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Regulatory measures, applied to tame the price volatility, pulled down the turnover last week on the bourses by more than 20 per cent from their week-ago levels.
   The total turnover at the Dhaka Stock Exchange dropped by 24.30 per cent last week to Tk 534.51 crore from the previous week’s total of Tk 706.11 crore.
   At the Chittagong Stock Exchange, total turnover value fell by 22.78 per cent to Tk 103.01 crore in the week from Tk 133.40 crore of the previous week.
   Analysts and market players said five leading stocks suffered steep fall in share prices and transactions under regulated spot trade, eating into the bourses’ total turnover.
   Price and transaction movements of those leading stocks guided the overall market, they said.
   Shares of Power Grid Company Bangladesh, BRAC Bank, Dhaka Electric Supply Company, Summit Power and Eastern Cables were traded under the spot market without money adjustment facility from Monday to Wednesday as per a Securities and Exchange Commission directive.
   The capital market watchdog later withdrew the directive and allowed the major five companies to return to normal trading from Thursday after the commission was convinced that the volatility in prices and transactions eased substantially.
    Stock prices ended the week mixed on the Dhaka bourse while all indices fell on the Chittagong bourses.
   DSE general index lost 3.20 points or 0.17 per cent to close at 1851.71 on Thursday, while the blue chips index, DSE20, shed 15.83 points or 1.06 per cent to close at 1484.29.
   DSE all share price index lost 17.15 points or 1.14 per cent to close at 1517.67.
   Selective categories index of the CSE lost 89.4 points or 3.17 per cent to close at 2735 on Thursday, while the blue chips index, CSE30, shed 79.52 points or 2.21 per cent to close at 3517.96.
   CSE all share price index lost 56.65 points or 1.33 per cent to close at 4197.63.
   Grameen Mutual Fund One was the biggest gainers in the week on the DSE with 34.42 per cent rise in its share prices.
   Eastern Lubricants was the worst loser witnessing 20.06 per cent decline.
   PGCB topped the turnover index with total transactions of Tk 82.89 crore on the DSE while Pubali Bank was the biggest turnover leader on the CSE with Tk 11.41 crore.
   Other turnover leaders on the prime bourse were BRAC Bank, Grameen Mutual Fund One, Pubali Bank, DESCO, Aims 1st Mutual Fund, UCBL, Lafarge Surma Cement, Square Textile and Mutual Trust Bank.
   Rupali Bank, PGCB, BRAC Bank, Aims 1st MF, Lafarge Surma Cement, Grameen MF One, Daffodil Computers, Square Textile and Bextex were among the stocks that led the port city exchange turnover.

Borrowing from the central bank to narrow the governments’ fiscal deficit has grown by 19.47 per cent on an average over the last 15 years, pushed by a revenue shortfall and a declining trend of external aid flow, an official study says.
   The growth of borrowing has however resulted in an increase of money supply, pushing inflation up.
   The study on debt management by Bangladesh Bank says the reserve money and broad money have grown by 12.46 per cent and 14.23 per cent on average between 1990-2006.
   Zaid Bakht, research director of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, said the growth of money supply fuelled inflation and put a negative impact on exchange rates.
   Bakht said the government’s borrowing from domestic sources in the first six months of the current fiscal year surpassed the all-year target.
   He said circumstantial reasons because of a major shortfall in revenue collections and a decline in external aid inflow forced the government to take extra money over the first six months.
   ‘We should return to fiscal prudence instead of fiscal profligacy,’ Bakht said.
   A BB researcher said inflation could be checked if money supply remains lower than the growth of output and inflation.
   He said the growth of money supply is now higher than the growth of production.

