YANGON, May 25 (Reuters) – Five days of street protests over chronic power shortages present Myanmar’s reformist government with a headache and an opportunity.

Police forcibly dispersed protesters in the central Myanmar town of Pyi on Thursday, a heavy-handed response reminiscent of the previous military junta that could fuel grievances among an impoverished and long-neglected people.

But state television also announced emergency measures on Wednesday to boost electricity supplies, suggesting a government that realises how popular discontent could derail its reform process and irk the United States and Europe, which recently suspended sanctions on this once-isolated country.

The danger is that these protests spark similar anger over other bread-and-butter issues bedevilling the people — high food and fuel prices and jobs for instance.

“If they want us to stop protesting, they will have to give 24-hour electricity and more human rights,” said K Lwin, a 20-year-old student who joined about 100 others on Thursday for a third night of protests in Yangon, the country’s largest city.

“I hate the previous government. The new government is better … but they can improve.”

The protests are the latest challenge for reformist President Thein Sein who has freed hundreds of political prisoners, started peace talks with ethnic minority rebel groups and held historic by-elections that catapulted Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition party into parliament.

YANGON (Reuters) – Myanmar’s government announced emergency measures on Wednesday to boost electricity supplies following protests over chronic power outages that are testing the nascent democracy.

Six generators purchased from U.S.-based Caterpillar Inc, the world’s largest maker of construction machinery, will be air-freighted within a week, and two 25-megawatt gas-turbines would be bought from General Electric Co, the largest U.S. conglomerate, state television said.

Those steps follow the suspension of U.S. sanctions last week, illustrating rapid change in the former Burma following the end of five decades of oppressive military rule last year.

Urgent repairs will also be carried out on power stations damaged in fighting with ethnic Kachin rebels, state television said. In three cities that have seen protests – Yangon, Mandalay and Pyi – the government will deploy 37 high-powered generators to boost supplies, it added.

During its years of oppressive military rule, Myanmar seldom if ever bowed to public opinion. While it is unclear if this announcement will satisfy protesters who gathered on Wednesday for a second night in Yangon, the country’s largest city, it could relieve mounting pressure on the one-year-old government.

“We believe this is not the old regime, and that’s why we are expressing our voice,” Han Win Aung, a protest organiser, said to cheers at the entrance of Yangon’s Sule Pagoda before the urgent power-generation measures were announced.

Holding candles and chanting, about 100 protesters marched inside the gilded pagoda, urging authorities to address their long-festering grievances over power shortages in a test of political freedom in the new democracy.

YANGON (Reuters) – As long-isolated Myanmar opens up, its people are flexing their newly democratic muscles and testing the boundaries of freedom in a series of protests over chronic power outages.

On Tuesday evening, several hundred people in the commercial capital Yangon marched at Sule Pagoda, the focal point of demonstrations in 2007 and 1988 that were crushed by the military which ruled for nearly half a century until last year.

About 1,000 people protested for a third straight evening in northern Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, the biggest demonstrations since a 2007 monk-led uprising in which dozens were killed and hundreds arrested.

“We have plans to hold similar protests in all these cities tonight,” rights activist Ko Htin Kyaw, an organizer, said on Wednesday.

The protests pose a difficult test for reformist President Thein Sein who has freed hundreds of political prisoners, relaxed state censorship, started peace talks with ethnic minority rebel groups and held historic by-elections that catapulted Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition party into a semi-civilian parliament.

Bread-and-butter issues have been known to turn violent in Myanmar, also known as Burma. The biggest and bloodiest uprisings against military rule, in 1988 and 2007, were sparked by discontent over soaring inflation and fuel prices.

But Thein Sein, a former general, has stunned the world with the most dramatic reforms in the former British colony since a 1962 military coup, including authorizing peaceful protests though authorities must be notified days in advance.

YANGON, May 22 (Reuters) – As long-isolated Myanmar opens up, its people are flexing their newly democratic muscles and testing the boundaries of freedom in a series of protests over chronic power outages.

On Tuesday evening, several hundred people in the commercial capital Yangon marched at Sule Pagoda, the focal point of demonstrations in 2007 and 1988 that were crushed by the military which ruled for half a century until last year.

About 1,000 people protested for a third straight evening in northern Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, the biggest demonstrations since a 2007 monk-led uprising in which dozens were killed and hundreds arrested.

The protests pose a difficult test for reformist President Thein Sein who has freed hundreds of political prisoners, relaxed state censorship, started peace talks with armed ethnic groups and held historic by-elections that catapulted Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition party into a semi-civilian parliament.

