[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

Danish Burma Committee launches boy



Subject: Danish Burma Committee launches boycott campaign

	***Danish Burma Committee launches boycott campaign***
           ------------------------------------------------
           By Christopher Follett


	COPENHAGEN, Aug 16 (Reuter) - The Danish Burma Committee
	stepped up its offensive against Rangoon's military rulers on
	Friday, announcing the launch of a campaign to boycott companies
	trading with the country.
    	Its main targets were France's Total oil group and
	Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS).
    	
	'The campaign urges companies to withdraw from business in
	Burma and calls on customers to act against the companies that
	continue business in the country,' committee chairman Anton
	Johannsen said in a statement.
    	'This call is a signal to the leaders of SLORC (Burma's
	State Law and Order Restoration Council). Millions of people all
	over the world see (in Burma) the brutal abuse of even the most
	fundamental human rights,' he said.

	The committee threatened action against SAS if it did not
	stop purchasing aviation fuel from Total.
    	It said it planned to issue protest postcards to be sent by
	consumers to SAS and that if the airline failed to react the
	committee would call for a consumer boycott of the carrier.
    	Total is involved in the largest foreign investment project
	in Burma, a $1.2 billion gas pipeline joint venture with Burma's
	state-owned Myanmar Oil & Gas Enterprise, Thailand's PTT and
	U.S. Unocal Corp.
    
	The committee became prominent on a wave of public outrage
	over the June death in a Rangoon jail of honorary Danish consul
	James Nichols. It says it has never before received so many
	donations and membership enquiries.
    	Within the European Union, Denmark has been the main driving
	force for sanctions against Burma following Nichols' death.
    	Total and Unocal are the targets of international activist
	groups protesting at the Burmese military government's human
	rights record and its crackdown on democracy campaigners.
    	The Danish importer of Total and Peugeot cars cancelled a
	sales campaign for the brand last month and says he has changed
	the Total oil in newly imported Peugeots to another product.
    	The importer says he has also asked Peugeot to fill its cars
	bound for Denmark with another make of motor oil.
    
	Denmark's Carlsberg brewery last month dropped plans for a
	Burmese joint venture and halted all beer exports to Burma
	following threats of a boycott and industrial action from the
	committee.
	Carlsberg's move was followed by Dutch brewer Heineken,
	which ended all its operations in Burma.
    	Industry sources say that the committee's success with
	Carlsberg could be linked to chairman Anton Johannsen's position
	as a leader of the brewery workers' union and it has fared less
	well with other sectors.

	Earlier this month Danish wholesale and shipping group East
	Asiatic dismissed calls by the committee to withdraw from all
	its activities in Burma as did toymaker Lego.
    	Burmese democracy campaigner and Nobel prize winner Aung San
	Suu Kyi called last month in a smuggled video for international
	sanctions to be imposed on Burma to force political change.
 
REUTER
1438 160896 GMT


	***Singapore/United Engineers/Burma -2: Using Own Funds***
           ----------------------------------------------------

   	SINGAPORE (AP-Dow Jones)--Singapore industrial and property group United
	Engineers Ltd. (UEL) said late Friday it will take a 20% stake in a joint
	venture to set up a medical center in Burma. 
   	
	The joint-venture company, Pacific Medical Systems Ltd. Ltd. (PMS) will
	have an authorized capital of $2 million (Singapore) and an initial 
	aid-up capital of S$1.4 million, said UEL. 
   	
	The other shareholders in PMS are Singapore's Myanmar Growth Fund Ltd. 
	with 35%, HCS Hospital Management International Pte. Ltd. and Orchard 
	Dental Centre Pte. Ltd. 
   	
	UEL said it expects the venture to contribute to its future earnings,
	although it wouldn't have any impact on its earnings in 1996. 
   	UEL said it will finance its investment in the project with 
	internal funds. 
   
(END) AP-DOW JONES NEWS 16-08-96
1017GMT