ASEAN Signs Pact Paving Way for FTA by 2020

BALI: Envisioning a single market eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers, the 10-nation Asean grouping on Tuesday signed a landmark accord to pave the way for free trade area (FTA) by 2020 while disfavouring a military alliance among them. The Asean Concord 2 was signed as leaders of the regional grouping concluded their two-day summit, which will be followed by a meeting on Wednesday with their four dialogue partners - India, China, Japan and South Korea. Under the concord, the leaders declared their commitment to establish an Asean community comprising the concepts of an Asean security community, an Asean economic community and an Asean social and cultural community. "We have just witnessed a watershed in the history of Asean," Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri said after the signining of the document by leaders from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Mayanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. "It will make it possible for our children and their children to live in enduring peace, stability and shared prosperity," she said. The leaders agreed to continue to recognise "the sovereign right of the member countries to pursue their individual foreign policies and defence arrangements" and exercise their rights to lead their national existence "free from outside interference in their internal affairs". Despite efforts to set up a security community, the leaders stressed they will not create "a defence pact, military alliance or a joint foreign policy." On the diversity of governance, the leaders were of the view that military regimes would complicate efforts to emulate European integration. The continued detention of pro-democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi by the military Junta in Mayanmar cast its shadow on the deliberation. Breaking away from the tradition of not discussing local issues of individual members, some leaders pressed for the release of Ms Suu Kyi. They reiterated their commitment to respect the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, non-interference in the internal affairs of one another, peaceful settlement of intra-regional disputes, renunciation of the threat or use of force and effective co-operation.

From http://www.financialexpress.com/ 10/07/2003

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Asia Giants: No Nukes in Koreas

In Bali, Tokyo, Beijing and Seoul declare firm stand on nonproliferation. NUSA DUA, Indonesia-Japan, China and South Korea issued a historic declaration Tuesday, vowing the ``denuclearization'' of the Korean Peninsula and an all-out assault on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The declaration was signed by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun. The statement was issued on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit on the island of Bali. The three leaders are here for the ASEAN Plus Three session. This marks the first time the three East Asian powerhouses have joined together to make a declaration of policy. China was the prime mover behind the trilateral effort, an effort Beijing hopes will improve East Asian economic cooperation and present a united front on the region's stickiest issue-North Korea and its declared nuclear weapons program. The declaration did not mention the abduction of Japanese citizens by North Korea, simply stating that the three countries will address ``all the concerns of the parties.'' However, a source close to Koizumi said, ``The three countries understand that the description includes the abduction issue.'' According to the declaration, the nations hope forthcoming cooperation will ``contribute to the realization of peace, stability and prosperity throughout East Asia.'' Fields of cooperation include economics, security, politics and culture, and will be made in a ``transparent, open, nonexclusive and nondiscriminatory manner,'' it said. While North Korea was not mentioned by name, the declaration is firm on the issue of nuclear proliferation, stating Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing ``reaffirm their commitment to a peaceful solution of the nuclear issue facing the Korean Peninsula through dialogue and to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.'' Also, the governments agreed to do their best to stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery ``through political, diplomatic and administrative measures including effective export controls.'' The trio also supported dialogue and diplomatic consultations on the reform of the United Nations. They also promised greater cooperation in trade and investment, committing themselves to push forward the World Trade Organization's Doha Round of negotiations. Specifically mentioned was more ``discipline'' concerning anti-dumping sanctions and their desire ``to prevent abusive and arbitrary application of WTO rules.'' The three nations met for the first time at an ASEAN meeting in November 1999 in the Philippines under the initiative of Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi. At that time, the meeting was unofficial. Last year, the meeting was upgraded to an official event.(by HIROSHI ITO)

From http://www.asahi.com/ 10/08/2003

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8 Pacific States to Block Exports of Nuke Materials

TOKYO - Japan and seven other economies in the Asia-Pacific region are expected to cooperate closely to block exports of materials that could be used to develop weapons of mass destruction, particularly to North Korea, a daily newspaper reported Sunday. The eight - also including South Korea, the United States, China, Australia, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong - will reach a basic accord on the plan at an export control seminar Oct 27 in Tokyo, and work out details by next spring, the Mainichi Shimbun said.

From http://www.japantoday.com/ 10/12/2003

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APEC Counter Terrorism Action Plan Combined Report Endorsed

The APEC Counter Terrorism Action Plan Combined Report from APEC Fora has been endorsed by APEC Senior Officials at their meeting in Bangkok on October 14-15. Prepared by the APEC Secretariat, the report highlights the progress APEC is making to facilitate trade alongside increased measures to secure the regional economy from attack by terrorists. The measures that have been taken as part of this action plan are expected to add to business confidence and ensure a greater level of safety in the region. The report covers: The Secure Trade in the APEC Region (STAR) initiative; Halting terrorist financing; Promoting cybersecurity; The energy security initiative and protecting the health of communities. The Action Plan also summarises the capacity building needs of individual APEC economies.

From http://www.apecsec.org.sg/ 10/16/2003

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61 Nations Gather to Pledge Iraq Reconstruction Aid

Representatives of 61 nations are meeting in Madrid Thursday for a two-day donors conference to pledge reconstruction aid to Iraq, Agence France Presse reports. The US overseer in Iraq, Paul Bremer said he expected "important contributions" despite a move by the US congress to make part of the US funds loans instead of grants as requested by US President George W. Bush. US Secretary of State Colin Powell said he expects contributions to fall short of the $56 billion needs assessment, but maintained the goal would eventually be reached. The US which will be pledging $20 billion is looking for as many nations as possible to contribute as much as they can to Iraq's reconstruction. The European Union is set to pledge about $818-876 million. The Financial Times notes that organizers hope Gulf states will match a high attendance level with financial support for their beleaguered neighbor. Kuwait Wednesday promised to unveil a "generous" aid package and the United Arab Emirates, which was involved in organizing the conference, is expected to make commitments. But at least part of the funds to be pledged are expected to be as humanitarian aid rather than grants. With the US Congress finalizing the allocation of $20 billion over the next year to 18 months, World Bank officials yesterday said the conference was likely to produce sufficient support to get the process firmly started. The New York Times and Reuters note that apart from Washington, the biggest contributions so far have come from the World Bank, which said it would offer Iraq $3 billion to $5 billion over five years. Handelsblatt (Germany) reports that the European Commission will not go beyond the already announced contribution of 200 million euros, though it will consider new funding for 2005 onwards. The EU will present in March a strategy paper for medium-term policies in Iraq. Die Welt (Germany) notes that the German government will partake Iraq's reconstruction with 193 million euros, according to Germany's minister for development cooperation, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul. There will be no further commitment in Madrid, she said.

From http://web.worldbank.org/ 10/23/2003

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CHINA: Phone Industry Laws Expected

China's first set of laws for the phone industry will be introduced in 2005 at the earliest, Xinhua news agency reported on its Website, citing an unidentified member of the drafting committee. Minister of Information Industry Wang Xudong, appointed in July to head a special Cabinet office that oversees telecom policies, was expected to introduce the laws earlier, Xinhua said. The laws, being drafted since 2001, will promote competition among phone companies, connect different networks with each other and regulate tariffs.

From http://www.Eastday.com 09/27/2003

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China Eases Marriage Rules

BEIJING. China (AP) -- Marriage in China used to be a matter for a man, a woman -- and the couple's employers. No longer. China this week eliminated a much-resented requirement for couples to obtain their bosses' approval before tying the knot, prompting thousands of couples to wed in what, for some, was also a celebration of the retreat of outside interference in their private lives. Couples lined up as early as 5 a.m. outside marriage registration offices when the new rules came into effect on Wednesday. Restaurants and hotel banquet halls were booked solid in major cities, and Beijing's streets were clogged with flower-bedecked motorcades. "Employers in work units used to have a lot of power over people, but now there's no need," said newlywed Wen Ying, who was having a late-night snack with her new husband and friends at a small restaurant near the Forbidden City, Beijing's ancient imperial palace. "We're really glad that this rule was canceled because it was a real hassle. It makes getting married feel even better," said Wen's husband, Liu Ping. Liu said the couple had planned to throw a formal banquet for their families, but were forced to postpone because restaurants were all reserved by others. Couples said "I do" at mass ceremonies in city squares, at tree planting ceremonies and even at a Beijing drive-in theater, which transported brides to the ceremony on horseback. One couple exchanged vows submerged in an aquarium -- diving bells over their heads -- while tropical fish swam past. The new marriage rules are among social reforms that increasingly are freeing private lives from unpopular government controls. Also beginning Wednesday, couples won't be required to get health checks to marry, and those wishing to divorce can do so without attending lengthy government mediation sessions. Many couples held off registering their weddings until the change took effect, and long lines formed at government offices around the country Wednesday, China Central Television reported. The official Xinhua News Agency said tens of thousands of couples registered their marriages. Wen said staff at the wedding registry dressed up the office with flowers and played Mendelssohn's wedding march to commemorate the new rules. "They were really nice. It's a special day," she said. The old marriage law was a throwback to an era when all Chinese worked for the state or communes and needed permission to travel, get an education or marry. The employer's letter was intended to serve as proof that both bride and groom weren't already married to other people. However, the requirement became a source of corruption -- some employers demanded bribes in exchange for their consent. Xinhua acknowledged that in a report this week, saying the old rules were "just a formality or moneymaking procedure in some areas." Under the new regulations, couples must show ID cards and residency papers and sign a document stating they are not married or related. Officials have threatened to punish bureaucrats who persist in requiring health exams or demand illegal fees from those wishing to marry. Among other recent reforms, the government said last month that tens of millions of Chinese can now apply for passports without approval from their employers. But one of the most disliked official restrictions -- the household registration system that dictates where Chinese may live -- is still in effect. The government has given no indication that it might be repealed.

From http://edition.cnn.com/ 10/01/2003

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China to Enhance Disaster Handling Ability

Experts suggest cities in China should do more to enhance their ability to deal with natural disasters. As the country's cities and urbanization are now developing rapidly, experts urge cities to take more effective measures to raise their disaster handling ability. It is estimated that more than 70 percent of the urban areas, over half of the population and around 75 percent of the output value of industry and agriculture are located in areas at risk of natural disasters.

From CRI 10/02/2003

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Hong Kong Copyright (Amendment) Ordinance 2003 Comes into Force Next Month

The Government gazetted the Copyright (Amendment) Ordinance 2003 (27 of 2003) (Commencement) Notice 2003 today (October 3). The Notice provides that the Copyright (Amendment) Ordinance 2003 (the Ordinance) shall come into operation on November 28, 2003. The Ordinance, after its commencement, will remove civil and criminal liabilities pertaining to parallel importation of and subsequent dealings in most articles which have embodied in them a computer program (commonly known as computer software products). The scope of liberalisation, however, does not cover computer software products which contain a computer program but the principal attraction of which is musical sound or visual recordings, movies, television dramas, e-books, or a combination of them. Under the existing Copyright Ordinance, it is a criminal offence to import otherwise than for private and domestic use or sell parallel-imported copies of a copyright work (including a computer software product) that has been published for less than 18 months in Hong Kong or elsewhere. The maximum penalty is $50,000 per such copy and four years' imprisonment. "Liberalising the parallel importation of computer software products will increase the availability of such products in the market and benefit consumers," a spokesman for the Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau said. "The liberalisation is also in line with our free-market philosophy and our policy of facilitating the free flow of genuine goods," added the spokesman. The Notice is a piece of subsidiary legislation and is subject to the negative vetting procedure of the Legislative Council. For details of the changes to be brought by the Ordinance, members of the public may visit the website of the Intellectual Property Department at http://www.info.gov.hk/ipd.

From http://www.info.gov.hk/ 10/03/2003

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Electricity Law Amendment Under Way

China is working to tighten its supervision over the nation's power industry, hoping to avoid similar blackouts that plunged millions of Europeans and North Americans into darkness recently. The nation is amending the Electricity Law for the first time since its introduction eight years ago. One of the major pushes is to strengthen management to ensure the stability of power supplies and to regulate the market. The government hopes the amendment can be completed by the end of the year. Additionally, the government is also looking at establishing an emergency-response procedure for dealing with possible power problems. The calls to create a supervision framework have become increasingly loud since rolling blackouts hit the United States, Canada, France and Italy. Experts say they cannot rule out the possibility of something similar happening in China, due to its fragile power system. It has become increasingly likely as more than half of the nation has suffered from electricity shortages this year. And given December's reform separation of power plants from grid firms, the ability to control power supplies -- especially in cases of emergencies -- has been weakened, experts say. Top government officials, including President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, have urged power companies and officials to learn from the experience of other countries and set up a crisis-response mechanism as soon as possible. "One of the lessons we learned from the blackouts in foreign countries is that we should reinforce the supervision of the system to keep uniformed control over transmission and distribution,'' said Shao Binren, vice-chairman of the State Electricity Regulatory Commission, the industry watchdog. Only in this way can prompt action be taken once there are power failures, Shao said. However according to experts, the major difficulty is that the commission lacks enough authority to supervise the industry. Yu Yanshan, an official with the commission's policy and regulations department, said important roles such as approving electricity prices and the construction of power plants are scattered among government departments, including the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance, which has diminished the industry watchdog's clout. "The obligation of government departments and the commission is not clear,'' said Yu. Yu has called for consolidation among government departments and the commission as soon as possible to better regulate the industry.

From China Daily 10/07/2003

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Preferential Policies Remain Intact

China will not drop its preferential policies to attract foreign investment despite the fact that World Trade Organization (WTO) rules specify that foreign and domestic firms should be treated the same. Hu Jingyan, director-general of the department of foreign investment administration under the Ministry of Commerce, said China has no plan to change its preferential treatment policies for foreign investment in the near future. Hu made the remarks to reassure foreign investors who have been worried that China might cancel its preferential policies and give foreign investors the same national treatment as their domestic counterparts now that the country is in the WTO. "This is a result of their misunderstanding of what is meant by 'national treatment," Hu said. In line with the WTO rules, national treatment means the elimination of policies that discriminate against foreign investment; it does not necessarily mean elimination of preferential treatment. On the contrary, the Chinese Government will establish more preferential policies to promote foreign investment, particularly investment by multinationals, Hu said. For example, China will allow the creation of foreign-funded, even solely funded, logistics companies, to improve the poorly operated domestic logistics industry. The ministry is also studying preferential policies for foreign-funded purchasing centres and research and development centres, which will be put into practice soon. However, the trend in China will be to level out its treatment of foreign and domestic companies, Hu added. "But that is the long-term target, the government will not drop its preferential policies immediately," Hu said. Many local enterprises have complained about the preferential treatment given to foreign-funded companies, saying their competitiveness is weakened by these policies. Foreign companies are not required to pay tariffs and value-added tax when importing equipment for their own operation. They also enjoy a lower corporate income tax rate. Considering preferential policies and other incentives, China's actual corporate income tax rate is estimated at 26 per cent for domestic firms and 15 per cent for overseas-funded firms. Local companies argue that national treatment not only means that the government must open more areas to foreign investment, but also means that it must level out differences in treatment. However, Zhao Jinping, an expert on foreign investment from the Development and Research Centre under the State Council, said these local companies should be looking at the macro environment. "The elimination of preferential treatment for foreign investors will lead to a slowdown in the increase of foreign direct investment (FDI), and even a drop, which will have a negative impact on the country's economic development and industrial adjustment," Zhao said. "Therefore, we should keep stable consistent policies on foreign investment." Even when the time for dropping such policies is ripe, the change should be made gradually, Zhao said. After 25 years of tireless work in attracting FDI, China has a larger scope and a more orderly investment structure to encourage foreign funds, and the quality of investment from abroad is improving continuously. To date, more than 400 of the world's top 500 companies have launched operations in China, of which nearly 30 have set up regional headquarters. FDI in China hit a record high last year, outpacing the United States to rank first in the world for the first time. The country's actual foreign investment in 2002 exceeded US$52.7 billion, a year-on-year increase of 12.51 per cent, despite a decline in global FDI investment. Ma Xiuhong, vice-minister of commerce, said earlier FDI in China is expected to total about US$57 billion this year, US$4.3 billion more than in 2002.

