The State Counselor’s Office has been behind some of the government’s most important initiatives—from prisoner releases to peace in Arakan State, according to an interview on Monday with Minister Kyaw Tint Swe.

The State Counselor position was created in early April to give National League for Democracy party leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is barred from the presidency, greater political influence. In mid-May, Kyaw Tint Swe was appointed the head of the State Counselor’s Office, a Union-level ministry with a staff of 200.

In an interview Monday with the state-run Myanmar News Agency, Kyaw Tint Swe revealed that his ministry is behind the release of political prisoners and student activists and the President’s Office reform. It also played a role in transforming the Myanmar Peace Center into the National Reconciliation and Peace Center, as well as the formation of the Implementation Committee for Peace, Stability and Development of Arakan State and the organizing of the 21st Century Panglong Conference, a peace summit with ethnic armed groups set for late August.