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Article

30 Nov 2011

Author:
Daniel Ten Kate, Bloomberg [USA]

Clinton in Myanmar May Augur Opening After Apple, Pepsi Exit

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s arrival...in Myanmar may give Western companies an opening to return to the former dictatorship...Until now neighboring China, India and Thailand have accounted for most of the investment into Myanmar, pouring more than $25 billion into ports, power plants and pipelines...Some western companies are involved: France’s Total SA and Chevron Corp. own part of a gas field and pipeline that stretches to Thailand...Total spokesman Florent Segura declined to comment on the...company’s operations... “Wherever we operate, we are dedicated to developing economically viable projects while adhering to national and international laws and ensuring compliance with our Code of Conduct,” the company said in a statement about Myanmar on its website...Several large European companies operating in Myanmar, including Total and Unilever...are in talks to form a business organization modeled on EU chambers of commerce in Southeast Asia, said Luc de Waegh, founder of West Indochina Ltd...Trevor Gorin, a spokesman for..Unilever, said: “We have no knowledge of this and are not involved”...[T]he effort is focused on creating quality jobs as part of corporate social responsibility to help Myanmar transition. [refers also to PepsiCo, Levi-Strauss, Apple, Coca- Cola, Citigroup, China National Petroleum Corp, GAIL, Daewoo International (part of Posco), Italian-Thai Development]