PepsiCo supports economic development in Myanmar 

Sanjeev Chadha, chief executive officer of PepsiCo Asia, Middle East and North Africa, and Adel Garas, president of PepsiCo Asia-Pacific, reconfirmed PepsiCo’s focus on promoting economic development in Myanmar during a visit to the country from February 1-3. The visit focused on reviewing key business priorities, meeting with local partners and speaking with individuals who have been positively affected by PepsiCo’s efforts. 
Through successful partnerships with Positive Planet and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, and by expanding PepsiCo’s potato-growing programme within Myanmar, PepsiCo says it is investing in education, building human capital, and enabling opportunities for employment. 
The company says initiatives are an integral part of “Performance with Purpose”, PepsiCo’s belief that its success is inextricably linked to the sustainability of the world around. 
PepsiCo says it believes that continuously improving the products it sells, operating responsibly to protect the planet and empowering people around the world is what enables it to run a successful global company that creates long-term value for society and its shareholders. 
PepsiCo re-entered Myanmar in 2012 and in 2014 teamed up with Lotte-MGS Beverage Co to manufacture its core portfolio of carbonated soft drinks locally, including Pepsi, Mirinda and 7UP, as well as Sting energy drink. Myanmar is an attractive frontier market with strong economic growth potential and a population of about 53.9 million people. 

Reducing rural poverty 
Chadha and Garas visited the city of Hpa An, the capital of Kayin State, on February 2 to meet with individuals who have benefited from a project supported by PepsiCo and led by Positive Planet, an organisation working to help men and women across the world create the conditions for a better life for future generations. 
The objective of this project is to alleviate poverty and reduce economic vulnerabilities in conflict-affected villages in Kayin State, and to promote financial inclusion among low-income rural households. 
The project creates cooperatives within villages that provide members sustainable access to financial services, as well as financial education. It also promotes business development by providing grants to support commodity or enterprise activities. 
A total of 33 activities were implemented between the second half of 2015 and last November. Activities included demonstration farms for crops and livestock, as well as modelling of rural enterprises such as garments retailing, concrete products, rice trading, and grocery-store operations. 
Successful farmers and entrepreneurs who have made their businesses profitable are invited to become community-based trainers, thereby creating local resources for technical knowledge. 
“Positive Planet’s project in Myanmar uses a two-pronged strategy to tackle complex issues around rural poverty in minority agricultural communities,” said Jacques Attali, president of the Positive Planet Foundation. 
“Combining a strong financial-inclusion element through the creation of a vibrant cooperative, as well as the diversification of agricultural value chains, we have strengthened local communities, helped build their financial reserves and provided local youth with an alternative to migration over the border.” 
Audrey Tcherkoff, global head of fundraising and communications at the foundation, added: “This flagship project shows how by working with local communities we can create added value in local economies and build people’s resilience through strengthened social and financial networks. PepsiCo is and has always been a strong partner of Positive Planet, fighting with us on the ground to create a better world for future generations.” 

Centre of Excellence 
Garas and Chadha announced PepsiCo’s continued financial support of Myanmar’s first Centre of Excellence for Business Skills Development (CEBSD) at a ceremony at the centre in Yangon on February 3. 
The CEBSD, founded in 2014, is the result of a public-private partnership among PepsiCo, Unesco and the Myanmar Ministry of Education, the first initiative of its kind in Myanmar to address the issue of youth employment. The CEBSD aims to improve employment prospects for youth in Myanmar by offering targeted courses and training in business and employability skills, career counselling, and networking opportunities. 
To date, seven courses have been developed and delivered to more than 670 students. Courses cover topics such as business skills for youth, English for the business world, and retail and hospitality management. 
In total, more than 2,500 people have attended training sessions and events since June 2014; of those, 68 per cent were female. Additionally, more than 80 businesspeople and leaders from the local and international community in Yangon have engaged with the centre as speakers, moderators, and workshop facilitators, including nine executives from PepsiCo. 
Min Jeong Kim, head of office Unesco Myanmar, said the organisation was very grateful that support for innovative approaches in skills development among Myanmar youth would continue thanks to PepsiCo in partnership with the Yangon University of Economics. The partnership provides a space for young people to grow professionally, to learn from each other, and to connect with different business partners. 

Sustainable agriculture 
PepsiCo says it is contributing to the economy in Myanmar with an agriculture programme that is helping meet the company’s need for potato supplies in Southeast Asia, as well as providing economic opportunities for local farmers. 
PepsiCo identified Myanmar as a potential hub for growing potatoes, thanks to its rich, fertile lands and favourable climate. The company undertook a comprehensive approach to partnering with farmers, training them on sustainable agriculture practices, and guiding them on investments in infrastructure, such as drip irrigation technology that conserves water usage and minimises the use of fertilisers and chemicals, as well as improved potato-storage facilities. 
When PepsiCo began the local sustainable agriculture programme in 2014 through its partner in Myanmar, 38 farmer partners produced 700 tonnes of potatoes that year. By the end of 2017, the company projects there will be 144 farmers producing 3,300 tonnes of potatoes annually, reflecting improvements in average yields in tonnes per hectare over the last three growing seasons. 
Continued field yield improvements can help PepsiCo drive better purchasing prices and expand to additional export markets to meet growing demand in countries such as Indonesia and Thailand. It also has the potential to improve farmers’ incomes, which are expected to rise by 9 per cent this year.