;DPA;
\nANPAf..r..
\nMoney-Singapore-Investments
\nJP\/16\/Money<\/p>\n
S'pore investing
\nstrongly in Asia<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE : Singapore's investments overseas slipped a
\nmarginal 0.5 percent to US$159 billion in 2002, with nearly half
\nin Asia, Department of Statistics (DOS) data showed on Friday.<\/p>\n
China, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Indonesia were the top
\ndestinations for Singapore's investments in 2002, the most recent
\nperiod in which complete statistics were available.<\/p>\n
\"The emergence of China and investors' familiarity with Asian
\nmarkets could be reasons,\" the DOS said.<\/p>\n
It cited a reduced level of holdings in money deposits abroad
\nby branches of foreign banks in Singapore for the slight dip from
\nthe previous year.<\/p>\n
Twenty-eight per cent of the investment abroad was in the
\nBritish Virgin Islands and Bermuda, where several tax havens are
\nlocated, followed by the United States.<\/p>\n
Investment in the U.S. was mostly through financial services
\nand mainly in the form of investment holding companies.<\/p>\n
Direct investments, portfolio investments and other foreign
\nassets make up those abroad, the DOS said.<\/p>\n
Financial services and manufacturing remained the two most
\npopular activities for Singapore-based investors.<\/p>\n
In Indonesia, direct investment took the form of financial
\nservices, transport, communications as well as manufacturing.<\/p>\n
The data does not include recent purchases by Temasek, the
\ngovernment's investment arm, which has been buying stakes in
\nbanks and telecommunications firms in India and South Korea,
\namong other countries.<\/p>\n
Temasek announced earlier this week plans to diversify into
\nAsia and developed economies. -- dpa<\/p>\n
;AFP;
\nANPAf..r..
\nMoney-Singapore-finance
\nFormer prime minister Goh formally appointed central bank chief
\nJP\/16\/Money<\/p>\n
Goh appointed as
\ncentral bank boss<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE: Former prime minister Goh Chok Tong has been
\nformally appointed chairman of the Monetary Authority of
\nSingapore (MAS), the city-state's central bank announced on
\nFriday.<\/p>\n
Goh, who ruled Singapore for 14 years until he stepped down
\nlast week, will take over from Lee Hsien Loong, 52, who succeeded
\nhim as prime minister and remains the finance minister.<\/p>\n
An economist by training, the 63-year-old Goh has also been
\nappointed senior minister, the government's second-highest post
\nformerly held by the new prime minister's father Lee Kuan Yew,
\nnow an adviser to the cabinet.<\/p>\n
The elder Lee, who turns 81 next year, was given the title
\nminister mentor, the third highest post in terms of protocol.<\/p>\n
Goh is a former civil servant and later business executive who
\nplayed a key role in turning homegrown Neptune Orient Lines into
\none of the world's top 10 container shipping lines.<\/p>\n
Education Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam was appointed deputy
\ncentral bank chairman.<\/p>\n
The MAS said last month that it posted a net profit of 5S$
\nbillion (US$2.9 billion) for its 2004 fiscal year, up sharply
\nfrom S$623.42 million in 2003.<\/p>\n
It said the profit jump was due to higher returns on its
\nforeign investments as a result of more buoyant global financial
\nmarkets.-- AFP<\/p>\n
;AFP;
\nANPAf..r..
