Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-03-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the government of Burma plans to (1) protect resources in ethnic areas in Burma, and (2) press for a moratorium on large-scale extraction projects.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The Government of Burma’s term of office expires on 30 March. It will be for the incoming government, led by the National League for Democracy (NLD), to formally announce its policies when it takes office. Resource issues will be a major issue for any new government. The NLD made a manifesto pledge to distribute the proceeds of resource extraction fairly, to address the issue of environmental degradation associated with this industry and to raise labour safety standards. The UK already supports work on public financial management in Burma. We have also actively supported Burma’s candidacy for the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. We stand ready to work with the incoming government on resource issues at its request.