Aung San Suu Kyi is calling for US companies to bring investment to Myanmar.
Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi is calling for US companies to bring investment to the former pariah state, saying economic success would help convince people and the powerful military that democracy is the best way forward.
Suu Kyi addressed the US business community on Thursday, a day after President Barack Obama announced that the US would lift sanctions and restore long-lost trade benefits as the Southeast Asian nation emerges from half a century of oppressive military rule.
Suu Kyi says that lifting sanctions entails some political and economic risk, but adds, "It is time now for our people to depend on themselves."
Obama aide Ben Rhodes says the so-called "national emergency" with respect to Myanmar that authorizes the sanctions will be terminated in the "coming days."