GM to begin assembly here

JAKARTA (JP): PT General Motors Buana Indonesia, an American- Indonesian joint venture, will start assembling Opel passenger cars later this year and Chevrolet light commercial vehicles next year, says the company's president, Leonard L. Brownfield.

He told reporters yesterday that the joint venture expects to sell 5,500 passenger cars and 10,000 commercial vehicles per year.

Brownfield said his company has appointed Leland W. Henegar, a former program marketing manager of General Motors Corporation of the United States, as finance director.

The company, established in September 1993, is jointly owned by General Motors and PT Garmak Motors.(riz)

Japan-U.S. venture in RI

TOKYO (AFP): Japan's Mitsui Petrochemical Industries Ltd. said yesterday day it would set up a joint venture with Amoco Chemical Corp. of the United States to produce and sell raw materials for polyester textile in Indonesia.

The two chemical companies plan to set up the new venture as early as June and start full operation in 1997, Mitsui officials said.

The venture, capitalized at US$130 million, will be 50 percent owned by Amoco Chemical, with 45 percent held by Mitsui Petrochemical and five percent by parent company Mitsui and Co. Ltd.

The firm is to build a factory in Merak on Java at the cost of $400 million, planning to annually produce 350,000 tons of purified terephthalic acid (PTA), used for polyester textile and plastic bottles, and mainly for the local market.

U.S. economic gauge falls

WASHINGTON (AFP): The chief forecasting gauge of future economic activity in the United States dropped 0.1 percent in February, the first decline in seven months, the government reported yesterday.

The Index of Leading Indicators dipped 0.1 percent in February after a revised 0.4 percent increase in January and a 0.6 percent jump in December, the Commerce Department said.

Economic analysts had expected a drop of 0.2 percent in February.

Government analysts attributed the drop to the shortened manufacturing workweek and a fall in building permits, both of which they said were affected by severe weather that whipped broad sections of the country in February.

The March figure has already rebounded to an all-time high, Commerce Department analysts said.

Nervous investors, who have been bailing out of stocks and bonds, may take heart in the declining indicator that would point to low inflation despite a rapidly growing economy would spur inflation.

Japan's account surplus up

TOKYO (Reuter): Japan's stubborn current account surplus, unadjusted for seasonal factors, inched up to US$11.94 billion in February from $11.93 billion a year earlier and $6.83 billion in January, the Finance Ministry said yesterday.

The nation's trade surplus with the world rose to $12.93 billion in February from $12.62 billion a year earlier and $8.26 billion in January.

The February current account surplus, the broadest measure of trade in goods and services, came in almost exactly as economists polled by Reuters had forecast. They had predicted it would rise slightly to about $12.0 billion.

The economists had said the modest increase would be due to the strong yen, which causes dollar-based export figures to grow and imports to rise due to its strength against other currencies.

Vietnam's unsold rice

HANOI (AFP): More than two million tons of rice paddy remain unsold in the wake of bountiful harvests in Vietnam's Mekong Delta, the Lao Dong newspaper said yesterday, citing agriculture ministry data.

The surplus is being blamed on a serious lack of capital on the part of state exporters hit badly by volatility last year on world rice markets and a drastic shortage of government credit, the state-run daily said.

Such enterprises need 300 billion dong (US$30 million) to buy farmers' surplus rice, it added.

Only 350,000 tons of rice have been exported so far this year, or 60 percent of sales recorded during the same period last year, Lao Dong said.

The Mekong Delta provinces in the south of Vietnam are the nation's premier rice-growing region, with a potential output of 4.5 million tons of paddy in the winter growing season.

Vietnam exported 1.8 million tons of rice last year. Since 1989 it has been the world's third biggest world seller of rice, after Thailand and the United States.

APEC small business talks

TOKYO (AFP): Japan plans to host a meeting of Asian-Pacific ministers responsible for small- and medium-business in late October in Osaka, southern Japan, officials said yesterday.

Participants will involve the 17 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and Chile, which is awaiting membership, they said.

The ministers are expected to exchange information on business conditions affecting small- and medium-sized companies. Participants are also to discuss mutual investment and vitalization of the regional economy.

APEC groups Japan and the United States, along with Australia, Brunei, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.

Rubber prices easier

SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore's rubber futures prices ended slightly easier on extremely light trading, dealers said yesterday.

With Tokyo's market down by 1.5 yen, due to a volatile Japanese yen, the local market eased as well, dealers said. Dealers said 400 tons of May RSS 1 were traded at 151.00 Singapore cents while 100 tons of June RSS 3 were traded at 93.25 U.S. cents.

At around 0930 GMT Basis May RSS 1 was quoted at 150.50 Singapore cents, RSS 3 at 93.75 U.S. cents and TSR 20 at 164.00 Singapore cents.

Aussie commodity prices up

SYDNEY (AFP): Prices for Australian commodities rose in March by 1.2 percent in domestic currency terms, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics said yesterday.

The rise reflected an increase in the rural index of 2.4 percent in Australian dollars, mainly due to better prices for wool, beef and sugar, the government analyst said.

In the same terms, the energy index rose by 0.9 percent over the month and other minerals edged up 0.5 percent.

"Compared with 12 months ago, in Australian dollar terms, the rural index is 9.5 percent higher, the energy index 8.4 percent lower and the other minerals index 3.4 percent higher, resulting in a 1.4 percent increase in the total index," the bureau said. Measured in U.S. dollars, the total index rose 0.8 percent in March and 2.1 percent in the year to March.

In special drawing rights terms, which eliminate the effects of currency movements, the total index fell 0.2 percent in March, but rose 0.6 percent over the year.