Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, State Counsellor and Chairperson of the Central Committee to Implement the Development of Border Areas and Ethnic Nationals, gave directions on generating employment opportunities in Magway Region during her meeting with local residents at the Magway City Hall on 9 May.
Since taking up office, the Union Government has prioritized job creation and has worked tirelessly to bring about socioeconomic development. Access to better employment opportunities raises the living standard of the people and reduces poverty.
The majority of Myanmar’s population lives in poverty, and 70 per cent of the poor are residing in rural areas. This is why the authorities are working to help Myanmar climb from the rank of an underdeveloped country to a developing country. A nation’s development is undertaken with the intent to reduce poverty, and the Union Government has promised to employ wide-ranging strategies to eliminate poverty across the country.
Efforts were made to reduce the ratio of poverty to one-third of the population in 2005, one-fourth of the population in 2009, and just 20 per cent of the population in 2015. However, there is still a disparity between the poor in rural and urban areas. In 2015, the Union Government speeded up efforts to combat the 9 per cent poverty rate in urban areas and the 23 per cent poverty rate in rural areas.
Poverty results from a lack of economic opportunities and good employment options. It is common for people to migrate elsewhere in response to lack of rural development and poverty reduction. This leads to reduced development and increased poverty in their hometowns.
The Union Government is working to help migrant workers get work abroad legally, and to make the process efficient and secure, as the workers work hard for the families they leave behind. The Union Government is also working to improve infrastructure and attract investments into Myanmar to develop the socioeconomic conditions of the country.
The State Counsellor has expressed sympathy for migrant workers who have to leave their homelands, and she often directs them to find work in their homes and be together with their families.
Nationwide, infrastructure has improved considerably and annual projects to achieve complete electrification are in motion. The authorities are opening the door for businesses and investors to come in and create an employment-positive environment.
We need to seize the opportunities the Union Government is working diligently towards to ensure there are ample jobs in villages and towns. We must work together to drive up businesses and investments, and implement the vision the State Counsellor has placed before all of us.
