Myanmar's turn in the spotlight can have benefits

The chairmanship of Asean might seem nothing special to the majority of the regional bloc’s members. After all, the position is allocated on a rotational basis every year, in alphabetical order, among the 10 member-nations. However, the honour really seems to matter to Myanmar. After years of international isolation as a pariah state, Myanmar was finally granted Asean membership in 1997, but the bloc set as a prerequisite a “clear” political situation in the country before it could take the Asean chair. This condition was applied only to Myanmar.

Myanmar assumed the chairmanship of Asean last week, when the last summit of the year was completed in Brunei. Myanmar’s chairmanship will be in effect from January 1 to December 31, 2014. The leaders in Nay Pyi Taw are relieved to finally hold this international position, since the country was forced to forgo the chairmanship it was supposed to take for the first time in 2006.

 Myanmar is the only country in Southeast Asia that has never held the chairmanship. Domestic political strife – notably the conflict between Nobel laureate and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the ruling generals – was the obstacle to Myanmar undertaking international responsibilities. 

Now things are changing. President Thein Sein introduced political and economic reforms in 2010. Some restrictions have been loosened. Political prisoners have been released. Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy now have the right to participate in elections and have gained seats in parliament. The government has reached peace agreements with some of the armed ethnic minorities, and the process to bring about national reconciliation continues, even though the sound of gunfire can still be heard in some areas.

 On the economic front, Thein Sein has initiated policies to modernise the economy. Foreign investors are flocking in and huge amounts of capital are pouring into many sectors, notably infrastructure development, which is badly needed. The government’s handling of macro-economic issues has seen improvement in this climate of reform.  However, many problems remain, and the authorities have to make clear that they intend to work harder to bring permanent peace and political stability to the country, if not actual democracy.

One area in which Myanmar has not yet shown good intent or ability to fix is the sporadic violence in certain regions between majority Buddhist and minority Muslim communities. Sectarian conflict has left 240 people dead and displaced 140,000 since 2011. The situation might be calm in Rakhine State and other cities in the north at the moment, but there is no guarantee that violence won’t erupt again.

Myanmar has much work to do to function as the Asean chair. Technical readiness is critical, since there will be more than 1,000 meetings at all levels over the next year. There will be high-profile guests at key ministerial meetings and summits as Asean engages with nearly all corners of the globe. Leaders of the US, Russia, China and India will gather in Myanmar late next year when the group hosts the Asean and East Asia summits as well as other meetings. 

Foreign guests will want to see a peaceful, stable, democratic and transparent Myanmar. The chairmanship of Asean is a good opportunity for Myanmar to show the world that it has turned over a new leaf and that its reforms are a genuine work in progress.