State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has urged international businesses to invest in Myanmar. She promised to develop an “investment friendly environment”, while speaking at the first official investment conference organised by UMFCCI in close cooperation with the government. “Throughout the past 40 years, our region has experienced the greatest surge in economic growth the world has ever seen,” Aung San Suu Kyi said in her speech. She highlighted the rapid growth in Southeast Asia. Also, it was added that the “global economic pendulum” had swung from the west to the east. “Indeed, we live in an era in which Asia is rising,” she said. In her speech, she also highlighted some of the economic progress her government has made. Key changes include new laws aimed at attracting foreign investment, changes to the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC), and liberalization of certain sectors, in particular retail and wholesale trading and education. Myanmar’s economy has failed to capitalize on the huge progress the country showed just a few years ago. Many foreign investors are expressing concern about a lack of rigid government policy, as well as reputation concerns regarding the crackdown in Rakhine State during late 2017.