YANGON — Myanmar needs to catch up with the rest of South-east Asia, as well as play a role in the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean), even though its focus now is on domestic issues, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Thursday (June 9).

And Singapore can help, both in terms of lending expertise, as well as in assisting Myanmar in playing its role within Asean, said Mr Lee, who wrapped up his official visit to the country with an interview with 
Singaporean media.

“It (has) a long journey to go ... because I think over the years, Myanmar has fallen behind the rest of South-east Asia,” he said.

“And it needs to develop not only the policies but also the capabilities and the team who can make the policies and lead the country forward in a united way,” he added.

At the same time, while Myanmar is understandably focused on domestic issues, the outside world cannot be “shut out”, and the country is still part of Asean. Member nations, said Mr Lee, should also be understanding and work together in ways that will be helpful to Myanmar, in terms of economic cooperation and integration. “Myanmar has a role within Asean to play and we hope we’ll be able to help them,” he added.

He added that Myanmar can tap the expertise of Singaporean companies in the areas of airport and port management.

Pointing out that the adding of air routes will benefit Myanmar and boost its tourism industry, Mr Lee said he had suggested to the Myanmar government that Singaporean carriers Singapore Airlines and SilkAir could introduce stopover flights from Singapore through Yangon 
or Mandalay.

“I think if you did that, a lot more tourists will come. Cambodians have done that, for example. You can do a stopover from Singapore to Phnom Penh, and from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. And Siem Reap is booming and Cambodia is benefiting. They are very happy they did this,” said Mr Lee, who raised the possibility of a bilateral investment agreement.

The Prime Minister was also asked if Singapore’s experience in inter-ethnic integration could be shared with Myanmar. He noted that the issue is a “complex” one for Myanmar, which has over 130 ethnic groups.

“I think they have to find their own way,” Mr Lee said. “In their case, it’s not just that they have different ethnic groups but they are also geographically separated and some of them are still in armed conflict.”

The Prime Minister also spoke on the large number of overseas trips he has to make this year, some of them pushed from last year as he was preoccupied by domestic matters.

This year is also being made busier by the 50th anniversary of Singapore’s diplomatic ties with many countries. “We have to go ... to mark the milestone and see how we can push the relationships further ...

“What’s important for us as a small country (is) to make sure people find us with interesting ideas and with new possible areas for cooperation, and we need to keep our flag flying.”

One of his upcoming trips is in August to the United States, where Mr Lee will be hosted to a State Dinner at the White House by President Barack Obama.

Asked if he was expecting anything from it, Mr Lee said: “A dinner is a dinner, but it’s a signal of the importance of the US to us, and our view of the US in the region ... We welcome China’s development and its growing influence in the region, but at the same time, we value American engagement and we don’t see China’s growing influence as necessarily being at the expense of America’s contributions to the region, or Singapore’s relations 
with the US.”