IV. International (04-15-06)
. Asian
automaker Toyota Corp will expand the
production of Camry in Indiana, and Kia Motors Corp
announced plans to construct a $1.2 billion assembly
factory in GA, ratcheting up their efforts in the US.
. Some of the most commonly seen Asian
airlines traveling throughout Southeast Asia
include Korea’s Asiana Airlines, Singapore’s Tiger
Airways and Malaysia’s Air Asia already make
regular flights in the region.
. The Asia-Pacific IT sector is set to
expand nearly twice as fast as its North American
counterpart in the five years to 2009, contributing more
than 1 million new jobs, said a recent report.
. China
is steeping up military training in Latin America
because of a law that limits US military support to the
nations in the region. The growing Chinese role comes
amidst numerous high-level visits by its leader and
other activities aimed at building military and economic
ties to leftist governments and other states in a
strategic region long-considered within the US sphere of
influence.
.
Sinasteel,
China’s second largest iron ore trader, is seeking a majority stake in
Grange Resources’ $1.1 billion iron ore pellet
project in
western Australia
to receive supplies of the steelmaking equipment.
.
Chinese doctors are ‘harvesting” kidneys corneas and
other organs from live concentration camp inmates and
selling them for up to $100k apiece.
.
Much of the Chinese hostility towards Africans and
African-Americans must change by 2008 when the
Olympics open in
Beijing.
Whether such ingrained racial prejudices can be
successfully discouraged in the next 2 years is
doubtful.
.
In recent months, Japan
has made a series of unprecedented overtures toward
Taiwan,
which was a Japanese colony from 1895 to 1945. In Tokyo,
leading politicians are increasingly adopting the
position that Japan must come to the island’s aid in the event of Chinese aggression.
.
The US, which has diplomatic relations with China, is
nonetheless sworn to stand by the
Taiwan Relations Act of
1979 to defend
the island territory if it is attacked.
.
Japanese & US leaders have, for the first time, jointly
declared protection of the
Taiwan Strait
a “common strategic objective.” It could also
tilt the regional balance of power.
.
So-called Track 2 meetings between Japanese and
Taiwanese politicians, academics and retired military
officials have intensified, according to officials in
Taiwan and Japan.
.
Toshiba
said its new HD DVD machines, which will compete
with Sony Corp’s Blu-ray technology, will sell
for about 10,000 yen ($940) in
Japan.
Sony Blu-ray-based players will sell in the US in July
for around $1,000.
.
Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Industries,
2 of Japan’s largest steel industries, said they were
considering integrating their structural sheet metal
industries.
.
Japan’s
syndicated loan market
leapt to a record high last year (31% to 25,696 billion
yen), bolstered by economic recovery, according to
recent figures from the Bank of Japan. The
figures suggest a structural change in Japan’s loan
market as well as a cyclical one.
. South Korea
was set for its first female prime minister, Han
Myeong Sook, after Pres. Roh Moo Hyun named
the lawmaker and former jailed democracy activist to
succeed a veteran legislator who quit over criticism for
playing golf during a railway crisis.
. Hundreds of elderly South Korea farmers are
facing forcible eviction from their land to allow the
expansion of a US military base near Seoul, said
Amnesty International.
. The won closed at its highest level
in 8 years and 6 months on weak dollar sentiment,
finishing 957.30 against the greenback in the Seoul
currency market.
.
Illegal immigration is common in RP. It’s not just possible that
Koreans living in metro
Manila
have “permanent resident
status,” or had become “citizens,” or were registered
with student visas or working permits. As many as
519k S. Korean tourists had come to RP in 2005,
in contrast to only 500 Japanese.
.
Despite alleged visa difficulties, no less than 78k
Indians entered RP in 2005. Did most of them leave?
They are involved in the 5/6 business lending which is
more than usurious.
.
As for illegal Chinese, when the famous Divisoria
“market” called “168” was raided in 12/05, no less than
43 of the Chinese peddling goods there were found to be
illegal.
. Thai journalists agreed on a united stance against media
intimidation, calling for press freedom in presenting
news & opinions, as guaranteed by article 39 of the
Constitution.
.
PM Shinawatra has appointed Chidchai Wannasathit as
interim PM while he takes a leave of absence until a new
government is formed.
