China pollution 'threatens growth'

The man in charge of protecting China's environment has warned that pollution and the demand for resources threaten to choke economic growth.

Environment Minister Zhou Shengxian said conflict between development and nature had never been so serious.

SAARC CCI proposes agenda for economic cooperation with China

The SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SAARC CCI) has proposed a roadmap for promotion of economic cooperation between China and South Asian countries.

A SAARC CCI statement issued here on Friday said that the nine-point agenda proposed by SAARC CCI included convening of Sichuan- South Asia Business Summit as a regular annual feature, formation of advisory panel constituting representatives of CCPIT Sichuan Sub-council and South Asian Chambers, sharing of information about the potential and mutually benefitted areas, undertaking sector-specific studies and pre-feasibility reports on core and potential sector, exchange of fact-finding missions to explore untapped potential in trade and investment, inflow of investment from China to South Asian countries, preferential market Access to South Asian nations, removal of NTBs and PTBs, provision of 500 multiple business for at least one year period to all South Asian nations, relocation of labour-intensive industries from China to South Asia, investment in infrastructure building to improve connectivity and foster economic cooperation.

Indian economy likely to grow at 8%: RBS Asia Securities

RBS Asia Securities is expecting a low gross domestic product (GDP) than the street expectations. Parul Saini, ED, RBS Asia Securities Singapore says that Indian economy is expecting a growth of 8%.

According to him, the net borrowing is likely to be at around 4.2%. “On the earnings front, we came into the year expecting earnings to be roughly 5-8% below consensus. The risk to numbers coming in below our estimates, there might probably be 2-3% downside to that but not significant at this point in time,” he adds.

Asia integrates through economic, financial factors

The idea of Asia as an identity was imagined by the Greeks thousands of years ago and today it is becoming a reality, said Chas W. Freeman Jr. in the keynote speech of the Camden Conference on Feb. 18 at the Camden Opera House.

This integration of Asia is driven by economic and financial factors rather than politics and ideology, Freeman said. At some expense to the U.S. role, Asian countries are relying more on each other for trading, business deals, education and banking, he said.

Hong Kong grows at 6.8% in 2010 helped by Chinese money

Hong Kong's economy has expanded by 6.8% in 2010 as it benefited from business ties with mainland China.

The figures were released as part of the annual budget address by Hong Kong's Financial Secretary John Tsang.

Japan posts first trade deficit in almost two years

Weaker exports to key markets gave Japan its first trade deficit in 22 months, Ministry of Finance data has shown.

The trade deficit was 471.42bn yen ($5.7bn; £3.52bn) in January, with exports up 1.4%. Analysts had expected export growth to be closer to 7%.

Asian Stocks Rebound on Economic Outlook From Japan, U.S., Profit Growth

Asian stocks rebounded this week after U.S. and Japanese central banks raised their growth outlooks and companies posted better-than-estimated earnings, boosting confidence in the global recovery.

Toshiba Corp. and Elpida Memory Inc. rallied more than 3 percent in Tokyo after Dell Inc., the world’s third-largest personal-computer maker, reported profit that topped forecasts. Qantas Airways Ltd. jumped 6.3 percent after Australia’s biggest airline quadrupled net income. AMP Ltd. rose 4.3 percent as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. recommended the asset manager citing “solid” earnings results.

India lifts onion export ban after prices crash

The Indian government has lifted its ban on onion exports after prices crashed on the domestic market.

The government introduced the ban in December after prices had reached unprecedented levels. A kilogram, which usually costs 20 rupees, went up to 85 rupees ($1.87; £1.20).

Japan central bank upgrades economic assessment

Japan's central bank upgraded its assessment of the world's No. 3 economy for the first time in nine months amid an upturn in exports and production. It left interest rates unchanged as expected.

The Bank of Japan's nine-member policy board voted unanimously Tuesday to keep the overnight call rate target at zero to 0.1 percent. The central bank has maintained the interest rate in the range of zero to 0.1 percent since October.

ABAC: Chinese economy expects strong growth

According to an economic outlook report from an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) business advisory body, China's economy is expected to remain strong in 2011, but inflationary pressures are likely to rise further due to rising food prices.

According to the report, Chinese authorities are looking to ensure that the inflationary pressures do not "spill over" into price pressures in other areas of the economy or into inflationary expectations, which may lead to further cuts in lending quotas and more hikes in reserve requirements and interest rates.

