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February 03, 1999atimes.com
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Business in Asia Today

Chinese bank to grant $3.6bn for power generation
BEIJING - The State Development Bank plans to issue 30.221billion yuan ($3.6 billion) as the first batch of loans tosupport power projects. The China Electric Power News reportedthat the loans consisted of 8.747 billion yuan ($1.06billion) for coal and oil-fired projects, 6.292 billion yuan($767 million) for hydropower projects, 13.104 billion yuan($1.5 billion) for power transmission projects and 2.078billion yuan for nuclear power projects. Theloans will be used for the renovation of urban and rural powergrids and on-going hydropower projects.

Total investment in China up 22.3% for Jan.-Nov.
BEIJING - Total investment in China in the January-November period of 1998 hit 1.5 trillion yuan ($181 billion), up 22.3% over the same 1997 period, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Of the total, 872 billion yuan ($105 billion) went to capital construction, up 24%, and 305 billion yuan ($36.7 billion) was devoted to technical upgrading and transformation, up 21%.

Slowing economy halves Australia's Dec. trade deficit
SYDNEY - Australia's trade deficit was halved in December,but falling import levels were a sign the economy was slowing,economists said Tuesday. According to Australian Bureau ofStatistics figures, the goods and services trade deficitnarrowed sharply to A$508 million (U.S.$322.07 million) inDecember, seasonally adjusted. The revised figure for Novemberwas a A$1.021 billion (U.S.$650 million) deficit.

PLDT signs $64m loan agreement with German finance house
MANILA - Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) hassigned five new loan agreements worth $64 million with thefinancing institution Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW) ofGermany. With the new loans KfW's loan commitments to PLDThave exceeded $1 billion, making the Philippine companyKfW's largest telecommunications client in the world. PLDTsaid proceeds of these loans would be used to finance thesupplies and related services provided by Siemens AG for theestablishment of a new local exchange in Makati, expansion ofnine digital exchanges which would replace existing analogueexchanges, and establishment of a new engineering recordsmanagement system.

French/Vietnam JV to build horse racing complex
HANOI - Trotting Promotion S.A.Group has set up a jointventure in Vietnam which will invest $57 million to build ahorse racing complex in the country. Hanoi Service Tourism andSports Company is the other partner in the company, the firstjoint venture licensed to build and operate aninternational-standard racetrack in Vietnam for 50 years. Thejoint venture will also build an entertainment quarter in DaiKim and Thanh Liet communes in Hanoi's outlying district ofThanh Tri.

Sanyo to form battery company in China
TOKYO - Sanyo Electric Co. (TSE: 6764) announced that itwill jointly establish a new company in Tianjin, China, toassemble and sell nickel-hydrogen rechargeable batteries. Theentity, to be founded in April, will be capitalized at $14.6million and will sell its batteries to cellular-telephonemakers throughout China. Total investment costs are expectedto reach about $30 million. Sanyo will hold a 51 percentstake. A local government-owned battery maker will have a 44percent share, and Toyota Tsusho Corp. (8015) will hold theremaining 5 percent.

Nitto Denko sets up circuit board plant in Vietnam
TOKYO - Nitto Denko Corp. (TSE:6988) has established a newcompany in Vietnam to produce flexible printed-circuit boardsfor hard-disk drives manufactured in Southeast Asia. Thecompany, with a capitalization of $1.17 million, has beenset up as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nitto Denko's Singaporeunit, which in turn is a wholly-owned subsidiary of parentcompany Nitto Denko. The factory, scheduled to startoperations in November, will have a production capacity of 2million boards a month.

Australia's Colonial to buy 51% of Fiji bank
MELBOURNE - Australian financial group Colonial Ltd(ASX:CGH) will acquire 51 percent of the government-ownedNational Bank of Fiji for $F9.5 million (about U.S.$4.95million). Colonial, which also has a pre-option to acquire 75percent of the bank, said it was the successful bidderin a competitive tender process. Under the agreement with theFiji government, the bank would be branded Colonial NationalBank and the Colonial livery, style and management expertisewill be adopted, Colonial said.

Canada's Royal to set up Philippines factories
MANILA - The Royal Group of Canada is planning to put uptwo housing components manufacturing plants in thePhilippines. Wilfredo Dionio, local consultant for theCanadian group, said the two plants would have a project costof $21 million each. The group would construct the first planton a 167-hectare property just outside Clark Field in Pampangabefore the end of this month or early next month. The secondplant would be constructed in Iloilo not later than June, thisyear.

(Asia Pulse)



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