Bamboo Innovator

Korean fishery industry is sinking fast: Markets, ship owners see no relief in sight as business worsens

Korean fishery industry is sinking fast: Markets, ship owners see no relief in sight as business worsens

BY JEON ICK-JIN, WE SUNG-WOOK [jkkang2@joongang.co.kr]

Oct 14,2013

In a harbor fish market in Jung District, Incheon, lights along the fish stalls were shining to attract customers Friday evening. In contrast to the mood created by the bright lights, there were hardly more than a dozen customers.  “Just a few months ago, we had to keep the stall open well past midnight to accommodate,” says Jung Gyung-suk, a 57-year-old fishmonger who has run a stall for almost three decades. “All day long, I have had only three groups of customers, about 10 people,” said the somber-looking restaurant owner as she shuttered her stall at about 10 p.m.  Read more of this post

Family-controlled conglomerates or chaebol find themselves increasingly under siege for what appears to be their failure to adapt to a new business environment that calls for transparent and law-abiding management

2013-10-13 17:24

Chaebol under siege

Hyosung probe ought to give lessons to other groups 
Family-controlled conglomerates or chaebol find themselves increasingly under siege for what appears to be their failure to adapt to a new business environment that calls for transparent and law-abiding management. The latest victim is Hyosung Group, the nation’s 26th largest conglomerate with more than 11 trillion won in assets. The prosecution banned three sons of group Chairman Cho Suck-rae and other executives from leaving the country on Saturday, following its unannounced raid on the homes and offices of top executives of Hyosung Group a day earlier. The chairman has been prohibited from leaving Korea since July, when the National Tax Service launched a tax investigation into the group. Read more of this post

McDonald’s Japan plagued by convenience stores

McDonald’s Japan plagued by convenience stores

Monday, October 14, 2013 – 09:51

The Japan News/Asia News Network

JAPAN – The sales volume and customer base of McDonald’s Co. (Japan) keep declining despite the introduction of a new president, as the chain loses ground to convenience stores that have been strengthening their sales of coffee and fast food. McDonald’s said Tuesday that sales volume in September, excluding effects from newly opened stores and other factors, was down 3.4 per cent from the figure in the same month last year. While sales declined for the third consecutive month, the number of customers also dropped by 6.5 per cent, a decline for the fifth consecutive month. Read more of this post

Crumbling keiretsu networks good sign for foreign firms and Japan

Crumbling keiretsu networks good sign for foreign firms and Japan

BY JOCHEN LEGEWIE

SPECIAL TO THE JAPAN TIMES

OCT 13, 2013

For years and decades, foreign observers have cried foul over various barriers — both existing and perceived — to the Japanese economy. Their main target is usually the keiretsu, the closely knit business networks automakers exclusively maintain with groups of 200 to 300 suppliers. These so-called vertical groupings were regarded as the main hurdle for foreign companies doing business with Toyota & Co. But this seems to be changing. Read more of this post

Firms hide China roots to boost sales

Firms hide China roots to boost sales

Monday, Oct 14, 2013

AFP

BEIJING – In the global contest for business, Chinese brands struggle to compete with big Western and Japanese names, but some are now looking to reinvent their identities to overcome image and political hurdles. The world’s second-largest economy does not have a single one of the world’s top 100 brands, as compiled by marketing consultancy Interbrand. Read more of this post

Chinese want to sell British milk at £3 per litre; British farmers produce some of the highest quality, but lowest priced, milk in the world

Chinese want to sell British milk at £3 per litre

State-owned companies are approaching UK farmers direct asking for millions of litres of milk, at a time when some farmers struggle to make a profit

British farmers produce some of the highest quality, but lowest priced, milk in the world. The best quality UK milk can sell for 90p per litre – in China, that same milk retails for 300p per litre. Photo: Alamy

By John Ficenec

10:00PM BST 13 Oct 2013

Chinese state-owned conglomerates are approaching British dairy farmers to secure millions of litres of UK milk, opening a potentially vast new market. Dairy Crest, the largest dairy company in the UK, has recently invested £40m in a new infant formula facility to access the China market – the world’s biggest consumer of milk. But the latest development has seen Chinese state-owned organisations trying to buy direct from UK dairy farmers. Read more of this post

