Business Asia articles from November 1999

Business Asia archives from November 1999

Bank to end 40-year run.
November 22, 1999... Far East Bank & Trust Co, the Philippines' seventh-largest commercial lender, likes to remind customers of its corporate credo: A bank is forever. Forever ended last month. The 40-year-old bank was sold to Bank of the Philippine...

Japan's cyber women to win job war.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 22, 1999... Female business leaders in Japan believe the Internet is emerging as a potential saviour for oppressed women who want to escape male-dominated workforces and, in some cases, prostitution. Kumi Sato, president of Cosmo Public Relations and...

Mahathir calls snap polls.(Review)
November 22, 1999... Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is confident of retaining a two-thirds majority in snap elections in what is seen as his biggest test since he won power 18 years ago. The election will be Malaysia's 10th since independence in...

In brief.
November 22, 1999... * Beijing -- China is widening its definition of criminal behaviour by managers of State companies, aiming to crack down on ill-conceived investments that waste public money. An amendment to China's criminal code, likely to be passed next year,...

ASIA FACT FILE.(Statistical Data Included)
November 22, 1999... Power Play In this week's Fact File, we examine military spending and manpower in Asia-Pacific nations. The first figure lists the latest available yearly military expenditure and the second military manpower. Monetary figures are in US...

Korea, Malaysia earn credit.
November 22, 1999... Standard & Poor's has raised its credit ratings of South Korea and Malaysia as their economies rebound from recession, with Korea's ratings set for more adjustments. "In Asia, only South Korea has a `positive outlook', which means there...

Bank Bali's new bosses face a revolt.
November 22, 1999... The message from staff at PT Bank Bali to their new boss could not be clearer: stickers in the bank's main lobby declare it a "Standard Chartered Free Zone." No matter that UK-based Standard Chartered Bank has been in Indonesia since 1863...

Japan Package a `yawn'.
November 22, 1999... Japan has announced its ninth hefty economic stimulus package of the decade aimed at ensuring that a fragile economic recovery gains strength in the run-up to a general election due in less than a year. Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi said his...

Softbank plans financial e-mall.
November 22, 1999... Softbank, Japan's largest Internet investment company, plans to open an on-line bank next year as the centrepiece of an on-line financial services mall now under construction. According to reports, the US$45 billion Internet financier is...

Hotels offering new 'Net card.
November 22, 1999... As the age of mobile computing dawns, access to the Internet will soon be everywhere -- on a mobile phone, a Palm Pilot, a laptop, the television, even in cars and on wristwatches and bracelets. A Hong Kong organisation has now dreamt up a...

eBooks on the way.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 22, 1999... A new survey of frequent business travellers and their attitudes to the value of electronic books shows that 54 per cent leave books behind when travelling due to a lack of baggage space. Seventy per cent agree that electronic access to...

Murdoch puts Australia to the test.
November 22, 1999... News Corp supremo RUPERT MURDOCH this month addressed the annual dinner of the Asia Society's AustralAsia Centre in Sydney. Following are edited transcripts of his speech Australia is engaged in what some Nations in this part of the world...

NAB pulls out of struggling trio in Asia.(Brief Article)
November 22, 1999... National Australia Bank will pull out of Taiwan, India and Thailand to focus its international operations on more profitable markets. The bank said it would run its Taiwan business from Hong Kong, and run the Indian and Thai operations out...

Insurers make fewer payouts than expected.(Brief Article)
November 22, 1999... Export credit and insurance companies over-estimated the effects of Asia's financial crisis and have escaped an expected deluge of payouts to exporters facing non-payment problems and insolvency, an industry expert says. John Rumpler, QBE...

Asia drives EFIC record.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 22, 1999... The fortunes of the Asia-Pacific region continue to substantially affect the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation, which is breaking business records because of Asia's crisis Fragile Asian markets have seen the Export Finance and...

Zeti plots plan for economy.
November 22, 1999... Malaysia's central bank says it is working on a plan to develop the country's financial system to position the nation for stronger economic growth. Speaking at the Malaysian Financial Market Association's annual dinner, Bank Negara deputy...

Industry gurus take `soft' option.
November 22, 1999... Bill Gates and his geeky mates changed the world of computers with software in the '80s. The telecommunications sector awaits a similar transformation, according to McKinsey Innovative software revolutionised the computer industry in the...

Import quotas give Chinese firms a hand.
November 22, 1999... China has slapped import quotas on mobile phone parts and will review new foreign ventures to help nine domestic companies compete with the likes of Ericsson AB and Motorola in the nation's US$1 billion market Among the moves, the Ministry...

Call centres welcome alliances, shun rivalry.
November 22, 1999... Asia's burgeoning call-centre and teleservices sector stands to gain more from regional partnerships than country-by-country rivalry, a leading industry head says. John McCoy-Lancaster, executive director of the Australian Telemarketing...

Trends emerge in Asian telco market.
November 22, 1999... The pace of telecommunications deregulation in Asia has increased quickly in the past year, with many countries privatising their primary national carrier or restructuring their regulatory environment, thereby opening up markets to competition....

Voters awake to tired promises.
November 22, 1999... India's third election in a little over three years has taught politicians a valuable lesson. The electorate declared in last month's polls that populist promises are no longer enough to win power. What people want is an honest...

Hobbled India to court WTO, but lacks clout.
November 22, 1999... India is no longer timid about free market ideas as it heads into a World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial meeting at Seattle this month, but it still lacks the clout to negotiate confidently, analysts claim. They suggest New Delhi may...

Indian films show how the West can be won over.
November 22, 1999... Indian films continue to find a lucrative niche in the West. Many "Bollywood", or Bombay film industry, movies have made chart-busting strides in the West -- and their reach seems to be on the rise. "Taal", created by Subhash Ghai, is...

Airfreight facility a boon.
November 22, 1999... DHL Worldwide Express' vision of providing an overnight pipeline for Australian exports into Asia took a step closer to reality this month with the announcement of a new A$7 million world-class airfreight facility at Melbourne Airport. The...

Fluctuating currencies a concern for traders.(Brief Article)
November 22, 1999... Australian businesses trading overseas are exposed to many varied risks such as logistics, the vagaries of international transport and the threat of trade sanctions. However, from my discussions with Australian exporters and importers, a...

Indonesia turns Batam into `free-trade zone'.
November 22, 1999... * Singapore - Indonesia plans to convert Batam Island, just 20 kilometres south of Singapore, into a free-trade area to lure more investment as part of the new government's efforts to revive economic growth, the Business Times said, citing...

Gold Coast Technomart fizzles out.
November 22, 1999... The Queensland APEC Technomart closed two days early this month due to a drastic lack of delegates. While the previous Technomart in Taipei attracted 36,000 delegates, the Gold Coast venture only had about 400 registrations. Backers...

HK faces long wait for Disney payoff.
November 22, 1999... The world's most famous mouse is finally coming to Hong Kong. And from the reaction of the government, it's one of the best things to have ever happened to the special administrative region. When the deal to build the Hong Kong Walt Disney...

Kwik or the dead for Indonesia.
November 22, 1999... A crucial piece of the Indonesian political puzzle has been put in place with the selection of a new Cabinet. WILL DEMPSTER reports from Jakarta on the new team's credentials Indonesia's new President Abdurrahman Wahid looks to have made...