From http://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/ 10/08/2003

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China Plenum to Set Goals for Full Market Economy

Chinese Communist Party leaders, convening a crucial meeting this weekend, are expected to set a timetable for the country to complete its transition to a market economy by 2010 and to introduce greater accountability among top party officials, reports The Wall Street Journal Europe. The four-day plenum, which opens Saturday in Beijing, is set to update policies put in place ten years ago to help China attain a "relatively complete" market-economy system. These policies involve such areas as financial reforms and overhaul of the decrepit social-security system, people familiar with the policies said. A main focus will be on revamping the money-losing state sector, with the eventual goal of allowing many enterprises to be sold to the private sector; another focus will be on passing or updating a sweeping array of laws crucial to the workings of a market economy, they said. Another key item on the agenda is an initiative launched earlier this year to assist northeast China, a once-prosperous center of heavy industry, often referred to outside China as Manchuria, that is now rife with failing factories and high unemployment. The Central Committee includes several leading politicians from the northeast; one of them, Liaoning Governor Bo Xilai, said he is lobbying for concrete policies to ease the severe unemployment, especially in coal-mining cities where mines are played out. A fledgling social-security system currently covers only half the province's three million unemployed, he said. In another story, the FT reports that China has stalled the expansion of a scheme to attract foreign investment funds into its domestic capital markets because of concerns about its use by investment banks for currency speculation. The central government has significantly restricted the amounts investment banks can put into the market on behalf of clients over the past month, approving substantially lower tranches than they had applied for.

From http://web.worldbank.org/ 10/10/2003

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New Law to Boost Securities Industry

The long-awaited Securities Investment Fund Law, the first for the industry, is likely to be passed this month, sources say. The legislative process started in 1999 and the draft has been discussed by legislators and industrial experts many times. The newly amended draft will be forwarded to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) later this month for the third review of the year. A source said that since most of the disparities had been ironed out, it is very likely to be passed at the Standing Committee's next meeting and enacted. "Right now, we cannot say if the draft will be passed this time, but it is very likely," said Wang Yiming, deputy director of the NPC Law Committee. Other signs also point to an imminent approval of the law. The drafting panel recently organized a series of seminars in major cities such as Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing, with participants from securities regulators, other government departments and fund managers. And regulators are planning campaigns to enhance public awareness of the industry, insiders said. An early enactment of the law would lay a solid legal basis for the nascent fund industry in China, which is in an expansion phase and embracing more foreign participants as the country's financial market opens wider. The law is expected to clarify the liabilities and rights of the fund managers and ways to protect the interests of investors, which would plug the present loopholes and help increase the integrity of the fund businesses. Among the two issues that have stirred debate are whether securities investment funds can apply for short-term loans from commercial banks and whether fund holders can organize general meetings themselves. The first issue is related to the segregated regulatory system of the securities, banking and insurance industries, which prohibits the three from investing in each other. The disagreement on the second issue is mainly about the way to hold the general meeting and the minimum holdings required for the fund holders to initiate the meeting. Experts are also calling for the establishment of a stronger compensation system for investors and more efficient civil lawsuit procedures. Liu Junhai, a legal researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the previous draft version of the fund law had not clearly defined what exactly a securities investment fund was. "The draft which is to be reviewed this month has made some amendments and should be acceptable to all parties compared to the previous version, but it still needs a compromise to get it passed,"a source close to the matter said. The law is expected to establish specific standards and support the healthy growth of the industry in the long term. But the law itself cannot automatically solve the problems in the sector, said Wang Lianzhou, a renowned expert in fund business who now heads the trust and fund research institute in Renmin University of China.

From China Daily 10/10/2003

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China Issues First EU Policy Paper

The Chinese government Monday issued China's EU Policy Paper, expounding the objectives of China's EU policy and outlining the plans and measures on bilateral cooperation in the coming five years. This is the first strategy document China has ever made on its policy towards the European Union (EU). Apart from "foreword", the policy paper includes three parts, namely, "status and role of the European Union", "China's EU policy" and "strengthen China-EU cooperation in all fields". The 14-page paper highlights the prospects and measures on China's cooperation with the EU in various fields, including politics, military, economy, education, science, culture, social and judicial aspects. Over the past eight years, the EU has issued its China strategy paper for five times.

From Xinhua News Agency 10/13/2003

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CPC Meeting Sets Out Reform Goals

Narrowing the gap between urban and rural areas, promoting employment and improving the social security system have been listed among the main tasks in improving China's socialist market economic system. President Hu Jintao, also General Secretary of the Communist Party of China speaks at the meeting. [Xinhua] A communique passed at the Third Plenum of the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which closed yesterday, defined these tasks as follows: * Improving the basic economic system of keeping public ownership as the mainstay of the economy and allowing diverse forms of ownership to develop side by side; * Narrowing the gap between urban and rural areas; * Promoting co-ordinated development of different regions; * Establishing a unified, open and orderly modern market system; * Improving employment, income distribution and social security systems; * Establishing a mechanism to promote sustainable social and economic development. The communique called for actively promoting the development of diversified forms of public ownership, noting that a share-holding system that absorbs investment from various channels should be the major form of public ownership. The communique called for vigorously promoting and guiding the private sector of the economy and granting all private enterprises the same treatment in investment, financing, taxation, land use and foreign trade. The communique also called for establishing a modern property rights system with explicitly defined ownership structure, rights and obligations, strict protection and smooth transfer channels. The session heard that the household-based land contract system is the core of the fundamental system for management in the countryside, and China should keep stabilizing and improving the two-tier management system. The session called for protecting the rights of farmers in land contract and management. The rural product marketing system should be improved, through changing indirect subsidies for farmers to direct subsidies, in order to protect farmers' interests. The State will exert greater efforts to support and protect agriculture, deepen rural tax reform, and substantially reduce the financial burden on farmers. The session called for accelerating the building of a unified national market, opening up the market domestically and internationally, developing a market for capital and other production means, and promoting free circulation and full competition of production means. It called for strengthening public awareness of the consumer credit system, and building a consumer credit system with morality as its support, property rights as its basis, and law as its guarantee. China will continue improving its national macro-economic control system, accelerating the functional shift of the government, deepening administrative reform, and making substantial efforts to make administration of the economy serve the market and create a sound environment for development. The government should strengthen its co-ordination and guidance of regional development, actively advance the development of underdeveloped areas in the west, bring into play the comprehensive advantages of the country's central areas, support the western and central regions to speed up local reforms, rejuvenate the old industrial bases in Northeast China, and encourage some eastern areas with better conditions to take the lead in realizing modernization. China will deepen reform of the investment system, implement tax reforms, push forward the reform of the financial management system, deepen the reform of banking enterprises, improve the mechanism to adjust the financial sector, and improve the regulatory system on financial industry. The meeting held that the issue of expanding employment be put higher on the agenda of the government, along with the pursuit of a pro-active employment policy. Steps should be taken to strengthen the regulation of individual incomes in a bid to narrow the growing gap between the rich and poor. "Efforts should be made to speed up the building of a social security system compatible with the country's economic development,'' it said, urging the improvement of industrial workers' pension systems and an unemployment insurance system for others. The meeting also called for deepening the reform of the administrative system to establish a transparent, clean and efficient administration. It also called for active promotion of political system reform, saying that such reform would provide political guarantees for the development of the socialist market economy.

From http://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/ 10/14/2003

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China's Legislature to Discuss Five Draft Laws

BEIJING (Xinhuanet) -- China's national legislature, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), will review five draft laws during a six-day legislative session starting Oct. 23. The agenda was adopted at Wednesday's meeting of the chairman and vice-chairpersons of the NPC Standing Committee, presided over by Wu Bangguo, chairman of the committee. Lawmakers will continue to deliberate draft laws on road and transportation safety, and on security investment funds. Amendments to the central bank law and commercial bank law, and a draft law on the supervision and management of banking will also be tabled. Also during the session, the State Council will deliver reports on employment and re-employment, on small cities construction and the transfer of rural workers, and on protecting the rights of the elderly. The committee will examine the reports on the implementation of the construction law and on the review of the bills proposed by delegates.

From http://news.xinhuanet.com/ 10/15/2003

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Hong Kong: Government Announce Measures to Consolidate Prevailing Housing Policy

The Government announced today ways to further implement and consolidate relevant policies and measures on the basis of the prevailing housing policies to help strengthen public confidence and revitalize the property market. In his statement on housing policy delivered in the Legislative Council, the Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands, Mr Michael Suen, said that it had been almost a year since the Government repositioned its housing policy to address the imbalance of supply and demand in the property market and implemented measures to restore confidence of the public and investors. "The property market has begun to stabilize and there have been initial signs of rebound in recent months. We believe that we must implement and consolidate the relevant policies and measures on the existing basis to further coordinate the supply of new flats. This will help strengthen public confidence in the market and help the property market regain its vitality. Although the supply of private residential housing is still abundant, the production "peak" has passed. It is anticipated that while the supply of flats will remain in excess of 20 000 in both 2004 and 2005, the number will decrease to only about 10 000 and 4 000 in 2006 and 2007 respectively, Mr Suen said. "As the supply of new private flats in the next few years will be on the decrease and the situation of supply in excess of demand will hopefully be rectified gradually," Mr Suen said. "To uphold the implementation of government policies, we will regulate the demand for land through market forces to foster a healthy and normal development of the property market, the Government has decided to resume the Application List System from January 2004. "In addition to lowering the risk of over-supply and reducing government intervention in the property market, supplying land through the Application List System can also provide the property market with information on land sales by the Government and increase the transparency of the market. "The Government is preparing a new Application List and making operational arrangements to tie in with the resumption of land sales through the System next year. "Before deciding on how to draw up the Application List, the Government will take into account market situation and development needs, and consider carefully the quality, the location of individual sites as well as the number of flats that can be built on these sites," he said, adding that details would be announced in January 2004. Reiterating the Government's principles of land sale by open tender and public auctions, Mr Suen maintained that the sites on the List would not be sold at a pathetic price. Addressing the public concern on the property development projects of the two railway companies, Mr Suen said the Government would step up liaison with the two railway corporations on the pace and the timing of tendering their property developments to enable an orderly disposal of the property developments according to market demand. For projects involving the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC), the production of 7,200 residential units at its Tai Wai Maintenance Centre and Tai Wai Station of the Ma On Shan Rail would be carried out by phases and the first batch will be completed no earlier than 2008. Development schedules for the remaining developments at Wu Kai Sha Station and Che Kung Temple Station of the Ma On Shan Rail have yet to be finalized, pending KCRC's review on the development priorities of individual projects and its further coordination with the Government. As for property developments along the West Rail, the Government has decided to review the development and timetables for the property sites along the West Rail first according to the latest market situation. On the other hand, Mass Transit Railway Corporation has undertaken to review the planning for Tseung Kwan O Area 86 which involves 21 000 flats to be developed by phases. It is anticipated that the first batch of flats will not be completed until 2007 the earliest. In a related move, a concessionary measure that aims at providing the developers with some flexibility is being planned in response to concerns about the bunching of new flats to be completed in the near future. "The Government proposes to extend the period of the building covenant of development projects which originally will expire between 1 November 2003 and 31 October 2004 for one year without additional charges, " Mr Suen said. "We hope that the proposed concessionary measure can provide the developers with some flexibility in adjusting the completion date of the project according to market situations before offering them for sale," he said. Taking on last year's announcement to cease the production and sale of the Housing Authority's Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) flats and as a determined gesture for the Government to withdraw from the private property market, recommendations will be made to the Authority for not putting up for sale, in form of subsidized housing, unsold and returned HOS flats before the end of 2006. In the meantime, the Authority is actively exploring various disposal options for the 10 000 HOS flats that are completed or under construction but have never been offered for sale. To benefit the overall property market, the Government has undertaken to secure an early passage of the Landlord and Tenant (Consolidation) (Amendment) Bill 2003, which was submitted to the Legislative Council for scrutiny in June this year. If passed, the legislation would serve to relax all excessive protection of security of tenure, thus enabling the rental market to revitalize and to attract more property investors, Mr Suen noted. Noting the close link between the property market and the economy, Mr Suen said that the local economy has started to improve and the property market has become more active after Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). At one point, he said, property prices in the second quarter of this year had dropped by 5 to 10 percent as a result of the sustained blow brought about by SARS on HK's economy and property market. Mr Suen said that good signs of recovery of HK's economy were evidenced by favourable news and statistics, including the strong growth in export figures; significant increase in the number of Mainland visitors to Hong Kong and the resultant improvements in employment and business opportunities; and benefits to the local economy brought by the introduction of the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme. "People feel optimistic about the future economic prospects, which will hopefully lead to greater demand for properties," he added. With measures to intensify the existing policies and work toward the objective of "big market, small government", Mr Suen believes that the private property market will become active again and sustain a healthy and steady development when the economy improves further. The only "measure" to deal with the situation, Mr Suen reckoned, was to gain the public's trust that the Government steadfastly committed to a clear, comprehensive and consistent housing policy. "As long as we continue this clear and adamant message to the Hong Kong people, public confidence in the property market will be restored," he noted.

From http://www.info.gov.hk/ 10/15/2003

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Purchasing Rules Drafted

China is stepping up the improvement of its fledging government procurement mechanism and widening the categories of goods and services through government procurement. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance will work out a draft of the detailed implementing regulations of the Law on Government Procurement by the end of this year, said Zhou Chengyue, vice-director of the State Treasury Department under the ministry. He said some of the major barriers to reforms on government procurement were trade monopolies and blockades between regions. "The implementation of government procurement at the county level leaves much to be desired currently, and my ministry will work out specific rules in hopes to guide local government procurement," said Zhou at an international forum on purchasing, which was held between October 14 and 15 in Beijing. "We also urgently need more professionals in the area, with ample experience and knowledge of international practices," he added. Started on a pilot survey at selected cities from 1996, the government procurement mechanism is getting increasingly incorporated into China's market economy, bringing about an open, just and fair framework in line with international norms. China's government procurement has climbed to 100.9 billion yuan (US$12.2 billion) as of last year, compared with 65.3 billion yuan (US$7.9 billion) in 2001. However, government procurement accounts for quite a small share of China's gross domestic product (GDP), with only 0.1 per cent in 2002. Zhou said there was enormous space for Chinese firms to become potential providers, as government procurement usually takes up around 10 per cent of a nation's GDP on an international standard.

