Arakan News Agency
ALTHOUGH Burma has been wracked by decades of civil unrest and is now said to be edging on a full-blown “ethnic cleansing” of the Rohingya Muslims, its de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has trotted out an ambitious plan to have her country overtake Singapore’s economy in two decades.
Speaking at a business dialogue in Singapore on Wednesday, the Burmese State Counselor said she hopes her regional neighbour would lend a helping hand.
“At the beginning of Singapore’s independence, the then prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, said that in 20 years’ time, Singapore would have caught up with Burma,” she said, as quoted by Channel News Asia.
“I think we have to change that a bit and say: In 20 years’ time, Myanmar (Burma) will have overtaken Singapore and you will help us to do that because success in one part of the region means success throughout the region and we have never found it difficult to engage with Singapore economically.”
The 71-year-old Nobel laureate said Burma has been “left behind” and hindered by “different factors” compared to its Southeast Asian neighbours, adding she hopes Singapore would help the country become more vibrant on the political and economic fronts.
“Politics and business cannot be separated particularly at this time when we are trying to make our country not just united and peaceful, but also prosperous,” she was quoted as saying. “For that, we look to you to advise us, to work together with us and to make our country vibrant, not just politically but also economically.”
Suu Kyi is on an official visit to Singapore that lasts three days, ending Friday. On her schedule is a dinner hosted by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
In October, Suu Kyi admitted to Burma’s sluggish economic growth at 7 percent in the first six months of her rule following a World Bank report, which cited heavy flooding and investment slowdown during the 2015 election period that was also hampered by external factors.
The recorded 7 percent growth was less than the average rate of 8.5 percent in 2013 and 2014 but higher than expected, as the World Bank had trimmed its 2015-16 forecast from 8.2 percent to 6.5 percent.
For decades, Burma has been plagued by civil war as ethnic minorities fight for greater autonomy from the central government, which has long been an Achilles’ heel in the nation’s plans for greater cohesion, growth and development.
There are at least 15 different rebel groups that are actively taking up arms across Burma since the country achieved independence from British colonial rule in 1948. Some of the groups, such as the Kachin Independence Army and the United Wa State Army, have controlled and administered large swaths of territory for years, according to CNN.
