Report # 97 BUSINESS AND POLITICS IN THE MUSLIM WORLD East Asia, Central Asia, GCC, FC, China & Turkey Nadia Tasleem Weekly Report from 5 December 2009 to 11 December 2009 Presentation: 17 December 2009 This report is based on the review of news items focusing on political, economic, social and geo-strategic developments in various regions namely; East Asia, Central Asia, GCC, FC, China and Turkey from 5 December 2009 to 11 December 2009 as have been collected by interns. EAST ASIA Political Front: Anti-corruption rally has been planed in INDONESIA. President declared it as a threat to oust him from power. Protestors however denied his allegation and asked him for support as their rally aims to target wide-spread corruption in the country. Meanwhile critics condemned President for being paranoid as he expressed such fear after terrorist attacks of July this year. Moving towards MALAYSIA, MCA (Malaysian Chinese Association) intends to hold party elections this year. For this purpose special session of MCA central committee was being called in which members have been asked to resign within two weeks in order to hold fresh polls. Though 13 members have already submitted their resignation but 7 more resignations are needed to dissolve central committee. Situation still seems to be vague as other members haven’t expressed their willingness t resign till now. Recent unrest in the province of Maguindanao has led President of PHILIPPINES to declare martial law in the region. Former President however condemned this act and said that peace could be restored even without declaration of martial law. Geo-strategic Front: INDONESIA and CHINA have strongly emphasized on the need to enhance bilateral strategic ties. Meanwhile MALAYSIAN Prime Minister has recently paid his first visit to THAILAND in order to promote their annual consultation. Social Front: Human Rights Chief in PHILIPPINES has accused Ampatuan clan for their involvement in last month’s political massacre in Maguindanao that left 57 civilian’s death. The two- day talks between the Philippines government and representatives of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) ended with both sides optimistic over the continuation of the stalled peace parleys. Five thousand supporters of former THAI leader Thaksin Shinawatra rallied in Bangkok, seeking to put pressure on Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. Economic Front: 1 Asian Development Bank has announced to grant US$200 million loan to INDONESIA for further reforms that support the government's ongoing efforts to spur sustainable growth and cut poverty. All the while government has started putt8ing efforts to convert its maritime resources into huge foreign exchange reserves. Despite visible fall in GDP THAI economy shows sign of recovery and seems to be an attractive market for investment. The failure of the government’s privatization program and the deterioration of revenue collection remain causes for concern as they would lead the PHILIPPINES to incur a budget gap equivalent to 4 percent of its economic output. MALAYSIA'S prime minister has announced some potent liberalization measures in order to persuade investors. Corruption however seems to be a major obstacle in the way of foreign investments. Japan still appears to be the largest foreign investor in Malaysia. The public sectors dealing in halal food in Malaysia and Pakistan have been working towards forging linkages to increase cooperation in the field of agriculture and veterinary services. Malaysia seems keen to sign regional and bilateral Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with various countries for the promotion of trade. VIETNAM'S import from Indonesia stood at 1.18 billion U.S. dollars in the first ten months of this year, down 20 percent from the same period last year. In this period, paper was the item which Vietnam imported most from Indonesia with an expenditure of 140.47 million U.S. dollars. Meanwhile Vietnam has won a contract to export 400,000 tons of rice to the Philippines. IMF has asked CAMBODIA to take measures for the betterment of its banking system that has badly suffered due to global economic downturn. CENTRAL ASIA Political Front: Council of Europe has selected members of the observation mission; being headed by Turkey, to monitor municipal elections in AZERBAIJAN. Opposition parties have expressed their intention to start unity talks in early 2010. Proposals for KAZAKH President Nursultan Nazarbaev to be named ''president for life'' have contributed to concerns about Kazakh democracy. Kyrgyz Emergency Situations Minister Kamchybek Tashiev has resigned as Prime Minister reprimanded him during the session for using reserve funds to build houses for ministry personnel in the southern city of Osh. A former senior Kyrgyz Security Council official has been hospitalized after a reported attack in the capital, Bishkek. UZBEK authorities have increased assaults on human rights activists ahead of upcoming parliamentary elections. Meanwhile 60 practicing Muslims have been detained in southern Uzbek prison on religious extremism charges. Geo-strategic Front: In an effort to enhance ties with AZERBAIJAN, Iran has announced plan to unilaterally cancel its visa regime with her; allowing Azerbaijanis to visit and stay in Iran for a month without visa. