56 Indonesian firms go to Africa

JAKARTA: A total of 56 Indonesian export-oriented companies have and will participate in trade expos to be held in Namibia, South Africa and Tunisia respectively.

The National Exports Development Body (BPEN) of the Ministry of Industry and Trade said in a statement that of 56 firms, 18 will take part in the "South African International Trade Exhibition" to be held in Johannesburg from Oct. 1 to Oct. 5.

Twenty seven firms have left for Namibia's capital of Windhoek to participate in the Windhoek Agricultural and Industrial Show" from Sept. 27 to Oct. 5.

Another 11 firms will go to Tunis to take part in the "Tunis International Fair" that will be held from Oct. 18 to Oct. 27.

BPEN said the participation of the Indonesian firms in the expos aimed to increase exports into the three countries.

Today, Indonesian exports to South Africa include glassware, plastic products, sports equipment, pharmaceutical products, dining table, sweets, kitchenware, furniture, automotive products, cooking oil, paper products and rattan products.

Indonesian exports to Tunisia include textile, coffee, cement, soap, furniture, margarine and paper products.

The agency did not specify Indonesian exports to Namibia -- JP

Astra Sedaya plans Rp 300b bond

JAKARTA : PT Astra Sedaya Finance, an Indonesian auto-leasing firm, plans to issue Rp 300 billion in three-year bonds in the first quarter of next year to refinance its maturing debt.

Its Marketing and Operation Director Hendra Sugiharto told reporters during the weekend that the company will have to redeem Rp 300 billion worth of bonds, which it issued in 2000, in March next year.

Other details about the proposed bond weren't available, he said.

Astra Sedaya is a joint venture between auto maker Astra International and GE Capital, a unit of General Electric (GE).

In May, the company issued Rp 400 billion in bonds with a coupon rate of 18.75 percent to support its car financing business. The bond received good response amid declining interest rates in Indonesia.

Falling interest rates have prompted a slew of local companies to issue bonds this year at a time when most banks are still reluctant to lend. --Dow Jones Mitsubishi may shift AUV production

MANILA : Mitsubishi Motors Corp. of Japan may transfer its Asian utility vehicle (AUV) production in Indonesia to the Philippines as part of its rationalization program, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reports, citing an unnamed source.

The move is expected to shore up the Philippines' bid to become the AUV production hub in Asia, with other AUV makers such as Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. and Isuzu Motors Ltd. keen on exporting these hybrid vehicles - a cross between a utility vehicle and a sedan - from their Philippine factories.

The source said that based on initial discussions, Mitsubishi would continue to serve the AUV market in Indonesia by importing units assembled at its Philippine plant.

There is a steady shift in demand from commercial vehicles to passenger cars in Indonesia after that country's government reduced taxes on sedans.

The source said Mitsubishi reasoned that the Filipinos' preference for AUVs has made the vehicle the most popular model in the Philippines. --Dow Jones Ford to slash costs in three years

PARIS : Ford intends to slash costs arising before the manufacturing process by about two billion dollars (euros) by 2005, the president of Ford Europe, David Thursfield, said in the Financial Times on Monday.

The cost cutting would occur mainly through improvements in conception and design and less through pressure on parts suppliers to reduce prices, he said.

The Ford group, based in the United States but with interests worldwide, was still restructuring its business in Europe, which involved the closure of its assembly plant at Dagenham in England, he said.

Thursfield said that even though the company had dealt with its problem of fixed costs, it still faced difficulties with variable costs. --AFP

U.S. Fidelity set to cut 3,000 jobs

PARIS : The U.S. investment group Fidelity is to announce on Tuesday that it is cutting 3,000 jobs or 10 percent of its workforce, the Financial Times newspaper reported on Monday.

Fidelity has already cut between one and two percent of its workforce involved in on-line stock trading, owing to weak conditions on stock markets.

The newspaper said the forthcoming cuts would affect mainly investment management activities.

The newspaper said Fidelity's turnover had fallen from US$11.2 billion (11.4 billion euros) in 2000 to $9.2 billion last year and was likely to slide further to $8.2 billion in 2002.

Fidelity managers had to face the one-billion-dollar slump in turnover at the same time as cutting costs by the same amount, the newspaper quoted an anonymous source at Fidelity as saying. --AFP

Fast Retailing opens stores in Shanghai

TOKYO : Japan's Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. said Monday it had opened two Uniqlo discount clothing stores in Shanghai in its first move into China.

The openings follow the opening of the first overseas Uniqlo stores in London last year.

Fast Retailing has factories in China which make clothes for more than 500 stores in Japan.

The company, which specializes in cheap casual wear, has seen sales slump at its Japanese outlets but it has high hopes for the Chinese market.

"There are no companies like ours in China that produce and sell clothes on their own," company spokesman Terunobu Aono said.

"China also has a large population and a very high rate of growth. In the distant future, we think it will be a bigger market for us than Japan," he said. --AFP

Intel to remain profitable : CEO

DUBAI : U.S. computer chip giant Intel will remain profitable despite the worst recession to hit the information technology sector in 30 years, the corporation's chief executive officer said Sunday.

"I expect we'll emerge stronger than we went in," Craig Barrett told a press conference in the Gulf emirate of Dubai.

Barrett described the current recession as "deeper and stronger than the nine-and-a-half previous ones I have gone through with Intel since 1974.

I call this one a half because we're going down and we haven't come back yet.

"It is probably the most dramatic recession I've seen for the last 30 years, (but) not the worst one for Intel," which he said was in 1985.

Barrett attributed the recession to a "synchronized slow-down of the world's established economies. That doesn't happen very often ... The last time it happened was about 30 years ago.

"We're (also) still experiencing the hangover of the dot.com explosion and meltdown," as well as the fallout of the "Y2K investment problem". -- AFP