Unilever steps into Myanmar fold
Anglo-Dutch consumer goods producer Unilever began factory operations in Myanmar on June 4, the same day Coca-Cola restarted bottling in the country after an over six-decade hiatus. The occasion also marks a return for Unilever, which has a history in Myanmar that goes back 80 years, but was severed when the company pulled out in the early 2000s due to Western-imposed sanctions.
Unilever’s commitment of about $650 million is the largest ever made by a multinational in the once-isolated nation, and was announced along with Coca-Cola’s $200 million investment at an evening meeting ahead of the World Economic Forum on East Asia in Myanmar on June 3.
Unilever’s first stage of investment will cover the course of a decade, and represent yet another watershed moment since foreign investment from the West began coming into Myanmar in 2012.
Unilever’s CEO Harish Manwani, has compared Myanmar to its operations in Vietnam, where the company came into an immature market starting from scratch, but today represents $1 billion worth of its business.
With the World Economic Forum kicking off today, June 5, the large-scale, long-term investments by multinationals are further boosting the country’s profile, along with that of reformist President Thein Sein.
Unilever’s new position in Myanmar comes a year after the company began heightening its marketing activities in Indonesia, a vast consumer market that is drawing in franchisers from around the region.
About 57 per cent of Unilever’s global business derives from emerging markets. The company began redistributing its brand products in Myanmar in 2011.
Anglo-Dutch consumer goods producer Unilever began factory operations in Myanmar on June 4, the same day Coca-Cola restarted bottling in the country after an over six-decade hiatus. The occasion also marks a return for Unilever, which has a history in Myanmar that goes back 80 years, but was severed when the company pulled out in the early 2000s due to Western-imposed sanctions. Unilever’s commitment of about $650 million is the largest ever made by a multinational in the once-isolated nation, and was announced along with Coca-Cola’s $200 million investment at an evening meeting ahead of the World Economic Forum on...
Anglo-Dutch consumer goods producer Unilever began factory operations in Myanmar on June 4, the same day Coca-Cola restarted bottling in the country after an over six-decade hiatus. The occasion also marks a return for Unilever, which has a history in Myanmar that goes back 80 years, but was severed when the company pulled out in the early 2000s due to Western-imposed sanctions.
Unilever’s commitment of about $650 million is the largest ever made by a multinational in the once-isolated nation, and was announced along with Coca-Cola’s $200 million investment at an evening meeting ahead of the World Economic Forum on East Asia in Myanmar on June 3.
Unilever’s first stage of investment will cover the course of a decade, and represent yet another watershed moment since foreign investment from the West began coming into Myanmar in 2012.
Unilever’s CEO Harish Manwani, has compared Myanmar to its operations in Vietnam, where the company came into an immature market starting from scratch, but today represents $1 billion worth of its business.
With the World Economic Forum kicking off today, June 5, the large-scale, long-term investments by multinationals are further boosting the country’s profile, along with that of reformist President Thein Sein.
Unilever’s new position in Myanmar comes a year after the company began heightening its marketing activities in Indonesia, a vast consumer market that is drawing in franchisers from around the region.
About 57 per cent of Unilever’s global business derives from emerging markets. The company began redistributing its brand products in Myanmar in 2011.
