the well-defined goals and values of the administration that should have been a rallying point to unite the people. His priorities have been seriously impaired on the heels of the vociferous demands of interest groups. The administration's capricious policies have weakened the people's faith in the government, while the bureaucracy have ignored the interests of the public. Not many people would deny these problems are widespread at the moment. Third, while it may not be surprising that the bureaucracy shows little interest in Mr. Roh's clean politics, it is astonishing how little attention is paid by his aides and relatives themselves. They were so absorbed in cleaning up scandal and mishandled affairs, that they proved ineffective on the more vital agenda of running the country. A series of these scandals has turned out to be lingering political burdens for Mr. Roh, preventing Mr. Roh from enjoying the so-called honeymoon period between the media and the presidency. However, there is still a belief that is widely held among Mr. Roh's supporters that principles and justice will apply equally to all walks of life; a break from this will be a retreat from democracy. Clearly it is not an easy road to maintain principles and justice in social integration, but is the duty of a president. Double standards that had been previously applied to politician Roh before he became president should be eliminated. Now is the time that the myth of a participatory government is exposed as farce, and evidence of social irresponsibility be acknowledged, if Mr. Roh expects to cast off the image of an accidental president. (by Lee Byong-chul)

From http://times.hankooki.com/ 06/09/2003

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Presidential Chief of Staff Accused of Accepting Bribe from Hyundai

The independent counsel yesterday requested a detention warrant for Park Jie-won, presidential chief of staff in the Kim Dae-jung Blue House. He is alleged to have received 15 billion won ($12.7 million) as a bribe from the Hyundai Group before the June 2000 inter-Korean summit in exchange for his promise to let the group build a casino and a duty-free shop at Mount Geumgang. Mr. Park told the court, which was reviewing the counsel's request to detain him, that Mr. Kim knew about the cash transfer to North Korea before the summit. The statement may induce the counsel to investigate Mr. Kim, as it would indicate that the former president, who has been regarded as the ultimate wire-puller of the alleged cash-for-summit scheme, permitted the cash transfer.According to the counsel, a former arms dealer identified only by his family name, Kim, acting on behalf of Mr. Park, in early April 2000 asked for 15 billion won from Chung Mong-hun, chairman of Hyundai Asan, saying that the money was for the preparation of the summit. Lee Ik-chi, former president of Hyundai Securities, then delivered the money in the form of a certificate of deposit to Mr. Park in late April saying, "Please cooperate with Hyundai's overall North Korean projects that include building a casino and a duty-free shop at Mount Geumgang." Mr. Chung recently acknowledged during counsel investigation that he gave the money to Mr. Park as a bribe, officials of the counsel's office said. The counsel, which has been searching the bank records of Mr. Park and Hyundai executives, suspects that the money was laundered and went to Mr. Park to be used for his political funds or for him to give to other politicians. The counsel, however, still hasn't traced the movements of the 15 billion won. Mr. Park yesterday strongly denied that he used the money for himself, saying, "I have never received any money from Hyundai and I have never talked to Lee Ik-chi in person. Mr. Lee himself must have taken the money." Some observers suggest that Mr. Park may have given the money to North Korean officials as "gifts" before the summit. Sources at the counsel, however, said that investigators think it is most likely that the money went to political circles here.Mr. Park is charged separately with helping Hyundai Merchant Marine receive 400 billion won ($ 3.4 billion) in loans from the Korea Development Bank. According to the counsel, Mr. Park, at the request of Mr. Chung, met in May 2000 with Lee Ki-ho, Mr. Kim's senior secretary for economic affairs, and asked Mr. Lee to influence the bank to give the loans. Mr. Lee is currently detained. Charges against Mr. Park may move the counsel to consider summoning Mr. Kim. If the charge that the money went to Mr. Park and other politicians to be used as political funds turns out to be true, the cash-for-summit allegations will evolve into a major bribery scandal. That will undermine the Kim administration's position that the cash transfer was its investment in a peaceful future for the Korean Peninsula. Mr. Park in court yesterday said, "Lim Dong-won, then the head of the National Intelligence Service, reported to Mr. Kim a month before the summit that Hyundai had agreed with the North to provide $500 million as the payoff for the North's allowing Hyundai's business projects there." Those words do not suggest that the cash transfer was to buy the summit, but they imply that Mr. Kim knew about it before the summit. The counsel is thought likely to ask to extend the investigation period, which is scheduled to end June 25.by Jeon Jin-bae

From http://joongangdaily.joins.com/ 06/18/2003

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Prosecution Set to Indict Ex-President's Eldest Son

Prosecutors said yesterday they will indict the eldest son of former President Kim Dae-jung without physical detention next week on charges of taking bribes from the head of a bank facing liquidation. Rep. Kim Hong-il, the president's son, is suspected of receiving 150 million won from Ahn Sang-tae, then president of Nara Investment Banking Corp., in 1999 in return for promising to exercise his influence to help keep the bank afloat. The prosecution revealed the planned indictment of Kim when announcing the outcome of their investigation into the Nara bribery scandal. Prosecutors said they are seeking an arrest warrant for Rep. Park Joo-sun of the ruling Millennium Democratic Party for taking 250 million won from Ahn in 2000. Under the law, Park's arrest requires the approval of the National Assembly. Prosecutors indicted Ahn Hee-jung, a close aide to President Roh Moo-hyun, without detention on charges of violating the political fund law. The prosecution has already sought an arrest warrant for Ahn twice, charging him with diverting the money Kim Ho-joon, the largest shareholder of Nara bank, invested in his mineral water company to finance the operation of Roh's private office in 2000 when the president was a senior ruling party member. But the court rejected the warrants, saying Ahn's case might not constitute a criminal act. Prosecution sources said prosecutors investigating the bribery scandal were divided over whether to arrest Rep. Kim. They finally decided to indict him without physical detention considering his ill health will make it difficult for him to serve a prison term, according to the sources. The indictment of the lawmaker represents the third act in a protracted drama that will see all three sons of ex-President Kim stand trial on bribery charges. Hong-up, the second son, was sentenced to two years in prison in an appeal trial in February for taking 2.2 billion won in bribes from companies in return for business favors. The third son, Hong-gul, was handed a two-year prison term with a three-year suspended sentence in November last year. He is currently appealing the verdict. In investigating the Nara scandal, the prosecution arrested Han Kwang-ok, the former chief presidential secretary and ruling party chairman, Lee Yong-keun, ex-chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commission, and Yeom Dong-youn, an aide to President Roh, all on bribery charges. (khkim@heraldm.com) By Kim Kyung-ho

From http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/ 06/21/2003

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INDONESIA: House Eager to Boost Transparency

A special committee in the House deliberating the legislative mechanism began working on Wednesday, pledging to boost transparency. Hamdan Zoelva, the committee chairman, said legislators would heed the public's call for a transparent deliberation process at the House. He said all bill deliberations should be declared open to the public unless the issue is a threat to the country's sovereignty. Fellow legislator Agun Gunandjar Sudarsa expressed a similar concern, saying that the public should be given access to the legislative process. They made the statement on the sidelines of the committee meeting, which was held behind closed-doors. Today, most deliberations are open to the public, unless they discuss crucial issues -- a situation that has raised speculations of "back-room deals" among factions.

From http://www.thejakartapost.com/ 06/05/2003

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Govt to Screen All Civil Servants

The government will administer a nationalism test to all civil servants throughout the country from July 1 through July 31 to ensure that all state employees are completely loyal to the unitary republic of Indonesia, the home affairs minister disclosed on Sunday. The screening is initially planned for civil servants working in Aceh, where government troops are battling Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels. "All civil servants are bound to their oath to remain loyal to the state and the law. Although they are not in Aceh, civil servants must have the integrity and commitment to the state and the nation," minister Hari Sabarno said after attending a plenary session of the Jakarta Council, marking the 476th anniversary of Jakarta, on Sunday. The testing process will affect all 4.1 million civil servants throughout the country. Hari emphasized that the screening would be different from similar practices conducted by the New Order regime, because the process would be renamed to "re-registration". When asked how the government would be able to absolutely determine a civil servant's loyalty to the state, Hari retorted: "From their answers." Hari, however, refused to go into detail about the "re-registration" process or exactly what sorts of things the civil servants would be made to do. He only said that the State Personnel Agency (BKN) would soon distribute check lists to all regions, from which the commitment of the civil servants could be identified. The minister, however, also refused to disclose what punishment the government would mete out if it found anybody with "questionable commitment" to the nation. Meanwhile, BKN head Hardiyanto, who accompanied the minister, said that the registration process would be carried out to update data on civil servants in light of the implementation of regional autonomy in 2000, and the transfer of civil servants from the central government to regional administrations. The plan comes on the heels of several arrests of politicians and government officials in Aceh. The Aceh martial law administration has thus far arrested and detained more than ten officials and politicians as well as a businessman, for what was claimed to be support for GAM separatists. Legislator Ahmad Farhan Hamid and rights activist Munir have questioned the necessity and rationale of the planned screening in Aceh and said that the policy only showed the government's inability to solve problems in Aceh. Both Farhan and Munir feared the screening would only result in discrimination.

From http://www.thejakartapost.com/ 06/23/2003

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Attorney General's Office Needs Through Reform

The National Law Commission (KHN) has branded the Attorney General's Office as the most secretive component of the legal system in the country and must therefore reform to regain the public's trust. KHN secretary-general Mardjono Reksodiputro said on Tuesday that the Attorney General's Office had assigned a group of experts from the commission to help it carry out a reform program. "The office has expressed its willingness to undergo reform. The public must now monitor its progress and decide whether or not it has the intention to implement reform measures," he told a press conference following a discussion, held by the KHN in cooperation with the Partnership for Governance Reform. The Attorney General's Office is the last institution to have been offered assistance by the Partnership to carry out reform measures, after the Supreme Court and the National Police. Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, a KHN member, said the reform was aimed at establishing a transparent and accountable Attorney General's Office, one which also involves public participation. "The reform must target the office's employees, who are resistant to reform," she said. The reform program includes the recruitment, training and monitoring of the prosecutors, Harkristuti said. "The office needs to implement the program seriously. Therefore, transparency is a must," she asserted, adding that the reform in the office "will take time". Antonius Sudjata, chairman of the National Ombudsman, said the office has so far failed to build a good relationship with the public. "The office managed to respond to only 26 percent of the 122 complaints and reports from the public that we had forwarded to them," said Antonius, who is a former deputy attorney general. The complaints usually deal with the alleged misconduct or manipulation by the office's employees. He expected the office not only to reply the complaints, but also to investigate the cases. Suwarsono, the deputy attorney general of monitoring, said that the prosecutors needed to regroup to discuss the internal reform agenda. "I cannot force them to comply with the reform. I have no power to do that," he said. Attorney General M.A. Rachman has also said that the corps of prosecutors he is leading had been in the spotlight recently, as the public was not satisfied with the office's performance in upholding the law. While agreeing that the office needed to act transparently and independently, Rachman said in its defense, "A less-than-holistic perspective often becomes the standard by which the performance of the office is assessed." Rachman himself was reported to the police by the Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN) for allegedly concealing his wealth. It remains unclear how far the police have investigated the report. (By Muninggar Sri Saraswati)

From http://www.thejakartapost.com/ 06/25/2003

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MALAYSIA: Prevent Graft and Abuse of Power, Civil Service Told

The civil service must ensure it maintains the highest level of credibility and integrity by preventing corruption and abuse of power, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Speaking after chairing the Perlis Umno Liaison Committee meeting at Hotel Putra Palace here, he said the Government would not protect any of its officers who were corrupt or abuse their powers. Advising Deputy Minister of Housing and Local Government Datuk M. Kayveas to lodge a police report over allegation of corrupt practices in the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council, Abdullah said action would be taken if the allegations were proven. Abdullah was asked to comment on Kayveas' allegation that the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council enforcement chief Kapt (rtd) Abdul Kudus Ahmad had taken bribes averaging RM70,000 a month. Asked on the nationwide efforts to nab illegal and pornographic VCD operators, Abdullah said: "(God willing) we will prevail, if we continue exerting pressure on these operators." Commenting on Australia's insistence on pre-emptive strikes against countries harbouring terrorists and weapons of mass destruction, Abdullah said Malaysia rejected such a stand. "We are fully capable of defending our sovereignty and our country from any intrusion. "I am confident the people will remain together in the event that our sovereignty is ever threatened." Australian Defence Minister Senator Robert Hill was reported as saying traditional doctrines of defending oneself were outdated and Canberra was ready to launch pre-emptive strikes to avert terrorism as well as nuclear threats.

From http://www.emedia.com.my/ 06/02/2003

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Malaysia's Ruling Elite Prepares for Leadership Change

Malaysia's Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad says it's up to the ruling party's new leadership to decide if there is to be a reconciliation with his jailed former deputy, Anwar Ibrahim and his supporters. Addressing his last UMNO general assembly as party President, Dr Mahathir also confirmed he would hold no party positions when he steps down as prime minister. Dr Mahathir, who's ruled Malaysia for 22 years, hands over the presidency of UMNO to Datuk Abdullah Badawi, who will also be the new Prime Minister, in October. Datuk Seri Anwar is serving a 15-year jail term for corruption and sodomy, following two controversial trials which were criticised by human rights groups and observers as biased and unfair.

