AsiaPulse News articles from August 2004

AsiaPulse News archives from August 2004

FOREX - AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR OPENS STRONGER - AUG 2, 2004.
August 2, 2004... SYDNEY, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - The Australian dollar opened stronger today, gaining strength after the United States government warned against terror attacks on major US financial institutions. At 0700 AEST the local currency was trading at...

AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTS - AUG 2, 2004.
August 2, 2004... SYDNEY, August 2 Asia Pulse - Highlights of today's newspapers: THE DAILY TELEGRAPH - Sydney security guard Karen Brown faces a murder charge. - Security guard Karen Brown's television interview with Seven's Today Tonight could be...

NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK ORDERED TO PAY IRISH COSTS.
August 2, 2004... MELBOURNE, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - The National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB) has been ordered to pay 64 million euro ($US77.6 million) in costs after a six-year investigation of its Irish subsidiary. The bank was found liable for tax evasion and...

EDISON MISSION ENERGY TO SELL ASSETS TO JAPAN'S MITSUI.
August 2, 2004... MELBOURNE, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Us energy giant Edison Mission Energy is to sell its global assets to International Power Plc and Japan's Mitsui & Co Ltd of Japan. The moves means another US energy heavyweight is withdrawing from the...

S KOREA'S CONSUMER PRICES RISE 4.4PCT YEAR-ON-YEAR IN JULY.
August 2, 2004... SEOUL, Aug. 2 Asia Pulse - South Korea's consumer prices moved up 4.4 per cent year-on-year in July, a government report said Monday. The National Statistical Office (NSO) also said that prices of everyday goods and services increased 0.6...

KOREAN NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTS - AUG 2, 2004.
August 2, 2004... SEOUL, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Highlights of today's newspapers: KYUNGHYANG SHINMUN: - Justice Ministry Plans to Abolish Law Allowing Police, Prosecution to Arrest Criminal Suspects for 48 Hours Without Court Warrant KUKMIN DAILY: ...

WTO ENDORSES NEW DRAFT AGRICULTURAL TRADE DEAL.
August 2, 2004... GENEVA, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Saturday put global trade talks back on track as they accepted a revised draft for a framework agreement for global trade liberalization. The agreement followed...

S KOREAN H1 CONSTRUCTION ORDERS STAGE BIGGEST FALL IN 6YRS.
August 2, 2004... SEOUL, Aug. 2 Asia Pulse - Domestic construction orders in the first six months of the year fell by the largest amount since the 1997-98 foreign exchange crisis, signalling a serious setback to second-half economic growth, government data...

NANOTECH RESEARCH AGENCY STARTS UP IN SOUTH KOREA.
August 2, 2004... SEOUL, Aug. 2 Asia Pulse - A government-backed research group will begin operations on Tuesday aimed at promoting nanotechnology as one of the new industrial initiatives expected to lead South Korean economic growth in the future, the...

S KOREAN FOREIGN CURRENCY DEPOSITS SURGE H1 2004.
August 2, 2004... SEOUL, Aug. 2 Asia Pulse - Foreign currency deposits at local commercial banks surged about 40 per cent on an annual basis during the first six months of this year, banking sources said Sunday. According to the sources, the foreign currency...

TATA GROUP EYES $US2 BN INVESTMENT IN BANGLADESH.
August 2, 2004... DHAKA, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - The Tata Group is looking for investments in Bangladesh's steel, power and fertiliser sectors worth $US2 billion, according to a media report. Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata is likely to visit the country in...

MICROSOFT SHIFTING MORE PROJECTS TO INDIA, US UNION CLAIMS.
August 2, 2004... SILICON VALLEY, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Microsoft is shifting more high-level work such as programming for the next version of its Windows Operating System to foreign contractors, including Indians, a Seattle-based labour union has claimed. The...