Asia's contribution to global economy increasing: ADB

Underlining that Asia is playing a very important role in global economic restructuring, Asian Development Bank (ADB) managing director general Rajat M. Nag said Monday the continent's contribution to the global economy is increasing.

'Asia's share in global economy was 18 percent in 1980, it became 35 percent in 2009 and in 2050 it will be about 60 percent,' Nag said while speaking at an interactive session on 'South-East Asia Economic Integration', organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) here.

China overtakes Japan as world’s second largest economy

For more than four decades, Japan flexed its economic might and ruled as the second biggest economy in the world, next only to the United State, and that changed today as Asia's rising sun was finally eclipsed by global factory powerhouse China.

Economists have been expecting the inevitable as Japan's economy continue to be plagued by deflation, weak consumer spending and rising debt that by the last accounting has already reached the level regarded as highest in the industrialised world.

Zambia poised to continue driving the Asian economy

A senior Standard Chartered Bank official said that Zambia, African leader in copper production is poised to continue driving the Asian economy because of the abundant natural resources that are rare in the Eastern world.

Mr Vis Shankar CEO of Standard Bank for Europe, Middle East, Africa and Americas said that the dire need by China for natural resources such as copper would continue in many years to come.

Northeast Asia dominates patent filing growth

China, Japan and South Korea are dominating growth in international patent filings in a dramatic demonstration of the shift of scientific and economic power to northeast Asia, figures released on Wednesday showed.

The World Intellectual Property Organization said China had increased its international patent filings in 2010 by an astonishing 56.2 percent to 12,337, triple its 2006 figure and pushing it into fourth place in global rankings.

China raises interest rates again to tackle inflation

China's central bank has raised interest rates for the third time in four months as authorities ramp up efforts to tackle inflation.

The People's Bank of China said it would raise its one-year lending rate to 6.06% from 5.81% and its one-year deposit rate to 3.0% from 2.75%.

Global growth expected to slow

Global growth will fall to 3.4% in 2011, from almost 4% in 2010, according to a report released by the Conference Board of Canada.

The report, World Outlook: Global Economic Trends and Prospects: Winter 2011, identifies persistent economic woes in Europe as a key factor in the decline.

Asian Currencies Have Weekly Gain on Economic Growth, Rate-Rise Prospects

Asian currencies had their biggest weekly gain of the year, led by the Philippine peso and Thailand’s baht, as upbeat economic data fanned speculation interest rates will be raised to counter inflation.

The Bloomberg-JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index climbed after the Philippines and Taiwan announced faster economic growth than economists forecast this week, with the Southeast Asian nation also reporting a higher-than-expected inflation rate. Exports and consumer prices gained more than forecast in South Korea and Indonesia, while overseas sales in Malaysia also exceeded projections, separate data showed. Bank Indonesia unexpectedly raised interest rates today for the first time in two years.

“Asian economic growth is very solid and they are in an environment allowing central banks to boost rates to fight inflation,” said Tsutomu Soma, a bond and currency dealer at Okasan Securities Co. in Tokyo. “The trend of Asian currency appreciation is still intact.”

The Asia Dollar Index, which tracks the region’s 10 most- traded currencies excluding the yen, climbed 0.6 percent this week to 116.49 as of 4:21 p.m. in Hong Kong. The peso advanced 0.8 percent to 43.765 per dollar, the baht strengthened 0.9 percent to 30.78 and Indonesia’s rupiah rose 0.4 percent to 8,995. Financial markets in China, Taiwan and South Korea were shut most of this week for the Chinese New Year holidays.

Philippine Prices

The peso had a second weekly gain as a government report today showed consumer prices climbed 3.5 percent in January from a year earlier, the most in four months and more than the median 3.3 percent gain forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The central bank will consider the data when it reviews interest rates on Feb. 10, Governor Amando Tetangco said today. Gross domestic product rose 7.3 percent in 2010, the fastest growth since 1976, the government reported Jan. 31.

“The market is gauging how inflation threats will feed into the benchmark overnight rates,” said Bunny Bernardo-Recto, vice president for treasury at Chinatrust (Phils.) Commercial Bank Inc.

Indonesia’s rupiah reached its strongest level in four weeks after Bank Indonesia boosted its reference rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 6.75 percent. The move was predicted by six of 22 economists surveyed by Bloomberg before the announcement, with the rest having forecast no change. Inflation in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy accelerated to a 21-month high of 7.02 percent in January, official figures show.

Rupee Strengthens

India’s rupee strengthened 0.4 percent this week to 45.60 per dollar. The statistics office will predict economic growth of 8.6 percent on Monday, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg ahead of a Feb. 7 announcement. A Feb. 1 report showed exports climbed 36.4 percent in December from a year earlier, the biggest increase since March.

