In brief

Business Asia, August 2, 1999

Beijing - China will take new measures to improve its foreign exchange management to encourage exports and the utilisation of overseas investment, says the deputy director of State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), Lu Nanping. The measures include easing restrictions on yuan loans under external guarantees and simplifying the procedure for sale and payment of foreign exchange for foreign-invested companies when they import technology.

- Asia Pulse

* Jakarta -- Indonesia is clawing its way out of the depths of economic crisis but the danger is far from over, according to the World Bank. In its annual report on Indonesia, the World Bank said restructuring of the bank and corporate sector was crucial. "While stabilisation has made some progress ... quite clearly economic recovery is not assured," Vikram Nehru, an economist at the World Bank in Jakarta, told a news conference. "That is largely because the proximate reason for the crisis -- the large overhang of short-term private debt -- remains unresolved. Corporates are still in distress, the banking system continues to incur losses, and output continues to be quite significantly below capacity. Poverty has increased sharply."

- Reuters

* Burswood International Resort Casino in Perth is on track to complete its A$4 million upgrade by December this year. The casino is currently refurbishing its 397 standard deluxe rooms. Features of the upgrade include open-plan layouts in rooms, sliding doors to bathrooms, Tasmanian Oak furnishings and an upgrade in technology and equipment. The casino has long been a favourite of Asian tourists and business travellers thanks to its range of facilities, which includes an 18-hole golf course, a convention centre, the 20,000-seat Burswood Dome indoor stadium, jogging and cycleways, and a business centre. Burswood has a strong presence in the Asian region, with offices in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Middle East and Indonesia.

- Asia Pulse

* Kuala Lumpur -- John Hancock Life Insurance (Malaysia) plans to boost market share to 3.1 per cent this year and 3.4 per cent by 2000 from 2.8 per cent in 1998, according to president and chief executive officer John Ng Kim Hoong. Last year, the firm's new business premium rose more than 22 per cent to 37 million ringgit (US$9.7 million) from 30 million ringgit in 1997. Last year, the firm posted 9.2 per cent growth in new businesses on the back of a 13 per cent contraction in the life insurance industry due to the economic downturn, he said.

- Reuters