Domestic vehicles sales down in November
Domestic vehicles sales down in November
JAKARTA: As of November 2001, the country's domestic vehicle sales, which includes vehicles made domestically and imported, totaled 27,442 units, down from 27,768 units sold the previous month, a statement said.
That brings overall domestic vehicle sales to 283,558 units in the first 11 months of the year. In 2000, Indonesia's domestic sales reached 344,000 vehicles.
The statement also said that exports also dropped to 2,840 units in November, as compared to 3,857 in October.
Of the total domestic sales in November, publicly listed PT Astra International was the largest contributor, with overall domestic and exports sales reaching 13,157 and 2,741 vehicles, respectively.
After eleven months in 2001, the country's biggest automaker posted overall domestic sales of 130,716 while its exports sales amounted to 36,529 units. -- JP
Vietnam to sign Airbus contract: Report
HANOI: Vietnam Airlines will sign a contract late next month for the purchase of five Airbus A321s as part of a 10-year expansion plan that will cost US$1.26 billion, official media reported on Friday.
The Saigon Times Daily gave no price for the Airbus purchases but said an overall plan to expand the airline's domestic and international services would involve spending 15 trillion dong ($995 million) by 2005 and 19 trillion dong ($1.26 billion) by 2010.
"Vietnam Airlines will sign a contract for new Airbus aircraft late next month and delivery will be over five years," the paper quoted Nguyen Xuan Hien, the state-run flag carrier's general director, as saying. -- AFP
UMC may delay Singapore plant
TAIPEI: Taiwan's United Microelectronics Corp., the world's second-largest contract semiconductor maker, said on Friday it could delay the start of mass production at a cutting-edge plant in Singapore.
"We will continue to build the shell (manufacturing plant building) but the original schedule for moving in equipment was third quarter and we may not be in such a hurry now," said a UMC official in Taiwan.
The caution comes as semiconductor manufacturers struggle to recover from a devastating 2001. The industry is expected to show mild growth this year.
The official said UMC would probably make a final decision on moving in production equipment at the US$3.6 billion wafer fabrication facility, or fab, in the second quarter. -- Reuters
'Telekom, DiGi, Maxis to get 3G licenses'
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will award third generation (3G) mobile phone spectrum licenses to Telekom Malaysia, DiGi.Com and Maxis Communications, a report said Friday.
Quoting unnamed sources, the Business Times daily said the three network operators were chosen on the basis of their financial capability in rolling out the costly services, adding the decision was made late December.
The report said the government might also waive the 50 million-ringgit (US$13.16 million) license fee.
Malaysia has two other mobile phone network operators servicing its more than seven million active mobile phone subscribers. The others are Technology Resources Industries and TimedotCom.
Last year, the government announced it would award 3G licenses to three network facility providers via a "beauty contest" by July this year, with the service to be launched by end-2003.
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad had ruled out the option of an auction of the 3G licenses because high bids at auctions in other countries had been too costly for the companies that secured the licenses.
Third-generation mobile phone services allow speedy access to data and video through the Internet. --AFP