Carlsberg Unworried by Call for Beer Boycott
Danish beer giant Carlsberg, a partner in Cambodia’s largest brewery, Cambrew, said it is not concerned by a call to boycott its popular Angkor Beer brand over a partner company’s investment in a Laos dam. Ben Morton, vice president of Carlsberg’s international media relations and issues management department, said in an email that Goh Nan Kioh’s roles as director of Cambrew and head of Mega First—the Malaysian investment company in charge of the Don Sahong dam—are “two separate issues.” Cambrew, which manufactures Angkor Beer, is a joint venture between Mr. Goh and the Copenhagen-based Carlsberg Group. “[T]he Don Sahong Dam project in Laos is an independent project in which Carlsberg has no involvement and no financial interest,” Mr. Morton said, declining to comment further on the call for boycott. … Saysana Phommasy, Cambrew’s chief operating officer, also said he was unperturbed by the boycott threat. “The project is the Lao government’s project and the development company. For Cambrew, we don’t have anything involved,” Mr. Saysana said. “If you don’t do anything to the good people, then you don’t have to worry. So I am not worried because I did not do anything bad.” Mr. Saysana, who is a Laos citizen, was listed in a 2007 World Bank document as a representative of Mega First in reference to the Don Sahong project, as he apparently attended a hydropower forum in September 2007 organized by the bank. Mr. Saysana declined to elaborate on how his name ended up on a World Bank document as an “office director” for Mega First working on the Don Sahong dam. “For me, I only do Angkor Beer; I have nothing involved [with the dam],” Mr. Saysana said. “I only help my friend to run the other operation. It is not involved.” …
Dene-Hern Chen
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/carlsberg-unworried-by-call-for-beer-boycott-45794/
