Obama to begin historic visit to Myanmar as bilateral relations improve (2)

Washington imposed sanctions on the Southeast Asian nation in May 1997 and expanded them over the years, under which U.S. investment and all imports from Myanmar were banned, assets of certain financial institutions in Myanmar frozen, and visa restrictions imposed on officials of the Myanmar government.

Relations between Myanmar and the United States improved after elected President U Thein Sein initiated a series of reforms since taking office in March 2011, including releasing hundreds of political prisoners, signing cease-fire agreements with several ethnic armed groups, and holding parliamentary by-elections on April 1, in which Aung San Suu Kyi's party won a majority of the open parliamentary seats with Suu Kyi herself gaining a seat of House of Representatives.

The reforms prompted the first visit to Myanmar of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in December 2011. More visits were successively made by other U.S. officials, like Derek Mitchell, Senator Mitch McConnell and Senator John MaCain in January 2012.

In May, U.S. Treasury relaxed some sanctions on Myanmar to allow financial transactions to support certain humanitarian and development projects in the country and in July when the first U.S. Ambassador Derek Mitchell took office in Yangon in 22 years, the Obama Administration announced further easing of the sanctions, allowing U.S. companies to do business and invest responsibly in Myanmar in the sectors including oil and gas.

In July also, organized by the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council, a delegation of over 70 senior executives from 38 leading U.S. companies, made the first ever historic business mission to Myanmar, vowing to work closely with the Myanmar government for long-term U.S.-Myanmar business relationship.

In August, eight more American companies of the American Chamber of Commerce based in Singapore followed suit to seek investment opportunities in Myanmar.

In September-0ctober, opposition leader and parliamentarian Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Thein Sein made historic visits to the United States successively, bringing the improved Myanmar-U. S. relations to a new high and winning further easing of U.S. import ban on Myanmar goods.

During her visit in Washington DC, Suu Kyi was received by President Barack Obama at the White House who expressed welcome of Myanmar's democratic transition and the recent progress made by President U Thein Sein and Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy Party (NLD).

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