January 18, 2022
To: Investors holding shares in ENEOS Corporation, Sumitomo Corporation, Marubeni
Corporation, and/or Mitsubishi Corporation

Call for Investor Engagement to Urge Companies Continuing Business
in Myanmar toCompletely Cut Off Sources of Funding to Its Military Forces

Dear Investors,
We are civil society organizations from Japan and Myanmar that make policy proposals urging
Japanese companies to give appropriate consideration to the environment, society, and human rights
in their overseas business operations. We are sending this call for engagement to you as one of atotal of 125 major corporate investors holding shares in Japanese companies that continue to financethe four projects in Myanmar listed in the table below. The companies involved in these fourprojects are: ENEOS Corporation, Sumitomo Corporation, Marubeni Corporation, and Mitsubishi
Corporation.
Since the coup d’état by Myanmar’s military in February last year, we have pointed out to Japanesecompanies financing these projects that, by benefiting the military through their business activities,
they may be complicit in human rights violations perpetrated by the military. Through written
requests and meetings, we have also urged the companies to act in the light of their own humanrights policies and international standards. We have done this because of grave concerns thatongoing projects provide financial resources for the military and financially support the Myanmar
military’s international crimes and grave violations of human rights, including murder, wrongfularrest and arbitrary detainment, sexual violence, forced disappearances, and torture.

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Table: Possible flow of funds to Myanmar’s military via each project and steps requested of each company
Project name and financers (percentage oftotal funding)Thilawa Special Economic Zone （SEZ）
Development Project1
・Japanese private companies (39%)● Sumitomo Corporation (32.2%)● Marubeni Corporation (32.2%)● Mitsubishi Corporation (32.2%)● Mizuho Bank (1.13%)● Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation(1.13%)● MUFG Bank (1.13%)
・Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)(10%)
・Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holdings (41%)
・Thilawa SEZ Management Committee (10%)
Yetagun Gas Project2
・Petronas Carigali (40.9%)
・Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE)(20.5%)
・PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP)(19.3%）
・Nippon Oil Exploration (19.3%)● JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration
Corporation (which is 100% subsidiaryof ENEOS) (40%)● Mitsubishi Corporation (10%)● Minister of Economy, Trade andIndustry, Japan (50%)
Landmark Project (Yoma Central Project)3

Possible flow of funds to military
・・・・・・Special Purpose Company formed by Japaneseparticipants● Mitsubishi Corporation● Mitsubishi Estate● Japan Overseas Infrastructure
Investment Corporation for Transport& Urban Development (JOIN)
・Serge Pun & Associates’ SPA Group・Asia Development Bank (ADB)・International Finance Corporation (IFC)
・Thilawa Area Port Terminal Operation Project5
・Special Purpose Company formed by Japaneseparticipants (35%)● Sumitomo Corporation (36%)● Toyota Tsusho Corporation (34%)● Japan Overseas Infrastructure
Investment Corporation for Transport& Urban Development (JOIN) (30%)
・Kamigumi (51%)
・EFR Group (14%)

Possibility of partial flow of dividends
to the military, due to 10% joint
funding by the Thilawa SEZ
Management Committee (Myanmargovernment)
The military has already taken controlof Thilawa SEZ Management
Committee personnel (the chairman
was arrested and detained after thecoup d’état, and a new chairman wassubsequently appointed by themilitary), and military involvement inthe entire project may increase

Steps requested of eachcompany
・ Suspension of dividendpayments
・ Elimination of influence
from the military on
decision-making about
SEZ operations
・ Withdrawal fromproject if benefiting themilitary cannot beavoided

