.
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.
