Thilawa SEZ Holdings to pick independent director

Thilawa SEZ Holdings to pick independent director

Published on Wednesday, 30 April 2014 16:25

The government has instructed the Thilawa SEZ Holdings Co Ltd to appoint independent directors.

The independent directors must not be the company's shareholders.

The Myanmar government owns ten per cent of the company while 41 per cent is privately owned, with a handful of influential companies investing over Ks 39 million (US$ 40,206) in the shares. The remaining 49 per cent is owned by Japan. 

"We will hold a shareholder meeting and appoint the directors. Any company in any country has independent directors. The government instructed me to include directors who are not shareholders," said Sett Aung, chairman for Thilawa SEZ Administration Committee.

The Myanmar companies already investing in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone Holdings Company are: 

FMI Co Ltd, Golden Land East Asia Development Ltd, Myanmar Agribusiness Public Corporation Ltd, Myanmar Agricultural General Development Ltd, Myanmar Edible Oil Industrial Public Corporation Ltd, Myanmar Sugar Development Plc, Myanmar Technologies and Investment Corporation Development Ltd, National Development Company Group Ltd, and New City Development Plc.

The shares offered to the public were overwhelmingly subscribed by various private banks and the share certificates will be issued in May. 

Win Aung, chairman for Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce (UMFCCI), and Thein Wai, chairman of First Myanmar Investment Company Ltd (FMI), were appointed chairman and vice chairman of the Thilawa SEZ Holdings, respectively.

Some have criticised the appointment of major shareholders as chairman and vice chairman, as this could lead to a conflict of interest.  

The Thilawa Special Economic Zone project is a joint venture between governments and private companies from Myanmar and Japan. 

Japan owns 49 per cent of the shares. Of total, 39 per cent is owned by MMS Thilawa Development Co Ltd, the consortium of Mitsubishi Corp, Marubeni Corp and Sumitomo Corp. The remaining 10 per cent is owned by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2014/04/30/thilawa-sez-holdings-to-pick-independent-director/