Burma’s foreign minister coming to Manila for 2-day official visit

Foreign Affairs secretary Alberto del Rosario. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Burma’s (Myanmar) foreign minister, Wunna Maung Lwin, will make an official visit to the Philippines on June 14 and 15 as head of his country’s delegation to the second meeting of the Manila-Yangon Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC), the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Monday.

In a statement, the DFA said Wunna’s visit “follows the historic trip made by Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario to Myanmar in February, which marked a new page in Philippine and Myanmar relations following the prodemocracy reforms undertaken by the latter’s government.”

The foreign office noted the JCBC was a “political mechanism for the two countries to discuss areas of mutual interest, such as political cooperation, trade and investments, tourism, education, human rights, agriculture and forestry, culture and information, and law enforcement.”

The Philippines and Burma, both members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), established diplomatic relations in 1956.

During his trip to Burma, Del Rosario met with democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi who was then preparing to run for parliament. She won the elections in April and now represents the constituency of Kawmhu.

Del Rosario said Suu Kyi and he “held a brief exchange of views” about the Burmese elections, as well as political and socioeconomic reforms and the rule of law in her country.

“We also declared our support for the lifting of sanctions against Myanmar and offered our proposal to develop Philippine-Myanmar parliamentary friendship,” Del Rosario had told the Inquirer.

He described his trip to the country’s capital as “significant,” noting that it was “taking place when Myanmar is at its crossroads of history.”

On February 8, Del Rosario called on President Thein Sein and held discussions with Foreign Minister Wunna.

The secretary congratulated his hosts for the “political, economic and social reforms they have undertaken.”

For his part, Thein Sein urged the Philippine business community to “invest in various sectors of the Myanmar economy, such as oil and gas, mining, agriculture, forestry, and in the development of sea ports and other infrastructure.”

Originally posted: 11:37 am | Monday, June 11th, 2012