Indonesia says U.S. opened SE Asia door to China
Indonesia chided the United States on Wednesday for paying too little attention to Southeast Asia, warning Washington that its focus on Iraq and combating terrorism globally had opened a door to China.
Beijings diplomats had effectively eased fears that Chinas rapid economic rise and growing military might posed a threat to its Southeast Asian neighbors, a senior aide to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said in Canberra on Wednesday.
There have been some contrasts drawn between the U.S. approach and the Chinese approach, presidential spokesman and adviser Dino Patti Djalal told a security conference.
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Indonesia has decided to allow more tourists to buy visas on their arrival in the country, in a bid to boost tourism.
The Jakarta Post reports, the new regulation was announced by Justice Minister Hamid Awaluddin on Friday.
It applies to visitors from 14 countries including China, India, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Egypt.
A 30-day visa will cost US$25, and a six-day one, $10.
Authorities say they hope the new law will boost the number of foreign visitors to around 6 million this year.
Indonesia's tourism sector was badly hit by the October 2002 bombings on the island of Bali, which killed 202 people, most
Taxes on cement in country highest in Asia
Triple digit growth of the cement industry for first quarter is at stake owing to higher power cost, railway tariff and greater incidents of lower quality coal supply, says a study by the Assocham.
Electricity accounts for 40 per cent and coal about 25 per cent of cement manufacturing cost. Assochams study says that the shortage of coal is a major bottleneck despite the country has 80 billion tonnes coal reserves.
The Ministry of Coal projects demand for coal by the cement industry to be 23.3 million tonnes this year and 25.4 million tonnes
AXA Asia Pacific acquires MLC Hong Kong and Indonesia for 575 mln aud from NAB
AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd (AXA APH) said it has acquired MLC Hong Kong and MLC Indonesia from National Australia Bank Ltd for 575 mln aud.
AXA APH chief executive Les Owen said the acquisition targets his company's strategy for accelerated growth in the Asian region, utilising a strong capital base.
'Life insurance margins in Hong Kong are very attractive and with high savings ratios there is considerable growth potential for life insurance, investment products and wealth management,' he said.
In Indonesia, Owen said the
Asia's outbound travel industry to grow strongly in 2005
The number of international travellers from the Asia Pacific will grow strongly in the first half of 2005 as the region's strong economic growth continues, says a MasterCard survey released on Wednesday.
China, Japan and Indonesia will post the biggest rises in people heading overseas for work and leisure, with outbound travel across all 12 key regional markets to grow by more than 16 percent, according to the bi-annual survey.
The other nine markets included in the survey are Australia, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and
Asian economic growth will remain strong this year, boosted by China and India, but expensive oil could slow regional activity from next year, the president of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Friday.
"Surprisingly, developing Asia is maintaining robust growth. Our 2005 forecast will be broadly maintained," Haruhiko Kuroda told journalists at a lunch in Singapore, adding the ADB also expected growth in 2006 to be around 6.5 percent.
In April, the ADB forecast economies in the region, excluding Japan, would grow 6.5 percent this year and 6.6 percent in 2006.
Kuroda said Asian economic growth was dominated by rapid expansion