From http://goasiapacific.com/ 06/22/2003

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National Service Widely Accepted by Target Group

The National Service programme, which will receive its first batch of trainees early next year, has been widely accepted by its target group ? students aged between 15 and 17. Defence Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said a survey of 6,000 secondary school children showed overwhelming support for the programme. He told the Dewan Rakyat today that 81 per cent of respondents supported the programme while 72 per cent said it should be made compulsory for both male and female students. He said though the survey base was small, the Government believed it represented the general view because the respondents were selected from all types of schools ? national, religious and national-type. Views of parents were also sought. The opinions of 500 parents who visited the armed forces career day in Johor Baru recently were solicited. "Ninety-eight per cent gave their go-ahead while 80 per cent had no objection to the inclusion of girls," said Najib when tabling the National Service Training Bill 2003 for second reading. The Bill was passed. The ministry also moved an amendment to drop Clause 29 in the Bill following public objection. The programme, where students undergo three months training, aims to create a nation that is patriotic, resilient and imbued with the spirit of volunteerism guided by the principles of the Rukunegara. Najib, who chairs the Cabinet Committee on National Service, said before the Bill was formulated, discussions were held with various groups. Najib said the consultation process was still open although the Bill had been passed. This was because the service would only be implemented next year. He said the decision to drop Clause 29 showed the Government was responsive to public feedback. The clause deals with the offence of inciting persons to oppose the programme and to evade duties and liabilities under the programme. The proposed penalties were a fine of up to RM10,000 or imprisonment not exceeding two years, or both. "The decision to drop this clause is the Government's responsive action in allaying public fear on the matter." During the winding-up, Najib dismissed contention that the programme was the Government's way to indoctrinate the younger generation. On exemptions, he said those certified unfit on health grounds would not be required to undergo training. Students pursuing studies overseas will be required to attend training later. On leave for employees selected to undergo training, he clarified that employers were required to release them for the duration of the training. But most youths aged 18 were not working. (by Ramlan Said)

From http://www.emedia.com.my/ 06/26/2003

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PHILIPPINES: Public Sector Coalition to Help Gov't Meet Problems of Education

Education reform advocates signed up yesterday for the "Save our Schools" (SOS) multi-sectoral advocacy network to promote strong government-private sector partnerships and modernize the country's public schools. The SOS, hatched two months ago in a forum on public education sponsored by the non-government organization Caucus on Poverty Reduction (CPR) at the De La Salle University (DLSU), was formally launched yesterday morning in simple rites at the Department of Education (DepEd) in Pasig City. It also aims to attune graduates to the so-called Information or Knowledge Society. Convenors of the pro-education coalition said that instead of criticizing the government for its inability to meet the needs of public schools, all sectors must get involved in helping it address the chronic woes such as inadequate teacher training programs and shortages in teachers, classrooms, and textbooks. The private sector, they said, could help by supporting DepEd initiatives like "Brigada Eskwela" and "Adopt A School" project. Among those who signed the manifesto were DepEd Undersecretary Ramon Bacani; Lucrecio Delgado, director of the DLSU-attached CPR; Wilford Wong, convenor of the Student Advocacy for Government Accountability (SAGA), composed of student leaders from 10 Metro Manila universities and colleges; former education undersecretary Victor Andres Manhit, president of the Rural Empowerment Assistance and Development Inc. or READ Foundation; Alfredo Hernandez, executive director of the Foundation for Worldwide People Power, Inc., or Education Revolution; Teresita Arriola, president of the Philippine Elementary School Principals Association (PESPA); Sen. Teresa Aquino Oreta, former chairperson of the Senate education committee and author of 220 education-related laws; and Rep. Edmundo Reyes Jr., chairman of the House committee on basic education. They underscored the need to save the country's public schools during a CPR-sponsored forum held last April wherein they reached a consensus at the end of the gathering to form a multi-sectoral advocacy network for education-friendly reforms. "This school year, 17.2 million pupils and students and their families will continue to hope that the education they will get from our public schools can make them strong enough to eventually break the cropping bonds of poverty," said the SOS manifesto signed by some 50 representatives from various sectors to dramatize their full support for fresh efforts to push sweeping reforms in the public school system and upgrade both the professional skills of its teachers and achievement levels of its students. "This is public education's most daunting challenge, and one which government can not face alone. Our public elementary and secondary school teachers have been grappling with formidable odds for decades as they perform their vital task of molding responsible, responsive and productive Filipinos," the convenors said in the manifesto read by student leaders at the launching. "Our public schools can do so much more, but we must help them." The manifesto was also signed by ex-education secretary Erlinda Pefianco, director of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization, Regional Center for Educational Innovation and Technology (SEAMEO-Innotech); Don Juan Bagatsing, convenor of the Active Youth Alliance (AYA), composed of student leaders from 14 Metro Manila schools; Carolina Porio, executive director of the Fund Assistance to Private Education (FAPE); and Mariano Piamonte, executive director of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP). Antonio Pedro, a core group member of the Education Volunteers Educating Filipinos (EVOLVE Filipinos), an NGO of volunteer teachers who conduct tutorials and out-ofreach education programs for public school children, had signed the manifesto earlier. The signatories also included Loureli Sly, president of the Philippine Association of Secondary School Administrators (PASSA), the umbrella group of 5,000 administrators of private and public high schools as well as vocational schools nationwide. PASSA is the umbrella organization of the Private Secondary School Administrators Association of the Philippines (PRISSAAP), Philippine Association of Public Secondary School Administrators (PAPSSA), and the Philippine Association of Vocational Education Administrators (PAVEA). Sister Jackie de Belen, regional superior of the RM Sisters in Luzon, and Sister Nora Joson of the St. Mary's Academy in Manila also signed the manifesto. 12-pt program The Department of Education (DepEd) has embarked on a 12-point program for basic education for school year 2003-2004 which opened last June 9. Education Secretary Edilberto C. de Jesus said the program is hinged on DepEd's belief that education can transform the Philippines into a great nation and that education can be a great equalizer by creating opportunity, developing skill, and building competence and capability for school children. De Jesus said the program is focussed on three strategic thrusts, namely, delivery of quality basic education, release of more community-level resource for education, release of more community-level rescurce for education, and professionalization of the DepEd organization. According to De Jesus, the program's priority concern is to refine and revise the Basic Education Curriculum to make it more relevant to the educational needs of school children. He said the refinement will concentrate on how best to teach the tool subjects of Science, Mathematics, English and Filipino, and makabayan which is an aggravation of the subjects Value Education, Social Studies; Physical Education, Health and Music; and Technology and Home Economics. The DepEd chief said the program also seeks to address the DepEd's resource shortages especially on school buildings, teachers, textbooks and other reading materials. De Jesus also stressed the need for the better utilization of available resources to enable "the peso to purchase more." The creation of a sustainable system for teacher training --particularly on Mathematics, Reading and Makabayan - also convers the program, De Jesus said. De Jesus said the DepEd will continue to decentralize power and authority down to the school level to help strengthen the roles of principals as instructional leaders and school managers and ultimately transform the schools into more effective and more efficient arm in the delivery of quality basic education. According to De Jesus, a unique feature of the program is its special focus given to the improvement of public elementary and secondary education in Mindanao. The program, he said, has lined up appropriate measures to increase participation rate and achievement rate of school children in the southern Philippines whose educational growth and advancement have been hampered by peace and order problem. (Tony Pe. Rimando) Books delivery About 37 million textbooks for public elementary and secondary schools nationwide are expected to be delivered by the Department of Education (DepEd) this schoolyear in response to their shortages happening the past years. Under the Social Expenditure Management Program (SEMP) and Third Elementary Education Project (TEEP), DepEd has awarded a textbook contract worth P1.6 billion to six suppliers, the biggest in the history of the department. Under the contract, the textbooks are set to be delivered directly to high schools or district offices beginning June to September. The principals and district supervisors will receive the textbooks and sign the delivery receipts for high school and elementary books, respectively. Before the release of the books, civil society organizations will be invited to be part of the DepEd monitoring teams that would carry out spot visits to publishers during the production phase. The undertaking is part of the National Textbool Delviery (Textbook Count Program) with the civic groups, Parents-Teachers and Community Association (PTCA) and non-government organizations (NGOs). DepEd said the programs aims to provide public elementary and secondary school students with enough instructional materials in line with the government's efforts to improve the quality of learning in public schools. The program also seeks to ensure the quality production of textbooks and its timely delivery to the recipient schools. With 6,000 delivery points or nearly 1,500 delivery points per zone, the schedule of delivery is as follows: Zone 1 - Luzon (regions 1, 2, 3 and Cordillera Autonomous Region), August 18 to September 5; Zone 2 - Southern Luzon (National Capital Region, regions 4A, 4B, and 5) July 28 to August 15; Zone 3 - Visayas (Regions 6, 7 and 8) June 23 to July 11; and Zone 4 - Mindanao (regions 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13) June 30 to July 5. (Joel C. Atencio)

From http://www.mb.com.ph/ 06/13/2003

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Better Benefits Eyed for 5 Million Senior Citizens

Five million senior citizens stand to receive better health care, social services and privileges once the Magna Carta for Older Persons is signed into law. According to Rep. Ed Zialcita of Para?aque, the bill consolidates provisions from 25 House bills and Republic Act 7432 or the Senior Citizens Law, which grants special discount privileges to the elderly. Zialcita added that Congress had recently approved the proposed law, which also seeks to increase the present 10-percent discount senior citizens enjoy to 20 percent. Under the proposed Magna Carta, senior citizens should be given discounts in public railways, buses, hotels and similar establishments, restaurants, recreation centers, private hospitals, doctor's fees, medical purchases and services, and funeral services. They would also be exempted from paying fees for livelihood training programs and would have access to free medical and dental services in government hospitals and health centers.

From http://www.manilatimes.net/ 06/18/2003

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THAILAND: Officials Dress in Black to Protest Against Legislation

About 500 parliament officials dressed in black yesterday in protest against legislation which they say increases their job uncertainty. The Parliament Officials draft bill would separate the parliamentary bureaucracy from that of the executive branch. Copies of a mysterious flier were handed out at Parliament. The bill was drafted by four parties Thai Rak Thai, Democrat, Chart Thai and Chart Pattana to keep the legislative branch independent. The flier alleges the lawmakers would enjoy as much as five billion baht in state funding, accounting for 0.5% of the annual budget, if the bill became law. Regular officials at parliament could be replaced by relatives and proteges of politicians, the flier said. The bill is opposed by officials of both houses. Staff are demanding a review of the bill. They handed a petition yesterday to Democrat deputy leader Abhisit Vejjajiva who chairs the committee drafting the bill. The bill is in its second reading before the House. A recent seminar held to answer queries about the legislation did just the opposite. The forum failed to explain what would become of the officials once the bill took effect. The officials were afraid the bill may force them to leave the bureaucracy, with a loss of their status. The bill also said little about whether their welfare and remuneration would remain intact. Mr Abhisit said he backed a bill that would guarantee parliament's independence and put in place a system of checks and balances. Only when the bill came to the committee did he find it was flawed. Officials would keep their status because House and the Senate secretariat staff would remain part of the bureaucracy. Staff may choose to forgo officialdom but that was not mandatory. Still under debate was a proposal to replace the parliament officials' commission with an administrative panel. Mr Abhisit said he did not want politicians on the panel as they could wield political control.

From http://www.bangkokpost.com/ 06/07/2003

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VIETNAM: Party Leader Pledges to Beat the Corrupt

Corruption would be steadily beaten, Viet Nam Communist Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh told 250 voters from Ha Noi and its outskirts on Tuesday. But the work needed the support and participation of every individual and most importantly must be thoroughly done, he said. The General Secretary said the lifestyle of Party members and State employees should be a model for others and they must keep themselves and their families away from the temptations triggered by the market economy. He emphasised that corrupt officials, regardless of status, would be severely punished in accordance with the law. The General Secretary was accompanied to the meeting by Ha Noi People's Committee chairman Hoang Van Nghien and other of the capital's representatives in the National Assembly. They heard voter suggestions and complaints about the management of their city, land use, disputed administrative borders for wards and districts, job creation for relocated farmers, corruption, wastage and traffic safety. Nghien, who leads the Ha Noi delegates in the assembly, promised to submit the voter proposals to the National Assembly Standing Committee and answered questions about issues within the ambit of his responsibility. The Ha Noi assembly delegates also briefed voters about the results of the 11th session that ended last week. The General Secretary thanked the voters for their suggestions and complaints and praised the city for its socio-economic development in the first six months of the year. He wished the Ha Noi Party cell and people success with the forthcoming SEA Games and said it would definitely contribute to improving Viet Nam's prestige and its international role.

From http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/ 06/25/2003

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BANGLADESH: Corruption Cases Against Two Ex-Ministers, Two Others

The Bureau of Anti-corruption (BAC) yesterday filed two corruption cases against four persons including former ministers Shah AMS Kibria and Prof. Abu Sayeed. The two others are former information secretary M Akmal Hossain and former chairman of the now defunct Ekushey Television (ETV) A S Mahmud. BAC Inspector Mohammad Zulfikar Ali filed the cases with the Ramna police station yesterday afternoon. The first case was filed against Shah AMS Kibria and AS Mahmud, accusing them of misuse of power which caused a loss of Tk 1.247 crore of public money. In the case, the BAC official charged that the royalty was fixed at Tk 1,200 per hour for the ETV programs within the telecast time of the Bangladesh Television (BTV), while Tk 1,800 per hour was fixed beyond the telecast time of the BTV at a meeting chaired by the then finance secretary on January 27, 1999. The finance ministry informed it to the ETV chairman through a letter on February 16, 1999 but the ETV management informed the former finance minister that they were unable to pay the amount. The ETV management did not pay Tk 1,200 per hour from March 8 to August 29, 2002, as charge to the BTV which caused loss of Tk 1.24 crore of public money. In another case, former state minister for information Prof Abu Sayeed, former information secretary M Akmal Hossain and former chairman of the ETV AS Mahmud were charged with irregularities in the licensing process of the ETV, which did not participate in the tender within the stipulated time. Violating the rules of the Private Television Channel and Management Policy 1998, the then four-member technical evaluation committee of the Ministry of Information in connivance with Prof Abu Sayeed, Akmal Hossain and AS Mahmud evaluated the ETV proposal responsive instead of non-responsive, according to the case. Following the evaluation, they also left out the Multimedia Transport Consultant Limited which was earlier proved technically responsive by the technical evaluation committee, it said. Besides, the BAC also accused the former secretary of destroying the necessary documents including the changed evaluation report of the committee which was a punishable offence under the Bangladesh Penal Code of 201.

