Yuan Eclipsed in Beijing Talks by Europe, North Korea

By Bloomberg News

May 26 (Bloomberg) -- U.S.-China talks set up primarily to head off bilateral disputes focused much of the past two days on threats to global stability, as Europe’s debt crisis and military tension on the Korean peninsula overtook the agenda.

About 200 U.S. officials yesterday wrapped up meetings in Beijing as the euro’s decline to an eight-year low against the yen and a 4.7 percent plunge in the won overshadowed sparring on trade and China’s control of its exchange rate. The external distractions, both financial and geopolitical, prompted talk of closer cooperation between what will likely be the world’s two largest economies by year end.

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U.S., China Sidestep Yuan as Europe Dominates Talks

By Bloomberg News | May 25, 2010

May 25 (Bloomberg) -- China and the U.S. focused their first day of talks in Beijing on joint efforts to prop up the world’s economy in the face of a European sovereign-debt crunch that pushed off a showdown on the yuan’s value. 

Officials “spent quite a bit of time discussing the European debt crisis,” Chinese central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said at a press briefing. The nation’s currency policy is being “touched upon” at the talks, he said. 

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Bangkok Burns, CRES imposed a Curfew as at yesterday, Wednesday, 19 May 2010

Four Thai anti-government protest leaders including Natthawut Saikua and Jatuporn Prompan surrendered to police on Wednesday.

Red-shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan announced from the stage at 1.15pm that that he and other leaders would surrender to prevent further losses.

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More Images of What Chrome OS will Probably Look Like

Chrome OS — Google’s lightning quick operating system that’s based entirely on the Chrome browser — is due out the second half of this year (check out our report earlier this evening on its progress).  We’ve seen some demos of it in action, and even tried out an early version ourselves, but there are still plenty of question marks as far as how people will actually use this thing. After all, while the browser will be able to accomplish most tasks, users are going to want some degree of multitasking, and there’s also the question of how users will be navigating Chrome OS’s basic file structure.

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Sime Darby Review by RHB - 14 May 2010

Review from RHB on Sime Darby losses on their Energy & Utilities division. View the report.

Malaysia - National Key Economic Areas 2010 -2020

A must read to have some understanding where and how Malaysia is to grow into a develop nation by 2020. On the macro level, Malaysia must achieve 6% to 6.5% GDP growth every year consistently to achieve high income economy by 2020. Measured in Gross National Income, from current ~USD7,000 (2008) to threshold target of ~USD17,000 (2020). Read the rest of presentation.

EMR - Risk & Threat from Handphones & Avoid Handphone with Kids

Some precautionary measures can be taken in using handphones. Read the rest of presentation.

Chart of the Day - Selected Euro Nations debt positions

May 17 (Bloomberg) -- Germans, who largely opposed their country’s participation in a bailout for Greece, are more indebted than the citizens of the Mediterranean nation they share a currency with. 

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Fears Intensify That Euro Crisis Could Snowball

May 16, 2010 | by Nelson D. Scwartz and Eric Dash | www.nytimes.com

After a brief respite following the announcement last week of a nearly $1 trillion bailout plan for Europe, fear in the financial markets is building again, this time over worries that the Continent’s biggest banks face strains that will hobble European economies.

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Europe’s Debt Crisis Casts a Shadow Over China

May 17 2010 | by Keith Bradsher | www.nytimes.com

HONG KONG — The pain of the European debt crisis is spreading as the plummeting euro makes Chinese companies less competitive in Europe, their largest market, and complicates any move to break the Chinese currency’s peg to the dollar.

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PetroChina Takes First Steps to Acquire Scotland’s Oil Refinery

 www.businessweek.com | March 07, 2010

March 5 (Bloomberg) -- PetroChina Co., the nation’s biggest energy producer, started taking initial steps in its acquisition of Scotland’s only oil-processing plant that would give the Hong Kong-listed company its first European refining operation.