The military is already in effective
control of relevant government
ministries, Central Bank, and the
Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise(MOGE), and it is not possible toreliably prevent revenue payments,including profits from MOGE’s
investment in natural gas fields andtransmission pipelines, from being
used by the Myanmar military
It is not possible to reliably prevent
payments levied on natural gas
production and transmission basedon production sharing agreements,etc.from flowing to the military
Because the military is already ineffective control of relevant
government ministries, and land forthe project is sub-leased fromMyanma Railways under the Ministryof Rail Transportation4, it is notpossible to reliably prevent theseland lease payments from flowing to
the military・ Suspend all payments toBecause the military is already ineffective control of relevant
government ministries, it is notpossible to reliably prevent payments
under the concession contract with
the Myanma Port Authority (MPA)
such as usage fees from flowing to
the military・ Suspend all payments tomilitary-controlledentities, holding them ina protected account until
democracy isestablished., since themilitary has placed MPA
under effective control
by the regime
・ Withdrawal fromproject if benefiting themilitary cannot beavoided

military-controlled
entities, holding them ina protected account until
democracy is established.

・ Withdrawal fromproject if benefiting themilitary cannot beavoided

・ Investigation ofwhether land lease
payments and otherproject returns benefit
the military, andwithdrawal if benefiting
the military cannot beavoided2

Each of the above four companies, ENEOS Corporation, Sumitomo Corporation, Marubeni
Corporation, and Mitsubishi Corporation, has its own human rights policy, and has declared that itsupports, and is implementing, international-level human rights policies such as the United Nations
Global Compact and Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. However, although theabove companies have responded to written requests from NGOs such as ours by expressing
concerns over violence and human rights violations perpetrated by Myanmar’s military, they have
not officially declared specific plans to avoid the risk of their own business activities in Myanmar
abetting grave human rights violations by the military, or plans to alter the course of their own
business activities.
Accordingly, we request all holders of shares in the Japanese financers of the above projects topromptly engage with the companies concerned and urge them to take measures listed under the“Steps requested of each company” in the table above. If the companies do not take measures evenafter your engagement, we would like you to consider divestment. Please refer to the Backgroundon the Situation in Myanmar attached for further information on grave human rights violations by
Myanmar’s military that amount to international crimes.
We would highly appreciate it if you could spare time to reply to the contact address listed below by
February 28 to share your course of action for addressing this request and any other views you may
have on the matter. We look forward to receiving your feedback.
Sincerely,
Yuka Kiguchi
Executive Director, Mekong Watch
Kanna Mitsuta
Executive Director, Friends of the Earth Japan
Yadanar Maung
Spokesperson, Justice For Myanmar
Tomokazu Matsumoto
President, ayus:Network of Buddhists Volunteers on International Cooperation
Tokiko Ito
Secretary General, The Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC)
Koji Sugihara
Representative, Network Against Japan Arms Trade (NAJAT)

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Contact address:
Mekong Watch
3F Aoki Bldg., Taito 1-12-11,
Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-0016,
Japan
TEL: +81-3-3832-5034
EMAIL: contact@mekongwatch.org
Attachments:
・ Background on the Situation in Myanmar―――
Notes:
1."Presentation of Myanmar Japan Thilawa Development Ltd.(MJTD)," Sumitomo Corporation, March 14, 2018,https://www.sumitomocorp.com/-/media/Files/hq/ir/explain/business/en/20180314MJTD_ENG.pdf?la=en
2. Overview of the Yetagun project by JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration,
https://www.nex.jx-group.co.jp/english/project/southeast_asia/myanmar.html (last accessed November 27, 2021)
3. "Mitsubishi Corporation and Mitsubishi Estate Agree to Commence the Landmark Project, a Large Mixed-Use
Redevelopment Project in Downtown Yangon, Myanmar," press release by Mitsubishi Corporation and Mitsubishi
Estate Co., Ltd., July 12, 2016, https://www.mitsubishicorp.com/jp/en/pr/archive/2016/html/0000030584.html
4. "Initial Environmental Examination, MYA: Yangon Urban Renewal and District Cooling Project," AsianDevelopment Bank, February 2014, p.22,
https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/project-document/80805/47913-014-iee-01.pdf
5. "Stake Acquired in Port Terminal Operating Company in Myanmar," news release by Sumitomo Corporation andToyota Tsusho Corporation, January 30, 2019, https://www.sumitomocorp.com/en/jp/news/release/2019/group/11310

