AABR Business Bulletin           Vol. 55 No. 109                                                                  February 1, 2005

General    Private Sector    Federal Government    International    Miscellaneous

I. General    (this section available to paid members only) - TO SUBSCRIBE, CLICK HERE

II. Private Sector    (this section available to paid members only) TO SUBSCRIBE, CLICK HERE

III. Federal Government    (this section available to paid members only) TO SUBSCRIBE, CLICK HERE

IV. International . Citigroup has replaced its head of investment banking in Asia in the second big change in January in the bank’s top regional management.   . India and China opened a first round of strategic dialogue despite a nagging border dispute. Meetings began after Russian president Vladimir Putin floated the idea of Russia-China-India economic alliance.   . Thailand confirmed its first outbreak this year of bird flu in 2 provinces. Vietnam reported 6 human deaths in the past 3 weeks from the same virus.   . China’s #1 oil and gas producer (CNPC) was offered a 20% stake in the Russian-controlled firm that will take over Yukos’ largest refinery following its controversial auction.   . Sinopec, Asia’s #1 fuel refiner, will take Beijing Yanhua Petrochemical private for $493 million.   . China’s Cherry Automobile has signed a deal with Briaklin and his Visionary Vehicles firm to sell 250 vehicles in 5 models during the first year. It will be priced significantly below market but will try to match Japanese carmakers’ qualities.   . Many Chinese (and foreign executives in China) say that a reevaluation of the yuan, whose exchange  value is linked to the dollar, is unlikely to help the US deficit. Costs here are so low that a reevaluation is unlikely to narrow the deficit appreciably and may even increase it.   . Mittal Steel (Dutch) has agreed to by a 37.2% stake in Hunan Volin Iron & Steel Group for $315 million which will give the company its first productive platform in China.   . Corporate sponsorship of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing is on course for a record figure of more than $1 billion, confirming China’s status as a new business magnet.   . The drive by international fund managers to capture Chinese households’ savings faltered, with the downturn in the domestic stock market leading to drop in demand for new funds.   . China’s export of products, from clothing to consumer electronics, have been rising rapidly for the past year, and they were 33% higher last month than a year earlier, the Ministry of Commerce in Beijing announced.   . China will keep preferential tax rates for foreign companies until at least 2007, the nation’s top tax official said.   . A leading Chinese economist said China has lost faith in the dollar’s stability and wants to peg the yuan to a broader basket of currencies.   . Chinese regulators ordered some 130 brokerages to report their financial situation in an attempt to reform the nation’s scandal-ridden, money-losing securities sector.   . China cracked down on dissidents to end public mourning for ousted Communist leader Zhao Ziyang. Officials were alarmed by outpouring of grief flooding the Internet. . Chinese Web users numbered 94 million at year’s end, up 18% from a year ago and representing 7% of the population, said the Xinhua news agency.   . China defended its decision to raid a news conference called by visiting South Korean legislators to discuss the status of North Korean refuges in China, accusing the lawmakers of inciting North Koreans to enter the country illegally and break into foreign embassies to seek asylum.   . When Hu Jintao rose to the top of the party, many observers and intellectuals hoped he would turn out to be China’s Mikhail Gorbachev. Now he has proved to be a disappointment. He is a Marxist, not a reformer.   . Japan’s foreign exchange reserves, the world’s largest, rose to a record for the 5th straight month in December, standing at $844.5 billion due to a strong euro, the Finance Ministry said.   . “Seitai” has become the most fashionable form of physical therapy in Japan since aerobics. It is used to tap the patient’s reserve of endurance, self-healing and restorative powers that are believed to be far superior.   . Japanese retail sales dropped 2.6% in December from a year earlier, said the Japanese Department of Stores Association.   . Japan’s growth aid in FY’05 will miss the 1.5% growth predicted last October, if expectations of rising prices fail to materialize, said the Bank of Japan.   . Why do Japanese women cover their mouth with one hand when they giggle? To conceal a mouthful of crooked teeth. Despite its economic clout and technological advancement, Japan’s dental services have made little progress.   . After expanding a solid 8.1% in ’04, Singapore’s economy is expected to grow as much as 5% in ’05, said PM Lee Hsien Loong.   . Creative Technology, a Singapore-based maker of computer audio equipment, forecast a jump in revenue for Q4, saying sales of digital music players surged over the holiday period.   . South Korea’s economy might grow less than 4% in the first half of this year before picking up significantly later, said the Finance Minister.   . Samsung Electronics said its profit topped $10 billion last year, a landmark in its 35-year rise from TV-maker to the world’s #1 producer of memory chips and flat panel screens.   . After frantic effort during the Christmas holidays to ward off a rival bid by HBSC, UK-listed bank Standard Chartered won the auction from Korea First, with a bid for $3.5 billion won.   . South Korea’s consumer confidence fell to a 4-year low in December, the latest indication that domestic spending is not likely to recover soon.   . Clashes between Govt. troops and separatist MNLF in the Philippines erupted in Mindanao just weeks before peace talks in Kuala Lumpur.   . Indonesia will not force US and other countries to withdraw troops for tsunami-hit areas by March 26 in an apparent softening of Jakarta’s stance on help.    . Indonesia said about 50,000 people listed as missing were now presumed dead. It bore the brunt of the damage as the waves swept over whole islands, killing over 166,000.   . A general said the armed forces killed 120 Aceh rebels over 2 weeks for stealing tsunami aid.   . Not only is India’s population more than 1 billion, but 60 million are under age 25. By 2030, it will probably have overtaken China as the world’s most populous country, with the world’s 3rd or 4th largest economy.   . Its newly elected government has an ambitious goal of sustained growth of 7% to 8% and doubling of per capita income over the next 10 years.   . The success of India’s service sector, particularly its international competitiveness as an IT provider, shows it can compete formidably with developed countries.   . India is looking east, away from the Middle East, towards Myanmar’s and Bangladesh’s natural gas, which could be transported to Indian cities, through Bangladesh.   . Officials said as many as 300 Hindu pilgrims may have died in a temple fire in western India.   . India opened high-level talk with Burma and Bangladesh aimed at approving a multi-million dollar gas pipeline to feed India’s surging demand for energy.   . Gen. Pervez Musharraf condemned fighting between rival Sunni and Shiite Muslims that left 14 people dead. He said he was trying to make Pakistan a moderate Islamic state and not one controlled by extremists.

V. Miscellaneous    (this section available to paid members only)  TO SUBSCRIBE, CLICK HERE

Copyright 2003 By: Rawlein G. Soberano, Ph.D. President Asian American Business Roundtable