Myanmar businesses urged to support peace process

The initiative aims to mobilise business engagement in support of peace, to enhance understanding of business contribution to peace, and to catalyse and facilitate corporate actions and partnerships that contribute to peace, said Tin Myo Win, chairman of Myanmar Peace Commission.
He said the government has prioritised peace building in its national agenda, and his commission has been trying to build trust among ethnic armed groups. To date, eight out of 21 ethnic armed groups have signed the National Ceasefire Agreement. 
If a region becomes prosperous, it definitely has a very large impact on our peace process. We need to ensure both business and peace go hand in hand at the same time, he said.
Zaw Min Win, president of UMFCCI, said that peace and economic growth are correlated. He urged the government to create an enabling business environment so that peace can be sustainable. He said both public and private sectors need to cooperate to lay a strong foundation for sustainable business growth. 
We need peace for business, and vice versa enabling business environment is essential for sustaining peace in our country, he said.
The chamber head said Myanmar has been unstable since we gained independence in 1948. Difference attitudes among various ethnicities had severe impacts on the development of the nation as a whole. 
If we manage to end the conflicts and maintain peace and stability, we can put our focus only on our businesses, which will in return lead to socio-economic growth and less equalities. So, we strongly believe that peace plays a vital role in the nations economic development, he said. 
Zaw Min Win urged the government and businesses to support efforts to boost socio-economic growth of the people and youth living in remote areas by providing trainings to improve their skills, creating jobs and enhancing their knowledge.
Professor Aung Tun Thet, senior adviser to UMFCCI, said that the initiative would reflect private sector development including the growth of micro, small and medium enterprises, which account for nearly 98 per cent of the business community in Myanmar. 
He urged all the stakeholders to engage in public-private dialogue to establish local priorities and implement projects and to align business strategies and operations with good practices. He invited civil society organisations, investors, academics, the government and other stakeholders to support the initiative. The economist said that the government should implement the Pro-poor approach, which mainly focuses on the welfare of poor people across the country. He suggested striving for ending poverty in Myanmar by 2030. 
Aung Tun Thet sees three key challenges to Myanmars growth: peace, development and democracy. He said Myanmar could not grow further if it failed to maintain peace, and then democratic transition might fail. 
He considers security, political framework, reconciliation and justice, socio-economic foundation as powerful agents to peace building in Myanmar. 

Encouraging Responsible Businesses 
Aung Tun Thet urged companies to sign statement of support and join United Nations Global Compact. 
He was proud to say that Myanmar is the leading country in Asean in terms of UNGC membership, which represents promotion of responsible businesses. 
He urged Myanmar firms to engage in learning, dialogue and collective action to advance peace in the workplace, marketplace and local communities by doing business responsibly in conflict-affected and high-risk areas.
At UMFCCI, there are more than 30,000 members, and one-third of them are active members. 
If all of them join the UNGC, we can proudly announce that we are the world leader in doing business responsibly, he said.   
To date, more than 300 Myanmar firms have become UNGC members. Aung Tun Thet projected that there would be at least 1,000 members by the end of this year, and the membership would grow to 5,000 over the next three years.  
Khine Khine Nwe, joint secretary general of UMFCCI, said that the event was very fruitful, as Myanmar Young Entrepreneurs Association just pledged to attract at least 50 member firms to join the UNGC.