Business Asia articles from April 2000

Business Asia archives from April 2000

Just who is Yoshiro Mori?(Government Activity)(International Pages)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Fresh from a routine health check, Japan's new Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori has engaged in a flurry of phone diplomacy as media pegged June as the month most likely for an early election. Opposition parties and media are pressing Mori -- an...

`Heart of a flea, brain of a shark'.(Government Activity)(International Pages)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Japan's new Prime Minister, Yoshiro Mori, is a burly political veteran whose rise marks the climax of a career in which he has honed his skills as a factional infighter. But on the foreign policy stage he is a novice. He has served in a...

Outbreak could harm beef.(International Pages)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Australia's beef exports to Asia are set to slide downwards as outbreaks of foot and mouth disease are reported in South Korea and Japan. Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) fears Australia's exports to Japan and South Korea may fall as...

NEWS: In brief.(International Pages)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... * Hong Kong -- Hong Kong just gets busier and busier. Airlines are to offer 147 more scheduled passenger and cargo services to and from Hong Kong on a weekly basis in the summer season of 2000 (now until October 28), a spokesman for the Civil...

Mori takes up baton, but polls to seal fate.(Government Activity)(International Pages)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... New Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori may have to give up the job almost before he has had time to get his feet under the desk. Speculation is mounting that Mori will call an early election in hopes that voters, saddened by his...

Time for a major rethink in Japan.(Government Activity)(International Pages)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Japan cannot afford to wallow in sadness over the unfortunate demise of Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi. Our new columnist TAURUS(*) says Tokyo must change or risk being left behind Continuing sadness exists across the region in respect of the...

ASIA FACT FILE.
April 14, 2000... War Games In this week's Fact File, we look at Asia-Pacific countries' 1999 defence spending and its percentage of gross domestic product AUSTRALIA Expenditure US$8.2 billion % of GDP ...

Brave new work world for Koreans.(International Pages)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... The 21st century is providing a major dilemma for large Korean corporations trying to prevent qualified personnel from jumping to venture firms. In Korea, employees who have long yearned for free time to enjoy their lives are receiving...

Chen's big test yet to come.(International Pages)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Taiwan President-elect Chen Shui-bian's surprise decision to choose a premier from outside his own party will shake the island's already ambiguous constitutional system -- and few analysts expect the transition to be smooth. Scholars have...

Strong social agenda vital for Asian growth: ADB.(Asian Development Bank report)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Asia needs to devote as much time to improving its social safety nets as it does to restructuring its corporate and financial sectors to ensure future growth, a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) report has found. The ADB's Asia Recovery...

WTO entry stalls over trade stand by Europe.(International Pages)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... China's resistance to making more concessions to Europe is a key reason for the failure of high-level talks on China's bid to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO), analysts say. The latest round of market-opening talks between China and...

Web portals face overhaul.(web sites in China must restructure)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Internet portals are scrambling to restructure their businesses in China after a top industry regulator said web companies must shed their content services before seeking overseas stock listings. The changes will not be without risk for...

Banks to ban false names, reduce deceit.(in China)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... China is banning depositors from using false names when opening bank accounts in an anti-corruption move that could benefit the stock market as people look for alternative investments. The People's Bank of China declined to confirm a report...

Investors want a slice of Jakarta.(Indonesia to privatize state owned banks)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... A likely rash of privatisation deals in Indonesia this year is enticing aggressive foreign investors, but analysts continue to champion the need for further corporate and judicial reforms. Countering optimism over a tentative economic rise...

Asian banks need further reforms.(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... The economically debilitating sickness of Asia's banking sector drags on, with the still-high level of non-performing loans and debt write-offs leaving many potential lenders close to the edge. Economists have long said a priority for...

Readers have say on region's best.
April 14, 2000... Votes are pouring in for the 2000 Business Asia News Magazine Awards. This week, we profile the finalists for Best Asian Business Activity in Asia and Best Australian Service Activity in Asia Best Asian Business Activity in Australia ...

Crunch time for faltering 'Net firms --Deloitte.(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... The window in which investors will tolerate losses by listed Internet companies is closing, according to Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Internet industry expert Vincent Sweeney. He was speaking at the launch in Sydney of the second Deloitte...

