Asia Times Online is a quality Internet-only publication that reports and examines geopolitical, political, economic and business issues. Cheap Car Rentals



	January 12, 1999	atimes.com

Front Page

BUSINESS IN ASIA TODAY

Indian govt to invite bids for methane exploration
NEW DELHI - The Indian government will soon invite bids from private players for exploration of coal bed methane reserves, of which there are estimated to be about 1,000 billion cubic meters.

This was decided at the specialinteractive groupbusiness meeting of Petrotech-99 on Sunday, attended by top officials of petroleum and defence ministries and chief executives of various oil companies. Coal bed methaneis found below coal and lignite mines and is a resource that has remained untapped in India.

Cable & Wireless looks into sell-off, merger
C&W Optus' parent, Cable & Wireless Plc, is reportedly looking at a mega-merger or possibly selling off chunks of itself, including its 53.87 percent stake in telecoms company C&W Optus, because it considers itself too small a global telecoms player, despite being valued at U.S.$32.77 billion.

Any sell-off or merger would throw its Australian subsidiary's ownership into doubt and could see the Australian group end up in French, German or even British Telecom's hands.

Reports from London said Cable & Wireless had commissioned international investment banker Barings or BT Alex Brown to find a suitable partner among European and U.S. telcos to create a 60 billion pound sterling telecoms giant.

Japansales of imported vehicles plunge 24.4%
TOKYO - Sales of imported vehicles in 1998 totaled 275,869, down 24.4 percent from a year earlier and the first dive below 300,000 in five years, says the Japan Automobile Importers Association.

Car dealers blamed the second straight year of lower sales on the sluggish economy, which discouraged consumers from buying expensive imported autos.The industry group expects 1999 sales to be almost flat at around 280,000 vehicles.

Of total sales in 1998, passenger cars accounted for 265,848, down 22.2% year on year and even lower than the sales of 276,000 imported cars marked in 1994 before the U.S. and Japan reached a bilateral auto trade pact.

Five South Korean insurers to be sold
SEOUL - The Korean government plans to sell five life insurance firms that submitted business normalisation plans in connection with restructuring efforts for life insurance firms in August last year, finding that these firms would be unable to recapitalise or attract foreign capital.

Altogether, seven life insurers were told to submit business normalisation plans last year. Candidate firms vying to take over these ailing insurers include American Life Insurance, France Life and The Netherland Life.

Manila to accredit importers
MANILA - The Philippine Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Finance plan to establish an accreditation system for importers so that government assistance can be extended.

The move is in response to the request of the country's two biggest business chambers - the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Federation of Philippine Industries - for a more effective monitoring of importers and consignees.

The intention of the accreditation is to establish and maintain a data bank of importers and consignees regularly engaged in importation to "reduce the incidence of fly-by-night operators, smuggling, under-declaration and misdeclaration, prevent unfair business practices and protect the interest of consumers," the departments said.

Indian telecom giants to explore business opportunities
NEW DELHI - Two blue chip state-owned firms, Mahanagar Telecom Nigam (MTNL) and Videsh Sanchar Nigam (VSNL), have agreed to cooperate in jointly exploring business opportunities in India and abroad, but ruled out cross-holding of equity.

Signing a memorandum of understanding, VSNL chief Amitab Kumar and MTNL chief S. Rajagopalan, said they planned to leverage from each other's strengths and jointly look for chances in India and abroad and to diversify into new ventures. MTNL is the basic-service provider in the cities of Delhi and Mumbai and VSNL is the international telecoms service provider.

Privatization of Pakistani telecoms to be delayed
KARACHI - The privatization of state-owned Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) is expected to be delayed for at least six months to a year because of a simmering financial crunch in the international markets.

Road shows, scheduled to be held in different cities of Europe and the Far East in the first week of February to attract buyers for the privatization, have also been delayed for an indefinite period.

Samsung Electronics to divest share of U.S. affiliate
SEOUL - Samsung Electronics (KSE:05930) has announcedts plan to divest its shares in its U.S. affiliate, AST Computer.

A group of U.S. investors led by Beny Alagem will assume 65 percent of equity in the Samsung affiliate, andreduce Samsung's equity to 35 percent to switch AST to a joint venture firm.

The American investor is slated to pay U.S.$12.5 million in cash for their shares and will be responsible for the management of the firm, including operational funds. Samsung has had trouble operating the U.S. affiliate due to changes in the U.S. computer industry, with the emergence of low-priced computers.

Arthur Andersen, Oman group join in project review
MUSCAT - The Omani Centre for Investment Promotion and Export Development (OCIPED) has announced a strategic tie-up with the Industrial Bank of Oman (IBO) and Arther Andersen and Co. for a review of projects for fast track implementation in the Sultanate of Oman.

Under the terms of the memorandum of understanding, the Industrial Bank of Oman and Arther Andersen will provide project finance and consultancy expertise to shortlist project profiles where private sector investment could be generated in the Sultanate.

In the second phase, advisory teams will be lead to identify potential equity and strategic promoters for the projects and work with them during the implementation of these projects.

(Asia Pulse)