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Organization: Forum for Democracy and Human Rights
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Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 21:40:28 +0000
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Subject: Pepsi's Achilles's heel
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Will Burma be Pepsi=92s Achilles=92 heel?
By Robert Horn

Rangoon: Thida Thein was thirsty. As she squatted under the mereiless Rang=
oon 
sun, waiting in a crowd of thousands for the regular Saturday speech by Bu=
rma=92s 
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, she said she wanted water.

=93No Pepsi,=94 Thida Thein insisted as sweat trickled onto her peach-colo=
ured 
collorless jacket, the uniform of Suu Kyi=92s political party. =93Pepsi he=
lps Slorc,=94 
explained a young woman kneeling next to her, referring to Burma=92s milit=
ary 
government.

Pepsi=92s business in Burma, a country ruled by a regime that has brutally=
 crushed 
democratic opposition and is accused of wide-spread human rights violation=
s, 
garnered the company $8 million in profits during 1995.

It also brought a windfall of bad publicity. With the battle of cry that B=
urma is 
the South Africa of the =9190s. Students on 75 US college campus started a=
 
campaign of pressures, protests and boycotts to force Pepsi and other 
companies to divest their holdings in Burma.

The pressure led Pepsi to sell its 40 per cent stake in its Burmese bottli=
ng plant 
in arch. Apparel makers Columbia Sportswear. Eddie Bauer, Osh Kosh B=92Gos=
h 
and Liz Claiborne also bowed to the protests and divested, while the oil c=
ompany 
Unocol is resisting.

But Pepsi is still popular in Burma, leading activists to call the company=
=92s 
pullout a sham. Pepsi still has a franchise agreement with its Burmese par=
tner, 
Thein Tun, supplying him with syrup and use of the Pepsi name.

=93We don=92t think that is acceptable,=94 Suu Kyi said during an intervie=
w in May. 
The 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner wants Pepsi to completely pull its produ=
cts 
out of Burma.

Kenith Hughes, a Pepsi spokesman in the US, said, =93We have no employees =
or 
assets in Burma today.=94 Asked about the company=92s franchise agreement,=
 he 
said, =93We=92ve announced our intention to honour our contractual agreeme=
nt with 
that bottling operation.=94 He declined to comment on what the company mig=
ht do 
at the end of the contract period.

Suu Kyi, who enjoys widespread support inside Burma, has urged foreign 
investors to refrain from doing business in her country until the military=
 begins a
true dialogue with the democrats. But aside from Suu Kyi=92s party members=
, has a 
Pepsi boycott actually taken hold inside Burma?

=93No,=94 said Nyi Oo, an artist and former member of Suu Kyi=92s party. =93=
The 
people don=92t understand the connection between Pepsi and the government 
because most are uneducated.

While advocates of investing in Burma like to tout the country=92s literat=
e work 
force, a UN study said that somewhere between 65 per cent and 75 per cent =
of 
Burmese don=92t get past the fifth grade.

So from dingy shops to chic restaurants, Pepsi is popular nearly everywher=
e in 
Burma. Trucks with cases of empty Pepsi bottles can be seen rattling down 
Rangoon=92s pot holed streets, glass jingling like coins in a cash registe=
r.

While Burma may be just a drop in Pepsi=92s bucket of profits, Pepsi is th=
e 
fountain of wealth for Thein Tun, the company=92s Burmese partner. The 
high-school educated, grand-fatherly businessman is now a millionaire, som=
ething 
unheard of Burma=92s backward economy just a few years ago when Gen. Ne 
Win=92s Socialist isolationism kept most foreign companies out.

Pepsi is by far the biggest money marker in Thein Tun=92s empire of 14 com=
panies 
that includes distributorships for cars, Chivas Regal scotch whisky and Pr=
octer 
& Gamble products. He=92s also known as a philanthropist, claiming that 25=
 per 
cent of his profits goes to charity.

Thein Tun didn=92t respond to requests for an interview, but he told a loc=
al 
business magazine earlier this year that the key to his success has been h=
is 
thirst for knowledge.

With news strictly censored in Burma, it isn=92t clear when Thein Tun beca=
me are 
of the growing grassroots movement in the US for divestment.

This month, publish pressure in Europe cost him another key foreign partne=
r: 
Danish beer maker Carlsberg jumped ship on a joint venture for a brewer in=
 
Burma. Holland=92s Heineken followed shortly after, although it was not as=
sociated
with Thein Tun.

Democracy activists say the real key to Thein Tun=92s success is that he i=
s one of 
the general=92s cronies. But with the military taking an interest in most =
major 
business arrangements, ambitious local entreprenurs have little choice, bu=
t to 
deal with the regime. (AP)
=3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D E.O.F. =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D=
 =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D