Min Aung Hlaing and Lieutenant Gen Nyo Saw at the opening of the Dentomec toothpaste factory on January 2, 2019.
Myanmar junta boss Min Aung Hlaing has appointed retired Lieutenant General Nyo Saw, who helps fund the regime as the military’s business chief, as his advisor.
Nyo Saw retired from the army in 2020 as quartermaster general and chairs the military-owned conglomerate Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) and holds senior positions in Inwa Bank and Myanma Economic Holdings Ltd, both of which are also military-owned.
MEC has over 19 subsidiaries engaged in the banking, mining, construction, transport, communications and food production sectors. Wednesday’s announcement said Nyo Saw will continue to lead MEC.
Min Aung Hlaing formed an advisory board following his coup in February 2021. The think tank is led by Lieutenant General Than Tun Oo. Its other members include Dr Yin Yin Nwe, who was the chief education adviser in the Thein Sein administration, Daw Yin Yin Oo, a daughter of late president Dr Maung Maung, the henchman of late military dictator Ne Win, and the ethnic Chin Salai Ngun Cung Lian, who was the legal counsel for the defunct Myanmar Peace Center and Rakhine State Inquiry Commission under President Thein Sein.
Min Aung Hlaing also formed a nine-member central advisory body, whose members previously sat on the junta’s administrative body, the State Administration Council.
Nyo Saw now has the rank of a government minister with the same wage packet, according to the announcement.
He also chairs a committee to import fuel from Russia, the regime’s major arms supplier. The committee was formed in August 2022 as fuel shortages hit the country.
He graduated from the Defense Services Academy, ran the Defense Services Technological Academy and Defense Services Academy and held the central and southern commands.
Nyo Saw also protects the interests of Min Aung Hlaing’s family and is seen as a trusted aide.
His ongoing role as MEC chief after his retirement suggests was seen as a move by Min Aung Hlaing to protect the junta chief’s interests.
Min Aung Hlaing has a substantial interest in Kan Thar Yar Hospital, which opened in December 2017 as an MEC subsidiary.
Nyo Saw oversaw the construction of the private hospital by Inya Lake in Yangon’s most affluent neighborhood near one of Min Aung Hlaing’s mansions.
He was also involved with another private hospital, Moe Kaung Treasure Maternal and Child Hospital, which opened in early May 2021, a few months after the putsch. The hospital, which is owned by Min Aung Hlaing’s family, is in the compound of the military records office in Yankin Township, Yangon.
Nyo Saw’s wife, Daw San San, is close to Min Aung Hlaing’s wife, Kyu Kyu Hla. She accompanied Kyu Kyu Hla to Russia, along with other generals’ wives, during Min Aung Hlaing’s visit last July.