Singapore investors will likely
wait until after Myanmar's elections next year before pouring any
more money into the country, former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong
said Friday, according to television station Channel News
Asia.
Goh made the comments at the end
of a four-day trip to meet with Myanmar's military leaders, the
television station said on its Web site.
The military has run the country
since 1962, and the current ruling junta has scheduled elections
for next year.
"I don't believe any Singapore
investors would come in a big way before the picture is clear,
before this move to democracy is seen to produce results," said
Goh, who is a senior adviser to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong,
according to the station.
Singapore is one of the biggest
foreign investors in Myanmar, with annual bilateral trade of more
than $1 billion.
Goh, who met with top Myanmar
leaders including Senior General Than Shwe, urged the government to
hold fair and transparent elections and allow all political parties
to participate, the station said.
The trial of pro-democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi was adjourned Friday for two weeks. Suu Kyi is
charged with violating the terms of her house arrest when an
uninvited American man swam secretly to her closely guarded
lakeside home last month and stayed two days.
The hearing has drawn outrage from
the international community and Suu Kyi's local supporters, who say
the military government is using the bizarre incident as an excuse
to keep the pro-democracy leader detained through the
elections.
Goh told Myanmar's leadership that
Singapore was "dismayed by the arrest," the station
said.
