Myanmar President , Thein Sein will visit Japan .

By YOREE KOH And CELINE FERNANDEZ

Myanmar President Thein Sein will make a five-day trip to Japan from this weekend, marking the first visit to the country by a leader of the Southeast Asian nation in nearly three decades, while opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is planning to make in June her first visit overseas— to Norway and Britain—since 1989.

Reuters

Myanmar's President Thein Sein at the President's Office in Naypyitaw

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Mr. Thein Sein's visit comes amid a flurry of interest from Japanese companies eager to explore investment opportunities in Myanmar after the country began enacting economic and political reforms that have brought it out of isolation.
The U.S. said earlier this month it will begin easing some of its most stringent sanctions against Myanmar, while British Prime Minister David Cameron has recently called on the European Union to do the same.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda will meet with Mr. Thein Sein on Sunday, and the two are likely to discuss resuming financial aid to Myanmar and ways to help smooth the country's path toward democratic reform, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said Wednesday.
Mr. Thein Sein is also likely to visit Japanese businesses during his stay through April 24, the official said.
Ms. Suu Kyi, meanwhile, who recently won a seat in Myanmar's parliament after a series of by-elections, has long vowed to visit Norway after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. She was unable to travel to Oslo to receive the award. Last week, she held a press conference with Britain's Mr. Cameron in which she offered her support for his call for the European Union to suspend sanctions in Myanmar, except to continue an arms embargo. Nyan Win, a spokesman for Ms. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, said the dates of her trip haven't yet been finalized.