His government also approved a bill authorising peaceful protests in the former British colony also known as Burma.

“The government is in a very difficult position now,” said Aung Thu Nyein, a Burmese economist who moved to Thailand after participating in demonstrations in Myanmar two decades ago.

“These protests are both a sign of dissatisfaction about public services and how the opening of democratic space is making interest groups more active than before.”

NAYPYITAW, Myanmar, May 18 (Reuters) – Myanmar’s central bank wants to weaken its newly floated currency and prevent further rises that could derail reforms to its economy, a deputy central bank governor said.

Nay Aye, one of two deputy governors, added that foreign banks will be able to form joint ventures in Myanmar by 2014, a year earlier than expected, as foreign investors begin to size up one of Asia’s most promising frontier markets following the suspension of U.S. and European sanctions.

April’s floating of the currency, the kyat, was the biggest economic policy step in a year of dramatic change. Managing the kyat poses an extraordinary challenge for reformers struggling to rebuild an economy blighted by decades of mismanagement and hurt by trade-crippling sanctions.

The International Monetary Fund cautioned in a report this month that the kyat had been overvalued by as much as 40 percent this year, and that any further rise could hurt the economy.

Asked if he would like to bring down the currency’s value, Nay Aye said “yes”, noting the central bank was developing a fund for carrying out open-market operations and stabilising the currency.

“In the near future there will be a massive inflow of foreign direct investment, and as a result Myanmar’s kyat is expected to appreciate. We will do our best to prevent this,” he told Reuters in an interview.

Currency reform is a delicate task in Myanmar. In 1987, the sudden cancellation of certain banknote denominations by late dictator General Ne Win wiped out many people’s savings and helped trigger a pro-democracy uprising the following year crushed by the military, killing thousands.

NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (Reuters) – Myanmar’s central bank wants to weaken its newly floated currency and prevent further rises that could derail reforms to its economy, a deputy central bank governor said.

Nay Aye, one of two deputy governors, added that foreign banks will be able to form joint ventures in Myanmar by 2014, a year earlier than expected, as foreign investors begin to size up one of Asia’s most promising frontier markets following the suspension of U.S. and European sanctions.

April’s floating of the currency, the kyat, was the biggest economic policy step in a year of dramatic change. Managing the kyat poses an extraordinary challenge for reformers struggling to rebuild an economy blighted by decades of mismanagement and hurt by trade-crippling sanctions.

The International Monetary Fund cautioned in a report this month that the kyat had been overvalued by as much as 40 percent this year, and that any further rise could hurt the economy.

Asked if he would like to bring down the currency’s value, Nay Aye said “yes”, noting the central bank was developing a fund for carrying out open-market operations and stabilizing the currency.

“In the near future there will be a massive inflow of foreign direct investment, and as a result Myanmar’s kyat is expected to appreciate. We will do our best to prevent this,” he told Reuters in an interview.

Currency reform is a delicate task in Myanmar. In 1967, the sudden cancellation of certain banknote denominations by late dictator General Ne Win wiped out many people’s savings and helped trigger a pro-democracy uprising the following year crushed by the military, killing thousands.

NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (Reuters) – A further lifting of U.S. sanctions on Myanmar, which could come during a visit by officials to Washington this week, would be crucial to opening its long-isolated economy, a senior Myanmar government official said.

Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin meets U.S. officials on Thursday, stoking expectation the United States might announce a further lifting or suspension of sanctions, including investment restrictions, on the country that is also known as Burma.

It is the first official visit by a Myanmar minister to the United States in decades.

“The sanctions are a big problem,” Tint Thwin, deputy director general in Myanmar’s Commerce Ministry, told Reuters. “If they are lifted there would be an immediate impact.”

“The U.S. government sanctions bar bank transactions in U.S. dollars. That is a major problem for us. If they lift the sanctions, we can easily transfer money, so our private sector can grow, invest and do business and immediately increase our prospects.”

Myanmar’s nominally civilian government has pushed through sweeping reforms since nearly half a century of military rule ended a year ago, but although multinational companies now want to invest as the country makes the transition from pariah state to frontier market, U.S. sanctions are a formidable barrier.

Washington’s sanctions are the tightest imposed on the former junta by Western powers, banning new investment in the country and imports as well as restricting financial transactions and freezing the assets of financial institutions and top government officials.

YANGON (Reuters) – He’s the flashiest tycoon in one of Asia’s poorest cities, with a canary-yellow Lamborghini parked outside his neoclassical mansion.

