A/HRC/42/CRP.3 66. While it remains unclear how much profit Myawaddy and Innwa banks generate for the Tatmadaw, they provide an important means for MEHL and MEC, their subsidiaries and their owners to access the international banking system, even when U.S. sanctions remained in place against their parent companies, MEHL and MEC. 147 By providing a public banking service, they also provide mechanisms by which the Tatmadaw can draw funds, sometimes compulsorily, from soldiers, military veterans and other Myanmar residents to fund their operations. 67. MEHL and MEC subsidiaries have a wide range of commercial activities across various industries throughout Myanmar. Many benefit from joint ventures with domestic Myanmar businesses. As discussed later in this report, MEHL and MEC subsidiaries are extensively involved in the extraction of jade and rubies in Kachin and Shan States. 148 Some of those subsidiaries, however, operate in other parts of the country and in other extractive industries. For example, MEHL’s wholly owned subsidiary Myanmar Ruby Enterprise has a joint venture with a private company, Geo – 70 Co. Ltd., for the extraction of an “industrial raw material” in Sin Phyu Daing, in Dawei Township, Dawei District, Tanintharyi Region.149 68. MEHL and MEC subsidiaries, as well as the Tatmadaw directly, own sizable amounts of land throughout Myanmar – much of it highly valuable real estate, generating a major revenue stream. The Mission received credible information that these include MEHL-owned Pyinmabin Industrial Zone in Yangon, the Ministry of Defence-owned “Golden City” residential development in Yangon, and the Quartermaster General Office-owned land leased to the Sule Shangri-La Hotel and Sule Square commercial project.150 Some foreign companies entering the Myanmar market rent their premises in MEHL, MEC and Tatmadaw owned or leased commercial real estate. One example is Telenor, a Norwegian telecommunications company and the largest 4G network provider in Myanmar with offices in Sule Square, Yangon.151 MEHL and MEC subsidiaries are also involved in the tourism industry. For example, MEHL operates Myawaddy Travels and Tours Co. Ltd. and Nawadae Hotel and Tourism Ltd.; MEC also runs the Okkala Golf Resort.152 69. MEHL and MEC subsidiaries are also allegedly linked through familial ties to the Tatmadaw leadership.153 The Mission received confidential submissions containing details of these relationships,154 which it has not been able to substantiate given the lack of MEHL and MEC corporate reporting to the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA). 70. These subsidiaries benefit the Tatmadaw both through the revenues they generate for MEHL and MEC and also more directly as described in the section below concerning other principal means of contributing to Tatmadaw operations and wealth. 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 26 Sean Gleeson, “US eases sanctions on banks, little joys for tycoons,” Frontier Myanmar, 17 May 2016 (https://frontiermyanmar.net/en/news/us-eases-sanctions-banks-little-joy-tycoons); US Department of the Treasury, “Issuance of Executive Order Terminating Burma-related Sanctions Program; Burma-related Designations Removals,” 7 October 2016 (https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/Pages/20161007.aspx). For further information, see Annex III. MEHL jade and ruby mining companies. Reference No. 5/3/Ah Kha Ya/Pai (2124/2018), “Submitting MEHL’s information and data for EITI process,” 25 June 2018 (https://myanmareiti.org/files/uploads/mehl_information_data_for_eiti.pdf) Digital record 2005. “Telenor now largest 4G network in Myanmar,” The Myanmar Times (https://www.mmtimes.com/news/telenor-now-largest-4g-network-myanmar.html); “Norwegian Minister of International Development visited Telenor Myanmar,” Telenor, 27 March 2019 (https://www.telenor.com.mm/en/article/norwegian-minister-international-development-visitedtelenor-myanmar). See Annex II. Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC). See Annex IV. List of donors and details of donations solicited by the Tatmadaw in September 2017 Digital record 2005.