Ambassador Kenichiro Sasae, Japanese ambassador to the United States, discussed his country’s support for Myanmar’s political and economic development, focusing on priorities including economic growth, the rule of law, and conflict resolution. Ambassador Kyaw Myo Htut, Myanmar’s ambassador to the United States, emphasized his country’s progress and the increasingly close ties between the two nations.

Jessica Tuchman Mathews

Jessica Tuchman Mathews is president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the global think tank with offices in Washington, DC, Moscow, Beijing, Brussels, and Beirut. Before her appointment in 1997, her career included posts in both the executive and legislative branches of government, in management and research in the nonprofit arena, and in journalism and science policy.

Ambassador Kenichiro Sasae

Ambassador Kenichiro Sasae was appointed ambassador of Japan to the United States in November 2012. Previously, he served as vice minister for foreign affairs, the top civil service job at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan ( 2010–2012), and as deputy minister for foreign affairs (2008–2010). Sasae served as director general of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau (2005–2008), where he was Japan’s representative to the fourth, fifth, and sixth rounds of the Six-Party Talks among South Korea, North Korea, the United States, China, Japan, and Russia. He was also director general of the Economic Affairs Bureau (2002–2005), deputy director general of the Foreign Policy Bureau (2001–2002), executive assistant for foreign affairs to Prime Minister Yoshirō Mori (2000–2001), and deputy director general of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau (1999–2000).

Kyaw Myo Htut

Ambassador Kyaw Myo Htut was appointed ambassador of Myanmar to the United States in September 2013. Previously, he served as ambassador of Myanmar to the United Kingdom (2011–2013) and deputy permanent representative of Myanmar to the United Nations in Geneva. Prior to entering the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2008, he was a colonel in the Myanmar military. He graduated from the Defense Services Academy in central Myanmar, with a master’s degree in defense studies, in 2006.