KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian industries suffered estimated losses of
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian industries suffered estimated losses of between 20 million and 30 million ringgit (US$5.3 - $7.9 million) during Monday's power blackout which hit five states, local media reported on Wednesday.
Losses would have doubled if the outage had not occurred on a public holiday, Lew Chin Hoi, chairman of the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers' (FMM) energy management committee said.
The worst-hit industries were cement and steel mills as they operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, he said.
"Companies involved in the cement industry in Perak and Kedah (states) incurred losses of between one million ringgit and three million ringgit each. As for steel mills, the loss was about six million," he was quoted as saying by the Bernama news agency.
"Other industries such as electronics, gloves and chemicals were also affected but not as seriously as cement and steel mills. The electronics companies lost around 60,000 ringgit each," he said. -- AFP
HK told to do more to revive economy
HONG KONG: Chinese Vice-Premier Wu Yi has told a business delegation from Hong Kong that a deal granting the territory more favorable trade terms with the mainland is not a panacea for reviving its economy, press reports said on Wednesday.
China and Hong Kong signed on June 30 the Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which provides for a series of measures boosting economic ties between the two sides.
Wu told a delegation from Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce in Beijing on Tuesday that although the signing of CEPA can help improve Hong Kong's economy, its economic revival really depends on different sectors of the community working together.
They should not only rely on the city's government to boost the economy, the chamber's chief executive Eden Woon Yi-teng quoted Wu as saying. -- AFP
IMF team in Argentina for talks
BUENOS AIRES: An IMF negotiating team arrived in Argentina on Tuesday to restart stalled talks aimed at working out a loan deal, with just one week before a key payment deadline.
The government of President Nestor Kirchner is working hard to reach a three-year debt refinancing agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) before Sept. 9, when some US$3 billion in debt amortization payments are due.
If the deadline is not met, the country risks not meeting IMF payments and damaging investor confidence just as the economy seems to be recovering. Argentina has already declared a moratorium on debt payments to private lenders.
Talks are continuing, but it is "difficult to tell whether we are farther or closer" to a new accord with the IMF, Kirchner said at a news conference in the province of Entre Rios. -- AFP
Office rents in Singapore plunge
SINGAPORE: Office rents in Singapore's prime districts dropped by a steep 12.5 percent, the biggest quarterly drop among major Asian cities, a research report said on Wednesday.
Rents in the city-state for the three-month period ending in June slipped to S$3.10 (US$1.78) per square foot (psf), ranking behind Tokyo, Bombay, New Delhi, Hong Kong, Seoul and Beijing.
The report by CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) cited the SARS outbreak and economic uncertainty as reasons behind the fall.
The current rental rate in Singapore has fallen by 54 percent from its peak in 1996 and returned to mid-1980 levels.
Tokyo saw a milder 1.47 percent decline in monthly prime office rents to $7.87 psf, but remained the most expensive in the region. -- DPA
Foreign investment in India plummets
NEW DELHI: Foreign investment in India in the July quarter more than halved from a year earlier to US$529 million, a top finance ministry official said on Wednesday.
India's Chief Economic Adviser Ashok Lahiri told reporters it was difficult to pin the slide on any particular factor, but added sometimes there was a lag between a pick-up in the economy and in investments.
"I am not getting any sleepless nights yet," he said, adding there were signs of a rise in the inflow of foreign investments from July.
In the financial year to March 2003, a crippling drought coupled with a global economic slowdown pulled down economic growth to 4.4 percent -- one of the lowest levels since India launched economic reforms in early 1990s.
Lahiri said India lagged behind China in the area of investments, but he added it was due to a 10-year gap between the two nations in launching economic reforms and liberalization. -- AFP