Officially she is foreign minister and self-appointed state counsellor – a role akin to prime minister. And it represents a remarkable process that Burma is undergoing.
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“We are honest in trying to bring together the different communities”, Suu Kyi said. “It is the right thing to do in order to ensure that the people of Myanmar see rewards from a new way of doing business and a new government”, Obama said.
The White House also said in a statement that USA will restore Myanmar to GSP or Generalised System of Preferences, which provides duty-free treatment of goods from poor or developing countries.
Business advisory BMI Research wrote in May that United States businesses remained reluctant to enter the local market after the incremental easing of sanctions, given the difficulty of “steering clear of the military and related tycoons” on the SDN list still in control of an outsized share of the national economy.
He also paid tribute to the efforts made towards peace in the country, and the “enormous potential” of the country. She added that she expects the numbers from Myanmar to decline in coming years as the crisis in the Thai camps eases and US commitments shift elsewhere, such as to Syria.
Biden’s office did not immediately provide a readout of the breakfast meeting or confirm lawmakers in attendance, though Foreign Relations ranking Democrat Benjamin L. Cardin of Maryland said he could not attend. “I am insane about the Apple brand and I want Apple to come here as an American brand”.
Obama urged Americans to travel to Myanmar, saying it is a attractive country with a rich culture and wonderful people. And I think if I’m not mistaken, there’s a very welcome tourist industry that is developing.
Obama turned to the once-imprisoned former opposition leader, offering his “congratulations on the progress that has been made”. “But it’s on the right track”.
Obama announced the lifting of sanctions, which he said would take place “soon” and would help unleash Myanmar’s “enormous potential”, during a meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday at the White House.
“We’ll want to hear from her directly about how she is viewing our sanctions regime”, said Rhodes. But now we have to go ahead.
“The forthcoming termination of the national emergency does not end our commitment to support ongoing democratic consolidation in Burma.” it said. “This is an ethnic conflict that is going on 70 years and drives this country”.
The sanctions were imposed in 1997, and as NPR’s Michele Kelemen explains, they were “originally put in place to isolate Myanmar’s former military junta”.
Suu Kyi said that economic development could help foster national reconciliation. “We don’t have good medical products and it affects people’s health”. “Communal strife is not something we can ignore”, she explained. It’s too important, it’s too serious for us to leave it even until the next year.
She also referred to the steps taken by her government to look into communal strife in the country. And this is what we are trying to do in Rakhine. Relations have changed from a measure-to-measure approach (in which specific reforms were met with concessions from the US) to a multi-pronged strategy through which conditionality becomes more hard.
The United States has eased broader economic sanctions since reforms in Myanmar began five years ago.
Ms Suu Kyi concurred it was time to remove all the sanctions which had hurt the economy in Burma. Please see our terms of service for more information.
Obama said that the United States would implement these latest changes “soon”.
“It benefits largely them, and few others, and certainly not the people of Burma in general”. Business groups in the USA have complained that sanctions hinder them from competing with major rivals in an economy that the Asian Development Bank projects will expand 8.4 percent this year and 8.3 percent in 2017, making Myanmar Asia’s best performer. There is still a lot to be done. On the other hand, Suu Kyi is wary of losing what she still considers a powerful political bargaining chip against the military.
There is still no civilian control of the military and officers are guaranteed a quarter of legislative seats. And visa bans against traveling to the United States are still on the books.
In her remarks, Suu Kyi said the end of USA sanctions will help the country develop its material resources.
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THE PRESIDENT: Thank you so much.
