9 June
1.State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar paid an official visit to the Czech Republic from 1 to 4 June 2019 at the invitation of Czech Prime Minister Mr. Andrej Babiš and a working visit to the Republic of Hungary from 4 to 7 June 2019.
Meeting with Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
2.In the morning of 3 June 2019, the State Counsellor attended the welcoming ceremony at the Czech Prime Minister’s Office and held a bilateral meeting with H.E. Mr. Andrej Babis, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic.
At the meeting, the two leaders discussed matters on further consolidating the tradi-tional ties of friendly relations and cooperation, promoting trade, investment and economic cooperation between the two countries.
They also discussed en-hancing people-to-people ex-changes between the two coun-tries, exploring possibilities for linking direct flights between Myanmar and the Czech Re-public, promoting cooperation on tourism, education, culture and healthcare, and exchange of high-level visits between the two countries. The State Coun-sellor extended an invitation to the Czech Prime Minister to pay a visit to Myanmar which was accepted by the latter with pleasure.
3.Following the bilater-al meeting, State Counsellor and the Prime Minister held the joint press briefing. Prime Minister hosted a luncheon to the State Counsellor and Myan-mar delegation at the Hrzansky Palace in Prague.
Meeting with President of the Czech Republic
4.In the afternoon on 4 June 2019, the State Counsellor called on H.E. Mr. Miloš Zeman, Pres-ident of the Czech Republic at the President’s Office. During the meeting, the two leaders discussed matters pertaining to promoting bilateral relations and cooperation and economic and political developments in Myanmar and Czech Republic. They also exchanged views on current regional and interna-tional situations and the My-anmar Government’s efforts to achieve peace, stability and national reconciliation in Rakh-ine State.
Dinner hosted by Vice-Pres-ident of the Senate
5.In the evening on 3 June2019, the State Counsellor attended the dinner host-ed by H.E. Mr. Jan Hornik, Vice-President of the Senate and exchanged views with the latter on promoting bilateral re-lations and closer engagements between the two Parliaments.
Working Breakfast hosted by the Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs
6.In the morning on 4 June 2019, the State Counsellor at-tended the working breakfast hosted by Mr. Tomáš Petříček, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic at the lat-ter’s office. They exchanged views on issues pertaining to strengthening bilateral rela-tions and cooperation, promot-ing trade and investments, in-creasing engagements through the existing cooperative mecha-nisms, and sharing experiences in addressing the challenges faced by the two countries dur-ing their democratic transition.
Luncheon hosted by the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies
7.In the afternoon on 4 June 2019, the State Counsellor at-tended the luncheon hosted by Mr. Radek Vondracek, Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament.
Paying respect to the for-mer President of the Czech Republic
8.In the morning on 3 June 2019, the State Counsellor vis-ited the grave of the late Mr. Vaclav Havel, former President of the Czech Republic and laid a flower wreath.
Giving a lecture at the Charles University
9.In the afternoon on 3 June 2019, the State Counsellor gave a lecture at the Charles Uni-versity in Prague on the theme “Challenges of Transition”. In her speech, the State Counsel-lor gave a brief historic account of the Myanmar’s struggle for democracy, nation building tasks and challenges faced in the process of its transition, comparing to the Velvet Rev-olution of the then Czechoslo-vakia, which was accomplished without abrasives or wounding.
10.The State Counsellor also explained about the situation in Rakhine State, which is another legacy of the past for which the NLD government took office. She stated that the commu-nal conflicts between the two communities in 2012 in Rakhine State, one of the least developed parts of the country, drew the at-tention of the world. To resolve the basic causes of the troubles, the Central Committee for Rule of Law and Development in Ra-khine State was formed, and the late Dr. Kofi Annan was also requested to lead a commission to advise on how to best address the issues that were undermin-ing peace and harmony in the region. The attacks of ARSA terrorists on several police out-posts in August 2016 and the subsequent military retaliations unleashed a series of events that turned Rakhine into almost the only part of Myanmar that seemed to hold interest for the international community.
