Suu Kyi seeks foreign investments for Myanmar
15 Jun 2012 2:42 AM GMT
Democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi called for foreign investment in Myanmar during the first speech of her landmark European tour on Thursday.
The opposition leader asked delegates at the International Labour Organization conference in Geneva to encourage their governments to invest in ‘democracy-friendly development’ in her country.
In the 20-minute address Suu Kyi urged help for unemployed youth in particular, who were suffering from a lack of education.
‘It's not so much joblessness as hopelessness that affects our future,’ she said.
The veteran activist and newly-elected member of parliament advocated coordinated social, political and economic policies ‘that will put our country once again on the map of the positive and the successful.
‘Coming to this conference I have learned that we can all work together,’ she said. ‘I felt at home, I felt I had come back to meet members of my family.
‘We are not only a family of nations but a family of people.’ Suu Kyi concluded by inviting members of the ILO to visit Myanmar to see its potential. It is the politician's first visit to Europe since 1988 after years spent under house arrest.
Switzerland is the first stop on the more than two-week tour taking her to Norway, Britain, France and Ireland and which will include a speech in Oslo for her 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She was given a prolonged and emotional standing ovation on Thursday after delivering her maiden address to the ILO on her first European tour after 24 years.
Clad in traditional Myanmar dress with a green scarf, 66-year-old Suu Kyi looked embarrassed at the prolonged ovation after her address to the International Labour Conference of the ILO at the Palais de Nations in Geneva. Suu Kyi went up to the mike again to say: ‘I don't understand why people say I am full of courage. I am terribly nervous’.
On Wednesday, the International Labour Organisation [ILO] decided to lift restrictions imposed on Myanmar since 1999, and readmitted the country into its fold.
Myanmar has not been invited to ILO meetings or activities on various labour matters since then.
The opposition leader asked delegates at the International Labour Organization conference in Geneva to encourage their governments to invest in ‘democracy-friendly development’ in her country.
In the 20-minute address Suu Kyi urged help for unemployed youth in particular, who were suffering from a lack of education.
‘It's not so much joblessness as hopelessness that affects our future,’ she said.
The veteran activist and newly-elected member of parliament advocated coordinated social, political and economic policies ‘that will put our country once again on the map of the positive and the successful.
‘Coming to this conference I have learned that we can all work together,’ she said. ‘I felt at home, I felt I had come back to meet members of my family.
‘We are not only a family of nations but a family of people.’ Suu Kyi concluded by inviting members of the ILO to visit Myanmar to see its potential. It is the politician's first visit to Europe since 1988 after years spent under house arrest.
Switzerland is the first stop on the more than two-week tour taking her to Norway, Britain, France and Ireland and which will include a speech in Oslo for her 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She was given a prolonged and emotional standing ovation on Thursday after delivering her maiden address to the ILO on her first European tour after 24 years.
Clad in traditional Myanmar dress with a green scarf, 66-year-old Suu Kyi looked embarrassed at the prolonged ovation after her address to the International Labour Conference of the ILO at the Palais de Nations in Geneva. Suu Kyi went up to the mike again to say: ‘I don't understand why people say I am full of courage. I am terribly nervous’.
On Wednesday, the International Labour Organisation [ILO] decided to lift restrictions imposed on Myanmar since 1999, and readmitted the country into its fold.
Myanmar has not been invited to ILO meetings or activities on various labour matters since then.
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