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January 23, 1999atimes.com
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BUSINESS IN ASIA TODAY

Three Vietnam SOEs allowed to sell shares to foreigners
HANOI - The Government has given the green light to three State-owned companies to sell shares to foreigners on a trial basis, says an official at the Ministry of Finance. The move is part of the Government's bid to equitise State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and move towards the eventual opening of a stock market, he said.

"The decision is primarily aimed at raising foreign equity capital as well as putting foreign technical expertise and managerial experience into SOEs," said the official

IBM Australia net operating profit up 22%
SYDNEY - IBM Australia has announced a 22 percent increase in net operating profit for the year ending 1998. Boosted by strong growth in its domestic operations, the company's operating profit after tax and abnormals rose to A$124 million for the year ending December 31. This came on the back of record revenue for the group's Australian operations, rising to A$2.8 billion, an increase of 26 percent on 1997 revenue of A$2.2 billion.

Pirelli set to enter India next year
NEW DELHI - Pirelli Tyres, the Italian tyre major, is set to enter the Indian market by the first half of the year 2000. The company will make an initial investment of $500 million towards its Indian operations.

According to sources, the company is at present weighing the options of both a 100 percent subsidiary and a joint venture. If the company finalises its plans to set up a 100 percent subsidiary, the initial investment would go up to $700 million.Pirelli at present has a technical tie-up with India's major company, Birla Tyres, to manufacture radial tyres. That makes Birla Tyres the most eligible partner for a joint venture with Pirelli, the sources said.

Indian Oil Corp. to borrow $237m for stake in ONGC
NEW DELHI - Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) will borrow Rs 10 billion ($236.9 million) from banks to part finance its proposed acquisition of 10 percent equity in another state-owned oil company, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).

A company official said IOC would only take short term credit from banks for the cross-holding while the remaining amount of about Rs 16 billion would be raised internally. IOC is talking to the country's largest commercial bank, State Bank of India, among others.

Hyundai aims for domestic sales of 430,000 units
SEOUL - Hyundai Motor Co. (KSE:05380) plans to boost its domestic car sales this year to 435,000 units, up 100,000 from last year. Hyundai set the sales target during the meeting of the company's dealership chiefs across the country.

POSCO's Chinese J.V. steel plant gets rolling
SEOUL - South Korea's Pohang Iron and Steel Co. (POSCO/KSE: 05490) joint venture stainless cold-rolled steel plate plant in China went on-line near Shanghai on Friday, the company announced. The joint venture plant was set up in 1997 with China's Jianshu Shagang Steel Group with a total investment of $140 million and is capable of producing 110,000 tons of stainless steel a year, POSCO said.

Daewoo negotiates with N.Korea to take over garment co.
SEOUL - The Daewoo Group is negotiating with North Korea for its whole ownership of a garment company it set up in Nampo, North Korea, in a joint venture with Samcholli General Corp. Daewoo chairman Kim Woo-choong said that negotiations are underway with North Korea about restructuring the joint-venture business into his group's wholly-owned one because the joint venture-style operation is troublesome in many ways.

 Seoul sells 10.2% stake in Korea Tech. Banking Corp
SEOUL - The Korean Planning and Budget Commission says the government has sold its 10.2 percent stake in Korea Technology Banking Corp. (KTBC) to the Will-bes Co., a Korean venture business, for 9.3 billion won ($7.92 million). The deal is the fourth sell-off of a stake held by the government in a state-run firm.

(Asia Pulse)


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