The first US ambassador to Myanmar in over two decades arrived to take up his post Wednesday as Washington prepares to reward reforms in the formerly army-run nation by further easing sanctions.
Derek Mitchell, a veteran US policymaker on Asia, met President Thein Sein in the capital Nay Pyi Taw, a Myanmar government official said, marking the latest olive branch from the US as relations between the two countries warm.
Mitchell was nominated to the role by President Barack Obama, who has pursued a policy of greater engagement with Myanmar as the Southeast Asian nation emerges from decades of junta rule, which ended last year.
The US this week indicated it could ease more of its strict sanctions against the country.
An official briefing on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's ongoing visit to Asia said she was expected to make an announcement on sanctions this week in Cambodia, where she will meet regional leaders.
"She will be laying out plans for how the process of sanctions easing will proceed, and she will be engaging with members of the American business community who are anxious and interested in the prospect of participating in the economic opening," said an official.
The official said the US would be working "very closely" with Myanmar in the coming months, but conceded that "enormous challenges" remained in the country.
"He not only has an interest in Myanmar, but he knows a lot about the country so it is good that he has become the ambassador," Aung San Suu Kyi said.
Washington withdrew its ambassador to Myanmar after a crackdown on a democracy uprising in 1988 and elections won by Suu Kyi's democracy party in 1990 that were never recognized by the junta.
But a recent slew of positive changes from Thein Sein's quasi-civilian government have surprised the West and driven hopes of a democratic future for the country.
Key US demands have been answered to a certain extent by the reforms, which have included the release of hundreds of political prisoners, the seeking of ceasefires with ethnic rebels and the ushering of Suu Kyi's party into mainstream politics.
AFP