Bisnis Indonesia - Bisnis.com

BANGKOK: Chairman of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and Member of Parliament of Kawhmu Constituent in Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi challenged investors to be socially responsible and to ensure that their investments help her country to eradicate corruption and inequality.

 

In a session with participants at the World Economic Forum on East Asia, The 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate said her country do not want investment to mean more possibilities for corruption. “We do not want investment to mean greater inequality and we do not want investment to mean greater privileges for those already privileged”

 

As cited from press release received by Bisnis, Suu Kyi, who is making her first trip abroad in 24 years, warned that Myanmar’s reform process is not irreversible. “It depends on national commitment. All the people must be committed to improving the state of our country,” she said.

 

The priorities for Myanmar are basic education and the rule of law, she noted. “We need basic education. There has been too much emphasis on tertiary and even postgraduate education. We need the kind of education that will allow people to make a decent living for themselves.”

 

She called for a focus on vocational training, particularly for young people, many of whom are losing hope of finding employment. “What I am afraid of is not so much joblessness as hopelessness,” Suu Kyi remarked.

 

Myanmar must also aim to bolster the rule of law, she advised. Without the rule of law, even good investment regulations would be of no benefit, she stressed. Suu Kyi argued that Myanmar should be able to resolve longstanding differences among indigenous ethnic groups if there is mutual respect. “The gap is nothing like unbridgeable.”

 

Suu Kyi invited more than 600 business, government and civil society leaders from 50 countries participating in the World Economic Forum on East Asia to help her country through this difficult period of transition and reform.  (T07/aph)