Junta reshuffles Kyaukphyu SEZ committee, appoints frontline military officers

By Admin 28 Sep 2026

DMG Newsroom

28 September 2026, Kyaukphyu

The military regime has restructured the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Management Committee, replacing civilian posts with frontline military officers deployed in the Arakan conflict zone, according to official sources.

Under the reorganization enacted on July 24, 2026, military officers now account for nearly half of the eight-member committee overseeing the Chinese-invested economic megaproject.

Newly appointed military members include Colonel Kyaw Thura, Security and Border Affairs Minister for the Arakan State Government; the commander or deputy commander of the Dhanyawadi Naval Base on the Kyaukphyu frontline; a brigadier general serving as General Staff Officer from Western Command; and the Kyaukphyu District Deputy Commissioner.

The reconstituted committee is chaired by U Win Myint Naing, Deputy Minister for Commerce, with Dr. Myat Lwin, former rector of Myanmar Maritime University, serving as Vice Chairman.

U Kyaw Zaw Maung, former director of the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA), serves as Secretary, while the Deputy Director General of the Myanmar Trade Promotion Organization under the Ministry of Commerce was named Joint Secretary.

Fierce battles between military regime forces and the Arakan Army (AA) are currently raging across Kyaukphyu Township, with active combat zones directly overlapping the designated SEZ territory.

“Clashes since August 2025 have directly encompassed SEZ project areas. Heavy fighting continues near Hsinbote, Minpyin, and Thitpotetaung village tracts, as well as military movements around the Dhanyawadi Naval Base,” said a local Kyaukphyu resident monitoring foreign investment projects.

Local residents noted that while frontline officers were appointed under the pretext of security in a combat zone, the project’s operational viability remains highly doubtful.

They added that the restructuring is likely an attempt by the junta to tighten security and protect Chinese investments, including oil and natural gas pipelines, a deep-sea port, and the SEZ framework.

“As the SEZ is a major Chinese project, it carries significant visibility, but nothing can actually be implemented on the ground right now in an active warzone,” another Kyaukphyu resident said. “The military regime is merely presenting this reorganized list to Beijing to curry favor. This massive project directly involves China, the regime, and the Arakan Army, meaning progress is impossible without consensus among all parties.”

The Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (KPSEZ) serves as a key strategic pillar of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), offering Beijing direct trade access to the Indian Ocean.

The deep-sea port represents the centerpiece of the project, designed to accommodate global ocean-going cargo vessels.

However, local residents and economic observers assess that implementing the project remains impossible while the SEZ zone remains engulfed in active military conflict.