From http://www.dailystarnews.com/ 06/09/2003

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BHUTAN: Legislative Committee Launched

A new legislative committee, launched by the National Assembly secretariat on May 23, will review all new Acts and legislation before they are submitted to the Assembly for endorsement. The National Assembly Speaker, Dasho Ugyen Dorji, told Kuensel that on the advice of His Majesty the King the establishment of a permanent legislative committee was decided last year in the 80th session of the Assembly. Dasho Ugyen Dorji explained that the committee would help streamline the often prolonged deliberations on numerous draft Acts submitted every year. It was also aimed at avoiding rushed enactment that could not be properly reviewed. "With the socio-economic and political changes taking place around the world as well as in Bhutan, it is important that appropriate new laws are developed and existing laws amended according to the needs and sensitivities of our country," Dasho Ugyen Dorji said. "Development of Acts should keep up with the pace of the development of the country." The legislative committee will examine and amend, if necessary, the contents of each draft Act, review provisions of existing laws for amendments, and recommend the endorsement of new laws. Dasho Ugyen Dorji said that the committee's work would start this year, from the 81st Assembly session. The seven-member committee comprises five chimis- from Punakha, Bumthang, Wangduephodrang, Sarpang and BCCI- and two lawyers from the National Assembly secretariat. Speaking at the launch the prime minister, Lyonpo Kinzang Dorji, said that the establishment of the committee was a landmark step in the country's development. "The launch of the legislative committee is indeed a great move forward as the National Assembly celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2003," he said. The prime minister said it was important that the composition of the committee as well as its responsibilities and roles were made clear from the beginning. It would avoid misunderstandings in future and help members carry out their jobs efficiently. The prime minister also said that most of the government drafted Acts were passed through the cabinet before being submitted to the National Assembly. This system would go on, he said. But it should be clarified whether the drafts would go to the legislative committee from the cabinet before they were submitted to the Assembly or whether they would be referred to the committee by the Assembly. (by Kencho Wangdi)

From http://www.kuenselonline.com/ 05/25/2003

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INDIA: Resignation of Ministers Rocks Indian Govt

India's Hindu-nationalist coalition government was rocked by the resignation of two ministers Friday evening, a day ahead of a planned cabinet reshuffle. India's junior Finance Minister Gingee N Ramachandran submitted his resignation following the arrest of one of his aides for taking a bribe to help an official secure a plum posting, an official said. Federal detectives had this week arrested Perumal Swamy, an assistant to Ramachandran, who had allegedly received 400,000 rupees (8,330 dollars) from a revenue department official for giving him a choice posting. Within minutes of Ramachandran's resignation, Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh followed suit, albeit for a different reason -- reportedly because of frictions between his regional RLD party and the ruling federal BJP party. His party leaders said that Singh was unhappy as he felt the government was not doing enough for farmers. The resignation of Ramachandran overshadowed that of Singh as the "bribes-for-transfer" scandal has embarrassed the government and likely to tarnish its image, regardless of the cabinet makeover, observers say. Opposition leaders have demanded the junior finance minister's head, saying that the case showed how deep corruption ran in the government.

From http://www.dailystarnews.com/ 05/25/2003

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DC Gupta to Be New Finance Secretary

The Government has appointed Expenditure Secretary, DC Gupta as the Finance Secretary, an official said on Wednesday. The official said Gupta would replace S Narayan, who will be moving to the Prime Minister's office. Gupta will continue to look after the expenditure department. "DC Gupta has been appointed as the Finance Secretary. He will take over on Wednesday evening," the official told Reuters.

From http://www.hindustantimes.com/ 06/11/2003

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NEPAL: PM Chand Quits, Lays Blame on Parties

KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand today resigned from his post following mounting pressure from the major political parties. His resignation, which came a day after the parties warned to root out the monarchy, was submitted at the royal palace by one of his aides at around 10:00 am. According to the royal palace communiqu¨¦, Chand would continue to serve the post until the next PM takes over charge. Chand was nominated PM on October 11 last year, a week after his predecessor Sher Bahadur Deuba was sacked for his alleged failure to hold parliamentary elections on time. However, major parties refused to recognise Chand as PM and launched a movement for his replacement with an all-party government, comprised of the parties represented in the dissolved House of Representatives. Chand's resignation contradicts what he said in the past not to quit the post till an elected government replaced him. The causes behind Chand's resignation have been taken as a palace strategy to quell the ongoing movement that is gradually turning violent. King is reported to have asked Chand to quit during an audience on Thursday evening. Chand, however, denied any pressure from the palace to quit. Talking to reporters at his official residence in Baluwatar after his resignation, Chand said he decided to step down with an intention to open other options to put an end to the political impasse. "I did not like to waste the valuable time of the country by sticking to the post," said Chand. Chand claimed that his government was functioning smoothly and achieving desired success in the field of restoring peace, curbing corruption and maintaining sound relations with the neighbouring countries. "But non co-operational attitude of the parties forced me to resign from the post." Chand's resignation has come at a time when the government was carrying out a dialogue with the Maoist rebels, in a bid to end the seven-year long insurgency. He, however, said the peace process would not be affected by his resignation. "Resignation of a person cannot affect the process, as the agreement to sit for dialogue had reached after enough considerations," said Chand. However he said the ball was now in the court of the parties who were trying to make a government. Chief Maoist negotiator, Dr Babu Ram Bhattarai also asserted that the change in the government leadership would make no difference in the process. "It is the government of the king. So whoever the king appoints as the PM, it will still be the king's government," Bhattarai told The Kathmandu Post. Government negotiating team spokesman Narayan Singh Pun said the present team of the government would be dissolved and a new government formed. Asked whether the next government would be able to resolve the problems in the country, Chand simply said, "It must. Otherwise, it would be very unfortunate for the country and the people." (by Yuvraj Acharya)

From http://www.nepalnews.com/ 05/30/2003

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Thapa Takes Oath, Other Details

King Gyanendra administered the oath of office to newly appointed Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa at the Narayanhiti Royal Palace Thursday afternoon one day after his appointment. Retired two-time President of the Rashtriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) Thapa succeeded another RPP leader Lokendra Bahadur Chand; five-time Prime Minister Thapa was government head three times in the Panchayat and once before in the multi-party dispersion. The King has asked the 77-year-old veteran politician to assemble a government by including "as far as possible" other leaders of political parties without specifying a timeframe. Thapa said he will top priority to government formation by consulting political party leaders. Thapa snatched the premiership from CPN-UML General Secretary Madav Nepal-a common choice of five opposition parties now meeting at the residence of Nepal Majdoor Kishan party leader Narayanman Bijukakchhaya in Bhaktapur to discuss Wednesday's government change. Earlier, a meeting of the CPN-UML standing committee Thursday decided not to support the Thapa Government, an announcement said. Chand's exit was the result of the five party opposition, the party said. Thapa assumed office at the Singha Durbar Thursday. He reiterated political demands of five opposition parties had been met after the King transferred executive powers through an order to the government Wednesday. "The serious economic, political and Maoist problems facing the nation cannot be resolved without the understanding and support of political parties," he told reporters at the Central Secretariat. The government will push peace with the Maoists, he said. He said he is will assemble a government with representatives of political parties without saying when. Rabindra Nath Sharma, Thapa's close colleague, told journalists at the Reporter's Club Thursday the new government chief had begun work to assemble an administration. Sharma asked the five opposition parties to call off their protests. "The executive powers have been transferred to the government. The protests will only lead to instability," he said.

From http://www.nepalnews.com/ 06/05/2003

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PAKISTAN: President Appoints Four Judges of Federal Shariat Court

ISLAMABAD (PNS) - President General Pervez Musharraf Tuesday appointed four judges of Federal Shariat Court for a period of three years with effect from the date they will assume their offices. According to official notification issued here today, the four judges appointed by the President for the Federal Shariat Court included Justice (Retd) Zafar Iqbal Pasha Chaudhry, Justice (Retd) Saeed-ur-Rehman Farrukh, Justice (Retd) S.A. Manan and Justice (Retd) S.A. Rabbani.

From http://www.paknews.com/ 06/04/2003

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CM to Get Executive Powers from Governor: Cabinet Decision

KARACHI: The Sindh Annual Development Programme for the next fiscal year 2003-04 is likely to have an outlay of Rs11-12 billion and will be made public on June 16 when the provincial Finance Minister, Syed Sardar Ahmad, will present the new budget in the provincial assembly. The provincial cabinet held a meeting here on Tuesday and gave approval to the transfer of administrative powers from governor to chief minister. A notification to this effect is yet to be issued, said Salahuddin Haider, Adviser to the CM on information, while briefing newsmen about the meeting held at the New Sindh Secretariat. Secretary Information Mehtab Akbar Rashdi was also present on the occasion. It is learnt that although the law and order was No. 14 on the list of the agenda of 17 points, it was taken up as No. 2 point and a review of the law and order situation consumed much of the meeting's time, leaving no option open for the chair to defer other important points - including local government issues and SMC students' grievances, to the next meeting. Chief Minister Ali Mohammad Mahar, who presided over the meeting, stressed the need for paying more attention to the law and order to ensure further improvement and said he himself would be monitoring the situation in the province. Mr Haider said that the cabinet also reviewed the proposal to merge Finance, Excise and Taxation and Board of Revenue to form the 'Sindh Revenue Authority'.The cabinet decided to keep it pending for studying it minutely before a decision. Mr Haider said that the cabinet decided establishment of a medical college in Sukkur. Mr Shoaib Bokhari, Minister for Planning and Development, told the meeting that utilization of development budget increased up to 41 per cent during the last five months. He pointed out that Rs20 million were earmarked for Sindh Education Foundation. The cabinet gave approval to the proposal, put forward by Excise Minister Rauf Siddiqui to exempt 120-square yard plots and 600-square feet flats from property tax. The IGP, Syed Kamal Shah, and Advisor to the CM on Interior affairs, Aftab Ahmad Shaikh, briefed the meeting on the law and order situation in Karachi and other parts of the province with the help of slides. A comparison of facts and figures indicated a remarkable improvement. Mr Haider told newsmen that the figures were being released separately. The IG informed the cabinet about a 'breakthrough' in the bomb blast outside Alladin Park and unearthing of a 'bomb factory' from where bomb-making material was also recovered in a big quantity. The DIG (traffic) said that car-lifting incidents had also declined by 27 per cent. He said that the traffic police generated an annual revenues of Rs90 million through driving licence branch and Rs130 million from fines for traffic violations. He was of the view that if 15 per cent of the total revenues were passed on to the department, their could be a lot of improvement in the department's performance. The cabinet formed a three-member committee to consider the proposal that up to 40 acres of forest land be leased out to each of those NGOs or communities interested in forestation. The decision on the denationalization of Khatoon-i-Pakistan Girls High School was deferred till the submission of a report by the concerned committee. However, the meeting decided to shift the Government Boys School from Mehmoodabad.

From http://www.dawn.com/ 06/11/2003

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PM Revives Inter-Provincial Coordination Committee

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (PNS) - Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali has directed revival of the Inter-Provincial Coordination Committee (IPCC) with a view to promote uniformity of approach in formulation of policies at national level. A notification by the Cabinet Division says, the Committee is to be headed by the Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination as its Chairman. Its members will include the Federal Minister concerned with the subject matter and will be invited on special invitation, besides all the provincial Chief Ministers. According to the Terms of Reference the committee will facilitate general coordination between the Federal Government and the provinces in economic, social and administrative fields. It will also promote uniformity of approach in formulation of policies and their implementation by the provinces and the federal government in all fields of common national concern. The committee will discuss policy issues emanating from the provinces that have economic social or administrative implications for the country as a whole. The IPCC will also be responsible for coordinating with the Ministries and Agencies concerned to evolve suitable response to criticism of government policies, programs and actions and to project a proper image of the government. The committee will also have jurisdiction to take up any matter referred by a province or any of the ministries or divisions of the federal government.

