Helsinki, January 18 - The Finnish government has planned resumption of bilateral cooperation with Myanmar (Burma) after 15 year with the once-isolated Southeast Asian nation beginning liberalization towards democratic governance.
Finland, like other Western countries, had halted cooperation with Myanmar in 1988, thanks to its isolation because of military rule and subsequent rights violations.
Minister for International Development Heidi Hautala will lead adelegation to Myanmar to hold talks with her counterpart andrepresentatives of other agencies concerned as she is scheduled to start a seven-day visit Myanmar and Vietnam from Saturday.
Minister Hautala's visit to Myanmar is the first ministerial-level trip since 1988 and two months after US President Barak Obama made his maiden overseas trip assuming Presidency for the second time.
Finland plans more development cooperation with Myanmar and Vietnam,said the release.
A delegation of cleantech business representatives will accompany the minister to Vietnam, where development takes place very rapidly.
The democratic reforms launched by the new Burmese government have enabled the gradual normalisation of relations, said the government release.
The aim of Minister Hautala's trip is to explore Myanmar's development challenges and guidelines for the future, and to determine how Finland can best support the mineral-rich Myanmar in its development
approaches.
Vietnam, a long-term development partner of Finland, has shown robust growth in recent years.
The country rose to a lower-middle-income country in 2010, and it aimsto be a developed one by 2020. Finland is now shifting, in stages,from the traditional donor-type project cooperation to other forms of
cooperation.
The final phases of bilateral projects in forestry, water andsanitation will begin this year, the government said.
Development cooperation, which has continued for three decades,provides a good basis for strengthening trade and economic relations between the two countries. A market of more than 90 million people
makes Vietnam an attractive trade partner to Finnish companies. During her trip, Hautala will meet with her counterparts in Myanmar and Vietnam beside other important political figures in both countries.
Among the topics of discussions will be bilateral relations and current development approaches, management of natural resources andclimate change in particular will be featured in the discussions.
Democracy and human rights issues will also be on the agenda in both countries. In Vietnam, the minister will see the implementation of Finnish development projects in Central Vietnam and will participate in the
40th anniversary celebration of diplomatic relations between Finland and Vietnam to be organised by the Embassy of Finland in Hanoi, the press release added.
