US President Barack Obama backs Myanmar reforms
Play
Yangon - US President Barack Obama on Monday expressed his support for Myanmar's "first steps" towards democracy after meeting with the country's president on a historic trip to the former pariah state.
Obama met with reform-minded President Thein Sein for about an hour in Yangon, in the first visit to the country by a serving US president.
"I've shared with him the fact that I recognize this is just the first steps on what will be a long journey," Obama said.
"But we think a process of democratic and economic reform here in Myanmar that has been begun by the president is one that can lead to incredible development opportunities." Thein Sein, a former army general who took up the post of president in March 2011, called on Obama to support "capacity building" within the government while promising to "move the country forward." Obama was earlier greeted outside Yangon International Airport by students waving Myanmar and US flags.//DPA
