2009 October | AsiaLynx

India surpasses China as Asia’s biggest automobile exporter

China 26.10.2009 Comments Off

Tata Nano

By Damanjeet Kohli, Channel NewsAsia – INDIA: India is a world winner when it comes to outsourcing services, but the country has not been recognized as a manufacturing hub.

Now for the first time, India has surpassed China as Asia’s biggest automobile exporter, and the country is fast emerging as a global hub for the manufacturing of small cars.

South Korea’s Hyundai Motors already exports close to half of its Indian output. The Hyundai i10 – a mini car made in the city of Chennai – sold more than 100,000 units in 2008.

The country’s leading carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India Limited, has also more than doubled its sales this year with the export of its hatchback “A-star”. The company is now spending around US$300 million on building a small-car research and development centre in the country.

Many companies, including Nissan and Ford, are also setting up operations in India, as they are trying to cut costs and move to making compact and fuel-efficient vehicles. – read more at ChannelNewsAsia.com…

Tags: automobile, China, India, Tata
New Zealand’s Key to push Japan free-trade pact

Japan 26.10.2009 Comments Off

Kiwi pitch: New Zealand Prime Minister John Key is interviewed recently in Wellington. KYODO PHOTO

WELLINGTON (Kyodo) New Zealand Prime Minister John Key is coming to Japan on a mission: He wants to press his case for a bilateral free-trade agreement.

Key starts his six-day trip Tuesday. He plans to meet with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama as well as Emperor Akihito and visit a number of companies.

This will be Key’s first visit to Japan since he ousted Helen Clark in a general election last November.

New Zealand’s largely agricultural-based economy has recently completed an FTA with China and is currently negotiating another with India.

With Japan ranking as New Zealand’s fourth-largest trading partner, Key is keen to make progress on the New Zealand-Japan FTA front.

New Zealand exports a range of products to Japan, including meat and dairy products, seafood and high-quality aluminum and coal, to the tune of 3.6 billion New Zealand dollars (about $2.6 billion) in 2008.

Japan supplies New Zealand with mainly high-tech, industrial goods, including cars and trucks. The value in 2008 was NZ$4.0 billion. – read more at JapanTimes.com.jp…

Tags: free trade, Japan, John Key, New Zealand, Yukio Hatoyama
Exporters praise massive Canton Fair

China 26.10.2009 Comments Off

Two foreign customers look at Chinese motorcycles at the 106th China Import and Export Trade Fair, or Canton Fair.

By Ding Qingfen (China Daily) – While the economies of the United States and Europe are still recovering, Chinese companies and exporters are turning to emerging markets to divert possible risks.

The China Import and Export Fair, better known as the Canton Fair, is the country’s largest export platform.

The fair, under way through Nov 4 in Guangzhou, is among venues helping local exporters connect with buyers from South America, Africa and the Middle East.

Tianjin Jinmao Group Co Ltd, China’s largest home equipment and tool provider and exporter, began to feel the pinch of a rapid decline in exports to the US and Europe late last year.

The two regions make up Jinmao’s top two overseas markets, with the US accounting for 50 percent and Europe 30 percent of its sales abroad.

But the financial crisis also served to help the company find new niche markets.

“Surprisingly, Australia is the only market that has been growing despite the global financial tsunami,” said Sunny Yen, vice general manager of Tianjin Jinmao Group.

While sales from the US and Western Europe dipped by “over 20 percent” during the first eight months of this year, sales from Australia rose by “28 percent”, Yen said.

Li Jie, Jinmao’s president, led a team to Australia last month to visit old clients and establish new contacts.

“For years, the US and Europe were the only targets of Jinmao. Australia was always neglected, but now things are different,” Yen said. read more at ChinaDaily.com…

See earlier article: Canton Fair booths brimming with bustle

Tags: China, Guangdong, trade fair
Lexus Debuts LFA; Only 500 to be Sold

Japan 24.10.2009 Comments Off

The Lexus LFA

Tokyo, Oct 21, 2009 – (JCN Newswire) – Lexus announces today the official launch of the LFA, a two-seat supercar scheduled to go into production at the end of 2010 as the pinnacle of the Lexus “F” premium sports car series. Pre-sales start today.

Ultra-responsive and extremely stable even when taken to the edge, the LFA creates a sense of reassurance that opens up a new world of driving emotion, exhilarating the senses to move the driver in more ways than one.

The LFA combines high output, superb chassis design and meticulous aerodynamics to achieve instantaneous total-vehicle response characterized by high-rev, seamless acceleration echoed by a self-defining resonance from its 4.8-liter V10.

Only 500 units of the LFA are to be produced and sold worldwide. read more at JCN Newswire…

Tags: automobile, Japan, Lexus
Resorts World Sentosa offers 45,000 jobs

Singapore 23.10.2009 Comments Off

Sentosa's Universal Studios

By Desiree Tresa Gasper (AsiaOne News) – SINGAPORE – Resorts World Sentosa, which is expected to open its doors early next year, will provide up to 45,000 job opportunities.

The resort’s assistant director of communications, Robin Goh, said the vast employment opportunities created would also help boost the economic situation in the region.

“Resorts World Sentosa is a one-of-a-kind destination and will definitely attract much interest,” he said during a media familiarisation tour on Tuesday.

He added that the company had already sent a batch of employees to be trained overseas.

“They have been sent to Universal Studios in Orlando, United States, for robust training exercises and have returned to share their knowledge with the locals,” he said.

Goh said most Singaporeans did not have experience in the casino or theme park industry as the organisation was the first to open one in the city-state.

