Shell in Myanmar

Investing in communities where we operate – called social investment – is an important part of being a good neighbour. We invest in projects that aim to benefit local communities over the long term. The information described here regarding social investment projects outlines campaigns and projects that have been successfully completed and/or handed over to the community to continue. Our social investment programmes in Myanmar have focused on the following topics:

Access to Energy

At Shell, we are able to use our core business skills and technical resources to play an active role in improving communities’ access to energy, particularly in countries where we work – such as Myanmar. Together with our NGO partner Pact, we expanded electricity access to rural and coastal communities in the dry zone and Tanintharyi region by building up community governance structures, consumer finance mechanisms and providing technical support. The programme provided access to sustainable energy for around 20,000 people and has improved the livelihoods of around 35,000 people since the start of the programme in 2015. Shell successfully exited the program in 2018.

Shell is a member of the Smart Power Myanmar initiative, a platform set up in 2018 with core funding from Rockefeller Foundation in collaboration with private sector power developers and development finance institutions. The platform helps unify and scale integrated electrification efforts in Myanmar.

Watch how access to sustainable energy changes lives in Myanmar

Read about our efforts to help increase energy access

Road Safety

Shell staff and contractors drive around 1.1 billion kilometres each year to deliver products to our customers or to keep our operations running. That’s equivalent to driving about 75 times around the world each day. We help keep our drivers safe through training programmes, by limiting their journeys, and by enforcing our global road safety standards. We also work with communities and global partners to improve road safety in the countries where we operate. In Myanmar, together with the Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS), Shell launched a road safety campaign in March 2017 to educate drivers and community members along the Yangon-Nay Pyi Taw Highway, a roadway notorious for its high crash rate. The program was completed in 2020.

Discover how a safety message from children changes Myanmar drivers’ road behaviours.

Community Skills & Enterprise development

Shell has programmes in place to support and encourage the building of new businesses and generate local employment. In Myanmar, for example, together with our partner Montrose we implemented a programme to improve the livelihoods of a rural population through increasing farmers’ incomes with improved production practices, specifically in the coconut copra and groundnuts value chains.

Environment Protection & Water Resource Management

In support of TU Delft in The Netherlands and the Government of Myanmar’s efforts to establish an Integrated Water Resources Management Program (IWRM) to build government capacity in water management and flood control, Shell and TU Delft signed a 4-year agreement which commits both parties to the establishment of a Scholarship Trust. The PhD scholarship programme started in 2014 and supported two Myanmar students.

Read more about Shell's global Social Investment programmes