SK trade surplus at $1.24 b

SK trade surplus at $1.24 b

SEOUL: Record exports helped boost South Korea's trade surplus
by 52 percent from a year ago to US$1.24 billion in November,
official data showed Sunday.

Customs-cleared exports surged 24.1 percent year-on-year in
November to an all-time high of $15.3 billion, the Commerce,
Industry and Energy Ministry said.

November marked the fifth consecutive month of double-digit
growth in exports, due in large part to brisk shipments of
semiconductors, automobiles, handsets and computers, it said.

Semiconductor exports surged 52.8 percent year-on-year to $993
million in November and jumped 12.6 percent to $14.56 billion in
the first 11 months.

Imports rose 22.1 percent year-on-year to $14.08 billion in
November, the ministry said.

It put South Korea's trade surplus in the 11 months to
November at $10.2 billion, up 17 percent from $8.7 billion a
year earlier.

South Korea's trade account has been in the black since
February, 2000, and this year's trade surplus is expected to top
11 billion dollars, the ministry said.--AFP

China to allow Int'l investors in building market

BEIJING: China will allow overseas investors to establish
Sino-foreign joint ventures, cooperative businesses and wholly
foreign-owned firms in the country's construction sector, state
media reported.

The wider access to the local building market is part of new
regulations issued by the Ministry of Construction and the
Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, or MOFTEC,
the official Xinhua News Agency reported Saturday.

The new regulations took into effect Sunday.

MOFTEC is responsible for accepting and approving applications
for foreign investment in the construction sector, the report
said.--Dow Jones

SK general insurance profit dip 27.5%

SEOUL: South Korean casualty and property insurers' net profit
declined 27.5 percent on year to 361.5 billion won in their
fiscal first half ended Sept. 30, hurt by smaller investment
income, said the Financial Supervisory Service on Sunday.

The 23 non-life insurers operating in South Korea earned first
half revenue of 10.05 trillion won, rising 11.7 percent on year,
the FSS said.

In the April-September period, their income from securities
investments fell 24 percent on year to 532.2 billion won, hurt by
bearish stock market, while insurance income surged to 125.8
billion won from 49.5 billion won a year earlier.

Long-term insurance and car insurance accounted for 42.1
percent and 40 percent of their total insurance income,
respectively, while general insurance accounted for 17.4 percent.
Other insurance products accounted for the remaining portion, the
agency said.--Dow Jones

Guangdong eases power shortage

BEIJING: Power-hungry Guangdong Province in southern China has
completed eight major grid projects, ending an electricity
shortage across the Pearl River Delta, state media said Sunday.

Demand for power has grown in the province in recent years as
the local economy booms, overloading the provincial power grid,
the official Xinhua news agency said.

Manufacturers and residents in the Guangdong cities of
Shenzhen and Dongguan on the Pearl River Delta often suffered
from blackouts in the summer when demand for power peaked.

To ease the shortage, Guangdong last year began construction
on eight major power projects at a cost of 200 million yuan
(US$24 million).

A dozen complementary projects have been planned from now
until 2005, at an estimated cost of 7.9 billion yuan ($951.8
million).

As an economic powerhouse in China, the Pearl River Delta now
contributes about ten percent of the country's annual gross
domestic product.--AFP