Myanmar: Foreign firms in Myanmar face tough choices over how to respond to the attempted military coup & the subsequent violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters
2 April 2021
Pull out, suspend or stay? Foreign firms in Myanmar face some tough choices over how to respond to the military coup and subsequent violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in the country.
More than 520 people have died in daily demonstrations since the military overthrew elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi....
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...French giant Total has no intention of quitting but insists that its local subsidiary “conducts its activities in a responsible manner, in respect of law and of universal human rights.”
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Chevron told AFP the monies paid to MOGE were tax payments and that it holds only a minority stake in the gigantic offshore gas field, Yadana, operated by Total.
French hotel chain Accor... also has no plans to leave or to cut ties with its local partner, Max Myanmar Group, which is not under sanctions.
Accor ... sees “tourism as the last link between the people of Myanmar and the rest of the world,” a spokeswoman said.
Danish brewer Carlsberg said it would reduce production capacity as beer consumption in Myanmar is on the decline, but it has no plans to quit. It employs 500 people locally.
Carlsberg told AFP it has had “no contact” with the new authorities.
British tobacco giant BAT said ... it would stay, while prioritizing the security and well-being of its workers.
French energy giant EDF announced the suspension of its activities in Myanmar, where it is involved in a $1.5-billion project to build a hydroelectric dam....
Japanese automaker Suzuki also halted operations at its two local plants shortly after the military coup. ...
...Italy’s Benetton and Sweden’s H&M have suspended all new orders from the country.
Benetton chief Massimo Renon hopes the move will send “a clear and concrete signal.”
Giesecke and Devrient, a German company that supplies products to make Myanmar bank notes, suspended deliveries to state-owned Security Print Works this week due to the “ongoing violent clashes.”
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French renewable energy group Voltalia said it will “end its activities” in Myanmar....
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Japanese brewer Kirin said it would cut business ties with the military with which it operates two local breweries, accusing the junta of acting “in contradiction” of its principles on human rights.
[Companies also mentioned in the article are Marubeni and Ayeyar Hinthar.}