INDIA'S RANBAXY TO FILE ANTI RETRO VIRAL PRODUCTS WITH USFDA.
August 2, 2004... NEW DELHI, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Ranbaxy Laboratories (BSE:RANB) has initiated the process to file its Anti Retro Viral (ARV) products with the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) with first filing likely before this year end. The filing...

CALL FOR INDIA TO BE INCLUDED IN ASEAN-PLUS THREE DIALOGUE.
August 2, 2004... BANGKOK, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Favouring the creation of an Asian community, India has said it should be included in the ongoing dialogue ASEAN has been holding with some of the leading nations in Asia. ASEAN has been conducting summit-level...

INDIAN GOVT DETERMINED TO LIFT RURAL ECONOMY: FINANCE MINISTER.
August 2, 2004... SIVAGANGA, India, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - The federal government is determined to improve the rural economy "which was ignored" by the previous regime, federal Finance Minister P Chidambaram said Friday. The government has decided to extend...

NO CHANGE IN INDIAN INFLATION OUTLOOK FOR FY-05: RBI.
August 2, 2004... MUMBAI, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Despite inflation hovering over the 6 per cent mark, Reserve Bank of India said it will not change the inflation outlook of around 5 per cent for the fiscal 2004-05 and expressed confidence on conducting Centre's...

INDIAN OIL CORP TO BUY INTO OFFSHORE TAMIL NADU FIELDS.
August 2, 2004... NEW DELHI, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - The Indian Oil Corporation, the country's largest refiner, will buy half of Hindustan Oil Exploration Co Ltd's stake in two oil and gas fields in offshore Tamil Nadu for $US104.15 million. The IOC Board had...

CONCEPT PAPER ON INDIA'S COMPANIES ACT OVERHAUL THIS WEEK.
August 2, 2004... NEW DELHI, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - In a bid to attune the Companies Act to the liberalised Indian economy, the government would float this week a concept paper to take suggestions from the industry and other interested parties. "The existing...

'MOUNTAIN DEW' IS SAFE; MEETS ALL FOOD NORMS': PEPSICO INDIA.
August 2, 2004... NEW DELHI, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Stung by doubts raised over the safety of its fastest-growing brand in India, PepsiCo asserted that 'Mountain Dew' was a totally safe product complying with all food standards nationally and globally, and was the...

KOREAN PENSION FUNDS SECURITIES INVESTMENT UP US$1.28 BLN.
August 2, 2004... SEOUL, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - The amount of national pension funds invested into the country's stock market increased by 1.5 trillion won (US$1.28 billion) to reach a total of 8.6 trillion won as of late June, the government said Monday. The...

INDIAN INFLATION REMAINS STATIC AT 6.52%.
August 2, 2004... NEW DELHI, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - After rising for three weeks, inflation remained static at 6.52 per cent for the week ended July 17, even as prices of essential primary articles and manufactured products rose while fuel became cheaper. The...

INDIA TO STRENGTHEN LINKS WITH ASIAN BLOC BIMST-EC.
August 2, 2004... BANGKOK, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - India has announced a range of measures such as a ministerial conference on energy, sharing experience in remote sensing and a tourism Round Table to strengthen cooperation among the Bangladesh-India-Myanmar-Sri...

BIMST-EC SUMMIT OPENS; INDIA FOR COMMON FRONT AGAINST TERROR.
August 2, 2004... BANGKOK, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - The first ever BIMST-EC summit opened in Bangkok Saturday with India stressing the need to forge a common front against terrorism, gunrunning and narcotics trafficking. "The scourge of terrorism is unfortunately...

SMORGON STEEL RAISES FUNDS FROM US INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS.
August 2, 2004... SYDNEY, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Australia's Smorgon Steel Group Ltd (SSX.AX) has raised $US80 million through the private placement of notes to US institutional investors. The placement was jointly led by the National Australia Bank and the...

TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES' IPO OVER-SUBSCRIBED.
August 2, 2004... MUMBAI, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Tata Consultancy Services' initial public offer has been over-subscribed by 1.08 times. The 100 per cent book-built issue received bids for 1.08 times the issue size, investment banking sources said today. ...

INDIA'S FOREX EXCHANGE RESERVES TUMBLE BY US $1.5 BLN.
August 2, 2004... MUMBAI, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Reversing the trend of net inflows seen over the past three weeks, India's foreign exchange reserves dropped by a whopping US $1.53 billion to US .57 billion for the week ended July 23. Revaluation of the US...

STOCKS - AUSTRALIAN INDEX OPENS LOWER - AUG 2, 2004.
August 2, 2004... SYDNEY, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - The Australian share market opened slightly lower today amid light trade on a New South Wales bank holiday. By 1015 AEST the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was 1.9 points lower at 3534.4 and the all ordinaries index fell...

STOCKS - TOKYO INDEX OPENS LOWER - AUG 2, 2004.
August 2, 2004... TOKYO, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Tokyo shares opened lower Monday, with the Nikkei-225 index losing 51.33 points or 0.45 per cent to 11,274.45 in early trade. ASIA PULSE 02-08 1054

CHINA DEPLOYS ROBOT TO OPERATE UNDER WATER.
August 2, 2004... BEIJING, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - China has successfully deployed a remote-controlled hi-tech robot, which can operate 3,500 metres under the water surface, to scoop out details of aquatic life. The robot started working for the first time on a...

DAEWOO ENGINEERING POSTS RECORD NET PROFIT H1 2004.
August 2, 2004... SEOUL, Aug. 2 Asia Pulse - The Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co., (KSE:047040), South Korea's second-largest builder by capacity, said Monday that its net profit in the first half of this year gained 70.3 per cent year-on-year to 144.9...

S KOREAN ELECTRICITY DEMAND RISES SHARPLY SINCE 1991.
August 2, 2004... SEOUL, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Electricity demand in South Korea has risen by about 2.5 million kilowatts every year since 1991 in pace with increased industrial consumption and the wide use of heat-beating devices, the Commerce Ministry said...

STOCKS - SEOUL INDEX OPENS WEAKER - AUG 2, 2004.
August 2, 2004... SEOUL, Aug. 2 Asia Pulse - South Korean stocks started weaker Monday morning on growing concerns of a possible slowdown in U.S. economic growth. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 7.37 points to 727.97 as at 9:10...

AUSTRALIAN RETAIL ACTIVITY PICKS UP IN JULY.
August 2, 2004... SYDNEY, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Almost one-in-three companies reported higher demand in July, reflecting improved retail activity arising from recent federal government tax cuts and family payments, an index reported today. The Australian...

US TAXES SHRIMP IMPORTS FROM THAILAND, INDIA.
August 2, 2004... WASHINGTON, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - United States has imposed taxes ranging between 3.56 per cent and 27.49 per cent on shrimp imports from India in the second phase of a probe into the petition alleging "dumping" at low prices. Shrimp procured...

TAIWAN JOINS G8 COMPUTER CRIME NETWORK.
August 2, 2004... TAIPEI, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Taiwan has been admitted to the 24/7 Computer Crime Network, an affiliate of the Group of Eight (G8) industrial countries dedicated to crackdown on computerized criminal activities, government sources said Sunday. ...

TAIWAN BECOMES A MEMBER OF PACIFIC ACCREDITATION COOPERATION.
August 2, 2004... TAIPEI, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Taiwan has become a member of the Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (PAC), officials from the Standards, Metrology and Inspection Bureau (BSMI) said Saturday. Taiwan formally became a member when Taiwan...

S KOREA'S OVERSEAS CONSTRUCTION ORDERS REACH US$3.76 BLN IN JAN-JULY.
August 2, 2004... SEOUL, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - South Korea's overseas construction orders so far this year already exceeded last year's total, as local builders have won large-scale orders from the Middle East, the Ministry of Construction and Transportation said...

