A Bureaucrat’s Tricky Task: Reignite Chinese Growth

October 6, 2013, 11:01 p.m. ET

A Bureaucrat’s Tricky Task: Reignite Chinese Growth

Liu He Is Piecing Together an Overhaul to Guide the Country for the Decade to Come—Just As Weakness Rears Up

BOB DAVIS and LINGLING WEI

BEIJING—When then-U.S. National Security Adviser Tom Donilon flew to Beijing in May to set up a China-U.S. summit, he didn’t schedule a meeting with one of the most important men shaping China’s future. Chinese leader Xi Jinping quickly made clear that was an oversight. “This is Liu He,” Mr. Xi told Mr. Donilon, pointing to a tall, scholarly looking aide by his side. “He is very important to me,” Mr. Xi said, according to officials familiar with the interchange. Liu He is leading the development of the latest blueprint for China’s economy, to be unveiled next month at a closed-door session of the top 450 Communist Party officials. Read more of this post

Why ‘Mittelstand’ matters to Korea

2013-10-06 11:08

Why ‘Mittelstand’ matters to Korea

Merck discusses success of German small and medium enterprises
By Kim Da-ye
Merck, a leading liquid crystal supplier, is surely not a “Mittelstand” company, a German term for a small and medium enterprise (SME). Founded in 1668, the firm employs some 38,000 people in 66 countries, and posted 10.74 billion euros in sales in 2012. But when it comes to the spirit of the company, Merck wishes to stay with its Mittelstand roots.
“We still behave like a medium-sized company. We want to act like an entrepreneur and act like Mittelstand. That would be ideal,” says Roman Maisch, vice president of the performance materials division at Merck, in an interview with The Korea Times’ Business Focus. The German “Mittelstand” refers to more than 3.6 million small- and medium-sized firms, which together produce more than half of the country’s gross domestic product and employ roughly 15.5 million as of 2012, according to the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. Read more of this post

Nearly half of districts in Korea’s FEZs face possible default

Nearly half of districts in FEZs face possible default

2013/10/07 14:27

SEOUL, Oct. 7 (Yonhap) — Nearly half of all individual districts in the country’s eight free economic zones (FEZs) may be undesignated even before they ever take off, partly due to their failure to attract investors, a lawmaker said Monday, citing related data. According to Rep. Oh Young-sik of the main opposition Democratic Party, 46, or 46.9 percent, of 98 districts in eight FEZs still lack any development plan. Read more of this post

Local cities dream to renaissance; the nation’s top leading IT and game companies have relocated their headquarters to Jeju Island

2013-10-02 17:14

Local cities dream to renaissance

By Kim Ji-soo
In terms of size, the city of Tongyeong in South Gyeongsang Province is a medium-sized one with a population estimated at about 140,000. The city is absent the high-rises one might see in Seoul or Busan, with the large modern E-mart building being one of the most conspicuous edifices. The food the seaside city boasts of ― honey-dipped fried red-bean round donuts, dried sweet potato porridges, the numerous fish dishes ― are truly local. But so many names, legendarily etched in Korean cultural history, hail from the area, giving it an aura to contend with. There is the late novelist Park Kyung-ni, the musician Yoon I-sang, and artists Lee Joong-sup and Jeon Hyuk-lim, to name just a few. Read more of this post

Hallyu in the Sixties

2013-10-06 17:38

Hallyu in the Sixties

Michael Duffy
Long before the current international craze for K-pop, and before Gangnam Style’s 1.7 billion hits on YouTube, there was another Korean act that achieved considerable success in the United States if on a slightly more modest level than Psy. This was the Kim Sisters —Sook-ja (the eldest), Mi-ja, and Ae-ja. The sisters came from a distinguished musical family; their father, Kim Hae-song, had been a popular singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist from the 1920s, and their mother, Lee Nan-young, recorded one of the most popular songs of Korea’s Japanese colonial period, “Mokpoeui Nunmul” (Tears of Mokpo). Following its release in 1935, the record sold over 50,000 copies, a huge number for the time. Read more of this post

