TANZANIA: PARLIAMENT REJECTS NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL BILL 2009

DAR ES SALAAM, Jan 31 (NNN-DAILYNEWS) — Tanzania National Assembly has rejected the National Security Council Bill, 2009.

Members of parliament said that the bill is flawed and it may dilute powers of the president as the Commander-In-Chief.

?President has the powers of the executive as the Commander-In-Chief, and those powers cannot be delegated. You cannot give powers to the people to vote on the issue that the Commander-In-Chief is supposed to order them,? said Dr Willbroad Slaa (Karatu-Chadema).

The bill which attracted contributions by veteran MPs, like Mr John Malecela, and those from MPs who rarely make contributions, like Rtd Brg. Gen. Hassan Ngwilizi, saw both the opposition and ruling sides of the house taking one side.

?On this issue I concur with Slaa, there are presidential powers which cannot be delegated,? said former Prime Minister Malecela.

The heated debate on the bill, begun to look bad to the Minister of State (Good Governance), Ms Sophia Simba, when MP begun contributing to the bill, after she tabled it.

?I am not convinced with this bill because it defies all the logic of having a defence and security council,? the first MP contributing to bill, Rtd Brg. Gen. Ngwilizi.

The veteran politician opened up a door to a heated debate, whereby five MP contributed on the bill, all not supporting it, with exception of one MP.

It is rare for a bill to be rejected in the Tanzanian parliament. — NNN-DAILYNEWS

UN LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN IN AFRICA TO ERADICATE MALE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

ADDIS ABABA, Jan 31 (NNN-UNNS) — UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Saturday called on the support of African leaders to give new impetus to his campaign to end the violence suffered by women on the continent, which he called the ?unsung heroines? of development in the region.

?We know African women are often a linchpin keeping families, communities, and nations together,? Mr. Ban said at the African launch of his ?UNiTE to End Violence against Women? campaign in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

African women are the ?driving force to overcome poverty, reduce hunger, fight illiteracy, heal the sick, prevent the spread of disease and promote stability,? he said in a message read on his behalf by Cheick Sidi Diarra, UN High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States.

?But far from being empowered, women are all too often subjected to horrific abuse and violence,? stressed Mr. Ban, urging leaders to address the violence through the eradication of discrimination.

The Secretary-General’s UNiTE campaign, launched in 2008, calls for all countries to put in place strong laws, action plans, preventive measures, data collection, and systematic efforts to address sexual violence by 2015.

He noted that more than 5 million people have signed the ?Say No to Violence Against Women? initiative, which spotlights the physical and sexual abuse experienced by up to 70 per cent of all women from men in their lifetime ? the majority from husbands, intimate partners or someone they know.

?They are now looking for answers from us, from you, to uphold their right to live lives free of this threat,? said Mr. Ban. — NNN-UNNS

UK PARLIAMENTARIANS EXPECTED IN HARARE

HARARE, Jan 31 (NNN-ZIMONLINE) — A group of British law makers is expected in Zimbabwe next week, in the clearest sign yet of thawing relations between London and its former colony.

The group, from the UK Parliament?s International Development Committee (IDC), will spend four days in Zimbabwe during which they will tour various humanitarian projects funded by British taxpayers through the Department for International Development (DFID).

DFID head in Zimbabwe Dave Fish said the visit by the parliamentarians will help ensure continued support for the humanitarian projects in Zimbabwe.

?The UK government is committed to helping the poorest and most vulnerable people in Zimbabwe,? said Fish.

?Progress on halting the spread of HIV/AIDS, caring for orphans, widows and disabled as well as access to safe water supply and agriculture inputs are vital for Zimbabwe?s recovery. The parliamentary visit will ensure that our support continues to deliver life-changing results for those most in need of help.?

It was not immediately clear whether the UK parliamentarians plan to hold talks with President Robert Mugabe or any other leaders or officials of Zimbabwe?s unity government that came into office last February and has promised to restore relations with Western nations.

While the visit is officially being touted as a parliamentary mission to inspect UK-funded aid projects, it is likely to be viewed in political circles as indication that London could be toying with the idea of renewing contact with Mugabe, who still controls Zimbabwe despite agreeing to cede some of his powers under the power-sharing agreement with Tsvangirai.

Relations between Britain and Zimbabwe soured after London and its Western allies imposed visa and financial sanctions on Mugabe and his top lieutenants as punishment for violating human rights, stealing elections and failure to uphold the rule of law.

