.
Manufacturers and industry analysts say most SUVs now sold in
Southeast Asia are mid-priced, passenger-car-based
models produced by Asian companies, such as Toyota,
Nissan, Mitsubushi, Isuzu, Suzuki, Subaru, Kia and
Hyundai.
. For those
who want real respect, nothing less than a Volvo, Land
Rover, BMW, Lexus or Porsche four-wheel-drive will do.
. In RP,
the wealthy, who are fearful of being kidnapped or
car-jacked, find massive SUVs a necessity, not a luxury.
They are also blunt instruments of power as they
navigate the congested and potholed streets of the
capital.
. An auto
industry analysts based in Hong Kong does not
expect $60 a barrel crude and the higher pump prices to
have an impact on Asian SUV sales.
. In
Bangkok, notorious for its traffic congestion, SUVs
are seen as status symbols, lie the latest mobile
phones.
. In
Jakarta, as in Manila, SUVs do what they’re designed
for, enabling drivers to navigate poorly maintained
highways and periodic flooding.
. In
Malaysia, where off-road motoring is a niche sport,
SUVs are more popular as urban vehicles for comfort and
safety reasons.
. In
Japan 15,232 SUVs were sold in May, up 24.8% from
April. On a year-to-year basis, the May sales surged
47.3%.
. A highly lethal avian flu circulates among
poultry in East Asia, posing the prospect of a
worldwide human pandemic. Most of the counties now
affected have virtually no socks of medicine needed to
treat the virus, according to an official in the region.
.
The British government said Asia-based
computer-hackers are engaged in a lengthy “industrial
scale” attack on critical national infrastructure.
.
Last year, China surpassed Japan as the world’s second largest
oil consumer. Today, China and Japan are vigorously
competing to be the primary pipeline destination for the
output of some of Russia’s oil fields. China and Japan
are also sparring over offshore oil deposits in the East
China Sea.
. According to US DOE, China will be consuming
nearly 13 million barrels of oil per day vs. 8 million
barrels per day for US by 2013. That is more than double
its current level of 6 million barrels per day.
Virtually all of China’s increased consumption will have
to be imported.
. Bank of America bought a 9% stake in
China Construction Bank for $2.5 billion, as the US
lender plunged into world’s fastest-growing economy with
one of the largest single foreign investments in China’s
banking sector.
.
Congressional showdown with China over its currency policies
abated as Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Lindsey
Graham (R-SC) received assurances from Treasury
Secretary John Snow and Fed Reserve Board Chair Alan
Greenspan said Beijing would allow the devaluation of
the yuan.
. The two
US senators who sponsored a widely-backed bill
threatening to penalize Beijing for manipulating its
currency, said they would postpone the legislation until
later this year.
. Critics
contend it gives the Chinese an unfair advantage in
international markets by keeping the yuan’s value
artificially low, making it almost impossible for many
US manufacturers to compete.
. The
Schumer-Graham bill, which had the support of 67
senators in a procedural vote in April, would impose
duties of 27.5% on Chinese goods unless Beijing allows
the yuan to rise significantly.
.
Advanced
Micro Devices’
Japan unit said it has filed 2 lawsuits against
Intel’s Japanese unit for $55 million in damages,
claming Intel violated Japan’s anti-trust laws and says
its trading practices have caused damage to it.
. Japan’s
decision to buy American beef will not be affected by
recent case of mad cow disease detected in US-born cow.
, Hit by
falling prices and more competition, Sanyo will
ct its workforce by 15%, closing factories and paring
debt, and will focus on compressors and various kinds of
batteries.
. Japan
moves towards privatizing the Post office. It
will become 4 separate businesses and the government’s
guarantee of $3.1 trillion in deposits will be gradually
replaced by market instruments.
. Goldman Sachs Group and state-owned
Development Bank of Japan will invest $180 million
and $45 million respectively in an unlisted company that
runs Universal Studios Japan.
.
Singapore’s
Temasek will pay $1 billion for shares in China
Construction Bank’s IPO, joining Bank of America as
a foreign investor.
.
Pres. GMA of the Philippines is facing two major scandals, an
electoral fraud controversy, as well as claims that
family members received pay-offs from illegal
operations.
. Saying
that the resignation of her key economic managers was a
big loss to the government, major business groups joined
the clamor for GMA to step down. It is joined by the
political parties, including her own.
.
Philippine political parties are nothing more than
vehicles of opportunism; they would jump ship if it
promoted their personal interest. The interest of the
nation has never been and is not a priority to these
oligarchs, whose only goal is to stay in power,
regardless as to who is president.
.
Incontrovertible signs from Washington indicate that the
Bush administration has instructed its local agents in
Manila to replace GMA with one of the elite factions,
together with a bloc of traditional military-business
groups.
.
Spain’s foreign assistance to RP will be increased
to $18 million next year from its current $8 million
level.
.
Austria and RP signed an agreement in Vienna to
develop the Mindanao and Panay railway systems using
Austrian technology and materials.
. Preparations to transfer to Okinawa
operations to RP are being expedited as the
militarization of Japan proceeds without let-up. RP also
provides about 10 million migrant contract workers to
service corporate globalization.
.
China’s Citic
Resources said it has ended its pursuit of debt-laden
Thai Petrochemicals Industry (TPI), putting a
Thai Govt. restructuring plan firmly back on track.
. Thousands of Hmong refugees living in N.
Thailand were forced from their homes under a Thai
campaign to pressure them to return to Laos.
. There is
an estimated 6,500 refugees, and their local sponsors
are threatened with prison or fines of up to $1,200 for
sheltering Hmongs whom Thailand considers as illegal
immigrants.
. Thai
officials have instructed local vendors not to sell food
to the refugees, including children.
.
Indonesia has
confirmed 45 new polio cases brining the total since the
outbreak began this spring to 111, WHO officials said.
.
Monsoon floods in India’s western Gujarat state have inundated
more than 7,200 villages, left about 175,000 homeless
and killed at least 131 people in the last week of June,
said officials and news reports.
. Indian lenders to the Dabhol Power Plant
are close to a settlement with Bechtel, which
will clear the last major hurdle in reviving the 2,184
MW power plant that has been silent for 4 years.
.
Reliance Industries Ltd. incurred the capital
expenditure of Rs 5,093 crone during 2004-05, primarily
on exploration & production, retail marketing network &
expansion of petrochemical business.
.
Pres. Bush’s North Korean policy was called a failure by senators
from both parties at a foreign relations panel dealing
on Pyongyang’s nuclear program.
. North
Korea said it will abandon its yearlong boycott of
nuclear disarmament talks and resume negotiations this
month with US and four other nations.
