STOCKHOLM: Three NGOs mentioned on Friday (Nov 28) that Swedish pension funds had invested US$485 million in firms promoting arms to or doing enterprise with Myanmar’s army rulers.
Sweden’s greatest pension fund responded that it was reviewing its investments and will determine inside weeks to cease placing cash into a few of the corporations named.
The Swedish Committee for Burma, Justice for Myanmar and Truthful Finance Information mentioned pension funds had invested 4.6 million kronor (US$485 million) into 12 firms promoting weapons to or doing enterprise with Myanmar’s army.
“By far the biggest funding is made by the Seventh Swedish Pension Fund (AP7), the place six million Swedes have their pension cash,” mentioned the examine, which was carried out by the three teams.
It mentioned the fund had put 2.7 billion kronor into firms – together with 620 million kronor into Indian corporations Bharat Electronics and Hindustan Aeronautics – “which have exported weapons and army gear to the army” in Myanmar.
The examine additionally named investments by AP7 and different Swedish pension funds in Thai oil firm PTT and Japanese telephone operator KDDI.
AP7 spokesman Johan Floren mentioned the fund frequently reviewed its investments.
“The scenario in Myanmar has been a disaster for a number of years,” Floren instructed AFP.
“Over time now we have sought data and we exclude firms twice a 12 months on the idea of this data. We’ve got already excluded some firms,” he added.
Floren mentioned AP7 was “very conscious” of the chance posed by some firms.
“For others, there are accusations however we wrestle to seek out the weather that verify them. And a few have fairly merely by no means been recognized … earlier than on this context,” he added.
AP7 would full its personal evaluate in about two weeks, and it was “very attainable” that some corporations named by the NGOs can be excluded from AP7’s funding portfolio, he mentioned.
Myanmar’s army seized energy in a 2021 coup, sparking a civil conflict.
It has mentioned that phased elections attributable to begin on Dec 28 are step one in the direction of reconciliation.
However opposition teams have mentioned they may boycott the election and rights screens have mentioned it won’t be free.
