Intl banks asked to suspend investments linked to Myanmar junta 2 minutes read
Bangkok, May 27 (EFE).- Non-Governmental Organizations Justice for Myanmar and BankTrack called on more than 30 international banks Thursday to cancel or suspend investments in companies with connections to Myanmar’s military junta.
In a report, they said financial institutions, mainly large groups such as Mitsubishi UFJ, Sumitomo Mitsui, JPMorgan Chase, UBS and Credit Suisse, add more than $ 35 billion in investments in companies with ties or under the direct control of Myanmar’s army.
“The international banks we have highlighted have clear human rights responsibilities. The military’s ruthless campaign of terror is made possible by their economic interests and the banks play a crucial role,” Yadanar Maung, spokesman for Justice for Myanmar, said in a statement.
Reuters
Human Rights Watch on Tuesday joined a chorus of NGOs calling for Thailand’s state-owned oil and gas firm to not expand business ties with Myanmar’s junta while the Burmese military carries on with a bloody post-coup crackdown on protesters.
The Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) has been involved in oil and gas exploration in the neighboring country for more than three decades and has paid billions of dollars in fees, taxes, royalties, and revenues, New York-based HRW said in a statement.
“But with production declining in recent years, the company has ramped up its midstream and downstream investments in the country, with the stated goal of becoming the ‘top Myanmar provider’ of petroleum products,” it said.
Thai state-owned firm funds Myanmar military enterprises
Tue, May 25 2021 01:45:04 PM
By Anwesha Bhaumik
Kolkata, May 25 (IANS): Thailands majority state-owned oil and gas company, PTT, is partnering with military-linked companies to expand its engagement in Myanmar, a corporate source in a Burmese hydrocarbon company disclosed to IANS.
This expansion comes on top of the half a billion dollars PTT already pays annually to junta-controlled enterprises through its existing operations in Myanmar s gas fields, the source said on the condition of anonymity.
A 2019 PTT joint venture is paying the military conglomerate Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) nearly $1 million in annual rent for the construction of a fuel terminal on land seized from farmers.
Reuters
Updated at 2:48 p.m. ET on 2021-05-28
Human Rights Watch on Tuesday joined a chorus of NGOs calling for Thailand’s state-owned oil and gas firm to not expand business ties with Myanmar’s junta while the Burmese military carries on with a bloody post-coup crackdown on protesters.
The Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) has been involved in oil and gas exploration in the neighboring country for more than three decades and has paid billions of dollars in fees, taxes, royalties and revenues, New York-based HRW said in a statement.
“But with production declining in recent years, the company has ramped up its midstream and downstream investments in the country, with the stated goal of becoming the ‘top Myanmar provider’ of petroleum products,” it said.