Press Advisories

3. 6. 201914:40

Prime Minister Babiš met with the State Counsellor of Myanmar, Suu Kyi

Today, Czech Republic Prime Minister Andrej Babiš met with the State Counsellor of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi. They spoke about expanding mutual economic cooperation, the humanitarian and development aid that has been provided to the country by the Czech Republic or about human rights. The Prime Minister also appreciated that Myanmar had decided, after 26 years, to reopen its Embassy in Prague, which would help, he believes, to develop mutual cooperation in many areas.

It is the first visit at the level of prime ministers between the Czech Republic and Myanmar since the establishment of the Czech Republic. The State Counsellor arrived in a year when the Czech Republic is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. "Myanmar has long been a closed country and Mrs Suu Kyi significantly contributed to the necessary democratic changes so that Myanmar could open up to the world after many years," said the Prime Minister.

Both representatives also discussed economic cooperation. Myanmar plans to modernise its economy substantially in the near future. "We see great potential in our economic relations. Moreover, our cooperation has a long tradition, Czechoslovak firms built several factories including a brewery or a sugar factory in the then Burma already in the 1970s and 80s. The Myanmar market offers many business and investment opportunities to our firms and I believe that Czech companies will penetrate that market in growing numbers," Andrej Babiš added.

An important part of the current cooperation is humanitarian and development aid provided to Myanmar by the Czech Republic. It is concentrated mainly on education, healthcare or recovery after natural disasters. The total allocation for humanitarian aid to Myanmar is close to 10% of the whole humanitarian budget of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The State Counsellor and the Prime Minister also touched on the issue of cooperation in education, which is already in progress and Myanmar would like to expand it.

"The State Counsellor and I value the benefits of inter-governmental university scholarships that the Czech Republic has granted to Myanmar students over the last 10 years, and we agree that our universities as well as our researchers could implement joint projects," said the Prime Minister.