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Multinationals dance with the devil
in Myanmar
By Marwaan
Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - Rolls-Royce, a
venerated name in British corporate culture, has
been put in the spotlight for making a turn that a
labor group calls a betrayal of
its stated commitment to social
responsibility.
The company is being
accused by one of the world's leading trade union
movements of having business links in
military-ruled Myanmar; its name appeared this
week in a list compiled by the International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU).
Rolls-Royce is among the new names on the
list of 439 multinational companies with economic
ties in Myanmar, charged the 28-page document,
"Doing Business with Myanmar", that was released
by the Brussels-based ICFTU.
Other
prominent names from Britain's corporate world on
this notorious list include the insurance company
Lloyd's of London, the Cambrian Group - a
conglomerate of petroleum consultants;
pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, and wood
industrialist Robbins Timber.
"The main
reason why foreign enterprises should not engage
in investment or trade with Burma is because of
the financial benefits that the junta reaps from
these activities," states the ICFTU in its report.
"[It] contributes to allowing the military to
remain in power and perpetuate their criminal rule
over the country." (The country was known as Burma
until 1989, when the current junta took over and
changed its name to Myanmar.)
The ICFTU's
charge against Rolls-Royce is echoed by another
critic of Yangon's junta, the London-based Myanmar
Campaign UK.
"Through its Singaporean
subsidiary, Rolls-Royce has a contract to supply
and service aircraft engines for at least one
Burmese airline. All airlines in Burma are owned
by the regime or their cronies," declares Myanmar
Campaign in its "Dirty List" of foreign companies
either trading or having investments in the
Southeast Asian country.
In contrast,
Rolls-Royce declares on its website that it
strives to be a responsible corporate citizen.
"The Group attaches importance to the pursuit of
excellence as a responsible corporate citizen in
its operations throughout the world and continues
to develop its approach to corporate social
responsibility," the multinational states in its
online annual report.
Yet the ICFTU is
hardly impressed by such explanations. That
Myanmar has provoked this push by the ICFTU -
which wants foreign companies to halt their
investments in the military-ruled country - is due
to the litany of human-rights violations occurring
in Myanmar that have little parallel elsewhere.
"Burma is the only country for which we
call for disinvestment," Fons Vannieuwenhuyse, a
researcher at ICFTU, told Inter Press Service.
"The Burmese generals have an overwhelming grip on
the economy, whereby nearly all foreign business
will bring financial benefits for an elite few."
"Investing in Burma is not possible
without the agreement of the junta," adds the
ICFTU, which launched its campaign against the
military regime in the early 1990s. "Over the last
15 years the military dictatorship in Burma has
moved itself into a position of virtual control
over all aspects of the business sector."
That reality is best reflected by the
state-owned Economic Enterprise Law of 1989, which
gives the junta "the right to control 12 key areas
of economic enterprises". These economic areas
range from exploiting teak forests for trade to
exploring and extracting petroleum and natural gas
to air transport and railway services. Also
covered under the 1989 law are banking and
insurance services.
"Foreign businessmen
report that to do business one must 'make a deal'
with a state-owned firm, a firm controlled by a
senior military officer, or pay at least a 5%
commission to a uniformed officer," the report
states.
Aside from this, there is the
widespread use of forced labor - sometimes in
slave-like conditions - endorsed by the military
regime. According to the International Labor
Organization (ILO), an estimated 800,000 people
are subject to forced labor in Myanmar.
The civilians condemned to work at the
point of a gun have to clean roads, carry heavy
loads for the army, construct military buildings
and work on agriculture and infrastructure
projects.
The Geneva-based UN labor agency
has proven that outside pressure can force the
military rulers to blink, consequently leading to
marginal attempts to reduce the level of rights
violations. That prevailed in 2000, when the
annual ILO conference - which includes
governments, employers and trade unions - took the
unprecedented step of approving severe
restrictions, including sanctions, on Myanmar,
because forced labor continued to prevail in the
country.
Soon after, the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC), as the military
government is officially known, agreed to enforce
a legal order banning forced labor. However, the
ILO conference in November last year conceded that
such hints of reform from Yangon have amounted to
naught. The ILO consequently issued a new warning
to the SPDC: that harsh sanctions - including a
call on UN agencies to review their relations with
Myanmar - would be enforced by this March if
forced labor was still used.
"Campaigns
like the one launched by the ICFTU can help
produce change, since our work is complementary,"
Sophy Fisher, ILO's information officer for the
Asia-Pacific region, told IPS. "Ending forced
labor requires more than legislating against it.
There also has to be a change of attitudes among
employers and even consumers."
That such
campaigns to blacklist global brand names are
having an impact is reflected by the international
companies that have pulled out of Myanmar. They
include Pepsi Cola, Levi Strauss, Adidas,
Carlsberg and Premier Oil.
In addition,
Myanmar's foreign direct investment (FDI) numbers
have also shown a slide. In 1999, the country
attracted US$304 million in FDI; in 2000, the
amount had slipped to $208 million and by 2002 the
figure was $191 million, states the ICFTU report.
"Companies doing business in Burma have to
consider if a stain on their public image is worth
the price," Debbie Stothard, of the regional
human-rights lobby Alternative Association of
Southeast Asian Nations Network on Myanmar
(ALTSEAN), said in an interview. "More and more,
they are being held accountable by affluent
consumers who are worried about the ethics of
companies."
Myanmar is one country where
foreign companies with investments cannot hide
from "ethical and social responsibility issues,"
she added. "It is universally known that to do
business in Myanmar you have to dance with the
devil."
(Inter Press
Service) |
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