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. "She has to tackle problems one by one" said Ben Rhodes, a key Obama aide who has spearheaded the administration’s Myanmar policy.- Leverage and sanctions -==========================Obama did not say when he would rescind an executive order underpinning broader sanctions that declares Myanmar a "national emergency. ""Lifting restrictions before the new government’s reforms have borne fruit effectively invites US companies to do business with some of the worst figures from the country’s past.

Source: The Nation Bangkok September 14, 2016 23:26 UTC