Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi met President Barack Obama at the White House on Wednesday on her first visit to the United States since her party won a sweeping victory in last year’s election, capping a decades-long journey from political prisoner to national leader. Today it’s among Asia’s least developed and poorest countries, with more than a quarter of the population living in poverty.
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The United States pulled its ambassador from Myanmar in 1990 after the military refused to cede power to a civilian government.
Some major U.S. brands have already jumped into the frontier economy, but many have stayed away saying the sanctions make investment too expensive and risky.
The White House notified Congress on Wednesday it was offering preferential trade benefits to Myanmar that were suspended in 1989, a year after the bloody crackdown on democracy protesters by the military.
The United States first imposed sanctions on Myanmar in 1997, when the military junta ruled.
Sanctions were originally imposed because of human rights violations committed under Myanmar’s military rule, and were meant to “isolate Myanmar’s former military junta”, NPR reported.
Yesterday’s (09/14/2016) meeting in Washington was the first by Aung San Suu Kyi as Myanmar’s leader since her pro-democracy party won a stunning victory over the country’s military rulers in elections a year ago.
She said everyone entitled to citizenship in Myanmar should get it. She serves instead as the country’s de facto leader by holding the positions of foreign minister and state counsellor.
Encouraged by Myanmar’s progress towards democracy and installation of a civilian government, US President Barack Obama today chose to terminate national emergency imposed on the country and said he will “soon” lift the sanctions against it.
If this is the case, it may explain why both Obama and Suu Kyi have refused to comment on details or the timing of sanctions lifting, and suggests possible complications and delays to come for a bold new USA business and political approach in Myanmar.
The treatment of Rohingya Muslims also “remains the great great sticking point internationally for Myanmar”, Schrank said, noting that Aung San Suu Kyi has “put her name on an initiative to resolve a lot of these problems, including the problem with the Rohingya”. Massive illegal trade in goods including jade and timber continues, as does civil war with many ethnic minorities.
Meanwhile, a senior administration official said that some sanctions including a longstanding arms ban would remain on Myanmar in order to ensure that the military remains a partner in the democratic transition.
“This decision was hasty and fails to recognize political realities on the ground”. The country will be back on the GSP programme on 13 November, US authorities said.
Nor does the move does not normalize relations with Myanmar’s military.
Centred on Hpakant in Kachin State, Global Witness estimated Myanmar’s jade trade to be worth $31 billion in off-the-books revenue for 2014, a figure equivalent to half of Myanmar’s official GDP.
“This is really good, and the economy will grow”, he said.
The sanctions now ban U.S. imports of jadeite. “We have the strength and the means to overcome any obstacles that may be imposed”, Suu Kyi told the press, adding that the USA was a “good friend” and would remain so.
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This story has been corrected to fix identification of economist Ye Hein Aung.
