June 23, 2020
President U Win Myint, in his capacity as the Chairman of the National Planning Commission, attended the commission’s first meeting for the year held at the Presidential Palace in Nay Pyi Taw yesterday morning.
The meeting was attended by Vice-Presidents U Myint Swe and U Henry Van Thio, Union Ministers, the Union Auditor General, the Union Civil Service Board Chairman, the Nay Pyi Taw Council Chairman, the Central Bank of Myanmar Governor, Chief Ministers of states and regions, regional chairmen and officials of self-administered divisions and zones.
In his opening remark, the President said he wished to record his appreciation for the strenuous efforts undertaken by the Ministry of Planning, Finance and Industry, the Union Ministries and region/state governments for successfully submitting the National Plan for the 2020-2021 financial year in spite of the COVID challenges, for submission to the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw as per the Section 100 (b) of the State Constitution.
He said despite the forecasts of international organizations on the possible decline of Myanmar’s economy in 2019-2020FY like the global and regional trend, the Union Government was able to supply electricity to 50 per cent of households in the four years of its administration; in addition it has constructed bridges, roads, schools and rural clinics to narrow down development gap between the regions and states.
Under the social welfare programme, the social pension plan was extended to elderly persons up to 85 years of age and child care programmes for expectant mothers and babies born from these mothers up to the age of two years have been extended and that plans were underway to extend these programmes further.
The President also explained the relief assistance of Union Government to the people during the COVID-19 pandemic, from providing five necessary foods to discount of electricity bill.
The government’s COVID-19 Economic Relief Plan (CERP) has seven objectives and 10 strategies which cover immediate and future plans to be finalized by the end of this year.
The National Plan 2020-2021 FY will be aligned with the Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan and the projects of CERP.
The President put emphasis on making the projects effective to the country in using public taxes.
He also suggested systematic supervision required for generating cost-effective projects and ensuring a good environment after using resources effectively.
He added the need of public-private cooperation in some sectors while adhering to the orders and directives of the government; on the Project Bank website it may be seen that some projects needed funds; therefore foreign and local investors are encouraged to explore investment opportunities.
The National Planning 2020-2021FY has emphasized on development of road and bridge network, electrification, economic recovery in the post-COVID-19 period, support to SMEs and employment opportunities for low-income businesses.
The President called for coordination of relevant sectors from Union-level to the region/state sectors for successful implementation of the projects.
In his concluding remarks, the President emphasized the government’s policy of ‘No one is left behind’ in striving for economic development results which are also included in the goals of the sustainable development plan.
Union Minister for Planning, Finance and Industry U Soe Win, as the Secretary of the NPC, presented the draft plan.
The President said that the draft version of the plan would be submitted to the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw for approval, that constructive suggestions made by the Hluttaw representatives should be implemented with care; in formulating the National Plan for the next financial year, as it would be carried out during the term of the current administration and the next administration, special efforts should be made to ensure effectiveness. He added that mutual checks and balances among all those concerned and that it would be necessary to work for the interest of the country and the people.
Finally, the President said he wanted to ask everyone to participate and work in harmony for the economy to rebound in the post COVID period as envisioned by the State and for the systematic implementation of the sustainable development path.—MNA (Translated by Aung Khin)
