Almost two dozen prominent foreign investors have left or have announced they are leaving in the 12 months since the Myanmar military carried out a coup in February 2021, according to a report.

Twenty-two major investors have been identified in a tally by Reporting ASEAN and the World Bank as having suspended their operations or pulled out of Myanmar since the February 1, 2021 coup.

In addition, anecdotal evidence indicates that many more smaller foreign businesses or business people have left over the last 12 months due to a combination of worsening security and a serious drop in business and the dire state of the Myanmar economy.

The big companies that made the headlines are Woodside, Total, Chevron, Kempinski Hotels and Telenor, the latter continuing to face problems in selling its stake to a local operator.

One of the main drivers behind the decision to pull out is the increasing concern about human rights in Myanmar and the difficulty of justifying a decision to stay, given the pressure of the media and shareholder concerns. Compounding the problem has been the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions which picked up pace in the latter half of 2020 and into 2021.

The following is the latest tally provided by the World Bank and Reporting ASEAN in terms of companies and countries:

AUSTRALIA – Woodside (oil), Myanmar Metals (mining)

FRANCE – Total Energies (oil/gas), Electricite de France (hydropower/mining)

GERMANY – Metro (retail/wholesale)

HONG KONG – Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels, V Power Group (mining/quarrying)

INDIA – Adani Ports (logistics)

JAPAN – Kirin (beer), AEON (retail/malls), Toyota (car manufacturing), Bridgestone (rubber)

MALAYSIA – Petronas (gas, oil exploration)

NORWAY – Telenor (telecommunications)

SINGAPORE – Lim Kaling (food and beverage), Sembcorp (real estate)

SWITZERLAND – Kempinski Hotels

TAIWAN – KOI (food and beverage)

THAILAND – Amata Corp (real estate)

USA – Auntie Anne’s (food and beverage), Chevron (oil)

UK – British American Tobacco