Asian governments have used every trick in the book to push consumers to buy more goods, to keep the economy healthy and kicking. With the industry faltering and exports slowing to seven year lows, all Asian governments have taken some precautionary measures - reduced interest rates and pumped money into the economy. Nonetheless, many have gone a step further in promoting consumer spending. Recession hit Japan is distributing cash payments to households, China is giving tax breaks on purchases of cellphones and washing machines and India which has already reduced fuel prices is handing out raises to four million public servants.

However, these governments have failed to overlook a problem culturally intrinsic to Asia. Asians are the world’s most-dedicated savers. Known to diligently pay back credit card debt at the end of every month, and only recently wager on large loans, Asian’s are savers. Their thriftiness having being reinforced by the Asian financial crisis, its getting increasingly difficult for governments to persuade consumers to loosen their purse strings when times are weary. As a result, Asian governments are themselves spending more to rejuvenate industry and jump start the economy.

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In a stunning boost to discovering, protecting and conserving our environment, the World Wildlife Fund have discovered over 1,000 new species in the last decade in South East Asia’s Greater Mekong River region which spans flows 4500 kilometers through Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Burma and South China’s Yunnan province. The WWF said amongst the 1068 new species discovered, there were 519 plants, 279 fish, 88 frogs, 88 spiders, 46 lizards and 22 snakes. Scientists said they had found only a few in each species, many of which were already considered extinct or endangered. Read the rest of this entry »

ASEAN’s 10 member countries agreed to and enforced a charter which will set political, economic and social benchmarks, for the diverse region. Moving closer to forging an European Union-style community, the constitution of this charter sets out rules of membership, trade, investment, the environment, transforms ASEAN into a legal entity and envisages a single free trade area by 2015 for the region of some 500 million people. Until now ASEAN nations have been forming bilateral trade relations amongst themselves and neighboring countries in order to support each other.

“This is a momentous development when the ASEAN is consolidating, integrating and transforming itself into a community,” Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told the AFP after the charter came into force on Monday, adding that the implementation of the charter “is achieved while the ASEAN seeks a more vigorous role in Asian and global affairs.”

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Bird flu has raised its ugly head again and is spreading quickly throughout most of Asia and beyond. Cases have been confirmed by the WHO in Hong Kong, North East India, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia, while South Korea and Thailand have been put on high alert. According to the Wall Street Journal, Indian authorities in the North eastern state of Assam said they would cull 200,000 chickens while Hong Kong authorities have already quarantined a chicken farm and culled 80,000 birds. In Indonesia, two deaths by avian influenza were confirmed while in Cambodia, a 19 year old girl is known to have caught the H5N1 virus.

The spread and massive outbreak of the avian virus five years after it created havoc across south east Asia begs the question of effectiveness of the vaccines. Even though the spread of viruses are amplified when the weather changes - around this time, many experts believe that poultry farms are using vaccines that don’t provide full protection against the H5N1 virus or its mutations, leaving millions vulnerable.

“The virus is definitely mutating,” Guan Yi, an expert on the H5N1 virus at the University of Hong Kong told Reuters, warning that in some areas authorities were using batches of vaccine that were no longer effective.

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Thailand’s stock market rose almost three percent closing at 437.06, up 12.27 points, in trade worth 19.48 billion baht (US$560 million) on news that the political deadlock plaguing the country since the past six months was resolved.

As England born Abhisit Vejjajiva head of he opposition Democrat Party was declared the winner in a parliamentary vote, business leaders throughout the country welcomed the decision. The challenge they now feel is for the new political party to form a strong team and improve the economy while keeping society and politics in harmony. Agriculture, small businesses, tourism and labor are the four sectors that need the most government support.

“The faster [the Democrats] are able to restore confidence, the more public support and trust there will be in their team. I want to see the new government pass the 100-billion-baht stimulus package as soon as possible,” Mr Santi Vilassakdanont, the chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) told the Bangkok Post.

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Its hard to find positive news to start this week off with, so lets try to find the silver lining around the cloud of gloom.  The International Air Transport Association (IATA) based in Geneva announced last week that although the airline industry will be loosing US$5 billion in 2008, lowered oil prices and passenger traffic during the second half of 2008, will mean airlines will cut fares in 2009 by about 5 percent.

The IATA announced that Asia-Pacific airlines will be the most severely hit  loosing approximately US$1 billion in 2009 predominantly due to a drop in cargo. Asia-pacific carriers currently account for 45 percent of global cargo market .

Describing the present industry crisis as the toughest revenue environment in 50 years Giovanni Bisignani, director-general of the IATA told the Times of India “Asia Pacific losses will more than double to $1.1 billion, the biggest ever…. Japan is in recession. China is suffering from a major drop in export market. India’s carriers, already suffering high taxes and insufficient infrastructure, can expect a drop in demand from last month’s tragic events.”

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As companies begin to downsize and trim the fat globally, they are looking at outsourcing many operations to lower cost destinations. While undisputed leader in offshore services India and her greatest challenger in terms of potential scale China continue to remain top destinations for companies looking at cutting costs Vietnam and Thailand too have aggressively captured a larger share of the world outsourcing pie.

According to Gartner’s 30 Top countries for Offshore Services in 2008 report, 10 Asia Pacific countries made it to the list. Amongst them were Australia, China, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The IT research and advisory company said costs, language skills, cultural compatibility, time zone and travel time were important considerations in choosing these locations. Further, many customers preferred Australia, New Zealand and Singapore due to their mature environments while others outsourced to Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam for cost benefits.

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Even as the Asian Development bank dims its Asia GDP growth forecast for 2009, from 7.2 percent to 5.8 percent, Central bankers from East Asia - China, Japan and South Korea have decided to meet this weekend to discuss regional economic and financial issues.  The meetings will be aimed at enhancing dialogue among the financial policymakers who feel the region needs to work cohesively to withstand impacts of the crisis. Read the rest of this entry »

Envoys to the six-nation talks on North Korea’s nuclear programme convened for a third day in Beijing today. The crux of their discussions being ways to procure soil and waste samples from North Korea’s Yongbyon reactor while abiding by North Korea’s rule of not allowing international inspectors to the site. The samples procured will determine how much weapons-grade plutonium is produced in Yongbyon.

The talks through which the six nations have been unable to reach a consensus for five years now aim at agreeing on a process to satisfy all sides that Pyongyang is fully complying with a multilateral disarmament-for-aid deal signed early last year. North Korea — which tested a nuclear bomb in 2006 — agreed last year to disable its main reactor in exchange for aid. Last October U.S. officials also said that North Korea had agreed to allow experts to take samples and conduct forensic tests at all of its declared nuclear facilities and undeclared sites.

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A shrinking western demand, rising inflation and a  scarcity of trade finance have resulted in a significant slump in Asian exports, putting a dampener on the festive season. While governments have tried various measures to stimulate their economies including generous stimulus  packages, reducing interest rates by up to 1 percent and increasing inter-regional trade, exports have continued to decline.

Exports are the growth engine of Asia and contribute more than 46 percent of gross domestic product for the region’s main economies outside Japan. The 5-6 percent drop in demand from richer western nations has meant a significant drop in goods and services exported from Asia. As a result, not only are many Asian economies experiencing the lowest exports since the dot com bubble seven years ago, but their currencies have also nosedived. Bloomberg said eight of the region’s 10 most-traded currencies excluding the yen dropped this week as investors became net sellers of shares from South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines. 2point6billion, rounds up the fall in exports and currencies around Asia.

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