Explore the multinational corporations funneling cash to a brutal regime through a South Korean steel conglomerate.
See how member states of ASEAN prop up the illegitimate attempted coup through deals, kick backs and shady schemes.
POSCO's biggest business in Myanmar is gas; the lucrative Shwe gas field earned US$193.9M in revenue for the state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) in 2017/18 alone. MOGE is now under control of the military junta.
POSCO operates a steel joint venture (Myanmar POSCO C&C) with military conglomerate MEHL, on land that rightfully belongs to the people of Myanmar. MEHL’s 30% stake in the joint venture provided cash flow during the military’s genocide against the Rohingya in 2017.
POSCO and LOTTE corporation have built a five-star hotel in Yangon on military-owned land, providing a direct line of off-budget financing to the office of the quartermaster general of the Myanmar army, which purchases arms used in the military’s atrocity crimes.
Myanmar POSCO C&C is developing a construction supply business, using their international links to gain market share. Any supplier of raw materials to POSCO, such as Australia's Roy Hill Holdings, risks being implicated in a supply chain that profits the Myanmar military.
Första AP-fonden (AP1) of Sweden, is one example of a national pension fund that invests in POSCO, helping to enrich the Myanmar military. Forsta AP-fonden manages assets of 393 billion SEK (over US$46 billion) and claims to invest responsibly.
Credit Agricole Group of France has provided a loan to POSCO Asia, which finances Myanmar POSCO C&C, a source of off-budget revenue for the Myanmar Military.
Brunei Energy Services & Trading has a joint investment with International Group of Entrepreneurs (IGE) in three oil blocks in Myanmar. Development is suspended, but the company owes USD$20 million to Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).
A naturalised Cambodian citizen is the main investor of Yatai City, a mega-project being developed with the Karen Border Guard Force, a militia group under command of the Myanmar military. The project is linked to organised crime, land confiscation and will be a lucrative source of revenue for the Myanmar military and their associates.
In 2020, Indonesia disclosed that its state-owned enterprise, PT. Pindad, has exported bullets to Myanmar. PT. Pindad has a cooperation agreement with arms broker True North Co., Ltd., which is owned by the son of the Myanmar military junta’s planning and finance minister.
Malaysian companies edotco leases telecommunications towers in Myanmar to military-controlled phone company Mytel, supporting and profiting from Mytel’s rollout. State pension fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd is a major edotco investor.
In August 2017, Filipino arms manufacturer United Defense Manufacturing Corp. (UDMC) shipped 450kg of guns to Myanmar as the military launched its campaign of genocide against the Rohingya. UDMC also spent years courting the Myanmar military, offering technology transfer and cooperation on arms manufacturing in Myanmar.
The Government of Thailand is the majority shareholder of PTT Public Co Ltd. In Myanmar, PTT subsidiary PTT Exploration and Production operates the Zawtika gas field and is an investor in the Yadana project. In 2017-18, the Myanmar government received over USD$40 million for the Zawtika project. These funds now flow to the junta.
Mobile telephone company, Mytel—a joint venture between a Myanmar military conglomerate and Viettel Global, owned by Vietnam’s Ministry of National Defence—is a major source of revenue and technology for the Myanmar military. It’s also a tool that supports military surveillance.
Singapore continues to be a hub for the Myanmar military and its partners. For example, the Singapore Exchange is used by Emerging Towns & Cities Ltd. to raise funds for a property development that pays millions in rent to the Myanmar army.
Swipe through story cards to explore the connections between well-known international institutions and the war criminals of the Myanmar Military. Click on nodes to learn more about these complicit businesses. Powered by Linkurious. For more,sign up for our newsletter.
