The conference, which runs until Saturday 16 January, is the biggest gathering of political forces in the country since independence in 1948, said President U Thein Sein.

Among those attending the UPC opening ceremony were Vice President Sai Mauk Kham; Parliament Speakers U Shwe Mann and U Khin Aung Myint; Chairperson of the Committee for Rule of Law and Tranquillity in the House of Representatives Aung San Suu Kyi; and the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Services, Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing.

Also attending the conference were hundreds of people from stakeholder groups representing the government, parliament, military and the eight ethnic armed groups that signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Accord (NCA), as well as representatives from political parties and other players.

On 13 January, the second day of the conference, the five main topics of the conference were discussed.

These were: the Federal system, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Tax and Revenue sharing, National Security, Land and Environment and Natural Resources sharing.

Seven groups with representatives from the government, parliament, the military and the eight ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) that signed the NCA discussed each topic.

On the third and fourth day of the conference the groups will meet up again to review and discuss their suggestions before reaching a final agreement.

In total there are about 700 people attending the conference. They include 75 representatives from the government, 75 from parliament, 150 from the military, 150 from the EAOs, 150 from political parties and 50 ethnic representatives.

The main objectives of the NCA are:

1. To develop a framework for political dialogue
2. To conduct national level of political discussions and a union peace conference
3. To develop a union level agreement
4. To sign the union level agreement
5. To submit the union level agreement to parliament for approval.

Edited in English by Mark Inkey for BNI