Myanmar president calls for measures in border areas development

14:50, April 24, 2011

Myanmar president U Thein Sein has called for taking measures to improve various sectors in development of border regions such as economy, social affairs, education, health and transport, state media reported Sunday.

U Thein Sein, who is also Chairman of the Central Committee for Progress of Border Areas and National Races, made the call at the first ever meeting of the committee in Nay Pyi Taw's Presidential Office on Saturday since the new government took office, said the New Light of Myanmar.

U Thein Sein stressed the importance that the administrative machinery of the union government is to reach out to the whole nation including the far-flung border areas.

He also emphasized the need to convince the people from the border areas of the government's goodwill efforts for peace and stability and development, urging them to "cooperate with the union government and state and region governments with understanding by ignoring the spirit of relying on the other country and cultivating the spirit of cherishing their own country and regions."

"Implementation of the tasks for progress for border areas and national races today can remedy the diseases of narrow-minded attitudes like localism and racism," he pointed out.

Dealing with the transport sector, U Thein Sein stressed the need to repair and upgrade old roads while building new ones.

He encouraged the emergence of factories and workshops in addition to agricultural and livestock breeding businesses for the economic development of the local people.

Relating to education sector, he pinpointed that there are still a lot of illiterate people in the border areas, calling for measures to improve the knowledge of them through education by opening new schools, facilitating administrative matters of the education staff and improving the image of the existing schools in the border region.

Regarding the health sector, he called for launching health educative programs at greater length due to poor health knowledge.

The president appealed to regions and state ministries of border affairs to work unitedly in accordance with procedures adopted by the central committee for progress of border areas.

Source: Xinhua