PM Lee reaffirms close links, strong cooperation with Myanmar

YANGON — Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Wednesday (8 June) met with more Myanmar officials on the second day of his visit to Myanmar, with bilateral cooperation in human resource development and security matters, among other issues, on the list of items discussed.

Mr Lee met with senior general Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyidaw, commander-in-chief of defence services, where both affirmed the good relations between Singapore and Myanmar.

He also met Myanmar Union Parliament Speaker Win Khaing Than and Lower House Speaker Win Myint, and both Speakers expressed their appreciation for Singapore’s support towards Myanmar’s human resource development. He also had tea with former President Thein Sein before he left for Yangon later in the day, where he met about 300 Singaporeans at a reception at Sedona Hotel, mingling with them for about an hour.

Cafe owner Ms Zheng Yingzhen, 27, was among a group of young Singaporean entrepreneurs who chatted with Mr Lee, many of them also in the cafe business. “We were inspired to open cafes here because the set-up cost and rentals are much cheaper,” Ms Zheng said, estimating that she spent about S$30,000 to S$40,000 to set up her cafe.

There are about 500 registered Singaporeans in Myanmar. Mr Argus Ang, president of the Singapore Association of Myanmar, said the Singapore business community in Myanmar welcomed the upcoming move to lift visa requirements between Singapore and Myanmar, announced on Tuesday.

Noting the business community had been asking for it, he said: “A lot of businessmen go for short trips so it is most inconvenient if they have to keep applying for a visa.”

Mr Sahu BK, a Singaporean businessman who has been based in Myanmar for the past 30 years, added: “It also benefits Myanmar patients who have to go to Singapore for (medical) treatment because they usually have to seek treatment quickly. So applying for a visa delays them.”

They also gave their thoughts on Myanmar wanting to learn from Singapore how to set up a hawker centre — something mentioned by Mr Lee during his speech at a dinner on Tuesday. Mr Lee had said Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, now Myanmar’s State Counsellor and Union Minister for Foreign Affairs, had asked to study the way Singapore builds and operates hawker centres.

Mr Sahu noted that a similar venture in 1994 — a Singapore-style food court was set up in Myanmar — had shut down after just one to two years.

“There are many races, and cuisines here are diversified ... the street-food culture will be here for a long time. Whether (a hawker centre) will succeed, I can’t say,” he said.

Mr Lee is due to launch the Singapore-Myanmar Vocational Training Institute in Yangon today, before he wraps up his visit.