Coca-Cola now sees the US as a less friendly business environment than China, its chief executive has revealed, citing political gridlock and an antiquated tax structure as reasons its home market has become less competitive.
“It’s like a well managed company, China,” Muhtar Kent, Coke’s chief executive, told the Financial Times. “You have a one-stop shop in terms of the Chinese foreign investment agency and local governments are fighting for investment with each other.”
Mr Kent also pointed to Brazil as an example of an emerging economy that is making itself attractive to investment in ways that the US once did. “They’re learning very fast, these countries,” he said. “In the West, we’re forgetting what really worked 20 years ago. In China and other markets around the world, you see the kind of attention to detail about how business works and how business creates employment.”