From People's Daily 10/16/2003

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Premier Explains Future Economic Restructuring to CPPCC Meeting

BEIJING -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao outlined the future tasks to further improve the socialist market economic system when delivering a speech to a CPPCC meeting that opened here Friday. The decision passed at the Third Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) clearly defined the future tasks for China's future economic restructuring, said Wen at the Third Meeting of the Standing Committee of the 10th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). The tasks include: improving the basic economic system of keeping public ownership as the mainstay of the economy and allowing diverse forms of ownership to develop side by side; narrowing the gap between urban and rural areas; promoting coordinated development of different regions; establishing a unified, open and orderly modern market system; improving employment, income distribution and social security systems; and establishing a mechanism to promote sustainable social and economic development. The tasks showed concern for coordinated development between the economy, society and people and the combination of reform, development and stability, Wen said. Wen spoke highly of the decision to improve the socialist market economic system, saying that it was the guideline for China's economic system reform and was of far reaching significance in promoting the reform and opening up policy as well as modernization. The first 20 years of the this century was a period of strategic opportunity and also a crucial period for further reform and opening up. Only with the promotion of reform could the socialist market economic system be improved and the task of building a well-off society be accomplished, said the premier. Wen said the decision required a bigger role for the market in distribution of resources, enhancement of the competitive ability of enterprises, the national macro-control mechanism and promotion of the government's function in social management and public service. The future reform should be based on coordinated development, including narrowing the gap between urban and rural areas, enhancing the harmonious development of human beings and nature, and coordinating domestic development and opening up to the outside, said Wen. Wen emphasized five points for reform as defined in the decision, including a socialist economic system, development and innovation of the system, respect for the innovative spirit, coordination of reform, development and stability and coordination of various interest relations in reform and sustainable development. Wen asked CPC committees and governments at various levels to take it as the primary task to study the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee. He also urged elimination of any system barriers in economic development and enhancement of leaders' ability in coordinating the relations between reform, development and stability. The meeting, presided over by Jia Qinglin, chairman of the 10thNational Committee of the CPPCC, was to discuss issues on how to improve the socialist market economic system. Jia, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, also called for the CPPCC members to study the decision of the Third Plenary Session and made related proposals actively to the meeting.

From http://news.xinhuanet.com/ 10/18/2003

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Ministry of Information Industry to Formulate Anti-Monopoly Law

Vice Minister of Information Industry Lou Qinjian recently disclosed that with the post-WTO deepening of opening up of the information industry, China will become a hot spot for transnational mergers and acquisitions in global electronic information industry. To guard against monopoly arising from mergers and acquisitions, the Ministry of Information Industry will formulate relevant anti-monopoly law to guarantee full competition in the industry. Lou said, after the country's WTO entry, many a transnational corporation has increased shares in joint ventures or set up solely funded enterprises, and established regional headquarters and management centers of Greater China. Still some transnational corporations are attempting to merge and acquire State-owned enterprises. The question whether and how State-owned enterprises can be merged or acquired has been put on the agenda. But mergers and acquisitions by multinationals also have negative bearings. In the absence of an anti-monopoly law in the country at present, multinationals' mergers and acquisitions may give rise to industrial monopoly. Namely they merge and acquire domestic enterprises at high prices to obtain the right to industrial pricing, blocking fair and effective industrial competition.

From FDI 10/20/2003

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Pres. Hu Jintao Reasserts RMB Policy as Best for Regional Development

President Hu Jintao said yesterday at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) CEO Summit that maintaining the basic stability of the yuan's exchange rate not only is in the best interests of the Chinese economy, but also conforms to the requirements for economic development in the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large. "The market-based, single and managed floating exchange rate system, which China is now following, is consistent with the current status of the country's development, financial regulation and the sustainability of its enterprises,'' Hu said in a keynote address to the summit, which was attended by over 1,000 participants. He noted that China's maintenance of the yuan's stability during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, when many of its neighbours depreciated their currencies substantially, made a contribution to financial and economic stability in Asia and the whole world. "This time, we will act in the same responsible manner in the handling of the renminbi exchange rate issue,'' Hu said. "We will maintain the basic stability of at a reasonable and balanced level, and take further steps to improve the rate-forming mechanism of renminbi along with deepened financial reforms.'' Talking about China's economic prospects, the president said the 7 per cent growth target set for this year is well within reach. China recorded a growth rate of 8.2 per cent in the first half of this year, despite the interruption by the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). In his speech focussing on sustained economic development, the president said that APEC should play a bigger role. He called for more exchanges among APEC members for further success in economic restructuring, which has consolidated economic recovery in this region but remains "an urgent and crucial task.'' When asked about his understanding of sustainable development, Hu said China is striving for "developed production forces, a prosperous life for the people and a good ecological environment for all.'' The president also expressed his support for an open and rule-based multilateral trading system, and confidence in the successful conclusion of the Doha round of negotiations of the World Trade Organization (WTO). He said all members should continue to promote trade and investment liberalization, remove trade barriers of all kinds and create a fair and equitable environment for competition. Hu said the Doha round of WTO talks will succeed in the end, so long as all parties persist in consultations on an equal footing in the spirit of seeking compromises while shelving differences. Hu and other APEC economic leaders are expected to display their political will to seek a successful conclusion to the Doha round, which places agricultural reform at the heart of the long-running negotiations, at the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting today and tomorrow. In response to a question on criticism that China is not playing fairly by WTO rules, the president said the nation will faithfully abide by the organization's rules and live up to its commitments, while opening its market even wider to the world and intensifying its co-operation with the global business community. Hu said that accelerated economic growth in China will have a win-win outcome and mutual benefits for the whole world.

From http://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/ 10/20/2003

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China Continues to Improve the Socialist Market Economic System

China is to make further efforts to establish and perfect the management and supervision system of state-owned assets, to promote modern corporate management mechanism and to accelerate reform of monopolized industries. This was included in a decision on issues regarding the improvement of the socialist market economic system passed at the Third Plenum of the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which was held on Oct. 11 to 14. Government institutions should clearly separate the public administrative functions from functions of ownership of state assets, said the decision which was released Tuesday. State-owned assets management organizations are responsible to protect the rights and interests of state-owned assets, to guard the legal rights enjoyed by state-owned enterprises as market entities, to impel state-owned enterprises to make profits, and to prevent the loss of state-owned property. China is also to improve its supervision systems over state-owned banking assets, non-profit-making assets and natural resources. According to the decision, a modern corporate management mechanism, with standardized rights and liabilities taken by various boards of shareholders, directors, inspectors and managers, should be set up in state-owned enterprises. The general meeting of shareholders is entitled to decide the board members of directors and inspectors. The board of directors takes charge of selecting managers, who are responsible for hiring employees and the balance among the power, decision-making, supervision and business operation departments within the enterprise, according to the document. Party committees within enterprises are required to play a core role in political functions, but with improved working methods better accommodated to the modern management structure in state-owned enterprises. Both the central and local party committees should strengthen and improve their management over senior managers of the country's backbone state-owned enterprises. Based on a whole-hearted reliance on employees and workers, state-owned enterprises should actively explore effective democratic management approaches to protect the legal rights and interests of employees. The decision called for continued efforts in improving the employment and salary distribution systems of enterprises, resettling surplus workers and parting social functions from state-owned enterprises, which will create a sound environment for enterprises' reform and development. The decision also called for acceleration in expanding market access to monopolized industries and introducing competition mechanism and diversified ownership forms to monopolized industries. Further reform measures should be adopted in the fields of telecommunications, electric power, civil aviation, railway transportation, post service and public utilities.

From http://www.cctv.com 10/22/2003

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Ministry of Commerce Brewing Law on Siting of Major Malls

All municipalities, provincial capitals and cities included in the State plan are required to complete the planning of commercial networks and centers before the end of this year. Foreign-invested projects of those failing to complete the planning will not be approved. The era when national commerce is protected via restriction on entry of foreign investment through approval procedures is coming to an end. It's learned that last week, the Ministry of Commerce is strengthening regulation and administration of construction of trade centers by legislation. To this end, it is placing intensified efforts on the formulation of laws and regulations like the Law on Siting of Major Malls, which will include an important provision on gradual compulsory introduction of a hearing system in the whole country.

From FDI 10/23/2003

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JAPAN: A Disappointing Policy Speech

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's policy speech to the Diet, delivered Friday at the opening of an extraordinary Diet session, disappointed many people who had expected him to sum up his 2 1/2 years in office and spell out what he will do to lift the nation from political and economic stagnation. By and large, the speech was long on rhetoric and short on specifics. Stressing that his program of economic revival is beginning to show results, the prime minister said he will stick to his reform agenda. In fact, the economy is on the mend, as shown by positive second-quarter growth and surging business investment. But the recovery as a whole remains weak. Whether it will lead to sustainable growth is at best uncertain. It is also doubtful whether his reform initiative is "beginning to bear buds," as he claims it is. Credit for the improving economic picture goes largely to private companies that have tried hard to restructure. But the restructuring has come with a price: high unemployment. Mr. Koizumi said he will see that the "buds of reform develop into a big tree." His rosy outlook, however, is out of sync with the public's grim perception. Many people, while recognizing the need for reform, remain skeptical about the Koizumi initiative. In the absence of credible details, they doubt whether it will really bring them a better life. Trying to inspire confidence, the prime minister said, "What is good about human beings is that they don't consider themselves pessimists," quoting a remark made to children by a popular Japanese writer. But the quote, memorable though it is, must have fallen on many deaf ears. The prime minister did say some specific things. For example, he promised to privatize postal services in 2007 and tollway systems in 2005. But the prospects are cloudy. For one thing, his new Cabinet, despite his determination to push reform, includes a critic of privatization: Mr. Taro Aso, the new home affairs minister. Mr. Koizumi's smashing victory in the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election needs to be taken with a grain of salt. With a general election coming up, the ruling party is uniting behind the popular prime minister even as many members continue to oppose his policy line. Once the election is over, internal discords could come out into the open. Mr. Koizumi made only a brief reference to the most important legislative item before the extraordinary Diet: a bill to extend the two-year anti-terror legislation, which expires on Nov. 1. The law, enacted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, is designed to provide logistic support, such as supplying fuel, to U.S. and allied naval forces in the Indian Ocean. The proposed two-year extension of this legislation would open the way for ground deployment of Japanese troops in Iraq -- the first-ever dispatch of units of the Self-Defense Forces to a country where combat operations are still continuing. Yet, in explaining why the law needs to be extended, the prime minister said only that "the war on terror is not yet over." The bill should be thoroughly discussed. Sending SDF troops to Iraq on a noncombat mission represents the most Japan can possibly do under the circumstances, given the constitutional restraints on the use of force, including the official interpretation that bars the nation from exercising the right to collective self-defense. Mr. Koizumi should have explained in plain language why an extension is necessary. With a general election around the corner, political tension is building both inside and outside the Diet. Mr. Koizumi, his leadership bolstered by his easy re-election as LDP president, may dissolve the Lower House before the session adjourns at the end of October. The most likely scenario is that he will disband the House on Oct. 10, after passage of the anti-terror measure, and call a general election on Nov. 9. The prime minister's opening policy speech and subsequent Diet debates, including discussion of the planned dispatch of SDF troops to Iraq, will likely set the tone for the coming election. Already battle lines are being drawn between the LDP-led three-way ruling coalition and the new Democratic Party of Japan, which has just merged with the Liberal Party. The DPJ is opposed to the Iraq bill. It may be inevitable that the Diet debates become confrontational in the runup to a general election, for the election outcome will be influenced in no small measure by how the parliamentary war of words develops. The question at stake is which side -- the LDP or the DPJ -- will perform better in the election. The worry is that in the heat of escalating campaign preparations, the debates may simply become a political rite of passage to the final showdown that lies ahead.

From The Japan Times 09/29/2003

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LDP Moves to Revise Electoral Law: Change Would Let Parties Detail Policies While Campaigning

Candidates running for political office in the near future will likely be allowed to distribute detailed pamphlets of their policies while campaigning. On Thursday, the Liberal Democratic Party decided to submit to the Diet a bill to revise an electoral law toward that end. The decision by the LDP's Executive Council means the bill will almost certainly be enacted during the current extraordinary session, expected to continue until Oct. 10, party sources said. The bill is expected to be submitted Friday to a special committee on election systems of the House of Representatives. It will then be immediately passed through the chamber's plenary session before being sent to the House of Councilors. Under the election law, candidates can only distribute a limited number of single-sheet fliers and postcards during election campaigns. The regulations are designed to ensure "equal footing" among candidates and reduce campaign costs. Critics say the current law prevents candidates from revealing their campaign platforms, including targets, implementation timetables and sources of finance for their election pledges. The LDP's move apparently reflects fear of a backlash from voters and the media, which have called on political parties to draw up detailed policies. Nevertheless, LDP Executive Council Chairman Mitsuo Horiuchi urged caution over having the party draw up a manifesto, saying, "Some say the LDP is the party in power and (as such) we need to give a fully substantiated policy." Many LDP lawmakers have tried to block the bill, insisting it will give opposition parties an advantage by allowing them to make big promises that they wouldn't be able to easily fulfill. Opposition lawmakers then attacked the LDP for trying to scrap the bill, arguing that some of its members fear detailed campaign manifestos could be used against their efforts to water down Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's reforms. The opposition lawmakers say these LDP members are getting a free ride on Koizumi's coattails by hiding the huge policy differences they have with the popular prime minister. To date, political parties have offered only vague, generalized slogans before an election. These promises are largely ignored once a party is elected. Calls for realistic numerical targets have begun mounting recently, prompting a rush among parties to compile policy documents. The word "manifesto" has recently come into vogue to distinguish political parties' detailed election policies from their traditional vague slogans. (by Reiji Yoshida)

From The Japan Times 10/03/2003

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Bank of Japan Decides to Ease Monetary Policy Further

TOKYO -- The Bank of Japan (BoJ) said its policy board had decided to ease monetary policy further by allowing the central bank to inject more liquidity into the financial system. Interest rates were left unchanged. At the end of its regular two-day policy meeting, "the bank raised the upper limit of the target balance of current accounts from 30 trillion yen (274 billion dollars) to around 32 trillion yen", with a new target range of 27 trillion to 32 trillion yen, the BoJ said in a statement. "This action was taken in light of making room for conducting monetary operations in a more flexible manner," the bank said. The bank also extended the maximum maturity of Japanese government securities bought via repurchase agreements from six to 12 months. "These measures will contribute to further ensuring the recent movement toward an economic recovery," it said. The bank noted that it was expected to "take some more time before a self-sustaining recovery in domestic demand gains momentum", although "exports and production will likely increase" and eventually lead to an upturn. The BoJ policy change, the first in five months, caught financial market participants off guard. "Since most investors expected no change from the meeting, the outcome was a bit of a surprise, briefly pushing the yen lower," to 109.27 to the dollar, said Masato Imai, dealer at UFJ Holdings. After the knee-jerk reaction, however, the dollar was quoted steady at around 109.10 yen at 3:00 pm (0600 GMT). Meanwhile, Japanese stock prices posted sharp gains, with the benchmark Nikkei-225 index rising 254.60 points or 2.42 percent to close at 10,786.04 as concerns over a stronger yen eased, helping the exporters. "I think the BoJ aims to ease the negative economic impact of a strong yen by boosting liquidity in the market," Imai said. The central bank has virtually no room for cutting interest rates, which are already near zero. Instead, the bank has been conducting what it calls "quantitative easing" by flooding the short-term money market, where commercial banks raise funds, with ample supplies of cash. The BoJ stated that it is "committed to maintaining the quantitative easing policy" until Japan's nationwide core consumer price index, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, reads zero percent or an increase on a year-on-year basis. The world's second largest economy has been mired in deflation, when prices fall from earlier-earlier levels, squeezing corporate profit margins and leading to layoffs and salary cuts as companies struggle to get some traction on profits.