11.She also pointed out thatpolitical democratization, peace negotiations and Rakhine issue are the parts of Myanmar’s tran-sition that captures world atten-tion and makes the headlines. But, few seemed interested in what Myanmar people wanted from the transition, their hopes, as they waited stoically for more than half a century to express the longing in their hearts. Clean water, all-weathered roads, electricity, better educa-tion facilities and better health care are the major needs of the people. These basic needs are too simple to attract the interest of the world, but of paramount importance to Myanmar people. She gave her assessment of My-anmar’s transition over the past three year in terms of progress in fulfilling those essential needs and hopes of the people of My-anmar.
12.After the lecture, the State Cousellor was conferred “His-torical Medal of Charles Univer-sity” by the Rector. The Histori-cal Medal of Charles University is conferred to the people who have achievements in academic and science, or who have pro-moted the bilateral relations with the Czech Republic.
Attending the Czech-Myan-mar Business Forum
13.In the morning of 4 June 2019, the State Counsellor at-tended the Czech-Myanmar Business Forum held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and delivered the opening speech. The opening speeches were delivered by Prime Minis-ter Mr. Andrej Babiš, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade Mr. Karel Havlíček, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Tomáš Petříček, and U Thaung Tun, Union Minister for Investment and Foreign Eco-nomic Relations. The Forum was attended by Chairman of UMFCCI U Zaw Min Win and Myanmar entrepreneurs, Mr. Jaroslav Hanak, President of the Czech Confederation of Industry and Czech entrepre-neurs.
14.In her keynote address, the State Counsellor expressed that throughout the 1960s, Myanmar was one of the Czech Repub-lic’s largest trading partners in South East Asia and remains as an important partner to this day. The two-way trade volume reached USD 24 million and there are still ample potentials for growth. The re-opening of Myanmar Embassy in Prague will help promote further co-operation between the two countries. Myanmar sits at a strategic geographic and mar-ket crossroad – between China, India and ASEAN. Myanmar has a sizeable and expanding internal market with a popu-lation of 54 million which will surely benefit from greater co-operation and integration with external markets. Myanmar’s growth for 2020 is estimated to reach 6.8% - one of the highest growth rates, in the Southeast, the world’s fastest growing and dynamic region. The govern-ment has reduced the size of the budget deficit and inflation, trade grow by 20% in every year. Digital financial services are growing by 30% per month in Myanmar and smart phone penetration rates are amongst the highest in the world. Myan-mar Special Economic Zones, including Thilawa, hold signif-icant potentials to attract new foreign direct investment.
The SEZ offers special in-centives for investors, including income tax exemption for seven years. In light of these incen-tives, Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan recently announced that it is planning to build an automobile factory in Myanmar. The decision of Toyota reflects the growing confidence of in-vestors. The newly launched Myanmar Sustainable Develop-ment Plan will lower the poverty rate in the country. Although many challenges remain, the progress achieved since the reform process commenced in 2011, is nothing short of remark-able. Trade, investment, coop-eration on development and people-to-people connectivity between Myanmar and Czech Republic are fundamental el-ements of the existing strong friendship.
Reopening of Myanmar Em-bassy in Prague
15.Afterwards, the State Counsellor attended the rib-bon-cutting ceremony to launch the official opening of Myanmar Embassy in Prague. The cere-mony was attended by Mr. Tomáš Petříček, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, ambassadors and heads of mis-sions of ASEAN member coun-tries and Myanmar community.
The State Counsellor and Mr. Tomáš Petříček cut the ribbons and the State Counsellor deliv-ered the speech at the ceremo-ny. The reopening of the Czech Embassy in Yangon in 2014 and reopening of Myanmar Embas-sy in Prague during the State Counsellor’s visit to the Czech Republic marked yet another milestone to further consolidate the relations and cooperation stronger than ever.
Opening ceremony of the photo exhibition
16.In the afternoon on 4 June 2019, the State Counsellor at-tended the opening ceremony of the photo exhibition “The Beau-ty of Myanmar” at the Naprstek Museum. The Exhibition was aimed at achieving more un-derstanding and awareness of Myanmar’s traditions and cul-ture of the ethnic nationalities, and scenic sites and tourist at-tractions by the Czech people. The exhibition will be on display from 4 June 2019 to 16 August 2019.
