Speaking of Myanmar, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi pleaded Thursday night with American business leaders to invest in her resource-rich but impoverished country and to bring along best practices that would help in her government’s fight to stamp out graft and shady dealings.
“We have a problem of corruption,” Suu Kyi said in a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council. “We need investment from people that are prepared to work with us in our battle against corruption.”
Suu Kyi, who spent years under house arrest during Myanmar’s period of military rule, said her country’s needs are immense, including degraded education and health care systems, poor roads, spotty electricity and other infrastructure challenges.
“We would like you to invest. We would like you to create jobs. That is our first priority - job creation,” she said, explaining it is important for the stability of her country to show a payoff from a democratic reform by improving the livelihood of ordinary Myanmar citizens.