Tuesday, April 22 2025 | ASIA TODAY INTERNATIONAL - Reporting the Business that Matters in Asia
JAKARTA - President Susilo Yudhoyono is to nominate Agus Martowardojo, the current Minister of Finance, as Bank Indonesia’s next Governor, replacing Darmin Nasution, whose term expires in May. The nomination is subject to Parliamentary approval (Agus was turned down by Parliament for the post once before, in 2008), and raises questions about his replacement at the Ministry of Finance.
BEIJING - Economic growth in China is expected to increase by 0.43% from 2012 to reach 8.23% in 2013 according to Xiamen University and the Economic Information Daily, a subsidiary of Xinhua. Their report says 2013 export growth should increase almost 5% to 12%. Import growth is also due to increase, from just 4% last year to almost 18% this year. Inflation is predicted at 3.11%, up from 2.6% last year. The report is in line with Government projections, but analysts at Nomura argue that 8.23% is too high an expectation, indicating a figure around 7.7% is more likely.
TAIPEI - Taiwan's economic growth could increase to more than 4% in 2013 if more emphasis was placed on investment and consumption, according to former Vice President Vincent Siew. He believes the economy can perform better than the Government's forecast of 3.59% growth – which compares with just 1.26% in 2012. Siew said he had seen an increase in investment activities in the private sector, and that this will be followed by an uptick in consumption. The former Economics Minister said Taiwan's finance industry should be expanded to contribute more to GDP.
BEIJING - One of the final stages of a railway linking Kunming in south-western Yunnan with Vietnam has become operational. The railway, between Yuxi and Mengzi, both in Yunnan, is part of the Eastern line of the planned Pan-Asia Railway Network which will provide rail links from China to Singapore. The railway is on track to open within the year. The rail link is planned to open up China’s south west to greater trade with ASEAN, which could make Kunming an ASEAN-focussed regional economic hub.
BEIJING - China has surpassed Sweden to become Volvo’s second-largest market after the US. January sales reached 4,776 units, up 75.8% from January last year, although it is unclear if this is owing to weak sales in January 2012. Volvo said it sold 29,614 vehicles across the globe in the same month. The imported mid-sized S60 sedan and imported SUV XC60 both set records for single month sales in China. Ford also reported a 98% increase in sales from the holiday-shortened sales period of January 2012, delivering 61,475 vehicles to China in January 2013.
MELBOURNE – ANZ has just published the third edition of its RMB handbook, translating that the latest developments in the offshore Chinese Renminbi (RMB) market mean to business in practical terms.
TOKYO - The earnings of Japan-based industrial corporations are likely to be a mixed bag in 2013, as was the case in 2012, with performance continuing to vary across sectors, says Standard & Poor's. “We believe pressure on our ratings on these companies remains strong in some industries given that the outlook on the long-tern corporate credit ratings is negative or the ratings are on CreditWatch with negative implications for over 30% of Japanese industrial companies we rate,” S&P says in a new report.
SINGAPORE – In its proposed budget for 2013-14, Singapore’s Ministry of Finance continues its focus on structural issues, proposing a fiscal surplus of SGD2.4 billion (0.7% of GDP) against the larger-than-expected SGD3.9 billion surplus in 2012. Inclusive long-term growth through productivity improvements and foreign worker curbs remain the major pillars of the budget, with rules on foreign works to be tightened further (ATI).
BEIJING – China’s software industry earned more than RMB1.3 trillion in revenue in the first seven months of 2012, up 25.4% on-year, Government data shows. China’s software business is flourishing in the nation's western regions, including Chongqing, Sichuan and Shaanxi, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said. Data released by the Ministry also showed that the surge in revenues was accompanied by a 12.5% rise in export value for the sector in the same seven-month period.
TAIPEI - Taiwan's economy continued to be affected by the global recession in July, Government indicators show. The composite index of monitoring indicators rose to 16 in July from 15 the previous month, according to data compiled by the Cabinet-level Council for Economic Planning and Development. The index has a scale of between nine and 45, with the lowest range - nine to 16 - represented by a blue light.
NEW YORK - Global Finance magazine in its annual listing of the world’s 50 biggest banks for 2012 (as measured by total assets) is reporting that the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is now Number Four. There is relative stability among the largest banks in terms of he world in terms of the total value of their assets, the magazine says. Deutsche Bank has jumped from second to become the largest bank in the world, followed by HSBC and BNP Paribas. China again has six banks in top 50 - the largest group from any single country.
BEIJING - The Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (Chalco) has reported first half losses of RMB3.25 billion, in sharp contrast to the RMB413 million profit posted in the same period of 2011. The losses were incurred by falling market prices, rising costs of raw materials, and higher financial costs, according to Chalco, China’s largest aluminum producer (ATI).
SINGAPORE – ANZ Bank has downgraded its 2012 growth forecast for Vietnam from 5.5% to 5.2% following the release of August performance data. Vietnam has reported that industrial production growth fell to 4.4% y/y from 6.1% in July as manufacturing growth dropped to growth of just 2.7% from 4.2% previously. Retail sales growth fell to 17.9% ytd, y/y from 18.7% ytd y/y the previous month. Initial estimates show export and import growth fell to 6.0% and 3.2% respectively y/y, from 9.3% and 16.9% in July.
BEIJING - The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has announced plans to raise the permitted cap for foreign holdings in joint venture securities firms from 33% to 49% in the latest of a series of moves designed to relax foreign ownership limits and to increase foreign direct investment. The regulator also plans to allow joint venture securities firms to apply for permission to expand their businesses two years after going into operation in China, down from five years (ATI).
HONG KONG - HSBC has appointed Quang Buu Huynh as Head of Global Trade and Receivables Finance (GTRF), Asia Pacific (International) effective September l. Reporting into Simon Constantinides, Regional Head of GTRF Asia Pacific, Quang will focus on executing GTRF’s strategy and driving revenue in Brunei, Japan, South Korea, Mauritius, New Zealand, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand. www.hsbc.com (ATI).