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Banking / Investment in Asia

  • South Africa Set On Boosting Investments With China

    CHINA, 2014/12/06 President Jacob Zuma has arrived in China where he is leading a delegation of ministers and businesspeople on a National visit aimed at strengthening bilateral relations, the Presidency said on Tuesday. The two-day visit, scheduled for Thursday and Friday, signals a further consolidation of South African-Sino relations. This is President Zuma's second National visit to China. In 2010, he took 17 Ministers and about 300 businesspeople and signed the Beijing Declaration on a comprehensive strategic partnership with China.

  • World Bank, Uzbekistan ink loan agreements

    UZBEKISTAN, 2014/11/05 The World Bank and Uzbekistan have signed two loan agreements worth $414 million. The agreements were signed by World Bank's Regional Director for Central Asia Saroj Kumar Jha and Uzbek Initial Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Rustam Azimov in Urgench, the administrative center of Uzbekistan's Khorezm region during an international conference called "Development of cooperation in the Aral Sea Basin to mitigate environmental catastrophe consequences." The World Bank has allocated $264 million for the water management development project in South Karakalpakstan worth $337.4 million. Around $242.5 million was allocated from the International Development Association, part of the World Bank in the form of an interest-free loan for 25 years with a grace period of five years.

  • EXIM-Bank-of-India.jpg

    INDIA, 2014/11/05 The Gambia government last week signed a US$45 million transaction with the Indian government for a financing facility with the Export-Import Bank of India for electricity expansion and replacement of the asbestos water-pipe network in the Better Banjul Area, an official release has announced. In his remarks on the occasion, Exim Bank deputy managing director Debasish Mallick said he was satisfied with the evolution being made in the implementation of the bank-financed projects in the country so far.

  • Singapore Keeps Monetary Policy Unchanged

    SINGAPORE, 2014/10/16 Singapore central bank kept its monetary policy unchanged on Tuesday as it assessed that the current stance is appropriate for containing both domestic and imported source of inflation amid subdued recovery. The Monetary Authority of Singapore maintained a modest and gradual appreciation path of the Singapore dollar nominal effective exchange rate (S$NEER) policy band with no change to its slope, width, and the level at which it was centered. Instead of interest rates, the MAS applies the exchange rate against a basket of currencies within an undisclosed band as its monetary policy tool. The bank reiterated that it will continue to closely monitor the impact of external developments inclunding domestic restructuring on the increase and inflation prospects for Singapore.

  • The Bank of Japan leaves monetary policy unchanged

    JAPAN, 2014/10/07 The Bank of Japan kept its monetary policy unchanged at its October conference as widely expected by economists. The bank maintained its pledge to increase the monetary base at an annual pace of about JPY 60- JPY 70 trillion. The bank repeated that it will purchase Japanese government bonds so that their outstanding all will rise at an annual pace of about JPY 50 trillion and to purchase exchange-traded funds and Japan real estate investment trusts to increase at an annual pace of around JPY 1 trillion and JPY 30 billion, respectively.

  • UNDP to issue $14mln to back Astana regional hub

    KAZAKHSTAN, 2014/10/01   Kazakhstan and the United Nations Development Program inked the "Agreement on the Regional Hub of Civil Service in Astana", the regional hub's press service reported on September 26. The agreement includes allocation of $14 million for institutional support for the Regional Hub of Civil Service in Astana for the next three and a half years. The Regional Hub of Civil Service in Astana was created March 2013 as an institutional framework and dialogue platform for continuous exchange of knowledge and experience in the area of civil service across the region.

  • Why is Indonesia terminating its bilateral investment treaties?

    INDONESIA, 2014/09/21 The price of investor-national dispute settlement (ISDS) procedures has been questioned by Australia and, additional recently, Indonesia. The Australian government’s controversial 2011 Trade Policy Statement — stating that Australia would not acknowledge to ISDS in its treaties — caused significant debate. In part, Australia’s policy was motivated by Philip Morris’ legal action against the government over legislation requiring the plain packaging of cigarettes. Since again, a change of government in 2013 has meant that Australia has retreated considerably from its previous strict position. The current Abbott government has indicated it will consider the inclusion of ISDS on a case-by-case basis. While the government agreed to the inclusion of ISDS in the recent agreement with Korea, no such regime was included in the agreement with Japan. Recently, Indonesia has indicated discontent with the current national of its investment agreements. Some in Indonesia have expressed an aversion to ISDS in particular. Before this year, the Netherlands embassy in Jakarta announced that the Indonesian government had informed the Netherlands that it intended to terminate the Netherlands–Indonesia Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) from 1 July 2015, which is at the same time as the BIT expires. The Netherlands embassy as well stated that the Indonesian government had mentioned it intended to terminate all of its 67 BITs.

  • Close ties with Brazil and China position Angola for future funding from BRICS bank

    ANGOLA, 2014/07/07 Angola is well positioned to receive funding from the next BRICS bank due to its close ties with Brazil and China, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The recent national visit to Brazil by Angolan President, José Eduardo dos Santos, underlined the extent of the two-way relationship and in additional practical terms included setting up a sixth Brazilian credit line worth US$2 billion focused on power production. According to the Angolan government two projects have so far been earmarked to receive Brazilian funding: construction of a power plant at the Cambambe, dam in Kwanza Norte province and the Laúca hydroelectric facility, on the Kwanza River.

  • RBI monetary policy: Bankers expect status quo on interest rates

    INDIA, 2014/05/29

  • The African Development bank (AfDB) and the Popular Bank of China (PBOC)

    CHINA, 2014/05/24 The African Development bank (AfDB) and the Popular Bank of China (PBOC) on Thursday signed an agreement which establishes a co-financing fund of US$2 billion called 'Africa Growing Together Fund (AGTF)'. A statement made public at the AfDB annual general assembly conference in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, says that it is expected particularly that the resources from AGTF will be allocated, over a 10-year period, to finance development projects in Africa, guaranteed or non guaranteed by the government, with AfDB.
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