Friday, 13 July 2012
David Boyle and Cheang Sokha
Phnom Penh Post
Myanmar’s
Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin attends the East Asia Summit Foreign
Ministers’ meeting yesterday. Photograph: Meng Kimlong/Phnom Penh Post
The US gave its business community the green light to invest in Myanmar
late on Wednesday night, including the country’s rich oil and gas
fields, though restrictions remain on who they can do business with.
Shortly
after April’s by-elections in Myanmar, also known as Burma, the US
announced that it planned to ease the sanctions in recognition of the
country’s dramatic transition from five decades of military rule to a
limited form of democracy.
“Today, we reviewed progress in
Burma, and I announced that the United States is easing sanctions to
allow American businesses to invest there,” US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton told a press conference at the ASEAN summit in Phnom
Penh yesterday.
But any new investment with Myanmar’s Ministry
of Defence, state or non-state armed groups or entities owned by them
and individuals on a government blacklist will still be prohibited,
according to a statement released by the State Department late on
Wednesday.
Firms investing more than US$500,000 will also be
required to provide annual reports detailing information on, amongst
other things, human rights, worker’s rights, land acquisitions and
payments exceeding US$10,000 to Myanmar government entities, the
statement reads.
The European Union
had already lifted sanctions and Catherine Ashton, high representative
of foreign affairs and security policy, praised the US for taking
similar action on the sidelines of the summit yesterday.
“We’ve got teams going in all the time to offer them support. There’s still more reform to do, but we’re very pleased.
“I
think it’s just fantastic to see that investment can come into the
country. I think it’s good for the country that they’ll have choices and
they’ll see differences.”
Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition party
welcomed a US decision to ease Myanmar sanctions yesterday, but the
opposition leader demanded more “transparency” as foreign firms hungrily
eye the country’s energy sector.
Myanmar President Thein Sein
will join Clinton, Prime Minister Hun Sen and Thai Prime Minister
Yingluck Shinawatra for a US-ASEAN business forum in Siem Reap today.
To contact the reporters on this story: David Boyle at david.boyle@phnompenhpost.com
Cheang Sokha at sokha.cheang@phnompenhpost.com
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