TAIWAN TO DEREGULATE SECURITIES TRADING WITH CHINA, HONG KONG
Taipei (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Taiwan yesterday approved an initiative to deregulate securities investments between Taiwan and China, including opening Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) listings between the Taiwan and Hong Kong stock exchanges.
An ETF is an investment vehicle traded on primary exchanges but with the advantages of low transaction costs and a more diverse stock portfolio.
The decision will enable some of global funds, which contain Chinese capital but are managed by neutral, independent fund managers, to invest in Taiwan stocks.
The relaxed cross-strait securities investment initiative will also include opening ETFs trading between Taiwan and Hong Kong, allowing Hong Kong listed companies to list in Taiwan and permitting local securities investment companies to invest in China.
SOUTH KOREA RESUMES QUARANTINE INSPECTIONS OF U.S. BEEF
Seoul (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - South Korea restarted inspections of U.S. beef today in line with a new import agreement. Defying intense public concern over the safety of U.S. beef, Seoul implemented Thursday the April 18 deal and a protocol restricting imports to cattle 30 months old and less.
Seoul can check up to 3 per cent of all packages from the U.S., compared to 1 per cent of those from Australia.
"The examinations will be focused on determining if the contents of the boxes match the export labels and on making certain that the frozen beef has not spoiled during storage," said a NVRQS official.
The official said the April pact permits importation of all beef cuts from cattle under 30 months old including backbones, ribs and intestines, but any packages that have labeling discrepancies can be sent back or destroyed.
INDIA A BETTER FDI DESTINATION FOR MANUFACTURING THAN SERVICES: SURVEY
New Delhi (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Despite India's reputation as a services hub the nation has emerged as the world's fourth most attractive emerging market for manufacturing business foreign investment, for services it has just managed to enter a top-20 list released on Thursday by PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
In PWC's latest emerging markets rankings India has been ranked fourth, ahead of its BRIC peers China, Russia and Brazil, for the manufacturing business.
However, for services India has been ranked last at 20th position. In manufacturing, Egypt, Bulgaria and Serbia grabbed the top three spots.
CHINA TO REPLACE JAPAN AS ASIA-PAC'S LARGEST ONLINE SHOPPING MKT
Singapore (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - China will replace Japan as the largest online shopping market in the Asia-Pacific region in 2010, with 480 million online shoppers spending US$1.4 trillion, a MasterCard survey said on Thursday.
The survey found that online shopping growth in the region is expected to increase at an annual rate of 23.3 per cent by 2011 and this growth is likely to shift from Japan to new consumer populations in China and India.
"The rising population of upper-middle-income urban elites is likely to boost the online shopping markets in China and India significantly. Domestic consumption spending in the two countries is poised to pick up strongly, underpinned by a rapid pace of urbanization, robust economic expansion and rising spending power of urban elites," said MasterCard.
By 2010, China's online shopping population is projected to increase to 480 million and contribute to 58.6 per cent of the total online shopping population in the region compared to 49.9 per cent at present.
VIETNAM SLASHES THOUSANDS OF TARIFFS ON ASEAN IMPORTS UNTIL 2013
Hanoi (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Vietnam's Finance Ministry has released a list of thousands of imports from ASEAN countries to benefit from a cut in import duties over the next five years.
The move is part of Vietnam's commitment to implementing the Agreement on the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) for ASEAN.
Thousands of goods imported from the regional group, including artworks, antiques, furniture, optical equipment, live animals and fruit and vegetables, will be taxed at rate of between zero and 5 per cent. Meanwhile, import taxes on some foodstuffs will be reduced from 30 to 5 per cent by 2013, including rice and eggs.
The duty on meat will drop from 40 per cent to 5 per cent by 2013. Vehicles, motors and accessories will also enjoy tariff cuts.
CHINA'S TOPRAY SOLAR TO INVEST US$436 MLNL IN PV INDUSTRIAL PARK
Guangzhoi (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Shenzhen Topray Solar Co., Ltd., recently reached an agreement with Leshan city government on investing no less than three billion yuan (US$436.98 million) in a photovoltaic (PV) industrial park in Leshan,in Sichuan Province.
Chen Wukui, chairman of the board, said that Leshan boasts advantages in technology and market with its products exporting to more than 50 countries. Topray Solar is a professional manufacturer of solar battery chips, solar batteries, solar lamps, solar chargers and solar power systems in China.
OIL PRICE SURGE SUCKS MLNS FROM CALTEX AUSTRALIA'S BOTTOM LINE
Melbourne (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Caltex Australia Ltd (ASX:CTX), has slashed its interim profit forecast by as much as 40 per cent as surging oil prices cut its refiner margins.
Caltex released the downgrade only hours after crude oil futures went to fresh records highs, just above US$140 a barrel, during overnight trading.
Caltex warned in its outlook that "small changes in key externalities" - the Australian dollar, refiner margins and crude oil prices - could materially affect profit.
Unlike other the big refiners operating in Australia, Caltex lacks any "upstream" business in oil and gas and, as a result, its balance sheet is fully exposed to the spiking oil price.