Consumer-price gains in South Korea accelerated to 4.1 percent in January from a year earlier, the fastest pace since October, a report showed this week. President Lee Myung Bak a month ago called for “a war on inflation” and the central bank last month boosted borrowing costs for the third time since June. The Korean won fell 0.3 percent to close at 1,116.95 per dollar on Feb. 1, the last trading day this week.

Financial markets in Singapore and Malaysia were shut for the Lunar New Year holidays on Feb. 3 and Feb. 4. The Singapore dollar strengthened 0.6 percent to S$1.2734 per dollar before the break, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Malaysia’s ringgit added 0.5 percent to 3.04 over the same period.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com

Singapore to benefit from rising optimism about business prospects in Asia

The growing optimism is because of the increasing number of MNCs setting up business operations in Asia.

A number of economic statistics and anecdotal evidence are pointing towards increased confidence over business prospects in Asia. The bullish market sentiment is likely to lead to a surge in Singapore company formation activity, predicts www.SingaporeSetup.com.

The results of the annual Asia Business Outlook Survey conducted by the Economist Corporate Network shows that most global companies expect 25% of their share of revenue to come from Asia by 2015. A separate survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers reveals that 92% of Western European CEOs expect growth in their Asian operations, while only 48% expected growth in Europe. Even the IMF has predicted the rise of Asia as the next economic powerhouse. According to IMF Director, Asia-Pacific Department, Anoop Singh, "By 2030, Asian gross domestic product (GDP) will exceed that of the Group of Seven major industrial economies (G-7)".

The result of growing optimism about the economic and business prospects in Asia is that an increasing number of MNCs are setting up business operations in Asia and are also making large-scale investment commitments in the region. According to SingaporeSetup.com, Singapore is one such country that stands to benefit from the shift in power from West to East. Ms. Catherine Lee - a senior editorial board member of the SingaporeSetup.com site said, "Foreign firms are choosing Singapore as a springboard to enter the Asian market and are either opting to setup a Singapore branch office or a Singapore subsidiary.

Singapore company registration statistics for the 4Q 2010 shows that companies and entrepreneurs from countries such as US, UK, Cayman Islands, and British Virgin Islands setup a Singapore company in the last three months of 2010. "

Global firms often choose Singapore as their regional base of operations as it the easiest place to do business in Asia. The ease of Singapore company formation, the system of low taxation in Singapore, the country's motivated and productive workforce, its top-notch infrastructure, political stability, efficient legal system, freedom from corruption, strong IPO regime, excellent living environment, and its strategic location in the Asian continent are the main reasons why foreign companies are expanding their presence in the city-state.

According to a recently released report by U.S. based Business Environment Risk Intelligence (BERI), Singapore has the best investment climate in the world, while the Heritage Foundation ranked the economy second in its '2011 Index of Economic Freedom'.

Singapore's Economic Development Board recently confirmed that a record high of S$12.9 bn investment commitments were made in 2010 while up to S$14 billion is expected to flow into the country this year. "Given the ascendancy of Asia as an economic superpower and the ease of doing business in Singapore we are expecting a surge in Singapore company incorporation activity this year," added Ms. Lee.

Targeted for global entrepreneurs and firms, SingaporeSetup.com is the leading business information portal that provides comprehensive and up-to-date information about establishing and operating business in Singapore.

Source: http://www.indiainfoline.com

India must play aggressive economic role in South Asia: Expert

Singapore, Feb 2 (PTI) India must play an "aggressiveeconomic" role in South Asia to win over smaller states in theregion in the face of the growing challenge to its influencefrom China, an expert said today.

Buzz up!
India has not played a leading role in the region like itshould have, particularly with respect to the South AsianAssociation of Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Professor T VPaul from McGill University of Canada told PTI here,indicating that China could benefit, given its "intimate"links with countries like Pakistan.


"But now, India must do more for the region," said Paulafter addressing a seminar on "State Capacity and South Asia''sInsecurity Predicament" at the Institute of South AsianStudies in Singapore.

India must convince the smaller South Asian states thatthe regional economy could benefit from the "huge Indianmarket", he said.

The frosty nature of relations between India and Pakistanis among the main causes of South Asia''s insecuritypredicament, he informed the audience of academics at theseminar.

He pointed out that Pakistan had given top priority tothe Kashmir issue, while ignoring bilateral tradeopportunities with India.

