In Friday's Asia papers

 

 

 

 

Japan, S Korea want more tourists by '10

Japan and South Korea agreed on Thursday (22 July) to promote efforts to double the number of tourists for their own country by 2010, government officials said. Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Nobuteru Ishihara, who also heads tourism promotion, and South Korean Minister of Culture and Tourism Chung Dong Chae signed a document to that effect at an event in Tokyo aimed at boosting tourism between both sides, the officials said. Ishihara and Chung also agreed to designate 2005 as a year to boost tourism and cultural exchanges between the two countries as it marks the 40th anniversary of normalising bilateral ties. The statement said the public and private sectors of the two countries will hold a series of joint events for expanding exchanges, the officials said.

Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Japan (online edition)

Korea Herald, South Korea (online edition)

Beijing warns Taipei about missing tourists

Beijing hopes Taiwan will deal appropriately with the case of missing mainland tourists in the island and take action to crack down on organised human smuggling.  The mainland blamed Taiwan's tourism policy towards mainlanders for the disappearance, said Xue Guifeng, a senior official from the China National Tourism Administration on Thursday (22 July) in Beijing. Taiwan media reported that the 17 Chinese tourists arrived in Taiwan from Fujian Province after having passed through Thailand. The group failed to report to the travel agency responsible for meeting the group on 13 July. Taiwan allows only mainlanders living, studying, working or travelling overseas to visit the island in tour groups.  Beijing opened the mainland to Taiwan tourists in 1987. Taiwan travellers paid more than 3.66m visits to the mainland in 2002 and 2.73m last year, according to official statistics. In contrast, less than 30 000 Chinese visited Taiwan last year because of Taipei's restrictions.

China Daily, China (online edition)

India seeks to secure release of hostages

Deputy Foreign Minister E. Ahmed said New Delhi would do "whatever possible" to secure the release of three Indians taken hostage by a militant group in Iraq. A group calling itself 'Black Flags' said on  Wednesday (20 July) in a video aired by Al-Arabiya news channel that it had taken three Indians, two Kenyans and an Egyptian hostage in Iraq. It threatened to start killing them one by one if their Kuwaiti employer, Universal Services, does not pull out of the country. A foreign ministry official said India's ambassador to Iraq Brij Bhushan Tyagi will travel to Baghdad to try to secure the release of the three Indian truck drivers. The Indian government has banned its citizens from working in Iraq, but there's no way to monitor thousands of Indians out there, he said. Ahmed, in a television interview, stressed that India was committed to providing humanitarian aid to Iraq. India has always advocated in international bodies that the sovereign power of the Iraqi people has to be respected, he added.

 

Vietnam hopes to promote economic and trade relations with China's western region, especially the two southwestern provinces of Guangxi and Yunnan. Hoang Truong Ky, vice chairman of the People's Committee of northern Vinh Phuc province, made the remarks while meeting a Chinese media delegation of the official Xinhua news agency, on Wednesday (20 July). Vinh Phuc posted an annual average gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 14.7% over the past three years and its GDP growth stood at 17.6% last year, much higher than Vietnam's growth of 7.24%. Vinh Phuc has licensed 60 foreign-invested projects worth $600m (Euro486m), including nine Chinese-backed ones with a combined capital of $33.2m in the last seven years, becoming one of the northern localities with the strongest economic development and the fastest pace of foreign investment attraction. Ky hoped that more Chinese enterprises will pour investments into Vietnam, and that the economic and trade ties between Yunnan and Guangxi and Vietnamese northern localities will develop unceasingly.

China Daily, China (online edition)

Environment & Health

 

 

 

Molecular Acupuncture has set up shop at Singapore's biomedical hub, Biopolis, to pioneer the world's first 'acupuncture-in-a-pill' technology. Headquartered in Singapore with a grant from the Economic Development Board, the biotechnology company, which has a panel of French directors and international representation on its board, was set up with initial capital of $1.5m (Euro1.2m). Another $20m worth of investment is to come over the next three years.  With acupuncture in a pill, the company hopes to overcome challenges such as cultural and psychological barriers. A pill will also end the inconvenience of long-term acupuncture treatment as clinics are not accessible to everyone.

