UANI Calls on Mayor Bloomberg to Refuse to Award Taxi of Tomorrow Contract to Companies that Conduct Business in Iran
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 6,
2011
Contact:
Kimmie Lipscomb, [email protected]
Phone: (212)
554-3296
UANI
Calls on Mayor Bloomberg to Refuse to Award Taxi
of Tomorrow Contract to Companies that Conduct Business in Iran
New York, NY
- United Against Nuclear
Iran (UANI) on Wednesday
called on Mayor Michael Bloomberg to refuse to award the contract for
the Taxi of Tomorrow
campaign to any company that
conducts business in Iran. The Taxi of Tomorrow campaign is a
competition
designed to select New York City's exclusive taxi cab for a
decade.
Two of the three
finalists for the lucrative contract, Japan's Nissan Motor Company
("Nissan") and
Turkey's Karsan Otomotiv
("Karsan"), do
business in Iran. Through their respective business
operations, Nissan
and Karsan are facilitating the Iranian government's ability to engage
in
behavior that runs directly counter to the security and values of the
people of
New York City.
In a letter to the
Mayor Bloomberg,
UANI President Ambassador Mark D. Wallace wrote:
By way of
background, UANI asks your office to consider
the following issues. With respect to Nissan, they have had a
longtime
relationship with the Iranian car manufacturer, Pars Khodro, and have
been
producing cars and trucks in Iran since 1987. These
operations continue
to this day. (The New York Times, "Profiting from Iran, and
the US," March 6,
2010). Nissan and its partner Pars Khodro make no attempt to
hide this
business relationship and it is advertised on a variety of company
profiles and
their company Website. (See, Nissan's "Profile 2008"
and the Pars Khodro Website).
Similarly, the Turkish auto company, Karsan entered into a five-year
exclusive
distribution agreement in 2007 with Iran's Sanat Khuodro Kamau to
export J9
minibus models to Iran. (Karsan Report,
May 10, 2007). Karsan has
entered into a business relationship with the National Iranian Gas
Company (NIGC Site,
"Karsan J9 Premier,"
February 26, 2007) and, as recently as July 2010, the company indicated
that
their vehicles would be sold not only in Iran, but Syria as well. (Press Release,
"Creation of 'J10' for 7
Million Euros Astonished French Peugeot," July 15, 2010).
Nissan and Karsan's decision to do business in Iran is wrong.
As Mayor of
New York, however, you can let them know that the people of New York
City will
not help finance those irresponsible and unethical business
decisions.
Any company seeking to do business with New York City should only be
eligible
to do so if they are able to certify that they do not do business with
Iran. Companies should not be able to hide behind the
corporate veil of
foreign subsidiaries when they make such certification.
Attached for your
review is a proposed certification for your consideration.
Certifications
such as these help the public make informed investment decisions and
will
enable New York City officials to ensure that taxpayer dollars are
spent in
ways that align with the values of the people of this great city.
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Click here to send a
message to Mayor Bloomberg,
Nissan and Karsan
Click here to read
the full text of the letter to
Mayor Bloomberg
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