Myanmar junta chief opens airport for family tech hub

Myanmar’s coup leader‑turned‑president Min Aung Hlaing has inaugurated the upgraded Anisakhan Airport in Pyin Oo Lwin, presenting it as a gateway to his family’s flagship “Silicon Valley” project.

The airport, minutes from Yadanabon Cyber City, is being promoted as a national technology hub despite recent fighting in the region. Min Aung Hlaing’s son, Aung Pyae Sone, who holds no official post, has been placed in charge of housing and infrastructure schemes there, reinforcing perceptions that the cyber city is effectively a family enterprise.

At Saturday’s ceremony, the president praised the military’s Engineering Corps for reviving the colonial‑era airfield. The new terminal, control tower and expanded apron are designed to handle 100,000 passengers annually. He later toured Yadanabon Cyber City, instructing ministers to prevent illegal construction while ignoring reports of forced evictions and profiteering by military elites.

Land prices in Pyin Oo Lwin have surged, with officers and cronies cashing in on real estate. Since assuming the presidency in April, Min Aung Hlaing has repeatedly visited the town, presiding over openings of roads, bridges and markets, and now the airport. He has sought to rebrand the garrison town as a resort and education hub, while his children expand their business empire into healthcare, construction, hotels, transport, film, insurance and telecoms.

The regime’s supervisory committee has invited investors to submit proposals for Yadanabon Cyber City by late August. Plans cover 5.6 square kilometres, with luxury housing, industrial zones, AI centres, electronics factories, schools and hospitals.

For Min Aung Hlaing, the airport’s reopening is more than infrastructure: it cements Pyin Oo Lwin as the heart of his family’s economic ambitions, even as Myanmar’s wider economy struggles under the weight of sanctions and conflict.

-2026-07-16