MANILA — Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said on Monday he will meet Myanmar’s Foreign Minister in Manila this week in a bid to dissuade the country’s ruling authorities from imposing a law that will ban opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from participating in the country’s national polls scheduled this year.
Romulo will have a bilateral meeting with Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win on the sidelines of the special Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) meeting on interfaith cooperation that the Philippines will host from March 16 to 18.
—-
KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysian Supreme Head Mizan Zainal Abidin said here on Monday that the Malaysian government will continue to play an active role in the international arena.
This was to ensure that Malaysia will always voice and contribute its views and efforts towards the preservation of international peace, security and prosperity, said Mizan when delivering his opening address at the country’s third session of the 12th Parliament.
—-
PHNOM PENH — Visiting U.S. high-ranking military officer Gen. William Crowe has accepted a request by Cambodia’s National Center for Peacekeeping Forces and ERW Clearance (NPMEC) to train Cambodian forces on peacekeeping mission, official news agency AKP reported on Monday.
The request was made by Gen. Sem Sovanny, general director of the NPMEC, during a visit to the Oudong military training school on Mar. 11 by Gen. William Crowe who is in charge of South Asia and ASEAN affairs office under the U.S. Department of Defense, AKP said.
—-
KUALA LUMPUR — The Malaysian government will add a new chapter to the Consumer Protection Act 1999 of Malaysia to provide more protection to consumers entering into a transaction.
Malaysian Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob made this remark on Monday after opening the World Consumer Rights Day 2010, which was themed “Our Money, Our Rights.”
—-
BANGKOK — Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva Monday ordered security forces to fully alert in a bid to ensure law and order after six M79 grenade rounds were fired into the First Infantry Regiment compound in capital Bangkok.
The prime minister’s remark was quoted by acting government spokesman Panithana Watanayagorn as saying, according to the National News Bureau of Thailand (NNT).
—-
HANOI — Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Le Danh Vinh said that Vietnam will do its utmost to fight fake and counterfeit products, the Vietnamese News Agency reported Monday.
Vinh made the statement at a conference held in Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam on fighting fake products on the occasion of the World Consumers’ Rights Day.
—-
KUALA LUMPUR — The production of natural rubber (NR) in Malaysia in January 2010 recorded a significant increase of 48.4 percent or 35,524 ton compared with the same month in 2009.
According to the latest release by the Malaysian Statistics Department here on Monday, the smallholdings sector was the main contributor to the production of NR at 94.8 percent while the balance was from the estate sector.
—-
COLOMBO — Sri Lanka police on Monday said they will completely remove all the cut-outs, banners and posters targeting the April 8 parliamentary election by March 16.
“It’s impossible to be 100 percent successful, but we will conclude the mission which started on March 14,” police chief Mahinda Balasuriya told reporters.
—-
DHAKA — The Bangladeshi Commerce Minister Faruque Khan Monday said works are underway to enforce the Consumer Rights Protection Act “soon” as the related regulations are already framed.
“We expect the law to be enforced after eliciting public opinion later this year, and we may amend it later if any inconsistency is found or improvement is needed,” he told a seminar on consumer rights, national news agency BSS reported.
