In Myanmar, relationships between elite businessmen and the generals are often cultivated over decades and bequeathed from one generation to another within families whose business empires eventually grow to encompass multiple industries. A case in point is Sit Taing Aung, a major arms supplier to the junta whose origin story lies in his father Aung Phone’s ties with the previous regime. Exploring Sit Taing Aung’s rise in the context of his father’s career is illustrative of the way crony ties are developed and maintained within families and across regimes.
In the late 1990s, then forestry minister and ex-general Aung Phone was a key player in promoting the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) regime’s ambitious plans to develop an ecotourism industry. Ironically, it was in this capacity that he forged a close relationship with then rising tycoon Tay Za, who had become one of Myanmar’s richest men by cutting down large swathes of Myanmar’s teak forests.
Myanmar has some of Asia’s largest remaining expanses of forest, from the slopes of the Himalayan foothills in the north to steamy rainforest in the south, and timber has for decades provided an important income stream for the country’s military regimes.
As Aung Phone and Tay Za’s relationship flourished, the Forestry Ministry issued raw-timber export licenses to two of Aung Phone’s sons, Sit Taing Aung and Sit Thway Aung. The brothers set up Woodland Travels, which was given the seemingly incongruous jobs of building ecoresorts and cutting down trees for timber. Sit Taing Aung also became one of the four directors of Tay Za’s Htoo Trading Company. This is nothing unusual: In Myanmar it is something of a tradition for top businessmen to put generals’ sons and daughters on their boards of directors in return for protection and favoritism.
After building his wealth through construction and other businesses, Sit Taing Aung set up a new enterprise, Suntac Group of Companies. When General Khin Nyunt, Secretary 1 of the SPDC and head of its notorious intelligence service, was at the height of his powers, Suntac thrived, while presenting a professional public image by organizing several seminars on forestry and natural resources management. As his influence grew, Sit Taing Aung amassed a range of titles and positions, from becoming Mexico’s honorary consul to Myanmar, to being appointed chairman of the Myanmar Steel Association. Meanwhile, Suntac’s interests have widened considerably, including into areas that have prompted scrutiny and sanctions from advocacy groups and foreign governments.
According to Suntac’s website, the “main objective” of Suntac Technologies, one of Suntac Group’s subsidiaries, is “to provide a comprehensive range of services to enhance the rapid technological growth and infrastructural development within Myanmar” through its expertise in “Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Surveying, Aerial Mapping, Computer Technology, Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System technology and Geology.” It touts its “experience in Project implementation in the fields of Transportation related Engineering studies; Highway and Railways construction; Agricultural development; studies relating to Dams and Irrigation systems; and National Spatial Database development.”
But according to the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar, an independent, pro-democracy advisory group of international experts, Sit Taing Aung’s activities don’t end there. “U Sitt Taing Aung, the owner of Suntac Group of Companies, is reported to have a military import license to import raw materials needed to build arms factories and make weapons in Myanmar.”
In addition to his close ties to the current ranks of top brass, Sit Taing Aung has relationships with other major arms suppliers including Tay Za himself, as well as Aung Hlaing Oo of Myanmar Chemical & Machinery Co. and Dr. Naing Htut Aung of International Gateways Group of Companies. Sit Taing Aung, like many children of military leaders, holds a military import license that allows him to acquire raw materials for building arms factories and producing weapons. He has also imported weapons from Ukraine and other Eastern European countries.
Justice for Myanmar (JFM), an activist group, revealed that Sit Taing Aung also owns Yatanarpon Aviation Support Co., which supplied aircraft parts from Ukroboronservice, a state-owned company in Ukraine, to Myanmar’s military in 2020 and 2021. Yatanarpon is registered at the same address as Myanmar Consultancy Co., a major supplier of fighter jet parts, air surveillance radar components and other military equipment to Myanmar’s armed forces. Myanmar Consultancy was an online exhibitor at Russia’s MAKS 2021 air show, which Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing attended in person.
Sit Taing Aung is also a managing partner at Mottama Development Group Company, where his partner is Yang Ho, who holds the title of managing director. Yang Ho is a Sino-Myanmar real estate tycoon, reportedly born to an ethnic Chinese family in northeastern Myanmar. Today, the key figures in Mottama Development appear to be laying low; the company’s business listing carries a banner reading “permanently closed.”
According to the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar, “U Sitt Taing Aung represented Mottama Holdings Limited at the B2B forum in Prague in June 2019, where he requested to meet Czech companies with skills in steel manufacturing for the defense industry.”
On Oct. 31, 2023, Sit Taing Aung was among those targeted when Canada, the UK and the US announced a new round of coordinated, targeted sanctions against the regime and some of its arms suppliers. JFM said it “welcome[d] the latest round of targeted sanctions imposed against the illegal Myanmar military junta, its cronies and arms brokers”.
In a press release, the British government stated that Sit Taing Aung “has been involved in the repression of the civilian population in Myanmar through the supply to Myanmar of restricted goods and/or restricted technology, and/or of material related to such goods or technology. Namely, through his role as having been director of Yatanarpon Aviation Services and work with Mottama Holdings.”
Among his peers in Yangon’s business elite, Sit Taing Aung reportedly has an image of being “professional and fair”, according to a young businessman who was close to him. He has sought to keep a low profile, and is reportedly troubled by the information on his background and business activities that has come out on social media and been reported by exiled Myanmar media organizations. At one point, close friends even approached exiled news agencies on his behalf, asking him to take down articles about his involvement in the arms trade. Apparently, in addition to wanting to avoid social punishment, Sit Taing Aung was concerned that his children, who were studying abroad at the time, would have their visas revoked. Last year, Sit Taing Aung was said to fear assassination by People’s Defense Force anti-regime resistance groups, believing he is on their hit lists, though no attempts have been made on his life so far.
Since 2022, Sit Taing Aung has reportedly been living between Dubai and Yangon, among other places, reflecting a general trend that has seen many tycoons move abroad since the 2021 coup plunged the country into chaos. Thailand is the most popular choice, with some preferring Dubai and a dwindling number (due a recent crackdown on restrictions on doing business with the junta) opting for Singapore. “It is just for a brief stay and I don’t want to be killed,” he told a friend before leaving for Dubai.