40 Korean companies caught for stashing away $945.5mn in tax havens

40 companies caught for stashing away $945.5mn in tax havens

2013.10.07 15:10:42

The Korea Customs Service (KCS) said Monday its extraordinary investigation into illicit capital outflows into tax havens, which started in June, found that 40 companies were engaged in illegal foreign currency transactions, siphoning off national wealth of 1.0 trillion won ($945.5 million) overseas. 13 of the 40 companies were reported to have been responsible for illegal foreign currency transactions totaling 738.9 billion won, according to online press media Korea Center for Investigative Journalism (KCIJ).  Of 182 Koreans listed as culprits by the KCIJ, the customs agency verified backgrounds of 160 people and first looked into 26 companies suspected of having been engaged in illicit export and import deals. Meanwhile, the KCS confirmed five of the 40 companies evaded corporate tax payment worth 15 billion won and informed the National Tax Service the inquiry’s outcome. The customs agency will be notifying the national tax agency a full result once the allegations against the remaining 35 companies are verified.  Baek Un-chan, commissioner of the KCS, said “this extraordinary probe was conducted in cooperation with the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, National Tax Service and Financial Supervisory Service, and is expected to significantly contribute to bringing underground economy to a legitimate market and ensuring fair taxation.” The investigation found that five companies manipulated export and import prices and stashed away 630.1 billion won in tax havens.

More than 20,000 Kasikornbank staff nationwide all found on their desks a green apple that contained a smile-shaped sticker: “Kasikornbank’s success comes from small smiles of us all.”

Smile: secret to success?

Last Friday brought a big surprise to more than 20,000 Kasikornbank staff nationwide. That morning, they all found on their desks a green apple that contained a smile-shaped sticker. With the apple was a card. Written and signed by chairman Banthoon Lamsam, the card said: “Pan Yim Hai Khun – Kasikornbank’s success comes from small smiles of us all.”
We knew “Pan” was Banthoon’s nickname. With the apple and the card, he gave smiles to all and reminded them all how important smiles are. Banthoon was also onstage at KBank’s head office in Bangkok’s Rat Burana district, to launch the internal rebranding. He told the staff about the importance of smiles, which were key to the bank’s success when it was established 68 years ago. He acknowledged that smiles could evaporate because of economic hardship, but says smiles don’t cost anything, so everyone should start smiling.
It seems all the executives agree. They appear in the music video, singing the song “Yim Noi Yim Yai” (Big and Small Smiles).  Well, Khun Pan, we can expect you to keep smiling too, right?

October 4, 2013, 2:14 PM ET

Amid Corporate Crime Crackdown, Expectations for Board Rise

CHRISTOPHER M. MATTHEWS

A growing expectation among U.S. enforcement agencies that companies investigate themselves when allegations of corporate misconduct arise and turn over the results means the consequences of mishandling the probe have never been larger. Amid the heightened risks, prosecutors increasingly prefer an even higher standard of review. They want internal probes to be led by the board of directors to ensure independence from management interference, according to current and former officials at the Department of Justice. Read more of this post

Wal-Mart Entertains a Pitch: ‘Made in U.S.A.’; Some Manufacturers See Opportunity in Opening State-Side Factories

October 6, 2013, 8:25 p.m. ET

Wal-Mart Entertains a Pitch: ‘Made in U.S.A.’

Some Manufacturers See Opportunity in Opening State-Side Factories

JAMES R. HAGERTY

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. WMT -0.49% has long lured Americans with a cornucopia of low-cost merchandise from overseas, ranging from softball bats made in China to candles from Vietnam. For the past nine months, however, Wal-Mart has been trumpeting patriotic promises to stock more U.S.-made goods. Manufacturing means “good middle-class jobs, and that’s exactly what our country needs,” said Bill Simon, chief executive of Wal-Mart’s U.S. arm, in a revival-style speech at a recent supplier meeting in Orlando, where a children’s choir sang the national anthem. Read more of this post

New battle cry in France: ‘Let us work Sundays!’

New battle cry in France: ‘Let us work Sundays!’

BY JAMEY KEATEN

AP OCT 6, 2013

PARIS – When economic inequalities helped foment the French Revolution, the legendary cry from on high was, “Let them eat cake!” Now, as modern France struggles economically, the cry from below is, “Let us work!” As France battles high unemployment, rising taxes and pinched pocketbooks, the Socialist government has said its main focus is job creation. Now, critics of a more-than-century-old law that prevents most stores from opening on Sundays say revising it would be a good step in that direction. Read more of this post

Intel Israel president: I hate “Start-up Nation”; We’ve become a country that crowns kings, and then damns them, stones them. We have no trapped profits.