\nMoney-China-agriculture
\nJP\/16\/Money<\/p>\n
Chinese post deficit
\nin farming trade<\/p>\n
BEIJING: China recorded its first-ever agricultural trade
\ndeficit in the first half of the year, casting doubts on its
\nability to remain a self-sufficient food producer, state press
\nreported on Friday.<\/p>\n
The deficit came in at US$3.73 billion, the Ministry of
\nAgriculture was cited as saying by the China Daily.<\/p>\n
Agricultural officials said maintaining food surpluses China
\nhas enjoyed for years would likely no longer be possible due to
\nthe country's opening to foreign competition under its World
\nTrade Organization (WTO) obligations.<\/p>\n
Over the eight years to 2003, China averaged an agriculture
\ntrade surplus of $4.3 billion a year, the report said.<\/p>\n
Although China exported $10.62 billion of farm produce in the
\nfirst half of 2004, an increase of nearly 11 percent from a year
\nago, imports soared even more.<\/p>\n
They were up 62.5 percent year-on-year to a record $14.35
\nbillion, the government figures show.<\/p>\n
\"The deficit is glaring but not surprising given the country's
\ncommitments following WTO entry, the implementation of tariff
\nrate quotas and competition in the global market,\" said Han
\nYijun, a researcher with the ministry's Research Center for Rural
\nEconomy.<\/p>\n
The report said a fall off in wheat exports had affected the
\nheadline figure.<\/p>\n
China was a net exporter of wheat in the first half of last
\nyear, but it imported 2.727 million tones of wheat by the end of
\nJune this year.<\/p>\n
Compared with the same six-month period last year, China
\nimported 1.8 times more grains, or 4.115 million tones, from
\nJanuary to June this year.<\/p>\n
The deficit was largely a result of the sharp increases in
\nimports of grain, edible oil and cotton, the report quoted Cheng
\nGuoqiang, researcher with the State Council Development Research
\nCenter, as saying.<\/p>\n
Since 1998, China's grain production has dropped by 15.7
\npercent to reach a low of 431 million tones last year as many
\nfarmers have found it unprofitable to till the land, according to
\nofficial Chinese statistics.-- AFP<\/p>\n
;REUTERS;
\nANPAf..r..
\nCHINA-BANKS-PORNOGRAPHY
\nChina banks probe online transactions for Web porn
\nJP\/16\/Money<\/p>\n
Banks to closely probe
\nWeb porn transactions<\/p>\n
BEIJING: China's banks are scrutinizing online transactions
\nfor links to pornographic Web sites as the country cracks down on
\nInternet sex, Xinhua's online service said.<\/p>\n
The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) had asked banks
\nto strengthen monitoring of their daily business and report
\nanything abnormal, including suspicious domain names and bank
\ncard numbers, Xinhuanet said in a report seen on Friday.<\/p>\n
\"Some pornographic Web sites have used the banks' online
\ntransaction service as a means to charge clients, negatively
\ninfluencing their reputations and business,\" the CBRC was quoted
\nas saying in a circular.<\/p>\n
\"Once a Web site is found to be involved in pornographic
\nbusiness, banks should immediately cut off its capital.\"<\/p>\n
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China had checked all
\n355 of its affiliated Web sites to ensure that they possess
\ncertificates for online business and have promised not to engage
\nin \"indecent activities\".<\/p>\n
The China Construction Bank designated a liaison person in
\neach of its branches responsible for reporting updated
\ninformation about affiliated Web sites.<\/p>\n
A nationwide crackdown on pornographic Web sites kicked off in
\nmid-July to rein in what the central government perceives as the
\nharmful influences of the Internet in a country where usage has
\nexploded in recent years.<\/p>\n
Police have closed down more than 700 pornographic Web sites
\nso far and arrested 329 suspects.<\/p>\n
China's communist rulers have gradually relaxed the
\npuritanical rule they imposed when they swept to power in 1949
\nbut sporadically try to crack down on the sex industry.-- Reuters
\n
\n;REUTERS
\nANPAf..r..
