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July 17, 1999atimes.com
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Business in Asia Today

Japan online music sales to total $829mby 2003
TOKYO - Online music sales are expected to reach 100 billion yen ($829 million) by 2003, or 12 percent of an overall Japanese music market that is projected to rise 23 percent from 1998 to 850 billion yen, according to a survey conducted by Seed Planning Inc. of Tokyo. The market research company polled some 20 Japanese and foreign record companies and electronics makers. Sales of portable players of music downloaded onto semiconductor chips are estimated to reach 200,000 units in 2000 and 1 million in 2003, outstripping shipments of portable headphone stereos, the survey found.

Sharp to bring world's top LCD plant onstream next August
TOKYO - Sharp Corp. (TSE:6753) will from August 2000 start commercial production of large LCDs for flat-screen televisions at a second factory in Mie Prefecture, the company said Thursday. Sharp will add two production lines for active-matrix LCDs to be used in 15- to 30-inch flat-screen TVs made by Sharp and other manufacturers. When the plant goes into operation next year it will have the world's largest output capacity, equivalent to 120,000 20-inch LCDs per month, Sharp said.

S.Korea's mobile phone sales to top 10m units in 1999
SEOUL - Sales of mobile phones in South Korea are likely to surpass 10 million units this year for the first time, industry sources said Friday. Sales in the first half recorded a growth of 50.3 percent from a year ago to 6.63 million units and the market is predicted to sustain its brisk growth in the latter half of the year, boosted by the advent of Japanese-made products and aggressive marketing, including selling on installment, they said. Korean and foreign manufacturers are expected to sell an average 800,000 units per month in the second half. Mobile phone sales reached 9.61 million units last year.

ING invests $270m in Korea's Housing and Commercial Bank
SEOUL - The ING Group of the Netherlands will invest $270 million in the Housing and Commercial Bank (KSE:27460) of Korea to acquire a 9.99 percent stake in the Korean bank, the bank announced Thursday. The Dutch financial company will buy the bank's shares at 33,500 won per share and will not sell them over the next five years. ING will assign two representatives to the board of directors, and appoint four employees to have a say in management. The Housing and Commercial Bank is the third commercial bank to secure foreign investment since the financial crisis in late 1997, following Korea Exchange Bank and Kookmin Bank.

HK firm takes stake in Australian Envestra
MELBOURNE - Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Ltd. (CKI), a diversified infrastructure company in Hong Kong, will take a stake in Australian gas distributor Envestra Ltd. (ASX:ENV) as part of a A$310 million (U.S.$204.10 million) capital raising program.The capital raising will be used to finance Envestra's acquisition of Victorian gas distribution business Stratus Networks.Envestra said the new capital would be used to repay a loan from parent group Boral Ltd. (ASX:BOR), which was made available to Envestra to partially fund the pair's $1.67 billion purchase of Stratus and the Energy 21 retail gas business from the Victorian government in March.

News Corp. completes deals with Liberty Media, MCI
MELBOURNE - News Corp. Ltd. (ASX:NCP) said it has completed the acquisition of Liberty Media Corp's 50 percent interest in Fox/Liberty Networks and bedded down a share buy-back with U.S. telecommunications company MCI.The transactions mean U.S.-based Liberty Media emerges as a new major shareholder of News Corp. and boost the holdings of Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal.

Morgan Stanley Australia, Wentworths form alliance
SYDNEY - Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Australia has set up a strategic alliance with specialist advisory firm Wentworth Associates to boost its presence in the Australian market. As part of the arrangement with Wentworth Associates, it has also appointed Wentworth principal David Gonski as chairman of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Australia. Chief Executive of Morgan Stanley Australia Steve Harker said the deal involved the mutual exchange of business between the two firms, and would give Morgan Stanley key client contacts and a "deeper and broader customer base" in Australia.

Australia's ASC blames baht drop for boat delay
ADELAIDE - Delays in building three patrol boats for the Royal Thai Navy by the Australian Submarine Corporation (ASC) were beyond its control and the quality of the work was not an issue, the corporation said on Friday. Responding to a report in the Financial Review, which said delays had prompted senior Thai officials to drop plans for seven more vessels, the Submarine Corporation said its work had attracted much praise. "However, our 50-50 joint venture partner experienced severe financial difficulties during the contract period which coincided with the collapse of the Thai baht," the ASC said in a statement.

