The second ASEAN-US Eminent Persons Group Meeting, hosted by Myanmar, is
due to take place in Yangon later on Friday and Myanmar is to act as
coordinator in ASEAN-US relations from 2012 to 2015.
Myanmar President U Thein Sein
said Myanmar would be able to further promote ASEAN-US ties during its
assumption of responsibility and the United States would be able to make more
frequent contact with Myanmar during the period.
Meeting with U Thein Sein in Nay
Pyi Taw on Thursday, a day ahead of the event, US Permanent Representative to
ASEAN David L Carden and ASEAN-US eminent persons group credited the bold and
far-sighted actions of the president and his government for more transparency
of the country, saying that Myanmar is at the beginning of an interested
journey taking a crucial role for a more compact and stronger future of ASEAN community.
Carden said Washington is
committed to taking steps together in the process Myanmar has initiated.
He said that US company Coca Cola
would make an investment of 100 million US dollars in Myanmar over the next
three years, which could create nearly 2,000 jobs.
He added that work would be
carried out for creation of job opportunities in cooperation with Pact for
women providing jobs to nearly 20,000 Myanmar women.
Coca Cola will be the first US
company to make investment in Myanmar.
Anticipating U Thein Sein's
forthcoming visit to the United States, Carden said arrangement is being made
for the president to meet US-ASEAN Economic Council during the visit while
voicing full support for the unity of ASEAN and hope that Myanmar would play an
active major role in ASEAN-US relations.
U Thein Sein said Myanmar is
inviting foreign investment that is beneficial to both Myanmar people and
investors.
He noted that there are lots of
challenges in promoting democracy in terms of politics and economy, but believing
that " the government has got confidence to overcome those challenges with
friends like the US."
He said Myanmar has now begun to
enjoy the necessary assistance of a number o countries in economy, technology
and human resources development, stressing the need for small- and medium-sized
factories to produce high-value exports and emphasizing that establishment of
heavy industries or workshops like auto makers and workshops would be greatly
beneficial to the country.
Citing that Myanmar holds geographically
strategic position for investors and abundance of natural resources, the
president hoped that the country would see development soon if combined with
foreign investment.
Meanwhile, the US-ASEAN Business
Council has vowed to work closely with the Myanmar government for long-term
US-Myanmar business relationship on the occasion of July first-ever historic
business mission to Myanmar of a delegation of over 70 senior executives from
38 leading US companies, organized by the council.
These companies include Chevron,
Caterpillar, Abbott, ACE, Baker & McKenzie, Baxter, Boeing, Chartis,
Coca-Cola, GE, General Motors, Google and IBM.
One of the US companies, General
Electric (GE), made the first deal on supplying advanced medical equipment to
two leading private hospitals in Yangon on July 14.
In August, eight more American
companies of the American Chamber of Commerce based in Singapore visited
Myanmar to seek investment opportunities.These companies include Caterpillar,
Citibank, KraftFoods, GE Energy, Ford Motor Co, Bell Helicopter,
Hewleft-Packard Corporation and Arrow Technologies Pte Ltd,.
Following US Treasury's
relaxation of some sanctions on Myanmar in May to allow financial transactions
to support certain humanitarian and development projects, the Obama
Administration announced further easing of the sanctions on July 11, allowing
US companies to do business and invest responsibly in Myanmar in the sectors
including oil and gas as the first US ambassador Derek Mitchell took office in
Yangon on the day in 22 years.
According to Myanmar official
statistics, US investment in Myanmar amounted to $243.49 million in 15
projects, accounting for merely 0.6 percent of the total as of March 2012 since
Myanmar opened to such investment in late 1988 and standing the 9th in position
in Myanmar's foreign investment line-up.
The figures also show that
bilateral trade between Myanmar and the US reached $293.64 million in the
fiscal year 2011-12, of which Myanmar's export to US amounted to $29.57 million
while its import from US stood at $264.07 million.
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