AABR Business Bulletin (Vol. 54, No. 108),January 15, 2005

. The US international Trade Commission cleared the way for tariffs to be imposed on shrimp imports from Vietnam, India, Thailand, China, Brazil and Ecuador but expressed concerns that tariffs on India and Thailand would burden tsunami-ravaged countries.

. Several Asian countries led by Japan, responded swiftly to the plight of their stricken neighbors, generating a major share of global relief aid and mobilizing as never before to help the region cope with a natural catastrophe.

. The contrast in pledge of $64 million by China (vs. $500 million from Japan and $350 million from US) shows China is still restricted in its capabilities. Its booming economy has led to greater influence, as smaller nations seek trade and investment. But China remains poor, with low average incomes and a relatively weak military.

. Hours after the tsunami, because of their proximity to the disaster zone, Malaysia and Singapore were scrambling to deploy search and rescue teams to Indonesia.

. The Manufacturers Alliance /MAPI quarterly economic forecast said US exports may slow modestly from an 8.3% unrealized growth rate in 2004 to 8.0% in 2005. Slower demand from China and India would offset the benefits of a weaker dollar.

. The decision on whether to launch a probe into the Kamunting riot, which the detainees’ families have claimed to be an orchestrated fray, will depend on the police’s investigations.

. China National Petroleum may favor a joint venture with Petroleos de Venezuela to develop and manage 12 oil fields in Venezuela which is trying to persuade foreign companies operating fields under contract to convert the agreements to joint ventures.

. Imax announced a deal with Lark International to open 6 new theaters in China through ’09. It is the largest multi-theater deal Imax has ever signed in Asia and increases the number of Imax theaters scheduled to open in China by 2008 to 19.

. China’s ban of a Nike TV advertisement showing a black basketball star trouncing Chinese cultural icons—dragons and martial arts teacher—could be dismissed as classic overreaction.

. Central bank officials said China would actively and safely reform its currency, a linguistic change some China watchers saw as a hint it might alter its policy of pegging the yuan to the dollar.

. Chinese authorities arrested or reprimanded more than 750 officials in recent months in connection with billion of dollars in financial irregularities, incl. unpaid taxes $ embezzlement, said a public report.

. Frozen out of the Asian free trade initiative, Taiwan is seeking a free trade agreement with US. The proposal has found enormous support from American businesses with interests in Taiwan as well as conservatives in US who believe China poses a long-term threat to US security.

. The US will sell air-to-ground Hellfire missiles to Taiwan, Lockheed Martin said. The missiles would be mounted on attack and scout helicopters.

. Japan seeks to demonstrate its global diplomacy, promote its bid for a UN Security Council seat and help restore its image tarnished by its troop deployment in Iraq.

. Business confidence at Japan’s large manufacturers in the Oct-Dec quarter worsened for the first time in 21 months, and the outlook for the next quarter is even dimmer.

. As early as this year, work would begin in Japan on a $10 billion experiment to replicate the energy of the stars to generate a safe, clean inexhaustible proven supply for future generations.

. Sony has no plans to ditch its plasma display panel operations, contrary to reports in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun that it would do so this spring, said its chairman.

. The Japan Business Federation, the nation’s top business lobby, said Japan’s economy will accelerate in the 2^nd half on Chinese and US demand. But it will still be only half of the ’04 growth rate.

. Private sector job openings in Singapore hit the highest number in three and a half years in Sept, as the unemployed rate doubled to 3.4%, says a Ministry of Manpower report.

. The Thai Govt. is still hunting nearly 100 suspected ringleaders behind the Southern violence, said PM Thaksin Shinawatra who warned the region’s troubles may not end soon.

. The Criminal Court handed down the death penalty to a former local administrator masterminding the murder of an environmental activist in a dump site dispute in Samut Prakan.

. Bilateral ties between Malaysia and Singapore are quoted in a joint history shaped by colonialism, and defined by culture, religion, race, xenophobia and politics. In the 4 decades they have lived apart, the relationship is frustrated by race and xenophobia, though neither would admit it.

. Many of its services had already gone private. Now the ministry’s intention to privatize its medicine supply will only benefit certain companies while Malaysian consumers will suffer.

. China’s Haudrian Corp, one of the mainland’s 5 biggest power companies, and Indonesia’s PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam plan to jointly build a $1.6 billion coal-fired plant in the archipelago’s south Sumatra Island.

. Police detained 8 executives and employees of Bank Global International, following the Indonesian central bank’s decision to suspend the publicly listed bank for a month due to its deteriorating financial health.

. Indonesia is now the world’s second largest national rubber producer after Thailand with a production which reached 1.8 million tons in 2003.

. The Indonesian Govt. has allowed energy major Bumi to value its PT Kaltin Prima Coal at almost 3x the amount Bumi paid to buy it a little more than a year ago.

. Monsanto agreed to pay $1.5 million in penalties to render US investigations of improper payments and financial irregularities related to its Indonesia affiliates.

. Countries in the Mekong Basin (Laos) have agreed a better balance is required between the need to develop the infrastructure and protecting the environment.

. The Indian stock market has been riding the crest of an unprecedented boon, thanks to a swarm of foreign investors.

. Civil rights activists, survivors and other protesters converged on Bhopal last months to market the 20^th anniversary of the world’s worst industrial accident and to demand justice for hundreds of thousands of people still suffering in the aftermath.

. Militants stormed a government building in Indian Kashmir and set it on fire killing a security guard and a worker, a security official said.

. The fragile “branching” coral reefs near the Andaman and Nicolas Islands off the Thai/Burmese coasts are likely to be most damaged after December’s tsunami, said India’s Zoological Survey.

. Former Pakistani Chief of Army Staff Aslam Beg is frequently mentioned as being involved in the underground network that proliferated nuclear secrets and materials to Iran, among other countries. No action has been taken against him to date.

. Fire destroyed the Sun Kint garment factory in Siddburganj, a residential town near Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, killing 22 people who were trapped because the exits were locked.

" Supporting Asian and Minority Businesses"