Htoo Group of Companies explained

Htoo Group of Companies
Predecessor:Htoo Supply Company
Location City:Yangon
Location Country:Myanmar
Location:5 Pyay Road, Hlaing Township
Key People:Tay Za, Chairman and Founder
Thiha, Vice Chairman
Pye Phyo Tay Za, Managing Director
Num Employees:40,000[1]
Subsid:Air Bagan Holdings Company Ltd.
Htoo Wood Products Company Ltd
Htoo Trading Company
Ayer Shwe Wah Company Ltd.
Myanmar Avia Export Company Ltd.
Myanmar Treasure Resorts
Pavo Aircraft Leasing Company Ltd.
Pavo Trading Company Ltd.

The Htoo Group of Companies (HGC, Burmese: ထူးအုပ်စု ကုမ္ပဏီ) is a Burmese holding company, with headquarters at 5 Pyay Road, Hlaing Township, Yangon, Myanmar. HGC is the parent company of Air Bagan, a privately held Burmese airline company. The company has several subsidiaries. Htoo Wood Products Company Ltd. is engaged in logging and export of timber (especially teak). Htoo Trading Company, is engaged in construction, property development, agriculture, transportation, shipping, mining, hotels and tourism operations. Htoo Trading Company and Asia World Company were the first two construction companies granted contracts to build the new national capital in Naypyidaw. Htoo Trading Company is Burma's top private exporter and fifth largest overall, with gross revenues of $65.1 million.[2]

History

The HGC was established as Htoo Trading Company in 1990 http://htoo.com/about-us/executive-summary/# . The name Htoo came from Htoo Supply Company established in 1958, by U Zaw Nyunt and Daw Htoo, the parents of Thida Zaw, Tay Za's wife.[3] After the coup d'état by Ne Win's Burma Socialist Programme Party in 1962, Htoo Supply Company was nationalized. However, its rice mills and saw mills continued to operate as a family business.[4]

Htoo Trading Company was established in 1990, by Tay Za, Thida Zaw, Myo Thant and Yu Zaw, soon after the 1988 coup d'état led by General Saw Maung. Myo Thant sold and handover the Htoo Trading Company to Tay Za and, the company was engaged in logging and timber exports in addition to its core rice milling and saw milling business.[5] The company gradually gained access to large areas of virgin forest near the Burma-Thailand border.[6] Htoo Trading Company was later expanded into the Htoo Group of Companies (HGC) as a result of diversification into other business sectors, reinvestment and expansion.

Leadership

Subsidiaries

Subsidiaries of HTOO Group of Companies include

Sanctions

On October 18, 2007, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury imposed financial sanctions against Tay Za, his wife Thidar Zaw, his eldest son Pyae Phyo Tay Za, and five of the companies controlled by Tay Za, including Htoo Trading Company and Air Bagan.[10] The sanctions were instituted in response to protests against the junta on the streets of many cities in Burma in September 2007.[11]

On 5 February 2008, those sanctions were expanded to include some of Tay Za's partners, including Aung Thet Mann, Thiha and U Kyaw Thein, as well as HGC itself. Also named in the new sanctions order were Khin Lay Thet, wife of General Thura Shwe Mann, Myint Myint Ko, wife of Construction Minister Mon Saw Tun, Tin Lin Myint, wife of Lieutenant General Ye Myint, the head of Military Affairs Security, and Myint Myint Soe, wife of Minister of Foreign Affairs Nyan Win.[12]

The sanctions were expanded pursuant to Executive Order 13448, which authorizes the United States Secretary of the Treasury to designate senior regime officials, human rights violators in Burma, persons engaged in public corruption in Burma, financial and material supporters of the Government of Burma, and spouses and dependent children of previously designated individuals. The designation freezes any assets the designees may have subject to U.S. jurisdiction, and prohibits all financial and commercial transactions by any U.S. person with the designated companies and individuals. The business being related to the government of Myanmar, since 2008, it is also subject to European Union sanctions which include seizing corporate and personal assets.[13]

On 7 October 2016, the United States Department of the Treasury implemented termination of the Burma Sanctions Program[14] in accordance with the Executive Order issued on the same date by the U.S President Barack Obama,[15] which effectively removed Tay Za, along with other Business Tycoons from OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals list, effectively removing HTOO Group of Companies and its subsidiaries off the previously imposed sanctions.

On 2 September 2021, the group and its chairman Tay Za were sanctioned by the UK for providing financial support and arms to Myanmar's military.[16]

Notes and References

  1. News: How sanctions made Burma's richest man. 12 August 2011. Financial Times. 12 August 2011.
  2. News: Govt dominates foreign trade as gas sales pump up exports . . 4–10 June 2007 . Ye Lwin and Kyaw Thu . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120209115127/http://www.mmtimes.com/no369/b004.htm . 9 February 2012 .
  3. Burma's Showy Crony. Montlake. Simon. 28 September 2011. Forbes. 10 April 2012.
  4. Web site: Tay Za: Keynote Speech on Third Anniversary of Air Bagan . 2010-01-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100227183959/http://www.airbagan.com/keynote-speech01.htm . 2010-02-27 . dead .
  5. Money Men . September 2008 . The Irrawaddy . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120217174457/http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=14151 . February 17, 2012 .
  6. Tay Za Grounded. The Irrawaddy. 23 October 2007. Wai Moe. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20100811125517/http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=9085. 11 August 2010.
  7. Tracking the Tycoons . September 2008 . . The Irrawaddy . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120217174457/http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=14151 . 2012-02-17 .
  8. News: Drugs and astrology: how 'Bulldog' wields power. The Guardian. 7 October 2007. Peter Beaumont and Alex Duval Smith.
  9. News: No plan to cut SIM card prices, says govt. 25 September 2012. Weekly Eleven. 3 October 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120927075826/http://elevenmyanmar.com/business/770-no-plan-to-cut-sim-card-prices-says-govt. 27 September 2012.
  10. Executive Order 13448: Blocking Property and Prohibiting Certain Transactions Related to Burma, 18 October 2007.
  11. Smart sanctions target Myanmar tycoon. https://web.archive.org/web/20080512040623/http://atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/JB21Ae01.html. unfit. 12 May 2008. Asia Times Online. 21 February 2008. Brian McCartan.
  12. News: HP-807: Treasury Action Targets Financial Network of Burmese Tycoon and Regime Henchman Tay Za. US Department of Treasury. 5 February 2008. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090830093633/http://ustreas.gov/press/releases/hp807.htm. 30 August 2009.
  13. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2010:118:0010:0042:EN:PDF COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 411/2010 of 10 May 2010 amending Council Regulation (EC) No 194/2008 renewing and strengthening the restrictive measures in respect of Burma/Myanmar
  14. News: TREASURY IMPLEMENTS TERMINATION OF BURMA SANCTIONS PROGRAM. 7 October 2016. 16 October 2016.
  15. News: TERMINATION OF EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO THE ACTIONS AND POLICIES OF THE GOVERNMENT OF BURMA. 7 October 2016. 16 October 2016.
  16. Web site: Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announces new Myanmar sanctions.

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