Minister Mykkänen and Aung San Suu Kyi discuss the peace process in Myanmar

Press release 31/2017
9 February 2017

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen met Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi in the capital city Nay Pyi Taw today. Minister Mykkänen reaffirmed Finland’s strong support for Myanmar’s peace process and the civilian government’s democratic reforms. Mykkänen also appealed to the Government of Myanmar urging it to do its utmost to prevent further human rights violations in the region of Rakhine.

“I pointed out that we cannot accept violence and that the acts of violence in the region of Rakhine have an impact on the credibility of the entire democracy process. I was assured that the Government will arrange an investigation into the events and take action if evidence of violence is found. The human rights violations in Myanmar must and should be addressed immediately,” Mykkänen says.

According to a recent UN report, serious human rights violations have occurred in the region of Rakhine.

“Basing on the UN’s findings, I called for the need of a genuinely independent criminal investigation to promote the process. The State Counsellor was of the opinion that the national research commission must first be given time to do their work. She promised that its work will be completed in a short time, which would mean that it will not take several months.

Aung San Suu Kyi and Mykkänen discussed also development cooperation and trade between Myanmar and Finland.

Finland supports Myanmar’s democracy and rule of law development, the peace process, the reform of the education system, and sustainable management of forest resources.

There is not much trade between the two countries yet, but the brisk growth rate of the economy and planned major investments in Myanmar in, among other things, energy and transport, offer good opportunities for a significant increase in the volume of trade.

The Team Finland delegation consists of representatives of 18 companies or other parties. The companies specialise in cleantech, energy, ICT, digitalisation and education.

Inquiries: Petri Wanner, Desk Officer, Unit for South Asia, tel. +358 40 731 4509 and Pasi Rajala, Special Adviser to Minister Mykkänen, tel. +358 400 464 393.

The Foreign Ministry's email addresses are in the format [email protected].