November 7, 2011
(AFP)
YANGON - A senior EU diplomat has hailed political changes under way in military-dominated Myanmar, where a new nominally civilian government has made a series of gestures towards reform.
"There are important changes going on in this country," Ambassador David Lipman, head of the EU delegation to Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, told reporters late on Sunday.
"The European Union is very much hoping to support and to encourage this momentum of change," he added.
Lipman was in Myanmar's main city Yangon for a two-day workshop, organised by the European Union, on financial reform and poverty reduction that began on Monday.
The United States and European countries have imposed economic sanctions on Myanmar over its human rights record, including the imprisonment of about 2,000 political detainees, about 200 of whom were freed last month.
Myanmar is now ruled by a nominally civilian government but its ranks are filled with former generals.
Hopes of political change have grown, with efforts by the new regime to reach out to opponents including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who also attended Monday's workshop.
The government has also invited a team from the International Monetary Fund to visit the country formerly known as Burma to offer advice on reforming its complex foreign exchange system.
On Friday Myanmar's president approved changes to a law on political parties, a move that could potentially pave the way for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party to rejoin the official political arena.
The NLD boycotted a rare election held in Myanmar last year, largely because of rules that would have forced it to expel imprisoned members.
As a result it was officially delisted as a political party and is now considering whether to re-register.
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