17.After attending the Ex-hibition, the State Counsellor and Myanmar delegation left Prague to Budapest, Hungary by air.
Meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister
18.In the morning of 5 June 2019, the State Counsellor met with H.E. Mr. Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister of Hungary at the Prime Minister’s Office. The two leaders exchanged views on matters pertaining to promotion of bilateral relations, coopera-tion in the areas of trade, invest-ment and economy, democratic transitions in Myanmar and in Hungary, current regional and international situations, My-anmar Government’s efforts to achieve peace, stability and development in Rakhine State. They also discussed possibilities of opening the embassies by the two countries in the respective capitals.
Meeting with Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade
19.After meeting with the Prime Minister, the State Coun-sellor held talks with H.E. Mr. Péter Szijjártó, Minister of For-eign Affairs and Trade of Hun-gary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During the meeting, they discussed to accelerate the cooperation process between Myanmar and Hungary to pro-mote bilateral relations, to pro-vide Tied Aid Credit loans from Hungary to contribute the devel-opment projects of Myanmar, to enhancing relations in the areas of trade, investment, ag-riculture, water management, culture and promoting people to people exchanges, forging clos-er cooperation in the contexts of ASEAN framework and the international arena, providing more scholarship programmes to Myanmar students for human resource development, to work together in strengthening bilat-eral relations and promoting trade and investment between Myanmar and the EU.
They also exchanged views on the challenges faced by Myanmar in its democratic transition. The Myanmar side thanked Hungary for the un-derstanding and constructive support extended by Hunga-ry to Myanmar Government’s efforts in Rakhine State and national reconciliation. After the meeting, the State Counsel-lor attended the working lunch hosted by the Minister of For-eign Affairs and Trade.
Lecture at the National Univer-sity of Public Service
20.On 6 June 2019, the StateCounsellor gave a lecture at the National University of Public Service giving a brief overview of Myanmar’s democratic tran-sition, efforts towards peace and national reconciliation, endeav-ours to achieve stability and development in Rakhine State, education reforms, bilateral co-operation between Myanmar and Hungary on education, and promoting people-to-peo-ple engagements between the two countries, and responded to the questions raised by the participants.
Meeting with the First Of-ficer of the National Assem-bly
21.In the afternoon, the State Counsellor met with Mrs. Mar-ta Matrai, First Officer of the National Assembly of Hungary. At the meeting, they cordially exchanged views on shared experiences of democratic transition in Myanmar and in Hungary, and discussed to pro-mote cooperation between the two parliaments and capacity building of the legislatures.
Luncheon hosted by Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament
22.After the meeting, the State Counsellor attended the luncheon hosted by Mr. Zsolt Nemeth, Chairman of the Inter-national Relations Committee of the Hungarian Parliament and exchanged views on the dem-ocratic transition in Myanmar and its achievements.
Attending the Hungary-My-anmar Business Forum
23.In the afternoon on 6 June 2019, the State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi attended the Hungary-Myanmar Business Forum and delivered an opening remark. The Forum was attend-ed by Myanmar and Hungarian entrepreneurs, and Union Min-ister for Investment and Foreign Economic Relations U Thaung Tun gave a presentation on the investment opportunities in My-anmar.
Meeting with Myanmar Em-bassy’s Staffs and Scholars in Hungary
24.During the visit, the StateCounsellor met with Myanmar Embassy’s Staff led by U Myo Aye, Ambassador of Myanmar to Hungary and Myanmar Schol-ars studying in Hungary.
25.The State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar delegation arrived back Nay Pyi Taw in the morning of 8 June 2019. The State Counsellor was accompanied by Union Minis-ters U Thaung Tun, U Kyaw Tin and senior officials during the visit to the Czech Republic and Hungary.
Ministry of Foreign AffairsNay Pyi Taw.Dated: 8 June 2019