He said various jobs with specific expertise would also be offered to international employees. read more at business.asiaone.com…

Tags: Resorts World, Singapore, Universal Studios
Samsung in $2.2bn China LCD TV venture

China, South Korea 23.10.2009 Comments Off

Samsung LCD televisions to be produced in China

By Song Jung-a in Seoul and Kathrin Hille in Beijing (Financial Times) China’s fast-growing market for flat panel television sets is attracting fresh investment from foreign components makers.

Samsung Electronics, the largest flat panel maker, said it would set up a $2.2bn joint venture in China to meet growing demand for liquid crystal display panels in the fastest-growing major economy.

Separately, Foxconn, a unit of Hon Hai, the largest electronics contract manufacturer, agreed to set up a $1bn facility for the production and assembly of LCD and LED components in Chengdu.

The investment plans reflect China’s emergence as a key market for LCD panel makers during the global economic slowdown.

TV makers in the country are ramping up production of flat panel TVs, driven by robust consumer demand.

LCD makers have enjoyed higher-than-expected demand this year thanks to Beijing’s subsidies for electronics purchases in rural areas. read more at FT.com…

Tags: China, electronics, Samsung, South Korea, Technology, television
China’s NASDAQ-style growth enterprises board (GEB) is launched

China 23.10.2009 2 Comments

The GEB board is to be officially launched today at the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. (Jiang Ning)

Zhou Yan (China Daily) – CITIC Securities Co, the largest listed domestic brokerage, and its subsidiary have topped the list of brokers earning underwriting fees for the first batch of stock listings on the NASDAQ-style growth enterprises board (GEB), which is to be officially launched today.

CITIC, together with CITIC China Securities, in which the former holds a 60-percent stake, have earned underwriting fees worth 188.97 million yuan in three initial public offerings (IPOs).

The two brokers’ combined underwriting commission accounted for 26.3 percent of the total made by all the 23 domestic broker participants, with Beijing Ultrapower’s 166.97 million yuan underwriting fee earned by CITIC Securities ranked at the top.

The brokerage firm and its subsidiary have underwritten issues for software developer Beijing Ultrapower, Shenyang-based SIASUN Robot & Automation, and filmmaker Huayi Brothers.

The first batch of 28 companies, which are to be listed on the GEB based in Shenzhen on Oct 30, have raised around 15.5 billion yuan ($2.27 billion) in their IPOs, according to Yao Gang, vice-chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

“Large brokerage firms like CITIC Securities have more star underwriters with extensive expertise and good reputation. Therefore, their smaller peers find it hard to compete with them in bargaining with IPO firms,” said Liu Zhiteng, an investment manager at investment consulting firm Blue Ocean Capital.

According to figures compiled by 21st Century Business Herald, the average underwriting commission rate for the 28 cases was 4.83 percent, higher than the small- and medium-sized board’s 3 percent and 2 percent on Shanghai’s main board. CITIC Securities’ underwriting fee for Beijing Ultrapower was 6.6 percent.

Changjiang Securities estimated that 50 firms were likely to be listed on the new board, raising a combined 22.5 billion yuan within the year, which will generate 1.58 billion yuan worth of underwriting fees for securities firms. read more…

Tags: China, GEB, Shenzhen, stocks
Bernanke warns on Asian exports

Economy 22.10.2009 Comments Off

US Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke

The Standard of Hong Kong reports that US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke warned Asian policies promoting exports could lead to a re-emergence of imbalances in trade and capital flows, which some believe helped fuel the US housing bubble.

Trade surpluses achieved through policies that artificially enhance domestic saving and export industries distort the allocation of resources, he said.

“To achieve more balanced and durable economic growth and to reduce the risks of financial instability, we must avoid ever-increasing and unsustainable imbalances in trade and capital flows,” he said in comments prepared for delivery to a San Francisco Fed conference on Asia.

Bernanke said imbalances have narrowed following the crisis, but warned that as the global economy recovers and trade volumes rebound, global imbalances may reassert themselves.

The Fed chairman said that that Asian economies had rebounded strongly from the crisis, with annualized growth rates in the double digits expected in China, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. read more…

Tags: Asia, Ben Bernanke, exports
Hyundai motor profit surges amid sales jump

South Korea 22.10.2009 1 Comment

Hyundai motor triples profit to 826 million

Jane Han, Staff Reporter (Korea Times): South Korea’s auto giant Hyundai Motor beat expectations, posting a record-high profit in the third quarter driven by a weaker won and strong sales in the U.S. and China.

Net profit for the three months ended Sept. 30 soared to a record 979.1 billion ($826.2 million), up sharply from a profit of 264.7 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing, Thursday.

Sales climbed nearly 34 percent year-on-year to 8.09 trillion won in the same period, while operating profit increased more than five times to 586.8 billion won. read more…

Tags: automobile, Hyundai, South Korea
Singapore buyers pounce on ‘mickey mouse’ flats

Singapore 21.10.2009 Comments Off

The Suites@Guillemard project

The Straits Times, 10/21/2009, By Joyce Teo, Property Correspondent

What do you call an area equivalent to 21/2 carpark lots?

An apartment, covering 258 sq ft.

Such units were among apartments of various sizes put up for sale at the Suites@Guillemard project in Guillemard recently.

The cost of the small unit? $374,000 or $1,450 psf – and all four such units were snapped up.

They might well be Singapore’s smallest private apartments, beating out a 312 sq ft unit at Kent Residences near Farrer Park, which made the news in June last year.

Indeed, buyers are seeing more so-called ‘mickey mouse’ or ‘shoebox’ flats – which are below 500 sq ft – on the market.

The trend took off late last year.

So far this year, nearly 500 ‘mickey mouse’ units have been sold, up from 299 last year and 275 in 2007. read more…