.
Labor protesters marched in
Jakarta, Indonesia,
joining thousands of workers across the country who
decried proposed revisions to the 2003 labor law which
they claimed were pro-business and diminished their
rights.
.
During an informal gathering, VP Jusuf Kalla posed an
intriguing question—why has
Indonesia,
a country rich in natural resources, remained poor?
.
The rupiah continued to strengthen, reaching a
16-month high as easing inflation and a stable interest
rate outlook boosted investor confidence in the
country’s economy.
.
The KLCI in Malaysia
closed at the
highest level in nearly 8 months as foreign funds made
their presence felt with interest focused on Mesdaq
stocks and blue chips.
.
The mobile operator DiGi proposes a record
capital repayment of 60 sen a share, or about
RM 450 million in total, to entitled
shareholders.
.
Pentagon’s target is to produce the rate of defects per
unit (DPU) to two this year. The average DPU for
Proton cars now stands between 6 and 7, compared
with Toyota
which has a DPU of only 0.15.
.
A Malaysian man nearly fainted when he received a
$218-trillion phone bill and was ordered to pay up
within 10 days or face prosecution, the New Straits
Times reported.
. Vietnam
is willing to develop
cooperation with
Cambodia
in developing both countries’ agricultural sector, said
PM Pham Van Khai.
.
Party Secretary General
N.D. Manh said he hoped the tradition of friendship,
solidarity and comprehensive cooperation with
Cuba
could continue to strengthen and develop.
.
The capital has
recorded steady economic progress in the first 3 months
of this year with an annual GDP of 10% and annual export
growth of 18.9%, the highest since 2002.
.
Sonia Gandhi, leader of India’s
ruling Congress Party, resigned as a member of
parliament and a key national advisory body in the wake
of a growing controversy that threatened to disqualify
her from the legislature.
. The Tata Group has raised the stake
in its showdown with Aditya Brilaby offering to
buy out the shares held by its partner in Indian
telecommunications company Idea Cellular.
.
Morgan Stanley is planning to invest up to $1
billion in Indian real estate over the next 5 to 7 years
to take advantage of liberalized foreign investment
rules that accelerating the country’s urbanization.
.
The Asian Development
Bank (ADB) has projected a slightly lower growth
rate of GDP in
India for ’06 at 7.6%. It expects the rate to rise again at 7.8% in ’07.
. Pakistan
and
India
are considering a barter trade arrangement for various
commodities, e.g., wheat import from Pakistan in
exchange for sugar from India.
.
The Central Board of
Revenue (CBR) has issued a list of items on which
zero-rated sales tax would not be applicable at the
import stage under SRO.530(1)/2005.
.
The Planning Commission has strongly opposed
upward revision in Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited
(SNGPL) gas prices and termed its demand as uncalled
for and ill-timed.
.
The government of Sri Lanka has conveyed to the LTTE through the
visiting Special Norwegian envoy that they must
move from CFA talks to more concrete issues, e.g.,
democracy, political pluralism, humanitarian & those
concerning children, such as a final solution to the
problem without delay.
.
Sri Lanka’s candidate to
lead the UN said that as secretary-general, he would
push ahead with reforms to the world organization and
take a more proactive stance towards “what is evil and
wrong with the world.”
.
With pledges of assistance for oil exploration in Sri
Lanka from Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil
provider, Pres. M. Rajapaksa invited Saudi King Abdullah
to visit Sri Lanka. The invitation was sent through
Petroleum Resources Development Ministry during the
minister’s visit to the Saudi kingdom.
.
The Bangladesh
Navy arrested 19 foreigners (11 Chinese, 5
Indonesians, 2 Filipinos and 1 Taiwanese) near a
southern island after they illegally entered Bangladeshi
territorial waters to engage in deep sea fishing, police
said.
.
Bangladesh Bank (BB) fined Islamic Bank
Bangladesh Ltd Tk one lakh for hiding
suspicious transactions by militants violating the
anti-money laundering act. This is its 3rd
violation.
.
Income tax intelligence launched an investigation of
BD Food Limited and King & Co. by
scrutinizing their income tax returns, if there is
disparity between actual income and declared income.
