The U.S. government says that participation of U.S. businesses in Myanmar's (formerly Burma) economy will set a model for responsible investment and business operations, as well as encourage further change in that South-East Asian country.
This was stated by U.S. State Department's acting deputy spokesman Patrick Ventrell at a daily press briefing in Washington on Thursday.
He was responding to a question regarding PepsiCo, Inc.'s (NYSE: PEP) announcement that it is entering into an agreement with a local Myanmarese company to market some of its products inside Myanmar. PepsiCo is the first major U.S. company entering the Myanmarese market after the United States lifted in May a ban imposed on American investment in that country.
When asked whether the PepsiCo has given any assurance that it will abide by all the conditions set by the State Department to the U.S. Companies, Ventrell said he could not speak for individual companies in particular, but added that "broadly speaking, the U.S. supports the Burmese government's ongoing reform efforts and believes that the participation of U.S. businesses in the Burmese economy will set a model for responsible investment and business operations, as well as encourage further change, promote economic development, and contribute to the welfare of the Burmese people."
PepsiCo, one of the world's largest food and beverage companies, announced on Wednesday that it had signed an agreement with Diamond Star Co. Ltd., a unit of the Capital Diamond Star Group, to distribute PepsiCo beverage brands in Myanmar.
As part of the deal, Diamond Star, which is one of the largest consumer packaged goods distributors in Myanmar, now has exclusive rights to import, sell and distribute Pepsi-Cola, 7-Up and Mirinda, three brands in PepsiCo's portfolio.
PepsiCo said in a press release that it also planned to explore opportunities to invest in agricultural development projects in Myanmar.
PepsiCo nearly tripled its business in developing and emerging markets from $8 billion in annual revenue in 2006 to $22 billion in 2011.
Besides, PepsiCo announced that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the UNESCO to partner on vocational training initiatives in Myanmar.
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by RTT Staff Writer
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