Danareksa 'best debt house'

Danareksa 'best debt house'

JAKARTA (JP): State-owned securities firm PT Danareksa said on
Friday it had received an award from the international financial
magazine Euromoney in the category of "the best debt house in
Indonesia".

The magazine cited the firm's role in helping revive the
country's stock and debt markets, which were close to collapse in
2000 due to the weakening of the rupiah and rising interest rate.

"Amid the unfavorable economic conditions, Danareksa has
become a pioneer in issuing bonds in Indonesia's
telecommunication and cement industries," Danareksa said in a
statement.

The government appointed Danareksa as the lead underwriter for
the issuance of bonds valued at Rp 1 trillion (US$109 million)
early this year by state-owned telecommunication firm PT Indosat
and bonds valued at Rp 600 billion by state cement firm PT Semen
Gresik.

Danareksa also acted as the joint underwriter for the issuance
of the Rp 300 billion in bonds issued by state-owned pawnbrokers
Perum Pegadaian. (11)

;DPA;
ANPAf..r..
Bizbrief-Thailand-Rice
Thailand's 2001 rice exports
JP/11/Colbox

Thailand's 2001 rice exports

BANGKOK (DPA): Thailand's rice exports are expected to reach a
record-breaking 6.8 million tons this year, news reports said on
Friday.

The country's previous export record was 6.7 million tons
shipped in 1999. But declining prices on the world market will
mean export earnings of the grain will be about the same as last
year's, when shipments reached 6.6. million tons, and earned the
country 72.6 billion baht (US$1.6 billion), The Nation newspaper
said.

Thai Rice Exporters Association president Vicharn
Boosarawongse said Thailand's rice exports during the first eight
months of 2001 had already reached 4.38 million tons, compared
with 3.85 million tons during the same period last year.

Indonesia has already imported 500,000 tons and is expected to
import a total of 1 million tons by year-end, said Vicharn.

He blamed the declining price of rice on stiff competition in
the international market.

Thailand has been the world's leading rice exporter for
decades, followed by the United States and Vietnam. dpa pj wp

;AFP;
ANPAf..r..
Bizbrief-Singapore-Myanmar
S'pore eyes Myanmar's fish
JP/11/Colbox

S'pore eyes Myanmar's fish

SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore, which imports most of its food,
wants to participate in Myanmar's burgeoning fishing industry,
the government said Friday.

The Trade Development Board (TDB) and Agri-food and Veterinary
Authority (AVA) will lead 13 local seafood companies on a mission
leaving Sunday to explore commercial opportunities in Myanmar,
the TDB said in a statement.

"The objectives of the mission are to enable Singapore seafood
companies to identify and assess new sourcing alternatives and to
explore trading and investment opportunities in fishing related
businesses," it said.

Singapore imports most of its fish products from Malaysia, the
South Pacific and Thailand with only a tiny two percent or 3,000
tonnes coming from Myanmar.

According to the TDB, the Myanmar government has plans to
raise its national acreage for fish farming by 32 percent from
49,200 acres to 65,000 acres by 2003.

It also intends to double the prawn farming acreage to 120,000
acres by 2003.

;AFP;
ANPAf..r..
Bizbrief-Taiwan-IT
Taiwan's chip industry worse
JP/11/Colbox

TAIPEI (AFP): Taiwan's semiconductor industry -- already
battered by the global economic slowdown -- is expected to suffer
a steeper contraction this year following the terrorist attacks
in the US, an official said Friday.

The semi-official Industrial Technology Research Institute
(ITRI) on Friday projected this year's semiconductor output would
fall 26.4 percent to NT$525.9 billion (US$15.2 billion), worse
than an earlier estimate of a 12 percent decline.

"This will mark the first decline ever in the island's chip
output, which has boasted an average 20-30 percent annual growth
in previous years," said Alfred Wang, ITRI's semiconductor
industry research manager.

The attacks on the US, ahead of the Christmas season, were
bound to drag down US consumption of information technology and
electronics products because of weaker consumer confidence, he
said.

"As a result, previous expectations of an order upturn (for
Taiwan) in the third and fourth quarters have been shattered," he
said.

;DJ;
ANPAf..r..
Bizbrief-Japan-coffee
Japan coffee imports seen up
JP/11/Colbox

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Japanese green coffee bean imports are
expected to rise this year owing to increased consumption, a
senior official of a major Tokyo-based coffee manufacturing firm
said Friday.

"The institutional coffee users are consuming more beans
because coffee shops are getting popular," said Makoto Tsujimoto,
director and general manager, foreign trade and operation
division of UCC Ueshima Coffee Co.

Speaking at the sidelines of the Asian Drinks 2001 conference,
Tsujimoto said that he can't estimate an exact percentage
increase in this year's green coffee importation and consumption.

But Tsujimoto said this year's green coffee imports will
definitely be higher than last year's 416,000 tons owing to
growth of the coffee shop sector.

He added that low world coffee prices are also encouraging
Japanese traders to import coffee.

"Coffee prices are very low so it's easy to import," he said.

;DJ;
ANPAf..r..
Bizbrief-Shanghai-pact
Shanghai six sign agreement
JP/11/Colbox

ALMATY, Kazakstan (Dow Jones): The prime ministers of China,
Russia and four Central Asian nations Friday signed a memorandum
on increasing cooperation in economic policy, foreign trade and
investment.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization - known as the Shanghai
Six after its members China, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - was set up in 1996 to coordinate
security and ease tensions along Central Asia's borders.
Uzbekistan joined its five founding members last June.

"During the five years since its establishment, the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization has been engaged in regional security
issues," Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov told a press
conference. "From today ... we are extending the spectrum of our
relationship."

Kasyanov said the first steps in the new areas of cooperation
would be joint projects in the fuel and energy industry,
transport, telecommunications and trade.