Country:
Myanmar

Involved in projects since:
1994

Project office:
Yangon, Myanmar

Resident Representative:
Mr Achim Munz

Our work in Myanmar:

The Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) aims to contribute in an active and effective way to international cooperation and understanding with its programmes and projects in Myanmar.

Our first involvement to provide development assistance in Myanmar dates back to 1994 with capacity building activities for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the time when Myanmar was preparing to apply for membership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

One of the highlights of our recent cooperation was when our Chairman Prof. Hans Zehetmair and our former Federal Minister of Economics Mr Michael Glos paid a visit to Myanmar in May 2011. The delegation was one of the first received by the Myanmar Parliament and by Aung San Suu Kyi after her release from house arrest.

One year later in May 2012, HSF organised the first study tour of Myanmar Parliamentarians, headed by the Speaker of the Parliament Thura U Shwe Mann, to the EU-Parliament in Brussels, the German national parliament (Bundestag) in Berlin, and state parliament (Landtag) in Bavaria.

Since October 2012 the HSF has a representative office in Yangon. The HSF is the first German political foundation with a representative office in the country.

Our project objectives:

• Democracy promotion and improvement of the framework for the process of democratisation
• Support for economic and socio-political reforms with a focus on political strategies for a sustainable and ecological development of the economy
• Preparation for the Chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2014

Key project partners:

• The Parliament
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA)
• Ministry of Hotels and Tourism (MoHT)
• Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI)
• Myanmar Women Entrepreneurs’ Association (MWEA)
• Myanmar Tourism Federation (MTF)

Examples of project initiatives

• Members of the Myanmar Parliament attending a conference on Federalism
• Workshop on developing lead topics and themes for ASEAN 2014
• Elaboration of a National Policy on developing responsible tourism
• Preparations of Dos and Don’ts for international visitors to Myanmar
• Seminars on social and economic policy
• Seminars on corporate social responsibility and social protection