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Burmese Businessman



REU0014 3 QFE 745 ( RWS ) H28167318
BC-BURMA-TYCOON (PERSONALITY FEATURE, PICTURE)
FEATURE-Charity is Burma's top businessman's hobby
    By Deborah Charles
    RANGOON, June 28 (Reuter) - What do Pepsi, a gold mine, a
charitable bank and an amusement park have in common in Burma?
    They are all run by Thein Tun, one of the country's leading
businessmen who says he thrives on diversity.
    "We brake for nothing, that's our motto," Thein Tun said in
an interview at one of his modest Rangoon offices.
    The 60-year-old, who describes himself as "just a
businesman", says he has adopted a diverse approach to business
to take advantage of the rapidly-growing Burmese economy.
    "We've done all this in seven years," said Thein Tun,
gesturing to complicated charts showing the corporate structure
of the dozens of companies in his Myanma Golden Star Co Ltd
holding company -- Burma's largest privately-owned corporation.
    From humble beginnings as a local representative of some
foreign trading firms, Myanma Golden Star has grown to include
five joint venture companies and two wholly-owned firms
producing beverages, building materials, mining, running an
indoor amusement centre and a motor vehicle distributor.
    His foreign ventures are with various Australian,
Singaporean and Thai companies, and Thein Tun says he is always
looking for more partners.
    But Thein Tun, who prefers the traditional Burmese
sarong-style "longyi" and a sport shirt to business suits, is
disarmingly casual as he talks about his holdings, which are
estimated to be worth at least $40 million, and does not flaunt
his status as one of the country's wealthiest businessmen.
    He is best known for his lucrative stake in Pepsi Myanmar
(Burma), which was recently increased to 100 percent after the
American soft drinks giant bent to public pressure from human
rights organisations in the United States and pulled out of its
investment in Burma.
    "They were under some political pressure by students and the
media, so they finally decided to sell to us," Thein Tun says to
explain why PepsiCo International decided to sell its 40 percent
stake to him for $4 million cash and future payments.
    Just as Burma's military is pushing for increased foreign
investment, international human rights groups have been
launching sweeping boycott campaigns against companies like
Pepsi to urge shareholders to persuade their companies not to do
business with Burma's ruling generals.
    Pressure groups in the United States have criticised Burma's
military government, which took power in 1988 after crushing
nationwide pro-democracy demonstrations, for human rights
abuses.
    Pepsi was the biggest U.S. firm to leave Burma when it
announced in April it was selling its stake.
    Thein Tun said he expects government approval for the deal,
which is worth a total of $6 million, by the end of June.
    Pepsi has the largest market share of Burma's fast-growing
soft drinks market. Thein Tun's Pepsi-Cola Products Myanmar has
an annual average sales volume of about $200 million.
    But even though Pepsi sold its stake to its Burmese partner
for political reasons, Thein Tun says the situation in the
country is stable.
    "We are not interested in politics, we just want to do
business," Thein Tun said with a laugh.
    "If I were worried about politics I would not do these kind
of projects," he said, pointing to brochures and posters on his
companies involved in various infrastructure-related businesses.
    But Thein Tun did say further expansion of his company was
hampered by some government policies, like poor infrastructure
and a hugely overvalued official exchange rate.
    "For the time being we aren't looking too much to expand our
business," he said. "We have difficulties in getting financing.
That's due mainly to the exchange rate."
    Officially one dollar buys 5.8 kyat, but on the black market
it fetches about 135. Although the government has relaxed many
of the rules on currency, it still requires foreign financial
dealings like loans to be done at the official rate.
    Thein Tun, known in Burma as a philanthropist, says although
he likes to make money he wants to help others and so he has
vowed to give 25 percent of his wealth to charity.
    "I want to help the people. This is one thing I can do if I
have money," he said.
    His bank, Tun Foundation Bank, donates its operating profit
to charitable causes across the country and the Future
Foundation donates money to orphans.
    Thein Tun has also set up an educational programme to grant
students university scholarships in an attempt to correct what
he sees as a poor educational system in Burma.
 REUTER
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