The dangers and opportunities of the Internet are soon to be brought to mobile phones, industry experts predicted this week, raising serious questions about how parents can control what their children view and who they contact.
   Most kids use their computers at home, making Internet surveillance easier, but a mobile phone is a personal device by design and a jealously guarded symbol of independence for many.
   Fully-fledged mobile Internet access still eludes network operators, but they are already expanding their services and have a declared goal of replicating the computer Internet experience on mobile phones.
   ‘Clearly there is more content on an open Internet site (than on a mobile Internet site),’ said Vodafone marketing director Frank Rovekamp at the mobile phone industry’s biggest trade show, 3GSM.
   ‘But we are opening up and so there is more access to information than there used to be.’
   Fears about paedophilia and cyber-bullying drive calls for more parental oversight, but the risk of high bills, anti-social behaviour and the problem of injudicious calling in schools also favour tighter discipline.
   ‘The technology exists to be able to govern, censure and guide,’ says Michael Anderson, senior vice president of Telcordia, a software company that helped Disney develop one of the first mobile phones for children.
   But many believe that phone network operators have been slow to integrate functions allowing parents to vet their children’s behaviour and limit their phone use.
   ‘What you can see now is the very early stages of operators providing choices, such as whether you have adult content or not,’ said Ajay Nigan, new product manager of VeriSign, an Internet security software maker.
   ‘As they offer more services they have to provide these options,’ he said.
   The Disney phone, launched last year in the United States replete with Mickey Mouse or Tigger branding, gives parents broad powers to specify when calls can be made, which sites can be accessed and how high the bill can go.
   ‘What’s happened is that suddenly we’ve gone from 18-year-olds to nine- or 10-year-olds using these (mobiles) as active devices,’ said Anderson.
   ‘It is dawning on us parents that there are lots of interesting things out there, but there are things we don’t want to explain and there are bills we don’t want to pay.’
   Explicit content is already available over mobile phones, but self-regulation by operators has led to customers needing to prove their age for access and in some countries laws prohibit mobile phone pornography.
   US-based technology group Genmobi believe they have found a solution for parents wanting strict powers of censure and supervision.
   They have developed customised programmes called ‘Buzz Kidz’ and ‘Buzz Teenz’ that allow junior phone users access to only authorised sites and chat services. It also includes a built-in bad language detector that informs parents when expletives are exchanged.

The Canadian penny is rarely used and costs at least 130 million dollars (112 million US) annually to keep in circulation, estimates a financial institution that called Thursday for an end to the penny.
   The costs include production, storing and transportation, Desjardins Group, one of Canada’s largest financial companies, said in a study.
   ‘In a global economy such as ours, there are no small economies to help us reduce our costs and be more competitive,’ said Francois Dupuis, Desjardins vice president and chief economist.
   According to a Desjardins survey, only 37 per cent of Canadians use pennies, but the government continues to produce about 816 million pennies per year, equal to 25 pennies per Canadian.
   Some 20 billion pennies are now in circulation, estimates Desjardins.
   The Royal Canadian Mint said it costs about 0.8 cents (0.7 cents US) to make a penny, but Desjardins calculated the cost at about 1.5 cents (1.3 cents US) while others pegged it even higher.
   Most respondents (56 per cent) said they collect them to deposit or spend at a later date, or to give them to others such as children, churches or charities.

Newly well-off Asians are becoming more and more wasteful as they emulate the West’s consumption patterns and the environment is suffering as a result, the Asian Development Bank said Friday.
   Some estimates show that in Asia, the world’s export and manufacturing dynamo, 90 per cent of production materials are never used in the final product and some 80 per cent of all products are discarded after a single use, the Philippines-based lender said in a statement.
   ‘The result is greatly expanded economic production characterised by wasteful resource use compared to global standards and high levels of waste,’ it said.
   The average daily output of solid waste alone from Asia’s largest cities is estimated at 760,000 tonnes and expected to rise to 1.8 million tonnes per day by 2025, it added. New production and consumption patterns have altered the quantity and nature of materials that must be managed, especially in Asia’s urban areas,’ said Nessim Ahmad, director of ADB’s environment and social safeguards division.
   ‘The growing volume and toxicity of waste disposed of on land into the air and waterways is simply threatening to overwhelm our cities.’ The bank said proper waste recovery, treatment or disposal is ‘very costly’ and ‘is increasingly beyond the financial resources or political will of many national and municipal governments.’
   Asian companies are also gradually realising that this forms part of hidden costs that directly affect their international competitiveness, it added.
   The bank said regional and economic integration was also accelerating the cross-border trade in used goods, with Asia accepting ‘tens of millions of pieces of discarded electronics equipment every year’ that contains more than 1,000 different substances, ‘many of which are toxic.’

Bangladesh Leather Service Centre has set eyes on acquiring accreditation for leather quality testing and certification within one year from the International Laboratory Accreditation Co-operation.
   ‘We are now undertaking steps to carry out various laboratory related tasks for physical and chemical testing to build up capacity required for getting the accreditation,’ BLSC coordinator Golam Hossain said.
   International Laboratory Accreditation Co-operation is a globally recognised organisation that facilitates acceptance of test, inspection and incorporation of data of goods across national borders.
   He said the BLSC had already appointed five technical and assistant technical officers and was in the process of appointing another nine technical persons within a month.
   Leather sector business promotion council of commerce ministry and the Bangladesh College of Leather Technology have been jointly working for developing the BLSC as a good service center with the support of International Trade Centre.
   Basudev Bhattacharya, international consultant of ITC-Geneva is now in Dhaka to oversee steps being taken to make the BLSC a viable centre.
   Golam Hossain mentioned that the project had already missed its target and was three months behind in starting laboratory related work due to a strike by the teachers and technicians of the leather college.
   BLSC sources said the organisation was planning to do 10 physical tests and 10 chemical tests for shoes and leather this year.

