In Wednesday's Asia papers

22 April 2009 02:00  [Source: ICIS news]

ASAHI SHIMBUN, Japan

Front page

Women become easy targets in bad economy

Many companies have found an "upside" to the current economic crisis, which they are using as a pretext to threaten women returning from maternity leave with dismissal or a transfer.

Business & Industry

No new updates.

CHINA DAILY, China

Front page

Paris to extend warm invitation to President Hu

Paris plans to invite President Hu Jintao to France, a move that will further mend relations with Beijing.

'Dalai visit' likely to threaten relations

US president Barack Obama risks damaging relations with China if he meets the Dalai Lama in October, experts warn.

Business & Industry

No new updates.

TAIPEI TIMES, Taiwan

Front page

Father may face murder charge

The father of a 10-month-old baby girl who sustained second-degree burns over 90 percent of her body after being thrown into a pot of boiling water on Saturday may face murder charges after she died yesterday morning.

MAC poll results unreliable: DPP

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators yesterday said they doubted the authenticity of a poll released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) that showed high public support for signing an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China.

Business & Industry

Unemployment rate nears 6%

The official rate is to be released today, but government officials and analysts said while the number had not yet hit 6 percent, it probably would soon

Elpida to raise memory prices by up to 50 percent

The Japanese firm said it planned to lift prices to US$1.50 per gigabit of memory next month, adding that was about how much it costs to make a chip

KOREA HERALD, South Korea

Front page

Two Koreas meet briefly in Gaeseong

The two Koreas' first government-level meeting in 14 months lasted for about 20 minutes last night in Gaeseong where a South Korean worker is held in custody.

Public firms may face universal salary reductions

The government is likely to pressure state-run firms to make across-the-board salary cuts in the second half of the year to help reform their wage system, government officials said yesterday

Business & Industry

State-run firms face snowballing debts

Debts of the five largest affiliate organizations of the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs increased by 22.5 trillion won ($1.69 billion) last year as they bore the brunt of the government's economic stimulus plans.

Central bank may get bigger oversight role

A slew of legislative proposals are now pending in parliament, which could give the central bank a bigger role in ensuring financial stability.

NEW STRAITS TIMES, Malaysia

Front page

MSAM 2009: Risk-free investment option to beat downturn

Despite the economic downturn, the launch of 3.33 billion new units of Amanah Saham Malaysia (ASM) was received warmly by the public at Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) counters at Minggu Saham Amanah Malaysia 2009 venue at Plaza Angsana here yesterday.

Business & Industry

Sime seeks buyer for hotel

In a move to sell non-core businesses, the conglomerate has put up Hotel Equatorial Melaka for sale at an estimated RM180 million

Bank Rakyat set to meet RM1.3b profit target

The target is a 5.7 per cent gain on the RM1.23 billion profit before tax and zakat Bank Rakyat recorded last year

BUSINESS TIMES, Singapore

Front page

Strength in biomed, defence

HE may be happily retired for nearly 15 years now, but if Chan Chin Bock was still chairman of the Economic Development Board (EDB), the two industries he would focus on growing in Singapore are biomedical sciences and defence.

Marina Bay sucks in $22b of investments

Marina Bay has attracted investments of more than $22 billion and while the area still has sites for development, the government has no plans to sell them at the moment.

Business & Industry

China shows sustained recovery: strategist

The economic recovery process of China has become more pronounced, said Tan Kong Yam, chief investment strategist for APS Asset Management, in his latest APS Feature article distributed to clients.

IMF warns of fiscal crisis for top economies

THE world's leading economies could face a major fiscal crisis as governments increasingly 'transfer financial risks from the private to the public sector' by bailing out banks and other institutions, the International Monetary Fund said last night.

BANGKOK POST, Thailand

Front page

New summit tipped for Phuket in June

The government plans to host an Asian leaders' summit in Phuket in June, after red shirt protesters forced the recent cancellation of the Pattaya conference.

Business & Industry

Global financial crisis to cost $4 trillion

The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday raised its estimate of the cost of the global financial crisis to more than four trillion dollars in writedowns on soured credit.

Export slump continues

Exports fell for a fifth straight month in March, bringing the first-quarter decline in dollar value to 20.55% year-on-year, as demand for industrial, agro-industrial and agricultural products fell.

JAKARTA POST, Indonesia

Front page

House doubts it can pass crucial bills by deadline

Personal problems, laziness and the obligation to help their party achieve its goals have burdened legislators, raising doubts as to whether they can ratify  dozens of crucial bills by September.

Slow vote count exposes KPU's poor performance

The electronic but slow vote counting finally came to an end after almost two weeks on Monday, as the General Elections Commission (KPU) races against time to complete the counting of paper ballots from the April 9 legislative elections.

Business & Industry

Mitra may share ownership of Apexindo

Publicly listed PT Mitra Rajasa is in talks with four companies on the possibility of sharing ownership in Apexindo Pratama Duta, one of Southeast  Asia’s largest oil and gas service companies, which was recently acquired by Mitra.

By: Staff Reporter
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