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has insisted on restoring control over Nagorno-Karabakh despite accepting the right to self- determination as a core principle for resolving the Armenian-Azerbaijani dispute over the territory. The US has been putting efforts as a mediator to achieve final solution to Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and to bridge gap between Azerbaijan and Armenia. NATO has launched a new pilot project for social adaptation of reserve troops in KYRGYZSTAN. TAJIKISTAN has extended full support to the measures being taken by 2 the US in order to bring stability in Afghanistan. TURKMENISTAN and EU have started discussing prospects to enhance economic cooperation. Social Front: The AZERBAIJANI parliament has voted to make it illegal to employ children under the age of 15 to work. This amended labor code will become law after being signed by the President. Several senior KAZAKH officials have been jailed in high-profile corruption cases over the last two years. A high school geography teacher in the southeastern Kazakh city of Taldy-Qorghan has turned to the Prosecutor's Office for permission to wear an Islamic head scarf as teachers are not allowed to wear Hijab in the class. In order to fight swine flu, Kazakh health officials have recently presented a vaccine in front of media. The Kyrgyz nongovernmental organization "Citizens against Corruption" has won the French Liberty, Equality, and Brotherhood Award for 2009. Kyrgyz authorities recently denied entry to prominent Tajik human rights activist Nigina Bakhrieva, in southern Kyrgyzstan. Human Rights Watch therefore urged the Kyrgyz government to immediately stop harassing human rights monitors doing research. A woman suffering from swine-flu-like symptoms has died in northern TAJIKISTAN in what could be the country's first reported death from the H1N1 virus. TURKMEN President has signed a decree granting amnesty to nearly 4,000 convicts in honor of a national holiday. UZBEK students who refused to work in cotton fields during the harvest season in Uzbekistan have been expelled from high schools and universities. Human Rights Watch activists have strongly criticized repressive policies of Uzbek government. Economic Front: AZERBAIJAN has started exporting Azeri Light oil to Turkey via Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline. President has urged KAZAKH business entrepreneurs to actively participate in social projects. Mechanical problems at KYRGYZSTAN'S largest hydropower station caused two of its four major power generators to shut down. Kyrgyzstan has signed a deal with Kazakhstan on supply of 540 kWh to the republic in vegetative period. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $500,000 technical assistance (TA) grant to develop a project design and feasibility study for a new regional power rehabilitation project in TAJIKISTAN. UZBEKISTAN has officially announced withdrawal from Regional Power Grid. GCC Political Front: Kuwait's parliament started quizzing the prime minister of the oil-rich Gulf state in a secret session over allegations of corruption. After long hours of debate in the National Assembly, the Kuwaiti government won the battle of interpellations. Kuwait entered a new period of political turmoil as 10 opposition MPs filed a motion of “non-co- operation” against the premier over corruption charges after a marathon closed session. In response to that Speaker announced that the vote on the non-cooperation motion will take place on Dec 16. To pass, it requires a simple majority of elected members of the Assembly, which currently stands at 49. All the 16 Cabinet ministers have no right to vote on the motion. 3 Geo-strategic Front: General James Jones, national security adviser to President Barack Obama, claimed that US would appreciate contributions of additional manpower and personnel, both civilian and military, from the Gulf States as part of the new US strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The GCC heads of parliaments and Shura councils ended their two-day meetings and issued their final communiqué. The communiqué reviewed the items discussed and approved which included the approval of the regulatory guidelines of the parliamentary and foreign relations coordination committee, review of a memo on 2009 activities by the GCC Secretariat,