Nine North Koreans who fled their homeland has been found in Laos and sent to China. This raises fears as China is likely to repatriate the North Korean nationals, where they are likely to face harsh punishments. South Korea has requested for Laos to send the defectors to Seoul, but this has been rejected by the Laotian government.
Leading state owned Chinese energy group China National Petroleum Company has completed six out of twelve oil storage tanks on an island off western Myanmar from which two pipelines will transfer oil supply to China. The pipelines are set to begin operation in 2014, and will allow China to bypass the Malacca Straits, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, and supply oil from the Middle East and Africa straight to China.
The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China (SIPO), aiming to speed up patent application procedures. Singapore and China will be piloting a two-year Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) programme which will start on 1 September 2013. IPOS has also reached similar agreements with the United States, Japan, South Korea and ASEAN.
Chen Wu, chairman of Guangxi province, told a China Southern Air Holding meeting in Guangzhou, the airline’s hub, that while Guangxi airports had seen record traffic, they lag gateways in neighbouring provinces. Chen Wu on China Southern to open additional air routes between Nanning and ASEAN, to which the chairman of China Southern responded that there have already been such plans and routes will be opened soon. A new terminal at Nanning is also due to operate from 2014.
Indonesian Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik said China Power Investment Corp has committed to investing US$17 billion in hydropower plant projects in North Kalimantan of Indonesia. The first project with a planned capacity of 7,000 megawatt would be built across the Kayan River, and construction is expected to start next year. Wacik said that the Chinese firm also expressed interest in funding the construction of smelters in Indonesia and development of renewable energy.
Three years after a first branch in Shenzhen, Thailand’s Kasikornbank (KBank) opened a second branch in China, located near Tianfu Square of Chengdu. KBank chairman Banthoon Lamsam announced his plan to obtain licences for more branches, in order to become a truly local bank in years’ time. Head of Kbank’s China business division Pipit Aneaknithi says 10 more cities are shortlisted for new branches including Jiangsu, Wuhan, Xian, Fujian and Nanning, most of which have direct flights from Bangkok.
US energy giant General Electric (GE) announced on 23 May that it has joined forces with two local companies to develop electricity solutions in Myanmar. GE signed a Memoranda of Understanding with Lighting Co Specialist Pte Ltd to develop lighting solution and a deal with Partners Associates to create storage solutions for the local telecommunications industry. The company opened its first office in Myanmar on Wednesday and expects to announce two further deals with Myanmar companies over the coming weeks.
Swiss based ACE, one of the world’s largest insurance companies, has announced that it was moving to open an office in Yangon later this year. The company has operations in 53 countries, including Myanmar’s ASEAN partners Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
U Tin Maung Htay, managing director for Small and Medium Industrial Development Bank, said domestic banks are in the final stage of preparing for mobile banking – a process that began two years ago. He said they have identified telecom as a major hurdle, adding that networks are unreliable, especially during bad weather, and this could interrupt transactions made over the phone.
Japanese companies Sumitomo, NEC, and NTT signed a contract with the Myanmar government to build an optical fibre network which can transmit data at 30 gigabit per second, linking Yangon, Mandalay and Naypyidaw. The trio will also lay down fibre-optic networks inside each of the three cities to transmit voice and other data at a speed of 10 gigabits per second (Gbps). The networks will also provide services such as long-term evolution (LTE) high-speed wireless communications, fixed-line phone, and Internet connections.