Established in 1994, the KBZ Group is one of Myanmar’s largest companies, employing more than 80,000 people in its various enterprises, which include mining, banking, aviation, insurance, manufacturing, agriculture, real estate, trading, healthcare, tourism and hospitality. The KBZ bank in particular actively supports the economic empowerment of women, including through microfinance initiatives, support for the CEO Champions Myanmar, and support for other initiatives, such as Partnership for Change’s 2014 conference on Women’s Economic Development. KBZ Bank also served as a private-sector host of the December 2014 Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society, in cooperation with the French Embassy in Myanmar and the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. In announcing this initiative, KBZ stated, “One of the areas we are fully committed to is empowerment and we give women the encouragement to shine … [I]t is vital for women to take part in the economic development of the nation.” More than half (53%) of KBZ Bank’s workforce is comprised of women, and women also represent more than half of the bank’s senior management positions (50.8%, as of 2014). In addition, according to the bank, 38% of loans are given to women-owned businesses or companies predominately managed by women.