Mugabe denies the charges and instead accuses Britain of reneging on promises to fund land reform in Zimbabwe and charges that London and its Western allies have funded his opponents in a bid to oust him from power as punishment for seizing white land for redistribution to blacks.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the European Union should maintain its travel restrictions and asset freezes on President Robert Mugabe and his inner circle until Zimbabwe carries out the concrete human rights reforms set out in the 2008 Global Political Agreement (GPA) he signed with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

HRW director for Africa Georgette Gagnon warned that the EU ran the risk of reinforcing ongoing repression and impunity in Zimbabwe if it eased the sanctions on Mugabe and more than 200 of his ZANU PF lieutenants.

“ZANU PF has continued committing grave human rights abuses and acting as if the agreement had never been signed,” said Gagnon.

The GPA, which established a power-sharing government, was implemented last February by ZANU PF party and the then opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Tsvangirai.

It contained specific measures to promote freedom of speech and the rule of law, end politically motivated violence, and apply laws of the country fully and impartially in bringing to justice all perpetrators of politically motivated violence.

HRW said repression has continued in Zimbabwe despite the formation of the coalition government while perpetrators have been allowed to freely roam the streets.

The EU is currently reviewing its sanctions policy toward Zimbabwe.

The bloc sent a delegation to Zimbabwe last September to assess the implementation of the GPA and found that the inclusive government had failed to meet the benchmarks the EU had established for resuming development cooperation with Harare and lifting targeted travel and financial restrictions on senior ZANU PF members.

The Swedish minister for international development, Gunilla Carlsson, who was part of the EU delegation, said then that targeted sanctions against Zimbabwe would not be lifted until human rights abuses ended.

HRW said its ongoing research shows that the human rights situation in Zimbabwe remains virtually the same as during the EU delegation’s visit.

It charged that state security agents continued to abduct and kill MDC activists without punishment and to arrest its legislators on spurious charges while Zimbabwe’s oppressive media laws remained unchanged.

Illegal invasions of commercial farms, frequently led by military personnel allied with ZANU PF, are continuing and there has been no meaningful progress in demonstrating respect for the rule of law. — NNN-ZimOnline

MALAYAN FLOUR MILLS IN JOINT VENTURE WITH TOYOTA TSUSHO

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 29 (NNN-Bernama): Malayan Flour Mills Bhd (MFM) has formed a joint venture with Toyota Tsusho Corporation and Toyota Tsusho (Singapore) Pte Ltd to carry out trading of raw materials for animal feed.

The joint venture announced today allows the newly established company, Premier Grain Sdn Bhd, to leverage on Toyota Tsusho’s global supply network to get more feed grains, said MFM managing director Teh Wee Chye.

Toyota Tsusho, a member of the Toyota Motor Group, is the largest trading company in Japan with businesses across the industry involving raw materials, agriculture and high technology.

MFM will own 51 per cent of the joint venture, with the remaining 49 per cent held by its Japanese partners.

“The joint venture will allow us to grow further in terms of economies of scale and with this, we can put more grains in the pipeline via their global network already established,” Teh said after signing ceremony here on Friday.

The feed grains will be used internally and be for sale in the Malaysian market, he said.

The signing was witnessed by Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Jacob Dungau Sagan.

Toyota Tsusho is currently handling feed grains from Brazil, Argentina and Australia.

Teh said MFM was currently importing about 300,000 tonnes of feed grains such as corn and soyoil and hoped to increase the amount to 500,000 tonnes via the tie-up.

“The grain market in Malaysia is about three million tonnes annually. So, there is more room for us to secure a bigger market share,” he said.

MFM is engaged in the milling and selling of wheat flour with its allied products.

Other activities include processing and selling of poultry products, breeding and selling of day-old chicks and eggs, contract farming services, manufacturing and selling of animal feed and related raw materials, provision of transport management services, and investment holding.

“We see growth opportunities in the food business despite the economic meltdown and we are committed to invest further in this sector,” Teh said.

“This joint venture will strengthen our commitment towards it,” he said.

-NNN-BERNAMA

SOUTH AFRICAN PRES ZUMA TO APPRISE AU ON ZIMBABWE

HARARE, Jan 31 (NNN-ZIMONLINE) — South African President Jacob Zuma is expected to present a report on Zimbabwe’s power-sharing agreement between President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to the African Union (AU) Heads of States meeting in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, officials said.

