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