Google chairman Eric Schmidt will visit Myanmar next week, highlighting increasing Internet

Google chairman Eric Schmidt will visit Myanmar next week, highlighting increasing Internet freedom in the state just weeks after a controversial trip to North Korea.

Schmidt will speak in Yangon on March 22 as part of an Asian tour, the Internet giant said, aiming to boost web access in the country.

Under the military regime, the Internet was strictly controlled, with access to anti-government sites and sites such as YouTube blocked.

With major economic and political reforms, increasing numbers of people are going online to air their views.

But Internet penetration remains poor in Myanmar, long cut off from the rest of the world by sanctions, and those with web access have to put up with painfully slow connections.

Schmidt’s visit aims “to connect with local partners and Googlers who are working to improve the lives of many millions of people across the region by helping them get online and access the world’s information for the first time,” the company said in a statement.

He will give an hour-long speech at the Myanmar Information and Communication Technology Park, according to Thaung Su Nyein, secretary of the Myanmar Computer Professionals Association, with hundreds expected to attend.

Myanmar is one of Asia’s last untapped markets, with overseas technology companies desperate to sell products such as mobile phones and laptops to its people as they attempt catch up with their neighbours.

Schmidt made a private visit to North Korea in January, warning after his trip that the nation will not develop unless it embraces Internet freedom.

Sources AFP