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What future for Repsol, if YPF is sold?

www.reuters.com | July 3, 2009 3:55pm

The news that Repsol YPF has been approached by Chinese companies seeking to buy or take interests in the majority of its upstream assets is something of a mixed blessing for the Spanish group.

On the one hand, Repsol has been trying for years to extract itself from the horrible mess of Argentine politics that embroils YPF, and the prospect of a well-funded buyer that is not too concerned about short-term returns coming along to pay a good price for the unwanted business seems like a godsend.

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CNPC to bid $17 bln for Repsol YPF's Argentinian unit: report

www.reuters.com | July 2 2009

(Reuters) - China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), the country's largest oil company, plans to revive a $17 billion bid for the Argentinian unit of Spanish oil major Repsol-YPF, the South China Morning Post reported on Thursday, citing sources.

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CNPC, PetroChina eye Latin American oil holdings

www.chinaeconomicreview.com | April 14 2008

China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and its listed subsidiary PetroChina have expressed interest in the US$10 billion-worth of South American refineries and upstream assets which may be put up for sale by Spanish oil company Repsol YPF, the South China Morning Post reported. PetroChina and its state-owned parent, which operate an equal joint venture for overseas acquisitions called CNPC Exploration, have not said whether contact has been made with Repsol. But sources close to the matter say the current US$10 billion sale is a modified version of a US$20 billion deal that CNPC Exploration tried to arrange on two occasions last year, only to see Repsol back out. Repsol, the world's fifth-largest oil and gas company, owns three refineries in Peru and Brazil , has oil and gas development rights in eight South American countries and also distributes natural gas in the region.

Malaysia Raises Rate as Faster Growth Eclipses Europe Threat

www.bloomberg.com | By Shamim Adam and Ranjeetha Pakiam

May 14 (Bloomberg) -- Malaysia’s central bank raised interest rates for the second time this year as growth accelerated, judging that risks stemming from low borrowing costs are greater than any impact from Europe’s debt crisis. 

Bank Negara Malaysia increased its benchmark overnight policy rate to 2.5 percent from 2.25 percent, it said in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, a decision that was predicted by 21 of 22 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Gross domestic product increased 10.1 percent in the three months ended March 31 from a year earlier, the most in a decade, a separate report showed. 

Asian central banks are pulling back monetary stimulus as the region’s growth outpaces the rest of the world. Malaysia will be able to absorb increased volatility in its markets as a result of the turmoil in Europe, and has the “policy flexibility” to act should global conditions worsen, Bank Negara Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz said yesterday. 

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Semisub Sinks Offshore Venezuela

by  Rigzone Staff | Thursday, May 13, 2010

Aban Pearl

The Aban Pearl semisubmersible rig sank off the Venezuelan coast near Trinidad and Tobago at approximately 2:20 a.m. local time Thursday, Dow Jones Newswires reported citing a "tweet" from President Hugo Chavez' Twitter account.

According to Rigzone sources, two people may have died in the incident. Venezuelan officials, however, reported that all 95 workers aboard the rig were safely evacuated. In addition, they contend the incident poses no threat to the environment.

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Sime Darby - RM964m provision for E&U (16sen per share) bigger than expected and change in management

www.klse.com.my (announcement) | 13.05.2010

SIME DARBY ADDRESSING CHALLENGES IN ITS ENERGY & UTILITIES DIVISION

The Board of Directors of Sime Darby Berhad would like to state that in October 2009 it established a Board Work Group to review the operations of its Energy & Utilities Division (the “Division”). The purpose of the Work Group was to assess the corporate governance and performance of the Division, following its results in FY2009. The Work Group consists of Datuk Seri Panglima Andrew Sheng Len Tao (Chairman), Tan Sri Wan Mohd Zahid Mohd Noordin and Datin Paduka Zaitoon Dato’ Othman. The Work Group has been advised by independent lawyers and accountants.

