State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi addresses the second meeting of the Panglong Conference (Source: EPA/VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The second meeting of the 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference of Myanmar opened in the capital city of Nay Pyi Taw on May 24, nine months after the first in August 2016.
The conference was designed to unite all ethnic groups and build a democratic federal union through dialogue.
As many as 1,400 representatives are expected to take part in the five-day conference where they are hoped to approve 21 agreements reached during political dialogues between the Myanmar Government and armed groups.
The agreements cover a wide range of issues, including legislative empowerment for regional or state administrations, sovereignty, equality, and self-legislation and democracy.
A National Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) is also scheduled to be signed within the framework of the conference.
The first conference in August 2016 focused on political dialogues to end conflicts between the Myanmar military and ethnic armed groups over the past seven decades.
The meeting was participated by 1,800 representatives from the government, the parliament, the military, political parties, armed and non-armed ethnic organisations and social-civil groups.-VNA
VNA
