.
Thailand
(92.3 of a possible 100),
Malaysia (86.2) and China (68.4) are three
economies widely seen as the future of Asia. What they have
in common is above-average level of female participation.
.
The idea is that the more opportunities women have, the more
vibrant economies are and consequently, the less need there
is to amass a huge public debt to boost growth.
.
At the bottom of the list is South Korea (45.5),
followed by Indonesia (52.5) and Japan (54.5).
Perhaps it’s a bizarre coincidence, yet MasterCard’s
findings fit quiet neatly with 2 important issues in Asia:
leadership and debt.
.
While India’s total exports in the past 5 years rose by 73%, those of
ASEAN rose at double that rate and six-fold to China’s.
.
In the 1997 East Asian currency and their full economic
crisis, the US strong-armed Japan not to start a proposed
East Asian currency fund that would have prevented at least
the worst of the crisis.
.
The US benefited from its buying devalued East Asian
currencies and using them to buy up East Asian real
resources.
.
Now China is already taking steps toward such an
arrangement, only on a much grander financial and also
economic scale.
.
The Central Bank of China has begun to buy new euros.
China itself has begun to use some of its dollars to buy
real goods from other Asians, and thousands of iron ore and
steel from Brazil.
.
Supported by bulk purchases of Russian fighters, submarines and
destroyers, China’s build-up exceeds its
self-defense needs. From Japan to India, questions about
Chinese strategic ambitions are making Asian capitals
nervous.
.
The recently signed Chinese law arrogates to China the right to use
military force against Taiwan should Beijing perceive
Taipei to be moving towards independence.
.
China has aided Iranian ballistic missile, chemical weapons
and conventional arms program, says CIA.
.
China craves international acceptance and respect as a
responsible power. To gain it, China must resolve Taiwan’s
future peacefully, help dismantle North Korea’s nuclear
program and its support of Iran’s WMD and missile program.
.
China fruit producer
Beijing Huiyuan Beverages & Food is in talks with
foreign potential buyers.
.
Hong Kong lawyers and politicians denounced the government’s decision to
introduce a 2-year term for the territory’s next CEO as
evidence of an erosion of the rule of law and autonomy.
.
With the European Union reportedly planning to remove China from the
list of countries included in its Generalized System of
Performance (GSP) to dampen the threat of ballooning
shipments of textiles from that country, many of Taiwan’s
garment makers are moving their manufacturing into SE Asia.
.
The proposed new agreement will lower tariffs on textile
products imported from underdeveloped countries (including
in Asia, Cambodia, Laos & Bangladesh). China & India are off
GSP preferential list.
.
Cambodia is attractive to Taiwan’s textile manufacturers
because it is both in American and European lists. Many of
them are planning to enlarge existing plants or set up new
plants there.
.
US policy insists that Taiwan’s political future be
determined peacefully. A Chinese attack on Taiwan would draw
on American military response.
.
Taiwan’s government will have
to grant a discount of up to 50% or back a minority
management if it wants to recapitalize state-owned
Changwa Bank by bringing in a foreign shareholder.
.
The Bank of Japan is finding it so hard to pump extra-liquidity
into its financial system that it has been forced to
lengthen the term of its money market operations.
.
Japanese shipping line NYK plans to find customers for a European
containers port which has remained unused for the last 4
years.
.
Hyundai
is winning international accolades for design & reliability
as it battles to catch up with Japanese, European & American
rivals on global markets.
.
Two of the most dangerous al Quaeda-linked groups (Jemaah Islamiyah
and Abu Sayyaf) are working together to train militants
in scuba-diving for seaborne terror attacks, said a recently
captured guerrilla in the Philippines.
.
At least 21 top furniture manufacturers in Cebu have
committed to provide the furnishings for Malacanang sa
Sugbo, allowing the national government to save millions
of pesos while transforming the seat of power in central
Philippines as a showcase of some of their best products.
.
Filipino professionals and development workers hold key and
sensitive positions in the government, international
organizations and private businesses in Cambodia.
.
According to Sen. Ralph Recto, the US Embassy in Manila
collects about P2 billion ($36 million a year from Filipinos
applying for visas. It has made RP a land of milking
cows.
.
Sen. Luisita Ejercito, wife of deposed president Joseph
Estrada, was detained by US Immigration & DHS at SF Intl.
Airport for husband’s ongoing corruption case in plundering
some $80 million in public money during his 30-month in
office.
.
Indonesia
plans to raise cigarette taxes only days after Philip
Morris proposed the $5.2 billion takeover of local
producer HM Sampoerna.
.
Malaysia
plans to recruit 100k
Pakistanis to relieve an acute labor shortage caused by a
crackdown that sent hundreds of thousands of illegal workers
fleeing.
.
The Pakistanis will be allowed to work in all sectors
including construction, manufacturing and services, said the
Home Affairs Minister.
.
The New Straits Times estimated that about 200k
workers were needed in the manufacturing sector; 150k in
construction; 50k in plantation, and 20k in the services
sector.
.
The Indian government is planning to allow the country’s 29
states to bypass the country’s strict labor laws through the
creation of Chinese-style special economic zones, said the
Minister of Trade & Commerce.
.
Hindu nationalists attacked a warehouse of US-based PepsiCo and
protested outside the American consulate in Bombay after the
US revoked a visa for the elected head of Gujarat, citing
his role in the 2002 religious riots.
.
The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in Maharashtra plans a
crackdown on manufacturers for infants, including baby oil
and shampoo.
.
India may face new US
sanctions for failure to stop human trafficking.
.
At least 35 people were killed and scores injured when a powerful bomb
ripped through a crowd of pilgrims as they ate their evening
meal near a mosque in SW Pakistan.
.
Pres. Musharraf vowed to upgrade Pakistan’s nuclear
capability but with a strict adherence to nonproliferation
as he watched the test-firing of a long-range missile which
can carry a nuclear warhead.
.
Tsunami-hit Sri Lanka accepted a Paris Club job offer to freeze
its debt payment until the end of 2005, but plans to press
lenders to extend moratorium to the end of 2007, said
Minister of Finance.
.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s decision to skip Nepal this
month in his trip to South Asia is being interpreted
by New Delhi as a major concession to Indian sensitivity.
.
Security forces arrested hundreds of people calling for the
restoration of democracy in the biggest protest since King
Gyanendra imposed emergency rule last month.
