Business Asia articles from June 2001

Business Asia archives from June 2001

THAI BANKING'S ROLE REVERSAL.(Bank of Thailand)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2001... HERE'S A STORY THAT can be filed under the "stranger than fiction" category. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand last month fired Bank of Thailand Governor Chatumongkul Sonakul for keeping interest rates too low. Talk about role...

Currency swap expands.(includes multiple records)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2001... JAPAN HAS agreed to increase the amount of currency reserves swaps with Korea and Malaysia to strengthen its safeguard against a repeat of the rapid fall of Asian currencies that sparked the regional recession in 1997/1998. Japan and Korea...

ASIA FACT FILE.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2001... ASIA FACT FILE Trade gains In this month's fact file, we take a look at the balance of trade for South and South East Asian countries in 1999 compared to preliminary estimatse for 2000. COUNTRY 1999 ...

[WORD OF MOUTH].(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... "I will finish what you started. Force against force, arms against arms. You can run, but not far." -- PHILIPPINES PRESIDENT GLORIA MACAPAGAL ARROYO, SPEAKING ON THE GOVERNMENT'S OFFER OF A REWARD FOR INFORMATION LEADING TO THE CAPTURE OF...

STOP PRESS.(includes multiple records)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... * WINNERS Li Ka Shing has done it again. The elder statesman of Hong Kong big business has always had a knack for making savvy investment decisions, and his latest one is no different. Late last month, Hutchison Whampoa, one of Li's...

Malaysia on the move.(aims to expand economy on global scale)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2001... With the relaxation of capital controls and an overhaul of foreign investment policies, Malaysia is looking to expand its economy on a global scale. So is it time to go back? UNLIKE MOST OF ITS ASIAN neighbours after the financial crisis of...

MALAYSIA ALL IN ONE.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2001... MALAYSIA IS AN "ALL IN ONE" destination where visitors can experience the whole of Asia in one place, according to the country's tourism, culture and the arts Minister Dato Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir. Speaking at the Australian launch of...

HK banks facing consolidation.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... CITIC KA WAH BANK LTD, Fortis Bank and other lenders are moving to buy Hong Kong rivals as increasing competition prompts families and businesses to sell out of the city's banks. When DBS Group Holdings Ltd offered US$5.4 billion ($10.6...

Bloomberg expands with new programs.(Best Business Hotels in Asia Awards)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... PROVIDING THE ASIAN hotel industry with a celebratory outlet for its success is only one part of the Best Business Hotels in Asia Awards, Bloomberg Television's media syndication director James Ross says. Ensuring that hotels continue to...

LEADING HOTELS SWITCHING HANDS.(Bass Hotels and Resorts Inc. buys the Regent Hong Kong from New World Development Company Ltd.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... Bass Hotels and Resorts (BHR), one of the world's largest hotel companies, has agreed to buy the Regent Hong Kong from New World Development with plans to convert the property to an Inter-Continental Hotel from June 2001. Purchased for 241...

Cream of the hotels crop.
June 1, 2001... Readers are urged to cast their votes in the 2001 Best Business Hotels in Asia Awards by using the voting coupon below. To help readers, we have profiled the finalists for Malaysia, New Zealand and the Philippines. MALAYSIA JW...

Exporters playing the risk game.(Asian trade)
June 1, 2001... The export risk profile of our major trading partners have declined in the past 12 months, yet Australian exporters are still shying away from export insurance. THE EXPORT risk profile of Asian nations have remained consistent despite a...

Air traffic set to rise in 2001.(United Parcel Service in Asia)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... THE US economic slowdown is hitting air cargo traffic from Asia, but Charles Adams, United Parcel Service (UPS) senior vice-president for Asia, expects business to pick up late this year. Adams said UPS had clocked up 15 per cent volume...

CHANGES AT COLUMBUS LINE.(Columbus Line Australia's Achim Drescher resigns)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... ACHIM DRESCHER, the managing director of Columbus Line Australia, will step down from his position at the start of next year. Drescher, who has been with Hamburg-Sued/Columbus Line for 40 years, has been named as chairman (non-executive) of...

New TheoFinance export invoice system on offer.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... AUSTRALIAN EXPORTERS who have trouble collecting payment from international trade counterparts may have a solution thanks to a new product by global invoice management company TheoFinance. TheoFinance launched in Sydney last month, offering...

Selling the gold image.(marketing to increase gold trading)(Brief Article)(Industry Overview)
June 1, 2001... JAMES REGAN reports on a marketing move to put the sheen back on gold trading. PICTURES OF top models, sports stars and mothers with babies are replacing dirty-faced miners and bulldozers in gold company annual reports and newsletters. ...

Downer speaks at Exporters Dinner.
June 1, 2001... SOME OF Australia's leading exporters joined Foreign Minister Alexander Downer at a Top Exporters Dinner held in Adelaide earlier this month. The Top Exporters Dinner is a lead-up event to the 2001 Australian Export Awards, and is jointly...

COMMONWEALTH BANK'S(*) BUSINESS OPTIONS.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... National category sponsor's message ACROSS AUSTRALIA, external forces, many of which are outside the control of business, are increasingly defining business opportunity and risk. The internationalisation of business, movements in the...

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY OF SOUTH ASIA.(Iran, Afghanistan)(Brief Article)(Column)
June 1, 2001... SHARP CONTRASTS have emerged between the Islamic nations and neighbours, namely Iran and Afghanistan, during the first half of 2001. In Iran, the Presidential elections have been conducted with a degree of choice and an increasing degree of...

RIGHT MIX A MUST OR TOP MINDS.(recruiting scientists in Australia)(Brief Article)(Column)
June 1, 2001... Scientists, like top management, need to be rewarded for their skills and abilities. CLIFF STONEMAN(*) looks at how attracting these top minds can help Australia develop a world-class industry. SINGAPORE KNOWS IT, Korea knows it, Hong Kong...

INDIA'S PUSH TO BE GLOBAL SOFTWARE CAPITAL.(Massachusetts Institute of Technology to open Medialab Asia research center in India)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... INDIA APPROVED A 51.3 billion rupee ($1,09 billion) research unit of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to help boost the number of software engineers the country produces. Medialab Asia, only the second such research laboratory...