Suu Kyi Seeks Investment For The People

By Jamaluddin Muhammad BANGKOK (Thailand), June 1 (Bernama) -- Myanmar does not need more investments that would lead to more opportunities for corruption and social inequality, the country's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Friday. She said the country needed investment for the betterment of its people and the nation. "Burma (Myanmar) offers opportunities for you and us. Please help us to meet our needs," she told the World Economic Forum on East Asia, here. The 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner said the priority of Myanmar at the moment was creation of jobs due to the high unemployment rate, which she described as a "time bomb". She said jobless youths in her country were engaged in negative activities such as alcohol, drugs and gambling rather than contributing to the national reform. "There is no use talking about democracy if we can't empower our own people," said the country's democracy icon. Suu Kyi called on investors not to think of their investment returns only when investing in the country but think of the benefits for the Myanmar people and the country. "We just want to improve the state of Myanmar, not just benefit a particular person or groups or organisations," she said. She said the country also needed a critical mass of educated people in bringing reform to the country. Myanmar focused too much on tertiary education and neglected basic education at the moment, she said, adding that a large population with secondary education was necessary for the reform. Suu Kyi said the country needed national commitment for the national reconciliation. In attracting investment into Myanmar, she asked investors to exercise caution as the country lacked a clean and independent judiciary system to administer investment law. On Asean, she said the 10-member grouping should not give handouts to Myanmar but list down their expectations when Yangon takes over the Asean chairmanship in 2014. Suu Kyi, 67, who is affectionately known as "The Lady", had spent most of the last two decades under house arrest in Yangon and had made her first overseas trip to this capital after 24 years. On a lighter note, she said: "I was fascinated to see the lights in Bangkok from the cockpit of the aircraft, when I was invited by the pilot. At that time, I thought Yangon could also be like Bangkok in terms of development if not because of the problems in the country." She shared how she gained the strength to fight for democracy for years. "DNA has a lot to do with it. My mother disciplined me that duty mattered more than anything else in life," she said. At a press conference later, Suu Kyi said any development aid to the country must be done in a transparent manner so that it could benefit the people. "If you (donors) keep the development aid in the dark, there is nothing we can do in ensuring that it reaches the people," she said. On the constitutional amendment in Myanmar, she said it was very difficult because they required more than 75 per cent of the house votes. "Civilian votes consist of 75 per cent only and the military constitutes another 25 per cent in the Myanmar parliament. "So, if you need more than 75 per cent of the votes, you need at least one vote from a soldier, and that is the most difficult part," she said. -- BERNAMA