BEIJING – A senior Chinese diplomat said on Wednesday he hoped moves by the United States to re-engage with Myanmar were not aimed at Beijing, underscoring China’s concerns about influence in its strategically located neighbour and close economic partner. (more…)

Bit by bit, Myanmar is winning nods from the West as the former military junta edges toward reform, freeing political prisoners and letting the opposition compete in elections. (more…)

Top officials of the Obama administration will brief two key US congressional committees on Burma this week, as Washington considers possible changes to its longstanding sanctions policy toward the Southeast Asian country. (more…)

Canada will suspend most of its sanctions against Myanmar in recognition of recent democratic reforms in the isolated Southeast Asian nation, Foreign Minister John Baird said on Tuesday. (more…)

United Nations — U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he plans to visit Myanmar this weekend because there is “an unprecedented opportunity” to help promote its transition to democracy at this “critical moment.”

Ban announced the trip after meeting Monday with the Group of Friends of Myanmar, which includes Western nations pushing for human rights reforms and the country’s Asian trading partners. (more…)

Parliament calls on the Council to suspend EU restrictive measures against Burma/Myanmar, except the arms embargo in a resolution adopted on Friday. The 1 April elections, which were deemed fair by observers, are a sign that Burma/Myanmar is on the path to democratic change”, the resolution notes.
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Introduction
On April 4, 2012, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the Obama Administration would relax certain sanctions on Burma to further encourage economic modernization and political reform. The announcement follows parliamentary by-elections in Burma days earlier that Secretary Clinton described as an “important step” in the country’s transition toward democracy. (more…)

Washington – As multilateral lending agencies prepare to seriously re- engage with Myanmar for the first time in decades, observers at the spring meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) are warning that a poor understanding of ground conditions in the country could jeopardise many of the early opportunities created by government-initiated reforms.
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TIME’s Magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People of 2012 has a surprising inclusion this year?Burmese President Thein Sein.

The reform-minded former junta general has won the accolades of the prestigious publication’s editors, with national pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi missing out despite being included three times in recent years. (more…)

Washington — The United States invited Myanmar’s foreign minister and said Wednesday that democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who is traveling abroad for the first time in decades, had an “open invitation.”

The United States said that Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin, who held talks in Washington last year after attending UN meetings in New York, would pay a more formal visit next month as part of US efforts to encourage reforms.
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European Union diplomats have reportedly reached a preliminary agreement to suspend sanctions against Burma for a year, opening up trade and investment with Western firms.

The move comes after 18 months in which Burma’s military junta, which has ruled the country with an iron fist for 50 years, have introduced a swathe of democratic reforms. (more…)

As multilateral lending agencies prepare to seriously re-engage with Myanmar for the first time in decades, observers at the spring meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) are warning that a poor understanding of ground conditions in the country could jeopardize many of the early opportunities created by government-initiated reforms.
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The US has eased sanctions on Myanmar to allow humanitarian and religious groups to operate in the country, the first reward from Washington as the south-east Asian nation moves towards democracy after decades of military rule.

It comes as a host of countries – including the UK and Australia – move on to friendlier footing with Myanmar after elections that saw democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi elected to parliament.
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The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Tuesday authorized certain financial transactions in support of humanitarian, religious, and other not-for-profit activities in Myanmar as relations between the two countries continue to thaw.

The Treasury Department issued a general license Tuesday permitting U.S. citizens and financial institutions to engage in a limited range of financial transactions in Myanmar. But the licenses didn’t lift wider sanctions on the export of other goods and financial services to the Southeast Asian country. (more…)

The European Union will ease more sanctions on Burma early next week, E.U. foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Tuesday.

The EU was widely expected to authorize investments and imports of sensitive products but the lifting of an arms embargo does not seem to be on the agenda, said an article in Agence France Presse. (more…)

The U.S. Treasury on Tuesday relaxed sanctions on Myanmar to permit financial transactions to support certain humanitarian and development projects in the country as it moves ahead with democratic reforms after decades of military rule.
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“This will be followed by the India-Japan-US trilateral dialogue in Tokyo April 23. The inaugural dialogue, which had upset Beijing, was held in December last year in Washington. ”

Against the backdrop of tensions in South China Sea and the recent defiant rocket launch by North Korea, India and the US Tuesday will hold a dialogue on issues related to East Asia, part of a string of interactions that seeks to impart a fresh momentum to India-US ties.
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President among 260 civilian officials no longer subject to restrictions, but measures still in place against army.

Australia’s government has announced an easing of sanctions and moves to normalise trade ties with Myanmar following recent reforms by the country’s civilian government.
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The rush to lift international trade sanctions on Burma in the wake of pro-democracy icon’s Aung San Suu Kyi’s stunning by-election victory has surprised even the most resolute reformist. It took the West’s biggest advocate of the crippling economic measures, the United States, until April 4 to announce their easing—just two days after the official results were announced.
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Washington: Group of Eight foreign ministers raised the prospect Thursday of easing international sanctions on Myanmar after a series of reformist moves and landmark elections in the long-closed nation.

In announcing their decision, the ministers from the world powers said they welcomed “significant steps the government of Burma/Myanmar has taken toward democratic reform and national reconciliation.”
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