Zimbabwean strongman Mugabe is expected to attend the meeting which starts on Sunday ending on Tuesday.

Saul Molobi, spokesman for South Africa’s International Relations Department said Zuma, who is Southern African Development Community (SADC) mediator in the talks between Mugabe’s ZANU PF and Tsvangirai’s MDC parties, will also brief the AU leadership of the meeting which was held in Maputo earlier this month to discuss the Zimbabwe’s power-sharing deal.

“As the mediator in Zimbabwe President Jacob Zuma is expected give a report on the latest political developments in Zimbabwe and the outcomes of the SADC Summit held in Maputo on January 7 2010,” Molobi said.

The Maputo meeting urged the parties to the country’s power sharing deal to solve the outstanding issues and also discussed the problems rocking the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar and the problems in Lesotho.

The talks to resolve outstanding issues between ZANU PF and the MDC have dragged on since the former foes agreed to join hands last February in a coalition government that has been credited with stabilising the country?s economy to improve the lives of Zimbabweans.

The coalition partners last week called off negotiations, with the negotiators hinting that there was little prospect of the parties resolving anytime soon the outstanding issues holding back the unity government and threatening to render it ineffective.

Mugabe?s party insists it has played its part to uphold the 2008 power-sharing deal that gave birth to the coalition government. ZANU PF instead accuses its main rival MDC-T of reneging on promises to campaign for lifting of Western sanctions on Mugabe and his top allies.

On Wednesday ZANU PF ruled out making further concessions in the power-sharing talks until Western nations lift the sanctions, following disclosure by British foreign secretary David Miliband last week that London would lift the travel and financial sanctions on guidance from the MDC.

On its part the MDC-T ? which has rejected suggestions by Zuma that it shelves some of its demands ? accuses Mugabe of flouting the power-sharing pact after the veteran leader refused to rescind his unilateral appointment of two of his allies to the key posts of central bank governor and attorney general.

The former opposition is also unhappy that Mugabe is refusing to swear into government its treasurer Roy Bennett, while the veteran President has also refused to appoint MDC members as provincial governors.

The AU Summit convenes under the theme ?Information and Communication Technologies in Africa: Challenges and Prospects for the Future?. — NNN-ZimOnline

MALAYSIA:MPOB’S INITIATIVE COULD HELP ADDRESS SABAH’S ELECTRICITY WOES

KOTA MARUDU, Jan 30 (NNN-Bernama): The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) believes its initiative to convert empty fruit bunches (EFB) into energy could help ease Sabah’s electricity supply woes.

Its chairman Sabri Ahmad said MPOB was still studying the initiative, but did not rule out it could one day become successful.

“There are 120 mills in Sabah and we believe if each mill can process and convert the EFBs into energy, then we will not have a problem with electricity to run the mills.

“In fact, we believe it could help cater for the growing demand for electricity in the state in future,” he told Bernama when met at a programme with oil palm smallholders here on Saturday.

Asked whether MPOB would connect the electricity from the mill to the state’s electricity grid, Sabri said MPOB needed to complete its study on the matter which could involve an investment of between RM4 million and RM6 million per mill.

-NNN-BERNAMA

MALAYSIA:FOREST’ SECRET TO SPREAD WINGS TO ASIAN MARKETS

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 31 (NNN-Bernama): Forest’Secret, a herbal-based wellness and beauty brand developed and managed by Forest’Secret Sdn Bhd, will score a first when it spreads its wings to Middle East, China and Hong Kong this year.

The company is optimistic its foray into the international market will be a productive venture as it will introduce and heighten awareness of Malaysian herbal-based products.

Forest’Secret Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malaysia International Franchise Sdn Bhd (MyFranchise), uses only local herbs in its range of products

“As for China, we are looking at dividing the distribution to two regions. We have identified a dealer in China so far and recently participated in a trade show along with them in China.

“Talks are going on to determine single or multiple dealership. We are thinking of using the same party for distribution in the Hong Kong market,” said Chairman of MyFranchise Ahmad Shalimin Ahmad Shafie to Bernama in an exclusive interview.

He said the company had interested parties from Middle East who have come forward for negotiations.

“We are planning to tap the market in Jeddah and Abu Dhabi as we believe there are openings for herbal-based products,” he said.

Currently, the company, with 10 outlets, aims to invest RM2 million to open another six to eight outlets by year-end.