The French balance of payments showed a sharply increased deficit in 2006 mainly because the balance of trade in services deteriorated, the finance ministry reported on Friday.
   The balance of payments on current account, a key measure of payments into and out of a country, showed a deficit of 25.3 billion euros (33.1 billion dollars) from a deficit of 19.3 billion euros in 2005.
   In December alone the balance showed a deficit, on an adjusted basis, of 2.9 billion euros from 2.2 billion euros in November, a figure which was revised downwards.
   For many months analysts have commented that France appears to have moved into a structural weakness in its trade and payments balances, suggesting that this may be the result of an erosion of underlying competitiveness.

Arcelor Mittal, the world’s largest steel producer, said Thursday it had signed an agreement to form a joint venture with a Saudi partner to design and build a seamless steel tube mill in Saudi Arabia.
   Under the deal signed with the Bin Jarallah Group, the mill will be built in Jubail Industrial City on the Gulf and will have a capacity of 500,000 tons per year, two thirds of which will be for tubes used in the oil industry.
   Arcelor Mittal said in a statement that construction would begin at the end of the first quarter 2008 and was scheduled to be completed by the end of 2009. When operational the plant will employ 420 people.
   Arcelor Mittal, which will have management and operating rights, will hold a 51 per cent stake in the venture and the Bin Jarallah Group 49 per cent.
   ‘This project gives us a strategic opportunity to enter the Middle East’s—and in particular Saudi Arabia’s—thriving markets,’ said Sudhir Maheshwari, Arcelor Mittal executive vice president.
   ‘Its location provides access to international sea lanes through the ... Gulf as well as proximity to energy sources.’

The dollar regained ground against the yen and euro in Asian trade on Friday amid uncertainty on the outlook for interest rates in Japan, dealers said.
   The dollar rose to 119.40 yen late afternoon from 119.18 yen in New York Thursday while the euro slipped to 1.3135 dollars from 1.3139 dollars. The euro was at 156.83 yen, edging up from 156.70 in New York.
   The dollar had sagged overnight to five-week lows against the yen after a weaker-than-expected survey of US industrial output and news of a sharp drop in capital inflows, combined with earlier figures showing robust growth in Japan.
   The Japanese figures out Thursday showed that the economy grew at its fastest pace in almost three years in the three months to December.
   But many analysts considered it a one-time spurt, leaving uncertain whether the Bank of Japan would make the politically sensitive decision to increase ultra-low interest rates next week.
   “The rate-hike speculation and Japanese investors repatriating proceeds from the US bond market into the yen were providing support for the yen,” said Seiichi Kanazawa, client manager at Resona Bank.
   “But it is difficult to make major moves today because the market is yet to fully digest the rate hike speculation and the long weekend coming up in the United States,” he said.
   US markets are closed Monday for a public holiday.
   The US unit also remained top heavy against the Japanese unit as investors bought the yen to repatriate proceeds from redeemed US bonds, dealers said.
   Analysts from National Australia Bank Capital Markets said the strong Japanese growth data raised the possibility of an interest rate hike here but it was still uncertain.
   “Strong growth in Japan and, most importantly, a rebound in private consumption boosted expectations for a Bank of Japan rate hike next week to a 54 percent implied chance from 40 percent,” they said in a market note.
   The dollar rose to 39.95 Taiwan dollars from 32.85 and to 935.70 South Korean won from 934.80.
   The greenback fell to 33.35 Thai baht from 33.48, to 48.21 Philippine pesos from 48.34 and to 1.5335 Singapore dollars from 1.5386. It was flat at 9,047 Indonesian rupiah.

DaimlerChrysler AG’s Chrysler Group and General Motors Corp are in talks on a joint project that would provide Chrysler with a version of the big Chevrolet Tahoe sport utility, the New York Times said on Friday, citing people with direct knowledge of the talks.
   The paper said there was no indication of when the two companies might reach a conclusion in the talks, which it said have been under way for about six months, according to the same sources.
   The Wall Street Journal also reported on Friday that an alliance between the two Detroit carmakers was possible, citing people familiar with the matter.
   An agreement is far from certain, the Journal said, and added that the sources discounted the potential that a possible GM-Chrysler alliance based on specific vehicles would develop into something deeper.
   The Journal also reported that Chrysler’s chief executive said he wanted to use new alliances to more than double sales outside North America.

