U Myint ( my, ဦးမြင့်) is a Burmese economist and served as the Chief Presidential Adviser to
Thein Sein, the former
President of Burma
The president of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar () is the head of state and constitutional head of government of Myanmar. The president leads the Cabinet of Myanmar, the executive branch of the Burmese government. The current presiden ...
, and led his Economic Advisory Unit.
Career
U Myint comes from a well-connected and prominent family. He attended
Rangoon University where he received a multiple Bachelor degrees in English, politics, and economics, before moving onto
Cornell University, where he earned a master's degree in economics.
He then earned a Ph.D in
economics at the
University of California, Berkeley.
U Myint was previously a professor of economics at
Rangoon University's
Institute of Economics Institute of Economics may refer to:
*Institute of Economics, Academia Sinica in Taiwan
*Institute of Economics (Poland)
* Institute of Economics of the Polish Academy of Sciences
*Max Planck Institute of Economics in Germany
*Institute of Economic ...
, and also served as the director of
Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...
' economics department.
He later led the Research Department at the
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. U Myint currently presides as the director of the
Yangon-based
Tun Foundation Bank
The Tun Foundation Bank ( my, ထွန်းဖောင်ဒေးရှင်းဘဏ်) is a privately owned bank in Myanmar that was established on 8 June 1994.
All the profits from this bank go into scholarships for children from poor fa ...
.
In 2011, his appointment as President Thein Sein's chief economic adviser surprised many Burma watchers, as he has a close relationship with
Aung San Suu Kyi.
In May 2011, U Myint proposed the creation of an independent research center, the
Myanmar Development Resource Institute
The Myanmar Development Resource Institute ( my, မြန်မာ့ဖွံ့ဖြိုး တိုးတက်ရေး အရင်းအမြစ် အဖွဲ့အစည်း, abbreviated MDRI) is an independent think tank and econ ...
(MDRI), in a paper entitled “Reducing Poverty in Myanmar: The Way Forward,” to combat poverty.
The institute was then founded by U Myint and other advisors to President
Thein Sein. He currently heads the MDRI's Centre for Economic and Social Development.
Papers for Myanmar reforms
U Myint become notable after he published his paper in 2011 (after new government President U Thein Sein took office); Reducing Poverty in Myanmar, Kyat valuation paper, Anti-corruption paper, FDI Paper, and more. In 2012, U Myint wrote an open letter to the public which he sought to inspire action regarding the restoration of the
University of Yangon "to its Former Glory," which was one of the top universities in Asia.
See also
*
2011–2015 Myanmar political reforms
The 2011–2020 Myanmar political reforms were a series of political, economic and administrative reforms in Myanmar undertaken by the military-backed government. These reforms include the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Myint, U
University of Yangon alumni
Burmese economists
Cornell University alumni
University of California, Berkeley alumni
Academic staff of the University of Yangon
People from Yangon
1938 births
Living people