Saturday, April 20 2024 | ASIA TODAY INTERNATIONAL - Reporting the Business that Matters in Asia
HONG KONG - On the heels of recently released disappointing July credit data, China’s State Council has announced a set of guidelines seeking to reduce high funding costs in the corporate sector and to spur credit growth in support of economic growth. The announcement gives a preview of monetary policy stance in the second half of the year, which seems to stick to “targeted easing” as in the first half, says BBVA Bank.
TAIPEI - President Ma Ying-jeou has again confirmed that Taiwan is committed to developing its multilateral relations and advancing peace and prosperity throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Taiwan has already substantially strengthened ties, most notably with the US and mainland China, since he took office in May 2008, Ma told a visiting US delegation from the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
HONG KONG - Symboliing Hong Kong divisions over the city’s coming 2017 Chief Executive election, - where Beijing may or may not grant Hong Kong “genuine” universal suffrage - pro-Mainland protestors took to the streets on Sunday to march against the recent Occupy Central movement. But while Occupy Central protestors threatened to “paralyse” Hong Kong Central if Beijing refuses their election reform proposals, the anti-Occupy protests instead proposed that both sides should “sit down and talk”.
SINGAPORE - Standard & Poor's has assigned its 'BB+' long-term foreign currency issue rating to a global Sukuk trust certificate issuance programme of up to US$5 billion by Perusahaan Penerbit SBSN Indonesia III (PPSI-III), a fully-owned special purpose vehicle of the Indonesian Government established to issue foreign-currency-denominated Sharia-compliant securities in international markets.
MANILA – BBVA Bank is describing new banking legislation in the Philippines as “rather rare and unprecedented amongst emerging economies” and something which reflects the Philippines Government’s commitment to hard and enduring reforms – “a prerequisite for sustaining the economy’s ongoing favourable growth momentum”.
SINGAPORE - New yuan loans in China in July totalled only RMB385.2 billion, much lower than the market consensus of RMB780 billion - and the RMB700 billion recorded in July 2013. ANZ Bank says aggregate financing also surprised markets on the downside, with a number even smaller than new loans, for the first time since the data’s inception.
TAIPEI - A cloud programme offering free downloads of business-related software has been launched in Taipei City, underscoring the local government’s commitment to promoting SME development. Wu Hsin-pei, Deputy Commissioner of Taipei City Government’s Department of Economic Development, says the initiative is in response to growing SME demand for assistance in overcoming challenges associated with operating a cloud business.
HO CHI MINH CITY - With strong support from the FDI sector, Vietnam looks set to enjoy another year of trade surplus, and with inflation no longer a concern this year, the Government has more room to stimulate the domestic side of the economy, according to the latest monthly newsleter of Vietnam Asset Management (www.vietnamam.com ).
BEIJING - Seven rare earth companies in China have formed an industrial alliance that is seeking to use this month’s expiry of a key patent held by Hitachi Metals Ltd. to expand exports of the micro magnets that are found in products ranging from motors to smartphones. The alliance is also trying to prove the invalidity of three patents owned by Hitachi.
HANOI – The decision by Moody’s to raise Vietnam’s credit rating to B1 from B2 - Vietnam’s first upgrade since it was subjected to a slew of rating cuts in 2010 – is an affirmation that Vietnam’s recovery is stable, though slow, says ANZ Bank. Moody’s cited an emerging track record of macro-economic stability as the main driver of its credit action.
HONG KONG – China’s July export growth grew strongly at 14.5% y-o-y due to improving demand from both developed and emerging markets, but import growth continued to be weighed down by a weakness in the value of commodity imports. This led to a record trade surplus of US$47 billion.
SYDNEY -- Roy Morgan Research’s latest Business Confidence survey in July 2014 made strong gains, improving by 11 points (10.2%) from June (to 119.1), rebounding from the negative impact of the Budget reflected in the May result and in line with the improvement in consumer confidence since the Budget.
BEIJING - Researchers at the China Robot Industry Alliance report that with sales of about 37,000 industrial robots in 2013, China has for the first time surpassed Japan (2013 sales 26,000) as the world’s biggest market for robots. Over the past five years, China’s total supply of industrial robots has grown by an annual average of 36%. Li Xiaojia of the Alliance says that he expects the Chinese market to continue growing by about 40% annually.
BEIJING - Foreign ministers of member nations of ASEAN have reaffirmed their vows to strengthen trade commitments and “mutual trust” with China. During their 47th ASEAN Foreign Ministers meeting (AMM) held in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, yesterday, Ministers discussed the importance of implementing the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA), which was drafted with the purpose of achieving two-way trade of US$500 billion by 2015 and US$1 trillion by 2020 - and two-way investment of US$150 billion during the next six years.
JAKARTA - Indonesia's GDP has come in slightly below expectations, with private consumption continuing to buoy growth while there was a moderation in investment, as expected. On the trade side, imports fell by more than exports resulting in a positive contribution from net-exports despite no ore shipments over the quarter.
~BEIJING - The sixth round of cross-strait Economic Co-operation Committee talks has concluded in Beijing with Taiwan and mainland China exchanging views on a raft of trade co-operation issues. Led by Taiwan’s Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs, Cho Shih-chao, and his mainland Chinese counterpart, Gao Yan, representatives focused on reviewing implementation results of the Cross-Straits Economic Co-operation Framework Agreement (ECFA).