N-250 plane flies in Hanoi

N-250 plane flies in Hanoi

HANOI (AFP): An Indonesian-designed commuter aircraft flew a demonstration flight for Vietnamese aviation officials in Hanoi on Wednesday, an embassy official said.

The N-250 turboprop aircraft took to the skies at Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport before a crowd of officials from the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, she said.

The N-250 is a home grown product designed by the Indonesian state-owned PT Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara.

The new aircraft is capable of carrying 68 passengers and is designed specifically for short haul commuter routes of up to 800 nautical miles (1,480 kilometers).

Certification by aviation officials of the prototype aircraft is scheduled for 1999.

;REUTER; ANPAf..u.. Air-France-[AIRF.PA]-says-Asia-traffic-rising Air France [AIRF.PA] says Asia traffic rising JP/11/BOX

Air France traffic rises

SINGAPORE (Reuter): Air France said on Wednesday its passenger traffic originating in Asia rose 15 percent in the first quarter of the financial year that began on April 1.

The airline said in a statement it intended to boost its capacity for the Asian market by 40 percent over the next three years to keep up its momentum.

It attributed the 1997 rise in passenger traffic to opening a regional office in Hong Kong last September and to tailoring services to Asian customers.

Air France operates 15 routes between Asia and Paris.

;AFP; ANPAf..u.. SAfrica-Malaysia Malaysian group injects 33 million dollars into S.African bank JP/SAFRICA

Malaysia buys African bank

JOHANNESBURG (AFP): A Malaysian group, TA Enterprises, has injected US$33 million into a newly formed bank in South Africa called TA Bank, officials said Wednesday.

TA Enterprises, which acquired a South African stockbroking firm in 1996, on Tuesday launched the new bank, which is licensed to conduct banking and foreign exchange functions.

TA Bank is South Africa's eleventh foreign bank, and hopes to offer a wide range of financial services to the southern African region, TA Enterprises executive chairman Datuk Tony Tiah said.

The Malaysian institution invested an initial $33 million (150 million rand), which would be increased to $109 million (500 million rand) over the next five years, officials said.

Last year, TA Enterprises purchased a domestic stockbroking firm, Kilroe Whitehead, now known as TA Securities.

;AFP; ANPAf..b.. US-economy-prices U.S. consumer price index up 0.1 percent in June JP/11/BOX

U.S. consumer price index up

WASHINGTON (AFP): U.S. consumer prices gained 0.1 percent in June over May and were up 2.3 percent year-on-year, the government reported Wednesday.

The core rate in the consumer price index (CPI), which excludes food and energy, also rose 0.1 percent last month and 2.4 percent for the year.

;AFP; ANPAf..u.. US-results-Ford Ford profits up 31.5 percent JP/11/BOX

Ford profits up 31.5%

DETROIT, Michigan (AFP): The second largest U.S. automaker Ford Motor Company reported Wednesday its second-quarter earnings rose 31.5 percent to US$2.5 billion, compared with 1.9 billion in the same period a year ago.

Per-share earnings were well ahead of most predictions at US$2.06, up from $1.56.

Revenues were up slightly from the same period a year ago to $40.3 billion from $38.9 billion.

Second-quarter results include a net one-time gain of $100 million reflecting the initial public offering of the Hertz Corp., offset partly by charges associated with realignments of manufacturing capacity and the sale of Ford's heavy truck business.

;AFP; ANPAf..r.. Malaysia-technology Siemens to invest 12 million dollars in Malaysia's high-tech zone JP/MALAYSIA

Siemens invests in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Germany electronic and engineering giant Siemens AG is to invest an initial 30 million ringgit (US$12 million) to set up operations in Malaysia's newly created high- technology zone.

The group will form a subsidiary, Siemens Multimedia Sdn. Bhd., to tap the "multi-purposed smartcard" and electronic government projects, said Christian Urbanke, managing director of Siemens Electrical Engineering here.

The money would be used to buy equipment and fund training programs, research and development in the multimedia super corridor (MSC) for the first two years, Urbanke told Bernama news agency in an interview.

The MSC, the pet project of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, is for computers and technology-related industries and is aimed at setting the pace for Malaysia to enter the information- technology era.

;AFP; ANPAf..r.. Swiss-prices Switzerland most expensive country in Europe JP/11/BOX

Switzerland is most costly

BERN (AFP): Switzerland is the most expensive country in Europe and is beaten only by Luxembourg in terms of gross domestic product per person, a federal statistics office study issued here Wednesday said.

Switzerland in 1995 scored 143.3 points against a European average of 100 points on prices covering the entire range of its goods and services, the study said.

Denmark ranked as the second dearest country, followed by Norway and Germany while Greece and Portugal were at the bottom of the price league.

Luxembourg had the highest level of GDP per capita calculated in dollars, with Germany, Austria and France trailing Switzerland.

;AFP; ANPAf..u.. US-results-GM GM earnings jump JP/11/BOX

GM earnings jump

DETROIT, Michigan (AFP): General Motors on Wednesday reported a jump in second-quarter profits to US$2.1 billion, up from 1.9 billion in the same period a year ago.

Per-share earnings were US$2.68 from $2.63 a year ago for the world's top automaker.

Total revenues for the three-month period rose to 45.14 billion dollars from 44.78 billion a year earlier.

"GM's results on both a reported and adjusted basis are a further indication of our operating and financial strength," said chairman John Smith.

"It's significant that, even though strike-related losses hit the bottom line pretty hard in the second quarter, we still earned a substantial amount of money during the period."

;AFP; ANPAf..r.. France-Thomson State to give up majority stake in Thomson-CSF JP/11/BOX

State gives up in Thomson

PARIS (AFP): The state will give up its majority stake in defense electronics group Thomson-CSF at the end of the restructuring plan it plans for the group, French economics and finance minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn said on Wednesday.

He told the National Assembly's defense committee that "When you start with 58 percent and you want an alliance with a partner, it's hard to stay above 50 percent".

When queried by correspondents, the minister said retention by the state of a 33 percent blocking minority in the big group would be "a good solution", but "there are others".