Pepsi half-withdraws from Burma! (r)

[cd@xxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: Re: Pepsi half-withdraws from Burma!

Who writes the letter to the Editor, on correction, clarification of 
pepsico non-withdrawal? ds, paris
> 
> From: Charles Scheiner <cscheiner@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> 
> Full text of a letter sent to Father Joseph LaMar at
> Maryknoll, one of the leaders in pressuring Pepsi to get out of Burma:
> 
> Pepsico letterhead, Purchase, NY
> 
> April 22, 1996
> 
> Dear Father Lamar:
> 
> When we first spoke about Burma I promised to stay in touch with you
> on the subject. In that spirit, I wanted to let you know about a
> change in our business there. We've decided to sell PepsiCo's minority
> stake in our franchise bottler and we expect to finalize the
> divestiture soon. As a result, we will have no employees and no assets
> in the country.
> 
> We're taking this action for a number of reasons, including the
> sentiment expressed by you and others about investing in Burma at this
> time. Having said that, let me reiterate our belief that free trade
> leads to free societies.
> 
> Sincerely,
> Edward V. Lahey, Jr.
> Corporate Secretary
> 
> ------------------------
> 
> Pepsi products will still be sold in Burma.  Activists will ask them
> why at their annual Shareholder Meeting next Tuesday in Purchase, New
> York.
> 
> -- Charlie Scheiner, Westchester People's Action Coalition
> 
> ------------------------
> 
> Here's how the Bloomberg Business News reported the story, which will
> probably be all over the business press tomorrow:
> 
> PepsiCo to Exit From Burma Bottling Joint-Venture
> 
> Purchase, New York, April 23 (Bloomberg) -- PepsiCo Inc.  plans to
> sell its 40 percent stake in a bottling joint-venture in Burma,
> yielding to critics of its business in the military-ruled country, a
> senior executive said.
> 
> "We believe doing business (in Myanmar) is an important way to help
> the country develop," said Barry Shea, vice president in charge of
> Southeast Asia for PepsiCo International.  "Certain activist groups
> obviously don't agree.  And Myanmar is a hot spot at the moment."
> 
> Pepsi will probably sell its stake in Pepsi-Cola Products Myanmar Co.
> to its main partner, Myanmar Golden Star Co., Shea said.  Myanmar
> Golden is owned by Thein Tun, a Burmese Businessman.
> 
> "Our franchise partner has the first purchase option," Shea said.
> 
> The venture was formed in 1991, after Pepsi had been absent from
> Myanmar, also called Burma, for about three decades, coinciding with
> the seizure of government control by a junta led by Gen. Ne Win.  The
> Myanmar company has a 10-year franchise to bottle and distribute
> Pepsi-owned products.
> 
> Shareholder groups and activists have complained that Burma's military
> junta violates human rights.  The Burmese military junta, which chose
> its own name for the country -- Myanmar, has refused to relinquish
> power to the democratic opposition that won 82 percent of the vote in
> 1990 elections.
> 
> Domestic revenue last year by Pepsi-Cola Products in Myanmar was $20
> million, Shea said.  An increase of 25 percent was projected for this
> year.  Aside from its namesake cola, Pepsi also sells 7-Up and Miranda
> soft drinks.
> 
> Pepsi will honor its contract in the "short-term" to sell syrup
> concentrate and allow the use of the Pepsi trademark by the
> bottler, said Keith Hughes, a Pepsi spokesman based in Purchase, New
> York.
> 
> The move comes as shareholders and customers have taken Pepsi to task
> for doing business in the Southeast Asian country.  Harvard University
> decided earlier this month not to switch its $1 million beverage
> contract to Pepsi from Coca-Cola Co., bowing to student pressure.
> Four U.S. cities also have bans on city purchases of goods or
> services from companies that do business with Burma.
> 
> "Those that have asked us to review the situation in Burma have been
> quite concerned with our investment in that marketplace," Hughes said.
> "We feel quite certain that this will address the concerns of many."
> 
> A critic of Pepsi's business in Burma said the plan to sell the stake
> in the bottler while honoring the licensing contract won't go far
> enough to answer those concerns.
> 
> "It's still not going all the way to satisfying those that have been
> boycotting them," said Simon Billenness, of Franklin Research and
> Development Corp., which manages about $450 million.
> 
> Billenness was included in a meeting this afternoon with Pepsi
> officials and Father La Mar of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, a
> Catholic missionary order that has objected to Pepsi's business in
> Burma.
> 
> "I think you'll see more universities doing what Harvard did," said
> Billenness, whose Boston-based firm seeks to make socially-responsible
> investments. He estimated that about 100 universities had student-led
> movements to boycott products from companies that do business with
> Burma.
> 
> "Burma is the South Africa of the 90s," he said.
> 
> Human rights groups have reported that the military government, called
> the State Law and Order Restoration Council -- or SLORC -- has
> murdered, raped and tortured Burmese and minorities, driving hundreds
> of thousands of refugees into Bangladesh and Thailand.
> 
> A United Nations report released last year said the SLORC has used
> forced labor to spruce up the country as it mounts a campaign to
> boost tourism and attract desperately-needed foreign currency.
> 
> Pepsi joins a parade of U.S. companies, including Levi Strauss
> Associates Inc., Federated Department Stores Inc.'s Macy's, Liz
> Claiborne Inc., Spiegel Inc.'s Eddie Bauer unit and Amoco Corp., which
> have already stopped doing business in Burma.
> 
> Pepsi's business had sales of $8 million in 1995, a fraction of its $3
> billion in international beverage sales, said Hughes.
> 
> Shareholders from Texaco Inc. and Unocal Corp. have requested the
> companies cease doing business there.
> 
> --
> Lee J. Miller in Bangkok and Tom Cahill in the New York newsroom.