Description:
"The Corporate Engagement Project (CEP) is a collaborative effort, involving multinational
corporations that operate in areas of socio-political tensions or conflict. Its purpose is to help
corporate managers better understand the impacts of corporate activities on the contexts in which
they work. Based on site visits, CEP aims to identify and analyze the challenges for corporations
that recur across companies and across contexts. Based on the patterns that emerge, CEP
develops management tools and practical options for management practices that respond to local
challenges and address stakeholder issues.
In this context, Doug Fraser, Independent Consultant, and Luc Zandvliet, Project Director of
CEP, visited Myanmar from April 22 ? May 3, 2003 to visit the Yadana pipeline project,
operated by Total, as a follow up to our first visit conducted in October 2002.
This visit was the second CEP visit to the Yadana Project in what is planned as a series of three
visits. To avoid duplication, this report should be read in combination with the first report
(available at http://www.cdainc.com/cep/cep-casestudylist.htm). Our purpose, as in all CEP field
visits, was to examine the interaction between corporate operations and surrounding
communities, as well as the impact of corporate operations on the wider context of conflict.
The CEP team intends to visit Thailand to explore allegations from several international NGOs
that people originating from the pipeline area were displaced into Thailand. If people had to
leave Myanmar/Burma recently for reasons related to the pipeline or the presence of oil
companies, this would be important for CEP to know. The trip will serve the following purposes:
! To learn additional information related to the impact of the pipeline on local civilians.
We want to address the possibility that we only hear positive stories about the pipeline
from people currently residing in the corridor, while people that were possibly forced to
leave the corridor might tell of a different reality.
! To verify why CDA?s observations in the pipeline area differ from the observations in
some of the reports produced by international NGOs about the impact of the pipeline on
the local contexts.
! To explore rumors in the business community in Thailand and Myanmar/Burma (and
among NGOs themselves) that some NGOs make a ?business” of producing allegations
against companies, based on testimonies from Myanmar/Burmese refugees. This is of
concern to CEP because if CEP is unable to confirm allegations that ?NGOs fabricate
?evidence,” it supports the credibility of the NGOs that make allegations or advocate on
behalf of Myanmar/Burmese refugees. On the other side, if the fabrication of evidence is
confirmed, this would support sentiments in the business community that allegations
should not be taken seriously. This undermines the ability of individuals with genuine
grievances against companies to be heard.
CONCLUSION:
The second visit to the Yadana pipeline confirmed the positive impact that the presence of the oil
companies currently has on the population within the pipeline corridor. It is also evident that
these positive impacts in the pipeline corridor will not convince outside critics about Total?s
positive contribution to the country at large. The company will continue to be criticized and
remain vulnerable to outside pressure from some stakeholders until it is better able to address
concerns on the larger socio-political context in the country. The single most important
observation revealed in this report is the need for the co-investors to develop a vision of the role
they want to play in Myanmar/Burma and the strategy they will use to achieve this.
With a clear vision and strategy, efforts to achieve this outcome can be focused, and new
working partnerships can be built and nurtured. Within these, creative solutions to the challenges
of working in Myanmar can be formulated."
Source/publisher:
Collaborative for Development Action
Date of Publication:
2003-07-00
Date of entry:
2010-09-02
Grouping:
- Individual Documents
Category:
Language:
English