Tay Za is also one of the most vilified associates of Myanmar’s former junta. The U.S. Treasury has branded him a “notorious henchman and arms dealer,” slapping him with sanctions that froze his assets and blocked his jet-setting family from cities across the globe.

Now, as his country starts to open up after decades of military misrule, Tay Za is leading a wave of crony capitalists who are repositioning themselves as the fresh new faces of Myanmar Inc. According to his son, the 44-year-old multimillionaire has become a semi-retired philanthropist.

“Everything is all different for him now,” said Pye Phyo Tayza, 25, over a two-hour dinner at the Kandawgyi Palace Hotel, a teak complex bought by his father two years ago. “He is doing a lot of foundation work. He is doing more contributions for society. Less greed.”

Reuters interviews with Myanmar’s most powerful business families reveal a broad push to cultivate a new image – and retain their position atop the economy of this resource-rich nation of 60 million.

Some are promoting charitable work, forging ties with the dissident Burmese Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and huddling daily with executives from multinational companies descending upon one of world’s last frontier economies.

Many are retooling sprawling business empires that relied on favours from the state, anticipating an end to sanctions and new competition from foreign brands. Some are hiving off loss-making assets inherited under a system that reserved lucrative contracts – often in jade mining, timber and tourism – to favoured businessmen, or awkwardly trying to shed an aura of privilege in Asia’s second-poorest country after Afghanistan.

Marshall YANGON (Reuters) – He’s the flashiest tycoon in one of Asia’s poorest cities, with a canary-yellow Lamborghini parked outside his neoclassical mansion.

Tay Za is also one of the most vilified associates of Myanmar’s former junta. The U.S. Treasury has branded him a “notorious henchman and arms dealer,” slapping him with sanctions that froze his assets and blocked his jet-setting family from cities across the globe.

Now, as his country starts to open up after decades of military misrule, Tay Za is leading a wave of crony capitalists who are repositioning themselves as the fresh new faces of Myanmar Inc. According to his son, the 44-year-old multimillionaire has become a semi-retired philanthropist.

“Everything is all different for him now,” said Pye Phyo Tayza, 25, over a two-hour dinner at the Kandawgyi Palace Hotel, a teak complex bought by his father two years ago. “He is doing a lot of foundation work. He is doing more contributions for society. Less greed.”

Reuters interviews with Myanmar’s most powerful business families reveal a broad push to cultivate a new image – and retain their position atop the economy of this resource-rich nation of 60 million.

Some are promoting charitable work, forging ties with the dissident Burmese Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and huddling daily with executives from multinational companies descending upon one of world’s last frontier economies.

Many are retooling sprawling business empires that relied on favors from the state, anticipating an end to sanctions and new competition from foreign brands. Some are hiving off loss-making assets inherited under a system that reserved lucrative contracts — often in jade mining, timber and tourism — to favored businessmen, or awkwardly trying to shed an aura of privilege in Asia’s second-poorest country after Afghanistan.

YANGON (Reuters) – Myanmar artist Nyein Chan Su’s paintings have a breezy simplicity. Broad, colourful strokes and exaggerated figures, often in silhouette, capture an isolated country steeped in Buddhist culture but blighted by years of military rule.

But selling them has been anything but simple. For two decades, sanctions imposed in response to human rights abuses kept tourism to a trickle, and those who visited found a country run on cash, not credit. Expensive paintings rarely sold. Cheap ones did. That kept a lid on prices.

As Myanmar pursues reforms that may soon convince the United States and Europe to lift sanctions, Nyein Chan Su and other artists hope to emerge from the shadows. Prices, many expect, will rise. International gallery owners from New York to Hong Kong are already scouting for talent.

“Once sanctions come down, we can show our work more and have a chance to earn more money,” said Nyein Chan Su, 38, a founding member of Yangon’s Studio Square, a cramped gallery shared by four friends from art school on the second floor in the back of an apartment complex in Myanmar’s biggest city.

A walk through his studio illustrates the problems. No single piece of art sells for more than $1,000, and most go for about half that, despite a roster of top contemporary artists.

Compare that with Vietnam. Before the United States lifted sanctions in 1994, few Vietnamese paintings sold for more than $1,000. Today, its top artists can fetch 10 times that or more.

Prices have already started to rise for Myanmar’s most successful artist, Min Wae Aung, known for expansive canvasses of golden-robed monks, often shaded by pink rattan umbrellas and set against gold backdrops.