Myanmar urgently needs training schemes and
investments to create jobs to ward off youth unemployment, Aung San Suu Kyi
told the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Bangkok.
"The
proportion of young people unemployed in Burma is extremely high. That is a
time bomb," she said yesterday during a talk and an exchange of views with
WEF executive chairman Klaus Schwab and the audience.
Unemployed
young people "sit around tea shops, toddy palm shops, take to drugs, take
to gambling", Suu Kyi said.
"What
I'm afraid of is not so much joblessness but hopelessness," she added.
Beefing
up secondary education and vocational training is vital as it will enable these
youngsters to take advantage of the jobs that investments will open up.
But
Myanmar's democracy icon also warned investors against "reckless
optimism".
She
called for balance and transparency so that investments would not end up
benefiting only a few individuals or groups. This would worsen the inequality
gap that already exists in Myanmar, where a few well-connected businessmen have
amassed fortunes while most people remain poor.
"We
do not want more investment to mean more possibilities for corruption... or
greater inequality or... greater privileges for the already privileged,"
said the Nobel Peace laureate.
Her
appearance at the WEF marked her return to the international stage two months
after her National League for Democracy swept by-elections in Myanmar, winning
43 parliamentary seats.
Suu
Kyi, 66, also spoke at a packed press conference where she appeared confident
and talkative. She later took part in a panel discussion on the role of women
in Asia.
"My
message to investors: Please make sure that whatever you do is transparent, not
just in investment but in development and humanitarian aid as well," she
said at the press conference.
"Whatever
investments, government agreements, aid - please make sure that they are
transparent, that the people of Burma are in a position to understand what is
being done and who will benefit."
As for
the rush to invest in Myanmar, she cautioned that "a little bit of healthy
scepticism is in order".
"We
do not have a clean and independent judicial system, and unless we have such a
system, it is no use having the best laws in the world," she said.
"So
would-be investors, please be warned, even the best investment laws will be of
no use if there are no courts clean enough or independent enough to be able to
administer these laws justly."
She
highlighted the urgent need for judicial reforms.
"So
far, we are not aware of any reforms on the judicial front. Not many in the
government seem to think there is a need for judicial reform... I consider it
very urgent indeed."
Asked
how irreversible the reform process in Myanmar is, she said it "depends on
how committed the military is to this reform process".
"I
do believe in the sincerity of (President Thein Sein) when he speaks of his
commitment to reform, but I also recognise that he is not the only person in
government; there is the military to be reckoned with."
Nirmal
Ghosh
The
Straits Times
Business & Investment Opportunities
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