Activities of Secretary-General in Myanmar, 30-31 August

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, accompanied by Madam Ban Soon‑taek, left Singapore on Tuesday, 30 August, for Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.

Upon arrival, the Secretary-General met with State Counsellor and Foreign Minister of Myanmar, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.  At a joint press encounter following their meeting, he commended the new Government for its emphasis on dialogue, cooperation and reconciliation between military and civil society leaders and political and economic stakeholders, but stressed that steps towards peace and national reconciliation will need to be further strengthened, broadened and consolidated.

The press conference was followed by an official dinner hosted by U Myint Swe, First Vice-President of Myanmar.

On Wednesday, 31 August, the Secretary-General addressed the opening of the Twenty-First Century Panglong Conference.  He noted that it was the first time that such a peace process had been initiated in the seventy-year history of conflict and division between the Union Government and armed ethnic groups.  Success will require goodwill on all sides, and a recognition that it is in the vital interest of all the people of Myanmar, regardless of ethnicity, religion, political affiliation or socio-economic status, he added.  (See Press Release SG/SM/18013)

Throughout the day, the Secretary-General held bilateral meetings with President U Htin Kyaw, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, as well as with U Win Myint and U Mahn Win Khang Than, Speakers of the Lower and Upper Houses of Parliament.  He also met with civil society organizations, religious leaders and members of the United Nations Global Compact which he had launched in 2012.

In the afternoon, the Secretary-General left Nay Pyi Taw for Colombo, Sri Lanka, where he arrived in the evening of Wednesday, 31 August.