Caltex expects its net profit in the first six months of calendar 2008 at between A$175 million (US$167.17 million) and A$195 million, on a replacement cost of sales operating profit basis.
That result compares with the A$294 million the refiner booked in the first half of calendar 2007.
CHINA'S IRON ORE IMPORTS SURGE IN JAN.-APRIL AS PRICE HIKES LOOM
Beijng (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - China's iron ore imports surged during the first four months of this year as users sought to avoid anticipated higher costs, official figures show.
From January to April, China imported 150 million tonnes of iron ore, up 15.1 per cent year-on-year, Customs said Thursday. The arrivals were valued at US$19.87 billion, up 110 per cent year-on-year.
Importers expected new agreements with suppliers to mean higher prices.
They also expected higher export duties in major source countries, such as India, and rising shipping costs. Australia, India and Brazil remained the top three sources of China's iron ore imports, accounting for 83 per cent of the total.
AUSTRALIAN POLITICAL PARTIES BLOCK TREE TAX BREAK FOR POLLUTERS
Canberra (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - An unlikely alliance of Nationals and Greens politicians in Australia's federal parliament has moved to reverse a new tax measure that would see major polluters given deductions for planting trees.
The government says the tax break would encourage the establishment of carbon sink forests, making an important contribution to sequestration and delivering natural resource management benefits.
But senators yesterday attacked the plan amid concerns it would disadvantage the farming sector while giving tax advantages to big carbon emitting companies and encourage them to buy up prime agricultural land.
The Nationals won the support of the Senate to hold an inquiry into the tax measure. Nationals senator Barnaby Joyce said the measure would simply reward major polluters while hurting consumers who would face higher food prices because of the loss of prime agricultural land.
HONG KONG'S TOTAL EXPORT VALUE JUMPS 10.3 PCT IN MAY
Hong Kong (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - The value of Hong Kong's total exports of goods rose to 238.9 billion HK dollars (US$30.5 billion) in May, up 10.3 per cent over the same month last year, the Census and Statistics Department of Hong Kong said Thursday.
Of the total, the value of re-exports grew 11.3 per cent to 230.8 billion HK dollars while the value of domestic exports fell 12 per cent to 8.1 billion HK dollars. For this year's first five months as a whole, the value of total exports of goods rose 11.2 per cent over the same period last year, said the department.
The department said the vibrant Chinese mainland market and other emerging markets, as well as the solid expansion of the European market, have offset the decline in exports to the United States.
Source:
Business in Asia Today - JUNE 27, 2008
published by Asia Pulse
COPYRIGHT © 2008
Taipei (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Taiwan yesterday approved an initiative to deregulate securities investments between Taiwan and China, including opening Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) listings between the Taiwan and Hong Kong stock exchanges.
An ETF is an investment vehicle traded on primary exchanges but with the advantages of low transaction costs and a more diverse stock portfolio.
The decision will enable some of global funds, which contain Chinese capital but are managed by neutral, independent fund managers, to invest in Taiwan stocks.
The relaxed cross-strait securities investment initiative will also include opening ETFs trading between Taiwan and Hong Kong, allowing Hong Kong listed companies to list in Taiwan and permitting local securities investment companies to invest in China.
SOUTH KOREA RESUMES QUARANTINE INSPECTIONS OF U.S. BEEF
Seoul (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - South Korea restarted inspections of U.S. beef today in line with a new import agreement. Defying intense public concern over the safety of U.S. beef, Seoul implemented Thursday the April 18 deal and a protocol restricting imports to cattle 30 months old and less.
Seoul can check up to 3 per cent of all packages from the U.S., compared to 1 per cent of those from Australia.
"The examinations will be focused on determining if the contents of the boxes match the export labels and on making certain that the frozen beef has not spoiled during storage," said a NVRQS official.
The official said the April pact permits importation of all beef cuts from cattle under 30 months old including backbones, ribs and intestines, but any packages that have labeling discrepancies can be sent back or destroyed.
INDIA A BETTER FDI DESTINATION FOR MANUFACTURING THAN SERVICES: SURVEY
New Delhi (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Despite India's reputation as a services hub the nation has emerged as the world's fourth most attractive emerging market for manufacturing business foreign investment, for services it has just managed to enter a top-20 list released on Thursday by PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
In PWC's latest emerging markets rankings India has been ranked fourth, ahead of its BRIC peers China, Russia and Brazil, for the manufacturing business.
However, for services India has been ranked last at 20th position. In manufacturing, Egypt, Bulgaria and Serbia grabbed the top three spots.
CHINA TO REPLACE JAPAN AS ASIA-PAC'S LARGEST ONLINE SHOPPING MKT
Singapore (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - China will replace Japan as the largest online shopping market in the Asia-Pacific region in 2010, with 480 million online shoppers spending US$1.4 trillion, a MasterCard survey said on Thursday.
The survey found that online shopping growth in the region is expected to increase at an annual rate of 23.3 per cent by 2011 and this growth is likely to shift from Japan to new consumer populations in China and India.
