• Burmese
Saturday, July 19, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
26 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home Business

Plan to Shed Light on Burma’s Secretive Companies

Simon Lewis by Simon Lewis
March 5, 2014
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0 0
A A
Plan to Shed Light on Burma’s Secretive Companies

A bank and office buildings are seen in downtown Rangoon. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy)

20.2k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

RANGOON — Burmese companies that fail to make information about their operations publicly available could soon be named and shamed under a new initiative.

While many overseas investors in Burma are subject to reporting requirements enforced by their home countries or by stock exchanges on which they are listed, locally owned firms are notoriously opaque. But the Myanmar Center for Responsible Business (MCRB), an organization set up with Western donor funding to promote good practice in commerce, is planning to launch an index later this year that it hopes will change that.

The center’s director, Vicky Bowman, explained the initiative—known as Transparency in Myanmar Enterprises, or TIME—during a seminar on responsible business hosted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Rangoon on Tuesday.

RelatedPosts

Govt ‘Blacklist’ Practices Highlight Lack of Transparency

Govt ‘Blacklist’ Practices Highlight Lack of Transparency, Activists Say

August 4, 2016
4.5k
Advocacy Group Calls for Release of Arrested Arakan Activist

Advocacy Group Calls for Release of Arrested Arakan Activist

August 4, 2016
4.3k
Women Continue to Suffer Due to Land Grabs and Militarization

Women Continue to Suffer Due to Land Grabs and Militarization

August 3, 2016
13.2k

Bowman said the MCRB would survey what information the 50 largest companies in the country put online, and publish the results after inviting companies to improve their transparency.

“What do they reveal about themselves in terms of ownership, in terms of the structure of their group, their subsidiaries, in terms of what they have in the way of anti-bribery policies and other forms of business integrity approaches?” she said, describing the focus of the survey.  “Also what they say about human rights policies, their human rights risk, particularly around land.”

Bowman, a former British Ambassador to Burma, said the results of the survey would be ready in July, and that the process would be replicated annually to encourage companies to be more open about their businesses.

“We’re currently finding the 50 companies and their contact details, which is not as easy as it should be,” she said, adding that the government-published list of 100 top taxpayers in the country was being used as a starting point to identify which companies should be included in the survey.

The lack of information made available by Burmese firms can be an impediment to overseas companies looking for local partners, especially given the risks associated with Burma’s history of human rights abuses. Some businessmen with close ties to the former military government remain on the US Treasury’s list of sanctioned individuals.

US companies investing in Burma also must file reports with the US Embassy in Rangoon that outline the due diligence they have conducted, including in relation to human rights, labor rights, corruption and the environment.

Bowman said the results of the survey would be a useful indicator of how seriously a company takes transparency. “If I were looking for a partner and it didn’t have a website, that would be a straight cross on the list as far as I’m concerned,” she said.

Some of the biggest companies operating in Burma have a limited online presence. The major construction firm Asia World and the military-owned Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings do not appear to have websites and Htoo Group, owned by tycoon Tay Za, has a website that is currently “under construction.” However, other large companies—Kanbawza Bank, Zaw Zaw’s Max Myanmar Group and CB Bank, for example—have websites displaying contact details and other company information.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: More
Simon Lewis

Simon Lewis

Similar Picks:

ABSDF Report Finds Torture
Burma

ABSDF Report Finds Torture, Leaves Questions in Killing of Its Own

by Nyein Nyein
March 16, 2015
6.2k

A report into the killing of 35 members of the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front by its own leadership documents...

Read moreDetails
‘Twilight Over Burma’ Tells Tragic Tale of Austrian Shan Princess
Burma

‘Twilight Over Burma’ Tells Tragic Tale of Austrian Shan Princess

by Nyein Nyein
May 30, 2016
11.2k

Movie about Inge Sargent, an Austrian who became a Shan princess, is screened in Thailand, shedding light on human rights...

Read moreDetails
A Story of Modern Slavery in Thailand
Burma

A Story of Modern Slavery in Thailand

by Saw Yan Naing
August 21, 2015
6k

Hoping for a brighter future, Maung Htay left Burma when he was just a teenager. He is now 42, but...

Read moreDetails
Migrants’ Hopes and Fears in Little Burma
Asia

Migrants’ Hopes and Fears in Little Burma

by Nyein Nyein
July 16, 2016
10.3k

Known locally as Mahachai, and by foreigners as ‘Little Burma,’ Thailand’s Samut Sakhon hosts up to 400,000 Burmese migrants working...

Read moreDetails
Girl Who Accused Employer of Rape Faces Charges of Theft
Burma

Girl Who Accused Employer of Rape Faces Charges of Theft

by The Irrawaddy
February 26, 2013
13.1k

A 15-year-old girl who says her employer repeatedly raped her is taken into custody after the wife of her alleged...

Read moreDetails
Did a Golden Triangle Leader Fall for a UN Peace Prize Hoax?
Burma

Did a Golden Triangle Leader Fall for a UN Peace Prize Hoax?

by Patrick Boehler and Echo Hui
January 4, 2013
4.7k

Serious doubts have been raised about the awarding of a dubious United Nations peace prize to Kokang Chairman Pai Sou...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
FDI in Timber Processing Tops $51Mln

FDI in Timber Processing Tops $51Mln, India Biggest Investor

Burma’s Parliament Approves ‘Parallel’ Media Laws

Burma’s Parliament Approves ‘Parallel’ Media Laws

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Myanmar Junta’s Recapture of Nawnghkio Shows Strategic Missteps by TNLA

Myanmar Junta’s Recapture of Nawnghkio Shows Strategic Missteps by TNLA

1 day ago
1.3k
Chinese Investment Reshapes Myanmar’s N. Shan as MNDAA Consolidates Power

Chinese Investment Reshapes Myanmar’s N. Shan as MNDAA Consolidates Power

1 week ago
3.5k

Most Read

  • Myanmar Junta’s Power Transfer Looms, but Real Control to Remain With Regime Boss

    Myanmar Junta’s Power Transfer Looms, but Real Control to Remain With Regime Boss

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta’s Recapture of Nawnghkio Shows Strategic Missteps by TNLA

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Karen Fighters Push for Myanmar Junta Outpost on Thai Border

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Indian Army Accused of Deadly Strike on Separatists in Myanmar

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Belarus Universities Teach Myanmar Junta How to Kill: JFM

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.