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Burma Leader on Singapore State Visit
January 30, 2012

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, left, meets Myanmar President Thein Sein at the Istana in Singapore on Monday. (AP Photo/Bryan van der Beek) Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, left, meets Myanmar President Thein Sein at the Istana in Singapore on Monday. (AP Photo/Bryan van der Beek)
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Singapore. Burmese President Thein Sein has arrived in Singapore hoping to tap the financial center’s expertise as the country emerges from political and economic isolation, analysts said.

Thein Sein arrived Sunday for a four-day state visit accompanied by a top-level delegation which included business leaders and top ministers in charge of economic portfolios.

On Monday Thein Sein met with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding under which Singapore will provide training for reforms in the legal, banking and financial sectors.

The pact also calls on Singapore to share its best practices in trade, tourism and urban planning.

With the West looking at easing sanctions and businesses closely watching sweeping democratic reforms in the formerly military-run country, the resource-rich Southeast Asian state needs to prepare for an anticipated increase in investments and tourism, analysts said.

“If all goes well, Burma certainly looks forward to being welcomed from the political wilderness,” said Song Seng Wun a regional economist with Malaysian bank CIMB, using Myanmar’s former name.

“It looks like the Burmese are in a hurry to catch up in the shortest possible time,” he told AFP.

Burma will likely tap Singapore’s expertise in financial services, Song said.

“After so many years of isolation, their capacity to handle the expected inflow of investments and set up the much-needed regulatory frameworks have to be brought up to scratch as quickly as possible.”

A Southeast Asian diplomat also told AFP that Burma needs to train accountants, bankers and other people with technical skills as well as in corporate governance.

“Singapore is the logical place where it can seek help,” said the diplomat, who asked not to be named.

Singapore, a regional financial centre and a favorite hub for global companies, is often seen as a model by its neighbors.

After nearly five decades of outright army rule in Burma, a nominally civilian government took power last year and has since surprised outside observers with its apparent scope and pace of reforms.

Thein Sein, a former prime minister and an ex-general who was a member of the junta, was appointed president in February last year after the November 2010 elections.

Agence France-Presse