The junta has fired Union Minister Aung Naing Oo, a former military officer, from its Cabinet.
The notice terminating his employment was issued on Monday and signed by the State Administration Council (SAC) secretary Aung Lin Dwe. Using the standard military euphemism for “sacked,” it said the senior bureaucrat was allowed to “retire.”
The 62-year-old confirmed to local broadcaster BETV that he was also sacked from his first secretary position at the Central Committee for Myanmar Special Economic Zones (SEZs) as well as his chairmanship of the Myanmar SEZ Central Working Committee.
Aung Naing Oo attended the first meeting of the central committee for the 2024-25 fiscal year on May 23, where he briefed deputy junta chief Soe Win on progress in managing SEZs. The dismissal letter four days later marked the end of his more than two decades of high-profile involvement in Myanmar’s economy.
A former military officer, Aung Naing Oo transitioned into the civil service in 2000, serving as deputy director-general and director-general in the Commerce Ministry and the National Planning and Economic Development Ministry under former military dictator Than Shwe and then in Thein Sein’s quasi-civilian government.
Before joining the civil service, he was in Myanmar’s military for nearly two decades (from 1981 to 2000). He served in the 77th and 88th light infantry divisions, and the Southern and Northeastern commands.
He had a reputation for being someone who liked to engage other people in discussions of what he considered the glory days of his youth, especially the military maneuvers he had participated in.
Aung Naing Oo served as the permanent secretary in the Investment and Foreign Economic Relations Ministry under the National League for Democracy government before it was ousted in the 2021 coup.
He was promoted to minister after the coup and became commerce minister in August 2022, before he was moved to the SAC Office.
A senior official overseeing Myanmar’s special economic zones and foreign trade, Aung Naing Oo was a key player in funding the coup and raising revenue for the regime. He went to China and India to solicit investments in military-ruled Myanmar.
At the Investment and Foreign Economic Relations Ministry, he sacked over 80 employees for joining the Civil Disobedience Movement and going on strike against the regime. He often contributed pro-junta articles for state newspapers, proving himself to be a staunch military supporter.
Aung Naing Oo was sanctioned by the United States in 2021.
Another official from the Ministry of Planning and Finance – deputy minister Maung Naing Oo – was also sacked on Monday from a post he held since the National League for Democracy formed the government. The regime has yet to announce who will fill their posts.
