By Feng Yingqiu
NAY PYI TAW, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi returned home Sunday night from an official visit to the United States from Sept. 16 to 24.
According to a press release of the Foreign Ministry on Monday shortly after her return, Aung San Suu Kyi held talks with U.S. President Barack Obama and secretaries of the administration and lawmakers during her visit and attended the 71st United Nations General Assembly in New York where she delivered a general policy speech.
Suu Kyi participated in the ratification ceremony of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty and delivered a public speech at the event organized by the Asia Society, the release said.
After the bilateral meeting between Obama and Aung San Suu Kyi, a statement that the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program, a preferential tariff system, would be reinstated, was made.
The GSP program will be reinstated effective on Nov. 13 this year after a 60-day Congressional-notification period. This decision will give Myanmar the opportunity to export nearly 5,000 products to the United States duty-free, according to the statement from the Office of the United States Trade Representative in Washington.
The United States suspended the GSP benefits to Myanmar in 1989 due to labor rights concerns. In 2013, Myanmar began engaging in negotiations for the reinstatement of the GSP, compiling the GSP eligibility criteria.
After the recent bilateral meeting, Obama said that the United States is preparing to lift remaining sanctions on Myanmar and will complete the process soon.
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