From http://www.paknews.com/ 06/12/2003

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Local Govt System to Stay, Says NRB Official

KARACHI: Setting aside all apprehensions about the new local government system being wrapped up, a senior official of the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) has urged the district Nazims not to be misled by such a disinformation campaign asserting that the new system has come to stay. "In fact, a wave of disinformation against the local government's devolution plan was there even before the Aug 14, 2001, when the new system came into being, and those opposing it had even said that the new system would not take off," member NRB, Naeem-ul-Haq said. He was speaking to Nazims and Naib Nazims of various districts of Sindh at the inaugural session of a three-day "Capacity-Building Workshop" here on Tuesday. The workshop has been organized under the aegis of National Institute of Public Administration (NIPA). As many as 28 Nazims, Naib Nazims and senior presiding officers, belonging to different district governments of the province are participating in the workshop. Provincial Minister for Local Government, Mohammad Hussain, who was to preside over the workshop's inaugural session, could not make it. Admitting that bureaucrats and other vested interests, not happy with the new local government system, were creating hurdles in the smooth functioning of the devolution plan, he said district Nazims must prove themselves perfectly efficient administrators as they were heading 11 groups of offices, besides being responsible for law and order situation in their respective jurisdictions. Highlighting the importance of the new system, Mr Haq said that since the new system was based on bottom-to-top down approach as against the previous top-to-bottom approach, it was bound to bring a positive cultural change in the society where people's problems were being solved in a much better way. He pointed out that the devolution plan, which had replaced the old colonial system, was aimed at empowering the people through their participation and thus, the hangover of political and bureaucratic approach would vanish with the passage of time. FIVE Ds: Apprising about the salient features of the devolution plan, the NRB member said that it consisted of 'five Ds': devolution of political power, decentralization of administrative authority, distribution of resources to districts, de-concentration of management functions and diffusion of power-authority nexus. And now, he observed, there were some people who first wanted to delay the new local government system but were not bent upon derailing and destroying it. Since the devolution plan emerged as the best in comparison to all the past local government systems, the top hierarchy had repeatedly been declaring that it had come to stay, he added. The chief of Provincial Transition Wing, Dr Iftikhar Alam, said his organization, had chalked out similar workshops for Nazims, Naib Nazims and councillors at every level of the local government. Chief instructor of NIPA, Karachi, Niaz A. Siddiki, presented the welcome address.

From http://www.dawn.com/ 06/18/2003

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Speaker Survives No-Trust Move: Motion Against Deputy Speaker Soon

ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain on Saturday survived the opposition's no-trust move as no vote was cast in a stormy lower house session that provoked a similar move against deputy speaker Sardar Yaqub Khan for his alleged partiality in conducting the proceedings. Later, the opposition leaders told journalists that they would also repeat the failed move against the speaker. But they gave no date in this regard. They said 110 opposition members had signed the notice for the no-confidence resolution against the deputy speaker that they had delivered to the assembly's secretary. Under the rules, an assembly session must be called seven days after the receipt of such a notice. The no-trust move against the speaker was officially rejected after no votes were cast either in its favour or opposition after the deputy speaker made short work of what would have been a prolonged tirade against his senior. The opposition's resolution had called for the removal of the speaker for having transgressed "his authority by a ruling on the Constitution ... Undermining the sovereignty of the House, which was beyond his purview regarding the LFO's status vis-a-vis the Constitution". While the coalition had decided beforehand to abstain from the voting on the issue, the opposition also decided at the last-minute to "boycott" the vote to protest against the deputy speaker's decision to disallow members other than the 12 sponsors of the resolution and the speaker to deliver speeches. The opposition accused Yaqub Khan, who chaired the session while the speaker stood in the dock, of flouting the rules by not allowing them to express their views on the resolution. The deputy speaker's insistence that he wasfollowing the rules in using his discretion plunged the all-graduate house into an uproar. The National Assembly initially seemed to be proceeding smoothly after 143 opposition members - more than the required one-fourth of the 243-seat house - stood in their seats to allow the resolution to be moved and one of its 12 sponsors - Syed Naveed Qamar of the People's Party Parliamentarians was allowed to deliver the first speech before the prayer-cum-lunch break. Members of the ruling coalition - who were not officially counted at the time - also stood up to demonstrate their support for the speaker with minister of state for parliamentary affairs Mohammad Raza Hayat Harraj saying: "We oppose it." Several members from both sides were absent from the Saturday's session for various reasons. The trouble started when the house resumed after the break and the deputy speaker asked the next mover, Liaqat Baloch of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal to speak with the condition that no more than the 12 movers and the speaker would be allowed to speak before the secret balloting. Protests by opposition members became nosier when, at one point, Yaqub Khan reminded them that he could order the sergeant- at-arms to remove any one obstructing the proceedings. In what the opposition called another change of mind by him at the instance of the treasury benches, Mr Khan later said he would allow the remaining 11 opposition sponsors only 15 minutes each to speak, instead of 30 minutes each they said were allowed under the rules of procedure. Baloch and other opposition members listed as resolution movers and called by the chair to make their speeches declined to do so unless their party leaders and other members were also allowed time to speak on the matter. But the deputy speaker said he would not change his "firm decision," rejecting charges that he was taking orders from the treasury benches. The noisiest moments of the house came as the deputy speaker asked the speaker to defend himself. Though hardly heard inside the hall because of the opposition desk-thumping and "No, No" chant, Mr Hussain defended his ruling as justified and said he would stay in office because he enjoyed the support of the majority of the house. Later, the chair ordered for voting on the resolution after Mr Hussain's speech. Nobody either from the opposition or the treasury benches came forward to cast their vote as the assembly secretary, Salim Mahmood, called the names of all 342 members of the house in the order of the number of the constituencies. At the end, a green, empty ballot box was unlocked and shown to the house. "Since no one has voted...consequently the resolution stand rejected," ruling coalition member Riaz Pirzada, who was chairing the session at the time, said before reading out a prorogation order for the assembly issued by acting president Mianmohammed Soomro. (by Raja Asghar)

From http://www.dawn.com/ 06/29/2003

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AFGHANISTAN: Government Sets Up New Commission to Fight Corruption

The Afghan government has set up a new commission to fight corruption, nepotism and red tape, President Hamid Karzai said Sunday. The Independent Reform of Civil Administrative Services Commission is the latest in a series of measures Karzai has taken to try to jump-start the economy. After two decades of war, the country is desperately short of cash and heavily dependent on foreign aid. The panel will be headed by one of the country's several vice presidents, Hadyat Amin Arsala, Karzai said in a speech at the Interior Ministry. Several Cabinet members were among the hundreds who attended. "Lots of people complain about how our administrative system works. Businessmen say they have to wait for days and days to get licenses to operate," Karzai said. "These people should be allowed to start work as soon as possible, because if they open businesses, it will mean more job opportunities for lots of people." Afghans have taken to the streets several times in recent weeks, demanding the government increase salaries, pay back wages and rehire employees it has laid off. Karzai responded by demanding that warlords who control lucrative import routes hand over millions of dollars in unpaid customs revenues - a move that has begun to pay off. Money has started coming in, and much of it has been used to pay soldiers and civil servants whose salaries were several months in arrears. The government hopes to raise at least $200 million in custom revenues this year, but Karzai said that alone would not be enough to get the economy going. Providing job opportunities was "not just the job of government," he said, adding that private sector growth was also key. "Customs revenues alone are not enough," Karzai said. "If we have a good economy and we can pay good salaries to civil servants, then there won't be any need for corruption in government." The new commission also would work to route out nepotism, Karzai said. "It's not good when someone gets work because he knows the boss or director," Karzai said. "The people who have the talent and capacity to do a job should get the job." (by Todd Pitman)

From Yahoo News 06/15/2003

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ARMENIA: Constitutional Court to Work Overtime Reviewing Election Complaints

The Constitutional Court has received 19 complaints from 24 candidates challenging the official results of the 25 May parliamentary elections in single-mandate constituencies. Those candidates include former Interior Minister and Yerevan Mayor Suren Abrahamian. In addition, the opposition Artarutiun election bloc has appealed the results in the proportional voting. The court will work on Saturdays in order to review all those appeals within the legally required time frame. Meanwhile, the Democratic Liberal Union of Armenia has decided against appealing the vote result to the Constitutional Court. A party spokesman said it would be impossible to recheck the votes cast in every single constituency. (by Noyan Tapan)

From http://www.cacianalyst.org/ 06/10/2003

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Armenian Leader Unites Top Allies in New Coalition Government

Armenian President Robert Kocharian has engineered a power-sharing arrangement that puts an end, at least for now, to debilitating infighting among his most influential political allies. Over the near term, the deal involving Armenia's three largest pro-presidential parties could give the president a stronger hand in the continuing standoff with his political opponents. Kocharian's power-sharing agreement reflects the results of the contested May 25 parliament vote that gave pro-presidential forces an overwhelming parliamentary majority. The opening session of the new parliament June 12 was boycotted by 25 opposition deputies from the Artarutiun (Justice) bloc and the National Unity Party. Both opposition parties refuse to recognize the legitimacy of Kocharian's re-election in March, and also question the accuracy of the May 25 legislative election results. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Under Kocharian's auspices, the Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutiun) and the Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law) party formalized on June 11 their long-awaited decision to form a coalition government. The deal amounted to giving Dashnaktsutiun and Orinats Yerkir three ministerial portfolios each in the current HHK-dominated cabinet of Prime Minister Andranik Markarian. Orinats Yerkir also received another political plum when party leader Artur Baghdasarian was elected parliament speaker during the June 12 session. While ceding some of their sweeping government levers, the Republicans retained control of six ministries, including those of finance, energy and industry. Their coalition partners will run less powerful agencies such the ministries of social security, environment and culture. Significantly, three other key positions the ministries of defense, foreign affairs and justice ?remained under Kocharian's direct control. The president also retained his hold on the security apparatus. According to a memorandum signed by the three parties, the agreement "will guarantee that the executive and legislative branches work productively." Among the coalition's top policy priorities are constitutional reform, electoral reform and promoting economic policies with "a clear-cut social orientation," the memorandum stated. Markarian predicted that the new government would produce an economic development strategy within two weeks ?the same amount of time it took to hammer out the coalition agreement. Coalition talks occurred against a backdrop of bitter recriminations among leaders of the three parties before and after the contentious parliamentary elections. The HHK, which won 40 of the 131 parliament seats, faced accusations made by other pro-Kocharian groups, including Dashnaktsutiun and Orinats Yerkir, of vote rigging. The two parties eventually agreed to team up with the Republicans, citing the need to maintain "stability" in the country. Still, their charges, flatly denied by Markarian's HHK, dealt a further blow to the legitimacy of the vote, which was already challenged by the Armenian opposition and Western observers. [For background, see the Eurasia Insight archives]. The key issue that held up a coalition accord for almost two weeks was a dispute over who should hold the parliament speaker position. Kocharian's insistence on giving the post to the 34-year-old Baghdasarian faced strong resistance from HHK leaders. Many HHK members were furious with Baghdasarian for his pre-election attacks on Markarian's government. Ultimately, Kocharian prevailed on Republicans to back down on the speakership issue. "The HHK stood above its partisan interests because we can not address problems facing our state single-handedly," Markarian explained afterwards. "We will do our best to preserve this coalition in the next four years." Similar assurances were given by Orinats Yerkir and Dashnaktsutiun leaders. Local observers appear divided on the question of the coalition's staying power. The pro-opposition daily Haykakan Zhamanak predicted that it would last as long as the parties involved recognized the opportunities it created for patronage and corruption. "The only thing that can hold together this coalition is money," the paper said. Other analysts, however, call the power-sharing arrangement a shaky marriage of convenience designed by Kocharian, along with his powerful political ally, Defense Minister Serge Sarkisian, to reduce the HHK's influence. The installation of a parliament speaker unaffiliated with the Republicans may be the first step in a chain of events leading to Markarian's sacking, some observers believe. The cabinet reshuffle may have restored order in the presidential camp, but it has not defused tensions caused by this year's disputed elections. Those tensions were symbolized by the conspicuous absence of virtually all opposition lawmakers from the first parliament session. The opposition boycott prompted conciliatory statements from the parliament majority leaders. Even Kocharian regretted it, telling his loyalists that "no government can work efficiently if there is no opposition in the country." (by Emil Danielyan)

From http://www.eurasianet.org/ 06/13/2003

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AZERBAIJAN: New Election Code Passed

