Li Peng meets East Java businesspeople
SURABAYA: China's parliamentary speaker Li Peng met on Thursday with some 200 East Java businesspeople and leaders of the local Chinese community in Surabaya before ending his two-day stay here.
During the meeting, the Chinese number two said that East Java had the potential to attract more Chinese investors.
He said that China was currently taking steps to improve economic and trade cooperation with Southeast Asian countries.
Li arrived in Jakarta earlier this week and was scheduled to fly to Manila from Surabaya. -- JP
Japan grants Jordan US$24.7 million in assistance
TOKYO: Japan signed over to Jordan US$24.7 million in grant assistance on Thursday to help the kingdom implement a socio- economic reform scheme aimed mainly at fighting unemployment.
The Japanese embassy said in a statement the new contribution "consists in non-project grant aid worth two billion yens and a project grant aid worth 968 million yens to improve the water system in the eastern Zarqa district".
The embassy underlined "Japan's strong commitment to assist the kingdom's national strategy aimed at alleviating poverty and unemployment and upgrading living standards in Jordan".
The "non-project" grant aid portion of the contribution will be used to import "supplies critically needed" to carry out Jordan's reforms program in cooperation with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Jordan is plagued by a foreign debt which reached $7.4 billion in late July, up from $6.9 billion at the end of 2001, representing 78.7 percent of its gross domestic product. -- AFP
Australian job numbers surge but unemployment rate holds steady
SYDNEY: Australia's unemployment rate held steady at 6.2 percent in August, even though the overall number of jobs in the economy surged 88,500, according to figures released Thursday.
The number of new jobs, all but 800 of them full-time positions, almost trebled analyst forecasts of a 30,000 rise.
The figures follow a 28,000 drop in job numbers in July, which was interpreted by many economists as a sign Australia's strong economic growth was slowing down.
They were expecting only a moderate bounce in the job figures after an ANZ survey of job advertisements this week showed advertised vacancies were up just 0.2 percent in August, pointing to sluggish job growth ahead.
The participation rate -- the percentage of people over 15 working or looking for work -- jumped to 63.8 percent in August from 63.2 percent in July. -- AFP
IMF sees fragile growth in Sri Lanka
WASHINGTON: The IMF said Tuesday it expected Sri Lanka's economy to grow between 3.5 percent and 4.0 percent this year, but it warned the outlook was fragile.
A ceasefire in the 19-year conflict between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels had produced results, the International Monetary Fund said in a review of the economy.
Modest growth of 3.5 percent to 4.0 percent was expected this year, reflecting in part a gradual recovery in demand, the IMF said. Farm output was forecast to recover with better rainfall in the second half of 2002, it said.
"Executive directors noted that Sri Lanka is at a critical juncture," the report said. -- AFP