Hundreds of world leaders and industry chiefs meet in Myanmar Wednesday for Asia's answer to the World Economic Forum, as the fast-changing nation woos foreign investors after the end of junta rule. Some 900 delegates from more than 50 countries will meet in Naypyidaw for the World Economic Forum on East Asia -- the region's equivalent of the annual gathering of business and political luminaries in the Swiss resort of Davos. "This is our show. This is our performance to the world," Tourism Minister Htay Aung said ahead of the three-day event.

Myanmar on Thursday reached a tentative peace deal with ethnic minority Kachin rebels aimed at ending the country's last major active civil war, which has displaced tens of thousands of people. Kachin and government representatives, meeting on home soil for the first time since fighting flared up two years ago, signed a seven-point plan to end hostilities in the remote northern region. "I think we have achieved a breakthrough," said negotiator Min Zaw Oo, a director of the EU-funded Myanmar Peace Center who took part in the talks in the Kachin state capital Myitkyina.

Myanmar's most heavily-armed and powerful rebel group has said it is looking to carve out a legitimate state, as experts say it is flexing its muscles amid tense relations with the government. The United Wa State Army, which commands an estimated 30,000 troops, holds sway over a remote mountainous area on the northeast border with China that is believed to be awash with drugs and has long been aloof from central Myanmar control.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed Saturday during his meeting with Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon that Japan will help improve the investment climate in the Southeast Asian nation to ensure the rapidly democratizing country's economic growth, his aide said.