Dr Kyaw Yin-hlaing, Associate Director of the Southeast Asia Research Centre (SEARC) and Assistant Professor in the Department of Asian and International Studies at City University of Hong Kong (CityU), attended the prestigious World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2012 in Davos, Switzerland last month.

Dr Kyaw was invited to share his opinions about political liberalisation and the peace process in Myanmar (Burma) with world political, business and civil society leaders.

He attended a panel on leaders in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and also met with financier and democracy philanthropist Mr George Soros, Australian Foreign Minister Mr Kevin Rudd, and the Trade Commissioner of the European Union to discuss the international community’s efforts to assist changes in Myanmar.

A leading expert on politics and society in Myanmar, Dr Kyaw is a director of Myanmar Egress, an NGO concerned with political change in the country. Before attending the Davos summit, Dr Kyaw organised a conference on 26-27 January titled "Myanmar after the 2010 elections" at CityU. The result of a fruitful collaboration between SEARC and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, a non-profit German Foundation noted for its sponsorship of innovative projects, the conference was the largest meeting of its kind on Myanmar since political liberalisation began there last year.

SEARC is the only centre for the study of Southeast Asia in Hong Kong. Established just over a decade ago, it has become an important setting for the study of political, economic, and social issues in contemporary Southeast Asia.

By regularly sponsoring international conferences, workshops, public addresses, and roundtables, SEARC has contributed widely to public debate and intellectual life at CityU in particular and Hong Kong more generally.