{"id":51572,"date":"2015-04-21T08:44:29","date_gmt":"2015-04-21T12:44:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/?p=51572"},"modified":"2015-03-02T06:12:11","modified_gmt":"2015-03-02T10:12:11","slug":"myanmars-moment-new-democracy-at-a-crossroads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/?p=51572","title":{"rendered":"Myanmar’s Moment: New Democracy at a Crossroads?"},"content":{"rendered":"

04\/21\/2015 6:30pm – 8:00pm
\nAsia Society
\n725 Park Avenue, New York, NY
\n\"\"<\/a>
\nNot long ago Myanmar was celebrating a remarkable opening, and emergence into the fold of democratic nations. Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and President Thein Sein came to Asia Society venues to herald the country\u2019s economic and political turnaround. Today, profound questions have arisen as to whether the transition has stalled, and whether the country\u2019s reforms are \u201cbacksliding.\u201d Foreign investment is growing, and an independent central bank has been established, but businesses have struggled to deal with a complex bureaucracy and weak infrastructure. According to the World Bank, Myanmar ranks 177th out of 189 countries in ease of doing business, and limited investment opportunities have hindered economic growth.<\/p>\n

On the political front, a campaign for constitutional reform is underway, but even if it succeeds, its timing will not allow Aung San Suu Kyi to run for the presidency in this year\u2019s 2015 election. Meanwhile, the human rights situation for religious and ethnic minorities remains troublesome, with the government still working on a national ceasefire agreement, and doing little to aid the stateless Rohingya population.<\/p>\n

What lies ahead for Myanmar\u2019s transition? What can the international community do to support peaceful and effective development? The Asia Society Policy Institute is pleased to welcome leading experts for a panel discussion that will explore the issues surrounding Myanmar\u2019s future and pathways toward democracy, peace, and prosperity.<\/p>\n

Speakers:<\/p>\n

Priscilla Clapp
\nSenior Advisor on Myanmar, Asia Society
\nMs. Clapp served as the Chief of Mission to the U.S. Embassy in Burma during her 30-year career with the U.S. government. She also serves as Senior Advisor to the U.S. Institute of Peace and other NGOs focused on Myanmar.<\/p>\n

Tom Freston
\nPrincipal, Firefly3 LLC
\nMr. Freston is the former Chief Executive Officer of Viacom Inc., where he also served as Chief Operating Officer. He is Board Chairman of the ONE Campaign, an advocacy organization working to fight extreme poverty.<\/p>\n

Thant Myint-U
\nChairman and Founder, Yangon Heritage Trust
\nDr. Thant Myint-U is a historian and author of Where China Meets India: Burma and the New Crossroads of Asia, one of several books on Myanmar. He is also a Special Advisor to the Myanmar Peace Centre and a member of the Myanmar National Economic and Social Advisory Board.<\/p>\n

Tom Nagorski (moderator)
\nExecutive Vice President, Asia Society<\/p>\n

For more information, please visit
\nhttp:\/\/asiasociety.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

04\/21\/2015 6:30pm – 8:00pm Asia Society 725 Park Avenue, New York, NY<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stay-connected-to-the-latest-local-events"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=51572"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51604,"href":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51572\/revisions\/51604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=51572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=51572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=51572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}