From http://www.channelnewsasia.com/ 10/10/2003

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LDP Policy Guideline Lacks Specifics

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Friday released a 17-page booklet of its policies for the upcoming general election that lacks specifics in at least two key areas. One of the most symbolic items deals with the privatization of the nation's postal services, one of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's pet reform projects. The passage vaguely declares that the LDP will "draw a conclusion by around fall 2004 (after) considering of the government's policy to privatize the postal services in April 2007." This appears to be a clear pullback from Koizumi's pledge to privatize the postal services in April 2007. Postal privatization is vehemently opposed by a number of LDP lawmakers. Although Koizumi and his aides insist they did not make any concessions on the issue, most party members regard the ambiguous wording as a political compromise to allow both sides to interpret it in their own favor to save face. Koizumi can say the party will "take into consideration" his call for privatization; his critics are happy that they've managed to put off a decision until the fall of 2004. "That sentence doesn't say at all what decision the party will make," said Katsuya Okada, secretary general of the Democratic Party of Japan. "It's clear as mud for people." The LDP also appeared to have difficulty grappling with the underfunded public pension system. The ruling party has often been indecisive in drawing up promises on such politically sensitive issues, coming through only in the very last minute. That process emerged again Friday. A draft version of the booklet distributed to reporters around 11 a.m. did not mention a hike in the government's financial burdens for the public pension, but the latest version, as of 2 p.m, did. The rise in the state's burden is widely expected to inevitably lead to a hike in the consumption tax, a potentially risky move for the government. Tsutomu Takebe, vice chairman of the party's policy platform committee, said the LDP voluntarily inserted that sentence. He said there has been pressure from its coalition partner, New Komeito, to do so. Health minister Chikara Sakaguchi, a New Komeito member, has advocated a large increase in the government burden for the pension system and in the tax increase as well. Other main policy pledges include: Bills will be submitted in 2004 to privatize road-related semigovernmental firms. Plans will be drafted on reforming the public pension system by the end of year. Economic growth of 2 percent will be realized in fiscal 2006. The budget will achieve a primary balance in the early 2010s. Public safety will be improved via such measures as halving the estimated 50,000 foreigners illegally staying without proper visas within five years. (by Reiji Yoshida)

From The Japan Times 10/11/2003

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Ministries at Odds Over Pension Age in 2004 Reforms

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry is not planning to raise the age of eligibility for the public to start receiving pensions in its reform of the pension system for 2004, ministry sources said Saturday. However, the welfare ministry's stance runs counter to a call from the Finance Ministry that the pensionable age should be raised to 67 from the current 65 in fiscal 2025 or after. Facing an aging society and falling birthrate, the government has already decided to gradually put back the age of eligibility for pensions to 65 from 60 in previous reforms. Men who were born on April 2, 1961, or after and women born on April 2, 1966, or after cannot receive pensions until they reach 65. But Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi instructed welfare minister Chikara Sakaguchi to review pension payment eligibility again when the ministry drafts a plan for 2004 reforms. Ministry officials oppose a further hike in the age for fear it may deepen distrust in the nation's public pension schemes, the sources said. Sakaguchi also opposes the increase, as he said recently that it would be difficult to introduce unless steps are taken to promote re-employment of people in their 60s. Ninety percent of Japanese firms having a mandatory retirement age of 60.

From The Japan Times 10/19/2003

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Japan Must Rethink Trade Policy

The outcome of the World Trade Organization's ministerial conference in Cancun, Mexico, in September was extremely regrettable and damaging to multilateral trade liberalization based on rules. However, we should not simply resent past failures. We should turn them into lessons for achieving the goals of Japan's future trade policy. I would like to emphasize that for Japan and many other countries, the WTO will continue to be the basis of the world trading system. We must never let the WTO, which sets the basic rules for international trade and provides an effective dispute-settlement mechanism for its 148 members, lose its relevance. For that reason, it is imperative to put the WTO negotiations back on track. Each of its member nations needs to not just insist on what it wants to obtain or defend, but also seek common ground by making concessions where possible. At the Cancun talks, Japan was represented by the foreign, trade and agricultural ministers. But I wonder if the trio entered the conference with a unified negotiating position that reflected Japan's national interests. For example, the U.S. Trade Representative and the European Commissioner in charge of trade engage in international negotiations after making internal adjustments so they can correctly represent their national or regional interests and table their proposals. The Japanese government appears to be discussing the creation of a mechanism or a new organization that would prevent bureaucratic divisions from tying its hands during international talks, and I hope the failure of the Cancun talks will prompt the business community to start playing a more active role in the matter. True, it is the government that handles the negotiations. However, it is a long-established practice in the Western business community, which stands to be affected by the outcome of the talks, to directly take part in the negotiating process. Moreover, in the Cancun talks, I hear that private-sector businesspeople in some Asian countries like India and Indonesia joined their respective government delegations as advisers. Japan should start discussing how representatives from the business community or other interest groups can take part in government-led negotiations. The outcome of Cancun highlighted the need for bilateral and regional initiatives for liberalizing trade and investment. Since 1999, even before the WTO ministerial conference in Seattle, Keidanren has been stressing the importance of bilateral and regional free-trade agreements. Japan should weigh the respective benefits of multilateral trade liberalization under the WTO and bilateral/regional approach, and strategically select its FTA partners and determine the contents of any prospective agreements. In this sense, Japan's failure to reach an agreement on an FTA with Mexican President Vicente Fox here last week was extremely damaging to Japan's future trade policy. It will have a far-reaching impact that goes beyond trade relations with Mexico. In light of the worldwide trend toward FTAs, Japan needs to conclude more such agreements with Asian nations it has close economic ties to. To do this we should quickly review our strategy on trade. (by Yoshio Nakamura)

From The Japan Times 10/20/2003

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Gov't Forces Companies to Raise Retirement Age to 65

Labor Ministry officials have laid the groundwork to legally oblige companies to employ willing workers until they are entitled to start drawing on full benefits of the old age pension, the Mainichi has learned. Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare officials will present a bill for revisions to the Diet next year requiring companies to continue employing workers who have reached the organization's retirement age but are still too young to start receiving their pension. Ministry officials insisted on the step amid opposition from businesses. The move would also complement the rise in the age at which people begin to receive old age pension benefits from the current 60 to the 65 by 2025. "Jobs come first," a top official at the ministry said on condition of anonymity. "We don't care if people who reach the mandatory retirement age are only paid at the minimum wage as long as they are kept on." To get businesses on side, ministry officials appear likely to leave negotiations on employment conditions for post-retirement age workers to employees and employers. Current laws require employers to set their organizations' retirement age at 60 or over. But employers are obliged only to try and continue employing workers until they are 65. Ministry figures show that 89.2 percent of companies have a retirement age of 60, while only 28.8 percent will continue employing workers after they have reached retirement age until they are 65. Revisions to the Pension Law in 2000 provided for an incremental raising of the age when those eligible could first begin receiving old age pensions, beginning in 2013. In that year, the minimum retirement age will move from 60 to 61. After that, the age will be gradually raised until it reaches 65. Under existing laws, employers are only obligated to keep people on until they are 60. Without changing the law, workers would be left with a five-year gap without income or employment. Neither employees or employers are particularly happy about raising the minimum retirement age to 65, but will work toward creating a system where those who want to continue working after passing their employer's retirement age will be able to do so until they reach the minimum retirement age of 65. From 2025, employers will be legally required to continue employing willing workers until they are 65.

From http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/ 10/22/2003

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NORTH KOREA: Leaning Toward Market Economy

North Korea has already introduced a market economy by reinterpreting one of its underlying communist principles, South Korea Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun said on Tuesday. ``The North would likely reinterpret its ruling ideology of `Juche' to justify its shift to the market economy,'' Jeong said in a meeting with American businessmen at the Korean Society in New York. The minister has been visiting the United States since Sept. 28. ``While visiting Seoul, the North's delegation once told me that their former leader Kim Il-sung had directed their predecessors to learn capitalism, but, they said, their seniors did not,'' Jeong said. ``The North Koreans said they were doing in Seoul what their predecessors did not,'' he added. Pyongyang first adopted a market economy principle in July last year by scrapping the rationing system and went a further step last March by allowing private trading of industrial products, he added. Jeong divided change in the reclusive regime into three phases, namely a symbolic change, a meaningful change, and a fundamental and irreversible one, and said the North is now entering the second phase. ``If the U.S. approaches North Korea positively, it could accelerate the change,'' he said, calling for a softened stance from Washington. Jeong pointed to the recent opening of the demilitarized zone and military hot lines as well as the increasing inter-Korean economic cooperation, calling it ``no less significant than the fall of the Berlin Wall.'' ``History shows that economics spearheads the process of integrating divided countries. We believe that the market economy will have a spillover effect and will promote even greater cooperation,'' Jeong observed. However he said the reclusive regime will likely weather the economic difficulties. ``The chance of (the regime collapse) happening is very slim, since the North Korean regime maintains a solid power base through its `Army First Policy,''' he said. Concerning the U.S. troops stationed in South Korea, Jeong said that a majority of South Korean people agree with their presence. ``There are different voices among the South Korean public over the presence. (But) I don't think it is fair to generalize that all these voices are anti-American,'' he said. Questioned over whether he would ask Pyongyang to withdraw its conventional artillery near the border targeting the South, Jeong said such steps should be preceded by the buildup of mutual trust through frequent exchanges and cooperation. ``The North's armed forces, from the rank-and-file to its top officers, see to it that the inter-Korean cooperation benefits none other than themselves. Now the tour zone in Mt. Kumgang and the Kaesong industrial complex are replacing sites for such conventional weapons,'' he said. (by Kim Ki-tae )

From http://times.hankooki.com/ 10/01/2003

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SOUTH KOREA: Government Finalizes Drafts for Three Special Bills

The government finalized drafts for three special bills aimed at decentralizing the administrative authority, promoting balanced national development and constructing a new administrative capital on Wednesday (Oct. 15). The cabinet meeting was presided over by President Roh Moo-hyun. Emerging from the meeting, Prime Minister Goh Kun said that the special bills are designed to improve the self-government capabilities of provincial regions and promote the common prosperity of metropolitan and provincial areas. With regard to the proposed plan to build a new administrative capital, Goh said that the new capital will be located in the Chungcheong-do region where about 240 public agencies will be relocated. Seoul, the current capital, will then be developed as an economic hub of Northeast Asia, the prime minister added. In explaining the background of the three bills, Goh said that the concentration of power and the overpopulation in the Seoul metropolitan area were problems that were growing very serious. "It should be overhauled urgently," he said. He said that the three bills would be submitted to the upcoming National Assembly session for legislation within this year. The bill for Balanced National Development stipulates that the central government will gradually transfer its authority and relocate government agencies to the provinces. The bill for new administrative capital, if passed, will facilitate the overall process of the capital relocation project, ranging from site selection to budgetary matters. Under the draft bill, a presidential committee will be formed that will exclusively work on setting up concrete plans for the project and conducting in-depth studies on candidate sites. The committee, to be co-chaired by the prime minister and a civilian expert, will be composed of 30 government and civilian experts. The final decision will be made by the end of next year after a series of research, analyses and public hearings on such factors as location, land availability and the distance from Seoul.

From http://www.kois.go.kr/ 10/16/2003

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Korean CEOs Should Not See Workers as Production Means

As part of efforts to reduce labor disputes, South Korean companies should change their attitudes toward employees and see them as partners for their businesses to thrive, a world-renowned management consultant said at the World Knowledge Forum in Seoul. ``Korean companies still regard the labor force as a means to accomplish its ends, and they say if labor costs go up their competitiveness will suffer, so they try to keep them low to maintain competitiveness. This is wrong,'' Kenichi Ohmae, Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at UCLA, said during the international conference. ``You need to consider them as citizens, consumers and the foundation of a country, who make it (the country) affluent. That will make for a very good consuming domestic market.'' He also advised employers to accept an expensive workforce, and develop unique products that will give them an edge in the market and consequently, increased revenue. ``My recommendation for Korea to end labor disputes is to face rising labor costs, accept an affluent workforce and make sure Korea innovates in an area where they could actually be winning in the world market,'' he said. Hikes in labor costs were evidenced in other advanced nations, like Japan and the United States, but they never lost competitiveness in key industries, he added. Instead of focusing on growing labor costs, he advised Korean companies seek niche markets to raise their competitiveness. ``Korean companies have to try to become truly established household names and brands in their key markets,'' Kenichi said. With respect to the niche market, he suggested Korean companies make a benchmark of globally successful companies in Scandinavian countries, including Denmark, Sweden and Finland. ``Companies in those countries tend to find niches and become number one in the world in those fields,'' he said. In addition, the global management consultant noted another major reason to end labor conflicts originated from the negative impact on foreign investors' sentiments. ``Ending labor disputes is extremely important as foreign companies see violence on CNN and fear coming into Korea,'' he said. `` China is communist so they have a labor party and you don't have labor disputes in China. It's difficult to work in China but you don't have these kinds of dispute. Sit down with labor unrest face to face.'' Meanwhile, asked for his comments on President Roh Moo-hyun's confidence vote motion, he urged Roh to develop a plan for the future of Korea for the next 10 years before staging a possible referendum in December. `` He has to really concentrate his efforts on devising a new platform and get it voted on. I think this is going to be the only way to avoid confusion,'' he said.

From The Korea Times 10/17/2003

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INDONESIA: Governor Defends Policy on Squatters

Governor Sutiyoso defended on Friday his administration's policy on a string of evictions in the capital, expressing confidence in obtaining full support from the central government once he had made an explanation to President Megawati Soekarnoputri."I will set a timetable to report to the President ... I believe everybody will agree with me, including the government, that what we have done is upholding public order and the law," he said at his office. Sutiyoso was responding to Megawati's criticism on Thursday that eviction would not take place should regional administrations address population problems before the number of squatters increased. Political parties, non-governmental organizations concerned with human rights and poverty alleviation, as well as the national commissions on human rights and protection of women and children, have repeatedly lambasted the violent evictions and have asked for a six-month moratorium pending an evaluation of the policy on eviction. Although the occupants had no rights over the land, they said, the administration should have taken into account the upcoming rainy season, which might lead to flooding, the Muslim fasting month and Idul Fitri holiday, and the general elections next year. "It would be unwise to halt evictions because after the general elections there would be other events that might again be used as reasons for further delay. We'll continue with the evictions but take up suggestions made by critics by involving the rights commissions during evictions," Sutiyoso said. Jakarta invariably attracts migrants after the Idul Fitri holiday, increasing the population density to 14,000 people per square kilometer. "If we did nothing to stop it, the figure would grow to 200,000 per square kilometer," he said. Commenting on the President's accusation that many administration officials took bribes from squatters, which then caused belated responses by local administrations in removing squatters, Sutiyoso shouted, "I'm dead if I take a cent from them. That's humiliating!"

From http://www.thejakartapost.com/ 10/11/2003

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Inconsistency Found in Constitution

The Constitutional Commission held a meeting on Wednesday to hear the opinions of its members on the four constitutional amendments conducted by the People's Consultative Assembly between 1999 and 2003.During the meeting presided over by commission chairman Sri Sumantri, commission member Dahlan Thaib said he found some conflicting articles in the amended Constitution. Dahlan said the Constitution states the president and vice president are elected by the people, but the Constitution does not specify the same for governors and other heads of lower regional administrations. Direct presidential elections were approved in the second amendment to the Constitution in 2000, but the third amendment a year later failed to agree on the direct election of governors, regents and mayors only because Law No. 22/1999 on regional administration had not been revised. The law stipulates that heads of regional administrations are elected by local legislatures.

From http://www.thejakartapost.com/ 10/23/2003

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BURMA£ºMeasures for Sufficient Water Supply Coordinated

The coordination meeting on water supply projects was held at the Directorate of Water Resources and Improvement of River Systems this morning, with an address by Minister for Transport Maj-Gen Hla Myint Swe. Officials reported on progress of water pumping projects in States and Divisions, field tours and implementation of respective projects. Deputy Minister U Pe Than gave a supplementary report. Concerning the reports, the minister fulfilled the requirements and made concluding remarks. Together with Deputy Minister Col Nyan Tun Aung, the minister inspected the engineering department under Myanma Airways in Mingaladon Township. Officials conducted the minister round the department. The minister attended to the needs.

