PLN, university sign pact

JAKARTA (JP): The state-owned electricity company PLN yesterday assigned Diponegoro University of Semarang in Central Java to help improve the capability of its human resources and coordinate research.

PLN's president, Zuhal, who signed a five-year agreement with the university's rector, Prof. Moeljono S. Trastotenojo, during a ceremony here yesterday, said the main objective of the cooperation is to help educate his company's executives who have held important posts but lack adequate academic education.

Only 5,000 of PLN's 54,000 employees are university graduates.

Zuhal said the university and PLN are committed to developing joint research in electricity and project engineering.

"The research is expected to help locate engineering technology suitable for PLN's power plants," he said. (fhp)

KL promotes palm oil

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia, the world's top palm oil producer, is to dispatch a high-powered delegation to promote the commodity in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan next month, government officials said yesterday.

The May 22-to-June 7 mission, to be led by Primary Industries Minister Lim Keng Yaik, will organize seminars, factory visits, small exhibitions and cooking demonstrations to encourage palm oil use in the three East Asian countries, ministry officials said.

The mission is seen as part of Malaysia's increasingly aggressive efforts to enhance sales in traditional markets as well as break into new ones. Rival producer Indonesia is also active.

Malaysia exports the commodity to 90 countries and is scouting for even more buyers, with output expected to reach 8.6 million tons by 2,000 from 6.5 million tons last year, officials said.

Palm oil is aiming to secure 32 percent of the global edible oil market by the turn of the century, with Malaysia accounting for 24 percent of production.

S'pore to raise oil refinery

SINGAPORE (AFP): The Singapore Refining Co. (SRC) is forecasting a 50 percent increase in turnover when its new refinery complex comes on stream by September next year, a company official said yesterday.

SRC general manager and chief executive officer Jacobus Rinck said the S$1.4 billion (US$897 million) complex on Merlimau island near here will raise refining capacity by 60,000 barrels a day to 285,000 barrels.

Rinck said that the higher rate of increase in turnover in relation to the growth in capacity was due to the complex's ability to produce more higher-value so-called "whiter" or cleaner petroleum products like jet fuel and gasoline.

The complex will reduce SRC's output of heavier petroleum products by between 15 percent and 20 percent, depending on the type of crude oil being refined, from between 25-to-30 percent currently, he said.

SRC is a joint venture between the Singapore Petroleum Co., British Petroleum and Caltex.

Japan VCR exports down

TOKYO (AFP): Japan's exports of video cassette recorders (VCRs) fell 3.2 percent from a year earlier, while exports of color television sets surged 20.2 percent, an industry association said yesterday.

The Electronic Industries Association of Japan said VCR exports in February totaled 1.17 million units and color TV exports 297,000 units.

VCR shipments to the United States rose 2.4 percent on the previous year to 315,000 units, but those to the European Union plunged 47.8 percent to 75,000 units.

Exports to China more than doubled to 126,000 units and those to Indonesia were up 252.3 percent at 145,000 units and Mexico up 126.4 percent at 23,000 units.

Exports to Hong Kong fell 20.4 percent to 101,000 units and those to Singapore fell 16.3 percent to 146,000 units.

Color TV exports to China rose 73.3 percent from a year earlier to 118,000 units and those to Hong Kong surging 111.2 percent to 85,000 units, the association said, attributing the sharp rises to low year-earlier levels.

Vietnam to triple oil output

HANOI (Reuter): Vietnam hopes to triple oil production by the turn of the century and will probably begin output from its two newest fields late this year, the chairman of state oil firm PetroVietnam said.

"I hope by the end of the century we will have at least 350,000 to 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) of production compared to 130,000 to 140,000 bpd now," Ho Si Thoang told Reuters.

Total oil production is expected to be around 140,000 bpd or more this year, rising to around 170,000 bpd in 1995, he added.

Manila defers tax

MANILA (AFP): The Philippine government yesterday deferred the implementation of a 2.5-percent tax on export earnings following strong opposition.

Finance Secretary Roberto de Ocampo said he would be meeting with officials of the Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (Philexport) to thresh out their complaints on the measure.

Philexport officials have said the new taxes would dampen exports, which grew by 8.9 percent to US$918 million in February from a year earlier. No import figures for the period were given.

De Ocampo said the new tax, one of several measures aimed at raising funds to narrow a huge budget deficit, was to have taken effect on April 1 but was deferred to April 20 to give way to consultations.

Rubber prices weaken

SINGAPORE (AFP): TSR 20 futures continued easing yesterday with the decline slowed down by some physical uptake of SIR 20 in Indonesia, dealers said yesterday.

Dealers said April shipment of SIR 20 FOB Belawan was traded to a high of 50 US cents a kilo while May was traded at 48.75 US cents.

RSS 1 and 3 held steady at Thursday afternoon's closing levels with little trade transacted, dealers said.

At 09:15 GMT, Basis May RSS 1 was quoted at 151.00 Singapore cents, RSS 3 at 94.00 US cents while TSR 20 shed four cents to 164.00 Singapore cents.

Japan's GDP to rise 1%

TOKYO (AFP): Japan's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to edge upward one percent from a year earlier thanks to stronger-than-expected consumer spending, a research institute said yesterday.

DKB Research Institute said in a report that economic recovery would be confirmed in the middle of the year, supported by growing individual consumption following cuts in income and resident taxes.

Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank Ltd's research arm said consumer spending was expected to increase 2.6 percent in the year after growing 1.1 percent in the year to March 1994.

It saw corporate capital spending falling 4.8 percent in the current year after declining 8.8 percent the previous year.