Arakan News Agency
Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi told U.S. business leaders on Thursday that the country’s pro-democracy government has undertaken several measures to create a more welcoming business environment, and that their investments will help the Southeast Asia nation with its transition to full democracy.N
One of Aung San Suu Kyi’s goals during her first official trip to the United States in her capacity as state counselor was to address the business community to promote trade with and investment in Myanmar, along with greater economic ties with the U.S.
Aung San Suu Kyi, who is Myanmar’s de facto national leader, also stressed that certain political issues have to be worked out by her National League for Democracy (NLD) government to achieve economic success
“In order to make the political transition work, we have to have the economic expectations of our people fulfilled as well,” she told businesspeople, diplomats, and government officials.
“Our economy can succeed only if our political system succeeds,” she said.
Aung San Suu Kyi is leading renewed efforts to bring armed ethnic groups to the negotiating table to end decades of separatist fighting against the Myanmar military. She also is pushing for constitutional reform to reduce the role of the military in politics.
To woo investors, the Myanmar government has undertaken labor reforms and put in place economic policies that promote a better investment climate.
Myanmar lawmakers are reviewing a new bill on investment in Myanmar that has been introduced to simplify and speed up the procedures that investors must follow, she said.
The economic policy of the new government, which came to power in April, includes the improvement of public financial management through greater transparency, privatization of certain state-owned enterprises, promotion of the role of small- and medium-sized enterprises, expansion of vocational training opportunities, and creation of a credible dispute resolution system, she said.
“Economic success is one of the ways that we can persuade everyone in our country, including the military, that democracy is the best way forward for our union,” Aung San Suu Kyi said.
She also urged investors to bring their best practices to ensure Myanmar’s economy develops “in a right way.”
“The role of business is not a small one,” Aung San Suu Kyi said. “If you can help us improve the condition of our people, it will help increase their confidence in the democratic process, and because their confidence in the democratic process is strong, they will be that more inclined to find ways of agreeing on a negotiated settlement that will allow us to construct the union of which our founding fathers dreamt, but which we have not yet seen.”
She also encouraged U.S. business leaders to notify relevant Myanmar government ministers or her office about any signs of corruption when they do business in the country.
“So when you try to invest in Burma, please don’t think you have to go with a suitcase bursting with dollar notes,” she said.
Before ending her speech, Aung San Suu Kyi mentioned that another one of the political problems that the new government is tackling at home is the plight of the stateless Muslim minority Rohingya in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state who have been denied citizenship and other basic rights in the predominantly Buddhist country.
Aung San Suu Kyi told U.S. business leaders that the Rohingya issue has “done great damage to the image” of Myanmar, and important to resolve because it threatens social harmony.
“And that is something we have to address as quickly and as effectively as possible,” she said.
Source : AFP