From http://www3.itu.int/ 10/10/2003

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BURMA£ºMeasures for Sufficient Water Supply Coordinated

The Personal Data Protection law, which will regulate the collection, possession, processing and use of personal data by any person or organisation, will be enforced early next year. Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said the legislation was being drafted by Energy, Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Amar Leo Moggie and required interim programmes and an in-depth study to make it comprehensive and suitable for Malaysians. "It will focus on providing adequate security and privacy to individuals in the handling of personal information," he added. Dr Rais said the legislation aimed to create confidence among consumers and users of both networked and non-networked industries and to promote a secure electronic environment in line with the objectives of the Multimedia Super Corridor. "When you purchase an item online, your credit card data is online. Your banking activities precipitate the storage, retrieval as well as the movement of credit and debit records. "These are useful information to some, and wrongly used, your very own data could be the meat for a sly move or the subject matter of fraud," he added. Dr Rais was speaking to reporters after launching an international conference on "Piracy, Data Protection and Corporate Governance in the Internet Economy" here yesterday. As for the penalty of stealing other people's data or accessing data illegally, Dr Rais said it could range between 10 and 12 years' jail for a serious offence or three to five years for a minor offence. But he added that this required further study. He also expressed his concern that credit worthiness such as insolvency of a person's business, was watched by creditors and financial entities and supplied to banks. "After a person becomes solvent again, sometimes the status of being insolvent is used again and again to reflect the history of that person," he said, adding that the bankruptcy department in the PM's Department was looking at ways to resolve the matter.

From http://thestar.com.my/ 10/10/2003

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PHILIPPINES: Government Withdraws Plan to Suspend Debt Sales

The government is withdrawing its plan to suspend by December the regular auction for Treasury bills and bonds amid reports its headroom for the budget deficit shrank in the two previous months. The decision to restore the December auction, which the government earlier suspended, was in spite of a P74-billion cash hoard from the sale of Retail Treasury bonds last July. National Treasurer Sergio G. Edeza Jr. on Monday announced that the government would push through with the auction, but only for the first two weeks of December. "We're looking at restoring the auction in December to ensure our cash position by yearend," Edeza told reporters at the close of Monday's T-bill auction. The Bureau of Treasury head said the government plans to issue about P15 billion, broken down into P9.5 billion in T-bills and P6 billion in bonds. "We're restoring the auction so by 2004, we're better prepared," he said. Edeza explained that the government expects interest rates to pick up in the second quarter next year on account of the volatility that the May presidential election would generate. "We expect rates to spike up in certain months so it's better if we're prepared for future rejections," he said, with regard to the BTr practice of rejecting bids for T-bills whenever banks ask for unreasonably high yields. Meanwhile, benchmark interest rates again rose across the board as the government gave in to higher bids by banks during the fortnightly T-bill auction. The yield on the three-month T-bill rose by 12.3 basis points to 5.629 percent from 5.506 percent two weeks ago. Similarly, the yield on 182- and 364-day debt papers rose by 19.6 and 13 basis points to 6.763 percent and 7.366 percent. The yields for the two tenors were at 6.567 percent and 7.236 percent previously. Edeza maintained that the slight rise in short-term interest rates was still due to the central bank's earlier removal of a tiering scheme in its overnight borrowing window. The removal of the tiering scheme last August represented a de facto interest rate hike, as bank placements with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) would fetch a uniform rate of 6.75 percent. Under the tiering scheme, the central bank paid 6.75 percent for the first P5 billion, 3.75 percent for amounts in excess of P5 billion but below P10 billion and 0.75 percent for placements beyond P10 billion. After the removal of the tiering scheme, banks have been pressing for a hike in yields so they can approximate what the BSP pays banks in exchange for parking their funds with the central bank's overnight window. In this regard, Edeza said the increase in rates in Monday's auction was expected. He added that rates in the secondary market have been "moving up." Bids for the 91-day T-bills were oversubscribed, as total tenders amounted to P4.412 billion as against a P4-billion offering. Similarly, market appetite for the 364-day bills was healthy, as total tenders amounted to P5.720 billion whereas the original offering was just P2.5 billion. The same cannot be said of the 182-day bills, tenders for which amounted to just P2.753 billion out of a P3-billion offering. (By Arnold S. Tenorio)

From http://www.manilatimes.net 10/14/2003

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GMA to Sign Bill Giving Judiciary Special Allowances-De Venecia

President Arroyo will sign into law a bill granting special allowances to judges and justices, according to House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. The proposed law, contained in the Conference Committee Report on House Bill 5178 and Senate Bill 2018, grants all justices and judges in the judiciary special allowances equivalent to 100 percent of their basic monthly salary as specified under Republic Act 6758, or the Salary Standardization Law. "This is part of a series of judicial reforms that must be pursued to make our judicial system more effective and efficient. The move will greatly help isolate the judiciary from corruption," de Venecia said. He praised the proponents of the bill Rep. Marcelino Libanan of Eastern Samar, chair of the justice committee; Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. of Camarines Sur, appropriations panel head; and the bill's principal author, Roseller Barinaga. Other members of the House who helped reconcile conflicting versions of the Senate and House bills in the conference committee were Reps. Rodolfo Albano Jr. of Isabela, Danton Bueser of Laguna, Rolex Suplico of Iloilo City, Gilbert Remulla of Cavite City, and Bellaflor Angara-Castillo of Aurora province. Once signed into law, members of the judiciary will receive their special allowances within a period of four years. Owing to budgetary constraints, their allowances will be given out in 25 percent increments. The special allowances will be taken from the Department of Budget and Management and the Judiciary Development Fund. De Venecia said the national government is authorized to release a maximum of P165 million annually to subsidize the special allowances of justices and judges if the budget department and the JDF do not have enough funds. (By Maricel Cruz)

From http://www.manilatimes.net/ 10/23/2003

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Senate OK's Senior Citizens Bill

The Senate on Tuesday passed on third and final reading Senate Bill 2395, or the Expanded Senior Citizens' Act of 2003, which would amend Republic Act 7432 and give more benefits to the elderly. Sen. Noli de Castro, principal author and sponsor of the bill, said this landmark law will not only increase benefits for the elderly but also give more teeth to it for its stricter implementation. De Castro, chair of the Senate Committee on Social Justice Welfare and Rural Development, said the bill also gives comprehensive benefits to the elderly regardless of income, thus eliminating the distinction based on financial and economic status. "Senior citizens may now enjoy additional benefits and privileges in the form of a 20-percent discount on medical and dental services by private hospitals, and priority in all transactions with any commercial and government establishments," de Castro said. The bill also provides continued employment to retired and retirable senior citizens by providing training programs should they later want to venture into entrepreneurial businesses upon retirement. It also establishes the National Health Program and Integrated Health Service for Senior Citizens to address their health needs. "Unlike in the old law, the elderly may avail themselves of these benefits and privileges even without the identification card issued by the Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA). Instead, they may present any proof that establishes that they are Filipinos and at least 60 years of age," de Castro said. The bill also empowers OSCA to monitor compliance by establishments with the grant of special discounts and privileges to the elderly and to report violations of this provision to the Office of the Mayor, besides helping the elderly file complaints or charges against erring establishments. De Castro expressed hope the same effort will be exerted by the House of Representatives to show that the government "values the great contribution of the elderly to the nation." "In return, they must be given rewards and care as they have already reached the twilight of their lives," he said.

From http://www.manilatimes.net/ 10/23/2003

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Gov't Plans to Borrow More Money From Abroad

The government plans to borrow more money from abroad before the year ends, to pre-fund part of the $1.8 billion it needs next year as budgetary support. Finance Secretary Jose Isidro N. Camacho said yesterday the government's successful borrowing early this month -- through the sale of bonds -- allowed it the flexibility to borrow again while borrowing costs were still low. "It gives us a lot of elbow room, given the favorable market response and the team's successful handling of the recent bond issuance," Mr. Camacho said. National Treasurer Sergio Edeza said the next bond sale this year would not attract as many investors. "We are considering to borrow some more before yearend, but we don't expect to raise a big amount," he told reporters. Last week, the Philippines successfully sold $1.05 billion worth of bonds abroad. The amount will fund its remaining $250-million financing commitment this year and partly cover the government's planned foreign borrowing for 2004. Mr. Edeza said the government would want to seize the opportunity to borrow again while it was still relatively cheap to sell bonds. With the presidential election next year, the money market is expected to be more volatile, which will correspondingly raise the cost of borrowing. "We do not want to go to the market months before the election," Mr. Edeza said. The government last week raised $750 million by reselling its 2014 global bonds, and another $300 through the resale of 2025 bonds. HSBC, Morgan Stanley and UBS were the lead managers. The Monetary Board allowed the government to sell up to $1.25 billion worth of bonds this year. With $1.05 billion raised in last week's bond sale, the government still had leeway to sell another $200 million worth of bonds before the year ended. With the $1.05-billion bond sale, the government completed its foreign borrowing needs for 2003 and pre-funded $800 million of its $1.8-billion borrowing requirement from foreign commercial sources for 2004. Market players polled by BusinessWorld said the government would also like to take advantage of the low interest rates in the local debt market. Still wary of lending to businesses, banks are looking for alternative investment opportunities for the huge amounts of money in their vaults. "December, as we all know, is a non-activity month in the Philippines. You can practically write off the first half of next year because of the elections where investors and fixed income dealers will be on a wait-and-see mode. Rates are still low and at comfortable levels at this point, liquidity is still abundant. There is good opportunity to raise funds with relative ease," one source said. Withdrawing its earlier plan to end its borrowing from the local market by November, the Bureau of the Treasury has announced it will sell PhP15.5 billion worth of government debt papers in December. "In fact, most market players see their December offering as frontloading next year's requirements so they will have minimal borrowing for the first five months next year," another source said. Mr. Edeza has said Treasury would restore the auctions in the first two weeks of December to ensure a healthy cash position by yearend. Rates are expected to spike up ahead of next year's polls. The bellwether 91-day T-bill rate -- used by banks as a reference for pricing loans -- is seen to hit as high as seven percent in the second quarter of 2004. "It is better to be prepared for future rejections. If there is any uncertain event that will happen during the election period that will trigger market panic, there is enough room for the Treasury to reject," Mr. Edeza had said.

From http://www.bworld.com.ph/ 10/24/2003

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Singapore's Monetary Authority to Maintain Neutral Monetary Policy

Singapore's central bank said on Friday that it will keep its monetary policy neutral. The Monetary Authority of Singapore also said it will continue to target a zero percent appreciation of the Singapore dollar against a trade-weighted basket of currencies of the country's major trade partners. It will keep the centre and the parameters of the undisclosed policy band at existing levels, a move that the central bank said is necessary "to remain supportive of the recovery in the domestic economy, while keeping inflation low". Analysts said the announcement is a sign that the government is confident the current policy will support economic growth and keep inflation in check for the next six months. The MAS said inflation is "expected to remain subdued for this year and the next, with the external inflationary environment and domestic cost pressures remaining benign." The MAS expects the consumer price index to be up 0.5 percent this year, and to rise between 0.5 percent and 1.5 percent in 2004.

From http://www.channelnewsasia.com 10/10/2003

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Singapore Unveils Measures to Aid Construction Industry

The Singapore government has unveiled a package of measures to help pump-prime the sluggish construction industry. But it is sticking by the lowest tender bidding system, despite calls for clearer guidelines on the selection process. Construction woes surfaced in June when upgrading works at Marine Terrace were delayed after three main contractors went bust. Contractors blamed poor cash flow, so the government says it will speed up its payment process. National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan revealed the Ministry will settle final accounts earlier. Government agencies will also stop withholding payments to contractors, which they did to set off debts by the same contractor in other projects. Payment notices will be put up on site, so contractors won't have a reason to delay paying their suppliers and sub-contractors. The package includes the following:- Bringing forward about $600 million worth of construction projects in FY03, FY04 and FY05 to boost construction demand; - Improving payments for main contractors, subcontractors and suppliers; - More equitable risk allocation in public sector contracts; and - Improving timely delivery of public sector projects.But the main problem faced by the construction industry is not one concerning cash flow.In fact, the market has shrunk by half since 1997."This package of measures is not really a cure-all for the industry. We have to be realistic and expect that the basic problem facing the industry is still one of an imbalanced supply and demand," Mr Mah said. "There's just simply not enough demand to go around and capacity is still too high. "Over 60 public sector projects have been brought forward to help boost construction demand. These contracts are worth less than S$30 million each - so it means more local contractors qualify to tender. Over the next three years, S$600 million worth of contracts will be awarded.T o prevent contractors from making suicide bids to get these contracts, the government is tightening financial checks. "The lowest tenderer will always win it, provided it is deemed or assessed to be able to do the job. That's where the tender committee really has to do its homework," Mr Mah said. "There's no need to put out any specific guideline. The main guideline is to go for the best value for money. That is the only and main guideline we need to give." Mr Mah also revealed a new bill will be introduced to allow progress payment disputes to be settled quickly.

From http://www.channelnewsasia.com/ 10/12/2003

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Singapore's Harbour to Implement New Security Rules Ahead of Schedule

Ships and maritime ports in Singapore will have to comply with anti-terrorism rules three months ahead of schedule. The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore says port facilities and ships here will observe the new security rules by April next year, instead of the July deadline set by the International Maritime Authority. The Singapore Authority says being ahead of schedule will allow it time to conduct security drills first.Ships entering Singapore's harbour will also be subject to similar rules, and will be denied entry if they do not comply.

From http://www.channelnewsasia.com/ 10/22/2003

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Thailand£ºPoverty Alleviation: Land, Funds Earmarked for the Poor

The poor are to be given Bt200 billion to help them pay off their debts and 20 rai of land each if they qualify as impoverished farmers. The government yesterday announced a series of initiatives after meeting to discuss how best to alleviate poverty. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra also announced that between January 5 and March 31, people could report problems directly to government through their district offices. Thaksin, Cabinet members and senior bureaucrats yesterday met at a three-hour workshop on five poverty-related issues - lack of agricultural land, homelessness, illegal businesses, the underground lottery, and impoverished students. Thaksin said the Interior Ministry would collect over 31 million rai of land from government agencies, including the Agricultural Land Reform Office and the Treasury Department. This will be distributed in 20-rai packages to poor |farming families who apply at district offices. A comprehensive Bt200-billion plan to restructure the debts of low-income people will also be implemented, he said. The prime minister stressed that the debt-restructuring plan did not mean that the debts would be wiped out, but was intended to lighten payment burdens and to extend the payment period so that borrowers could concentrate on their work. "I don't want to see Thailand become a welfare state," Thaksin |said. On the programme for reporting complaints and problems, the government will collect and analyse the data received between next April 1 and June 30, then begin taking appropriate action from July 1. Complainants must submit their 13-digit ID number so that the authorities can track their problems, said the premier. "Some of [the problems] might take a few months [to sort out] while others might take a few years," he added. People who report problems will be able to dial call centres to track the progress of the government's actions. "This [new complaint system] will be a modern-day Phor Khun Ram," he said, drawing a parallel between the programme and the ring-a-bell complaint system of King Ramkhamhaeng the Great, who reigned from 1279 to 1317 in the Sukhothai Era.

From http://www.nationmultimedia.com/ 10/02/2003

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Justice Reforms: Bid to Reduce Police Power

Govt looking at putting provincial officers under the jurisdiction of local CEO governors, minister reveals The government is looking to dilute the power of the national police by putting provincial police under the jurisdiction of CEO governors. The proposed transfer of jurisdiction was revealed yesterday when Justice Minister Pongthep Thepkanchana announced a reform of the military and police forces, creating a non-ranked personnel category. Transferring control of provincial police to chief-executive governors would be aimed at decentralising the power of the national police and creating a checks-and-balances mechanism, Pongthep said yesterday. "The check system in the police now is weak, because all police units report directly to the National Police Commissioner," said Pongthep, who chairs a government panel to reform the bureaucratic system. "Such a check is important because police work is the start of the justice system. If work is carried out fairly, there would not be problems." Under the new system, the Justice Ministry's Special Investigation Department would be able to take over cases handled by police investigators. The Defence Ministry and the national police are set to be restructured, with personnel divided into ranking and non-ranking officials, Pongthep said. An independent agency will also be set up to manage arms procurement by the Defence Ministry - to create transparency and cut costs. In regard to personnel, Pongthep said administrative officials, clerks and other staff such as doctors would be classified as non-ranking officials with a different salary structure. After the restructuring, all officials would maintain their present ranks if they were classified as non-ranking. But promotions would not make them step up to higher military ranks. The new classification of ranking and non-ranking personnel would help reduce costs, he said, because ranking military officials enjoy more benefits than civil servants. The same personnel classification would be applied in the National Police Commission, he said. In regard to arms procurement, the Defence Ministry has come up with a restructuring plan and will submit a legal amendment on the matter to the subcommittee next month. The amendment is expected to be forwarded to the Cabinet for approval early next year. Defence Ministry spokesman Maj-General Palangkoon Klahan played down the prospect of opposition from military officials about the proposals, saying in practice the ministry classified them as civil servants and commissioned officials. "There will not be big differences," he said.

