Myanmar to Push Ahead With Suspended Myitsone Dam Project, Officials Say
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- Myanmar's military junta plans to revive the $3.6 billion Myitsone dam, targeting completion in just over eight years, according to Kachin State Chief Minister Khet Htein Nan
- President Thein Sein suspended the project in 2011 citing "the wishes of the people," a move that helped catalyze democratic reforms later terminated by the 2021 coup
- 90 percent of the dam's electricity would be exported to China — a key reason the project was controversial before its suspension
- Khet Htein Nan, who previously opposed the dam, has led public meetings across Kachin State urging locals to support it, and admitted at a June 23 meeting in Mohnyin that he regrets his earlier opposition
- Min Aung Hlaing raised the project's resumption during his recent state visit to China; in April 2024 the junta formed a new leadership team working with Chinese developer SPIC Yunnan International Power Investment Company
- The Kachin Independence Army, which has made significant territorial advances in Kachin State since the coup, continues to oppose the project and could halt construction if fighting resumes near the dam site
Why it matters: Myanmar's deepening dependence on Beijing appears to be driving the reversal of a 2011 suspension that once catalyzed democratic reforms; the Kachin Independence Army's refusal to back the project and control of nearby territory create a concrete risk the $3.6 billion build never finishes, even as no revised contract, ownership, or operational framework has been released.
