First Overseas Visit by Myanmar’s Incoming Government is to JapanNLD economic team to visit METI, others

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Meeting at The Nippon Foundation

A 15-member economic delegation from the National League for Democracy, Myanmar’s largest opposition party and overwhelming winner of the general election held in November 2015, has been visiting Japan since January 23 and paid a courtesy call on The Nippon Foundation on January 25. This was the first overseas visit by the incoming government’s economic policy team. The group also plans to tour the Bank of Japan and the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and hold meetings with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Financial Services Agency, and the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency before returning to Myanmar on January 30.

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Chairman Sasakawa welcomes Mr. Myo Myint

The group arrived at Narita Airport on the evening of January 23. The next day, after meeting with Myanmar residents of Japan, a reception was hosted by Yohei Sasakawa, Chairman of The Nippon Foundation and Special Envoy of the Government of Japan for National Reconciliation in Myanmar. At the reception, U Myo Myint stated, “We look forward to continued support from Japan, a major economy, as Myanmar moves forward in its democratization and economic development.”

Meeting with the delegation, Mr. Sasakawa gave an overview of The Nippon Foundation’s activities in Myanmar, including the construction of 370 schools and the promotion of traditional medicine, primarily in ethnic regions. He also noted that independence leader General Aung San spent time in Japan during World War II, and that his daughter, NLD President Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, spent a year as a guest researcher at the Kyoto University Center for Southeast Asian Studies in the 1980s, saying, “Over two generations, father and daughter have had a close relationship with Japan. I want to cooperate toward the realization of General Aung San’s aim of achieving peace and reconciliation among all ethnic groups.”

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Chairman Sasakawa and Mr. Myo Myint

Mr. Sasakawa went on to explain, “Rather than assist with solving the problems facing the people of Myanmar, our stance is to provide cooperation to enable the people of Myanmar to resolve these issues themselves.” Mr. Myo Myint responded by referring to the teachings of Buddha, noting that an ideal society is one in which the wealth is shared by everyone, not just a designated few, and asked for Mr. Sasakawa’s continued support.

Myanmar’s new parliament will convene on February 1, and will elect a new president who will then form a cabinet, with the new government to take office from late March. One of the policy issues the new government will face will be the strengthening of the country’s agricultural sector, and this trip includes a scheduled visit to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and a meeting with agricultural experts in Ibaraki Prefecture. One delegation member commented, “We hope to learn from Japan’s advanced agricultural technology, and export agricultural products to Japan in the future.”

Contact

Communications Department
The Nippon Foundation

E-mail
cc@ps.nippon-foundation.or.jp