RANGOON — Entrepreneur and conservationist Yin Myo Su has been presented with a Global Leadership Award at a gala event in Washington DC for her work in promoting socially and economically responsible development.
Yin Myo Su is the managing director of two resorts at Inle Lake and Mrauk-U and the founder of a hospitality training center in Shan State. Through her Inthar Heritage House restaurant, Yin Myo Su has attempted to preserve local ethnic traditions.
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The business leader used the award presentation to urge those seeking to invest in Burma to do so responsibly, citing widespread environmental damage as a result of development in neighboring countries.
“My people were cut off from the world for 60 years,” she said. “While capitalism matured in other places, we developed our own ways, however we could, with the things we had in our hands—our culture…and most importantly, each other. To me, those things are more precious than money.”
Tuesday’s presentation was attended by female leaders from across the world, including former US President Bill Clinton. Other awardees included Cameroonian political leader Kah Walla and Pakistani anti-violence campaigner Samar Minallah Khan.
Founded to honor women working to advance the cause of human rights and political reform, past recipients of Global Leadership Awards from Burma include Nobel laureate and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma Partnership coordinator Khin Ohmar, and Shan Women’s Action Network founder Charm Tong.