Hard road for Softbank.(challenges faced by Internet giant)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Is Japanese Internet darling Softbank starting to lose it lustre? MIKI SHIMOGORI says analysts are starting to question the company's strategy Softbank Corp, the Japanese giant whose share price has plunged more than 50 per cent in six...

Sweet smell of success likely for digital scents.(DigiScents Inc. looks to Asia for funding)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Digiscents Inc has seen the future, and it smells. Using iSmell, a device the size of a small toaster, Digiscents promises to produce everything from the waft of freshly baked chocolate cookies to percolating coffee over a personal...

Rigid India stifles IT investments.(investment taxation hurts information technology investments)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... K.B. Chandrasekhar sold shares in his Santa Clara, California-based Web site management company, Exodus Communications Inc, for US$95 million this month, and he has raised US$30 million to start another Internet company. Yet as...

Acer shifts away from hardware to Internet.(software and computer services)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Taiwan computer maker Acer Inc is shifting away from its core hardware-intensive manufacturing into more lucrative software and networking business, a top executive said. George Huang, co-founder of Acer and corporate general controller,...

Malaysia in a scramble to catch hi-tech boom.(investing in online startup companies)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Malaysian companies have taken longer than their regional counterparts to jump on the Internet bandwagon, but now they are scrambling to transform themselves and cash in on a technology boom. Malaysia has about 800,000 Internet subscribers...

Hot French IT firm an object of desire.(Business Objects plans Asian expansion)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... David Runacres cut his teeth in computer science as a self-confessed maverick who loved writing operating systems for missiles. Now he is a product of the modern business world. Dressed in a smart suit, sipping whisky and on yet another...

Exporters drive growth.(of online business in Thailand)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Exporters' efforts to reduce production costs will be the key factor driving on-line business growth in Thailand, an Internet consultant claims. Peter Walker, Bangkok-based principal of A.T. Kearney, said on-line trading among...

BEST BUSINESS HOTELS IN ASIA: In brief.(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Tokyo - JAL Hotels Co, a hotel subsidiary of Japan Airlines, and Le Meridien Resorts, part of the Forte Hotel Group, said they've formed a limited alliance after more than two years of courtship. The partnership, which covers joint sales,...

Starwood to invest US$500m.(in the Asia-Pacific region)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Starwood Hotels and Resorts, the world's No.1 hotel owner, says it will invest between US$500 million to US$1 billion in the Asia-Pacific region to tap future growth. "For us, Asia is underweight in capital investment," said Ted Teng,...

Indian fashion on show.(Indian fashion designers)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... India's IT gurus may be all the rage in the business world, but the nation's fashion designers are also forging a growing global reputation. You probably didn't notice the clothes worn by stunning French star Sophie Marceau in the latest...

Philippines leading exporter in region.(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Manila -- The Philippines has emerged as the top export winner in the Asian region in 1999. While its Asian neighbours suffered export contractions during the early part of the year, the country started off with robust growth, which was...

BANKING ON REFORM.(bank reform statistics among Asian nations)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 14, 2000... South East Asian countries' progress on financial sector restructuring Item Indonesia Korea Main financial 238 banks 26 commercial banks institutions ...

ASIAWATCH.(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Latest news from the region * China China plans to begin construction of a high-speed train between 2001 and 2005. Germany, France and Japan are all wing for the project, which the Financial Times estimates is worth US$15 billion. ...

China may have last word.(Chinese may become a major Internet language)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... English rules on the Internet, but that may change as China embraces the world of e-commerce. PETER SHELDRAKE(*) comments. One of the problems with describing things is that the words we use often take on meanings that go beyond their...

Baoshan steels for global stock offer.(Shanghai Baosteel)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... China is polishing the jewel of its steel industry, Shanghai Baosteel, for an overseas listing this year, with dreams of making the group one of the world's top 500 companies. But wildly popular Internet issues and the impact of a recent...

TNT starts Darwin-Dili air service.(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Demand from world aid groups has led global freight forwarding giant TNT to establish the first fully commercial air express service into Dili via Darwin. Gary Kirkman, managing director of TNT domestic and international express, said TNT...