Global banking giant HSBC said Friday it will sell its 27 percent stake in Ping An Bank to a subsidiary of Ping An Insurance’s parent company for 29.4 million US dollars.
   HSBC, which owns 19.9 percent of Ping An Insurance, China’s second-largest life insurer, will sell its stake to Shenzhen Commercial Bank (SZCB), which is owned by the Ping An Group. ‘The transaction is part of Ping An Group’s consolidation of its banking businesses within SZCB. HSBC is supporting its Chinese partner in this endeavor,’ the bank said.
   Vincent Cheng, chairman of HSBC unit Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp, said the bank will continue to invest in and expand its operations in China while strengthening relations with strategic partners including Ping An Group.
   HSBC’s other partners in China include Bank of Communications and Bank of Shanghai.
   ‘These strategic investments are a core component of our group strategy in China,’ Cheng said.
   He added the bank is in the process of locally incorporating its China business to allow it to further expand its network and services on the mainland.

Seiyu Ltd., the Japanese unit of US retail giant Wal-Mart, said Friday its losses more than tripled in 2006 as restructuring costs offset a tentative improvement in sales.
   Seiyu posted net losses of 55.79 billion yen (467.5 million dollars), up from 17.77 billion yen in 2005 as the company spent 49.3 billion yen to clean up its balance sheet.
   Operating profit, however, more than doubled to 3.22 billion yen from 1.23 billion in 2005 as existing-store sales grew for the first time in 15 years and the company stepped up efforts to reduce costs. Overall revenue declined 3.6 percent to 960.86 billion yen due to the effect of store closures and the sale of subsidiaries. The figures were roughly in line with the group’s downgraded forecasts released last month.
   ‘In 2006, we saw improvement in sales and profitability and there has been a stabilisation of the business,’ said chief executive Ed Kolodzieski, who was parachuted in by Wal-Mart in 2005 after it took control of ailing Seiyu.
   ‘We continue to focus on speedy changes in merchandising and services based on customer needs,’ Kolodzieski said in a statement.
   Seiyu expects to return to the black in 2007 with a net profit of 800 million yen and operating profit of 10.6 billion yen on revenue of 992.1 billion yen, assuming that existing store sales will rise by 1.7 percent. Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, spent 67.5 billion yen in December 2005 to raise its stake in Seiyu from 42.48 percent to a controlling 53.56 percent and take a bigger share of the world’s number two retail market.

Philippine exports are seen rising by a slower 10-12 percent clip this year due mainly to the rise in the local currency against the dollar, a business group said Friday.
   Weak electronics shipments saw Philippine exports fall 3.8 percent from a year earlier to 3.68 billion dollars in December, the first downturn in 13 months.
   For the whole year, exports still grew 14 percent to 473 billion dollars, outpacing the government’s growth target of 10 percent.
   ‘Philippine exports continuously declined, especially in the last quarter of 2006,’ said Sergio Ortiz-Luis, treasurer of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
   ‘The reason was the new exchange rate where local exporters were hurt,’ he told reporters. The peso was at a six-year high of 48.140 to the dollar Friday and dealers said some forecasts see the local unit topping out at 47.50.
   ‘Thus, this year, we pegged the country’s export growth at 10-12 percent,’ Ortiz-Luis said, adding: ‘But 15 percent would be a fighting target.’
   He said small- and medium-scale enterprises were ‘badly hit’ by the peso’s strength.
   ‘Remittances from overseas Filipino workers and semiconductor and electronics exports, which are expected to grow better this year, will drive the country’s economy,’ said Alberto Fenix, president-emeritus of the chamber.

