Congratulatory remarks by Ambassador Lee Sang-hwa

Myanmar-Korea Investment Promotion Seminar

2018.06.20

H.E. Ambassador Lee Hyuk, Secretary-General of ASEAN-Korea Centre, U Than Aung Kyaw, Deputy Director-General of DICA (Directorate of Investment and Company Administration of Myanmar)

Excellencies

and distinguished guest

Minglabar, good morning

To begin with, let me extend my warmest welcome to Ambassador Lee Hyuk, the new Secretary-General of ASEAN-Korea Centre. I have every confidence that Amb. Lee is the right person at the right time to assume the post at the helm of the ASEAN-Korea Centre, especially when the Korean government is actively undertaking its flagship initiative, New Southern Policy. Immediately before assuming the current post, Amb. Lee served as the Korean Ambassador in Vietnam. During his tenure, Vietnam has grown to become the overwhelmingly No.1 destination of the Korean investment in the entire ASEAN region. It was no surprise at all that President Moon Jae-in chose Vietnam as his first overseas trip this year among the ten (10) ASEAN countries. S.G Lee was the Ambassador during President Moon’s state visit in March.

I think your visit comes at an opportune time. Let me tell you why.

The first reason is that Myanmar is moving forward in full gear in promoting foreign investment. There is a strong political will at the highest level. As the current NLD government passed its mid-term milestone in March, the union government presented ‘improving socio-economic life of the people and achieving sustainable development’ as a top priority. It is particularly noteworthy because, unlike in the past the government placed ‘better socio-economic life of the people’ ahead of other pending issues such as ‘advancing national peace process.’ This demonstrates Myanmar government’s commitment to bringing its economic standard up to par with its neighboring countries such as Vietnam and Thailand.

There have been some encouraging signs in translating the commitment into action. Let me take few examples. As U Than Aung Kyaw stated, the “New Company Law” will go into effect on August 1, which will create a much more favorable atmosphere for foreign investment. Plus, the Ministry of Commerce released one of the most important Notification last month, opening retail and wholesale trading to foreign companies, thus creating new opportunities in this sector that has been tightly restricted. I am also pleased that U Than Aung Kyaw stressed the need to promote foreign investment in education and vocational training sector. The Korea Government is actively contributing in this field, including through KOICA program. To its credit, the Myanmar Government has recently taken measures to allow a foreign entity to establish a private higher education, at university-level and above.

I am sure that you will hear in greater details form the representative of DICA on the efforts in making the Myanmar market more friendly to foreign investment and business.

Another reason that your visit comes at an opportune time is Korea’s commitment and interest in doing business abroad. Under the banner of the New Southern Policy, the Korean government is actively supporting our business community to broaden its horizons to abroad. In doing so, the ASEAN region is its first and foremost destination.

Moreover, the recent positive developments on the Korean Peninsula will also have a positive impact on our relationship with ASEAN partners. This sentiment was very well captured by the Foreign Minister of Singapore just a day before the historic US-North Korea summit. He stressed the need to see the fast unfolding developments from a bigger picture. If we secure lasting and durable peace in the Northeast Asia, we can cast our eyes to Southeast Asia. Now if you can secure peace and development in North Korea, and if you can dial down the tensions which have prevailed there for seven decades, it is going to have an enormous strategic impact elsewhere too.

Of course, it would be very remiss of me to not mention some signs that you have to heed as well. Despite some welcome measures to improve business environment, it still requires a lot of work. For instance, the World Bank’s recent study ‘Ease of Doing Business’ shows that Myanmar lags far behind its regional peers, even standing behind Cambodia and Laos. And according to the ‘Myanmar Business Sentiment Survey’ conducted by the Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry(UMFCCI), confidence level about business conditions has fallen in recent years. I think these findings should serve as a wake-up call.

During your stay in Myanmar, you will find that you have to overcome some outstanding obstacles in doing business here in Myanmar. As Amb. Lee Hyuk pointed out, high land cost, unstable electricity, taxation and worsening labor-management issue are the challenges for prospective investors to name a few.

As you know, every situation is different and there is no one-size-fits-all solution. During your on-site visit, including Thilawa SEZ, and discussions with your interlocutors, you will find out the risks and opportunities of doing business and investment in Myanmar.

Yesterday, I had dinner with special envoy of the UN Secretary-General on Myanmar. She said, since her last visit to Myanmar which was 3 years ago, she can clearly see, things are moving fast and moving in the right direction. On my part as well, if I borrow the term recently used by Amb. Lee Hyuk, I am a ‘constructive optimist’ about the brighter future of Myanmar.

Once again, I wish all of you a very successful and fruitful time in Myanmar.

Thank you, 쩨주 띤바래.