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The Seventh Swedish National Pension Fund (AP7) announced yesterday that it is excluding the Indian arms companies Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the Thai oil company PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP), and the Japanese investment giant Sumitomo Corporation.
BEL and HAL have sold weapons and other equipment to the military in Myanmar, including after the military coup attempt. PTTEP operates two offshore gas projects with the military junta, which are a major source of its foreign revenue. Sumitomo Corporation is a joint operator of the junta-controlled telecoms company MPT, which has installed a commercialised version of China’s Great Firewall in its data centres and collaborates with the junta for digital surveillance.
The four companies were named in a joint review of Swedish pension fund holdings linked to the Myanmar military published by the Swedish Burma Committee (SBC), Justice For Myanmar (JFM) and Fair Finance Guide in November. It found that Swedish pension funds invest SEK 4.6 billion (US$484 million) in 12 companies that support the military junta in Myanmar. By far the largest investment is made by AP7, where six million Swedes have their pension money.
SBC, JFM and Fair Finance Guide continue to call on AP7 to live up to its human rights commitments and take immediate action to cut all ties to the military in Myanmar. The fund should demand that the companies it invests in end all business relationships with the junta. If the companies are not willing to terminate their business relationships with the junta, the fund should divest their holdings in these companies.
– We welcome the decision to exclude these companies. Swedish pension money should not be invested in companies that sell weapons to or fund the Myanmar military junta. However, the pension funds must take further action against all the companies we named and ensure no funds are being invested in companies that are arming or financing a brutal and illegal junta in Myanmar, says Yadanar Maung, spokesperson for Justice For Myanmar.
The fund also announced that it is introducing a new risk-based approach when it comes to companies that are criticized for serious abuses and environmental destruction. This means that it can act in many more cases instead of referring to the fact that the company has not been convicted in court or singled out by the UN.
– This is exactly how you have to behave as an investor to land on the right foot in sustainability work. Now the fund must take action and act against the other companies that support the brutal junta in Myanmar, says Jakob König at Fair Finance Guide.
– We welcome today's announcement. I also hope that the Swedish government will reevaluate the decision to phase out aid to the democracy movement in Myanmar. Swedish money should not go to companies that support the military junta, but we should support those who risk their lives to stand up to the junta and fight for democracy, says Kristina Jelmin, executive at the Swedish Burma Committee.
Read the review of the AP funds’ investments here.