Forty Years After OPEC Embargo, U.S. Is Energy Giant

Forty Years After OPEC Embargo, U.S. Is Energy Giant

Forty years ago this month, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries proclaimed an embargo on oil exports to the U.S. as retaliation for its support of Israel in the Yom Kippur War. It would last only five months, but it haunts U.S. energy policy to this day. The modern global energy market bears scant resemblance to what existed 40 years ago. Today’s market is far more diversified and resilient. Thanks to the shale gas revolution and soaring domestic oil and gas production, the U.S. has reduced the cost of its energy and become a major exporter of refined products. Add in the political and economic tumult within many OPEC member countries, and it’s clear that, by almost any measure, OPEC is far weaker and the U.S. is far stronger than in 1973. Read more of this post

Walmart divorce highlights pitfalls of business in India

Updated: Monday October 14, 2013 MYT 6:50:20 AM

Walmart divorce highlights pitfalls of business in India

NEW DELHI: The divorce between US giant Walmart and its Indian partner, the latest in a string of foreign corporate alliances to founder, will have a further “chill effect” on vitally needed foreign investment, analysts say. Citing restrictive foreign investment rules, the world’s biggest retailer scrapped a partnership last week with Indian telecom heavyweight Bharti Enterprises and suspended plans to open supermarkets which could have tapped a potential market of 1.2 billion shoppers. Read more of this post

In India’s Politics, Jail Time Is a Badge of Honor

October 13, 2013

In India’s Politics, Jail Time Is a Badge of Honor

By ELLEN BARRY

Kameshwar Baitha in Daltenganj, India. He was elected to Parliament despite murder charges.

DALTENGANJ, India — When he decided to run for a parliamentary seat from this impoverished, and mainly low-caste constituency in northeast India, Kameshwar Baitha made no effort to sugarcoat his criminal record. Obediently, he cataloged the serious charges pending against him, all of which he says are false. There were 17 for murder, 22 for attempted murder, 6 for assault with a dangerous weapon, 5 for theft, 2 for extortion, and so on, a legacy from Mr. Baitha’s previous career as a leader of the local Maoist insurgency. On top of that was the fact that he was in jail. Read more of this post

Singapore rig-builders gear up to meet challenges from aggressive Chinese yards

Singapore rig-builders gear up to meet challenges from aggressive Chinese yards

English.news.cn   2013-10-14 18:57:25

Tan Shih Ming

SINGAPORE, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) — While Chinese yards have had significant market share gains in global rig construction, Singapore rig-builders like Keppel Corporation and SembCorp Marine are holding on to their competitive edge through consistent improvement of design and localization of rig construction. In the year to date, Chinese yards have secured 44 percent of the 71 rig contracts. The increasing prominence of Chinese yards is reflected particularly in the jack-up rig market, where they have received orders for 29 of the 56 jack-up rigs in 2013, versus the 20 jack-up rigs secured by Singapore yards. Read more of this post

Why is Israeli venture capital so unpopular in its home field?

Why is Israeli venture capital so unpopular in its home field?

Pitango, Israel’s biggest fund, just raised $270 million from backers as far afield as the Far East, but the participation of locals was minimal

By Inbal Orpaz | Oct. 14, 2013 | 8:23 AM

International investors recognize the potential of Israeli high tech, says Rami Kalish, co-founder of Israel’s largest venture capital firm Pitango Venture Capital, but local Israeli investors are not nearly as enthusiastic. “We would be happy if Israel institutions adopt a strategy of more exposure to the field of private equity in general and to its venture capital element,” Kalish says.

