Myanmar’s regime has appointed economist Dr Zaw Oo as a Central Bank of Myanmar director.
He is a member of the Myanmar Narrative Think Tank, which has hosted economic forums in Naypyitaw, including recovery discussions after the March 28 earthquake and the Myanmar Beyond 2025 event, with foreign diplomats and international advisers.
The gatherings have provided a platform for junta chief Min Aung Hlaing to posture as a civilian leader, articulating economic, political and foreign policy narratives.
Zaw Oo has said the earthquake had unexpectedly enhanced the country’s geopolitical position and is due to host another economic recovery forum in Mandalay.
He sits on an advisory board reforming the Myanmar Development Institute, an economic think tank established in 2017 by the civilian National League for Democracy government. The institute was previously led by Australian economist Sean Turnell, who was jailed after the 2021 coup. The junta abolished the institute in February 2021.
Zaw Oo is an executive director of the Center for Economic and Social Development, an economic think tank in Myanmar, and is the managing director of the Bower Group Asia advisory firm.
A former All Burma Students’ Democratic Front leader, he also served in the exiled anti-military National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, led by Dr Sein Win.
From 2012-16, he was an industry, commerce and labor adviser for the military proxy Thein Sein regime.
His latest appointment signals the regime’s control over Myanmar’s economic institutions while it also seeks legitimacy through engagement with technocrats and international actors.
A key figure in the junta’s economic strategy, Zaw Oo has previously operated behind the scenes.
As the junta plans an election in December or January, it aims to establish a new administration, presumably with Zaw Oo in a key transitional financial role. His appointment to the central bank’s board of directors is seen as marking his official integration into the junta’s monetary and economic framework.
The May 4 appointment was announced in the junta’s gazette, signed by General Aung Lin Dwe, secretary of the State Administration Council, the regime’s governing body.
