BUSINESS IN ASIA TODAY DEC 9, 1999

AAP General News (Australia)
12-09-1999
BUSINESS IN ASIA TODAY DEC 9, 1999

Business in Asia on Dec 9, 1999. A summary prepared by Asia Pulse (http://www.asiapulse.com),
the real-time, Asia-based wire with exclusive news, market intelligence and business opportunities:





YAMAHA VIETNAM MOTORCYCLE JV STARTS UP IN HANOI

HANOI - Yamaha Viet Nam, a US$24.25 million motorcycle joint venture, has officially
opened in Soc Son District in the outskirts of Hanoi. The company has been operating since
September and is expected to produce 3,000 motorcycles carrying the Sirius trademark by
the end of the year. Investment capital will increase to $80 million once official operations
start. Production capacity is 20,000 motorbikes per month.





CHINA TO SHUT DOWN 140 SUGAR REFINERIES NEXT YEAR

BEIJING - China is to close down more than 140 sugar refineries next year, reducing
the national sugar production from 10.5 million tons to 7.5 million tons next year, Sheng
Huaren, minister in charge of the State Economic and Trade Commission said here. The sugar
industry lacks sophisticated technology and has accumulated losses of 2.2 billion yuan
(US$266 million). Sheng said China would also close down nine of 14 existing saccharine
factories to create a market for natural suga





AUSTRALIA UNEMPLOYMENT FALLS TO 6.7% IN NOVEMBER

CANBERRA - The rate of unemployment in November fell to 6.7 per cent, its lowest level
in nearly 10 years. However, the fall in the seasonally adjusted jobless rate was due
to 38,000 people dropping out of the labour market in November, with the number of people
in work actually falling 6,200. It is the first time the jobless rate has dropped below
seven per cent since 1990. The jobless rate in New South Wales fell to 5.6 per cent, in
Queensland to 7.8 per cent and in South Australia to 8.0 per cent). It was steady in Western
Australia on 6.8 per cent, rose slightly in Victoria to 6.9 per cent and soared in Tasmania
to 9.9 per cent.





INDONESIAN GOVT TO REPLACE TOP CENTRAL BANK EXECUTIVES

JAKARTA - Preparations are under way to replace the board of directors of the central
Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI)(JSX:BBNI) in an effort to make the state bank's management
more transparent, State Minister for Investment and Promotion of State Enterprise Laksamana
Sukardi said. "The changing of the bank's board of directors will be carried out as soon
as possible," he said Wednesday. Minister Sukardi made it public earlier this month that
the bank had repeatedly and flagrantly violated existing regulations on credit ceilings.





KDI REVISES UPWARD KOREAN ECONOMIC GROWTH FORECAST

SEOUL - The Korea Development Institute has revised its growth rate forecast for gross
domestic product for this year to 9.5 to 9.8 percent from the 9-percent range, and adjust
upward the forecast for next year to the upper range of 6 percent from 5.8 percent. The
government-funded think tank originally said inflation next year would reach 3.2 percent,
but decided to revise downward the forecast to the upper range of 2 percent. Its projection
for this year's price increase rate remained at 0.8 percent.





JAPAN'S INAX CORP SEES PRETAX PROFIT RISE 75%

TOKYO - Japan Inax Corp (TSE:5336) posted a pretax profit of 10.5 billion yen (US$102.33
million) for the business year ended Oct. 31, up 75% from the preceding year in real terms
and the first profit growth in four years, the company reported Wednesday. The results
exclude the effects of a change in corporate tax rules. Though sales declined 8% on weak
demand for tiles and housing equipment, rationalization, including plant integration and
a voluntary retirement program, boosted profits by 10.2 billion yen.





PAKISTAN INT'L AIRWAYS HAS $348 MLN OVERDRAFT: MD

KARACHI - National flag carrier Pakistan International Airways has built up a Rs 18
billion (US$348 million) overdraft, according to a senior airline official. "We had been
spending money like it was going out of fashion with the result that PIA today is saddled
with a Rs 18 billion overdraft. The national carrier has been a victim of whims and fantasism
of political quarters in the past," noted managing director of the airline Arif Ali Khan
Abbasi. He told a seminar in Pakistan that PIA was now injecting the requisite management
ability to repair the damage done to the airline by strengthening its operational areas.





MEETCHINA.COM, CHINA'S MOFTEC TO PROVIDE E-TRADE PLATFORM

BEIJING - MeetChina.com, China's largest e-commerce trade portal, and Infoshare Information
Technology Development Co., the official Internet vehicle of China's Ministry of Foreign
Trade and Economic Cooperation (Moftec), have announced a joint campaign to allow buyers
overseas and suppliers under Moftec to transact directly through MeetChina.com. MeetChina.com
will provide a global e-commerce platform to display products and facilitate transactions
for manufacturers in the export sectors of tools, toys, and auto parts. Through the MeetChina.com
trade portal, manufacturers will be able to bypass traditional trade channels and sell
directly to purchasers around the world, said Thomas Rosenthal, president of MeetChina.com
in a statement.





SAMSUNG CHEMICAL SELLS POWER PLANT TO SINGAPORE POWER

SEOUL - Korea's Samsung General Chemical Co. has sold its 92-megawatt co-generation
power plant in the Daesan petrochemical complex to Singapore Power Co for US$160 million.

The company said it had to sell the plant as part of its plan to restructure its finances.

Britain's Schroeder Investment Bank acted as a middleman for the deal based on a consultant
contract signed in June for the disposal of the power plant.





NZ ADVANTAGE GROUP TO DEBUT INTERNET PROCUREMENT SERVICE

WELLINGTON - Technology company Advantage Group Ltd has unveiled advanced plans for
New Zealand's first Internet procurement service. Code-named Venice, the portal would
target New Zealand's 246,000 small and medium-sized businesses, helping them increase
efficiency and reduce operational costs by streamlining purchasing over the Internet,
Advantage said. Advantage chairman Evan Christian said the Venice portal would cater to
all the needs of a small businessman including such things as software for running the
company's books.





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