[3] Founded in 1997 by Lt General Tin Hla to establish profitable heavy industries that can provide the Burmese military access to supplies of important materials (e.g. cement and rubber), MEC's operations are shrouded in secrecy.
[7] The former Vice-President of Burma, Tin Aung Myint Oo, is a former Myanmar Economic Corporation chairman.
[10] MEC has remained on the United States' list of sanctioned companies due to its affiliation to the Burmese military.
[13] The corporation's capital was established through revenues generated from the public auctioning of state-owned enterprises throughout the 1990s.
[15] Following the February, 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, in which the Tatmadaw seized power from the elected civilian government, the United States sanctioned MEC, March 25, 2021, for the company's association with, and support of, the Tatmadaw,[1] -- impounding U.S.-held assets of the company, and forbidding U.S. nationals from doing business with them.