Japan forgives Myanmar debt, will restart aid
A file picture taken on March 27, 2010 shows Thein Sein, left, sitting along with some of the country’s senior leaders ahead of the Armed Forces Day parade in the capital Naypyidaw.
Myanmar's reforms have earned it debt forgiveness from Japan.
Myanmar's largest creditor has agreed to waive $3.7 billion in loans and restart aid to the country for the first time in 25 years, Agence France-Presse said.
“At a time when Myanmar’s democratization is reaching a key stage, Japan is declaring to further support its efforts to reform and to continue bolstering assistance,” AFP quoted Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda as saying at press conference in Tokyo.
Myanmar's president Thein Sein is in Japan until Tuesday.
"We are now able to open a new page in the relationship between the two countries," the Wall Street Journal quoted him as saying.
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Japan is the is first Myanmar creditor to waive the long-isolated country's debt.
The WSJ pointed out Japanese companies are eager to tap into economic opportunities in Myanmar.
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