US to ease import ban on Burmese goods following progress in reforms: Clinton - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that the United States will ease its import ban on goods from Burma. Clinton announced the move during talks with Burmese President Thein Sein at the United Nations General Assembly. “In recognition of the continued progress toward reform and in response to requests from both the government and the opposition, the United States is taking the next step in normalising our commercial relationship,” Clinton told the Burmese president. She said the move, the latest in a series, recognized ‘continued progress towards reform’ in Burma . Clinton said she hoped the move would give Burmese people more opportunities to sell to the U.S. market. According to the BBC, Thein Sein said he appreciated the move, which is the latest in a series of such steps since the process of reform in Burma got under way. Earlier, the speaker of Burma 's parliament said that his country's reforms were ‘irreversible’. According to the report, Shwe Mann, a powerful figure who recently had US sanctions against him lifted, said the government intends to establish a multi-party democratic system and market economy.