NAYPYITAW, Myanmar, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- The head of the European Commission has offered Myanmar $100 million in development aid as economic sanctions by Western governments come to an end.
EC President Jose Manuel Barroso announced the economic package during talks with President Thein Sein in the Myanmarese capital of Naypyitaw, the BBC reported Saturday.
The two leaders discussed ways of boosting trade between Myanmar and the European Union. Myanmar has enacted a foreign investment law designed to attract overseas companies.
The EU recently ended decades-long sanctions against the country, formerly known as Burma, after the military-backed government instituted democratic reforms.
The EU is offering Myanmar the same trade privileges as other low-income countries and will fund a "peace center" that will work to resolve long-standing conflicts between the government and ethnic minorities, the report said.
Barroso also met with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi regarding lingering violence between Rohingyas and Buddhists that has created 100,000 refugees.
She declined to take a position, saying it was not her place to take sides on the complex situation.
