19 September

The Information and Public Relations Department under the Ministry of Information yesterday organized a talk on Brexit, an abbreviation for “British exit,” referring to the U.K.’s decision to leave the European Union (EU) after 2016 referendum.

The talk under the title of ‘Brexit or Inception of Grieves?’ was held at the ministry in Nay Pyi Taw, and attended by Union Minister for Information Dr Pe Myint, the chairpersons and secretaries of Pyithu Hluttaw and Amyotha Hluttaw affairs committees, the Permanent Secretary and departmental heads from the Information Ministry and the officers and staff members of other ministries.

Union Minister Dr Pe Myint made an opening remark on the event, with saying that the Brexit is a hot issue in the world and it is concerned with most of the global countries. There have been many stories of convergence and divergence among the counties in the world. Such cases happened in the Soviet Union, the United States, Yugoslavia and the European Union countries. Both the association and the dissociation have some root causes. But, these are just the lessons to be taken. Various reasons were found in different cases.

The Union Minister remarked the talk could share a lot knowledge, and he suggested the audience to take part in the talk with their comments.

In his discussion, Senior Researcher U Aye Maung Kyaw of the Center for Myanmar Affairs Studies talked about the relations between Brexit and the United States, between Brexit and London Stock exchange, split stories in the Brexit and other updated information in this topic.

He said that the UK decided the Brexit plan after holding a referendum in 2016, in which over 51 per cent of those voting supported withdrawal. It happened over three years ago. Two British prime ministers had resigned, and the incumbent premiere Boris Johnson has not solved this problem yet. Meanwhile, he fails to make agreements with the remaining European countries for the plan. Although former Prime Minister Theresa May could reach some agreements, she finally resigned from her position amidst objections of the UK parliament. Boris Johnson insisted a no-deal withdrawal plan by 31 October if the EU is not flexible about his proposals. Some conservatives defected to the opposition party. If a new election took place in the UK, it is not sure for the conservatives to get majority votes. Similarly, the Labour Party cannot guarantee for the success of Brexit even if they won the election. The deadline is 31 October, just more than a month from now. It is also expected the Brexit plan would be postponed until January next year. At the time, the next UK government must negotiate with the EU. In the aftermath of Brexit, the world would suffer its consequences politically and economically.

The senior researcher concluded, “We are just learning from them. We have acquired knowledge on their political trend and the parliamentary system. We can apply the information for the best of our country.”

Regarding the event, IPRD Director-General U Ye Naing said, “Our department has opened libraries in many areas of the country to disseminate knowledge for the public, while we are organizing public talks. The Research and Information Technology Division of our department is making analysis on both global and Myanmar affairs, and publishing books and publications. For this, we regularly hold small talks in the department, and then the public talk like this. Today’s topic reflects the current global issue. While the European Union is organized with European countries, our country is heading to a democratic federal union. And that the talk will be very beneficial to us. We will organize more talks with more interesting issues in the future in both Yangon and Nay Pyi Taw.”

Assistant Director Daw Myat Myint Moh from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs remarked, “The term Brexit is frequently seen in the internet, but I did not fully understand this issue. The talks have given a lot of information about Brexit to me. A salient point I knew was the realization of Brexit will have indirect impacts on Myanmar. I also raised a question about possible impacts of Brexit on the ASEAN countries.”

Deputy Director Daw Ohnmar Aye from the Ministry of Planning and Finance said, “The investment of UK has contributed 5 per cent of total FDI in Myanmar, while the export sector reached 0.03 per cent in 2017-2018 fiscal year. It is a considerable amount. So, I discussed the possible impacts on Myanmar among the global wave of Brexit. I understand the situation of Myanmar garment industry will be concerned with the success or failure of Brexit plan.”

MNA
(Translated by Aung Khin)