Coca-Cola opens Yangon bottling plant in US$200m five-year deal
The soft-drink giant resumes production in post-sanctions Myanmar with US$200 million, five-year investment plan after 60-year absence
Coca-Cola began bottling its famous soft drink in Myanmar yesterday as part of a planned five-year, US$200 million investment after having no local production for more than 60 years.
The company announced the ceremonial inauguration of its bottling plant in Hmawbi Township, a suburb of Yangon, the country's biggest city, with local partner Pinya Manufacturing Co.
I think elevated expectations are one of the dangers facing the country
The news came as hundreds of global leaders, industry chiefs and foreign media descend on Myanmar's once-reclusive capital for the World Economic Forum (WEF) on East Asia.
Some 900 delegates from more than 50 countries will pour into Naypyidaw for the three-day event, which starts today, amid huge interest in Myanmar as it opens to the world after decades of isolation under military rule.
WEF Asia head Sushant Palakurthi Rao said the Myanmar forum was "by far the largest" meeting of the group. "I think these numbers are a clear expression of the tremendous interest from all walks of life," he said.
Myanmar economic expert Sean Turnell, a professor at Australia's Macquarie University, likened the conference to a debutante's ball. "Expectations are too high. Indeed, I think elevated expectations are one of the dangers facing the country," he said.
Hundreds of hotel rooms - some in establishments owned by cronies of the former junta - are ready to welcome the influx of visitors to the sprawling capital, built in remote central Myanmar by the paranoid former generals.