Japan gets refinery order

Japan gets refinery order

TOKYO (AFP): Japan's Tomen Corp. and JGC Corp. have won a
US$200 million order from Indonesia's state-run oil and gas
company Pertamina to modernize an oil refinery, a Tomen spokesman
said yesterday.

The spokesman said the trading house and the engineering
company hoped to finalize the contract early next year after
financial details are worked out.

The Export-Import Bank of Japan will extend a $140 million
loan towards the project in Kalimantan while the remaining $60
million will be financed by commercial banks, he said.

Tomen and JGC will jointly provide distillation equipment to
the Balikpapan refinery, the spokesman said.

The refinery modernization is one of six projects the
Indonesian government froze in 1991 due to concerns over the
country's growing external debts.

;AFP;
ANPAf..r..
Bizbrief-Manila-venture
Philippine venture signed
JP/9/COLBOX2

Philippine venture signed

MANILA (AFP): A Malaysian group and a Philippine firm
controlled by a former Moslem separatist leader will launch a
multi-project joint venture designed to "upgrade the living
standards of Moslems" in the Philippines, it was announced
yesterday.

The USRA Group of Malaysia and the Janoub Philippines
Development Corp. announced the formation of the joint venture,
which will be centered in the Moslem-populated regions of the
southern Philippines.

The new Al-Usra Janoub Joint Venture Company is 60-percent
owned by USRA, a diversified business group with investments in
Australia, Indonesia and Vietnam, and 40 percent by Janoub, a
Philippine firm controlled by Abul Khayr Alonto, a Moslem
politician and businessman.

Projects include low-cost housing, a tourist resort and golf
course, a palm oil plantation and mill and other developments.
The joint venture has a US$500,000 capitalization and Alonto said
they expected to invest $8 billion over the next seven years.

;JP;ANR;
ANPAf..r..
Bizbrief-communication-firm
Malaysian firm enters RI
JP/9/COLBOX3

Malaysian firm enters RI

JAKARTA (JP): The Malaysia-based Integrated Strategic
Communications (ISC), a Malaysian public relations company, is
entering Indonesia through a technical assistance agreement with
a domestic partner.

ISC offers marketing planning and strategy, advertising,
direct marketing, events management, promotions and public
relations services through PT Indonusa Saranakomunikasi Cipta.

Austen Zecha, a founder of ISC, said yesterday that as the
Indonesian law does not yet permit foreign investment in the
communications industry, the cooperation enters the country by
providing technical assistance.

Mukhriz Mahathir, a son of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohammad ,chairs the ISC, while Indonesia's Ferry Sonnevile,
honorary chairman of the Real Estate Association of Indonesia,
leads Indonusa. (anr)

;RTR;ICN;
ANPAf..r..
Bizbrief-Asia-market
Asian stocks burst out
JP/9/COLBOX4

Asian stocks burst out

HONG KONG (Reuter): Asian stock markets burst out of their
lethargic ways yesterday with almost all bourses jumping by one
to more than three percent.

Hong Kong rose 3.28 percent, Singapore 3.13 percent, Tokyo one
percent, Taipei 2.11 percent and Kuala Lumpur 1.45 percent.

Selective bargain-hunting of blue chips by both local and
foreign investors pushed up Hong Kong stocks, brokers said.

The Hang Seng Index closed up 262.21 points, or 3.28 percent,
at 8,259.56.

Tokyo stocks closed higher on short-covering and arbitrage-
linked buying, brokers said, with the 225-share Nikkei average
gaining 189.63 points to end at 19,121.12.

Singapore's Straits Times Industrials index rose 66.23 points
to close at 2,180.23 on bargain hunting, brokers said.

In Australia, the All Ordinaries index ended 31.2 points, or
1.67 percent, up at 1895.0, its biggest one-day jump since late
August.

Thai stocks closed 2.34 percent higher spurred by late buying
across the board after the index breached the 1,303 resistance,
brokers said. The SET index closed 29.93 points higher at the
day's high of 1,310.

In Seoul, the composite stock index added 1.37 points to
1,027.99, off a day high of 1,036.74. Losers led gainers by 564
to 296.

;AFP;ICN;
ANPAf..r..
Bizbrief-Tokyo-dollar
Dollar closes lower
JP/9/COLBOX5

Dollar closes lower

TOKYO (AFP): The dollar lost ground moderately on the Tokyo
foreign exchange market yesterday on prospects that the United
States might not raise interest rates further in the immediate
future.

It closed at 100.26 yen, down 0.12 yen from the previous day's
finish of 100.38 yen here and lower than 100.30 yen quoted in New
York late Wednesday.

The mark closed at 1.5712 to the dollar here yesterday,
against 1.5720 the previous day.

The dollar ended mixed in Singapore. Rates provided by Banque
Nationale de Paris showed the dollar strengthening to 1.5705
marks at 0900GMT compared with Wednesday's closing of 1.5700
marks.

In London, the French franc was bid at 3.4502 to the mark,
compared with 3.4475 at the Wednesday close, and after slipping
to a low of 3.4515 in Asian trading.

The dollar was being traded at 1.5715 marks from 1.5705 at the
Wednesday close in London, at 100.25 yen from 100.30, at 1.3270
Swiss francs from 1.3290 and at 5.4213 French francs from 5.4138.

Sterling was at $1.5610 from $1.5617, at 2.4531 marks from
2.4526, at 156.49 yen from 156.64, at 2.0714 Swiss francs from
2.0755 and at 8.4626 French francs from 8.4547.

;REUTER;
ANPAf..r..
Bizbrief-Cambodia-loan
Cambodia gets ADB loan
JP/9/COLBOX6

Cambodia gets ADB loan

MANILA (Reuter): The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said
yesterday it had approved a US$28-million interest-free loan to
Cambodia to help improve power generation and distribution
facilities.

The project will improve the availability, reliability and
quality of power supply in Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville and Siem
Reap, the ADB said in a statement.

The loan has a repayment period of 40 years, including 10-year
grace period, it said.

;REUTER;
ANPA f..a..
Bizbrief-Japan-growth
Japan sets 2.8% growth
JP/9/COLBOX7

Japan sets 2.8% growth

TOKYO (Reuter): Japan has set an official forecast of a real
2.8 percent growth in gross domestic product (GDP) for the next
fiscal year starting on April 1, 1995, a senior Economic Planning
Agency (EPA) official told reporters yesterday.

The government has also revised its forecast for GDP growth in
1994/95 ending next March to 1.7 percent from an earlier forecast
of 2.4 percent, the official said.

;AFP;
ANPAf..r..
Bizbrief-Vietnam-Catlex-oil
Caltex to expand to Vietnam
JP/9/COLBOX8

Caltex expands to Vietnam

HANOI (AFP): U.S. oil firm Caltex has opened two offices in
Vietnam and is planning investment in downstream products
including fuels and lubrication oils, a report said yesterday.

Caltex, which in April became the first US oil company to buy
Vietnamese crude following the lifting of a trade ban, is
expected to launch sales of lubricants and other petroleum
products, the Vietnam News reported.

At a ceremony to mark the opening of the office, Asia chief
executive Clifton Hon predicted strong growth in the market for
petroleum products in Vietnam, which saw a 15 percent rise in
such imports last year.

Several foreign oil firms including Shell, British Petroleum
and Castrol have begun operations in Vietnam or are planning
plants for downstream products.

Vietnam exports all its crude oil for refining in Singapore
and Japan and buys back derived products. It is planning to build
a refinery in the center of the country in a joint venture with
France's Total and two Taiwanese firms.