Australia, North Korea renew ties - Brief Article

Business Asia, May 19, 2000

* Canberra -- North Korea and Australia have agreed to normalise ties following a 25-year freeze, reflecting efforts by the Stalinist state to break out of its diplomatic isolation. The countries formally established diplomatic ties in 1974 but these were suspended a year later when North Korea withdrew its embassy from Canberra and expelled the staff of the Australian embassy in Pyongyang.

--Reuters

* New Delhi -- India has allowed foreign investors to take a maximum 49 per cent stake in companies that plan to operate satellite telephone services, the Business Standard reported. The government, which is expected to announce its policy on satellite telephony soon, will charge a one-time entry fee of 10 million rupees (US$230,000) from operators and take 5 per cent of their annual gross sales as part of a revenue-sharing pact.

--Bloomberg

* Jakarta -- Cigarette maker PT BAT Indonesia has threatened to close down one of its plants if the government does not review the new regulation on prices for white cigarettes. BAT Indonesia president Mark Jennings told Bisnis Indonesia the regulation could create a fall in the firm's output. The company had earlier estimated sales would fall this year to 14 billion sticks because of the government's move to raise excise on cigarettes to 40 per cent

--Asia Pulse

* Singapore -- Venture Manufacturing Ltd, Singapore's No.3 electronics manufacturer by market value, said it has won a multimillion dollar contract to build components for Cisco Systems Inc, the world's biggest Internet equipment maker. The contract is Cisco's first formal manufacturing partnership with a Singapore-based company, though it farms out work to other manufacturers on the island.

--Bloomberg

* Seoul -- The Inchon International Airport Corp will sell 51 per cent of its stake to attract foreign capital this year. The Construction and Transportation Ministry says the airport management company is holding a briefing session to select lead managers to handle the sale of its stake through stock subscription.

--Asia Pulse

* Tokyo -- Itochu Corp plans to form in June a company with Yasuda Fire & Marine Insurance Co and Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank to undertake payment settlements and guarantee services for e-commerce firms, sources close to the matter say. The new firm will take on the risk of any failure by e-commerce customers to pay for products bought over the Internet. Itochu will hold a majority stake in the company.

--Asia Pulse

* Tokyo -- Japan's combined government and private sector spending on construction is likely to edge 0.5 per cent higher in fiscal 2000 to 71.22 trillion yen (US$669.36 billion), the Ministry of Construction has forecast. Private investment in construction is seen rising 1.8 per cent to 36.54 trillion yen.

--Asia Pulse