Skip to content

AIIA Event - Myanmar: Can foreign companies make a difference

Held on the 19th Oct 2022

at 6pm to
7pm

, Southern Tasmania


Add to Calendar 2022-10-19 18:00:00 2022-10-19 19:00:00 Australia/Sydney AIIA Event - Myanmar: Can foreign companies make a difference An AIIA event presented by Nicholas Coppel. Harvard Room 1, Centenary Building , Sandy Bay campus
Book Now
Venue:

Harvard Room 1, Centenary Building , Sandy Bay campus

Summary:

An AIIA event presented by Nicholas Coppel.


Foreign governments are not interested in using military force to overturn the February 2021 coup in Myanmar. Instead, European and North American countries have imposed targeted sanctions on military conglomerates and senior military personnel to pressure them to honour the 2020 elections and return the country to civilian rule. Activists have also put pressure on foreign companies to review their Myanmar operations and exit any relationship they have with military controlled entities. How powerful are these measures and will they help bring about the restoration of democracy in Myanmar?

In this talk Nicholas Coppel, who was Australia's Ambassador to Myanmar, argues that very few foreign firms were in joint venture or had other commercial relations with military owned or controlled entities. The foreign companies that have left Myanmar mostly did so for security, commercial or reputational reasons. Leaving was not always easy or helpful to Myanmar's citizens and, in some instances, even benefitted the military. The overestimation of the extent and significance of the role of foreign companies in Myanmar has distracted policy makers and activists from considering policies that focus on the role the business community could play to strengthen human rights in Myanmar. He argues that policies need to recognise that change will only come from within Myanmar and attention should shift to support for responsible business practices in-country that support human rights and can assist agents and conditions for change in Myanmar.

You can join this talk in person, or online.

To register for the in-person event, get your free tickets through Eventbrite here.

To attend online, register through Zoom here and we'll email you the details on how to join.