From http://www.nationmultimedia.com/ 10/05/2003

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Drug Bill: Folk Wisdom Under Threat

New manufacturing and prescription rules could wreak havoc on the Thai traditional medicine industry A proposed overhaul of the country's pharmaceutical legislation is attracting widespread criticism. It will result in the "hijacking" of the local wisdom that forms the basis of Thai traditional medicine, cost hundreds of practitioners their jobs and see herbal medicines become much more expensive and available only at modern pharmacies, experts in the field say. "It will mean the loss of traditional medicine, which is passed on from generation to generation," said an official overseeing Thai traditional and alternative medicine at the Public Health Ministry. Given the differences between modern and traditional medicine, it is impractical to treat them under the same law, said the source, who asked not to be named. Based on knowledge inherited from their ancestors, practitioners of Thai traditional medicine grow, harvest, prepare, prescribe and dispense herbal medicines to their patients independently. "The drug-makers' invaluable treatments and knowledge cannot be manufactured," said the source. The drug bill, she said, will force the owners of the inherited formulas used in Thai traditional medicines to sell them to high-capacity drug-manufacturers. The local practitioners will no longer be authorised to make the drugs because they will be unable to operate the high-standard drug-making facilities required by the bill. Otherwise, they will simply have to stop making and dispensing the traditional drugs. And the knowledge that sustains traditional medicine will fade away when the practitioners die, the bill's opponents say. It is impossible to limit traditional practitioners to diagnosis and the prescription of already registered drugs, said the source. Of the more than 10,000 Thai traditional-medicine formulas currently used by around 100,000 licensed traditional practitioners, just 26 have been registered with the Public Health Ministry, the source said. "So how on earth can the bill force them to prescribe only registered drugs?" she asked. "The practice of traditional medicine is an integrated process of drug-making, diagnosis and dispensing on a case-by-case basis." The legislation will force the practitioners to either go underground, putting them at risk of being charged by police, or stop practising traditional medicine, she said. The job of dispensing the medicines cannot be left to traditional pharmacists, she said, because there are fewer than 10,000 of them, just one-tenth the number of traditional practitioners. While the traditional practitioners know everything their pharmacist counterparts know, the source said, the pharmacists have studied only a small part of what traditional-practitioner students are taught at the Applied Thai Traditional Medicine College, said the source. The bill will force consumers to choose from a more limited range of expensive traditional medicines sold only at modern pharmacies, she said. Efforts to promote the use of herbal medicines in livestock feed as part of a move towards chemical-free meat production will also be hampered by the bill, as unregistered herbal products will no longer be allowed. The Association of Thai Traditional Medicine Practitioners has urged that issues relating to traditional medicine be excluded from the drug bill and that a separate traditional-drug bill be drafted.

From http://www.nationmultimedia.com/ 10/07/2003

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VIETNAM: President Seeks Proper Enforcement of The Law

President Tran Duc Luong has asked the judiciary to ensure the legitimate investigation, prosecution, and enfor-cement of the law. He has also asked that the judiciary make a greater effort to devolve more authority to district courts. The President, was speaking after chairing the Judicial Reform Steering Commission's sixth session. The two-day meeting that ended in Ha Noi on Tuesday discussed the amendment of the Criminal Procedures Code. Viet Nam Communist Party Central Committee (PCC) Secretariat member and PCC Internal Affairs Commission Director Truong Vinh Trong, ended the session. Trong said that the proposed changes to the law meant the institutionalisation of the Party's policies for judicial reform. The changes to the Criminal Procedure Code were crucial because they affected the legitimate rights of the country's citizens and organisations as well as the judiciary, he said. Most of the commissioners agreed that proposed changes to the Criminal Procedures Code included more regulations for the protection of citizen rights as well as specific regulations governing the obligations and responsibilities of litigants. They agreed too that the draft of the proposed changes also highlighted the responsibility of prosecutors and judges to reduce miscarriages of justice. In a frank assessment of the work still to be done, the commissioners suggested that the code should more clearly stipulate the responsibilities of citizens and State-own agencies to combat criminals before any prosecution begins. They agreed that more authority to be devolved to district courts as proposed in the draft and that investigation offices should be made a single agency in accord with the Politburo's suggestions. They agreed also that any miscarriage of justice must be verified and legitimately resolved so as to human dignity, honour with the victims compensated for any material or psychological damage.

From http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/ 10/02/2003

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Personal Income Taxes to Be Cut in 2004

Employees in Viet Nam will pay less income tax next year when a new ordinance expected to be approved by the National Assembly takes effect. Quach Duc Phap, director of the Ministry of Finance's Department of Taxation Policies, said current taxes are too high and are affecting workers' abilities to compete in a difficult market. The ministry's draft amendment on the income tax levied on high-income earners will be submitted to the National Assembly this month. It is expected to become law in early 2004, Phap said. Monthly salaries between VND3million and VND6 million are now taxed at a 10 per cent rate, but under the draft, the taxable income at that level would be between VND3 million and VND7.5 million, Phap said. Other levels of income will be adjusted also. The highest taxable income will increase from the current VND15 million to VND30 million, he said, with the top tax rates cut from 50 per cent to 40 to 45 per cent. "With these amendments, local high-income earners will pay lower taxes if the draft is approved," Phap said. In addition, income derived from the transfer of land-use rights will count as taxable personal income and will be included as part of the minimum monthly salary level to be taxed, which is VND3 million. The General Taxation Department, which recently held a meeting on the draft with the Ministry of Finance, said many ministries and branches, however, do not agree with the Ministry of Finance on certain draft provisions. Disagreement is centered on what the minimum taxable salary should be. Pham Van Thanh, a lawyer with the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the minimum monthly taxable salary, under the draft, will not increase from the current VND3 million, or US$193. "The draft doesn't reflect the fact that the costs of living have gone up at a level much higher than before," he said. "A salary of VND3 million can only pay for basic needs, and the remainder, if there is any, will be negligible." Participants at the meeting proposed that the minimum income to be taxed increase to VND5million. Ngo Van Vi, deputy general director of Sony Viet Nam, said an employee who earns between VND3 million and VND6 million per month now pays at a10 per cent rate. But the income tax threshold for a foreign employee is VND8 million. "Such a threshold for locals is too low and discourages companies from awarding employees high salaries. Because of this and the relatively high tax rate, it is cheaper for us to hire foreigners than Vietnamese. "This is a big loss as many enterprises will employ foreigners instead of locals for key positions," Vi said. GTD Deputy Director Nguyen Thi Cuc, who was a member of the drafting board, said proposals to increase the tax threshold as well as those relating to income tax rates for singers, musicians and professional athletes and others in similar fields will be carefully considered before the draft is submitted.

From http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn 10/13/2003

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Assembly Expected to Pass Nine Laws

The National Assembly was expected to approve the revision of nine laws at its fourth session that starts on Tuesday, National Assembly Office director Bui Ngoc Thanh said on Monday. These were: Revision of the People's Council and People's Committee Law; the Election to the People's Council Law; the Law for Emulation and State awards; the revised Criminal Procedures Code; the revised State-owned Enterprises Law; the revised Land Law; the Fisheries Products Law; the Co-operatives Law and the Construction Law. The deputies will also assess Viet Nam's socio-economic development and plans and tasks for next year at the more-than-month-long session. Their other tasks include reviewing State budget revenue and expenditure, budget preparations for 2004 and a report identifying moneys that will go to the ministries, industries, provinces and cities. The deputies will discuss a report about paying all State employees in cash, raising the monthly salaries of these workers, social insurance and pensions for those who have contributed to the revolution and the Government. Other reports on the agenda include an assessment of land use from 2001 to 2005; changes to some provincial borders and foreign affairs. The deputies will discuss the activities of the assembly's Standing Committee, the Nationalities Council and the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuracy. They will also provide their opinions about five draft laws: The Inspection Law; the Civil Procedures Code; the revised Bankrupt Enterprises Law; the Law to Adjust and Improve the Credit Institutions Law and the Inland Waterway Law. The National Assembly Standing Committee prepared for the sitting at an 11-day working session that ended last Saturday. It decided that the general socio-economic development had been satisfactory during the first nine months of this year. Achievements included increased exports; higher-than-expected collection of State revenue; the defeat of SARS; adequate preparations for the 22nd SEA Games and fewer traffic snarls and accidents. But the committee noted that economic growth was less than the average set for the five-year plan to 2005; procedures for both investment and commerce were still too bureaucratic and both social and international investment was too little. In addition, the quality of both education and science was inadequate, many social problems remained while corruption and wastefulness still occurred and administrative reform was too slow.

From http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/ 10/21/2003

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Viet Nam Initiatives in Forum Statement

Viet Nam had raised two crucial economic initiatives at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit, said Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien. The minister told domestic media that the Vietnamese delegation's proposals to the 11th APEC summit in Bangkok, which ended on Tuesday, were based on the results of the Viet Nam APEC Week that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held in September. The first proposal was to ensure investment co-operation was in line with trade co-operation, he said, in order to focus APEC investment in Southeast Asia. Nien said this proposal would be included in a declaration by the APEC Ministerial Meeting later this year. The second initiative detailed a plan of action for super-small, small and medium enterprises, which led to APEC making a capacity-building fund for super-small enterprises one of its priorities for 2004. "The summit's support for Vietnamese initiatives indicates that they brought forward the concerns of all member economies," Nien said. He said the Vietnamese also suggested practical measures to prevent terrorism and reform APEC, which were warmly received by the summit. Vietnamese leaders held bilateral talks with their counterparts from other Asia-Pacific economies to win their support for Vietnamese initiatives raised at the summit, Nien said. The foreign minister said Viet Nam also sought support for its bid to join the World Trade Organisation, and its bids to host the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) next year and the APEC summit in 2006. Viet Nam's plan to host the 14th APEC summit was backed by other members, he said, demonstrating the group's recognition of the country's achievements under doi moi (economic renewal) and its foreign policies. He pointed out that Viet Nam had hosted major international conferences such as the sixth ASEAN summit in 1998, and would host the ASEM summit next year. These events were important parts of Viet Nam's process of global integration and were rehearsals for the 2006 APEC summit. Vietnamese leaders also spoke with representatives from major corporations such as Microsoft and New York Life on the sideline of the summit, Nien said.

From http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/ 10/22/2003

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BANGLADESH: Take Export as Tool to Spur Growth, Reduce Poverty: WB Country Director Tells Workshop

World Bank (WB) Country Director Christine Wallich yesterday said Bangladesh should come out of its import substitution policy and put emphasis on export as a tool to reduce poverty and achieve its desired economic growth. "Nurturing domestic industries behind high tariff walls will generate only inefficiency," she said pointing at the small domestic market and lack of competitiveness required to secure a place in the international market. Bangladesh must bank on export to achieve 6 to 7 per cent annual GDP growth required to halve poverty level by 2015 under the UN Millennium Development Goal, she said while addressing a workshop on "Trade Policies in South Asia. "Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) and the World Bank jointly organised the two-day workshop that began yesterday at IDB Bhaban in Dhaka. The WB country director said South Asian countries raise high tariff walls to help grow their infant industries but the policy backfired as the infant never grew up and failed to become competitive in world market. The trade liberalisation policy of Bangladesh should encourage export and only export can change the face of its economy, Wallich said urging the government to formulate an export-friendly trade policy. She said trade liberalisation in Bangladesh should be carried out as part of medium term programme so that firms can better their plans and make adjustments to their business. Developing countries must have to gain by reducing their own levels of protection. Through this process they can boost productivity, export and make their products competitive in world market, she added. Citing statistics on tariff rates, the WB country director said East Asian exporters pay 60 per cent tariffs to developing countries and 66 per cent of the total tariff is paid to their neighbours in East Asia. However, she said, South Asian countries are gradually moving their economies away from protectionism towards greater openness and global economic integration. About potential of WTO trade liberalisation talks, Wallich quoted an observation of WB President James Wolfensohn where he urged the rich countries to rise above special interests and national constraints for the betterment of global community. The farmers in rich countries receive subsidies to the tune of $350 billion a year while official development assistance is a mere $50 billion that speaks of the unbalanced priorities in the system, she said. Addressing the workshop, Commerce Secretary Suhel Ahmed said though South Asian and East Asian countries were of same economic status during 1950s, the East Asians surpassed South Asians due to their market openness and investment-friendly condition. The South Asian economies lagged behind as they stuck to import substitution policy. He said South Asian countries must shift from the policy and liberalise their market. Fakhruddin Ahmed, governor of Bangladesh Bank, Quazi Shahabuddin, director general of BIDS, Omar Haider Chowdhury, research director of BIDS, Garry Pursell, international development consultant of WB, Zaidi Sattar, senior economist of WB in Bangladesh, Tercan Baysan, regional trade director of WB and Mustafizur Rahman of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) also spoke in different sessions of the workshop.

From http://www.thedailystar.net/ 10/07/2003

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Anwar Stresses on Policy Framework on Agriculture

BSS, DHAKA - Agriculture Minister M K Anwar yesterday underlined the need for adopting a policy framework for the country's agriculture sector to cope with the higher subsidy in this field in the developed world. "We need to further develop our agriculture sector to ensure food security, alleviation of poverty and growth of agro-based industries in the country," he said while speaking at a seminar on "Bangladesh in a Globalised World: Choices and Future Challenges" here. Organised by Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) at its auditorium, the seminar was also addressed by Commerce Secretary Suhel Ahmed Chowdhury and BIDS Research Director M. Asaduzzaman. Director General of BIDS Quazi Shahabuddin was in the chair. Ashok Gulati, Division Director of Markets, Trade and Institutions of IFPRI, also spoke on the occasion. The researchers of BIDS submitted three separate papers in the seminar.M K Anwar said Bangladesh should devise its own policy to score progress in the agriculture sector as the recently concluded WTO ministerial meeting raised various questions regarding the future of world trade and development possibilities through globalisation in parts of Least Developed Countries (LDCs).Referring to subsidy in the agriculture sector, he said his ministry had asked the government to raise the agricultural subsidy to Taka 700 crore from the existing Taka 300 crore as the sector is playing an important role for the country's overall economic development. "According to WTO rules, Bangladesh can provide at least 10 per cent of product specific subsidy amounting to Taka about 19,000 crore for the agriculture sector at present day prices," he said. The agriculture minister, however, laid emphasis upon initiatives to increase bilateral trade as he said, "not only the multilateral trade, but regional and bilateral trading arrangements are becoming order of the day." From October next, Bangladesh is going to start talks with the neighbouring countries on bilateral trading arrangements with them," he informed at the seminar. M K Anwar said the agriculture sector was always kept outside the purview of the GATT negotiations until the Uruguay roundtable, which had a very long drawn out process of eight years mainly due to disagreement over the agriculture sector. "This was so because agriculture in all developed countries have been heavily protected either behind tariff walls or through heavy subsidy both in the input and the output markets," he observed. He said all the signatories to the GATT negotiations had agreed to cut down not only tariffs but also the agricultural subsidies according to rule based formula. "When there has been some progress in implementing the policy, subsidies gradually surfaced bypassing the rules. In the developed world in general, some trade distorting support has been re-categorised," he added. The agriculture Minister put special emphasis on increased trade and commerce between the developed and the developing countries side by side with special considerations for the LDCs to remove disparity between them. "In today's world, trade and commerce have become the integral part of development and it is well recognised that fair and free trade could generate benefits for the trading partners," he said. (BSS)

From http://www.bangladesh-web.com/ 09/22/2003

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Law to Facilitate E-commerce Under Scrutiny Moyeen Stresses on Public-Private Initiative

Bangladesh is going to have laws to facilitate electronic commerce eliminating the need for paper documents for business deals. The country's Information Technology (Electronic Transaction) Act is now going through the final scrutiny. "We are scrutinizing all aspects of the proposed law including its security features and it will be placed to the cabinet," said the minister at the seminar on "Information paradox and possible solution". Minister for Science, Information and Commutation Technology, Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan was speaking at the seminar Saturday before inaugurating the two-day DCCI Software Fair- 2003, arranged by the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) in cooperation of GTZ. Moyeen Khan stressed on huge public and private sector investment in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) projects, infrastructures and human resource training for any gain from this sector. "Our policy planners must understand the benefit of investing in ICT," he added. He spoke highly of young programmers and stressed on publicising their creative works. Professor Jamilur Reza Chowdhury urged the government to formulate a policy so that it (government) will buy only local software. Presided over by DCCI president Matiur Rahman, director of DCCI Atique-E- Rabbani presented the keynote paper at the seminar. President of Bangladesh Computer Samity (BCS) Sabur Khan, President of ISP Association Akhtaruzzaman Manju and president of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) Habibullah N Karim were present, among others. Twenty five local software developers are showcasing their products in the fair.