With last year’s sales of over RM1 million, Shalimin said the company was targeting to achieve RM4.9 million sales growth along with the new product range in the pipeline.

The company has 34 stockists nationwide with 3,600 dealers.

“We are optimistic of achieving the target through new strategies we have drawn up this year.

“We have emphasised on intensive trainings for stockists over the last six months and are looking to attract a mixed range of customers through opening of new outlets at various locations,” he said.

He also said the company wants to dominate the local herbal industry by moving towards increasing its product range to 500 items from 200 currently.

Forest’Secret offers four main product categories — body and skincare, aromatheraphy and spa, health food and drinks and cosmetics.

-NNN-BERNAMA

REAPING BENEFITS FROM INDIA-ASEAN RELATIONS

From Rosmah Mohamad Salim

NEW DELHI, Jan 31 (NNN-Bernama): The India-Asean Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in goods which came into force on Jan 1 this year has opened new possibilities for the expansion of India’s trade with the Asean region.

With a combined market of over 1.8 billion people, a GDP of almost US$2.75 trillion (RM9.625 trillion) and geographical proximity, potential for Asean-India cooperation is immense and waiting to be further tapped.

Based on Asean statistics, India moved one notch higher, ninth to eight, both as major export and import market in 2008 when compared with 2007. India’s share of Asean’s total exports has increased from US$24.8 billion (RM86.8 billion) to US$30.1 billion (RM105.35 billion) and total import share of India also increased from US$12.4 billion (RM43.4 billion) to US$17.3 billion (RM60.66 billion) for the same period.

Since the early 1990s, India has been closely pursuing relations with South East Asia and the Pacific region as envisioned in the country’s “Look East Policy”.

The country believed that expanding its dialogue and cooperation would greatly contribute towards its common endeavour for socio-economic development of its people.

According to President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Harsh Pati Singhania, the last two years was tough for the global economy and nobody would have imagined that the sub prime crisis that erupted in the US would have such a profound and catastrophic effect on the entire global economy.

However, he pointed out that collective efforts must be geared towards addressing the root causes that led to the crisis and task was extremely important for the economies, especially from Asia, as they had to pay a price for no fault of theirs, during the recent crisis.

“We must ensure that the chances for such a crisis erupting again in the future are minimised,” he said here recently.

As the economies of India and Asean got on to the recovery path and the India-Asean FTA came into force in January this year, a FICCI analysis on trade and investment relations with Asean saw a huge enlargement of market access for Indian businesses that could well double the bilateral trade from the targeted level of US$50 billion (RM175 billion) in 2010 to US$100 billion (RM350 billion) in the next five years.

India-Asean trade, which was US$2.5 billion (RM8.75 billion) in 1993-1994, stood at US$39.06 billion (RM136.71 billion) in 2007-2008 and is expected to reach US$50 billion (RM175 billion) by 2010 as total trade during April-December 2009 was US$34.1 billion (RM119.35 billion).

“With the first essential step towards this already taken – India Asean FTA is now operational – this target is certainly achievable. We should now work to bring the fruition of the FTA in Services and Investments,” Singhania said.

Research done by FICCI showed that Asean and India have much to offer to each other, since Asean countries could benefit from India’s strengths in Information Technology, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), pharmaceuticals, space science and oceanography, India can learn valuable lessons from Asean countries in infrastructure development and maintenance, tourism management and urban area development.

Meanwhile, Deputy Secretary-General of Asean S. Pushpanathan told the Delhi Dialogue II 2010 held here recently that connectivity in the context of Asean-India dialogue relations was not just physical infrastructure connections covering road, rail, air, sea and information communication technology or trade, commerce and tourism linkages.

He opined that while they form the bedrock of Asean-India connectivity, the connectivity must cover people to people contacts, which include interactions between leaders, ministers, parliamentarians, officials, business community, intellectuals, academics, scientists, media personnel, artists, cultural experts, youth, children and many others, to form a web of relationships that will buttress Asean-India relations in a substantive and sustainable way.

As Asia becomes the engine growth of the global economy, he said Asean and India must capitalise on their partnership through enhanced connectivity to reap the benefits.

“Prospects for seizing such an opportunity is here and we have to start now. The first area will be transport infrastructure linkages, which is a bottleneck for the economic growth of Asean and India. Expanding and improving road, rail, maritime and air linkages, will be crucial for enhanced connectivity for economic and other reasons,” he said.