In this regard, bilateral trade between Pakistan andIndia could be 52 times more than it is now, he asserted,citing a wide range of estimates on South Asian intra-regionaltrade.

He cited the theory that "countries engaged in economicactivities would not engage in war" to back his presentationon the region.

Comparatively, trade relations between India and itsother neighbours -- Bhutan, Bangladesh, the Maldives and SriLanka -- have been improving in recent years, said Paul, adirector at the Universite de Montreal Centre forInternational Peace and Security Studies at McGill University.

India has proven the potential of its market benefits forthese countries, sourcing garments from Bangladesh and SriLanka and hydropower from Bhutan, he pointed out.

He also cited increasing Indian investment in Bangladesh,which could be emulated as the way forward to building aregional economy.

Nevertheless, the growth of China''s influence in SouthAsia is inevitable, Paul noted, pointing out that Beijing seesits own ties with India''s neighbours as a "balance of power",even though India sees the world''s fastest growing economy''sactions as "political moves".

Source: http://news.oneindia.in

PMI data raise fears over inflation in Asia

Inflation fears intensified across Asia on Tuesday as manufacturing data from China, India and other countries suggested that pressure on input prices rose in January amid continued strength in factory output.

Official figures indicated that the pace of expansion slowed slightly in China, where the state-approved purchasing managers’ index fell from its December high, reflecting the impact of a tightening of monetary policy since Chinese inflation peaked in November.

However, the index showed growth in factory activity for the 23rd consecutive month, underlining the robust nature of China’s manufacturing expansion. The sub-index recording input prices jumped to a fresh high.

“The new export orders sub-index continued to fall while the input prices sub-index went on rising, which suggests that enterprises could face relatively big difficulties in rising costs and slowing demand,” said Zhang Liqun, a government researcher, in a statement accompanying the release of the numbers by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing.

Adding to the impression of continuing manufacturing strength, there was also a rise in the unofficial but closely watched PMI index produced by HSBC and Markit, the economics consultancy, with the detailed numbers suggesting an increase in capacity pressures.

Hongbin Qu, HSBC’s chief China economist, said the upbeat numbers would give Beijing room “to fully focus on checking liquidity and inflation pressures”. Mr Qu said China’s central bank would probably use quantitative tightening in the form of an increase in banks’ reserve requirements rather than raising interest rates.

China’s inflation index fell slightly to 4.6 per cent in December, from a 28-month high of 5.1 per cent in November, in the wake of two interest rate rises and a series of administrative measures taken by Beijing to cool the economy.

However, some economists expect inflation to accelerate again in January in response to a global rise in food and energy prices, combined with a spike in demand caused by the Lunar New Year holiday this week.

In an indication of the spread of inflationary pressure around the region, Indonesia on Tuesday reported that consumer prices rose 7.02 per cent year on year in January, up from 6.96 per cent in the previous month and above consensus expectations. However, core inflation was lower than expected at 4.2 per cent, presenting the central bank with a difficult decision on whether to raise interest rates when it meets on Friday.

HSBC’s India Manufacturing PMI posted a small rise, with the details showing a big backlog of work and a substantial jump in input prices. Leif Eskesen, the bank’s India chief economist, said the strong numbers underlined the country’s robust growth, but would also give companies more leeway to pass on price rises.

“Inflation pressures are coming from all sides, demand and supply, and international commodity prices are now adding to the challenge,” Mr Eskesen said.

“The Reserve Bank of India [has] already prepared the ground for more rate hikes near term with their latest policy statement, and we expect they will deliver, [probably] as soon as March, with another 25 basis points.”

Factory activity was also strong in January in South Korea, Taiwan and Japan, with very strong economic growth figures in Taiwan for the fourth quarter of 2010 adding to the overall picture of rising inflationary pressures.

The Taiwanese Statistics Bureau said in a preliminary estimate on Tuesday that the economy expanded by 6.48 per cent in the three months to the end of December compared with the same period in 2009, after rising 9.8 per cent in the third quarter.

The strength of the economy prompted the government to raise its estimate of GDP growth for 2010 to 10.47 per cent. It raised its growth forecast for 2011 to 5.03 per cent, up from a November estimate of 4.51 per cent. It also raised its inflation forecast for this year to 2.04 per cent from 1.85 per cent.

The PMI and GDP data followed strong industrial output numbers released on Monday for Japan – often a laggard in manufacturing recently – which showed the country’s manufacturing activity expanding in January for the first time in five months.

Source: http://www.ft.com