From http://www.bangladesh-web.com/ 10/26/2003

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INDIA: Govt Announces New Draft Natural Gas Pipeline Policy

NEW DELHI - The government on Monday announced a draft natural gas pipeline policy under which any producer can sell gas within 100 km of well-head or land-fill point to consumers directly and lay pipeline for this purpose. The pipeline beyond 100 km will be governed by the common carrier principle. The gas pipeline policy also envisages setting up a national gas grid for which GAIL has been designated as the nodal agency. The gas grid will consist of a 7,000 km long network built at a cost of around Rs 18,000 crore over the next 5-6 years. Announcing the details, Petroleum Minister Ram Naik said the policy would be finalised by December after taking into consideration suggestions by experts and stakeholders. He said that a company would be notified by the government to build and manage all trunk pipelines covering more than one state or operating at pressure more than the notified level. GAIL would be performing the function of this company till such time it is notified by the government. The policy envisages appointment of a regulator under the Petroleum Regulatory Board Bill 2002 for regulating transmission, distribution, supply and storage system for natural gas/LNG and to promote development of the sector. The regulator will ensure access to gas pipelines on non-discriminatory common carrier principle for all users. Naik said the ministry would seek Cabinet approval for setting up of the regulatory authority and the Bill would be put before Parliament for discussion in the winter session. And the tariff for the transmission pipelines and distribution pipelines would be approved by the regulator.

From http://www.indianexpress.com/ 09/30/2003

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India, ASEAN Seal FTA Pact

BALI - Giving a fillip to bilateral relations and India's 'Look East' policy, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Wednesday signed an accord with Asean to set up in 10 years a free trade area (FTA) covering goods, services and investment in order to enhance economic cooperation. This is in line with India's commitment to extend special and differential trade treatment to members of the grouping and align its peak tariffs to East Asian levels by 2005. According to foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal, the framework agreement on comprehensive economic cooperation between India and Asean also provides for an early harvest programme, which specifies the areas for collaboration and common list of items for exchange of tariff concessions. January, 2004- June 30, 2005 is the deadline for negotiations for FTA in goods and 2005-07 for services and investments. January 1, 2006, is the target to start tariff reductions. India will eliminate tariffs in 2011 for Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand will eliminate their duties for India in 2011. New Asean member states - Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam - will do so by 2016. India and Philippines will eliminate tariffs for each other on a reciprocal basis by 2016. The Philippines had expressed reservations about the framework agreement during the negotiations between the two sides. For FTA in services, implementation will begin sector-wise after the completion of negotiations in 2007. Negotiations for FTA in investments will also commence in 2005 and be concluded by 2007. Identification, liberalization etc of various sectors will be finalized for implementation subsequently. The early harvest programme for exchange of tariff concessions on listed goods will start from 1st November, 2004. Exchange of tariff concessions and elimination of tariffs on agreed common list of 105 items based on common reciprocity between India and Asean-6 will take place within three years. While India will remove tariffs on these items within three years for Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV) they will do so for India in six years. India will extend unilateral tariff concessions to CLMV on 111 items in line with Mr Vajpayee's commitment at the first India-Asean summit last year to extend special and differential treatment to Asean countries, based on their levels of development to improve their market access to India. A trade negotiating committee (TNC) will begin framing in January 2004 the rules of origin, the modalities for tariff reduction and FTA. An Asean-India business council will be formed. It will comprise 24 members with 2 each from Asean and 4 from India to be nominated for a period of two years by the respective governments of Asean and India.

From http://financialexpress.com/ 10/08/2003

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Ministry Planning EOU Scheme on Lines of SEZs

NEW DELHI - The commerce ministry is taking a "close" look at a proposal to develop a scheme for export-oriented units (EOUs) on similar lines to special economic zones (SEZs) as it has not evoked any favourable response from the Indian industry so far. Such a scheme was promised when the 2002-03 export and import (Exim) policy was unveiled by commerce and industry Arun Jaitley last March. Disclosing this, director-general of foreign trade L Mansingh has told FE that "Indian manufacturers do not see any advantage in relocating their existing units in the SEZs to become eligible for benefits under the new scheme". "We will have a close look at this matter while formulating next year's (2004-05) Exim policy," Mr Mansingh stated adding that the proposal for evolving a new scheme for export-oriented units with benefits similar to those applicable to the SEZs had come from multinationals including Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. He said that the proposal was to be made applicable to EOUs in select sectors with capital investment in plant and machinery of over Rs 25 crore. It would make no sense if the geographical limits of SEZs were not respected while framing the proposed scheme, he added. The SEZ scheme became effective from April 1, 2000. So far, 21 SEZs have been approved on the basis of proposals received from states/private promoters. Of these, the SEZs at Indore, Salt Lake (Kolkata) and Jaipur are ready for operation. Those at Navi Mumbai and MahaMumbai, Visakhapatnam, Hassan (Karnataka) and Jodhpur (Rajasthan) have made substantial progress and sizeable land areas has also been acquired. Under the current policy, supplies from domestic tariff area (DTA) units to special economic zones units will be considered as exports by DTA units and supplies to DTA units from SEZ units will be considered as imports by the DTA units. The government has also clarified that supplies to and from SEZ units will be governed by the provisions of the Customs Act and not by the provisions of the Central Excise Act. Also, the duty on DTA clearance of goods by SEZ units shall be levied under the provisions of Section 12 of the Customs Act and Customs Tariff Act as are levied in the case of physical imports of goods. Among the facilities available to SEZs include duty-free imports or procurement of goods for development, operation and maintenance, external commercial borrowings without any maturity restrictions through authorized banks. (by S VENKITACHALAM)

From http://www.financialexpress.com/ 10/14/2003

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SRI LANKA: President's Opposition to Amend Bribery or Corruption Commission Act

It is learnt that the independent political observers are in a quandary about President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga's opposition to the Government's decision to amend the Bribery or Corruption Commission Act in order to revitalize the Bribery or Corruption Commission now dormant following the death of one of its members. They argue that the legislature is empowered to amend the existing laws in this country and under such circumstances, under what authority are the Commission's President Ananda Coomaraswamy and Commissioner Kingsley Wickremasooriya are expressing their opposition to the intended amendments. The Commission for Inquiry into allegations of Bribery or Corruption became defunct following the death of one of its members a few months ago. The person who was nominated for the vacancy declined to forward an application or call for an interview. Since the Commission could not function while the post was vacant and did not have the required quorum, the Commission's President addressed a letter to the President seeking her intervention to solve this crisis of national importance. Eventually, the Parliamentary Committee with the concurrence of all parties in Parliament decided to amend the relevant Act. President Kumaratunga's opposition to the proposed amendments was supported by the Commission's President and the other members of the Commission. (by Chathura Vidyaratne)

From http://www.dailynews.lk/ 10/06/2003

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Crash Program to Issue Ids to OL Candidates

The Department for Registration of Persons (DRP) directed all school principals to obtain National Identity Cards (NICs) for children sitting the GCE (OL) Examination in December. Accordingly, the Department has requested school authorities to send the applications to the Department Head Office at Keppetipola Mawatha on or before October 31. DRP Commissioner Wijaya Ranasinghe told the Daily News yesterday that to expedite the issuing of identity cards within a short period, the Department will launch a crash program for the benefit of students in Colombo and suburban schools. Department officials are also expected to visit schools to make the authorities aware on the importance of students possessing IDs when they reach 16 years. "We have also decided to extend this program to outstation schools and it will be carried out with the help of Divisional Secretariats," Ranasinghe said. "Under this program we are expected to avoid the last minute rush, created by students who visit the Department, few weeks before public examination," he said. Ranasinghe said that the Department is expected to process and distribute ICs to the students within four weeks. Sri Lankans completing 16 years are eligible to obtain NICs. (by Ananda Kannangara )

From http://www.dailynews.lk/ 10/18/2003

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MALDIVES: Education Ministry Trying to Increase Number of Teachers, Improve Their Professionalism

MALE -- Efforts are being made to increase the number of teachers in Maldives and improve their professionalism, Education Minster Ismail Shafeeu said Sunday. The government and private parties are helping to train teachers, sending them overseas for further training, as part of the overall endeavor to strengthen the education system of Maldives, Shafeeu said in a message to a supplement published to mark World Teachers' Day. Shafeeu said that at this time it is important to consider whether the working atmosphere and salaries offered to teachers are satisfactory. He also emphasized on the importance of providing support to teachers and treat them with respect as they were the ones helping to shape the young generation. A report compiled by four aid agencies estimates that the world needs 35 million primary teachers by the year 2015. The report also called on the education sector to be more responsible and accountable for teachers' professionalism and integrity. The report compiled by UNESCO, ILO (International Labor Organization), UNDP and UNICEF cited that many teachers failed to stay on in their professions due to unpleasant working conditions, low salaries, and other associated psychological problems. The report also said that many problems were faced by teachers because schools faced budgetary constraints. Many activities are being held in Male and the atolls on Sunday to mark Teachers' Day.

From http://www.haveeru.com.mv/ 10/05/2003

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President Says Price of Electricity and Water Will Be Reduced as Much as Possible in Near Future

MALE -- President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom on Tuesday evening said that the price of electricity and water would be reduced as much as possible in the near future. The President made this statement in his speech at a meeting with the residents of Villingili. In his speech, the President noted that, during his visits to the wards, the most frequent concern that the people had presented to him was the price of electricity and water. The President said that, the respective companies had invested a lot of money in providing electricity and water to the people, and that the high level of investment commanded that users had to pay for those services, to ensure continued service provision. The President added that, however, the government had continued to reduce the price of electricity and water, upon the requests of the people to him. The President said that another frequent difficulty that the people had presented to him was regarding parking stickers. The President said that, after consulting with the concerned ministry, the fines for parking sticker had been reduced, and that the revised fines would be announced shortly. In his speech, the President said that the government had also decided to reduce the price of syllabus textbooks by between 20 and 25 percent. The President added that, this reduction in prices would bring further ease for the people. The President noted that the government had begun inhabiting Villingili to alleviate the chronic housing shortage in Male. The President said that, therefore, the government had worked very hard to provide similar levels of essential services for the residents of Villingili, as for every other ward of Male. He added that a lot of work had already been done in that endeavour. In his speech, the President thanked the residents of Vilingilli for the warm welcome that they had extended to him. The residents of Villingili presented their concerns and ideas to the President, during the meeting. Residents also informed the President of some of the difficulties that they were facing. In his welcome speech at the meeting, the Assistant Director at the Villingili Ward Office, Zahir Abdulla said that it was a great pleasure and honour for the residents of Villingili that the President had visited the island and met with them. He extended a very warm welcome to the President, on behalf of the residents of Villingili. In the message that was read out at the meeting expressing the sentiments of the residents of Villingili, the residents expressed their appreciation for President Gayoom's 25 years of invaluable service to the nation as President. They also highlighted the development that he had brought to Villingili. The message was read out by Shamveela Faiz of Villingili Virisika.

From http://www.haveeru.com.mv/ 10/16/2003

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NEPAL: Teachers' Licensing Process Finally Gets Rolling

KATHMANDU - The government has finally made teaching license compulsory for all categories of teachers, and has started the licensing process from Friday. Teaching license has become mandatory for all teachers, including private school teachers, in order to be eligible for teaching, according to a notice issued here by the Teachers' Service Commission (TSC) on Friday. It is also mandatory for all teachers to undergo a 10-month-long teacher training to be eligible for obtaining the license. But such licenses would be issued only after conducting a written examination, the TSC said. TSC has also made special arrangements for encouraging women and disabled to enter the teaching profession. The Seventh Amendment to the Education Act (2028 BS) states that a teacher without obtaining a teaching license from the TSC would not be eligible to teach in any schools, be it public, community or private. Talking to Kantipur Online Friday evening, chairman of the TSC, Udaya Raj Soti, said about 100,000 applications were expected to be submitted within the month's deadline for the first phase for teaching licenses. He also informed that all the procedures as per the latest advertisement would be completed by the middle of March 2004. He said there were 30,000 posts vacant for teachers, including all the three levels whereas 14,500 posts would be filled by the previously published advertisement, of which the TSC had started publishing the results. By December this year, publications of the results of the teachers' selection examination would be completed. TSC hopes to rebuild teaching workforce in the country and remove fake certificate syndrome through the issuance of teaching licenses. It also hopes to standardize school education through a permanent licensing system.

From http://www.kantipuronline.com/ 10/11/2003

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Govt. Accords Priority to Protect Vital Installations

KATHMANDU - In the light of recent escalation in the number of Maoist-led attacks on vital public installations, the government has instructed the Ministry of Home Affairs to step up security arrangements for their protection in various district headquarters. A meeting held recently at the Cabinet Secretariat decided to accord top priority to the security of vital installations like telecommunications, electricity, and water reservoirs and key bridges. The meeting chaired by the chief secretary Dr Bimal Prasad Koirala was attended by secretaries at the Ministries of Defence, Information and Communications, Home Affairs, Water Resources, Physical Planning and Construction, Finance with representatives of the Nepal Telecommunication Corporation (NTC) and Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). The Cabinet Secretariat has already issued circulars to the ministries concerned and respective agencies under them for immediate implementation of the decisions, a highly placed government source said. The meeting also decided that the Ministry of Home Affairs would coordinate with other ministries in the preparation of a "Vital Installation Security Plan" for reliable and sustainable security arrangements of the country's vital installations. The government has issued instructions to the Ministries of Home Affairs, Defence and other authorities concerned for necessary security arrangements to safeguard their respective installations. The meeting has also decided that the authorities concerned would bear the expenditure for the necessary security arrangements in future on "cost sharing principle" and the respective authorities under the Ministry of Defence to prepare action plan for the purpose. (by Suman Malla)

From http://www.kantipuronline.com/ 10/15/2003

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PAKISTAN: Country Supports a Just Multilateral Trading System

RAWALPINDI - President, General Pervez Musharraf said Wednesday, Pakistan was a strong supporter of the concept of a just multilateral trading system that balanced the interests of developing as well as developed countries. Pakistan believed in following a reasonable and constructive approach in the WTO while fully safeguarding its own commercial and economic interests, President Musharraf told Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, DG WTO, who called on him here. The DG WTO was accompanied by Commerce Minister,Humayun Akhtar Khan, Commerce Secretary, Kamal Afsar and Pakistan's Ambassador to the WTO in Geneva, Dr. Manzoor Ahmad. President Musharraf appreciated the efforts made so far by Dr. Supachai to faithfully fulfill the Doha mandate so that the interests of developing countries could also be served adequately. The President informed the Director General WTO that in future also Pakistan would continue to be supportive of his efforts to steer the negotiations forward in a way that developing countries could achieve their rightful share of benefits from the multilateral trading system. President Musharraf expressed the hope that DG WTO's discussions would help him in better appreciating the concerns of Pakistan. During the meeting the Director General briefed the President regarding the current status of the Doha Development Agenda trade negotiations in the WTO with specific reference to the recently concluded Cancun Ministerial Conference. Dr. Supachai also observed that in his opinion Pakistan was an influential member of the WTO and it had a very important role to play in the coming days. The DG WTO informed the President that after the Cancun Conference he needed to initiate fresh consultations with Trade Ministers of the World and Pakistan was the first country that he was visiting in this regard. Dr. Supachai praised the Government of Pakistan for the sustained efforts it had made over the past few years to improve the economic conditions of the country and said that the beneficial results of these efforts were already becoming visible to all.

