[Juan Somavia]
Very dear Daw Aung San Suu Kyi:
Welcome.
Thank you for your presence.
You have brought a ray of sunshine
to your country .
And now,
you fill this room with
the light of your spirit –
and it shines on all of us.
It shone from the confines of your home.
Today your incredible journey
brings you to our podium.
President Mandela and Lech Walesa
also made this journey to the ILO
when the brighter times dawned for them.
So you all stand tall in history.
And your presence gives
powerful reassurance
that the impossible can become reality
and that the greatest odds can be overcome.
And we heed your message
that hope is empty
without endeavour.
We hope with all our heart
- and we will work with all our might -
to ensure that this journey
to the ILO does indeed mark
the coming of a new dawn for you,
your people and your country.
[Daw Aung San Suu Kyi]
I do not stand here as
a representative of Workers
or of Employers or of Government,
not yet anyway…!
Perhaps you could accept me
as the fourth element,
I am one of those countless people
whose lives are impacted
by labour issues.
I am also a politician
so perhaps I could make a claim
to be the fifth element as well,
the element that represents
the interests of the general public.
I still feel a little self-conscious
about referring to myself
as a recently elected member of Parliament,
which I presume is the correct
formal definition of my status.
The ILO is unique in that social,
political and economic issues
coalesce in its work.
It is therefore appropriate
for me to speak from this forum
of concerns related to
the opportunities offered
by the changing situation
in my country.
As rights should be balanced
by responsibilities,
opportunities should be linked to probity
if we are to avoid the dangers
of exploitation.
What I would like to see for our county
is democracy-friendly development growth.
I would like to call for aid
and investment
that would strengthen
the democratization process
by promoting social and economic progress
that is beneficial to political reform.
Strong democratic institutions that will
guarantee basic human rights are necessary
to ensure good governance
based on transparency, accountability
and enhancement of integrity.
Am I overly ambitious?
Perhaps, yes, I think I am ambitious.
But unless we aim at achieving
the best that might be possible
we will be in danger of having
to make do with the least that is tolerable,
in the short run.
In the long run as powers
of tolerance run out,
unrest and instability will erode
the progress that has already been gained. 
I would still like to stress the
problem of youth unemployment.
As I have said repeatedly
it is not so much joblessness
as hopelessness
that threatens our future.
Unemployed youth lose
confidence in the society
that has failed to give them
the chance to realize their potential.
Problems related to drink
and drug abuse
and vagrancy are bound as restless,
directionless youth agonize over
the fruitlessness of their existence.
Vocational training links
to job creation is imperative
if we are to safeguard the future
by giving our youth
the capacity to handle
effectively the responsibilities
that inevitably fall to them one day
which may not be that far away.
Foreign direct investments
that result in job creation
should be invited.
Investors should adhere
to codes of practices.
Track records in regard to
internationally accepted
labour standards
and environmental responsibility
should be examined.
Sustainable benefits
including the aquirement of
modern technology should be the aim.
There is a wide range of reforms
that could be undertaken in Burma,
not just to make investment attractive,
but to make it sustainable
and truly beneficial for our people.
A democracy-friendly development
policy of coordinated social,
political and economic reform
will put our country once again
on the map of the positive
and the successful.
No country can claim
genuine development
until all its people can enjoy
the basic freedoms,
freedom from want
and freedom from fear.
In such a discussion of
potential economic progress,
we cannot leave out
those of our people
who are suffering from insufficient
protection of their rights
as workers in other lands than our own.
I would like all of you
to come to Burma –
not just to look at investment
opportunities
or to investigate workers’ problems
but just to judge
how much potential
there is for good for the whole world.
Our young people,
as I said earlier,
have such spirit in them
but they have not been educated,
they have not received
the kind of basic education
that will enable them to take
their rightful place in their country
and in the world.
We need to improve our education system.
And, as I said earlier,
we need vocational training
to be linked to job creation. 
We would like potential investors
to think for us as well as for themselves.
We understand that investors
do not come purely for altruistic reasons,
we accept that investments must pay off –
investments must lead to profits.
But we would like these profits to be
shared between the investors and our people.
And, most of all,
we would like to invite
the kind of investment
that would share the skills
of the rest of the world
with our young people in Burma.
Coming to this Conference,
I have learned that we can all work together.
As I said earlier, I felt at home,
I felt I had come back to meet
members of my family.
We are not just a family of nations,
we are a family of peoples.
People to people relationships are
the most important kind of relationships.
I would like you to think of Burma,
not just as a nation but as peoples –
human beings, like all of you…
I would like you to think
of our young people
especially as your own
young people, your own children.
