Message of Greetings sent by President U Win Myint on occasion of 73rd Anniversary Kachin State Day celebration

Dear esteemed ethnic national brothers and sisters residing in Kachin State,

Today, the 10th of January marks the 73rd anniversary of Kachin State Day filled with auspiciousness for all ethnic national brothers and sisters residing in Kachin State. I wish to extend my greetings and good wishes to all Kachin racial groups and Union born ethnic nationals to be blessed with auspiciousness and free from the dangers of COVID-19.

At the first meeting of the Kachin State Council held on 10 January 1948, shortly after independence, to honour the establishment of the Kachin State Government, the 10th of January was designated as “Kachin State Day”. Since then, Kachin State Day celebrations have been held every year, and now we have reached the 73rd anniversary.

The Union Government has been exerting strenuous efforts for the all-round development of Kachin State and has been implementing programmes in areas such as transportation, education, health, human resources development, the supply of electricity, development of the socio-economic life of the people, and upgrading of healthcare services.

However, Kachin State which is blessed with such natural beauty and natural resources, due to the fact that armed conflicts have not yet ceased, has not been able to enjoy its natural beauty fully nor has it been able to effectively utilize its natural resources in the state development projects. In the implementation of development projects, regional peace and stability and the rule of law are essential for the success and effectiveness of these projects. Ethnic nationals who have already understood and enjoyed the fruits of peace are yearning for peace wholeheartedly and I believe that they would all want to achieve durable peace very quickly.

At this time, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar is on the path of democratic transition. For our nascent democracy to become stronger and mature and at the same time for it to be sustainable, peace and development are very important. That is why the Union Government has been exerting efforts for national reconciliation, Union peace and development as priority tasks.

For the resettlement of internally displaced persons due to armed conflicts, we are implementing that national strategy on the resettlement of IDPs and closure of IDP camps. In order to permit the IDPs in Kachin State to return to their homes in accordance with international standards in safety and confidence, “the Working Group for the resettlement of IDPs in Kachin State” which was formed by the NRPC – National Reconciliation and Peace Centre, is working in cooperation with the “Committee to assist IDPs in Kachin State”.

Our Union Government was able to convene the meetings of the Union Peace Conference – 21st Century Panglong, up to the Fourth Session successfully; this is because we wanted to tackle the fundamental problem of the ongoing armed conflicts which is to solve political problems through political dialogues and negotiations, because we want to achieve durable peace which has been the aspiration of our ethnic nationals for so many years; and also because we want to establish the Democratic Federal Union which is acceptable to our ethnic national brothers and sisters. Not only were we able to reach common agreements, we were able to reach agreements also on the various step-by-step action plans and also the implementations which needed to be done step-by-step in the post-2020 period relating to the establishment of the Democratic Federal Union.

The cooperation and participation of all ethnic nationals are extremely important in building the new Democratic Federal Union. Now is the opportune time for all Union born ethnic nationals to take lessons from history and strive with unity as brothers and sisters, for the total cessation of armed conflicts to achieve peace which is genuine and durable. It is also necessary for ethnic armed organizations within Kachin State to participate and cooperate fully in the Union peace process.

As I send this message of greetings, I take this opportunity to urge all ethnic national brothers and sisters to join hands and participate with unity, firm Union spirit and genuine patriotic spirit as we march towards the new Democratic Federal Union.
Sd/-
(Win Myint)
President