INDIA'S BPCL OFFERS HPCL EQUAL STAKE IN BINA REFINERY PROJECT.
August 2, 2004... NEW DELHI, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - State-run Bharat Petroleum Corp (BSE:BPCL) has offered to take Hindustan Petroleum Corp (BSE:HPCL) as equal partner in the Rs 63.54 billion (US$1.37 billion) Bina refinery in Madhya Pradesh. "We are willing to...

GOVT OF ONTARIO FILES APPEAL ON 407 TOLL DECISION.
August 2, 2004... (Full text of statement. Contact details below.) TORONTO, July 31 /CNW-AsiaNet/ -- The Ministry of Transportation, as previously indicated, today filed an appeal of the recent arbitrator's ruling regarding 407 ETR's ability to increase...

NEW WTO DRAFT PACKAGE BOOSTS TAIWAN SERVICE SECTOR: MOEA.
August 2, 2004... GENEVA, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - A new draft package of the World Trade Organization (WTO) will provide Taiwan with a sound foundation to promote its service industry, Economic Affairs Vice Minister Chen Ruey-lung said Friday. Chen made the...

FORMAL CONTRACT ON SALE OF S KOREA'S HANBO IRON INKED.
August 2, 2004... SEOUL, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - A South Korean consortium signed a formal contract for the takeover of Hanbo Iron & Steel Co. on Saturday. The consortium of INI Steel Co. (KSE:004020) and Hyundai Hysco Co. (KSE:010520) said it will take over...

SEOUL CONFIRMS RELEASE OF 2 S. KOREANS DETAINED IN INDIA.
August 2, 2004... SEOUL, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - South Korea's Foreign Ministry confirmed Friday night that two of its nationals were freed in northern India after being detained by a group of villagers. "They were released at 8:00 p.m. Seoul time and are safe...

TAIWAN TO PROMOTE MOVIE INDUSTRY IN THREE STAGES.
August 2, 2004... TAIPEI, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - The Government Information Office (GIO) intends to spend 10 years promoting Taiwan's movie industry, in the hope that Taiwan can become an important exporter of Chinese-language movies, officials from the GIO said...

ANA PLACES FIFTH ORDER FOR BOMBARDIER Q400 AIRCRAFT.
August 2, 2004... (Full text of statement. Contact details below.) TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 30, 2004--Bombardier Aerospace announced today that ANA (All Nippon Airways Co. Ltd.) of Tokyo has placed its fifth order for the Bombardier Q400 high-speed...

S KOREA TO ISSUE CURRENCY BONDS WORTH US$1.7 BLN THIS MONTH.
August 2, 2004... SEOUL, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - The South Korean government plans to issue 2 trillion won (US$1.71 billion) worth of bonds in August to help stabilize the foreign exchange market, officials said Saturday. The plan entails two separate issuances...

BUSINESS WIRE DAILY SUMMARY - JULY 30, 2004.
August 2, 2004... A summary of news releases for July 30th, 2004, compiled by Business Wire, the global leader in news distribution. To view any of these news release on Business Wire's Web site, please go to www.businesswire.com. 1) Category Code: ...

HONG KONG NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTS - AUG 2, 2004.
August 2, 2004... HONG KONG, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Highlights of today's newspapers: SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: - The British Army's next generation of combat uniforms will be made on the mainland to save money. - The Zhuhai government directly...

ENERSYS ANNOUNCES INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING.
August 2, 2004... (Full text of statement. Contact details below.) READING, Pa., July 30 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ -- EnerSys (NYSE: ENS) today announced the initial public offering of 12,500,000 shares of its common stock to the public at a price of $12.50...

STUDY CALLS FOR BOOSTING FOREIGN TOURISTS IN S KOREA'S ANCIENT CITY.
August 2, 2004... SEOUL, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - South Korea must implement a range of measures to lure foreign tourists to the country's ancient city of Gyeongju, a government study said Saturday. According to the study released by the Korea Culture and Tourism...