Oil prices eased slightly in Asian trade Friday as the markets focussed on high US inventory levels and OPEC left its demand growth forecast for this year unchanged, analysts said.
   At 1:26 pm (0526 GMT) New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, was down seven cents to 57.92 dollars a barrel from 57.99 dollars in late US trades Thursday.
   Brent North Sea crude for April shed 20 cents to 57.40 dollars.
   ‘In the short-term, the market is bearish as inventory levels are overall high and the (US) National Weather Service forecast shows weather in the northeast US is going to go above normal,’ said Tony Nunan, of Mitsubishi Corporation’s international petroleum business in Tokyo.
   Analysts at BMO Nesbitt Burns said in US trading hours that with the end of the heating season fast approaching ‘and Saudi resistance to more robust (output) cuts, current inventory levels have the potential to force prices lower in the near-term.’
   Saudi Arabia is the OPEC cartel’s biggest producer.
   The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said Thursday it was maintaining its estimate for growth of oil demand in 2007 at 1.5 per cent, in line with its previous monthly report.
   The cartel said it expected demand for OPEC crude to average about 30.25 million barrels per day, down 150,000 bpd from its 2006 estimate.
   Oil tumbled on Wednesday to close down more than a dollar following a smaller-than-expected decline in stockpiles of US distillates, including heating fuel.
   Distillates stocks fell by three million barrels to 133.3 million in the week ending February 9, according to the US Department of Energy (DoE). Analysts had expected a larger drop of four million barrels because of the freezing weather.

In a Valentine’s Day gift to the world, Google has dropped the invitation-only policy for Gmail and made the free e-mail service available to anyone.
   ‘Gmail sign-ups are now open worldwide,’ Google associate product manager David Murray said in a posting on the California Internet search engine’s website on Thursday. ‘No more waiting for someone to invite you.’
   People could create Gmail accounts at the website www.gmail.com.
   Murray’s posting was
   accompanied by a link to a set of YouTube videos that used marionettes made of office supplies to playfully extol the benefits of using Gmail. Google bought YouTube in November in a 1.65-billion-dollar stock deal.
   ‘But seriously folks, good relationships are built on good communication,’ Murray wrote. ‘There’s no reason you should struggle to reach the ones you love, and Gmail helps you communicate fast and easily.’
   Gmail has a built-in chat
   function letting people
   switch to instant messaging that is offered in more than 40 languages.
   Gmail was invitation-only when it launched on April Fool’s Day in 2004. It opened to the public on Wednesday, Valentine’s Day.
   Gmail competes with free e-mail services offered by rivals Yahoo and Microsoft.

Microsoft Corp chief executive Steve Ballmer said on Thursday analysts’ forecasts for revenue from Windows Vista in fiscal 2008 were ‘overly aggressive.’
   Ballmer’s comments come two weeks after the world’s largest software maker released Vista, the upgrade to its ubiquitous Windows operating system, and predicted that consumers will move to Vista faster than past Windows upgrades.
   In a strategy presentation to analysts, Ballmer said Vista will create a ‘small surge’ in PC sales in fiscal 2008, but would not spur a big increase over normal growth rates.
   ‘Some of the revenue models and revenue forecasts I’ve seen out there for Windows Vista are overly aggressive,’ said Ballmer. ‘I don’t think that much new money will race out of the consumers pockets into PCs.’
   In January, Microsoft made available Windows Vista after more than five years of development and numerous delays. Windows runs on more than 95 per cent of the world’s computers and represents the company’s biggest profit driver.
   The Windows franchise is the centerpiece of Microsoft’s business, because the company makes more than 75 cents in operating profit for every dollar of sales. The cash flow generated by Windows allows Microsoft to make investments in new business like digital music players and online services.
   Investor optimism about Windows Vista helped to push the shares up 30 per cent since June even though the stock has dipped in recent weeks.
   Microsoft shares fell 1.2 per cent in extended trading on Thursday to $29.10 from a Nasdaq close of $29.46.
   Todd Lowenstein, a co-portfolio manager for HighMark Capital Management’s Value Momentum Fund, which has about 3 per cent of its $1.5 billion in assets in Microsoft, said the market may have gotten a little too excited about Vista.
   ‘The stock had a good run recently and maybe it got a little ahead of the fundamentals,’ said Lowenstein. ‘There will ultimately be a migration to Vista and we think it’s going to be a huge catalyst.’