Indian IT industry grew by 33% in fiscal 1998
NEW DELHI - The information technology (IT) industry in India registered a growth rate of 33 percent at Rs 239.55 billion ($5.55 billion) in the last fiscal year from Rs 180.15 billion in 1997-98 and total export revenue exceeded Rs 100 billion despite the regional economic downturn. According to a survey by Dataquest, the growth in the sector was fuelled by the domestic segment's performance increasing by 21.8 percent to touch Rs 132.04 billion and the export segment, which grew by about 50 percent at Rs 100 billion in 1998-99. Software exports posted a 70 percent jump to touch Rs 101.48 billion while growth in hardware exports was minimal.

Malaysia Jan.-April timber exports up 16.5%
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian timber exports have risen by 16.5 percent to RM879.440 million ($231.4 million) in the first four months of the year from RM754.884 million in the previous corresponding period, said Mohd Nazuri Hashim Shah deputy director general of Malaysian Timber Industry Board (MTIB). On month-on-month basis, April 1999 timber exports showed an increase of 60.8 percent in value to RM268.727 million from RM167.119 million in the same month last year. He said that most of Malaysia's timber exports went to ASEAN countries, followed by the European Union and East Asia. Mohd Nazuri said that at this pace and with the help of the increased demand and recovery in timber prices, export earnings for timber were expected to at least maintain at RM14 billion up to the year 2000.

China to develop its engineering plastics industry
BEIJING - China is ready to put engineering plastics high on its development agenda for the coming decade and has organized its first exhibition for the industry, according to weekly newsletter China Chem 2000. Sources with the State Petroleum and Chemical Industry Bureau said China will hold its first international engineering plastic exhibition from December 1 to 4, 1999 in Shanghai. China will take steps to strengthen international cooperation and make the industry an engine of growth by importing advanced technology, funds and management experience, the bureau told the newsletter.

China to open western, central parts to foreign investment
BEIJING - While continuing to solicit foreign funds for its eastern coastal parts, China will take steps to open its central and western parts wider than its eastern part so as to encourage foreign businessmen to invest in the central and western parts.Ma Xiuhong, Assistant Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, said at the recent 1999 Symposium on Policies Towards Investment In China that China will take measures and a complete set of auxiliary policies to encourage foreign businessmen to invest in the middle and western parts of China.

Indonesia launches three telecoms projects
JAKARTA - Communications Minister Giri Suseno Hadihardjono has launched three telecommunications projects worth $85 million, linking Palembang to Pontianak in West Kalimantan.The three telecoms projects are the Tanjungpandang (South Sumatra)-Pontianak (West Kalimantan) Fiber Optic Submarine Cable Communications System; the Tanjungpandang-Palembang Digital Micro Wave, which forms part of the Remote Area Phase IV project; and the Fiber Optic Communications System in the Northern Route. The three projects are worth Rp598.7 billion ($85.53 million).

Indonesian govt. set to abolish fuel, power subsidies
JAKARTA - Raising prices and tariffs for fuel and electricity is the only way to gradually abolish subsidies for the two energy commodities, the Minister of Mines and Energy, Kuntoro Mangkusubroto said.The government could not maintain a policy of using subsidies to keep prices low, he said.

Indonesian economy expected to grow 4% in 2000
JAKARTA - Indonesia will record economic growth of 4 percent in 2000 and 6 percent in 2001 due to positive economic indicators, the Econit Advisory Group, an economic think-tank, predicted. Econit managing director Rizal Ramli said the optimistic forecast was due to a restoration in the confidence of the public and the foreign community in Indonesia. He also cited the improving regional situation and the domestic mobilization of funds as contributing factors to the revival of economic growth.

Philippines trade grows 3% in first 5 months of 1999
MANILA - Merchandise trade for the first five months of 1999 grew by 3.0 percent to $25.382 billion from $24.634 billion last year, the National Statistics Office reported. The growth was mainly due to a 12.4 percent increase in exports to $12.946 billion from $11.516 billion a year ago. While earnings from exports amounting to $2.747 billion went up by 13.7 percent from $2.415 billion a year earlier, total payment for imports went down by 3.5 percent to $2.533 billion from $2.624 billion in 1998.


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