S KOREAN STOCKS LIKELY TO FURTHER WEAKEN ON SOARING OIL PRICES.
August 2, 2004... SEOUL, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - South Korean stocks are likely to slide further this week as investors' concerns about soaring oil prices become more pronounced, analysts said Saturday. "The share prices may move in a 720-740 range, but the...

TIGER TELEMATICS SECURES N AMERICAN DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS FOR GIZMONDO LAUNCH.
August 2, 2004... (Full text of statement. Contact details below.) LONDON, July 30, PR Newswire -- Gizmondo Europe Ltd, subsidiary of Jacksonville, Florida-based, Tiger Telematics Inc (TGTL: former symbol TIGR), announced today the signing of two...

INDIA HAS STABLE, PRO-IT GOVT POLICIES: IT MINISTER.
August 2, 2004... HYDERABAD, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Stating that Information Technology was a part of the national agenda as it enabled entry of foreign direct investmnets (FDIs) in many supporting sectors, Indian Communication and IT Minister Dayanidhi Maran...

REVERSE SPLIT FOR TIGER TELEMATICS INC.
August 2, 2004... (Full text of statement. Contact details below.) JACKSONVILLE, Fla., July 30 /PR Newswire-AsiaNet/ -- - Tiger Announces Successful 1 for 25 Reverse Split with New Symbol TGTL Tiger Telematics has taken a crucial step concerning its...

CHINA'S FOREIGN TRADE SET TO CROSS ALL-TIME RECORD IN 2004.
August 2, 2004... BEIJING, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Buoyed by the global economic growth, China's foreign trade value this year would increase by 20 per cent to set a new record of over US$1 trillion, a senior Chinese official said here today. Based on the...

INDIAN COURT ISSUES NOTICES TO FED GOVT, HEALTH MINISTRY ON PATENTS.
August 2, 2004... NEW DELHI, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - The Supreme Court has issued notices to the Centre and federal Health Ministry on a petition challenging the Patent Amendment Act granting product patents and alleging that this would result in hike in the price of...

ANANDTECH RECOGNIZES MICRON WITH EDITOR'S CHOICE AWARD.
August 2, 2004... (Full text of statement. Contact details below.) BOISE, Idaho--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 27, 2004--AnandTech (www.anandtech.com), the leading IT source for hardware analysis and industry news, recently awarded Micron Technology, Inc., and...

FUTURESOFT'S SOLUTION ENABLES 1ST CELLULAR LAN PLATFORM FROM BELAIR NETWORKS.
August 2, 2004... (Full text of statement. Contact details below.) SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 27, 2004--FutureSoft, the market leader in communication software solutions, announced today that its Intelligent Switch Solution (ISS), an Advanced...

PLDT SLOWS DOWN LANDLINE INVESTMENTS IN MINDANAO.
August 2, 2004... DAVAO CITY, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - The Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) company is more conservative now in putting new investments for their landline phone market in Mindanao. Mario Encarnacion, PLDT Vice President for Mindanao, said...

WB UN PROCUREMENT - PAPUA NEW GUINEA, PETROLEUM.
August 2, 2004... *** Asia Pulse Tender *** WORLD BANK UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT BUSINESS SERVICE PROCUREMENTS - JULY 2004 Country: Papua New Guinea Project: GAS DEVELOPMENT AND UTILISATION TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROJECT Financing: World...

RENAULT SAMSUNG SALES DOWN 47.5 PCT IN JULY.
August 2, 2004... SEOUL, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Renault Samsung Motor Co., South Korea's No. 5 carmaker, said Monday that its July sales fell 47.5 per cent from a year earlier to 7,024 units. Of the total, 6,609 units were sold in the domestic market, down 49.8...