However, he reminded that while there are many opportunities and immense potentials for strengthening Asean-India relations, there were also challenges that both sides have to meet to ensure the momentum of the partnership was not impeded.

Asean and India, said Pushpanathan, would have to ensure the commitment under the Trade in Goods Agreement was implemented on a timely manner so that the benefits of the Asean-India Free Trade Area was felt by the people.

Both parties should also press on with the negotiations of the services and investment agreements as a single undertaking so that the benefits accruing from these two agreements could be harvested as early as possible.

He added that the business community from both sides must come forward to utilise and benefit from the FTA and for this to happen, the businesses should acclimatize themselves to the economic and business environments in both regions.

“There is a need for exhibitions, business dialogues, and events, to promote trade and economic activities and create awareness about the FTA. An Asean-India FTA business portal could be something that our businesses could consider to support all there efforts,” he said.

Finally, said Pushpanathan, Asean and India should look at infrastructural development within their respective regions and together in connecting South Asia and Southeast Asia.

“This cannot be done by India or Asean Alone. We may have to work with our research institutes such as Economic Research Institute of Asean (ERIA), and multilateral development banks to make this possible,” he said.

-NNN-BERNAMA

CHINESE FM URGES U.S. TO STOP SELLING WEAPONS TO TAIWAN

NICOSIA, Jan. 31 (NNN-Xinhua): Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi expressed his solemn position on the U.S. arms sales to Taiwan here Saturday, urging the U.S. to stop selling weapons to the Chinese province.

Yang, who is paying an official visit to Cyprus, said in disregard of strong opposition and repeated protest from China, the U.S. administration flagrantly announced its plan to sell the weapons to Taiwan worth about 6.4 billion dollars.

Such a move is gravely against the three joint communiques between China and the United States, especially the “Aug. 17″ communique, Yang said, adding that it constitutes crude interference in China’s internal affairs, and harms China’s national security and peaceful reunification efforts.

China firmly opposes such a move which runs counter to the U.S. commitment to support the peaceful growth of the cross-Strait relations, he said.

The Chinese foreign minister urged the U.S. side to adopt a serious attitude towards the Chinese position, earnestly respect China’s core interests and major concerns, revoke immediately the erroneous decision on the arms sales to Taiwan and stop selling weapons so as not to undermine the China-U.S. relations.

Yang Jiechi said China has repeatedly stated its position on the U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. During a recent meeting in London between the foreign ministers of the two countries, the Chinese side again made clear its solemn stand on the issue, urging the U.S. side to fully recognize the gravity of the issue and stop selling weapons to Taiwan, he added.

The Obama administration Friday notified the U.S. Congress of the plan to sell the weapons to Taiwan. The arms sales would include 114 Patriot (PAC-3) anti-missile systems, 60 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters, 12 Harpoon Block II Telemetry missiles, 2 Osprey Class mine hunting ships and a command and control enhancement system, according to a Pentagon website.

-NNN-Xinhua

AU COMMISSION CHAIRPERSON: PROGRESS, CHALLENGES IN AU-NEPAD

ADDIS ABABA, Jan 31 (NNN-ENA) — Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, Jean Ping reiterated both positive progress and challenges toward integrating the New Partnership for Africa?s Development (NEPAD) into the structure and processes of the African Union Commission.

Addressing the 22nd Meeting of the NEPAD Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee (HSGIC), Jean Ping said on Saturday positive progress has been made in integrating NEPAD into the structures and processes of the African Union since June 2009.

He said achievements were registered toward adoption by the NEPAD Secretariat of the AU policies and procedures in finance, administration, human resource management, auditing, legal, protocol, and procurement as per the decision of 21st HSGIC Meeting held on June 30, 2009 in Sirte, Libya.

As a result, he said, the integration process has so far facilitated closer synergies, communication, understanding, and teamwork between the AU Commission and the NEPAD Secretariat.

Ping commends Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, who is also Chair of the NEPAD HSGIC, for his continued support, encouragement, and guidance toward the AU-NEPAD integration.

However, the AU Commission said, ensuring institutionalization of a coordinated approach and regularized feedback between the various bodies of AU Commission and NEPAD Secretariat, capacitating NEPAD coordination unit, and insufficient finance remain the major challenges of the AU-NEPAD integration process.

The 22nd HSGIC Meeting brought together the African heads of state and government implementation committee, representatives of regional and international organizations, and other AU Commission prominent figures. — NNN-ENA