NAY PYI TAW, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar will start holding the 21st Century Panglong Ethnic Conference in Nay Pyi Taw on Aug. 31, announced Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi Monday at a meeting of the Committee for Holding the Panglong Conference.
Aung San Suu Kyi, who is also chairperson of the committee, called for coordination and cooperation on the part of the government to successfully hold the conference, saying that the Panglong Conference is the first step towards a robust Union.
The announcement came more than a week after the end of a five-day Ethnic Armed Organizations'(EAOs) Plenary Meeting in Maijayang in Kachin state, controlled by the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO).
That meeting, held from July 26 to 30, was attended by 17 organizations from 21 ethnic armed groups with the absence of four non-ceasefire signatories such as the United Wa State Army (UWSA), Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) - NSCN (K).
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