27 November

Union Minister for Social Welfares, Relief and Resettlement Dr Win Myat Aye attended the opening ceremony of the Fourth Review Conference on Mine-Free World held at Oslo in Norway on 25 November.

The opening ceremony was also attended by over 160 dignitaries, including incumbent President of Mine-Free Convention and Crown Price of Norway Mr Haakon Magnus, senior officials from the signatory countries and heads of INGOs such as ICRC and UNICEF.

Representatives from 164 signatory countries in the convention and observer countries attend the conference which is aimed to foster measures on eradication of death and disabilities caused by landmines and to review and share experiences on mine clearance for the resettlement programmes.

Myanmar is an observer country in the convention, and the Union Minister attended the conference for the first time to inform international community about mine clearance efforts in Myanmar.

In the afternoon, the Union Minister called on Norwegian Foreign Affairs Minister Ms Ine Eriksen Søreide.

During the meeting, Dr Win Myat Aye expressed thanks for assistance of Norway in democratic transition process of Myanmar for many years and constructive approach of Norway to Myanmar for the mine free convention.

He also explained resettlement of internally displaced persons and national strategic plan for closure of IDP camps, resettlement programmes, importance of mine clearance works, latest situations in Rakhine State, cooperation with ASEAN, UN agencies and international organizations, the works of UEHRD, implementation of recommendations on Rakhine State issue and preparations of Myanmar for defending at the International Court of Justice.

The Norwegian Foreign Affairs Minister also agreed to further cooperation in democratic reforms of Myanmar, development programmes and mine clearance works of the country.—MNA (Translated by Aung Khin)