BANGKOK: Indonesia said it still hoped to hammer out a counter
\ntrade deal to buy rice from Thailand, despite failing to reach an
\nagreement at a meeting in Bangkok on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\"We are discussing counter trade. We are trying to finalize
\nthe products which... Thailand might be able to buy from
\nIndonesia,\" Indonesian Trade and Industry Minister Rini Soewandi
\ntold Reuters.<\/p>\n
\"It is still under discussion, hopefully within the next few
\nweeks we can finalize it,\" she added.<\/p>\n
Thai Commerce Minister Adisai Bodharamik, who also held talks
\nwith his Indonesian counterpart on Tuesday, declined to comment.<\/p>\n
The talks follow a recent request by Jakarta to set up a
\ncounter trade arrangement with Indonesia to buy up to 500,000
\ntons of Thai rice in exchange of products including train wagons
\nand airplanes. -- Reuters<\/p>\n
Iraq eyes OPEC secretary general post<\/p>\n
BAGHDAD: Iraq will nominate a candidate for the post of OPEC
\nsecretary general to succeed Ali Rodriguez when he steps down in
\nJune, Oil Minister Amer Mohammed Rashid said in remarks published
\nTuesday.<\/p>\n
\"Iraq will look into the situation in light of the departure
\nof the incumbent secretary general Ali Rodriguez and will
\nnominate a candidate for the post,\" he told visiting Indonesian
\nEnergy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro on
\nMonday, quoted in newspapers.<\/p>\n
Rodriguez has been nominated to head the state-owned PDVSA oil
\ncompany in his native Venezuela, but he will stay on at least
\nuntil the cartel's next ministerial meeting on June 26.<\/p>\n
Rodriguez beat Iraqi and Saudi candidates to be named
\nsecretary general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
\nCountries in November 2000, and assumed the post in January the
\nfollowing year. -- AFP<\/p>\n
Japanese consumer confidence rebounds<\/p>\n
TOKYO: Japanese consumer confidence rebounded in March,
\nlogging its biggest gain in three years after sliding steadily
\nsince September, suggesting a patchy export-driven economic
\nrecovery was finally reaching consumers.<\/p>\n
The Cabinet Office said in a quarterly survey of 5,040
\nhouseholds that the consumer sentiment index rose 1.5 points to
\n38.4 on a seasonally adjusted basis from 36.9 in December.<\/p>\n
\"The index suggests that consumer sentiment is improving,\"
\nYoshihiko Senoh, director of the Cabinet Office's department of
\nbusiness statistics, told a news conference. \"Therefore, we
\ncannot deny that severe economic conditions are changing.\"<\/p>\n
The sentiment figure is calculated by averaging five component
\nindices which include views on living conditions, income, prices,
\njobs and willingness to spend on durable goods. -- Reuters<\/p>\n
ADB mulls issue of local currency bonds<\/p>\n
MANILA: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Tuesday it
\nmay start issuing local currency bonds in the Philippines,
\nThailand and India to minimize currency risk when it provides
\nproject funding.<\/p>\n
\"We have been in discussion with the three countries on a
\nframework in which we can issue local currency bonds and put the
\nproceeds to use in private sector projects in need of local
\ncurrency,\" ADB assistant treasurer Juanito Limandribata told
\nReuters in an interview.<\/p>\n
The ADB traditionally extends U.S. dollar, yen and euro-
\ndenominated loans for project financing. Issuing local currency
\nbonds could help cushion the effects of exchange rate volatility.<\/p>\n
Limandribata said the ADB would not limit the proposal to the
\nPhilippines, Thailand and India, but these three had been chosen
\ninitially \"because of the projects they have in the pipeline\". --
\nReuters<\/p>",
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