BAT To Relocate Hong Kong Operations (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

BAT will relocate its Hong Kong operations to Malaysia, according to the
June 1998 edition of Tobacco International. BAT's Malaysian affiliate,
Malaysian Tobacco Company Bhd (MTC), will see its exports increase by 50
percent as a result of the move, says MTC's Chief Executive Officer Russell
Cameron. He said the move relects BAT's "confidence in the quality of
Malaysia's people expertise, high productivity levels, investment climate
and political stability." 

There was no mention in the article of the recent conviction in Hong Kong of
a former BAT executive accused of collaborating with smugglers and whether
the threat of further legal action played any part in the decision to relocate.

Source: "B.A.T. to Relocate HK Operations," Tobacco International, June 1998.