Myanmar Economic Corporation

The Myanmar Economic Corporation (Burmese: မြန်မာ့စီးပွားရေး ကော်ပိုရေးရှင်း; abbreviated MEC) is one of the two major conglomerates and holding companies operated by the Burmese military, the other being the Myanma Economic Holdings Limited. The U.S. Treasury Dept. reports that MEC "is a holding company with businesses in the mining, manufacturing, and telecommunications sectors, as well as companies that supply natural resources to the military, and operate factories producing goods for use by the military."^[1][2] As of August 2022, Nyo Saw is the chairman of MEC.^[3]

Founded in 1997 by Lt General Tin Hla to establish profitable heavy industries that can provide the Burmese military access to supplies of important materials (e.g. cement and rubber), MEC's operations are shrouded in secrecy.^[4] Revenues generated from MEC have strengthened the Burmese military's autonomy from civilian oversight, and has contributed to the military's financial operations in "a wide array of international human rights and humanitarian law violations."^[5]