The government is still discussing whether or not the controversial Myitsone Dam in Kachin State will go ahead, and if so in what form. Speaking at the Invest Myanmar Summit in Nay Pyi Taw, U Thaung Tun, Minister of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations, said that the government is currently “working hard to find a solution” to the project. In 2009, work began on the proposed USD 3.6 billion Myitsone Dam. This is one of the seven projects planned in the upper part of the Ayeyarwady River. In 2011, then-president U Thein Sein suspended the project for the duration of his term. The move surprised many as it was viewed as shunning Beijing, which the military government had been close to for decades. However, since the NLD government came into power, the decision regarding the project has not been made. Local groups, as well as environmental campaigners, are against the project, China has lobbied hard for the project to re-start. Thaung Tun said the government wants to find a solution “because we [value] relations with China”.