Diplomatic score

The UN's man in Myanmar has business interests there too

As United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan’s special envoy to Myanmar for the past three years, Malaysian diplomat Razali Ismail inhas found a way to mix business with politics.

Razali’s UN mission is to nudge Myanmar’s military rulers toward a transition to democracy. It’s a tough job, since the junta doesn’t appear to be interested. And things have gotten even worse since May 30, when opposition pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was ambushed and detained.

But at least the 62-year-old Razali, who twice served as president of the UN Security Council, can keep an eye on his business interests in Myanmar. Razali is chairman of Iris Technologies, a Malaysian company that is introducing electronic-passport technology at Yangon’s government-run airport.

He is also a director of Wah Seong, a Malaysian engineering group that owns a trading company with real estate interests in Yangon, and of Leader Universal Holdings, a cable, fiber-optics, and telecom-equipment firm that is seeking business in Myanmar. A Leader spokesman confirms that senior executives have met with junta leaders. A fourth company on whose board Razali sits, water treatment group Salcon Engineering, has exhibited at a trade show in Yangon.

Razali did not respond to FORTUNE’s requests for an interview. But in a November interview with the Malaysiakini News Service, he said, “I have never once spoken to the leaders in Myanmar about Iris. … There is not an iota of conflict involved.” The UN, he noted, could always terminate his contract if it felt there was a conflict of interest. — Eric Ellis