Myanmar's new president-elect told lawmakers on Monday that plans to create a new ethnic affairs ministry were "vital" as he put efforts to heal relations with minorities at the heart of policy in a nation torn by civil wars and sectarian conflict.

Htin Kyaw, a close confidante of Aung San Suu Kyi, indicated that tackling the legacy of half a century of civil wars in ethnic minority borderlands will be a major priority for his government, which officially takes power next week.

"A ministry of ethnic affairs is of ­vital ­importance for the future of the union (Myanmar), which needs peace, ­development and sustainability," he told ­lawmakers in his first address since being elected the first ­civilian leader in ­decades.

His comments came as part of a ­wider speech explaining his government's plan to streamline the country's bloated bureaucracy.

Greater openness, a surging economy and the landslide victory in November's historic elections for Suu Kyi and her party have all buoyed optimism in the future.

But conflicts continue to rage in several areas between ethnic minority armed groups and the still-powerful national army, which operates beyond the reaches of civilian government, after a cease-fire pact signed last year failed to include all of the country's fighters.

Some 240,000 people are displaced due to unrest and communal conflict in ­Myanmar, mostly in northern Kachin state where fighting between the army and ­rebels is ­ongoing, and in western Rakhine, where tens of thousands of ­Rohingya ­Muslims ­remain trapped in camps ­following ­violence in 2012.