Japan said Friday it will join in a US complaint against China at the World Trade Organisation over Beijing’s industrial subsidies.
   ‘We are planning to participate in the complaint as a third-party country,’ trade minister Akira Amari told reporters.
   He said Japan decided to join the complaint after a request from Washington and hoped that China would address the subsidies issue.
   ‘We have been providing China with aid and know-how since it joined the WTO so that they can make necessary changes,’ Amari said.
   ‘This action by Japan to join the complaint as a third party is done in a spirit to encourage China to carry out the needed efforts.’
   The United States took China to the WTO on February 2, getting tough after years of quiet diplomacy. The global body will set up a settlement panel if the two nations fail to iron out the dispute within 60 days.
   The United States alleges that Beijing’s state subsidies for steel, paper, information technology and other industries make Chinese goods artificially cheap and prevent US companies from competing fairly.
   Amari acknowledged that Japanese firms that have Chinese partners have benefited greatly from the protective measures.
   ‘But we cannot tolerate it if it breaks the rules,’ Amari said.
   China is Japan’s largest trade partner, with Japanese companies depending on their giant neighbour as an industrial base and increasingly as a market for consumer goods.
   Japan and China have recently been repairing relations, with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing currently on a visit to Tokyo to pave the way for a rare trip in April by Premier Wen Jiabao.
   Japan’s ties with China and South Korea were badly strained during the 2001-2006 tenure of then prime minister Junichiro Koizumi, primarily over his repeated visits to a controversial war shrine.
   Despite the efforts to improve relations, Japan and China still have a host of disputes including over oil and gas resources.
   When bringing the case to the WTO, the United States said it invited its foreign partners including the European Union and Japan to join the case.
   The United States hauled China to the world body just after the Democrats, who have traditionally been more critical of China on trade issues, took control of the US Congress.

Thailand’s junta leader vowed Friday to take back control of Thai satellites operated by telecom giant Shin Corp, which was sold to a Singapore firm in a politically explosive deal last year.
   Shin Corp’s subsidiary Shin Satellite operates four telecom satellites, which are owned by the Thai government but are run by the company now controlled by Singapore’s state-linked investment firm Temasek Holdings.
   The junta leader, General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, said that the satellites were ‘treasures’ and said he would retrieve them.
   ‘Singapore is a small country that lacks any farming area, but they are rich capitalists and brokers who can buy our assets,’ he said.
   ‘I am concerned about our national assets that were bought. I want my assets back, especially the satellites. That’s one of our treasures that I really want,’ he told a gathering of military and government officials.
   ‘That’s what we have to think about, how we can retrieve our assets,’ he said.
   Sonthi has previously voiced fears that Singapore would use the satellites to spy on Thailand, and has ordered military officials to give up their cell phones in favor of walkie-talkies to prevent any espionage. Singapore has denied using the satellites to spy on its neighbour.
   Shin Corp was founded by deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by Sonthi in a bloodless coup in September.

A Malaysian company has won rights from the Cambodian government to develop a tourism project in Cambodia at a cost of two to three billion dollars, an official from the firm said Friday.
   KSKW, majority-owned by Malaysians with the Cambodian government holding a ‘very minor’ stake, has a 99-year lease for Ta Kiev island off Cambodia’s southern coast, the company’s spokesman Eddy Chew said.
   ‘In those 99 years we are supposed to be clearing it and putting up an integrated resort which includes gaming, a beach resort, golf course, marina and maybe even a theme park,’ Chew told AFP.
   ‘We have been given the rights to the entire island but we are encouraging eco-tourism and as such we are not clearing the whole island. We are considering 30 to 40 percent of the island for development,’ he said.
   Based in Phnom Penh, KSKW was created specifically for the project and is trying to raise 100 million dollars in funds in the next 12 months to start the initial phase of the project, including land clearing, Chew said.
   ‘We are looking into developing the whole 30 to 40 percent, which is about 350 to 400 hectares, in about a 10 year time frame,’ he said.
   KSKW is lead by Malaysian businessmen from northern Penang state with little development experience, but Chew said the firm would benefit from a strategic partnership with Chinese firm, the Zhong Rong Group.
   ‘Zhong Rong are offering their expertise as well as a joint venture possibility with us to develop the resorts because they come to us with the development experience as well,’ he said.
   ‘Zhong Rong are seasoned developers in China, they know what it takes to run a multi-billion dollar project,’ he said, adding KSKW was also talking to Malaysian developers.
   Despite plans for gaming outlets, Chew said the project was aimed at being more family-oriented and was not attempting to compete with integrated gaming resorts being developed in Singapore or with Malaysian gaming group Genting.
   ‘We are in a different market ... We are looking at the Chinese mainland market which gives us the biggest potential right now,’ said Chew, who noted increasing Chinese tourist arrivals in Southeast Asia.
   ‘It’s only a matter of time before the more well-exposed and well-educated mainland Chinese will start exploring places like Cambodia,’ he said.

