ASEANEWS HEADLINES: RANGON, Myanmar- Week in Review: Activists jailed over one word THE MYANMAR TIMES

The Yangon Regional Trial Court sentenced Naw Ohn Hla, chair of the Karen Women’s Union, and two other activists for violating the country’s peaceful assembly and peaceful procession law. The case stemmed from their decision to name the event Karen Martyrs Day.

Naw Ohn Hla said the decision was deeply offensive and that they will appeal the verdict.

The August event was held to mark the 69th anniversary of the slaying of Karen National Union (KNU) founder Saw Ba U Gyi and Major General Sai Kay by the military on August 12, 1950. It had been celebrated in Yangon since 2014 without any problems until last year, when local authorities banned the use of the word “martyr,” according to members of the organising committee.

The court released the three activists after the sentencing because they had already served the full sentence while the case was being heard.

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Low in economic freedom

Myanmar ranked 95th out of 107, the lowest among ASEAN nations, in the latest Henley Passport Index, mainly due to a lack of economic freedom.

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The index is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association and scored based on visa-free and visa-on-arrival access to other countries.

Japan and Singapore held first place on the index, with a score of 190 out of a maximum 227. Myanmar scored 46, alongside Djibouti and Nigeria.

In 2014, Myanmar’s rank was 86 with visa-free access to 42 countries. Although official scores from 10 years ago are not available for Myanmar, it is estimated that the country had visa-free access to around 30 countries only. Myanmar now enjoys visa-free access to 46 countries.

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No change in FDI

Myanmar is expected to draw foreign direct investments (FDI) totalling US$5.8 billion in fiscal year 2019-20, which began on Tuesday, said U Thant Sin Lwin, director general of the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) and secretary of the Myanmar Investment Commission.

That is unchanged from the forecast for the previous fiscal year, which ended on Monday. However, Myanmar received just $4.5 billion in actual FDI for 285 projects during the year, falling short of its forecast of $5.8 billion for fiscal 2018-19.

“We expect the bulk of investments to flow into the manufacturing sector,” U Thant Sin Lwin said. In comparison, the bulk of FDI in 2018-19 was channelled into transport and communications, followed by manufacturing and services.