Myanmar president not to attend Asean-US summit

Myanmar's President Thein Sein will not participate in the Asean-US summit scheduled for next week, the media reported on Friday.

"Vice president Nyan Htun will visit the US on behalf of President Thein Sein," said the president's office.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations-US summit will take place in Sunnylands, in California, on February 15-16.

However, the reason for the Myanmar president not attending the summit yet remained unknown.

Since 2011, Myanmar has been trying to move towards greater democratic openness following half a century of military dictatorship.

The general elections on November 8, last year led to the victory of Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her ruling National League for Democracy party over Thein Sein and his Union Solidarity and Development Party, and the transfer of power is to take place around the end of March.

Thein Sein was the first prime minister of the last military junta and, after its dissolution in 2011, occupied the post of head of state and headed the process of political, economic and social reforms.