French official proposes microcredit fund for Myanmar

from the International herald Tribune

SINGAPORE: The French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, proposed on Monday a fund to give Myanmar incentives to embrace democracy. He also urged China and Southeast Asia to put more pressure on Myanmar's ruling junta.

Kouchner gave no details on the size of the fund, who would administer it or who would receive the money, but said that funds could come from the World Bank and could be distributed in Myanmar in the form of microcredits.

"We have to offer incentives. Sanctions and incentives," Kouchner said in Singapore, one stop of an Asian tour.

"We have to set up a sort of go-between with NGOs, UN agencies in order to give them a sort of microcredits," he said, to "offer them perspective of trade, development and also real industry."

Kouchner also said that, with the European Union having already strengthened its sanctions against Myanmar, it was now up to the country's neighbors to put pressure on the regime.

Last month, at least 10 people were killed when the military crushed the biggest anti-junta protests in two decades. The EU agreed on Oct. 15 to strengthen sanctions against Myanmar in response. But China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations refuse to contemplate sanctions, saying that verbal persuasion would be a more effective tool.

"It is your turn here," Kouchner said Monday. Asked about what form sanctions could take, Kouchner said "targeted sanctions on bank accounts, certainly, if they have them here."

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore denied this month that Myanmar's generals, who often visit Singapore for medical treatment, use Singapore as a money-laundering center.

In an editorial published Monday in Asian newspapers, Kouchner called on China and Southeast Asian countries to put more pressure on Myanmar's generals to start talks about political reform with the detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

"I have come to Southeast Asia to tell Burma's neighbors that no progress can be made in Burma without their intervention and assistance," Kouchner wrote.

"The capacity of China and Asean countries to engage in dialogue with the Burmese junta is irreplaceable," he said.

In Singapore, Kouchner also met with Ibrahim Gambari, the UN special envoy. Gambari visited Myanmar a month ago and is due to return in early November, following trips to China and Japan.

Asean leaders are scheduled to meet in Singapore from Nov. 19 to 21. The group, currently chaired by Singapore, has not yet said if Myanmar, a member state, would attend.