Welcoming her for the first time since her historic election victory last year, Obama announced a series of steps to coax the rapidly transforming southeast Asian country — also known as Burma — from decades of economic isolation.
“The United States is now prepared to lift sanctions that we have imposed on Burma for quite some time,” he said, adding that the move would come “soon.”
“It is the right thing to do to ensure that the people of Burma see rewards for a new way of doing business.”
In a letter to Congress, Obama also announced plans to reinstate preferential tariffs for Myanmar that were suspended more than two decades ago amid rights abuses by the ruling junta.
The White House is keen to help the country’s economy and Suu Kyi’s administration — which is managing a difficult transition from military-run pariah to full-fledged democracy.
Although its constitution technically bars the 71-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate from heading Myanmar’s government, she received a leader’s welcome in Washington.