IMPORTED TRUCKS WIN BIGGER SLICE OF S KOREA'S DOMESTIC MARKET.
August 2, 2004... SEOUL, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - A total of 3,718 imported trucks were sold in South Korea last year, increasing their combined market share here to 23.7 per cent, industry sources said Monday. Scania led the list with 1,985, followed by Volvo...

MALAYSIAN NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTS - AUG 2, 2004.
August 2, 2004... KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Highlights of today's newspapers: THE STAR: - Sumatec Resources Bhd, a contractor for the oil and gas industry, has set in motion its vision for a recurring base of earnings. Hence its recent proposal...

ADB OFFICIAL APPOINTED HEAD OF S. KOREAN FINANCIAL WATCHDOG.
August 2, 2004... SEOUL, Aug. 2 Asia Pulse - President Roh Moo-hyun today appointed Yoon Jeung-hyun, member of the Asia Development Bank board of directors, as head of the Financial Supervisory Commission, Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Jong-min said. (Yonhap)...

LEHMAN BROTHERS' LATEST 'DAMOCLES' INDEX.
August 2, 2004... (Full text of a statement, contact details below) SINGAPORE, July 30 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ -- Lehman Brothers, the global investment bank, issued a third quarterly update to its proprietary Damocles Early Warning System, which helps...

FANNIE MAE REDEMPTION.
August 2, 2004... (Full text of a statement, contact details below) WASHINGTON, July 30 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ -- Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) will redeem the principal amount indicated of the following securities issue on the redemption date indicated below at a...

MICROSOFT TITLE SPONSOR FOR 2004 TOPCODER OPEN TOURNAMENT.
August 2, 2004... (Full text of a statement, contact details below) GLASTONBURY, Conn., Aug. 2 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ -- TopCoder, Inc., the leader in online programming competition, skills assessment and competitive software development, today announced...

SHARE PRICES OF INDIA'S IDBI BANK, IDBI JUMP ON MERGER ANNOUNCEMENT.
August 2, 2004... MUMBAI, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Scrips of IDBI Bank (BSE:IDBK) and Industrial Development Bank of India (BSE:IDBI) on Thursday soared by 19.93 per cent and 5.7 per cent respectively on the Bombay Stock Exchange following the announcement of the...

THAI NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTS - AUG 2, 2004.
August 2, 2004... BANGKOK, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Highlights of today's newspapers: THE BANGKOK POST: - TOT corporation has punched a hole in attempts to create a level playing field for the telecommunications industry by bringing the issue of compensation...

INDONESIAN CAR SALES TARGET FOR 2004 REVISED UPWARD.
August 2, 2004... JAKARTA, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - The association of motor vehicle industries (Gaikindo) said it has raised its target for Indonesian car sales to 400,000-420,000 units from 385,000 units set previously. The new target was set based on good sales...

S. KOREA'S DAUM SAYS IT WILL BUY LYCOS FOR US$95.2 MLN.
August 2, 2004... SEOUL, Aug. 2 Asia Pulse - Daum Communications Corp., South Korea's largest Internet portal, said today it will acquire an Internet unit Lycos Inc. from Spain's Terra Networks for 111.1 billion won (US$95.2 million). The takeover is aimed...

SSANGYONG MOTOR JULY SALES DOWN 28.7 PCT.
August 2, 2004... SEOUL, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Ssangyong Motor Co. (KSE:003620), South Korea's fourth-largest automaker, said Monday its July sales tumbled 28.7 per cent year-on-year to 8,913 units. Domestic sales plunged 31.5 per cent to 7,093 vehicles in July...

S. KOREAN EXPERTS CALL FOR LONG-TERM STEPS TO TACKLE ECONOMY.
August 2, 2004... SEOUL, Aug. 2 Asia Pulse - The government needs to take comprehensive measures rather than makeshift actions in order to solve the country's economic woes, private-sector economists said today. Their suggestion comes as the world's...