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Background on the Situation in Myanmar
In Myanmar, the military (also known as the Tatmadaw) has committed gross human rights
violations over the past several decades1. Some of the violations committed against civilians in
ethnic minority regions are deemed to amount to international crimes2.
Since the coup d'etat on February 1, 2021, many citizens have expressed opposition to theresumption of military rule. However, the military has responded with violence, and 1,393 people
have been killed and 11,296 detained as of January 1, 20223. In July 2021, the Independent
Investigative Mechanism on Myanmar (IIMM) set up by the UN Human Rights Council found that
security forces including the military have “committed serious international crimes” since the coup,
such as murders, persecution, arbitrary detentions, sexual assaults, forced disappearances, andtorture4. According to the IIMM, these crimes may amount to crimes against humanity.
Even before the coup, armed conflict had continued for decades in ethnic minority regions, andmany civilians have become victims of forced labor, forced relocation, sexual violence,extrajudicial killing committed by the military as part of its clearance operations against ethnic
armed organizations5. At times such operations are carried out to pursue development projects6.
During construction of a pipeline from the Yadana natural gas field to Thailand, the military set up
outposts along the pipeline route and subjected local ethnic communities to forced relocation,
forced labor, looting, rape, and summary executions7. Several years later, a pipeline from theYetagun field was laid along the same route.
In 2017, the military attacked villages of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State and committedkillings, rapes, arbitrary arrests, and mass arson of civilian homes. The independent international
fact-finding mission on Myanmar (IIFFMM) established by the UN Human Rights Council foundthat during this operation the military committed crimes against humanity as well as violations ofinternational humanitarian law amounting to war crimes8. Further, Gambia filed a case at theInternational Court of Justice against Myanmar for alleged genocide committed during theseattacks, and the case is ongoing. After the coup, armed conflict in ethnic minority regions havecontinued, intensified, or reignited9. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, as ofDecember 2021, there are an estimated 296,000 internally displaced people in Myanmar due toconflict and unrest since the coup10.

See, e.g., Written updates of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) on
the situation of human rights in Myanmar, September 16, 2021, p.2.
2Ibid.
3
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, Daily Briefing in Relation to the Military Coup, January 1, 2022.
4
Report of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, July 5, 2021, p.9.
5See, e.g., The Shan Human Rights Foundation & The Shan Women’s Action Network, License to Rape: The Burmese
military regime’s use of sexual violence in the ongoing war in Shan State, May 2002); Shan Human Rights Foundation,
Dispossessed: Forced Relocation and Extrajudicial Killings in Shan State, April 1998.
6See, e.g., EarthRights International, Total Denial Continues: Earth Rights Abuses Along the Yadana and Yetagun
Pipelines in Burma (2000); Karenni Development Research Group, Dammed by Burma’s Generals: The Karenni
Experience with Hydropower Development From Lawpita to the Salween, 2006.
7
EarthRights International, supra note 7.
8Report of the independent international fact-finding mission on Myanmar, September 17, 2018, pp. 374, 376.
9UNHCHR, supra note <1> pp. 9, 11.
10UNHCR, Myanmar Emergency Update as of 17 December 2021.
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The military has built its own network of companies to finance its activities. In its 2019 report11, theIIFFMM detailed how the military utilized its business relationships with its holding companies andforeign corporations to support its operations against ethnic minorities. Further, because “therevenues the military earns from domestic and foreign business deals substantially enhances its
ability to carry out gross violations of human rights,” the IIFFMM recommended that “no businessenterprise active in Myanmar or trading with or investing in businesses in Myanmar should enter
into or remain in a business relationship of any kind with the security forces of Myanmar, inparticular the Tatmadaw, or any enterprise owned or controlled by them”12. Some of the more than
400 Japanese companies conducting business in Myanmar may well be contributing to human rights
violations through the military’s network of businesses.

Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, Economic interests of the Myanmar military, August5, 2019.
12Ibid., p.66.
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