Myanmar PM to Visit Two ASEAN Member Nations

CRIenglish.com, 13 March 2009 

Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein will pay official visits soon to Indonesia and Singapore, member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), an official announcement from Nay Pyi Taw said on Friday without specifying the date of his visits. 

At the invitation of Indonesian President Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsein Loong, Thein Sein will pay the visits, the announcement said. 

Thein Sein's planned trip to Indonesia will come more than three years after Indonesian President Susilo paid a state visit to Myanmar in March 2006 and more than four years after Singapore Prime Minister Lee came to the country in March 2005. 

During Susilo's 2006 Myanmar visit, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Myanmar and Indonesia on setting up a joint commission for bilateral cooperation, while during Lee's 2005 Myanmar visit, Myanmar and Singapore agreed to further strengthen their bilateral cooperation in some sectors including tourism, air link, improvement of business environment and increase of foreign investment in Myanmar as well as technical cooperation. 

Indonesia is Myanmar's fourth largest trading partner among ASEAN members after Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, having a bilateral trade with Myanmar standing 293.96 million U.S. dollars in the fiscal year of 2007-08. Indonesia's exports to Myanmar amounted to 207.24 million dollars, while its imports from Myanmar valued at 86.72 million dollars, according to Myanmar official statistics. 

Meanwhile, Indonesia's investment in Myanmar has so far reached over 241 million dollars since late 1988 when Myanmar opened to such investment, standing the 9th among Myanmar's foreign investors. 

Singapore is the third largest investor in Myanmar with over 1. 5 billion U.S. dollars being injected into the country as of 2007 since Myanmar opened to foreign investment in late 1988. 

Singapore's bilateral trade with Myanmar amounted to 1.218 billion dollars in the fiscal year 2007-08 with Singapore standing as Myanmar's second largest trading partner after Thailand during the year. Of the total, Singapore's exports to Myanmar accounted for 816.33 million dollars, while its imports from Myanmar took 401.83 million dollars.

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