On May 27, the Azerbaijani parliament passed the law on the adoption of a new elections code, in its third and final reading, with a vote of 95 to 5. According to this document, the provisions of the Election Code (EC) touching upon the formation of election commissions at all levels would come into force after the new parliamentarian elections in 2005. The law also stipulates the principles of forming election commissions within the transition period. The document is an altered version of the one proposed by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe. In the modified version, the representation of the opposition in the election commissions was reduced. The main contentious issues in the discussions on the Code were the composition of the election commissions and salaries of their members. Until 2005, the Central Election Commission (CEC) will consist of 15 members. 6 members will be MPs from the governing Yeni Azerbaijan Party (YAP), 3 MPs representing the parliamentarian minority (Azerbaijan Popular Front Party, Party of Civil Solidarity and Communist Party). Three seats are given to MPs elected by one-mandated territories (independents, and members of smaller parties elected in single-member constituencies). The last three seats are given to the opposition parties "Musavat", AMIP, Democratic Party of Azerbaijan, and the Liberal party, i.e. those who more than 1 % of votes in the parliamentary elections in 2000, but not represented in parliament. District election commissions will comprise 9 members. The governing party gets three seats, the opposition represented in parliament two, independent MPs and government-oriented parties two, and another two seats to opposition parties not represented in parliament. Local election commissions will consist of 6 members. The governing party gets three seats, while opposition represented in parliament, independent MPs and government-oriented parties, and opposition parties not represented in parliament receive one seat each. During the adoption of the EC, opposition MPs did not participate in the session of the Milli Mejlis. The Parliamentary opposition left parliament as a protest to what they termed insulting attacks against them from MPs of the parliamentary majority. Previously, opposition parties have criticized this model of forming election commissions, since authorities will practically have a qualified majority (2/3 of votes) in the election commissions. Another central issue is the salary for members of election commissions. The variant submitted to MPs suggested giving salary to members of election commissions during the entire period. But the government-oriented majority spoke against this initiative, due to the lack of budgetary resources. The opposition came out resolutely to keep the salary issue. But the head of state supported the view of the majority, and now only the chairman and secretary of the election commissions will be receiving salary during the whole period of 5 years. Other members of election commissions will get salary only during the election period (3 months). Despite the fact that Milli Mejlis has approved this draft law, the president of the country may reject it. Some observers think that the president will return the document to the parliament. It would happen, if the president has objections. In this case, by signing out this act during the set period of time, he can return it to Milli Mejlis with his amendments. The opposition relies on strong reactions by international organizations. But it is better for the opposition to rely on themselves, according to political scientist Rasim Musabekov. According to him, "everything will depend on meeting planned for June 3". He predicted that the president will approve the EC. He thinks that authorities can review this act under pressure for a series of reasons. If the meeting on June 3 turns out well and the opposition will be able to mobilize the electorate for protest on this day, and a tough reaction of the Council of Europe, OSCE and the U.S. materializes, the presidential administration would have to review the EC. "The fact that this act was adopted without the opposition MPs from the Democratic Bloc- is a violation", according to Ali Kerimli, chairman of the Azerbaijan Popular front party (reformers). The leader of Democratic block reminded that the authorities have accepted an obligation to adopt the law on elections based on consensus with the opposition. The adopted document contradicts the obligations of Azerbaijan before the Council of Europe. In June, during the summer session of PACE, the authorities will be criticized. Moreover, if this act comes into force, the situation in the country will deteriorate. The authorities have changed the sense of the proposals of the Venice commission". Apart from the opposition MPs, the reaction of the head of the Baku office of the OSCE, ambassador Peter Burkhard was more optimistic. I observed the process and I think the EC draft now contains most recommendations. I am glad that this document was finally adopted. Now I can't give a final appraisal to this law - that is the prerogative of international experts. The official appraisal will appear after the president will sign the document". (by Gulnara Ismailova )

From http://www.cacianalyst.org/ 05/27/2003

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KAZAKHSTAN: Premier Resigns Over Fixed Vote in Parliament

Kazakh Prime Minister Imanghali Tasmaghambetov says President Nursultan Nazarbaev accepted his resignation and that of his entire cabinet. Tasmaghambetov, who had been prime minister since January 2002, says he requested his resignation from the president in May, but gave few details. It was not immediately clear who will take Tasmaghambetov's post. Tasmaghambetov said he has resigned because the results of a vote of confidence he requested and won last month were falsified. The vote was over a controversial land-reform bill. "The reason was the vote of confidence made by the parliament last month. The results of the vote were falsified. The whole performance has been organized by some deputies of Majilis [parliament's lower chamber]. As prime minister, I had no right to continue covering up the whole thing, and I asked officially our president to free me from this position on May 19." The country's Constitutional Council yesterday confirmed the legality of the bill, which clears the way for private-land ownership in Kazakhstan.

From http://www.eurasianet.org/ 06/11/2003

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KAZAKHSTAN: Kazakhstan Appoints New PM

Reuters -- Kazakhstan's parliament has voted overwhelmingly to approve the appointment of Danial Akhmetov as the Central Asian state's new prime minister. Akhmetov, a long-term loyalist of strongman President Nursultan Nazarbayev, is the governor of the key industrial Pavlodar region in northern Kazakhstan. He turns 49 on Sunday. He won the backing of 36 deputies in the upper Senate chamber and 70 members of the lower Majilis house. One senate member abstained and one member of the Majilis voted against. Nazarbayev, who enjoys vast powers in the vast, oil-rich nation of 15 million and has ruled with a firm hand since Soviet times, asked the docile legislature to approve Akhmetov as the new prime minister earlier on Friday. Akhmetov's appointment came two days after the cabinet of Prime Minister Imnagali Tasmagambetov resigned in a bitter standoff with parliament over land reform.

From http://edition.cnn.com/ 06/13/2003

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Some Kazakh Ministers Reappointed

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev on 14 June reappointed seven ministers from the previous government, khabar.kz reported. Two days after former Prime Minister Imanghaliy Tasmaghambetov submitted his government's resignation on 11 June, his successor, Daniyal Akhmetov, hinted that there would be little change in the ministerial line up. The reappointed ministers are Deputy Prime Minister and Agriculture Minister Ahmetjan Yesimov, Interior Minister Kairbek Suleimenov, Education and Science Minister Djaksybek Kulekeev, Defense Minister Mukhtar Altynbaev, Environment Minister Aitkul Samakova, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Vladimir Shkolnik, and Economy and Budget Minister Kairat Kelimbetov. Nazarbaev also appointed Kairat Nurpeisov to the post of governor of Pavlodar Oblast, replacing Akhmetov. According to khabar.kz, Nurpeisov, a native of Pavlodar, briefly held the post earlier in his career. He has also served as deputy energy minister.

From RFE/RL 06/16/2003

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New Kazakh Government Formed, Sets Out Priorities

Continuity in change has been the defining theme of Kazakhstan's new government, appointed over the course of the last week following 46-year-old Prime Minister Imanghaliy Tasmaghambetov's resignation on 11 June. The fresh cabinet features many of the same faces as the previous one, while the new premier, 49-year-old Daniyal Akhmetov, promised to keep the policies of his predecessor in place. Tasmaghambetov, whose resignation on 11 June was accepted by President Nursultan Nazarbaev the same day, had been in office for only 18 months. The official reason Tasmaghambetov gave for stepping down was shock at learning that the results of a vote of confidence on 19 May, which his government survived, were allegedly falsified. That vote was intended to gauge support for a government proposal to introduce private ownership of agricultural land (see "Kazakhstan: Prime Minister Resigns Over Government Land-Reform Dispute," 12 June 2003). As required by the Kazakh Constitution, the prime minister's decision to quit automatically triggered the resignation of his whole cabinet. Nazarbaev presented his new candidate for the post, Pavlodar Oblast Governor Daniyal Akhmetov, to a joint session of parliament on 13 June. Akhmetov was approved in an almost unanimous vote by 36 of 39 senators in parliament's upper chamber and 73 of 77 members of the Mazhilis, or lower chamber (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 June 2003). Addressing the parliament immediately after his confirmation as prime minister, Akhmetov indicated there would be few differences in personnel or policies between his government and the last one, Interfax reported. That said, there were hints that this government may pay more attention to regional problems. When introducing Akhmetov to the parliament, Nazarbaev said that the next prime minister would need to have experience in oblast government because the country had to speed up the pace of social and economic development, Khabar news agency reported on 13 June. The president called him "a strong organizer, who knows the real economy well and who has the experience of working in the regions, where the new programs will be implemented." Furthermore, Akhmetov's remark to parliament that there should be no dissidents in Kazakhstan, but rather a constructive dialogue in an atmosphere of mutual understanding, could be optimistically interpreted as a softening of the government line on oppositionists. Against that view, unfortunately, is his reputation as an administrator with little tolerance for opposition, and the fact that he was reportedly nicknamed "The Terminator" in Pavlodar for the cleanup campaign he conducted against allies and sympathizers of his predecessor as governor, the jailed founder of the opposition coalition Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan, Ghalymzhan Zhaqiyanov (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 June 2003). Akhmetov is also said to have closed down and harassed independent media outlets while Pavlodar's governor, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported on 16 June. The promise of few ministerial changes was borne out as it emerged that two-thirds of the members of Akhmetov's cabinet were holdovers from Tasmaghambetov's. On 14 June, Nazarbaev reappointed seven ministers from the last government: the ministers of agriculture, the interior, education, defense, environment, energy, and economics all returned to their posts. A further seven appointments were announced on 16 June, of which five were repeats from the previous cabinet: the ministers of justice, health, labor, transport, and culture. The only newcomers are 33-year-old Yerbolat Dosaev as finance minister and Adilbek Jaksybekov as minister of trade and industry. The former used to lead the Agency for Regulating Natural Monopolies, according to Khabar. The latter had been the mayor of Astana. He was replaced by Temirhan Dosmukhanbetov as the Kazakh capital's mayor, which was also upgraded to a cabinet post. A number of appointments were also made to the presidential staff (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 and 17 June 2003). One of the familiar faces on the president's team was Tasmaghambetov himself, whom Nazarbaev made a state secretary. Akhmetov claimed the new government represented "a symbiosis of continuity and young forces, which will allow us to achieve our goals," "Kazakhstan News Bulletin" reported on 18 June. But given the number of returning ministers around the table on 17 June, when Akhmetov held his first cabinet meeting, even presidential adviser Yermukhamet Yertysbaev acknowledged to Interfax-Kazakhstan that "we cannot speak of Akhmetov's 'new team.'" The prime minister set out his government's priorities at the meeting, with economic development topping the list. He singled out the need to implement an industrial-development strategy stressing innovation, a program for exploiting hydrocarbon reserves in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea until 2015, and projects to promote the agricultural sector and combat poverty, RIA-Novosti reported. Akhmetov also promised more support for small and medium-sized businesses and domestic manufacturers. He warned his ministers against complacency. The country may have registered 10 percent annual GDP growth for four years in a row, he said, but that did not mean Kazakhstan had achieved a sustainable level of development.

From http://www.rferl.org/ 06/20/2003

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TAJIKISTAN: Referendum Backs Longer Presidential Mandate

Xinhuanet -- Tajikistan's President Emomali Rakhmonov could stay in office until 2020, according to the preliminary result of a referendum in that country that came out on Monday. The referendum held Sunday approved some 50 changes to the constitution, the most important of which is to allow the president to be elected for two consecutive seven-year terms. This means 50-year-old Rakhmonov is potentially able to be reelected and rule the central Asian country until 2020 after his current term, which does not count under the revised constitution, expires in 2006. Reports reaching here from the Tajik capital of Dushanbe said that more than 93 percent of voters support the changes to the constitution in the referendum with a turnout of more than 96 percent. Rakhmonov was elected to a five-year term as president in November 1994 and was re-elected to a seven-year term in November 1999 following a constitutional change.

From http://news.xinhuanet.com/ 06/23/2003

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UZBEKISTAN: European Commission Holds Presentation of PCA (Phase 2)

European Commission representation office in Uzbekistan held a presentation of the second phase of the project "Assistance in realisation of Partnership And Cooperation Agreement between Uzbekistan and the European Union." Ambassadors of France and Italy in Uzbekistan, representatives of Germany, Great Britain and Czech Republic attended the presentation of the project, which is being carried out within the framework of EuropAid programme. Financing of the second phase started on 10 April 2003 and will last until December 2004. The second phase is aimed at assisting the government to bring Uzbekistan's legislature on entrepreneurship and trade to world standards, as well as accession to World Trade Organisation. During the first phase recommendations were developed on improving the Uzbek laws on companies, competition, foreign investments, tax and customs in accordance with European norms. Recommendations on state recruitment, registration of the companies, protection of consumer rights and intellectual property were also elaborated. The second phase also envisages assistance to Uzbekistan in WTO accession. The EU is expected to help in trade with goods, services and agricultural production taking into account Uzbekistan's interests, as well as draft the strategy of development of Uzbekistan's exports. Works on standardisation and certification, protection of intellectual property and strategy for transport sector will be also implemented in cooperation with economic research institutes. The project also plans to publish statistics on the country's economic development. The project will allow Uzbekistan to carry out administrative reforms in staff training in ministries participating in the project through seminars and awareness raising activities on the issues connected with the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement and WTO, as well as development of knowledge on political advocacy.

