Singapore remains the top investor in junta-ruled Myanmar despite growing calls from human rights groups to block the flow of funds, arms, and jet fuel to the regime.
Businesses in the Lion City invested US$456 million in projects in Myanmar last year, according to the junta-controlled Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA).
Among 53 countries or regions that put money into Myanmar, the largest investors were Singapore, China, and Thailand as of the end of 2024. The sectors with the most investment are energy, oil and gas, and manufacturing.
According to a report by activist group Justice for Myanmar (JFM) last week, a subsidiary of Singapore-listed Interra Resources has provided over 2.3 million barrels of oil worth over US$150 million from onshore fields in Magwe Region to junta-controlled Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) since the 2021 coup.
MOGE, the regime’s largest source of foreign revenue, has been sanctioned by the EU and U.S. for its central role in funding the junta’s military campaign. The oil is a critical resource for the junta, enabling it to produce fuel for its military aircraft, tanks, and trucks.
While Western governments have imposed targeted sanctions on the Myanmar military and its business interests, a lack of coordination has hampered their effectiveness, and they have failed to target entire networks.
Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have yet to impose any sanctions on the junta.
Singapore-based Emerging Towns & Cities (ETC) directly funded the Myanmar military by paying a premium of S$900,000 in the first six months of last year for Golden City, a real estate complex in Yangon on land leased from the army’s Office of the Quartermaster General.
Earlier financial reports show payments of S$1 million in 2022 and S$2 million in 2023, bringing the total to over S$5 million since the coup.
In August 2023, 200 organizations signed an open letter to Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs urging it to investigate Singapore-based companies “involved in and enabling the transfer of arms and dual-use goods and technology transferred, transited, shipped or brokered through Singapore to the Myanmar military.”
They called on the Singaporean government to punish such deals with sanctions and block the junta’s access to Singapore’s financial system.
They pointed out that the “long-lasting and well-documented reliance by military-linked companies on the Singaporean banking sector gives Singapore more influence on Myanmar than most other ASEAN member states.”
China, Thailand, Hong Kong, and the U.K. were the other top investors last year. China invested US$75 million, Thailand $64 million, Hong Kong $27 million, and the U.K. $4 million.
