In early December Mansfield Foundation Associate Director Richard Pearson and Senior Fellow Andrew Collier joined Hong Kong University Faculty of Law professors Farzana Aslam and Kelley Loper for a delegation visit to Yangon, Myanmar. While in Yangon the group met with local NGOs and civil society organizations as well as lawyers and legal activists and members of the foreign diplomatic corps. The group discussed avenues for increased cooperation between their organizations and Myanmar NGOs and CSOs, especially on issues relating to legal training, legal reform and promotion of the rule of law.
Among the business leaders the delegation met was Thida Thant of New Link Marketing, who recently participated in the Economic Empowerment Program, a U.S. State Department Professional Fellows Program that is managed by the Mansfield Center at the University of Montana. Ms. Thant spent a month in Montana learning about entrepreneurship and economic development initiatives that she can apply in Burma.
Mr. Pearson (second from right) and Mr. Collier (Far left) met with business leaders including Ms. Thida Thant of New Link Marketing