UK and Burmese foreign ministers hold talks

by admin
Sep 25, 2012

At the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the UK foreign minister, William Hague, met with his Burmese counterpart, Wunna Maung Lwin, marking an ever increasing welcome extended to Burma over recent months, including the easing of sanctions by the US and EU, despite the persecution of Rohingya Muslims by Buddhist monks.

Writing in Forbes magazine on Burma and Sri Lanka earlier this week, Tim Ferguson, suggests that the Burmese economy may "leap-frog" Sri Lanka's.

See here for full article. Extract reproduced below:

"But a wave of excitement has swept through international investors as Burma’s latently rich natural-resource economy–and remarkable human resources–may be opened up to global markets. Sri Lanka, to be sure, for a time inspired hope following conclusion of its long, bloody civil war between the Sinalhese government and the Tamil Tiger warlords in 2009.

However, the conquering majority in Sri Lanka apparently is not making good on those hopes, continuing policies that repress the potentially productive Tamils (and stifling a free press as well). The ungenerous leadership of  President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his coterie threatens to delay further the realization of Sri Lankan promise, beyond the opening of a few nice tourist beaches."

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