Suu Kyi calls for foreign investment during Europe trip

Newly-elected Burmese parliamentary leader Aung San Suu Kyi called on world business and government leaders to invest in Myanmar.  Addressing the International Labor Organization (ILO) in Geneva on Thursday, Suu Kyi spoke about unemployed youth in Myanmar who have lost confidence in the future.  “It’s not so much joblessness as hopelessness that threatens our future,” she said.  A day earlier, the ILO lifted a more than decade old restriction on Myanmar after new laws on trade unions and the government committed to end forced labor.  Suu Kyi says foreign direct investments to create new jobs are welcome but also stressed it should contribute to democracy.  “Any new investment that comes in because of the lifting or suspension of snactions should add to the democratic process rather than subtract from it,” she said.  Suu Kyi is on a landmark trip to Europe, the first since she was put under house arrest more than two decades ago.  On Saturday, she will visit Norway to finally accept the Nobel peace prize she received 21 years ago.

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