Thilawa SEZ: Rebuilding Trust Around Myanmar's First Special Economic Zone

Thilawa is Myanmar's first special economic zone and a flagship of Japanese investment in the country. Its developer and operator, MJTD, inherited a difficult legacy: ongoing criticism and protests from a local NGO, resettled communities and the media over land and compensation, which threatened to define the zone in the eyes of prospective tenants and international partners.

MJTD needed to change agencies, resolve the immediate wave of negative news and then build a reputation strong enough to keep attracting investors while maintaining constructive relations with civil society.

Ruder Finn Era began with a plan to address the specific protests and the negative narratives being circulated, counselling transparent engagement and giving the media accurate, timely information about the zone's processes and the committee's actions.

Once the immediate issues were contained, the work shifted to anticipation. Working with the client, the team identified potential future problems early through social listening and media monitoring, so that emerging concerns could be handled before they became crises.

The proactive side used regular media relations to support MJTD's community outreach and to keep positive, message-led stories about the zone's investors, jobs and development flowing to Myanmar and international audiences.