 

 

 

 

China's top oil refinery, Zhenhai Refining & Chemical, processed 30% more crude oil in the H1 led by rocketing oil demand, a Chinese industry official said on Thursday (22 July). Crude throughput at the refinery was 8.11m tonnes, or 334 200 barrels per day (bpd), up from 6.23m tonnes a year ago, and above its annual nameplate capacity of 16m tonnes, or 328 800 bpd. Given such strong demand, all refineries would like to produce as much as possible, said the official close to Zhenhai's operations.

China Daily, China (online edition)

Indian oil firms to invest on cleaner auto fuel

Public sector oil firms will invest about Rs 17 800 crore ($3.8bn/Euro3.1bn) by 2010 to produce cleaner auto fuel to comply with Euro-III emission norms. Indian Oil Corp (IOC) will invest Rs 5551 crore by March 2005 while Bharat Petroleum will spend Rs 1941 crore and Hindustan Petroleum Rs 1152 crore in producing Euro-III compliant petrol and diesel, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said. In line with the road map laid down in the Auto Fuel Policy, the oil public sector undertakings are implementing quality upgradation projects to supply Euro-III equivalent fuel in metro cities by April 2005 and in rest of the country by April 2010, he said.  IOC will spend another Rs 4412 crore by 2009-12.

 

 

 

 

Toray Industries, Japan's biggest synthetic fibre manufacturer, said on Thursday (22 July) that it will buy shares in trading house Chori from Asahi Kasei in a tender offer. Asahi Kasei, a Japanese chemicals and housing materials producer, will respond to the tender offer between 23 July and 12 August and sell its entire stake of 28.59% of Chori shares to Toray. As a result, Toray's stake in Chori will increase to 51.46% from the current 22.87%. Toray is currently the second largest holder in Chori after Asahi Kasei. Toray will spend Yen1.82bn ($16.7m/Euro13.5m) to buy the Chori shares. Last year, Chori, a textile trading company based in Osaka, received a total of Yen30bn in financial aid from its major shareholders and main lenders. Since then, Chori's recovery has been going smoothly.

 

 

 

A landmark deal that would have made British American Tobacco (BAT) the first foreign group to build its own cigarette factory in China has hit a major stumbling block. Chinese authorities denied on Thursday (22 July) that the British firm had won a contract to set up a $1.5bn (Euro1.2bn) manufacturing joint venture with China Eastern Investments. Last week BAT, the world's second largest cigarette manufacturer, announced in London that Beijing had approved its proposal to form a joint venture that would have the capacity to produce 100bn cigarettes/year. BAT insisted on Wednesday (20 July) that the regulatory nod came from the highest levels of the Chinese government. If BAT eventually wins government approval it would mean it has beaten rivals such as Philip Morris to the much-coveted right to build a factory in China, home to 350m smokers and the world's biggest tobacco market.

 

 

India OKs 28 foreign investment proposals

The Indian government on Thursday (22 July) cleared 28 proposals for foreign direct investment in the country worth Rs 28.89 crore ($6.24m/Euro5.05m), an official statement said on the same day. Most of the proposals pertained to chemicals, petrochemicals, catering, software and allied services sectors. Among the proposals cleared is one for $1.11m to manufacture pharmaceutical ingredients and intermediaries, put up by Mauritius-based India Newbridge Partners.  Another proposal from Sermo Montaigu ZA DE I'Esperance of France is for designing and manufacturing precision plastic injection and compression moulds at a total foreign investment inflow of $140 493.

Times of India, India (online edition)

Oil Search's Q2 revenue up 41%

Australian-listed Papua New Guinea oil and gas producer, Oil Search, said on Thursday (22 July) that its Q2 operating revenue rose 41.1% to $94.7m (Euro76.7m) from a year ago, driven by higher production and prices.  Oil Search said oil and gas production rose 13.5% to 2.776m barrels of oil equivalent (boe) against the year earlier's 2.446m boe. Revenue for the H1 of the year was $161.6m, up 9% from a year ago. Oil Search is the biggest stakeholder in the troubled $3.5bn PNG-to-Australia gas pipeline project which is waiting for a new gas customer before engineering and design can begin.

Business Day, Thailand (online edition)

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