Pontianak to host travel meeting
Pontianak to host travel meeting
PONTIANAK, West Kalimantan: Pontianak, capital of Indonesia's
West Kalimantan province, will host the 2nd travel exchange
meeting of the Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and the
Philippines-East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) on Sep. 6-9.
The meeting will not only involve the concerned countries but
also 11 Indonesian provinces, said a statement issued by the
provincial communication and information office here Thursday.
The Tourism Ministry's head for foreign cooperation, Yabes
Tosia, said here Wednesday that foreign buyers outside the BIMP-
EAGA would hopefully attend the international event as well.
The BIMP-EAGA, formed in March 1996, aims to increase trade,
investment and tourism in the region.
Besides Brunei, the organization also covers Kalimantan,
Sulawesi, Maluku, Papua in Indonesia; Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan
in Malaysia; and Mindanao and Palawan in the Philippines. --
Antara
S'pore sends mission to Thailand
SINGAPORE: Forty-one Singapore companies will travel to
Thailand next week seeking a share of the kingdom's booming auto
industry, the government said Thursday.
International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore), the
government's trade body, said the 73 participants would market
their expertise in electronics and precision engineering, and
described the trip as the biggest ever Singaporean business
mission to Thailand.
IE Singapore said local businesses are hoping to capitalize on
Thailand's status as the vehicle assembly and export hub of
Southeast Asia.
"Automotive Resources Asia claims that by 2006, Thailand will
have 48 percent share of the total number of vehicles produced in
ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)," IE Singapore
said.
IE Singapore said that despite the lack of automotive assembly
activities in the city-state, Singapore had built up a highly
competitive automotive support industry. -- AFP
Saudi to replace 17,800 foreigners
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is to replace 17,800 white-collar foreign
workers with Saudis in a continuing "Saudization" of its labor
force to reduce unemployment in the oil-rich Arab state, Saudi
media said on Wednesday.
The lay-off include 16,204 employees from the public education
sector, 854 from private education and 42 from the defense
ministry, al-Watan newspaper said, adding the posts would be
advertised for Saudis within days.
Most of the foreign workers will lose their right of residence
when their contracts end and will have to leave the country
within a month.
The government is trying to boost the numbers of jobs for
Saudi nationals because of an unemployment rate estimated to be
as high as 12 percent. Foreigners make up just over half of the
national work force.
Analysts say oil revenues are increasingly unable to meet the
needs of the more than 17 million Saudis. There are around six
million expatriates in the kingdom.-- Reuters
S'pore key exports rise 18.7%
SINGAPORE: Singapore's key non-oil domestic exports (NODX)
rose 18.7 percent in June from a year ago, a better performance
than expected and a significant rise from the previous month,
officials said Thursday.
International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore), the
government's trade body, said the rise in June's NODX to S$1.19
billion (US$680 million) was influenced by strong growth in
pharmaceuticals and a long-awaited pick-up in the electronics
industry.
The June NODX growth was one of a series of government
indicators released pointing to a pick-up in Singapore's economy
after a long slump chiefly caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome (SARS) crisis.
IE Singapore predicted total trade growth for this year would
be between four and six percent, up from 1.5 percent in 2002,
with a further pick-up in electronics and chemical exports
expected. -- AFP
HK jobless rate rises to new high
HONG KONG: Hong Kong's unemployment rate rose to a new high of
8.6 percent in the three months to June, reflecting the continued
impact of SARS on the labor market, the government said Thursday.
It said unemployment rate rose from 8.3 percent in March-May,
while the underemployment rate -- which counts people with jobs
not paying enough to cover their basic needs -- increased to 4.3
percent from 3.8 percent for the same period.
A government spokesman said the increase in unemployment was
again concentrated in the tourism and local consumption-related
sectors, reflecting the continued impact of the Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) on the labor market.
Also, there was a marked rise in unemployment among younger
people as fresh graduates and school leavers joined the labor
force, the spokesman said. -- AFP