Kanbawza Group of Companies

The Kanbawza Group of Companies (Burmese: ကမ္ဘောဇကုမ္ပဏီအုပ်စု; abbreviated as KBZ) is a set of Myanmar-based companies across industries such as construction, garments, insurance, banking, oil, communications, cement, aviation and mining that bear the KBZ brand.[1]

Companies bearing the Kanbawza brand
Native name
ကမ္ဘောဇကုမ္ပဏီအုပ်စု
IndustryConstruction, garments, insurance, banking, oil, communications, cement, aviation and mining
Founded1994 (1994)
Headquarters
Yangon
,
Myanmar
BrandsAir KBZ

Myanmar Airways Intl. Kanbawza Bank

IKBZ Insurance Company
OwnerAung Ko Win
Websitewww.kbzgroup.com.mm

Each company operates as separate independent entities.

History

The first KBZ ventures were founded in 1988 by U Aung Ko Win in textile trading and mining. This subsequently expanded into the finance, agriculture, aviation, manufacturing, and tourism sectors.[2]

Aung Ko Win (also known as Saya Kyaung) is a former schoolteacher with close connections to General Maung Aye, the former second in command of the former military junta, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).[1] He is married to Nan Than Htwe, the niece of Win Myint, a former SPDC official.[1] In January 2000, Kanbawza was awarded a banking license to operate Kanbawza Bank, which was first established in Taunggyi as an independent business.[3]

In 2017, daughters Nang Lang Kham and Nang Kham Noung stepped assumed leadership positions in Kanbawza, playing an active management role as Deputy CEOs in KBZ Bank.[4]

Controversy

In 2017, the Burmese military launched a fundraising campaign to fund "clearance operations" in northern Rakhine State, as part of the broader Rohingya conflict.[5] In response, KBZ Group's Brighter Future Foundation donated over 3.469 billion kyats (approximately US$2.48 million) to the armed forces.[5]

Companies bearing the 'Kanbawza' brand

References
  1. Aung Min; Toshihiro Kudo (2014). "Business Conglomerates in the Context of Myanmar's Economic Reform" (PDF). Myanmar's Integration with Global Economy: Outlook and Opportunities. Bangkok Research Report. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  2. "KBZ Group". KBZ Group. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  3. "Burmese Tycoons Part I". The Irrawaddy. June 2000.
  4. Gluckman, Ron. "A Family Of Entrepreneurs Has Built KBZ Into a Finance Powerhouse In Myanmar". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  5. "Economic interests of the Myanmar military". United Nations Human Rights Council. 2019-09-16. Retrieved 2020-06-07.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.