Asia Times Onlinebanner
January 15, 1999atimes.com
Search buttonLetters buttonEditorials buttonMedia/IT buttonAsian Crisis buttonGlobal Economy buttonBusiness Briefs buttonOceania buttonCentral Asia/Russia buttonIndia/Pakistan buttonKoreas buttonJapan buttonSoutheast Asia buttonChina buttonFront button







Front Page

BUSINESS IN ASIA TODAY

Indonesian state banks told to restructure debts of small firms
JAKARTA - State Minister for Empowerment of State Enterprises Tanri Abeng has instructed state banks to restructure the debts of small scale and medium scale businesses in order to help them overcome the impact of the prolonged economic crisis.

Tanri also instructed presidents of the state banks to postpone the delivery of stagnant debts from small scale and medium scale businessmen to the Agency for State Claims and Auction (BUPLN), until a time to be set in the future. In addition, the credits which have been delivered to the BUPLN should be withdrawn for restructuring.

Indosat, Citibank join to offer credit card calling service
JAKARTA - Indonesia's state international telecommunications service provider PT Indosat (JSX:ISAT) and Citibank have teamed up to offer the Credit Card Calling Service (CCCS). CCCS is expected to be available to Citibank card holders from the first quarter of 1999.

Based on an authorization by Citibank, card holders may benefit from the service at the time they make international calls by dialling toll-free numbers or a fixed number when calling from overseas. Customers will then be guided automatically to contact the telephone number they have dialed.

Outlook for Indian banks is gloomy, says Moody's
NEW YORK - International rating agency Moody's Investor Service Wednesday said that high levels of non-performing loans and sluggish reforms were darkening the outlook for Indian banks' financial strength ratings.

The asset quality of the Indian banks was weighed down by numerous bad loans, which was further worsened by loose classification and provisioning standards, a debtor-friendly legal system, stock market losses, industrial restructuring which generates more nonperformers and by difficult domestic and international environments, Moody's said in its annual report on India's banking system.

India's Usha talks to Motorola on chip assembly deal
NEW DELHI - Usha (India), the flagship company of the Rs 30 billion Usha group of industries, is negotiating with American communications equipment giant Motorola to set up a U.S.$8 million assembly line to produce semiconductors in India. The company was planning to create a production capacity of 400 million transistors annually, used for manufacturing electronic items including computers, telecoms products, audio and video equipment, Arun Kanchan, director of the Usha group said.

Garuda posts $120.7m profit
JAKARTA - Flag carrier Garuda Indonesia Airways has posted a Rp905 billion (U.S.$120.7 million) profit for 1998, with operating income totalling Rp10.017 trillion.International services and efficiency in aircraft leasing contributed to the profit. A Garuda spokesman described the company's performance as good in 1998, with an 80 percent load factor on international flights and 72 percent on domestic flights.

Japanese convenience store chains to merge
TOKYO - Convenience store chains Circle K Japan Co. (TSE:7437) and Sunkus & Associates Inc. (TSE:7557) on Wednesday announced plans to merge as early as 2001. The fifth and sixth largest chains in Japan will combine for a network of 4,600 outlets with annual turnover of 800 billion yen (U.S.$7.17 billion).

As groundwork for the deal, the chains will begin integrating their information systems, exchange personnel, develop products together and study an entry into financial services.

LG to build $170m petrochemical plant
SEOUL - South Korea's LG Engineering and LG International said Thursday they will build a petrochemical facility in Taoyuan 20km west of Taipei for U.S.$170 million.

Ordered by Taiwan's state-run Chinese Petroleum Corp., the project calls for the construction of a residual fluidized catalystic cracking (RFCC) facility, which is used to process low-quality oil into high-octane gasoline.

Iloilo to get brand new airport
ILOILO CITY, Philippines- The new Iloilo airport, costing some U.S.$100 million, is to be constructed in the municipal boundaries of Sta. Barbara, Cabatuan and San Miguel.

Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor said the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) had submitted a new down-scaled airport design of a trunkline airport of international standards. Construction is due to begin in 2000.

German chamber calls off symposium
SEOUL - The German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Korea said Thursday it called off an international symposium on mergers and acquisitions (M&As) slated to open this month due to poor response from Korean and foreign companies. (Asia Pulse)


Front | China | Southeast Asia | Japan | Koreas | India/Pakistan | Central Asia/Russia | Oceania

Business Briefs | Global Economy | Asian Crisis | Media/IT | Editorials | Letters | Search/Archive

Cheap Car Rentals in Aspen Colorado Cheap Car Rentals in Athens Georgia

back to the top

©1999 Asia Times Online Co., Ltd.