Intel Israel president: I hate “Start-up Nation”

Mooly Eden: Start-ups are fine, but we must attract the multinationals.

3 October 13 17:53, Adrian Filut

“There is stigma over the tax breaks in the Law for the Encouragement of Capital Investments. It’s unpleasant to read the newspaper every day. The newspaper does not even call to ask whether a report is right. We’ve become a country that crowns kings, and then damns them, stones them. We have no trapped profits. People don’t understand that the tax breaks are legal. Every man in the street believes that I am stealing the money. We built a fab for $4 billion. Then they began to shout and we lost the fab to Ireland. So how much should we give: a little more than a country that competes against us. We have advantages, but we also have disadvantages, like the geopolitical situation. I don’t think that too much is being given to Intel. The fact is that we lost a fab to Ireland,” said Intel Israel president Mooly Eden, speaking on the panel moderated by “Globes” editor-in-chief Hagai Golan at the Go Global Project on Wednesday. Read more of this post

Dow’s Exiles Often Have Last Laugh?

October 6, 2013, 5:30 p.m. ET

Dow’s Exiles Often Have Last Laugh

Recently Dropped From Dow, Alcoa Could Be Set to Outperform, If Past Holds True

SPENCER JAKAB

“How’d the market do today?” If your answer takes the form of a number, then it had better be in Dow points. Citing some index other than the Dow Jones Industrial Average to an American is akin to complaining about the temperature in Celsius or your weight in kilograms. But investment professionals roll their eyes at the attention the 117-year-old index receives. Far more products are linked to the S&P 500-stock index with its broader footprint and more sophisticated design. That the two indexes have performed almost identically in the long run is viewed as a curiosity. (The Dow is overseen by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, in which Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, owns a stake.) Read more of this post

A ‘Perfect Storm’ Hits TIPS Funds; Rising interest rates and falling inflation expectations batter Treasury inflation-protected securities

October 6, 2013, 4:50 p.m. ET

A ‘Perfect Storm’ Hits TIPS Funds

Rising interest rates and falling inflation expectations batter Treasury inflation-protected securities

TOM LAURICELLA

Owners of inflation-protected-bond funds have learned a painful lesson this year, and it’s one well-heeded by all investors: Understand how an investment will perform in unlikely scenarios, not just likely ones. These funds, which are usually purchased as a hedge against spiking inflation, own government bonds designed to adjust their payouts as inflation rises and falls. Read more of this post

Why Bentley’s boss is driven to succeed; The German chief executive of the quintessentially British luxury car maker is on a mission to expand the brand’s appeal

Why Bentley’s boss is driven to succeed

The German chief executive of the quintessentially British luxury car maker is on a mission to expand the brand’s appeal.

By Louise Armitstead

8:30PM BST 06 Oct 2013

This is not a dream. My right foot hovers over a pedal that controls a 6.0 litre W-12 engine with 616 brake horse power. With the lightest command, the vast engine will propel this 2.5 tonne, red machine to 60mph in 4.1 seconds, and 100mph in 9.7 seconds. While I grip the hand-stitched leather steering-wheel and flip the gear stick into “sport”, the PR man tightens his fist around a disclaimer I’ve signed without reading. Bentley reckons that its Continental GT Speed Convertible, which has a top speed of 202mph, is the fastest soft top on earth. We – the PR man, me and the A530 outside Crewe – are about to find out. Read more of this post

New American Economy Leaves Behind World Consumer of Last Resort; The rising American economy isn’t lifting all boats — and may even sink some

New American Economy Leaves Behind World Consumer of Last Resort

The rising American economy isn’t lifting all boats — and may even sink some.

As the U.S. looks set to accelerate, economists from Bank of America Corp. to Morgan Stanley predict it will provide less oomph abroad than it once did, partly because of changes wrought by the financial crisis and recession. The new-look America is focused on greater demand and production at home and taps more of its own energy, paring the need to buy overseas in a trend reflected by the smallest current-account deficit since 1999. Read more of this post