From http://www.uzreport.com/ 06/20/2003

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Uzbek: Opposition Meets Openly for First Time in 10 Years

Twenty-three members of Uzbekistan's opposition Erk party met in the capital Tashkent on 14 June to hold a party plenum. It was the first time the party has met openly in 10 years. Moreover, they invited members of another opposition party, Birlik, to join them. Surprisingly, Uzbek authorities -- who have actively sought to repress the political opposition, did almost nothing to prevent it. Human rights organizations and democracy advocates say that government opposition has not been tolerated in any form since Uzbekistan became independent in 1991. Erk was Uzbekistan's first official opposition party, registered just months before the collapse of the Soviet Union. Both Erk and Birlik, an Erk splinter party, were briefly active after independence. But the parties, both secular, were reportedly banned along with a number of Islamic groups before two years had passed. Uzbekistan currently has five registered political parties. But all of them derive from a single party, the Halk Demokratik Partiyasi (People's Democratic Party), which itself is the direct descendant of the Soviet-era Communist Party. The current five parties are nearly indistinguishable from each other, particularly in their support for President Islam Karimov. Erk takes a dimmer view of the country's political affairs. Here's First Party Secretary Atonazar Arifov at the 14 June plenum: "Many specialists [and] experts say constantly that there is a gap between the people and the government. There is a growing conflict. The people and the government are enemies. Society and the government are enemies." Arifov also said that instead of giving the people freedom, the government had turned them into slaves. Such comments in Uzbekistan are made at the risk of a visit to the police. But neither Arifov nor any of the others in attendance were apprehended in the days following the meeting. Erk's founder and party leader, Muhammad Solih, was not in attendance at the plenum. Solih, once a candidate for the presidency against Karimov, fled the country in 1993 during the government's crackdown on opposition groups. Solih is unlikely to return to Uzbekistan anytime soon. Tried in absentia for allegedly orchestrating a February 1999 assassination attempt against Karimov, the Erk party leader faces a long prison term should he ever return home. Solih remains actively engaged in Erk affairs. He spoke to RFE/RL from Norway, where he has been granted asylum. He said the party session was planned well in advance and that he is in daily touch with party leaders in Uzbekistan. "I lead the party, but of course, in Tashkent it is Atonazar Arifov, who as first secretary of the party, is in charge. But I am still the chairman of the party, of the Erk Party." Solih said the Erk plenum did not come as a total surprise to the authorities: "They would not want us to hold the meeting. The first place where we planned to meet was a hotel, but they did not allow [Erk] members in because law enforcement organizations warned [the hotel] not to allow us in, and we were forced to hold the session in a different hotel." Independent journalists invited to the Erk plenum confirmed the change of venue in their reports. It is out of character for the Uzbek government to permit such a meeting. And Erk is not the first opposition party to hold a session in Uzbekistan this year. Birlik held a meeting last month. Uzbek authorities have been targeting Islamic groups for the last several years. That campaign was stepped up after the assassination attempt on Karimov, and two straight summers of incursions by armed militants of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. The Uzbek government's problems with Islamic groups remains a heated issue. Human rights organizations, major international bodies like the UN and OSCE, and individual states have urged Uzbekistan to allow registration of secular opposition groups as a "release valve" for growing discontent in the country. The logic is, if people have a legitimate means for expressing their views they will not be tempted to join radical groups promising quick change through violence. It is far too early to judge if the Uzbek government may be experimenting with this advice. The Uzbek government has resisted advice from financial institutions, human rights, and media freedom groups, international organizations, and individual states since independence. Erk leaders were cautious in their comments about what Solih called the "success" of the plenum. But they clearly were planning for the future with the hope the party would be able to continue its activities openly. One problem will be clearing up Erk's legal status in Uzbekistan, as Solih explained: We have been waiting for reregistration for several years now. We have all the documents prepared. But reregistration does not mean we are a new party. We were registered as an official party in 1991. The government never said we were 'unregistered,' that [our] registration was revoked. I never read anything in the state newspapers saying the party's registration was canceled." Looking ahead to the scheduled December 2004 parliamentary elections, Arifov told RFE/RL's Uzbek Service the party needed to seek new members from the youth of the country. He dismissed critics who have accused Erk of being too passive, saying Erk's activity will see a noticeable rise in the coming months. Solih said elections could be held tomorrow and Erk would be ready. But to win, outside influences were necessary: "We are always ready to participate [in elections], but that doesn't mean we don't have a lot to do. Even in the current semidemocratic situation we are ready to participate in elections. And I am sure we will receive a majority of the votes. If there is an international commission and if independent observers monitor the elections, we will win. That is not just my opinion, this is the opinion of our people." An electoral victory for Erk seems a long way off at present. The party's official status is unclear at best. It no longer has a newspaper. Arifov says its bank accounts are frozen. And its leader is considered a public enemy who would be taken to jail as soon as he stepped on Uzbek soil. But in a country where there have been few indications of political reform for a decade, the Erk and Birlik meetings could be taken as a small sign of encouragement. (by Farangis Najibullah)

From http://www.eurasianet.org/ 06/21/03

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SAMOA: Banker to Head Committee on Pay Review

PAGO PAGO (Pacific Magazine) --The Bank of Hawaii's vice president in American Samoa, Brent Schwenke, has been appointed by the Secretary of Labor, Elaine L. Chao to chair the federal Special Industry Committee to review minimum wage rates for the territories various industries. American Samoa's minimum wage is covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) - the federal wage and hour law and its reviewed every two years, with the last review in 2001. This year's hearing, by a six member committee, all appointed by Secretary Chao, with Schwenke as chairman, will convene on June 16th in Pago Pago. Committee members represent the public sector, employers, and employees. The FLSA provides that special industry committees may establish rates in American Samoa below that required on the mainland. The current mainland minimum wage is $5.15. After holding public hearings to review local economic conditions, including hearing testimony from interested parties, the committee will determine whether Samoan industry minimum wage rates - currently $2.57 to $4.09 an hour - should be increased or should remain at current levels. The committee cannot recommend that wage rates be decreased. Based on its findings, the committee will recommend to the Labor Department the highest rate for each industry that will not substantially curtail employment and will not give industries in the territory a competitive advantage over similar U.S. businesses not in American Samoa. (by Fili Sagapolutele)

From http://www.pacificislands.cc/ 06/04/2003

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AUSTRALIA: Qantas Chairwoman Flies High with Nation's Top Honour

Qantas chairwoman Margaret Jackson, who has been named as a possible governor-general, has been awarded the nation's highest honour. Ms Jackson, who lives in Melbourne, was one of eight Australians who today took out the top Queen's Birthday award, Companion in the Order of Australia (AC). The mother of two said she felt "humbled and greatly honoured" by the award for services to business, medical research and the arts. She would not say if she had been offered the governor-general role. "I felt incredibly overcome," she said. "You participate in the community because you get pleasure and joy out of working with others. I was surprised and shocked." Business leaders and politicians dominated the highest category, receiving five of the eight awards. Among the politicians were Doug Anthony, a former National Party leader and deputy prime minister, and two former state premiers, Richard Court in Western Australia and Michael Field in Tasmania. Melbourne philanthropist Lady Primrose Potter also became a Companion of the Order of Australia, as did corporate leader Sir Roderick Carnegie, engineer John Laurie and AIDS researcher Jacques Miller. But among the 528 Queen's Birthday award recipients there were also athletes and winemakers, rock'n'roll stars and activists. Australian Test captain Steve Waugh, who claimed he was "just an ordinary bloke", became an Officer of the Order of Australia for his charity work in an orphanage in Calcutta and his remarkable on-field career (160 Tests for 10,265 runs at an average of 49.83). West Indian cricketer Sir Garfield Sobers, who played for South Australia from 1961-64 and was the greatest all-rounder to play the game, also received an AO, as did former Australian players Norman O'Neill and Peter Philpott. Wine identity Peter Ferguson received a Medal of the Order of Australia for his role in developing the Yarra Valley as a wine region. Rocker and environmentalist Peter Garrett is now a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to the music industry and the environment. And Ches Baragwanath, the self-described "bloody-minded and intransigent" former auditor-general of Victoria, became an officer of the Order of Australia for "service to the community in the area of public accountability". He said he was proud to have been a thorn in the side of governments. Tasmanian gay rights activist Rodney Croome became a Member of the Order of Australia for service to the community as a human rights advocate. And Lady Joy Snedden, wife of former Liberal leader Billy Snedden, became a Member of the Order of Australia for her work with the Australian Ballet. Nine soldiers from the Special Air Service Regiment also received awards for their roles in the war in Afghanistan. (by Misha Ketchell)

From http://www.theage.com.au/ 06/09/2003

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Howard Names New G-G

Former SAS commander and Vietnam veteran Major-General Michael Jeffery will become Australia's 24th Governor-General. General Jeffery, a former governor of Western Australia and recipient of the Military Cross for courage, is the first soldier to be appointed to Australia's top vice-regal post in 50 years. Prime Minister John Howard said he had asked the Queen to appoint General Jeffery because he was "a man of the people" who would bring a wealth of experience to the job. "He is very used to the vice-regal office and his former military career gives him a sure and instinctive touch in dealing with people. . . all I hear and what I have observed tells me that he is very much, in the proper sense of the expression, a man of the people," Mr Howard said. General Jeffery, who will be sworn in on August 11, yesterday said he was humbled and privileged to take the job. "I want to give my total commitment to the Australian people that I will endeavour to be a Governor-General of the people and for the people and to carry out the office with dignity and dedication," he said at his home in Canberra. General Jeffery, 65, was born in Wiluna in remote Western Australia and educated at government schools. His father was a gold assayer. During his army career he served in Malaya, Borneo, Papua New Guinea and Vietnam, where he was awarded the Military Cross. He commanded the SAS in Perth and headed the national counter-terrorism coordination authority. He was WA governor from 1993 to 2000. General Jeffery acknowledged the controversy surrounding his predecessor, Peter Hollingworth, saying the appointment came in "sad and very difficult circumstances". Dr Hollingworth resigned in May - less than two years into his five-year appointment - after months of controversy over his handling of child sex abuse complaints in his former role as Brisbane's Anglican archbishop. Mr Howard rejected calls to change the process for appointing the governor-general, sticking with the tradition of a personal recommendation to the Queen by the prime minister alone. Mr Howard said he consulted senior colleagues and ex-military figures and conducted background checks on General Jeffery. "Anybody who rises to the rank of Major-General, anybody who is awarded a Military Cross in action, anybody who commands the SAS regiment, is in every sense of the word a leader," he said. In selecting General Jeffery, Mr Howard passed up the chance to appoint the first female governor-general and opted for what some observers described as a safe choice - a former war hero who has already been "road-tested" as WA governor. But his past has not been totally without controversy. In June 1995, as WA governor, he was forced to apologise for using the word assimilation in a speech about problems in Aboriginal communities. Mr Howard said General Jeffery, as honorary Colonel of the SAS regiment, had shown his suitability at the welcome home parade for troops in Perth on Friday "mixing very freely, very easily and obviously a very welcome person". Opposition Leader Simon Crean said General Jeffery had "served his country in peace and war with distinction". But Mr Crean said he was disappointed Mr Howard had not consulted more widely on the appointment of the Governor-General. Democrats Leader Andrew Bartlett said it was a missed opportunity to involve the community in the selection process. Greens leader Bob Brown was disappointed a woman did not get the job and said the "nonsense" of having the Queen make the appointment showed it was time for Australia to become a republic. Australians for a Constitutional Monarchy convenor David Flint said General Jeffery was a "superb choice" while Australian Republican Movement director James Terrie said General Jeffery was "a good man and he will do a good job". Tasmanian governor Sir Guy Green will remain as administrator until August 11. (by Phillip Hudson)

From http://www.theage.com.au/ 06/23/2003

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Lowy Reappointed to Reserve Board

SHOPPING centre magnate Frank Lowy has been reappointed to the board of the Reserve Bank for his third straight term. Treasurer Peter Costello said Mr Lowy had been reappointed until December 2005, which will make him the board's longest-serving member with 10 years service. "Mr Lowy has been an active board member over the past eight years, contributing vigorously to the board's deliberations," Mr Costello said. "His far-reaching knowledge and experience have proven to be a great asset to the board." Mr Lowy, the chairman of Westfield Holdings, is the only remaining Reserve Bank board member to pre-date the coalition. Reserve Bank governor Ian Macfarlane's term is due to expire on September 17 this year, and Mr Costello has hinted he could be reappointed. The Reserve Bank board comprises Mr Macfarlane, Treasury secretary Ken Henry, deputy governor Glenn Stevens, and six external appointees.

From http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/ 06/25/2003

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KIRIBATI: Two Brothers Contest Presidency

TARAWA (Pacnews) --- Two brothers are among the three candidates contesting Kiribati's presidency. Dr Harry Tong has been nominated by the ruling Maurin Maneaba Party and his younger brother, Anote Tong has been supported by the opposition party. The third candidate is a practicing lawyer, Banueera Berina. PACNEWS has been reliably told that Dr Harry Tong, who was former health minister in the government of President Teburoro Tito, stands a good chance of becoming Kiribati's new president. Government now enjoys a majority of 25 out of the 42 seats in Parliament. Aneta Tong also worked under President Tito as a cabinet minister in 1995.The presidential election will be held on July 04.-- Pacnews

From http://www.pacificislands.cc/ 06/10/2003

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NAURU: President Picks Young and Qualified Cabinet

YAREN (Pacnews) -- Newly elected Nauru President Ludwig Scotty today announced the appointment of a "young and qualified" cabinet. Named to the six-member cabinet are Scotty, who will also serve as Minister of Foreign Affairs; David Adeang, Minister of Finance; Kieran Keke, Minister of Health; Dogabe Jeremiah; Minister of Works; Russel Kun, Minister of Justice; and Baron Waca, Minister of Education. Scotty said he believes the new government will "lead Nauru towards a new future focusing on prudent management and financial stability." Nauru, once the richest of Pacific nations because of its wealth of phosphate, is currently facing bankruptcy and political instability because of mismanagement and other problems. But Scotty said he hopes the incoming administration will overcome the political gridlock that has stymied action on the country's fiscal problems in recent months. "I have chosen a cabinet including young and qualified members of parliament," he said. -- Pacnews

From http://www.pacificislands.cc/ 06/13/2003

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NIUE: Changes in the Number of Parliament Seats Unlikely

ALOFI (Pacnews) -- Despite Niue's declining population and a recommendation from the island's previous Constitutional Review Committee changes to the number of MP's in the Parliament seem unlikely. The Constitutional Review Committee recommended consideration be given to reducing the number of common roll members (6) but maintaining the 14 village seats. A group of New Zealand based Niueans are advocating for an additional overseas seat while some are wanting more discussion on re-integration with New Zealand. Political commentators predict there will be no change in the near future to the number of parliamentarians because any changes to the constitution are to be initiated by MP's and supported by two thirds of the House before going to a referendum. However in the neighboring Cook Islands a Group for Political Change is putting pressure on to have its government reduce the number of MPs. Elizabeth Ponga says three of the reforms the group was advocating will have a third reading in parliament at the end of the month. These include the abolition of the overseas seat, a reduction in the term of parliament from five to four years and the abolition of the 1976 superannuation scheme. Ms Ponga said although they've been successful with these reforms, the MPs are reluctant to look at reducing their own numbers. "People still believe that it's got to be addressed but the question arises, which one and how. Because of the island's political affiliations, say it's the seat that we have, so they will not let go. It's the strength in numbers, that they are looking for more so than the needs of the country at this point," she said, adding that the group will continue to push for change. -- Pacnews

From http://www.pacificislands.cc/ 06/20/2003

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NEW ZEALAND: Latest Poll Shows Government's Popularity Increasing

The Government's popularity has increased since it dealt with power supply problems, put forward a rescue plan for Tranz Rail and decided to send army engineers to Iraq, according to a poll released tonight. The One News/Colmar Brunton poll showed Labour up four points to a record 54 per cent. If the party could translate that into voter support in an election, it would be able to govern without a coalition partner. National, which has been attacking the Government over its Iraq policy and the rail buy-back plan, showed no improvement and was steady on 28 per cent. ACT, which has led the assault on Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia over the Te Mangai Paho fiasco, dropped two points to 4 per cent and New Zealand First was down one point to 6 per cent. The Greens went up one point to 4 per cent and United Future was steady on 2 per cent. Helen Clark retained her huge lead as preferred prime minister, with an unchanged 44 per cent support. NZ First leader Winston Peters was down one point to 9 per cent, still in second place ahead of National's leader, Bill English, who was steady on 7 per cent. Questioned about the country's economic outlook, 39 per cent were optimistic, which was a four-point increase compared with a month ago. The number of those who were pessimistic dropped three points to 38 per cent. The poll questioned 1000 voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 per cent.

