Singapore investors will likely wait until after Myanmar's elections next year before pouring any more money into the country, former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said Friday, according to television station Channel News Asia.
Goh made the comments at the end of a four-day trip to meet with Myanmar's military leaders, the television station said on its Web site.
The military has run the country since 1962, and the current ruling junta has scheduled elections for next year.
"I don't believe any Singapore investors would come in a big way before the picture is clear, before this move to democracy is seen to produce results," said Goh, who is a senior adviser to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, according to the station.
Singapore is one of the biggest foreign investors in Myanmar, with annual bilateral trade of more than $1 billion.
Goh, who met with top Myanmar leaders including Senior General Than Shwe, urged the government to hold fair and transparent elections and allow all political parties to participate, the station said.
The trial of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was adjourned Friday for two weeks. Suu Kyi is charged with violating the terms of her house arrest when an uninvited American man swam secretly to her closely guarded lakeside home last month and stayed two days.
The hearing has drawn outrage from the international community and Suu Kyi's local supporters, who say the military government is using the bizarre incident as an excuse to keep the pro-democracy leader detained through the elections.
Goh told Myanmar's leadership that Singapore was "dismayed by the arrest," the station said.
