Norges Bank Excludes China's ACIT, India's BEL from Pension Fund for Myanmar Ties

Norway's Norges Bank, a part of Norwegian Soverign Wealth Fund has excluded AviChina Industry & Technology Co Ltd (ACIT) and Bharat Electronics Ltd from its global pension fund for supplying military equipment to the Myanmar Junta.

Norges Bank’s Executive Board took the decision due to “unacceptable risk that the companies are selling weapons to a state that uses these weapons in ways that constitute serious and systematic breaches of the international rules on the conduct of hostilities”, a Bank statement said January 27.

The background for the decision is sales of light airplanes and other military material respectively to the military in Myanmar. The decision is based on recommendations from the Council on Ethics of 23 August 2022.

Meanwhile, Myanmar opposition publication, Irrawady.com reported that AviChina, delivered several K-8 light combat aircraft to the Myanmar military in December 2021. Bharat Electronics, an Indian producer of aviation and defense electronics, delivered a remote-controlled weapons station to the Myanmar military in July 2021, it said.

The fund, valued at 13.2 trillion kroner ($1.3 trillion) on Wednesday, owned 0.37% of the Chinese group and 0.32% of the Indian company at the end of 2021.

However, the Executive Board observed that it has not conducted an independent assessment of all aspects of the recommendations but is satisfied that the observation and exclusion criteria have been fulfilled.

Before deciding to exclude a company, Norges Bank shall consider whether the use of other measures, including the exercise of ownership rights, may be better suited. The Executive Board concludes that it is not appropriate to use other measures in these cases.