From http://www.stuff.co.nz/ 06/15/2003

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E-Government Unit Seeks New Boss

A new e-government mandarin will be recruited to replace Brendan Boyle as head of the State Services Commission's E-Government Unit. Mr Boyle announced last week he was leaving the unit to replace Russ Ballard as head of Land Information New Zealand. The E-Government Unit was initially funded to the tune of $16 million over four years in the 2000 Budget, but Mr Boyle says there will be more money coming once that term expires next year and that he will be replaced. The unit has had mixed success during its first three years. While solid progress has been made standardising approaches to e-government services on a number of fronts, a flagship e-government portal, www.govt.nz, was delivered late and GoProcure - a major project led by the SSC which is designed to help government departments buy from suppliers over the Net - has just been scaled back. Some departments with high profile e-government programmes, such as Inland Revenue, have also appeared to move a step ahead of policy-making within the unit on issues such as authenticating government-to-consumer communications. Progress encouraging government agencies to share IT infrastructure has also been limited. The narrower scope of GoProcure looks set to wind back an important precedent set by State Services Minister Trevor Mallard last year. He mandated all government departments would use the system to buy from suppliers online - an order which appeared to chip away at the doctrine of chief executive accountability in the public sector. Mr Boyle says GoProcure contractor CGNZ will deliver a transaction hub at a cost of $2 million, and that there is no "pre-determined path" once it is in place. The issue of whether departments would have to put purchases through the hub will need to be looked at then, he says. "It all depends what the next steps are." Under the new model, the GoProcure transaction hub will serve as a central repository for electronic catalogues provided by suppliers that government agencies will be able to browse online and will act as a gateway for passing orders between government buyers and suppliers. However, government agencies will likely be left to make their own arrangements on re-engineering their organisations to support e-procurement. This involves detailed work implementing systems to generate invoices, manage purchasing authorisations, receipt deliveries, authorise supplier payments and interface with agencies' existing financial software systems. Some agencies, such as Police and Defence, had already implemented their own software to perform these tasks before GoProcure got the go-ahead. The remainder were to be offered the technology to do this under a second $5.5 million stage of GoProcure, which now appears extremely unlikely to proceed. (by Tom Pullar-Strecker)

From http://www.stuff.co.nz/ 06/23/2003

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Cabinet Secretary Becomes Privacy Commissioner

Cabinet Secretary Marie Shroff has been appointed as the new privacy commissioner. She is expected to take over from retiring commissioner Bruce Slane in September. Associate Justice Minister Lianne Dalziel said yesterday that several highly qualified candidates were considered. "Marie Shroff brings a formidable reputation from her role as cabinet secretary and her wide experience in a number of fields, including teaching and journalism." Mrs Shroff has served as cabinet secretary and clerk of the Executive Council for 15 years, working with four governors-general and six prime ministers. She had extensive experience in constitutional matters and government decision-making, Ms Dalziel said. Mr Slane became the first commissioner more than 10 years ago.

From http://www.stuff.co.nz/ 06/24/2003

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VANUATU: Police Efficiency Up

PORT VILA (Pacnews) -- Police in the Vanuatu capital, Port Vila, are reportedly increasing efficiency in their work. Statistics show that in the week of June 2 to June 8, the Port Vila Police Station received 96 reports of incidents from the public. Three people were arrested during the week, one man was arrested for being drunk and disorderly and two women were arrested for theft. Fifty six of the 96 reports were for police to assist in domestic disputes or to give police information to prevent crimes. Investigations have commenced into 10 reports of theft and unlawful entry, 9 reports of intentional assault, 4 traffic accidents 1 report of indecent assault and 1 report of rape. There were 3 reported incidents of damage to property. During the week, officers of the VPF provided security at Erakor Village for the Malvatumauri, the meeting of traditional chiefs nationwide. The meeting was peaceful and a new Chief has been elected. The Traffic Unit booked nine vehicles for registration on roadworthy violations. All drivers in Port Vila are reminded that police are now targeting vehicle with high levels of emissions. Fifty new cases were handed to the Public Prosector Office for hearings in the Magistrate Court. In Tafea two leaders of the Freedom Fighter movement have been arrested for obstructing traffic and released on bail awaiting court hearings. Commissioner of Police, Robert Diniro Obed today announced that Major Lester Roy is the new Commander Northern Patrol based in Santo. The Commissioner praised the men and women at Port Vila Police Station for their actions over the last week and warned criminal elements in town that the Police will continue to investigate all reported crimes and they would eventually be caught. He also thanked the members of the community who in April had assisted the police recapture escaped prisoners. -- Pacnews

From http://www.pacificislands.cc/ 06/19/2003

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Next-Generation Asian Leaders to Meet in Seoul

Asia's next generation of leaders as selected by the World Economic Forum last year will gather for the first time in Seoul for a two-day forum beginning Thursday, according to the forum's Korean office on Friday (June 13). The group of leaders from South Korea, Japan, China and ASEAN countries, who were chosen last August, includes some 150 government officials, business leaders, nongovernmental organization representatives and scholars. Under the title "Toward a New Asia," discussions will focus on Asian integration, information technology, and the region's economy and security. The main conference will be held on Friday at the Shilla Hotel and is expected to see the announcement of a "Seoul Vision," including the setting-up of an Asia Vision Committee. The next generation leaders will also have a meeting with President Roh Moo-hyun. Among those participating are Neocom Broadband CEO Jerry Yang, Japan's Globis Group president Yoshito Hori, Singapore IBS Group chairman Lionel Lee Kok Keong, China's Sinotrust Management Consulting chairman Zhao Min and Malaysia's Bank Simpanan Nasional chairman Abdul Azim Mohad Zabidi. Among the 18 members of the South Korean delegation are: Justice Minister Kang Kum-sil, who will make a keynote speech; Information and Communication Minister Chin Dae-je; Namyang Aloe CEO Bill Lee Byung-hoon; and Korean Advance Institute of Science and Technology director Lee Sang-yup.

From http://www.moj.go.kr/ 06/14/2003

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ASEAN and UNDP Team Up to Promote Regional Development and Integration

PHNOM PENH -- The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) today signed a Programme Document to implement the US$1.45 million ASEAN-UNDP Partnership Facility. This Facility will provide analytical and advisory support services to ASEAN to address current and emerging issues that will deepen regional integration within ASEAN and with other countries. The UNDP's technical advisory support will focus on ways to accelerate the implementation of regional trade and investment liberalization and help narrow the development gap among ASEAN member countries and with other parts of the world. UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown said the UNDP is delighted to renew the partnership with ASEAN to address the economic disparity between the original and new members of the regional grouping. "The vision of cooperation and partnership between the two groups of partners is an exciting one," said Mr. Brown. "The UNDP promotes South-South cooperation and supports the sharing of development experience with ASEAN. "Mr. Brown said efforts will be made to generate projects by working together to find new forms of funding to reduce the economic disparity in ASEAN. "It will bring tremendous benefit to both to achieve an ASEAN free market in the coming years," Mr. Brown added. ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong, who signed on behalf of Member Countries said ASEAN and the UNDP have a long-standing relationship that dates back to the 70s."We have learned much from the UNDP activities which have provided the ASEAN Secretariat with the confidence of working with an international organisation especially under the UN framework," said Mr. Ong. "The UNDP has a well-established way of organising things and executing projects and we've learned about project formulation and management," he added. "We've done much with help from the UNDP." The Secretary-General said there is a need to implement projects beyond the field regional economic integration. "We have the UNDP to help us to learn and acquire some basic techniques and other structures to bring the integration process forward much faster," said Mr. Ong. "ASEAN countries approve the material and moral support of the UNDP over the years and hope that at the end of the current roadmap leading to Vision 2020, we can have the UNDP stand side-by-side with us as we achieve this milestone." The three-year ASEAN-UNDP Partnership Facility will focus on human development, globalization and economic governance. It also aims to promote an open and balanced global trading regime that will facilitate the equal benefits of free trade and poverty reduction. It will also help promote wider perspectives on regional and global trade issues that will enhance policy synergies and analyses of the link between trade, poverty-reduction and human development. The Facility will also focus its technical advisory support to analysis, dialogue and advocacy on strategic policy options to accelerate and complete the implementation of regional trade and investment liberalisation within the framework of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and ASEAN Investment Area (AIA). This will include the elimination of remaining non-tariff barriers to trade and restraints to foreign direct investment. New members of ASEAN like Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Viet Nam will also receive assistance to integrate them with multilateral arrangements such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the World Trade Organization (WTO), and to develop innovative approaches to accelerate their economic integration process into the mainstream economies of ASEAN. The key focus is the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) and developing the conceptual framework of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), looking at the economic and social implications of efforts to boost the region's economic competitiveness. A common policy environment will also be promoted through the harmonisation of national laws, rules and standards affecting trade and investment like fair trade rules and environmental and product standards. To monitor and measure the progress towards an ASEAN Vision 2020, the ASEAN-UNDP Partnership Facility will enable human development data to be collated and analyzed to help formulate strategies that will take ASEAN beyond the programmes initiated by the Hanoi Plan of Action (1999-2004).A Southeast Asia Human Development Report (SEA-HDR) is currently being prepared by the UNDP under its Asia-Pacific Human Development Report Initiative (APRI). ASEAN, through the Facility, is contributing to the participatory process of the HDR preparation with the view of producing a subsidiary document to monitor ASEAN's progress in achieving the ASEAN Vision 2020. The ASEAN document resulting from this joint endeavor will also serve as a planning tool to monitor the implementation of the ASEAN Plans of Action including the current Ha Noi Plan of Action (HPA), which will reach a conclusion in 2004. A new ASEAN Plan of Action to be announced in Vientiane at the ASEAN Summit in 2004 will also rely on the human development indicators as the key benchmark parameters to draw up programmes that will pave the way forward for regional development and integration

From http://www.aseansec.org/ 06/18/2003

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China Shares Experience on SARS Fight with APEC Health Ministers

BANGKOK -- Chinese Vice Premier and Health Minister Wu Yi Saturday shared China's experience on fight against SARS with ministers in charge of public health from the Asia Pacific region, affirming the importance of international cooperation in containing the disease. China has taken immediate and decisive measures to contain the spread of SARS, although the country was "in an awkward position" in the early days of the outbreak, Wu said in her speech at the opening ceremony of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Health Ministers' Meeting held here on Saturday. She noted that the World Health Organization (WHO) on June 24 lifted the travel advisory against Beijing, the last Chinese mainland city on its China list, and removed the city from the list of areas with recent local transmission. The vice premier summarized China's success on the combat against SARS as a result of taking the following measures: ¡¡¡¡-- taking the infectious disease seriously and giving full playto the leading role of government, ¡¡¡¡-- acting in accordance with law and improving the relevant legal system, ¡¡¡¡-- mobilizing the general public and communities, ¡¡¡¡-- relying on science and accelerating research and development ¡¡¡¡-- sharing information with other countries and carrying out international cooperation. Wu admitted that the epidemic has adversely affected the development of some regions and sectors in China, but she stressed that "the fundamentals that drive China's economic growth remain intact and are functioning effectively." "On the whole, China's economy has maintained a sound momentum of growth," said Wu. China's GDP growth rate for the first half of the year is estimated to reach 8 percent, while the government has "both confidence and capability to meet the target of 7 percent annual GDP growth set at the beginning of this year," Wu said in her speech. She affirmed the important role played by international mechanism including APEC, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and organizations such as the WHO in the global fight against severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which has infected more than 8,000 people and claimed 809 lives. Wu said China will make its due contribution in the global fight against SARS and is committed to working closely with other APEC economies and making relentless efforts to defeat the disease and promote stronger economic growth in the region. Wu arrived in Bangkok on Friday at the invitation of the Thai government to participate in the opening ceremony of the APEC Health Ministers' Meeting on SARS, which is the first of its kind in the APEC history. APEC senior officials gathered on Friday in Bangkok for a special meeting to discuss ways to revive regional confidence, so as to minimize the killer disease's negative influence on economy and to improve cooperation among members to establish a mechanism to prevent future breakout and spread of epidemic diseases including SARS. The senior officials meeting agreed to submit short and long term action plans against SARS to the health ministers meeting. The plans aimed to facilitate measures to protect against possible outbreaks of similar epidemics in the future while ensuring the flow of trade and investment. The regional economic growth rate will fall down by 0.3 percentto 0.5 percent due to the influence of SARS, according to a report delivered by the APEC Secretariat on the senior officials' meeting.