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962 confirmed cases of HFMD with several deaths reported in Kunming

By : Kunming | Updated: 2010-05-11

The number of confirmed cases of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) cases in Kunming has been increasing recently. Up to May 2, there are 962 confirmed cases have been reported merely in Kunming Children's Hospital, and severe cases have increased markedly.

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EU Crafts $962 Billion Show of Force to Halt Crisis

www.bloomberg.com | By James G. Neuger and Meera Louis

May 10 (Bloomberg) -- European policy makers unveiled an unprecedented loan package worth nearly $1 trillion and a program of securities purchases as they spearheaded a drive to stop a sovereign-debt crisis that threatened to shatter confidence in the euro.

Jolted into action by last week’s slide in the currency to a 14-month low and soaring bond yields in Portugal and Spain, governments of the 16 euro nations agreed to make loans of as much as 750 billion euros ($962 billion) available to countries under attack from speculators.

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Inflation Fears May Slow Malaysia Subsidy Cuts, Economists Say

www.bloomberg.com | By Barry Porter

May 10 (Bloomberg) -- Malaysia may cut subsidies slowly to prevent triggering record inflation as it prepares to revamp a system that’s hampered efforts to reduce the budget deficit, Standard Chartered Plc and Citigroup Inc. said.

A taskforce is exploring ways to revamp the government’s entire portfolio of subsidies that keep the cost of essential items from flour to highway tolls low for consumers. An attempt to reduce the amount the state pays to cap fuel prices caused inflation to surge to a 26-year high in 2008 as gasoline became more expensive.

The government will learn from past experience and ensure its subsidy cuts will be a “very tempered, gradual process,” Alvin Liew, an economist at Standard Chartered in Singapore, said May 7. “They still have time on their hands. It’s not a Greek situation where they need a bailout, not yet anyway.”

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G-7 to Confer on Greece as Stocks Fall on Contagion

www.bloomberg.com | By Mayumi Otsuma and Kyoko Shimodoi
 

May 7 (Bloomberg) -- The Group of Seven plans to hold a conference call today to discuss the Greek debt crisis, according to Japanese Finance Minister Naoto Kan, after a global stock rout sparked by concern debt woes are spreading. 

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Greek Riots Threaten to Scare Tourists Key to Economy

www.bloomberg.com | By Armorel Kenna, Natalie Weeks and Mary Childs

May 6 (Bloomberg) -- The protests and riots in Athens threaten to undermine tourism, one of Greece’s few growth industries and the country’s best hope of easing the pain of its unprecedented austerity program.

“People will think twice about going to Greece,” said Ian Gamse, a director at London-based Otus & Co., which advises Marriott International Inc. and Hilton Worldwide. “People who have booked are going to start calling their tour operators. If Greece can’t get the situation under control, it is going to be a big problem.” 

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Situasi Semasa Influenza A (H1N1) 29 April 2010

Malaysian news

Sehingga jam 8:00 pagi pada 29 April 2010,
·    Kementerian telah menerima sejumlah tiga (3) laporan kejadian kluster ILI daripada dua (2) buah negeri.

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Monetary Conditions To Be Normalised At A Measured Pace And The Ringgit Will Likely Fluctuate At RM3.20-3.30/US$

◆ Countries across the Asia Pacific have stepped up their efforts to normalise their monetary conditions. The normalisation of monetary conditions, in our view, aims to prevent asset prices and financial imbalances from building up in some countries and to address rising inflationary pressures in others.

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Europe approves giant Greece bailout

http://news.yahoo.com | Sun May 2, 5:23 pm ET 

BRUSSELS (AFP) – European governments Sunday endorsed an unprecedented 110-billion-euro bailout to save Greece from bankruptcy and shore up the single currency after Athens agreed to draconian spending cuts.

The first installment of the eurozone-IMF rescue package will be paid within the next few weeks, with the rest spread over three years and conditional on a swathe of painful cuts and tax rises in Greece, they said.
  
AFP – A man passes by a shop window in downtown Athens. European governments Sunday endorsed an unprecedented bail out.

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