CANBERRA: Indonesian airlines will be allowed to fly into

CANBERRA: Indonesian airlines will be allowed to fly into
international regional airports in Australia, the Australian
government said Monday.

Transport Minister John Anderson and Tourism Minister Joe
Hockey said in statements the new arrangements provided
unrestricted air services between all Australia's regional
international airports and Indonesia for the airlines of both
countries.

"Today's announcement is another step in the implementation of
the government's plan to grant unlimited capacity to all foreign
airlines to operate to international airports other than Sydney,
Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth," Anderson said.

Hockey said the states and the Northern Territory could market
their destinations with Australian and Indonesian carriers
without the need for airlines to worry about bilateral
restrictions on local market access. -- AFP

World gold mine output likely down

SYDNEY: Initial estimates for global gold mine production
point to a substantial fall during the first half of calendar
2002, Gold Fields Mineral Services Ltd., a London-based industry
research group said late Monday.

The falls are mainly due to lower output from the U.S. and
Indonesia and a fall in the number of new deposits that could
start producing in the short term, said the group in compiling
their initial estimates for global mine production for the first
half of calendar 2002.

"GFMS now believe that the world's current mine production
levels may not be sustainable," it said.

Depleting reserves at mature operations in North America, "a
marked decline in new deposits timetabled to come on stream in
the short term" means that the global mine production could fall,
GFMS said. -- Dow Jones

Thai cabinet OKs global bond plan

BANGKOK: The Thai Cabinet approved Tuesday a plan to issue in
October up to US$1 billion in 10-year global bonds - the
country's first global sovereign issue in five years - finance
ministry Deputy Permanent Secretary Sommai Phasee said.

The ministry expects a coupon rate at a premium of 145 to 155
basis points over the yield on 10-year U.S. Treasurys, it said in
its proposal to the Cabinet. The spread mustn't exceed 175 basis
points.

U.S. banks JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Salomon Smith Barney,
and Germany's Deutsche Bank AG will be the lead underwriters for
the bond.

The bond will be marketed to investors in the U.S., Europe and
Asia before its formal launch in mid-October, the finance
ministry had said earlier.

Proceeds of the bond issue will be used to partially refinance
over $2 billion in loans from the Asian Development Bank, World
Bank and Japan Bank for International Cooperation. The remaining
debt will be refinanced through issues of Euro Commercial Paper
and the government budget. -- Dow Jones

India to introduce 'bio-diesel'

NEW DELHI: India is planning to introduce a low-cost "bio-
diesel" extracted from hardy trees as an alternative for vehicle-
owners harangued by spiraling fuel costs due to volatile global
markets.

"Research on bio-diesel as an efficient, clean and 100 percent
natural energy alternative to petroleum fuels have been
successful. We are readying a case for its launch," junior
minister for rural development Annasaheb M K Patil told the Press
Trust of India.

The fuel can be taken out of local tree varieties such as
Jetropha, Karanja and Mahua, which grow in abundance in many
parts of the country.

"Our research shows that bio-diesel can be used as an
independent fuel to power vehicles, giving equal power and better
Octane number than the contemporary diesel. It can also be
blended with diesel to begin with," Patil added.

He said an investment of 200 billion rupees (US$4 billion)
would be needed to set up refining plants based on the
technology. -- AFP

Singapore's key exports up 14.7%

SINGAPORE: Singapore's key exports rose 14.7 percent in August
from a year earlier with growth moderating from the previous
month as the city-state faces a rocky recovery from recession,
official data showed Tuesday.

The expansion in the non-oil domestic exports to S$8.6 billion
(US$4.8 billion) followed a 16.8 percent increase in July.

Although Singapore's traditional export strength in
electronics products continued to show a gradual improvement, it
was the performance of pharmaceuticals which drove the
performance upwards.

"This robust performance was contributed largely by higher
shipments of pharmaceuticals to Puerto Rico" for the US market,
the government trade body International Enterprise Singapore
(IES) said.

Petrochemical exports to China and disk media products to
Japan were other strong performers, it said. -- AFP