Read more of this post

Mouton ’06 Selling for $5,930 Trades Near Seven-Month Liv-Ex Low

Mouton ’06 Selling for $5,930 Trades Near Seven-Month Liv-Ex Low

A case of 2006 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, a Medoc first-growth wine estate, sold for 3,715 pounds ($5,930) on the Liv-ex market in the past week, near a seven-month low amid weakening demand for top Bordeaux vintages. The transaction on Oct. 11 was 0.9 percent down from a trade at 3,750 pounds the previous day, and just 1.8 percent above the 3,650 pounds at which it sold on Oct. 3, the lowest level on Liv-ex for the vintage since February, according to data on the London-based market’s Cellar Watch website. Read more of this post

Europe Prepares To Come Clean On Hidden Bank Losses

Europe Prepares To Come Clean On Hidden Bank Losses

JOHN O’DONNELL AND ROBIN EMMOTT OCT. 13, 2013, 1:00 PM 1,511 3

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) – Euro zone countries will consider on Monday how to pay for the repair of their broken banks after health checks next year that are expected to uncover problems that have festered since the financial crisis. Nobody knows the true scale of potential losses at Europe’s banks, but the International Monetary Fund hinted at the enormity of the problem this month, saying that Spanish and Italian banks face 230 billion euros ($310 billion) of losses alone on credit to companies in the next two years. Read more of this post

New law to curb Indonesia’s political dynasties

New law to curb Indonesia’s political dynasties

Monday, October 14, 2013 – 14:17

The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network

The House of Representatives is deliberating a regulation that would curb the growth of political dynasties in local administrations. House member from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Arief Wibowo said the new regulation would disable powerful families in local politics from exercising their control. “Political dynasties compromise democracy. But at the same time, we cannot not limit the constitutional rights of individuals,” Arief said, adding that the new law would strike a balance between the two. Discussion on political dynasties have been rampant following the arrest of Tubagus Chaeri Wardhana, the younger brother of Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah. The arrest has exposed the control of Atut’s family over Banten. Members of the family control at least five regencies and municipalities in the province.

Jakarta plans to control mushrooming street vendors

Jakarta plans to control mushrooming street vendors

Monday, October 14, 2013 – 14:19

Sita W. Dewi

The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network

The city administration intends to impose a moratorium on street vendors as part of its efforts to control their rapidly growing presence. The number of street vendors, who mostly occupy streets and public spaces alike, in Jakarta, has grown astoundingly. The city recorded that the number of street vendors in Jakarta had reached 92,751 in 2011. Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has said that the city would refer to the 2011 data before starting it began managing the vendors. “We will lock the figures and then we will manage the existing street vendors,” he said at City Hall recently. Read more of this post

In Indonesia, public opinion can condemn you to death

In Indonesia, public opinion can condemn you to death

Sunday, October 13, 2013 – 13:22

Endy Bayuni

The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network

INDONESIA – Death to judge Akil Mochtar! The former Constitutional Court chief isn’t going to be condemned to death after he was caught red-handed taking bribe money at his house in Jakarta this month. But public rage, steered by both his predecessors in the court, Jimly Asshiddiqie and Mahfud MD, called for his blood. Since the Corruption Law prescribes life imprisonment as the maximum punishment, the judge can rest in peace that even if the court should find him guilty he would be spared from the gallows, notwithstanding public opinion. Read more of this post

Analysis: Late Fed taper may do more harm than good for emerging nations

Analysis: Late Fed taper may do more harm than good for emerging nations

5:51pm EDT

By Alonso Soto

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Emerging nations heaved a sigh of relief when the Federal Reserve last month decided not to reduce its monetary stimulus. By postponing the inevitable, the U.S. central bank took pressure off emerging markets to implement reforms that could make them more resilient when the Fed does eventually reverse policy. “It’s very easy to get addicted to high global liquidity,” Guillermo Ortiz, chairman of Mexico’s largest locally owned bank, Grupo Financiero Banorte, told Reuters. Read more of this post

FDIC Says China Among Nations Nearing Deals on Bank-Failure Path

FDIC Says China Among Nations Nearing Deals on Bank-Failure Path

China, Japan, Switzerland and Germany are among nations close to reaching arrangements with U.S. regulators to ease the dismantling of failed banks, said Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg. U.S. regulators are working with German and Swiss counterparts on joint white papers similar to agreements already in place with the U.K. for how banks governed by multiple jurisdictions could be unwound by their host nations, Gruenberg said in remarks prepared for a speech today in Washington. The FDIC will secure memorandums of understanding on bank resolutions with China and Japan soon, he said. Read more of this post