Roundup: Myanmar state counselor's official U.S. visit further improves bilateral relations

Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi returned home Sunday night from an official visit to the United States from Sept. 16 to 24.

According to a press release of the Foreign Ministry on Monday shortly after her return, Aung San Suu Kyi held talks with U.S. President Barack Obama and secretaries of the administration and lawmakers during her visit and attended the 71st United Nations General Assembly in New York where she delivered a general policy speech.

Suu Kyi participated in the ratification ceremony of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty and delivered a public speech at the event organized by the Asia Society, the release said.

After the bilateral meeting between Obama and Aung San Suu Kyi, a statement that the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program, a preferential tariff system, would be reinstated, was made.

The GSP program will be reinstated effective on Nov. 13 this year after a 60-day Congressional-notification period. This decision will give Myanmar the opportunity to export nearly 5,000 products to the United States duty-free, according to the statement from the Office of the United States Trade Representative in Washington.

The United States suspended the GSP benefits to Myanmar in 1989 due to labor rights concerns. In 2013, Myanmar began engaging in negotiations for the reinstatement of the GSP, compiling the GSP eligibility criteria.

After the recent bilateral meeting, Obama said that the United States is preparing to lift remaining sanctions on Myanmar and will complete the process soon.

The joint statement by both countries said that the United States will also terminate the national emergency with respect to Myanmar, which has been in place since 1997, and will revoke the executive order-based framework of the Myanmar sanctions program.

According to the statement, the move represented Washington's recognition of the progress towards democratic transition that Myanmar has achieved including through the election of a civilian-led government.

When in Boston, Suu Kyi accepted the 2016 Humanitarian of the Year Award at the University of Harvard, the release also said.

Meanwhile, Myanmar hailed the U.S. recent lifting of sanctions and reinstatement of the Generalized System of Preferences program which will create better investment environment for the Asian country, vowing to make appropriate preparations in order to maximize the benefits of the recent policy adjustments.

The United States also lifted restrictions on Myanmar's financial institutions and certain transactions related to U.S. individuals living in the country were allowed in May this year. Seven state-owned enterprises and three state-owned banks were removed from the U.S. blacklist.

Overall the United States has only 17 businesses with trade here amounting to 248.216 million U.S. dollars as of August of this fiscal year 2016-2017. Bilateral trade relations restarted after a civilian government was formed in 2011. The bilateral trade value reached 196.902 million U.S. dollars in the previous fiscal year 2015-2016, which is comparatively less than with other countries.

During the former government's era, U.S. investments were made through third-party countries due to restrictions, limiting Myanmar's access to trade and income.

Before her trip to New York, the state counselor had visited London where she met with 12 Myanmar ambassadors to Europe, Middle-East and Africa and also held talks with leaders of Britain, the release added.

It was Suu Kyi's second visit to Washington in nearly four years after the first one in 2012.

Myanmar-U.S. relations started to improve in 2012 with President Obama having visited the country for two times in November 2012 and November 2014 and then Myanmar President U Thein Sein made a reciprocal visit to the White House in May 2013.

The U.S. officially began lifting some sanctions after a civilian government was formed in 2011. In December 2015, the United States temporarily lifted such restrictions as general license 20 for trade transactions through airports and harbors for six months. Enditem