WB UN PROCUREMENT - AFGHANISTAN, AUDIT OF OPERATIONS.
August 2, 2004... *** Asia Pulse Tender *** WORLD BANK UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT BUSINESS SERVICE PROCUREMENTS - JULY 2004 Country: Afghanistan Project: THIRD PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION CAPACITY BUILDING PROJECT Financing: World Bank ...

INDIAN TRAVEL AGENTS TO SUSPEND SALE OF LUFTHANSA TICKETS.
August 2, 2004... NEW DELHI, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Two major travel agents' organisations have decided to suspend the sale of tickets of German airline Lufthansa, and will progressively carry out similar action against other global carriers to protest against a...

INDIA, THAILAND TO IMPLEMENT 1ST PHASE OF FTA FROM SEPT.
August 2, 2004... BANGKOK, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - In a major leap in bilateral economic relations, India and Thailand Friday finalised modalities for implementing the first phase of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries from September this year...

INDIA'S INFLATION RATE TO BE WITHIN 5.5% IN FYO5: MINISTER.
August 2, 2004... NEW DELHI, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Unperturbed by the rising price level since June, the government said average inflation during 2004-05 will not exceed the target of 5-5.5 per cent. "RBI has pegged inflation at 5-5.5 per cent for 2004-05 and...

S. KOREA'S CONSUMER PRICES RISE 4.4 PCT ANNUALLY IN JULY.
August 2, 2004... SEOUL, Aug. 2 Asia Pulse - South Korea's consumer prices in July climbed 4.4 per cent year-on-year and rose 0.6 per cent from a month earlier, a government report said today. The National Statistical Office (NSO) attributed the July...

DOCOMO MACHINE TO SELL LOCATION INFO SERVICE DEVELOPMENT KIT.
August 2, 2004... TOKYO, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - DoCoMo Machine Com Inc., a subsidiary of NTT DoCoMo Inc. (TSE:9437), is set to begin selling on Aug. 2 a software development kit that will enable users to devise mapping services that show the locations of cars and...

JAPAN'S REAL ESTATE FINANCIAL CREATES NEW PRICE INDEX.
August 2, 2004... TOKYO, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Real Estate Financial Engineering, a venture firm launched by Aoyama Gakuin University, has devised a unique real estate investment index based on the share prices of listed real estate investment trusts (REITs). ...

INDIA'S MINERAL INDUSTRY PERFORMS WELL: REPORT.
August 2, 2004... NEW DELHI, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - The index for mineral production (base year 1993-94_100) rose 6 per cent year-on-year in 2003-04 to 147, according to the annual report from the Department of Mines. The report says that National Aluminium...

LJ INTERNATIONAL ANNOUNCES Q2 EARNINGS RELEASE DATE.
August 2, 2004... (Full text of a statement, contact details below) HONG KONG and LOS ANGELES, July 29 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ -- LJ International Inc. (Nasdaq: JADE), one of the fastest growing fine jewelry companies in the world, today announced that...

JAPAN'S ADVANEX TO LAUNCH FACTORY IN MEXICO.
August 2, 2004... TOKYO, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Advanex Inc. (TSE:5998) plans to open a wire spring plant in Mexico by the end of fiscal 2005. During fiscal 2004, the company's U.S. wire spring manufacturing subsidiary in California will lease a factory in the...

JAPAN'S FUJITA DEVELOPS ACCURATE WAY TO LOCATE TUNNELING MACHINES.
August 2, 2004... TOKYO, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Fujita Corp. (TSE:1806) has developed a system for accurately determining the position of shield-tunneling machines working deep underground. When new tunnels are being cut to meet with existing structures...

JAPAN'S TOPPAN PRINTING DEVELOPS IMITATION-PROOF HOLOGRAM.
August 2, 2004... TOKYO, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - Toppan Printing Co. (TSE:7911) has created a bright hologram that is less susceptible to imitation and forgery. The new hologram was developed via electron beams that are used in manufacturing semiconductor parts....