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Aung San Suu Kyi (C) visits Bogyoke Aung San market in Yangon in November |
Suu Kyi, who was freed last month after spending most of the last 20 years under house arrest, made her plea at the closing ceremony of the two-day European Development Days, which gathered leaders of developing nations.
"If development policies could be linked as strongly to the strengthening of civil society as to the improvement of the economy, it would create a strong impetus towards good governance," she said.
"Financial and intellectual investment in civil society would have rich returns that include accountability and transparency, not just in the economic sector but also in the political arena," she said.
European development commissioner Andris Pielbags introduced Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace prize laureate, as the "most famous woman of this planet, or at least one of the bravest."
"We who are trying to establish a democratic society in Burma do not have an unrealistic vision of an earthly paradise," Suu Kyi said, standing in front of a white wall.
"We are simply trying to create a society in which the people will be allowed to work freely and responsibly towards their own betterment," she said.
The leader of the National League for Democracy spent 15 of the last 21 years locked up until her release on November 13.
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