China’s central bank on Friday ordered major commercial banks to set aside more money in reserves in an effort to slow the country’s red hot economy, the second such cooling measure of 2007.
   The People’s Bank of China said in a statement that the required deposit reserve ratio for commercial lenders would on February 25 rise 50 basis points to 10 percent.
   The action came as a
   result of sharp increases in China’s trade surplus, while excess liquidity in the banking system was ramping up easy credit.
   ‘Since 2006, the People’s Bank of China has used a combination of monetary tools to soak up liquidity in the banking system and has achieved some results,’ the central bank said in a statement posted on its website.

Indonesia’s economy picked up speed in the fourth quarter but the full year 2006 figure still fell short of the government target due to a slow first half caused by higher fuel prices, data released Friday showed.
   For the three months to December, the economy grew 6.1 percent compared with a year earlier but was down 1.9 percent from the previous quarter.
   Central Bureau of Statistics head Rusman Heriawan said for 2006, the economy grew 5.5 percent, short of the government target of 5.8 percent and below the 5.6 percent recorded in 2005.
   Analysts had expected fourth quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 4.5-6.8 percent year-on-year, with 2006 GDP up 5.2-5.5 percent.
   According to previously published figures, the economy expanded 5.52 percent year-on-year in the three months to September and was up 3.49 percent compared to the second quarter.
   Heriawan told reporters the data Friday confirmed economic growth remained solid in the fourth quarter even if there was a slight pullback in the full year pace from 2005.
   He said the slightly-below-projected growth number last year was largely due to a lacklustre performance in the first and second quarters when the economy was still feeling the effects of a large fuel price hike in October 2005.
   ‘We hope that investment will be better this year,’ Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Budiono earlier told reporters, adding the recent flooding in Jakarta and in some other parts of the country should not affect the economy’s growth prospects.
   A string of natural disasters including a major earthquake and tsunami in Java, along with flooding in parts of the country also weighed on the final figure.
   Heriawan noted the government was forced to re-allocate some of its resources to assist disaster victims and this had an impact on growth. In addition, low levels of investment had also curbed expansion, he added.

Europe’s main stock markets were generally weak on Friday, but losses were slight at the end of a week in which leading indices have reached the highest points for six years.
   London’s FTSE 100 index of leading shares edged up 0.04 percent to 6,435.80 points in morning trading, while in Frankfurt the DAX 30 dipped 0.09 percent to 6,952.49 points.
   In Paris the CAC 40 slipped also by 0.09 percent to 5,715.60 points. Shares in tyre maker Michelin gained 5.50 percent to 84.40 euros on enthusiastic comment by analysts on the company’s results and prospects published on Wednesday.
   The DJ Euro Stock 50 index of eurozone blue chip shares fell 0.28 percent to 4,246.29 points.
   The euro stood at 1.3131 dollars.
   Europe’s three main exchanges had hit multi-year highs on Wednesday, as investors welcomed comments from the head of the US Federal Reserve that suggested no imminent rise in US interest rates.
   Gains won have since succumbed to profit-taking.
   Wall Street’s main blue-chip index closed at a record high point on Thursday, after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke continued to offer Congress an upbeat economic outlook, dealers said.
   Japanese share prices closed slightly lower on Friday, easing off near seven-year highs as investors locked in profits ahead of next week’s interest rate decision by the central bank.
   Europe’s biggest company news announcement Friday came out of Spain, where the country’s second-biggest bank BBVA said it had reached an agreement to buy US bank Compass Bancshares for 9.6 billion US dollars (7.4 billion euros).
   Dealers said BBVA could be overpaying for its acquisition, which led to its share price dropping 3.25 percent to 19.32 euros in Madrid trade.
   In New York, the leading blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.18 percent at a record 12,765.01 points on Thursday.

Singapore's main exports rose 11.1 percent in January to reverse December's sharp decline following stronger shipments of pharmaceuticals and electronics, the government said Friday.
   The rise in non-oil domestic exports (NODX) to 14.99 billion Singapore dollars (9.8 billion US) beat analysts' expectations and turned around a 14.2 percent decline in December.
   But three holidays related to the Lunar New Year which fell in January 2006 helped magnify the increase.
   Total trade rose 14 percent to 68 billion dollars in January, compared with the previous month's 1.2 percent increase, International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore) said.
   NODX is a key barometer of the trade-reliant economy in Southeast Asia's most advanced economy.
   Exports of electronics products rose 2.1 percent to 6.35 billion dollars, clawing back from a 19.3 percent fall in December, International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore) said.
   Integrated circuits, computer parts and telecom equipment posted slightly higher growths, while other segments including disk drives and consumer electronics narrowed down their declines, the trade promotion agency said.
   Non-electronics products led by pharmaceuticals and petrochemicals climbed 18.8 percent to 8.64 billion dollars from a shrinkage of 9.7 percent in December.
   The pharmaceuticals category, which covers ingredients used for a wide range of medicines worldwide, expanded 12.6 percent after a 33 percent slide in December.
   Petrochemicals advanced 26.4 percent compared with a 1.1 percent fall the month before, the agency said.
   "The improvement in NODX can be attributed to stronger electronic and non-electronic NODX," IE Singapore said in a statement.
   But analysts said the slight increase in electronics showed Singapore's main exports remained weak, and the main drivers were the volatile pharmaceuticals sector and petrochemicals.

