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as we’ve seen with the Japan International Cooperation Agency projects in Kayin State. Is this a concern for you?

Winfried Wicklein : The country had been closed for 50 to 60 years. On both sides there’s a lack of experience and knowledge and confidence—trust. So this has to be built. When you’re new, you have to catch up, so of course it’s a process that will take time. You have to be sensitive to cultural specificities of the cultures of the regions and the states and the villages. And a lot of preparation is needed, a lot of dialogue is needed, a lot of consultation is needed. We, for our part, are careful not to move too fast into areas we don’t know.

Now we are at a stage in our learning process that we are approaching projects through the conflict sensitivity lens. We are putting together a conflict sensitivity strategy for every single thing we do in this country.

We are taking a step in terms of regional strategies into Kayin State. We are working on the east-west corridor, the extension from Da Nang, Vietnam, through Laos, Thailand, and the last stretch now from Myawaddy to Yangon. We are funding about 80-odd kilometers of the road next year.

Cyn-Young Park: In terms of poverty, what strikes us is a really very visible division of poverty along ethnic and Division lines. There’s a tendency if you are living in an urban area, if you are Burman, you are less likely suffering than if you are living in a rural area and you’re in an ethnic minority group; then there are much higher poverty rates.

The growth has to be targeted to be much more broadly based, and it has to be balanced across the different regions. One of the ways the government has to really consider is how to effectively decentralize some functions. A lot of decentralization efforts are going on, but also the capacity in the regional level is very weak. It needs funding. The regional development has to be funded from the regional base. It’s a very difficult task for the government, because of the situation in the country, but the key, really, to that regionally balanced development, would be much more sensible decentralization, backed by real powers.

In ethnic areas, people have been suspicious of aid projects,

Around that road, through Kayin State, we are now very active in creating opportunities. We are supporting economic corridor towns. We are supporting rural infrastructure—going from the big road into the rural areas, including for regional tourism.

We are now engaging with the Kayin State government and with local NGOs and communities to make sure that everybody is not only OK with it, but really happy and needs it, and that we hit the right spot. 

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Myanmar’s President Visits Germany

equality and tolerance towards minorities.

MSF Eyes Return to Rakhine State

German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Myanmar’s President U Thein Sein on Sept. 3 in Berlin, where they agreed on some of the priorities for Myanmar, but not on the order in which they should be pursued. Ms. Merkel said that for good economic development in the country, peace was required and that would entail promoting

President U Thein Sein, however, put it the other way round, saying that democratization was made easier if countries first enjoyed economic success. He also pointed out that during three years of democratic reforms, the country had seen many difficulties but that his government had nevertheless been able to pursue reforms without spilling blood. Ms. Merkel acknowledged that a lot had been achieved in Myanmar since its political transition from military rule in 2011 and expressed hope that the 2015 general election would be free, fair and transparent and that all prospective candidates would have the opportunity to represent their party. —Reuters

International medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has signed a new memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Myanmar government, paving the way for the group’s return to Rakhine State and the resumption of vital aid operations. In a statement released on Sept. 9, MSF said that it welcomed steps taken by the Ministry of Health to work with the group and establish a framework for their medical activities in Kachin, Rakhine and Shan states, as well as Yangon Region.

In late February, the central government suspended all of MSF’s operations in the country, alleging that it had violated certain conditions of its existing MoU during aid activities in Rakhine State. The new MoU will allow MSF, the Ministry of Health and other departments to work together to ensure the best possible care for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria patients in Myanmar. MSF is the main provider of medical services to over 1 million stateless Rohingya in western Myanmar, some 140,000 of whom remain displaced, living in squalid, overcrowded camps, since sectarian violence broke out in the state in mid-2012. Rohingya are denied full access to basic government services such as health care and education.

—Saw Yan Naing