Several firms on US Myanmar blacklist linked to Singapore
Three companies with strong links to Singapore are among seven
firms blacklisted by the United States under fresh sanctions
against Myanmar after its deadly suppression of pro-democracy
protests.
According to President George W. Bush's order the companies which
are either based in or linked to Singapore are: Pavo Trading Pte
Ltd, Air Bagan Holdings Pte Ltd and Htoo Wood Products Pte Ltd,
which is also listed as being from Myanmar's main city,
Yangon.
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The sanctions were announced Friday and are designed to target
organisations with ties to Myanmar's ruling junta in the hope it
will pile more pressure on the regime.
"It's about time the US did something like this," said Dave
Mathieson, a consultant on Myanmar to Human Rights Watch in
Bangkok.
He said the sanctions "actually go after the money" of the junta,
adding they also served as a "wake-up call" for Singapore.
Also named is Air Bagan Ltd of Myanmar, which last month made
Singapore its second international destination. The airline's
chairman, Tay Za, arrived on the first flight.
Tay Za has "very, very strong links to the junta," said Sean
Turnell, an economics professor who specialises in Myanmar at
Australia's Macquarie University.
Tay Za is not among 11 individuals named by Bush as senior regime
officials in Myanmar who are also subject to the fresh
sanctions.
The directory at a building in Singapore's central business
district lists Air Bagan Holdings and the two other blacklisted
Singapore-linked firms as operating from a suite on the 24th
floor.
But the suite carries no sign and workers in neighbouring offices
said they knew nothing about what type of company operates from
there, although they have seen people coming and going on
weekdays.
An opaque blue sticker covered the door and obscured the interior.
Phone and email messages to Pavo Trading were not immediately
returned.
"We can't really comment right now," said Zaw Nay Oo, Air Bagan's
corporate affairs manager, who works from the airline's sales
office in a city shopping plaza.
Government spokespersons in Singapore also could not be immediately
reached for comment.
The website for Pavo Trading says it is a sister company of Htoo
Group of Companies and was established in 1999.
"The company's main interest lies in export of timber and timber
products from Myanmar," says the website.
It says the group's flagship company, Htoo Trading Co Ltd, is a
logging firm established 17 years ago.
"Htoo Trading is run by Tay Za," said Debbie Stothard of the
Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma, a human rights group.
Bush's executive order cuts off the designated officials and
organisations -- and those acting on their behalf -- from the US
financial system, the US Treasury Department said.
It means that "any assets these individuals and entities may have
that are within US jurisdiction must be frozen, and US persons are
prohibited from transacting or doing business with them," the
department said.
Singapore is chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) and has led regional criticism of the junta's crackdown
last month, which killed at least 13 people. More than 3,000 were
detained.
Observers say Singapore's tough words against the junta must be
matched by economic action given the city-state's extensive links
with the regime.
Human rights activists and other experts allege -- without
providing direct evidence -- that junta funds have flowed into, or
at least through Singapore, a regional financial centre.
Singapore strongly denies allegations that it allows banks based
here to keep illicit funds on behalf of Myanmar's secretive
generals.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told CNN television recently that
the country does not take "dirty money" and does not condone money
laundering.
The city-state was among the regional countries Bush praised Friday
for their response to Myanmar's upheaval.