From http://news.xinhuanet.com/ 06/28/2003

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CHINA: Evaluation Mechanism for Sci-tech Research

An improved method of evaluating science and technology research has been jointly proposed by China's Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Education and other three departments. The method divides research activities into five categories and stipulates their respective evaluation guidance and standard. Strategic basic research concerning economic development and national security is to be judged by its innovation and practical contribution to addressing the nation's major demand; free exploring research by its innovation; basic serving research like data-collection by the accuracy, continuity and authority of the information it provides; applied research by its technological theory and potential economic benefit; and technological industrialization by the advancement, innovation and perspective of the technology. The method encourages explorative research by putting less emphasis on the feasibility and basic research in evaluation, and by advocating moderate funds for them. The method also encourages evaluation undertaken by both Chinese and foreign experts, the setup of evaluation-feedback mechanism and the establishment of evaluators' credit standing.

From Xinhua News Agency 06/06/2003

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Vice-Premier Urges State Enterprises to Accelerate Reforms

Chinese Vice-Premier Huang Ju urged state-owned enterprises to take the advantage of reform of state assets management to optimize structure, speed up innovation of systems and management, and a new development environment. Huang was speaking during an inspection tour of key state-owned enterprises in central China's Hubei Province when he participated in a national conference on the reforms of state-owned enterprises and re-employment between June 5 and 9. Deepening the reform of state assets management system was of great importance to building a relatively well-off society in an all-round way and accelerating China's modernization drive, Huang said. He urged all regions, departments and the state-owned enterprises to be bold in exploration and practice. Their priorities were the study of the provisional regulation on supervision and management of the state assets, the set-up of state assets supervisory bodies and promotion of corporations at large and medium-sized enterprises. He called on enterprises to minimize the influence of SARS on economic development, reduce taxes and provide small loans to laid-off workers.

From Xinhua News Agency 06/10/2003

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Well-paid Government Employees Hired to Assist Public Administration

Northeast Jilin Province is seeking to recruit three individuals to fill three well-paid posts who will assist in the establishment of the provincial computer network, said local officials in charge of staff recruitment Wednesday. Once employed, the three persons will become China's first government employees with monthly salaries reaching up to 16,500 yuan (US$1,990). The average salary of a Chinese civil servant in the province is about 1,100 yuan (US$133). The high salary policy, set by the provincial government, is part of a strategy to lure outstanding talents to participate in public service, said Wu Wenchang, the provincial government director of human resources. Two of the vacancies are for general network engineers, and the other is for a senior webmaster. All of them will assist in the establishment and maintenance of the provincial network of public security. According to a regulation issued by Jilin Province last June, government departments can employ necessary specialists to meet certain needs. In most cases, the employees hired in this category boast expertise in the fields of law, finance and information technology. Although well-paid, they have no administrative duties or powers. On the contrary, they will focus only on technical tasks, Wu explained. "The move to hire government employees is evidence of our need for talented people," said Wang Dajun, officer with the provincial department of public security. However, the new move will not have a significant impact on the current civil service system given that the number of civil servants will be extremely limited, said Wu, adding that they will be hired on a contract basis to complete specific projects. Their function will be supplementary rather than supervise, said the official. Wang Tongxun, president of the Institute of Chinese Personnel and Human Resources, attributed the recruitment to the transition of the function of the Chinese government and the fast development of science and technologies. Chinese government departments will need more support from well-trained specialists to overcome certain technological hurdles when carrying out administrative functions, said the senior scholar, who described the recruitment as an experiment which will have an important impact on the government's human resources system in the future. Such experiments could also have a negative impact on the current system if not properly handled, said Wang, who reminded government leaders to keep an eye out for potential problems such as jealousy among colleagues. Experts say that China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) has raised the standards for those wishing to enter public administration. Jilin is the first in the nation to recruit government employees.

From Xinhua News Agency 06/12/2003

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Chinese, American Universities Cooperate in Training in Environmentalists

The Department of Environmental Science and Engineering of Tsinghua University and the Department of Forests and Environmental Study of Yale University have jointly launched a cooperative program to train senior Chinese cadres in environment and sustainable development. The senior training program is designed to help administrators in urban planning and development of Chinese public and private departments such as mayors, government department leaders, corporate CEOs and NGO managers understand the strategy of sustainable development and the strategy to cope with it The program covers the trend of the environment and sustainable development and the opportunities and challenges it faces; the concept of urban and industrial ecology and its application in the formulation of urban planning and policy for sustainable development; and the application of the concept of sustainable development in water supply and quality, energy, pollution reduction, waste disposal and other serious urban issues.

From www.cenews.com.com 06/16/2003

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SEPA Publicizes Manual for Environmental Emergencies

The State Environmental Protection Administration has issued a manual for environmental emergencies for its local environmental legal enforcement agencies. The manual has defined in great detail the requirements for environmental emergencies in the fight against the SARS. It introduces emergent treatment measures and environmental monitoring methods for quick reference at any possible pollution sites. It also deals with the knowledge about 39 common chemicals and relevant laws and decrees about pollution accidents and dangerous chemicals and recommends emergency steps. It offers materials about 12 major disinfectant agents including Peracetic acid and Javel water.

From China.org 06/16/2003

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China's Top Steel Maker to Reform Its Management System

SHANGHAI - Shanghai Bao Steel Group Corporation, China's biggest iron and steel producer, has launched a campaign to reform its management system in a bid to rank among the top 500 multinational companies in the world. Bao Steel aims to enter the top 500 by 2005, said Xie Qihua, board chairman and general manager of the corporation. According to the company's schedule, Bao Steel will have an annual sales income of 120 billion yuan (US$14.5 billion) by 2005. According to Bao Steel's schedule, the group will finish its reform in the administrative departments before 2005.

From http://www.asiapulse.com/ 06/18/2003

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Institute Founded in Shanghai to Train Party Officials

Construction started in Pudong on a college to train officials of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Chinese government yesterday. The China Pudong College of Cadres, located in the Pudong New District of Shanghai, was founded upon approval from the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. Construction will be completed by the end of 2004 and the institute will start operation in early 2005. He Guoqiang, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, will be dean of the new college. With 80 administrative staff, the school will be able to accommodate a total of 1,200 trainees. The institute is one of the three state-level cadre-training bases in the nation. The other two are in Yan'an, northwest China's Shaanxi province, and Jinggangshan, dubbed the cradle of the Chinese revolution, in east China's Jiangxi province.

From Shanghai Daily news 06/22/2003

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China to Coordinate Agricultural Standards into a System

China's present agricultural standards are nothing but numerous and repetitive---some 2000 items of national standards, over 2000 items of sector standards and over 4000 items of local standards. Thus the Standardization Administration of China (SAC) will soon conduct a comprehensive clearing work on these standards in a bid to coordinate them into a system, said deputy director-general with SAC Mr. Sun Xiaokang. Mr. Zhang Yanqiu, deputy director-general with the department of market & economic information under the Ministry of Agriculture, held that the Chinese agriculture laid emphasis only on output while neglected safety and standard in the past. The construction of Chinese agricultural standards is still in its initial stage, therefore falling far short of the level of developed countries. Although the construction has made fairly enormous achievements in the recent two years, it has yet a long way to go in future. According to a plan jointly formulated by ten ministers and commissions such as the Ministry of Agriculture, China will set nearly 3000 items of agricultural national standards and 9000 items of local standards in the coming three years. As learned, the SAC is vigorously conducting the construction of agricultural standard demonstration zones and has established more than 1100 demonstration projects around the country in an effort to boost the production of agricultural standards. The administration will also work out a database of agricultural standards in main importers of Chinese agricultural produce for inquiry of Chinese agricultural produce exporting enterprises.

From People's Daily 06/26/2003

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JAPAN: To Build System to Reward Researchers: White Paper

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology released on June 5 its annual report on the promotion of science and technology for 2003. In the white paper, the ministry said: "Japan's society is increasingly based on knowledge, and its major foundation will be researchers and engineers," stressing the significance of people with specialized knowledge who have constantly pursued research at companies, institutions and academia, and who will drive society. On the other hand, the government report warned: "Company officers need to improve their personnel treatment, including human resources development, utilization and extra rewards, to give more preferential treatment to researchers." By pursuing technology that sharply upgrades products made in European countries and the US, corporate sales grew, when the manufacturing industry formed the core of Japan's society, according to the report. Therefore, the promotion of researchers to managerial positions hardly became a serious issue in corporate management.However, in times like the present when mass-produced items, primarily industrial products, are widespread and IT services develop, executive officers are required to have knowledge and experience in both technology and management. Given the rapid shift in technologies, a wrong decision on technology investment can severely impact management. Based on these circumstances, the report insists that it is increasingly necessary for business managers to carefully select technologies. To boost researchers' morale in management circles, the management of technology (MOT), a field that was developed mainly in the United States, is an effective pursuit. As for data regarding researchers, the white paper compares wages in Japan and the U.S. Except for doctors, wages paid in Japan are lower than those in the U.S. for most professional and technical occupations such as natural science researchers, surveyors, architects and programmers. A survey on researchers shows 40% of respondents are content with their current salaries, but nearly 60% of all the respondents are dissatisfied with extra rewards paid for research achievements as well as with R&D budgets. In addition, the white paper also clearly indicates that more workers who can utilize science are needed. The report points out researchers related to "business promotion," "judgment" and "intellectual property" are "short in both quality and number." "Technicians" and "research assistants" are reported as modest in quality, but short in number. Those associated with "assessment" and "management of technology" are said to be sufficient in number, but insufficient in quality.

From http://neasia.nikkeibp.com/ 06/13/2003

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Japanese Companies Bow to Foreign Pressure

Thirty-six of Japan's listed companies will adopt US-style board changes by the end of this month in a sign that international investors are exerting more pressure on Japanese business to comply with global norms of corporate governance. The changes are being driven partly by the government-led unwinding of cross-shareholdings between closely related companies, which has increased the free-float of shares in many companies. That has exposed Japanese companies to greater foreign ownership and increased the scope for more active shareholder participation in corporate management. A number of companies, such as Yamanouchi, the pharmaceuticals group, are more than 40 per cent owned by foreign investors. Foreign-influenced companies such as Japan Telecom, whose leading shareholder is Vodafone of the UK, and Seiyu, controlled by Wal-Mart, have been among the early movers. In addition, Japanese companies, pioneered by Sony and Orix, a leasing company, have reacted to a tightening of US regulations on corporate governance, particularly following the Enron and other scandals. Although Japanese companies with listings in the US have been granted some exemptions to the Sarbanes-Oxley act, many have chosen to follow many of its stipulations anyway. According to Sunday's internet edition of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, a survey by the business newspaper of large corporations showed that 32 companies will seek to adopt US-style corporate governance. Shareholders will be asked to vote on such proposals at meetings scheduled later this month. In additon, four companies that closed their books earlier this year, including retailers Aeon, Parco and Seiyu, have already established new structures. Companies that adopt the system will set up three committees to conduct audits, nominate the board and to set executive pay. Most will also increase the number of outside board members. The changes are possible thanks to reforms to the commercial code that took effect in April. Resona, the bank that was bailed out with $17bn of public funds this month, will be stacked with outside directors. Gary Coull, executive chairman of CLSA, an Asian specialist brokerage, said many of the opportunities in Japan were among companies that had decided to place more emphasis on corporate governance. In the past, shareholders have taken a backseat to the interests of other stakeholders traditionally favoured in Japan, such as employees, customers, banks and society at large. However, a number of successful companies will retain Japanese-style corporate structures. Toyata, for example, has no outside board members, though it plans to halve the number of internal ones from 52. Japan's biggest carmaker has also begun to report quarterly earnings. (by David Pilling)

From http://financialtimes.printthis.clickability.com/ 06/15/2003

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Fujisawa to Remove Gender Notations in Documents

YOKOHAMA - The city of Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, decided Wednesday to remove gender notations in official documents when deemed unneeded considering calls from members of the public, the local government officials said. The city now has some 1,700 official documents, of which some 400 have spaces in which to note gender. But it will follow moves by Koganei in Tokyo, Niiza in Saitama Prefecture and the city of Tottori to eliminate them as much as possible, they said.

From http://www.japantoday.com/ 06/18/2003

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Koizumi to Pick New Ministers Based on Reform Commitment

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Monday that he would pick his new cabinet ministers, if he indeed reshuffles the cabinet in the fall, by assessing their commitment to implementing structural reforms. Koizumi told reporters he would pick many ministers from among members of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) "on the assumption that they will cooperate with me on reforms. I have to build unity in the party." On Friday, Koizumi said he will change many ministers if he is reelected as LDP president in the party poll in September. It was the first time he had mentioned the possibility of a cabinet reshuffle since he changed some ministers last September, but he did not elaborate further on his criteria for selecting new members. Koizumi is reluctant to follow a long-standing practice in the LDP of rotating ministerial posts among senior members of the party or the ruling coalition regardless of their areas of expertise. His current term as LDP president expires in September. He took office in April 2001 and was first reelected party leader in September