Asia-Pacific

INDIA               RBI governor YV Reddy may tighten interest rates.   Indian banks have continued to grow credit at a very rapid pace since the start of the new fiscal year on April 1. ...

A GIANT COUNTRY WITH GIANT CHALLENGES COUNTRY REPORT / KAZAKHSTAN Vast hydrocarbon reserves and financial regulators known for their toughness are helping Kazakhstan ride out an abrupt economic slowdown and a housing crunch. Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev at the opening ...

CHINA               Fuel up: China's rising inflation rate is causing official concern.       China and Taiwan agreed in June to open representative offices in each other’s capitals to promote better communication between ...

CHINA     China's president Hu Jintao aims to improve relations with Japan.   Rescue workers on May 14 reached southwestern China’s Weixian county, the epicenter of an earthquake that shook cities across Asia and damaged 70% to 80% of ...

INDIA     India's construction industry promises rich returns. Bharti Airtel, India’s largest wireless company, with 62 million subscribers, is in talks with MTN of South Africa to acquire between 51% and 100% of that company. The deal could potentially ...

CHINA     Pro-Tibetan protests have dogged the run-up to the Beijing Olympics. China upwardly revised its 2006 and 2007 gross domestic product (GDP) growth numbers, pushing the country closer to surpassing Germany to become the world’s third-largest economy. According ...

COUNTRY REPORT: THE PHILIPPINES The Philippines seems to be avoiding the worst of the global market slowdown, but there have been a few hiccups along the way.   The financial Makati district in Manila is not feeling the pinch of ...

INDIA     Reaching out: The US hopes its firms can win a slice of India's $500 billion spending spree. Bhopal Medical College Trust is the first Indian project to reap the benefits of US Export-Import Bank’s (Ex-Im Bank) Indian ...

THE ELEPHANT AND THE DRAGON   Often uneasy neighbors and fierce competitors, India and China are finding ways to cooperate as their influence on the global economy grows.     India's prime minister Manmohan Singh and China's premier Wen Jiao ...

INDIA     Indian automobile manufacturers are scaling up production, unfazed by rising inflation. The Indian commerce ministry has announced that it has set India’s export target at $200 billion for 2008-2009. This export target is a part of India’s ...

China         Chinese students prepare for this summer's Olympics in Beijing.   China will more strictly examine applications from listed companies to issue new shares on domestic capital markets, the China Securities Regulatory Commission announced after the ...

Company To Watch: Ioi/malaysia         Palm oil prices have almost doubled in the past year on rising demand from China and India and increased use of crude palm oil as an alternative energy source. Kuala Lumpur-based IOI, ...

India         ICICI Bank: One of the Indian banks repurchasing bonds.   Indian banks and corporate bond issuers in international markets are taking advantage of the widening credit spreads and tightening liquidity conditions in global bond markets ...

INDIA     Piling in: Investors gave an enthusiastic response to Reliance Power's $3 billion IPO. In its bid to keep up the growth momentum in the Indian economy, the Indian coalition government lifted investment restrictions on foreign investors in ...

BRAZIL     Rock solid: Vale is thought to be ready to bid for Xstrata. Brazilian mining giant Vale (formerly CVRD) is in talks to acquire Swiss mining company Xstrata, reportedly for $90 billion. The deal would be the single ...

CHINA     Riding high: China's economic growth continues to break records. China’s economy grew 11.4% in 2007, its fastest rate in 13 years. Fourth-quarter GDP growth fell to 11.2% year-on-year, however, as government tightening measures and weakening global demand ...

DR NEWS ReneSola, a China-based manufacturer of solar wafers, listed 10 million American depositary shares on the New York Stock Exchange on January 29. Although the issue was priced at a discount of 9.7% to the underlying shares, which trade ...

NEWS PowerShares Capital Management last month announced the first exchange-traded fund (ETF) to provide direct exposure to a diversified portfolio of Indian securities. The PowerShares India Portfolio, with symbol PIN, was set to begin trading in late February on NYSE ...

Dr News       Beijing-based Baidu.com, China’s leading Internet search provider, was the most actively traded depositary receipt in the world last year, according to The Bank of New York Mellon’s annual year-end report on the DR industry. In ...

China       Morgan Stanley: Subprime losses have been plugged by China Investment Corp.       China will allow foreign brokerage firms to play stronger roles in the country’s securities markets, according to new guidelines that took effect ...