"The rising population of upper-middle-income urban elites is likely to boost the online shopping markets in China and India significantly. Domestic consumption spending in the two countries is poised to pick up strongly, underpinned by a rapid pace of urbanization, robust economic expansion and rising spending power of urban elites," said MasterCard.
By 2010, China's online shopping population is projected to increase to 480 million and contribute to 58.6 per cent of the total online shopping population in the region compared to 49.9 per cent at present.
VIETNAM SLASHES THOUSANDS OF TARIFFS ON ASEAN IMPORTS UNTIL 2013
Hanoi (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Vietnam's Finance Ministry has released a list of thousands of imports from ASEAN countries to benefit from a cut in import duties over the next five years.
The move is part of Vietnam's commitment to implementing the Agreement on the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) for ASEAN.
Thousands of goods imported from the regional group, including artworks, antiques, furniture, optical equipment, live animals and fruit and vegetables, will be taxed at rate of between zero and 5 per cent. Meanwhile, import taxes on some foodstuffs will be reduced from 30 to 5 per cent by 2013, including rice and eggs.
The duty on meat will drop from 40 per cent to 5 per cent by 2013. Vehicles, motors and accessories will also enjoy tariff cuts.
CHINA'S TOPRAY SOLAR TO INVEST US$436 MLNL IN PV INDUSTRIAL PARK
Guangzhoi (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Shenzhen Topray Solar Co., Ltd., recently reached an agreement with Leshan city government on investing no less than three billion yuan (US$436.98 million) in a photovoltaic (PV) industrial park in Leshan,in Sichuan Province.
Chen Wukui, chairman of the board, said that Leshan boasts advantages in technology and market with its products exporting to more than 50 countries. Topray Solar is a professional manufacturer of solar battery chips, solar batteries, solar lamps, solar chargers and solar power systems in China.
OIL PRICE SURGE SUCKS MLNS FROM CALTEX AUSTRALIA'S BOTTOM LINE
Melbourne (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Caltex Australia Ltd (ASX:CTX), has slashed its interim profit forecast by as much as 40 per cent as surging oil prices cut its refiner margins.
Caltex released the downgrade only hours after crude oil futures went to fresh records highs, just above US$140 a barrel, during overnight trading.
Caltex warned in its outlook that "small changes in key externalities" - the Australian dollar, refiner margins and crude oil prices - could materially affect profit.
Unlike other the big refiners operating in Australia, Caltex lacks any "upstream" business in oil and gas and, as a result, its balance sheet is fully exposed to the spiking oil price.
Caltex expects its net profit in the first six months of calendar 2008 at between A$175 million (US$167.17 million) and A$195 million, on a replacement cost of sales operating profit basis.
That result compares with the A$294 million the refiner booked in the first half of calendar 2007.
CHINA'S IRON ORE IMPORTS SURGE IN JAN.-APRIL AS PRICE HIKES LOOM
Beijng (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - China's iron ore imports surged during the first four months of this year as users sought to avoid anticipated higher costs, official figures show.
From January to April, China imported 150 million tonnes of iron ore, up 15.1 per cent year-on-year, Customs said Thursday. The arrivals were valued at US$19.87 billion, up 110 per cent year-on-year.
Importers expected new agreements with suppliers to mean higher prices.
They also expected higher export duties in major source countries, such as India, and rising shipping costs. Australia, India and Brazil remained the top three sources of China's iron ore imports, accounting for 83 per cent of the total.
AUSTRALIAN POLITICAL PARTIES BLOCK TREE TAX BREAK FOR POLLUTERS
Canberra (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - An unlikely alliance of Nationals and Greens politicians in Australia's federal parliament has moved to reverse a new tax measure that would see major polluters given deductions for planting trees.
The government says the tax break would encourage the establishment of carbon sink forests, making an important contribution to sequestration and delivering natural resource management benefits.
But senators yesterday attacked the plan amid concerns it would disadvantage the farming sector while giving tax advantages to big carbon emitting companies and encourage them to buy up prime agricultural land.
The Nationals won the support of the Senate to hold an inquiry into the tax measure. Nationals senator Barnaby Joyce said the measure would simply reward major polluters while hurting consumers who would face higher food prices because of the loss of prime agricultural land.
HONG KONG'S TOTAL EXPORT VALUE JUMPS 10.3 PCT IN MAY
Hong Kong (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - The value of Hong Kong's total exports of goods rose to 238.9 billion HK dollars (US$30.5 billion) in May, up 10.3 per cent over the same month last year, the Census and Statistics Department of Hong Kong said Thursday.
Of the total, the value of re-exports grew 11.3 per cent to 230.8 billion HK dollars while the value of domestic exports fell 12 per cent to 8.1 billion HK dollars. For this year's first five months as a whole, the value of total exports of goods rose 11.2 per cent over the same period last year, said the department.
The department said the vibrant Chinese mainland market and other emerging markets, as well as the solid expansion of the European market, have offset the decline in exports to the United States.
Source:
Business in Asia Today - JUNE 27, 2008
published by Asia Pulse
COPYRIGHT © 2008
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