Despite the ongoing crisis in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, it is business as usual for the private sector there and elsewhere in Myanmar.
It was reported last week that the Chinese conglomerate, China International Trust Investment Cooperation agreed with the Myanmar Government to take a 70% stake in the Kyaukpyhu Sea Port in Rakhine State. The port is part of the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and is the gateway for oil and gas to be transported across Myanmar into China’s Yunnan Province, forming part of China’s multi-country infrastructure initiative, the One Belt One Road. It also allows oil and gas to bypass the Malacca Straits, thus cutting down on security risks and transportation costs for China’s energy needs.
That the Myanmar Government is relying on Chinese investment in Rakhine State puts the Chinese state-business nexus in a vital position to influence the Rohingya issue and should thus be able to apply direct pressure to end atrocities there.
This is a move that the World Bank has taken as it delayed a $200million development loan over concerns of “the violence, destruction and forced displacement of the Rohingya.” Pressure on oil and gas companies is also increasing. A letter signed by 31 investor organizations representing more than $53 billion in assets was sent to the executives of six of the biggest oil and gas companies, noting that their investment in Myanmar “creates a special obligation for [the company] to both express its concern over recent events and to reassess its relationship with the government in light of the Burmese government’s recent military actions against Rohingya communities.” This follows a similar letter sent to US company Chevron last August.
The impacts of natural resource extraction in other parts of Myanmar, particularly those that have experienced decades of armed conflict have further exacerbated conflict. A call from the Burma Environmental Working Group (BEWG) for a moratorium on natural resource projects until a federal constitution has been adopted and a Union Peace Accord has been signed, reflects the huge concerns over negative impacts of natural resource extraction projects. According to the BEWG statement, “Bilateral ceasefires with ethnic armed groups in resource rich ethnic areas have unleashed rampant natural resource exploitation, especially in the hydropower, mining and agribusiness sectors. Controlled by the central government and secured by the armed forces, these natural resource projects have expanded Naypyitaw’s (the government-Ed) political, economic and military domination.”
