In Tuesday's Asia papers

23 September 2008 02:00 [Source: ICIS news]

Front page

Aso easily wins LDP presidency

Liberal Democratic Party members hopped aboard the Taro Aso bandwagon and elected him party president Monday, seeing him as their best shot in what will likely be a much tougher test in autumn.

Business & Industry

Increased demand, lack of cash pinch interpreter services

Like many foreign residents, Wang Mei-chen can speak some Japanese, but not proficiently when it comes to discussing medical issues.

CHINA DAILY, China

Front page

Hu hopes US steps bear results soon

China hopes the steps the US is taking to stabilize its financial market will bear results soon, President Hu Jintao told his US counterpart George W. Bush over the phone Monday.

Quality watchdog chief quits amid milk scandal

Li Changjiang resigned as minister of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) Monday, owning "responsibility for the milk food contamination".

Business & Industry

No new updates

TAIPEI TIMES, Taiwan

Front page

Cabinet grilled over melamine scandal

DPP lawmakers called for heads to roll, accusing the government of reacting too slowly after learning that stores were selling tainted products

Dissident fed up with Taiwan

Cai Lujun, who spent three years in a Chinese jail for criticizing Beijing, said that he was tired of being a ‘half ghost’ in Taiwan and wanted to go home

Business & Industry

Real wage decline widens

Inflation continued to erode incomes as the real wage decline widened to a record 2.72 percent in July, a report released yesterday by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics showed.

Dozen Asian stocks set to double: GS

Goldman Sachs said that 10 Asian companies had ‘attractive’ valuations relative to their 10-year history following an average 46 percent drop

KOREA HERALD, South Korea

Front page

Seoul unveils new industrial blueprint

The government yesterday unveiled an industrial blueprint to reshape its export- and manufacturing-driven economy into one built on strong energy and environment sectors and five other high-tech fields.

Real estate tax floor raised to W900m

The government and the ruling Grand National Party yesterday agreed tentatively on revising the assessment standards for the comprehensive real estate holding tax, officials said.

Business & Industry

Private investment key to 22-sector growth plan

Inducing private investment will determine the success of the government's ambitious plan to nurture 22 industries as new growth engines, experts said yesterday.

FSC chief sticks to deregulation

The head of the nation's top financial regulator said yesterday that the government would go ahead with its deregulation plans, despite growing skepticism about their timing amid the U.S. credit crisis.

NEW STRAITS TIMES, Malaysia

Front page

Market to determine value of ringgit, says Najib

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak made it clear yesterday that the government had no plans to peg the ringgit to the US dollar.

PM: Orderly succession needed for peace

The prime minister yesterday said the 2010 transfer to his deputy would go ahead as planned.

Business & Industry

TM makes RM417m buyout offer for VADS

The offer price of RM7.60 per share is 12 per cent higher than the managed network and outsourcing services provider's last closing price on Friday

Japanese invited to make hybrid cars in Malaysia

Malaysia has offered Toyota and Honda to be their first overseas production base for hybrid engines and will consider giving Japanese carmakers customised perks

BUSINESS TIMES, Singapore

Front page

Australia eases shorting ban for dual-listed stocks

Australia's share market watchdog eased its blanket ban on short selling on Tuesday to allow investors trading the difference between share prices on dual-listed stocks to make covered short sales.

Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs reinvent for risk-averse world

IN what could be the final transformative act of the fundamental re-shaping of the US financial sector and Wall Street itself, the Federal Reserve late Sunday approved a request from both Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the country's last two major independent investment banks, to change their status to bank holding companies.

Business & Industry

Premiums for trade credit insurance on the rise

COMPANIES are increasingly mindful of their credit exposure, with more turning to trade credit insurance (TCI) to mitigate and transfer risks of customers' insolvency or payment defaults. This is driving premiums higher, insurers say.

US to join budding Asia-Pacific free trade agreement

The United States has agreed to join Singapore, New Zealand, Chile and Brunei in a free trade agreement (FTA) that could set the pace for a broader Asia-Pacific free trade area, officials said here on Sunday.

BANGKOK POST, Thailand

Front page

Cabinet constructed

There will be no surprises from the new cabinet line-up because the quota system of sharing cabinet portfolios among political factions and coalition partners remains a dominant factor.

Asia first

Washington - The next US president will head first of all to Asia, if advisers to major-party candidates Barack Obama and John McCain have their way on US foreign policy beginning next January.

Business & Industry

Insurer's IPO on hold

Bangkok Life Assurance Plc, a Bangkok Bank affiliate, has put its initial public offering scheduled for this month on hold as markets are highly volatile, said managing director Chan Vathanakul.

Chinese face suit over rice trademarks

Thailand is preparing to sue Chinese traders for violations of rice trademarks, following complaints by Thai exporters who report rampant instances of Thai Hom Mali rice being blended with other varieties and quality trademark violations in China.

JAKARTA POST, Indonesia

Front page

Medan mayor gets 5 years for graft

Suspended Medan mayor Abdillah was sentenced Monday to five years imprisonment after being found guilty by the Corruption Court for embezzlement and causing losses to the state.

Thai govt, Muslims agree to end conflict

Indonesia-mediated peace talks between the Thai government and representatives of the Muslim community in southern Thailand concluded Sunday with a commitment to ending years of conflict that have claimed 2,700 lives.

Business & Industry

Commodities soar, dollar sinks as bailout stokes inflation fears

Commodities prices soared Monday as nervousness about the U.S. government's $700 billion plan to rescue the financial system dragged down the dollar and pointed investors to the relative safety of hard assets.

More anxiety on Wall St.: Stocks dive, oil soars

Elation in the financial markets over the $700 billion bank bailout plan evaporated Monday and was replaced by all-too-familiar anxiety, pummeling stocks and sending oil prices to their biggest one-day gain.

By: Staff Reporter
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