He says that Western companies think they can avoid political risk by spelling out every detail in a contract, but "in Asia, there is no shortcut for managing the relationship."88 In other words, the contract is in the relationship, not on the paper, and the way to ensure the reliability of the agreement is to nurture the relationship. Even a deal that has been implemented for some time may start to get watered down at a time when you cannot do anything about it. A Japanese-led consortium…
In addition, some of our ingredients, such as aspartame, acesulfame potassium, sucralose, saccharin and ascorbic acid, as well as some of the packaging containers, such as aluminum cans, are available from a limited number of suppliers, some of which are located in countries experiencing political or other risks. We cannot assure you that we and our bottling partners will be able to maintain favorable arrangements and relationships with these suppliers. The citrus industry is subject to the…