Aung San Suu Kyi would welcome ‘ethical’ UK investment in Burma

Aung San Suu Kyi said she would welcome “ethical, responsible investment” from British businesses as she prepared to visit the UK for the first time since being released from more than 20 years of house arrest in her native Burma.

Ms Suu Kyi said she was looking forward to returning to Britain, where she lived, studied and married before going back to Burma and launching her long campaign.

While insisting on a need for “healthy scepticism” about reforms and progress in Burma, Ms Suu Kyi said the time was nearing when foreign investment could be appropriate.

Burma has significant energy reserves, and Ms Suu Kyi was asked whether it would be appropriate for British firms such as BP or Shell to work in the country.

She said: “It depends on the way in which they do it. I have spoken about the democracy-friendly development growth, to invest in a way that will promote democracy in Burma, that will empower the people, that will bring in new players to the economic arena – not just the same old people who have been enjoying a privileged situation for years.

“Transparency is the key. Without transparency there can be no accountability and unless there is transparency we can never tell whether these investments are going to benefit the people or the already privileged few.

“I would be happy to see ethical, responsible [British] investment.”

The four-day visit to the UK is part of a five-nation European tour which on Saturday saw her visit Norway to collect a Nobel Prize 21 years after it was awarded.

Yesterday, Ms Suu Kyi said she was looking forward her UK visit: “I want to see old friends again and to rediscover old places where I have been happy. I hope it will not be tinged with sadness.”

Ms Suu Kyi’s British husband Michael Aris died in 1999 but she could not leave Burma for fear of not being allowed back into the country by the ruling authorities. Her itinerary also includes a meeting with Dave Lee Travis, the radio disc jockey.

On Wednesday, she will visit Oxford University and finally accept the honorary doctorate she was awarded in 1993,

On Thursday, she will make an historic address both Houses of Parliament.

Since her house arrest was lifted, Ms Suu Kyi has entered the Burmese parliament via a by-election, welcomed Prime Minister David Cameron earlier this year and has left the country for the first time.