RP manufacturing output up 5.9%
RP manufacturing output up 5.9% JP/16/Money
MANILA: Manufacturing output in the Philippines grew 5.9 percent from a year earlier in June, the National Statistics Office said Tuesday.
The figure was substantially lower than the double-digit gains over the previous three months.
Nevertheless electrical machinery, a sector that includes electronics and which comprises more than half of all merchandise exports, rose 53.1 percent from a year earlier.
Furniture, petroleum products, and non-electrical machinery all posted double-digit declines.
Aggregate capacity use by the 475 sample factories stood at 75.9 percent, up slightly from 75.0 percent in May, it added.
Philippine exports plunged by 15.6 percent last year amid recession in the United States and Japan, its main export markets. -- AFP
Thailand calls for FTA with Japan
TOKYO: Visiting Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Somkid Jatusripitak told Japanese Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa on Tuesday that Thailand wants to see the two countries sign a bilateral free-trade agreement (FTA), Kyodo News reported, citing a Finance Ministry official.
In a meeting at the ministry, Somkid said Bangkok believes that it is also important to pursue an FTA linking the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with Japan, South Korea and China, according to the official.
Shiokawa didn't comment on either proposal, but told Somkid that Japan wants to establish a close relationship with the ASEAN region that will be different from its ties with other areas, according to the official.
Japan signed a bilateral FTA with Singapore in January this year. -- Dow Jones
Malaysia considers hiring Vietnamese
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is considering hiring Vietnamese workers to ease a labor shortage after a mass exodus of thousands of illegal aliens recently, a news report said Tuesday.
The Star daily quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Leo Michael Toyad as saying the government has agreed in principal to import Vietnamese nationals in labour-short sectors.
The announcement comes following an offer by Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dzung to Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi at a meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Monday.
Malaysian employers, particularly in the construction and manufacturing sectors, have faced a shortage of workers since the government began cracking down on illegal workers under a harsh new immigration policy, which includes jail time and caning of illegal aliens. -- DPA
Taiwan minister to visit Australia
TAIPEI: Taiwan economic minister Lin Yi-fu will travel to Australia this weekend in a bid to secure deals for the supply of oil, uranium and natural gas, the Economic Daily News reported Tuesday.
Lin, on a business trip in New Zealand, will fly to Perth on Saturday accompanied by Pan Wen-yen, president of the state-owned Chinese Petroleum Corp. (CPC), the Taiwanese newspaper said.
An agreement for the CPC to acquire rights to explore for oil reserves in north-western Australia was expected to be signed during their stay, it added.
Australia was seeking to provide uranium to the island's fourth nuclear power plant, which is expected to become operational at the end of 2005, it said.
Australia was also trying to win a A$400 billion (US$11.7 billion) contract to supply state-owned Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) with 1.68 million tons of natural gas annually for 25 years beginning 2008.
Indonesia is competing for the natural gas deal. -- AFP
EU, South Korean talks break down
SEOUL :Two days of talks between the European Union and South Korea broke down Tuesday with negotiators unable to settle a row over alleged unfair price competition by South Korean shipbuilders, officials said.
"During the consultations, the two parties were not able to bring their positions closer," the European Union said in a statement.
The EU was "rather disappointed" about a South Korean proposal focusing on setting shipbuilding prices.
South Korea's commerce, industry and energy ministry said the two sides discussed ways of setting minimum target prices but failed to reach agreement.
However, the EU has proposed another round of high-level talks in Brussels on Sept.16-18.
"Should these efforts fail, the EU has no option but to go to the WTO," the European Union said, reiterating its warning it would file a complaint with the World Trade Organization if there no agreement by the end of September. --AFP.