Myanmar president calls for cooperation for future development of country

Myanmar President on Monday called on development partners to work hand in hand with his government for future development of the country. U Thein Sein made the call at the opening of the Second Myanmar Development Cooperation Forum which kicked off in Nay Pyi Taw under the theme of "Accelerating Actions for Progress through Enhancing Inclusive Coordination". Telling the forum that Myanmar has projected 9.1 percent GDP growth rate for the fiscal year 2014-15, he urged systematic management and utilization of development aid and concessional loan, technical assistance and local and foreign investment in order to achieve the targeted growth rate. He disclosed that Myanmar has formulated first five-year national development plan as well as Myanmar comprehensive development plan, believing that this will help development partners to better align their aid, support and assistance with the country's development priorities and plans and to continue cooperating with the government in its reform process and make the development plan more effective. He recalled that during the past 30 months, the government has undertaken four phases of reform process with momentum, namely political reform, economic reform, public administration reform and private sector development reform. The first phase has created favorable condition for national reconciliation with mutual understanding built with ethnic minority groups, while the second phase achieved good socio- economic development outcome, gaining 7.3 percent GDP growth rate in 2012-13 which exceeded more than projected growth rate of 6.7 percent. The third phase, which is being carried out, is to reduce central control and improve administrative capacity of local governments, while the fourth phase is to improve law-governing economy, trade and investment as well as logistical and institutional infrastructure. In the remaining months of his government's terms, he said, the government will focus on the seven priority areas and implement projects that will directly benefit the people terms of electricity, water supply, agriculture development, employment creation, tourist development, financial development and trade and investment development. He invited all development partners to closely cooperate with the government under the Nay Pyi Taw Accord for social and economic development of Myanmar. Organized by the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development (NPED), the opening of the two-day forum was also attended by Myanmar Vice President Sai Mauk Kham, World Bank (WB) President Jim Yong Kim, UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP) Under Secretary General and Executive Director Dr. Noeleen Heyzer as well as related ministers, parliament members, representatives from development partners, donor countries, local and foreign non-governmental organizations and social organizations. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim delivered a separate speech at the opening of the forum. The sessions of the forum are to discuss strategies for the future, strengthening culture of democracy and national harmony, and hold parallel sessions as well as roundtable discussions. The First Development Cooperation Forum was held here in January 2013, in which the Nay Pyi Taw Accord Effective Development Cooperation was approved. Development partners then agreed to prioritize implementation of specific sectors including achievable programs under the Economic and Social Reform Framework.