AABR Business Bulletin (Vol. 66, No. 131),Jan 1, 2006

IV. International (11-16-06)

. Foreigners are forbidden in Myanmar’s new capital, Naypyidaw, the mystery city. The new capital is a massive construction project that is turning Myanmar’s heartland into a military and industrial complex.

    . The Shi’a Revival by Vali Naver provides a masterly analysis of Shiite-Sunni rivalries that go back to the founding days of Islam and examines the Shiite challenge to Sunni dominance that he believes will reorder the future of the Middle East and South Asia.

    . Fiji’s army brazenly defied the county’s police force by seizing thousands of rounds of ammunition increasing concerns about a 4^th military coup over the island nation in less than 20 years.

    . Patimas Computers Bhd intends to use unit Patinas International Sdn Bhd to gain a foothold overseas, starting with the regional market, venturing into Pakistan, Brunei and Cambodia within the next 2 years

. According to its World Trade Organization (WTO) accession commitment, China will have to reform its inequitable tax system to create a level playing field for domestic and foreign entrepreneurs. That means foreign corporate tax will increase.

    . The communications industry in China did 25.1% more business year on year, registering US $141.3 billion in volume in the first 6 months of 2006.

    . China is facing a public health crisis of enormous proportions as 3 million people take up smoking every year, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned.

. Pressure on Taiwan’s embattled President Chen Shui-bian to step down has risen sharply, with prosecutors announcing that they would file corruption charges against his wife. Chen himself is implicated.

    . Women who have escaped from abusive husbands participated in a press conference held by the Garden Hope Foundation in Taipei to urge the government to do more to support women struggling to get by after leaving their violent spouses.

    . The foreign minister from Taiwan will not be able to take part in APEC meeting that will center on North Korea’s nuclear test because of interference from China, said John Chen, Director-General of the Ministry’s Department of International Organization.

. Japan’s goal of having domestic companies develop new energy resources was set back when geopolitics dictated that it scale back its interest in the Azadegal oil field in Iran, and redirected to Iraq.

    . Toyota reports record sales and profits for the first half of fiscal year 2006 and revises its projected operating profit of 2.2 trillion yen for the full year through March.

    . Former Livedoor Pres. Takafumi Horie told a court he had no control over accounting at the Internet firm and no knowledge of the alleged transactions that violated securities laws, saying it was CFO Ryoji Miyauchi who ran the company.

. The UN has passed Resolution 1718 against North Korea for setting off an atomic bomb; now it must be enforced. The trouble is that most of North Korea’s neighbors have widely differing ideas on how to do it.

    . Boeing is the winner of a deal to equip the South Korean Air Force with four airborne early warning & control (AEW&C) aircraft in stages by 2012. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) announced. Cost is estimated at about $1.59 billion.

    . The government confirmed its earlier pledge to triple its development aid to Africa by 2008 and invited 1,000 Africans for technical training. It was confirmed in the Seoul Declaration adopted at the end of the Korea Africa Forum in Seoul attended by leaders from Congo, Tanzania, Ghana, Benin and 27 Cabinet-level officials from 25 African countries.



. Philippines’ banking industry, especially in risk management policies, is better than Thailand’s, says German central banker Eckhard Dechler.

    . Fitch Ratings expects a merger wave to engulf the Philippine banking industry, following the announcement that Banco de Oro Universal Bank (BDO) and Equitable PCI Bank (EPCI) would merge.

    . Negros Navigation Co. (Nenaco), the shipping unit of Metro Pacific Investment Corp, said net losses surged for the first 9 months of the year owing to weak passenger traffic caused by stiff competition from the airlines and sold off.

. Considering the distance that separate 2 countries, how is it that Thailand has become a magnet for North Korea’s refugees? China’s infamous people smugglers have found a new customer base and pioneered an underground route from the Yalu to the Mekong River.

    . Thailand’s Ministry of Defense is creating confidence among diplomats in Bangkok, explaining that martial law will be lifted as soon as “the undercurrent political situation” secedes.

    . Thailand’s state-owned oil and gas conglomerate PTT Public Company Ltd. Says it will not adjust retail oil prices at the moment as global oil prices remain volatile due to complex international situation, especially regarding Nigeria and Iran.

. Malaysia, like Thailand and to some extent Indonesia, is only superficially modern. Beneath the thin veneer of glass and steel that sheaths the sleek office tower in Kuala Lumpur.

    . Former P.M. Mahathir unleashes almost daily criticism against P.M. Abdullah Baldawi. The country is at a standstill and fears stalk the land. Business isn’t sure when government decisions will be made or, if they are, that they will be honored, and the rest of society fears the fallout from the power struggle.

    . This year P.M. Abdullah announced some 220 billion ringgit (US$60 billion) worth of new spending projects, including huge construction contracts budgeted under the government’s 2006-2010 Ninth Malaysia Plan. Most successful bidders are ethnic Malays under Malaysia’s controversial race-based affirmative action policies.

. Hungry for energy to feed its rapidly expanding economy, India is courting Russian oil giant Gazprom and making a stake in the Sakhalin III oil and gas project.

    . India’s technology hub of Bangalore changed its name to its original Bengalooru in what is seen as a bid to appease locals upset at the influx of outsides and to mark the 50^th anniversary celebration of the foundation of Karnataka State, of which it is the capital.

    . Strategic Foresight Inc. of the US (also known as Stratfor) has warned India against more spectacular attacks by terrorists saying these incidents would also create problems for Pakistan than it could handle.

. The Sui Southern Gas Co. Ltd. of Pakistan said it would raise 4 billion rupees ($66 million) via bank loans and a domestic Islamic bond to fund roughly 28% in the gas volumes it distributes.

    . State Bank of Pakistan governor Dr. Shamshad Akhtar said that Islamic banking should primarily concentrate an unexplored market in rural Pakistan rather than offering its products to the urban population, and enter into direct competition with conventional banking that has already captured the exciting market.

    . The World Bank has asked the Central Board of Revenue to clarify whether the Advisory Board of the proposed Federal Board of Revenue would be the ultimate executive body empowered to take policy decisions on taxation matters under the Federal Board of Revenue Act 2006.

. Sharp upward movement of indices and high activity levels at the Colombo Stock Market (Sri Lanka) have become a common trend and analysts said that encouraging corporate results and the current economic growth have boosted investor confidence.

    . The Security Forces claimed that LTTE was using civilians trapped in the un-cleared areas as a human shield to cover up its artillery and mortar positions to tarnish the image of the Security Forces when civilians get caught in the retaliatory fire.

    . Moves are under way by the government to speed up development activities in the North and East with the support of the Security Forces under the J. Saviya Program.

" Supporting Asian and Minority Businesses"