PwC severs Burmese business ties

Burma's military rulers are accused of stifling democracy

PricewaterhouseCoopers has become the latest multinational company to cut ties with Burma, according to a human rights lobby organisation.

The Burma UK campaign has reported that the PwC group has given up its interest in a Burmese investment consultancy.

Campaigners accuse investors of sustaining Burma's military government, which is widely criticised for systematic human rights abuses.

Earlier this month British American Tobacco also severed its Burmese ties.

"Dirty List"

BAT's withdrawal, which followed the departure of Premier Oil earlier this year, means Britain's two biggest investors in Burma have now bowed to lobbying pressure.

PwC had also featured on a "dirty list" of companies alleged to be funding or indirectly funding the military junta in Burma which has held power since a 1962 coup.

Political opposition is subject to draconian controls in Burma, and the government is accused of abuses including the widespread use of slave labour.

Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the opposition National League for Democracy, has been under house arrest since May.

PwC has come under fire for partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers Hla Tun Consultants Ltd, an investment service in which part of the PwC group had a stake.

"We were aware that another member of the PricewaterhouseCoopers network of firms, which held an ownership interest in an entity operating in Burma, was re-evaluating their ownership in this entity. I am now able to confirm that we have been informed that this ownership interest has since been divested," PwC told the Burma Campaign UK.