\nMONEY-ECONOMY-POVERTY
\nU.S. poverty likely rose in 2003, income gap wider
\nJP\/16\/Money<\/p>\n
U.S. poverty likely
\nup in 2003: Report<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON: More Americans likely slid into poverty in 2003
\nand the gap between the rich and poor widened, economists said on
\nThursday in a report that could fuel Democrat criticism of
\nPresident George W. Bush.<\/p>\n
While the nation's official poverty rate will not be released
\nuntil next week, the left-leaning Center for Economic and Policy
\nResearch estimated 700,000 Americans were added to the ranks of
\nthe poor last year, based on early numbers.<\/p>\n
That takes the number of poor in the United States to about
\n36.4 million, from 35.7 million in 2002.<\/p>\n
The poverty line is set at an annual income of $9,573 or less
\nfor an individual, or US$18,660 for a family of four with two
\nchildren, according to the Census Bureau.<\/p>\n
Using Census Bureau data for the first half of 2003, economist
\nHeather Boushey said the percentage of the U.S. population living
\nin poverty rose to 12.8 percent, up from 12.7 percent in the
\nfirst half of 2002.<\/p>\n
Children were even more likely to be poor, the study showed,
\nwith poverty rising to 18.8 percent of children in 2003 from 18.6
\npercent in 2002.<\/p>\n
The poverty rate tends to track the overall economy, rising
\nduring a recession and falling in boom times. It has increased
\neach year since 2000, sparking criticism from Democrats that
\nBush's economic policies are skewed to benefit the rich.<\/p>\n
But Bush's economic team has argued he inherited the 2001
\nrecession from former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, and
\nthat three rounds of tax cuts have since spurred the economy's
\nrecovery and kick-started job growth.<\/p>\n
The official poverty rate is set for release on Aug. 26.
\nBoushey said it will likely be slightly different than her
\ncalculation because it will include a full 12 months of data and
\nis taken from a separate but similar Census survey.<\/p>\n
In past years, there has been only a slight gap between six
\nmonths of one survey and a full year of the second.<\/p>\n
The study also showed the median household income rose 3.6
\npercent to $48,216 in the first half of 2003 from the same period
\nin 2002 -- though when inflation is taken into account, incomes
\nrose a smaller 1.1 percent.<\/p>\n
Together with the rising poverty rate, the increase in the
\nmedian household income suggests the gap between rich and poor is
\nwidening, Boushey said.<\/p>\n
\"Families above the average are seeing an increase (in
\nincome), but the families at the bottom are seeing a drop,\" she
\ntold journalists.<\/p>\n
The report also found the number of Americans with health care
\ncoverage likely fell in 2003 for the third year in a row, as
\nunemployment grew and employers cut back on health benefits.
\n-- Reuters<\/p>\n
;DPA;
\nANPAf..r..
\nMoney-Singapore-Outsourcing
\nChina leads Asia-Pacific region in outsourcing human resource jobs
\nJP\/16\/Money<\/p>\n
China leads region
\nin outsourcing jobs<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE : China, the recipient of many outsourcing jobs,
\nleads the Asia-Pacific region in outsourcing human resource
\nfunctions, two surveys showed on Friday.<\/p>\n
Two in three of the companies queried in China are outsourcing
\nat least some of their human resource jobs, according to the
\nfindings of consultancy firm Hewitt Associates.<\/p>\n
Only 39 per cent of the firms surveyed in the rest of the
\nregion are farming out such work.<\/p>\n
The China survey covered 51 foreign-owned companies. The
\nsecond survey included 524 firms across the Asia-Pacific region.<\/p>\n
Human resource \"sourcing is still a relatively new phenomenon
\nin the region, although it is more common in India, the
\nPhilippines, Malaysia and Australia\", Hewitt's report said.<\/p>\n
\"Vendors in these countries have grown significantly in recent
\nyears, acting as back office administrators primarily for
\nAmerican and European clients,\" it added.<\/p>\n
Payroll processing, benefits administration and training and
\ndevelopment are the human resource functions most often
\nconsidered for outsourcing in the region.<\/p>\n
Cultural factors and historical developments explain why
\noutsourcing is more prevalent in China.<\/p>\n
The practice there grew out of long-standing government
\nrequirements that mandated foreign-invested entities to hand-
\ndeliver employee records to the local social insurance office,
\nHewitt said.<\/p>\n
State-owned companies were set up to handle the record-keeping
\nprocess.<\/p>\n
These agencies now face growing competition from private firms
\nalso offering additional services, the report said.-- dpa<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/dpa-1447899208",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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