Myanmar and Russia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) covering four areas of cooperation, including plans to send a Myanmar astronaut into space aboard a spacecraft in 2028, said Dr. Khin Khin Soe, spokesperson for the Office of the President.
She made the remarks in response to media questions regarding President U Min Aung Hlaing’s official visits to the Russian Federation, at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and to Belarus, at the invitation of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
“We held extensive discussions on satellite technology, mainly in four areas. The most important is enabling Myanmar to send an astronaut into space aboard a spacecraft in 2028. We also discussed building a satellite-based search-and-rescue station in Myanmar and establishing a GNSS station. The fourth area is establishing a station to monitor and protect against potentially hazardous objects in near-Earth space. We were able to sign an MoU covering these four areas,” Dr. Khin Khin Soe said.
She said President U Min Aung Hlaing’s visit to Russia helped strengthen the existing friendship, mutual trust and respect between the two countries, while detailed discussions were also held on the economy, trade, investment, education, healthcare, space and technology, science and technology, and energy sectors.
“During the visit, discussions were held at various levels, including between heads of state, heads of government, ministries and universities. The President himself held a total of 15 meetings. During the visit, we were able to sign 12 government-to-government MoUs,” Dr. Khin Khin Soe said.
She added that during meetings with foreign leaders, President U Min Aung Hlaing invited them to increase bilateral trade and make new investments in Myanmar.
“During the visit, the President invited the leaders to increase trade and make new investments in Myanmar. An economic forum was also held in Moscow. At that forum, the President himself gave a detailed presentation on the types of businesses that could be undertaken in Myanmar, the opportunities available and what Myanmar could provide,” she said.
She added that Myanmar also invited cooperation on the Dawei deep-sea port, as well as in the energy, space and technology sectors.
“If we can actually implement these projects, they will greatly contribute to the socioeconomic development of the people of Myanmar and create employment opportunities,” Dr. Khin Khin Soe said.
She further said discussions were held on broad cooperation in the energy sector, including oil and natural gas, construction of power plants and the nuclear sector.
“In the energy sector, we discussed cooperation in various areas, including oil and natural gas, construction of power plants and the nuclear sector. Another area is LNG. We discussed building an LNG facility at the Dawei deep-sea port and exporting LNG and natural gas to neighboring countries,” Dr. Khin Khin Soe said.