BBVA bank, the second-biggest Spanish bank, said on Friday it had reached an agreement to buy Texas-based US bank Compass Bancshares for 9.6 billion US dollars (7.4 billion euros).
   The bank said it in a statament that it would sell its entire 5.01 percent stake in Spanish utility Iberdrola and raise 196 million new shares to raise funds for the acquisition, which it said was its biggest-ever.
   The bank, which already owns three banks in the United States, said it expected to pocket capital gains of 844 million euros from the sale of its Iberdrola stake.
   It said the deal, which is subject to approval from regulators, ‘is a decisive step of its strategy to grow in the United States’ and turn itself into a global financial services firm.
   Compass Bancshares has more than 400 branches in the US states of Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico and Texas which have significant Spanish-speaking populations.
   BBVA bought US banks Laredo National Bancshares, State National Bancshares and Texas Regional Bancshares between 2004 and 2006.
   The bank carried out a capital increase worth three billion euros in November to finance its expansion efforts.

The European Union (EU) will support India’s struggle to meet its huge energy requirements, EU Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner said Friday.
   ‘We acknowledge India’s energy needs and are committed to support its energy components, of which civil nuclear energy is an important part,’ she told reporters.
   However, after talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, she made it clear New Delhi would have to move towards the non-proliferation regime.
   ‘A few steps are still needed before such a co-operation is made possible. We hope India will take these steps towards the international non-proliferation mechanism and mainstream, and then swiftly conclude a safeguards agreement with the IAEA,’ she said.
   Fuel-hungry India is neogtiating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to sign a safguards agreement.
   ‘We have an interest to work (with India) in the future. We feel that a few steps are needed to be taken by India.’
   The commissioner, who arrived Friday on a five-day visit, said the steps were ‘not conditions’ and the 25-nation EU kept an ‘open mind’.
   ‘We have to see how far we can engage,’ she added.
   Brussels was ‘still carefully examining’ civil nuclear cooperation with India.

China to keep controls on credit growth: Hu
China will keep tight controls on fixed-asset investment and credit growth this year, state media reported Friday, citing a key government conference chaired by President Hu Jintao. The Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, the country’s core leadership, met Thursday to discuss the cabinet’s work report that will be released in March, the China Securities Journal said. The country will ‘maintain a prudent fiscal and monetary policy to push forward restructuring of the economy,’ Hu said, according to a report on state TV late Thursday.

Thailand backtracks on 2nd int’l airport
Thailand on Friday backtracked on a plan to turn Bangkok’s shuttered Don Muang airport into a second international hub, after a revolt by international airlines who threatened to cut off service. Army-installed Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said Don Muang would still re-open as a domestic airport, but backed down on a plan to move international flights there. Instead, the government will spend six months studying the feasibility of running two international hubs in Bangkok, he said. The about-turn came one day after some 94 international airlines threatened to halt flights to Thailand if they were forced to move.

Nigeria’s foreign reserves rise to $43.39 billion
Nigeria’s foreign currency reserves have risen to 43.39 billion dollars (33 billion euros) from 42 billion dollars in November 2006, the Central Bank of Nigeria said Friday. The CBN said the reserves can finance 12 months of imports. It said the reserves which hit 45 billion dollars last year, dropped to 32 billion dollars after Nigeria paid 12.4 billion dollars Paris Club debts. It said the reserves began to build from April 2006 when the figure climbed to 37 billion dollars. The figure rose to 41.95 billion last December and to 42.65 billion in the first weeks of 2007.

Singapore to spend $13b on new highways
The government will spend at least 20 billion Singapore dollars (13 billion US) in the next 10-15 years to widen existing highways and build new road networks, a minister said. ‘Over time, we will also have to cater for a larger population by expanding our road network,’ Second Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said in unveiling the fiscal 2007 national budget on Thursday. The effort will involve widening existing highways to four lanes and building new ones.
— AFP