The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of London, Alderman Alan Yarrow, will visit Burma this week to build bilateral ties and strengthen the City of London’s relationship with an important regional partner.

The Lord Mayor of London is a role which has existed for over 800 years, and today the Lord Mayor’s primary function is to act as an ambassador for the City of London and its financial services industry. He will be bringing a delegation of British business leaders keen to engage in the region with him to help facilitate the development of stronger economic ties.

In Burma, the Lord Mayor will meet with government ministers as well as the central bank in Naypyitaw, and he will also meet with Aung San Suu Kyi, before giving the closing address at the ACCA workshop on “Global Divergence in Corporate Governance”. He will also attend a meeting on the development of the financial services sector in Burma to further his understanding into the work that is currently going on and to help him identify areas that the City could support existing work or fill a gap. This meeting is to further develop a sustainable and profitable financial services industry.

Speaking ahead of his visit, the Lord Mayor said:

‘This is my first visit to Burma in my role as Lord Mayor of London and I am looking forward to seeing for myself the opportunities that exist for UK companies in this exciting country. The City of London is committed to developing a long term partnership with Burma, one which supports the development of its financial and professional services and facilitates growth through introducing efficient products, services and global expertise. I hope that we can increase trade not only across financial and professional services but also in education, healthcare, energy and infrastructure’

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