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January 14, 1999atimes.com
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Rumor boosts Indosat shares
JAKARTA - Brisker transactions have beenrecorded involving the shares of state international telecom services provider PT Indosat (JSX:ISAT), bolstered by rumours the company would be sold at U.S.$2.50 per share.

Indosat is one of the state-owned companies to be privatized by the government to raise fresh funds to support its deficit Budget for the coming fiscal year starting April.Dealers said Indosat rose 12 points to Rp12,300 (U.S.$1.64) in Tuesday trading with a turnover of 910,500 shares.

Astra gets into hot water with Japanese creditors
JAKARTA - Indonesia's biggest automaker, PT Astra International (JSX:ASII), says it is seeking to restructure its foreign debts through negotiations with its creditors.

Astra management said Sanwa Bank and Tokai Bank, both of Japan, have demanded the repayment of their U.S.$210 million plus the interest. Some U.S.$200 million of the debt is a syndicated loan with Sanwa Bank as the facility agent and the remaining U.S.$10 milion is a debt to Tokai Bank in the form of uncommitted revolving credit facility.

Astra said it had reported to the Jakarta Stock Exchange that it had received a warning from the two banks about failure to repay due debt.

Indonesian banks with negative capital can disburse credits
JAKARTA, Jan 13 Asia Pulse - Bank Indonesia has decidedthat banks with negative capital are now allowed to disbursecredits as long as they have received approval from thegovernment to take part in its recapitalization program.The old ruling said that such banks were barred fromdisbursing credits because it automatically violated legallending limit (3L) stipulations.

The new ruling further emphasized that until Dec 31, 2001,banks with positive capital and which agreed to participate inthe recapitalization program may only disburse a maximum of 10percent of their capital to individuals or groups havingrelations with the banks.

India's Infosys sees profits rocket
BANGALORE - The top Indian computer software firm reportedsharp rises in nine month profits on Tuesday. The net profitof Infosys Technologies Ltd for the nine months to Dec. 31,1998, more than doubled to Rs 921.6 million from Rs 412.7million a year ago, while total income grew to Rs 3.59 billionfrom Rs 1.81 billion, according to The Observer of Businessand Politics.

South Korea's S.K. Corp launches gas venture with Enron
SEOUL - South Korea's S.K. Corp. (KSE:03600) Wednesdaylaunched a joint venture with the U.S. energy firm Enron tocarry out local gas operations.

Enron invested US$243million in S.K. Enron, enabling the company to be equally ownedby both concerns. S.K. and Enron will have joint managementrights over the venture, which has a paid-in capital of 50billion won.

Indonesian insurers plan pool to handle unrest losses
JAKARTA - The Indonesian Insurance Council (DAI) said thatit would ask the government to support its plan to set up aninsurance pool to handle risks against losses caused bystrikes, riots and civil commotions.

The pool is expected toreduce the dependence of Indonesian insurance companies onforeign reinsurance companies, according to Aryanti Suliyanto,president of insurance firm Asuransi Bintang.

She said billions of U.S. dollars had gone out of the country inreinsurance funds to foreign reinsurance companies, whileIndonesian companies lacked strong leverage in dealing withforeign reinsurance companies.

Eight Chinese pilot futures exchanges to close
BEIJING - Eight of the 14 existing pilot futures exchangesin China will be closed and reshuffled into securitiesbrokerage companies, Shanghai Securities News reported.

The eight exchanges are the Beijing CommodityExchange, Guangdong United Futures Exchange, Shenzhen MetalFutures United Exchange, Chengdu United Futures Exchange,Chongqing Commodity Exchange, Tianjin United Futures Exchange,Suzhou Commodity Exchange and Hainan China Commodity FuturesExchange.

Vietnam drops rice export duty
HANOI - The export duty for all rice has been dropped in abid to encourage more sales, Finance Minister Nguyen Sinh Hunghas announced. The rate was previously one percent of thecontract sales price.

In addition, the State Bank has askedthe Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development to providesufficient loans for food companies to buy up about onemillion tonnes of reserve rice between February 1 and March 31to boost rice exports.

Vietnam plans to export 3.9 milliontonnes this year, 100,000 tonnes more than last year when thecountry became the world's second largest rice exporter.

Singapore takes stake in Teijin venture
SINGAPORE - The Singapore government has taken a 10 percent stakein Teijin Polycarbonate Singapore Pte, a local joint venturebetween Teijin Ltd. and Teijin Chemicals Ltd.

The country's Economic Development Board spent S$7 million on the purchase and will place an outside director on the company's board. Teijin is currentlybuilding a polycarbonate resin plant in Singaporeat acost of S$600 million.

Japan, Korea agree on intellectual property rights
TOKYO - Japan and South Korea have reached agreement on a broad range of issues in the field of intellectual property protection, the Patent Office said on Jan. 12.

The two governments agreed to establish an information exchange system and draw up guidelines for the prevention of illicit imitations. They also agreed to enhance cooperation in international efforts to safeguard intellectual property rights through venues such as the World Intellectual Property Organization, the World Trade Organization and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

Australian firm wins Shanghai redevelopment deal
ADELAIDE - Architecture firm Woodhead International has wonan A$55 million (U.S.$34.90 million) contract to redevelop a keyresidential district in Shanghai. Woodhead director David Gilbert said the company wouldredevelop a city block "withoutdestroying the character of this wonderful city. It's quite aunique approach in Shanghai."

(Asia Pulse)


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