Self-employment project<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government, the United Nations Development
\nProgram (UNDP) and the International Labor Organization (ILO)
\nhave signed an agreement on a program for integrated self-
\nemployment and micro-enterprise development.<\/p>\n
The project document was signed here by Pribadi Poedjajadi,
\nthe Secretary General of the Department of Cooperatives and Small
\nEnterprises Development, Jan Kamp, the Resident Representative of
\nthe UNDP and Herman van der Laan, Director of ILO.<\/p>\n
The project is essentially set to help alleviate poverty in
\nIndonesia and will include five workshops to review the success
\nof its introduction.(04)<\/p>\n
Polysindo's profit up<\/p>\n
SEMARANG, Central Java (JP): PT Polysindo Eka Perkasa, a
\ntextile manufacturer listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange,
\nincreased its after-tax profit by 4.9 percent to Rp 105.1 billion
\n(US$50.04 million) last year.<\/p>\n
M. Sinivasan, the company's president, told newsmen here
\nyesterday after an annual shareholders meeting that Polysindo's
\nnet revenue swelled by 12.3 percent to Rp 671.4 billion.<\/p>\n
He also said that the company's fixed assets grew by 20.1
\npercent to Rp 421.2 billion while its total assets escalated by
\n41.3 percent to Rp 1.3 trillion.<\/p>\n
Sinivasan also mentioned that the company is planning to
\nexpand its production capacity and will diversify its business to
\nupstream industries in the chemical sector. (04\/wah)<\/p>\n
RP to abolish barter trade<\/p>\n
MANILA (AFP): The Philippines plans to phase out informal
\ntrade between its southern islands and nearby Malaysia and
\nIndonesia within two years because of smuggling and new economic
\nthrusts, President Fidel Ramos said here yesterday.<\/p>\n
Ramos told a news conference following a scandal over alleged
\nbribery of Philippine Navy officers by smugglers using the
\n\"barter trade\" as a cover that this mode of commerce \"is
\nanachronistic already in this day and age.\"<\/p>\n
Filipino Moslem seafarers in Mindanao and nearby islands have
\ntraded with Malaysia and Indonesia for centuries using barter, or
\nexchange of goods, although in recent years they have simply used
\ncash.<\/p>\n
This blossomed to commercial proportions after being
\nlegitimized by former president Ferdinand Marcos in the 1970s,
\nand is now a major source of smuggled items, from candy to
\nappliances and motorbikes and, in a few instances, used cars.<\/p>\n
Ramos said barter trade will first be strictly limited to a
\nMoslem autonomous region comprising four provinces, and phased
\nout \"within the next couple of years.\"<\/p>\n
New growth area proposed<\/p>\n
MANILA (AFP): The Philippines is preparing a proposal for the
\nestablishment of a regional growth area comprising the northern
\nportion of its main island Luzon, southern China, Hong Kong,
\nTaiwan and possibly Okinawa, an official said here yesterday.<\/p>\n
Economic Planning Secretary Cielito Habito said \"we are
\nworking out the necessary action needed to replicate\" the newly
\nformed East ASEAN Growth Area (EAGA), which links the country's
\nsouth with Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The envisioned growth area would include the Philippine
\nprovinces of Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur, the Cagayan Valley,
\nBatanes, the Subic Bay freeport, Xiamen and Guangzhou in China
\nand Taiwan and Hong Kong, he said.<\/p>\n
The creation of this area would increase cooperation in such
\nareas as transport and shipping, fisheries, tourism, agriculture,
\nenergy exploration and environmental protection, Habito added.<\/p>\n
He said the new growth area would involve links with provinces
\nof other countries \"rather than a national relationship.\"<\/p>\n
Asian pay rise expected<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON (AFP): Asian workers can expect moderate pay raises
\nof between five and six percent above inflation in 1994 after
\nsteeper pay hikes over the past several years, a consulting firm
\nsaid yesterday.<\/p>\n
Pay raises above inflation will be six percent in Thailand and
\nfive percent for Taiwan and South Korea, about four percent for
\nSingapore, the Philippines and Malaysia, according to The Wyatt
\nCompany study.<\/p>\n
Indonesia can expect hikes of 3.6 percent while Japan, Hong
\nKong and New Zealand project raises of between 1.2 and two
\npercent with Australia bringing up the rear with pay increases of
\njust 0.4 percent.<\/p>\n
\"Slowed economic growth and increased popularity of pay-for-
\nperformance programs help explain this trend,\" said Paula
\nDeLisle, a compensation consultant in Wyatt's Hong Kong office.<\/p>\n
\"In Hong Kong, major employers continue to encourage single-
\ndigit increases as concerns grow that the country will price
\nitself out of the international market,\" she added.<\/p>\n
U.S. supports APEC<\/p>\n
SYDNEY (AFP): The United States intends to work very closely
\nwith the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, US
\nambassador to Australia Edward Perkins has said here.<\/p>\n
He told the Foreign Correspondents' Association that regional
\neconomic policies were \"very important\" to Washington in Asia-
\nPacific.<\/p>\n
The 17-member APEC was \"probably one of the best forums that
\nwe have in this region for promoting fast-growing trade
\nactivity,\" Perkins said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
He said the United States intends to \"work very closely with
\nAPEC and more especially with (the current chairman) Indonesia.\"<\/p>\n
\"We want to see APEC make rapid ... progress for facilitating
\nregional trade and development and investment,\" Perkins added.<\/p>\n
He said this could not be done overnight, but all the APEC
\nmembers had agreed \"to work towards consensus.\"<\/p>\n
Japan firms to recover<\/p>\n
TOKYO (AFP): Japanese companies are likely to achieve full
\nrecovery in the next fiscal year, starting April 1, 1995, after
\nedging up in the current year, a research institute said
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
The Nikko Research Center Ltd. said that pre-tax profits of
\nJapanese companies were expected to rise 6.8 percent in the
\ncurrent fiscal year, and jump 28.6 percent in the following
\nfinancial year.<\/p>\n
The research institute, which is affiliated with Nikko
\nSecurities Co. Ltd., said the forecast was based on a recent
\nupturn in shipments of consumer goods.<\/p>\n
It also said consumer spending was also expected to recover
\nfollowing continued adjustment of inventories.<\/p>\n
The institute surveyed 100 listed companies in its study.<\/p>\n
G-7 meeting on April 24<\/p>\n
TOKYO (AFP): The Group of Seven (G-7) industrialized nations
\nis expected to hold a meeting of financial ministers and central
\nbankers in Washington on April 24, the Kyodo News Service said
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
The news agency, quoting Japanese international financial
\nsources, said the main topics at the meeting would be
\ncoordination of world economic growth and assistance to Russia.<\/p>\n
The sources said Bank of Japan Governor Yasushi Mieno was to
\nattend the meeting, but Japan's Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii
\nmight be absent from it, depending on parliament's schedule.<\/p>",
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