From http://www.paknews.com/ 10/02/2003

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Musharraf Proposes Joint Commission of OIC States

(PNS) - President General Pervez Musharraf Wednesday proposed a Joint Economic and Business Commission of OIC states to work on a package of proposals, he presented to enhance cooperation and enable the Muslim countries achieve the objective of socio-economic prosperity. " This Commission should be given nine months to complete its task," he told a OIC Business Forum and proposed that a special "Public-Private Economic Summit" be convened next year to take up the recommendations by the Commission. The Summit should adopt the programme, commit the resources and set a mechanism for implementing their suggestions to improve socio-economic conditions of the Islamic countries, he added. President Musharraf said the commission should include top businessmen from OIC countries to develop the economic proposals and stressed that it was important to set a deadline for the Commission to achieve tangible results." The time is extremely important." The Business Forum was held in conjunction with the 10th summit of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) to suggest ways and means for promoting Islamic economies. The President said the meeting was taking place at a critical time for the Ummah. "We stand at the crossroads of future destiny," he said and added, Islamic countries would have to decide whether militancy, extremism and confrontation would lead to their emancipation or focus on socio-economic well-being would benefit them. He presented a comprehensive analysis of the state of economies of the OIC countries and made a number of proposals as a way forward to improve socio-economic conditions within the OIC countries. The economic proposals by President Musharraf and his analysis of the Muslim economies drew thunderous applause from a large gathering comprising leading political and business leaders. Presenting what he termed as a "Package of proposals", the President said that as starting point for changing growth, the Muslim countries must reform their domestic policies to make them market-friendly and pro-business. "It will be hard for us to promote intra-OIC trade or investment unless we make ourselves attractive to all investors," he added. He identified key areas of reforms of domestic policies that included foreign investment laws, tax and trade regime, currency and exchange control system, corporate governance, stock exchanges and judiciary. Secondly, he called for making the sub-grouping of Muslim countries such as ECO more active. Enhancing economic cooperation between OIC countries would be facilitated by active participation in regional economic groupings," he added. Similarly, he said the OIC countries should benefit from involvement in their sub-grouping such as ASEAN, SAARC and African Union. Thirdly, he proposed that small business groups with the help of large business groups, can afford to conduct due diligence and take intelligent trade and investment decisions. In this regard, he said, a concrete effort should be launched to assist medium-size enterprises. "We must support innovate reforms in the emerging industries," the President stressed. He described successful brands as the most tangible way of scaling the business regionally and globally. Citing the examples of Al-Jazeera and Mecca Cola which were successful examples of penetrated effects, he said seed investments in innovative OIC companies with potential for banding should be considered. The President said that instead of dissipating energies on too many sectors and industries, a cluster of industries should be identified for focused attention in promoting intra-OIC ventures. He suggested four sectors for promoting the intra-OIC ventures including Energy, Agri-business, Financial services and Information Technology and Communication. As a part of his economic proposals, the President said that Islamic countries must develop investment funds to facilitate joint ventures and accelerate direct investment within the OIC and added that expertise of Islamic Development Bank (IDB) could be utilized for this. He also proposed to explore the mechanism for allowing trading across the stock exchanges of the OIC countries. President Musharraf stressed on leveraging new technology for the rapid transfer of OIC business opportunities about sharing information on tax practices and creating directories and databases within OIC countries. Lastly, he said the Islamic countries should also consider the range of available incentives for translating pronouncements of cooperation into reality. The President identified lack of institutional framework for implementation and involvement of our businesses and private sector as the reasons for failure of past attempts for enhancing cooperation. He said affiliated agencies of OIC such as IDB and Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industries must be involved in the initiative in restructuring the OIC, and creation of a department of trade, commerce and investment to provide strong support for the work of the Joint Commission and subsequent implementation of their proposals. "This was the package of proposals which I thought, I must leave as a food for thought. That is the way forward," he said and stressed that the Islamic countries would have to show the will that "we are prepared to cooperate among ourselves," to achieve the objective of promoting the welfare of the Muslim Ummah. Referring to the critical time the Ummah was facing, the President said that politically, Muslim countries found themselves at the centre of most disputes and conflicts around the world. He said the aftermath of September 11 have placed them in a greater dilemma. The failure of just resolutions to the problems by the world was leading to anger, frustration and a sense of deprivation and powerlessness among the Muslim societies. "Such feelings form the basis of fueling hatred, extremism and ilitancy," he said while adding, "This confrontational situation diverts our energy away from economic development". The President described the performance of Islamic countries in the socio-economic sector as "abysmal". The income, growth rates and human and technological development within the Muslim countries were disappointingly low, he added. Giving a state of affairs within the Muslim countries, the President stated that Islamic countries have a total population of 1.25 billion and roughly possess one-fifth of the world land-mass. He said the Muslim countries control 70% of the global energy resources and supply 40 percent of global exports of raw material. But he regretted that the OIC as a group has failed to convert this abundant human and physical resources into economic well-being and development. He said the OIC has less than 5% of the world Gross Domestic Products (GDP) and per capital income the member states were depreciating. President Musharraf said that entire GDP of the Muslim Ummah was 1400 billion dollars while that of Japan alone was three to four times higher in comparison. Similarly, he said the highest GDP of a Muslim country was about 185 billion dollars while that of a tiny European state with no natural resources was above 200 billion dollars. The Muslim countries collectively have a total of 500 universities while Japan alone has some 1000 universities. He said of the 49 least developed countries, about 22 were OIC countries and 23 were rated as severely indebted states by the international institutions. The OIC countries performance in trade and in terms of direct foreign investment was also very poor, he added. He said the OIC meeting was taking place at a critical juncture and offered unprecedented opportunities to the Islamic countries to realize the need of their working together to come up to the expectations of the people and the Ummah. The President also briefly shared with the participants the economic reforms which his government had initiated in 1999 to bail out the country's dwindling economy. He said years of corruption and mis-governance had shattered the economy. In the 1990s the economic growth slowed down and led to creation of large deficit in the current account. It, in turn, forced to borrowing and added hugely to debt-servicing liabilities of the government with only one-third of the budget left to meet the country's security needs and for the establishment to run the government, he added. "Hardly anything was available for infrastructure and social development," he added. But as a result of the reforms pursued during the last three to four years, he said the economy was now stable and the country poised to become the economic hub of the region. The exports have gone up and foreign exchange scaled to new heights to cover up one year of the country's imports needs, he said. Similarly the revenues were showing increase and direct foreign investments showing a upward trend. The President also listed a number of incentives that had made Pakistan the most attractive country for the foreign direct investment in the region, offering level-playing field to both foreign and domestic investors. The OIC Secretary General Abdelouahed Belkeziz welcomed the proposals by the President and praised his excellent analysis of the economies of Muslim countries. He termed the proposals as feasible and practical and stated that it would contribute to setting up a strategy for the development of the Muslim Ummah. During the Question-Answer session, the business delegates praised the economic suggestions by the President and appreciated his concern for the Ummah. Later, President Mirzan Mahathir of the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (ASLI), which organized the event, presented a Momento of Appreciation to the President.

From http://www.paknews.com/ 10/16/2003

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AFGHANISTAN: Karzai Approves Afghanistan's New Law on Political Parties

KABUL (AFP) - Afghan president Hamid Karzai has approved a law on political parties which bars armed groups and militant forces from setting up a political party. "The President approved the law on political parties yesterday (Saturday) and it will be made available to public in one week," Afghan justice minister Abdul Rahim Karimi told reporters on Sunday. "Political parties shall not have military organizations or affiliations with armed force, receive funds from foreign sources, create a real danger to the rights and freedom of individuals or intentionally disrupt public order and security," indicates an article of the new party law. "Political parties shall not pursue objectives that are opposed to the principles of the holy religion Islam, use force, or threaten with, or propagate, the use of force, incite to ethnic racial, religious or sectional violence," the text of the new law says. Two years after fall of the Taliban, armed militias and Mujahideen factions remain the main political actors in Afghanistan. Jamiat-e-Islami a powerful hardline Mujahideen faction is planning to contest the upcoming elections next year as a political party. Jamiat-e-Islami has deep influence in the Afghan transitional administration. The Afghan defense minister and most of other key military and security actors are active members of Jamiat-e-Islami. "The political system of the State of Afghanistan is based on the principles of democracy and pluralism of political parties," the new law says. Judges, prosecutors, leading cadres of the armed forces, officers, non-commissioned officers, other military personnel, police officers, and personnel of national security, shall not be members of a political party during their tenure of office, the law says. Based on the party law, adult Afghan citizens can freely establish a political party, irrespective of their ethnicity, race, language, tribe, sex, religion, education, occupation, lineage, assets and place of residence. "All political parties shall be registered with the Ministry of Justice and parties with less than 700 members at the time of registration will not be registered," said the justice minister. Karimi said that political parties will not be allowed to receive funds from abroad, however, "political parties may receive income from membership contributions, donations by legal persons up to two million Afghani (41,666 dollars) per year." Mujahideen factions often use forces for their private interests, with a firefight the major northern Afghan factions of Junbish and Jamiat militia earlier this week leaving 80 dead as two military commanders used arms to settle old scores. However, under the new law political parties can be disbanded if they use force. "The dissolution of a political party shall not be ordered unless the party uses force, or threatens with the use of force or uses force to overthrow the legal order of the country, or the party has a military organization or affiliations with armed forces," Afghan information and culture minister Sayed Makhdoom Raheen who was also present at press conference told reporters. "The dissolution of the party shall also be ordered if the party acts against the articles of the constitution or the parties law," Raheen added. The Supreme Court shall, upon the request of the Minister of Justice, dissolve a political party according to the articles of this law.

From http://www.myafghan.com/ 10/13/2003

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IRAQ: New Proposal Offered to U.N.

UNITED NATIONS -- The Bush administration Monday offered a series of concessions aimed at increasing Iraqis' control over their future, in a final drive to win U.N. Security Council backing for a resolution calling on nations to provide more money and troops to support the U.S. occupation of Iraq. The resolution, in calling for the establishment of a new multinational force for Iraq, reaffirms the authority of the United States and its military allies to command that force and administer the country. But it also states that the U.S.-approved Iraqi Governing Council and its ministers "will embody the sovereignty of the State of Iraq." And for the first time, it sets a deadline -- Dec. 15 -- for the 24-member council to present a firm timetable for writing a constitution and holding elections. Senior U.N. officials and council diplomats said that by granting a symbolic measure of sovereignty to Iraqis and dropping a demand that U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan play an immediate political role in Iraq, the United States had improved its chances for success in the council. "It is a little bit easier for us to live with than previous versions," a senior U.N. official said. The move to delay a U.N. role in Iraq represents a reversal by the Bush administration, which had pressed the United Nations to expand its presence in Iraq and participate in the country's political transition. It diminished the likelihood that the United States will be able to engage the United Nations in a significant role in the country's political transition for some time. The Bush administration had hoped that the latest revisions would attract support from key Security Council members, primarily Russia and China, that had pressed Washington to yield more control over Iraq's political and economic future to Iraqis and the United Nations. Security Council diplomats raised concerns about the wisdom -- and legality -- of passing a resolution that affirms both the authority of the U.S.-led coalition and the sovereignty of the Iraqi Governing Council, saying it could blur the lines of authority and fuel confusion. They also noted that the latest U.S. text failed to accommodate appeals from the United Nations, Russia, France and Germany to transfer power in the coming months to an Iraqi provisional government. France, Russia, China and Germany responded cautiously to the latest initiative, saying it was a positive step but needed to go further to satisfy their concerns. "This is without doubt a further step in the right direction," German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer told reporters at a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Luxembourg. The ministers pledged $233 million in reconstruction aid for Iraq. French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin conceded that the latest U.S. draft made "progress," but he questioned whether "this progress is enough" to improve the situation in Iraq. "That is why we want first to be able to analyze this text more deeply," he said. China's U.N. ambassador, Wang Guangya, said that he was a "bit disappointed" by the latest version of the U.S. resolution but that it "represents improvement." He said that more changes needed to be made "to clarify the question of who retains ultimate sovereignty over Iraq" and to "leave the door open to a further [U.N.] role" in Iraq. A Russian spokesman at the United Nations, Sergey Trepelkov, told the Associated Press that it would be "very difficult to reach consensus on this issue" unless the resolution includes a clear timetable for the transfer of authority to Iraqis and a "crucial central role" for the United Nations. The Bush administration hopes that the resolution will provide greater political cover to countries considering providing troops and financial support in Iraq. Pakistan, India and other countries agreed to participate in the reconstruction effort only with a U.N. mandate. The Bush administration launched its campaign to win support for a resolution strengthening the international community's role in Iraq after the Aug. 19 attack on the U.N. compound in Baghdad, which killed 22 people, including the U.N.'s top envoy, Sergio Vieira de Mello. But the resolution has been revised three times since then, and the effort was nearly derailed earlier this month when Annan informed the United States that he would not agree to play a political role in Iraq unless the United Nations was granted more independence and the security of Iraqi staffers could be assured. John D. Negroponte, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said that he would begin formal council consultation on the text Tuesday morning and hoped to put it to a vote "in the course of the week." But U.S. and British diplomats said that Washington is not prepared to offer substantial changes to the draft, which was presented Monday to members of the 15-nation council. The latest version of the resolution, which provides the Security Council with a role in reviewing the progress of the multinational force within one year, continues to urge the United Nations to "strengthen its vital role in Iraq" and outlines a series of tasks from the training of police to the preparation of elections. But in recognition of the risks faced by U.N. workers in Iraq, the U.S resolution allows the United Nations to delay its implementation until "circumstances permit." (by Colum Lynch)

From http://www.iraqfoundation.org/ 10/14/2003

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KYRGYZSTAN: Government Won't Back Down on Cash Registers

Kyrgyz Prime Minister Nikolai Tanaev said on 1 October that the government will not rescind an order forcing all retailers to use cash registers, Interfax reported, quoting the government press service. Some 10,000 traders at Bishkek's major open-air markets held a three-day strike on 29 September-1 October to protest the government order. Tanaev said the traders do not want to use cash registers because they want to avoid taxes, while the government sees the introduction of the registers as helping to "get the economy out of the shadows." The market merchants' trade union has demanded a meeting with Tanaev to settle the dispute. Trade union leader Temirbek Zhanaliev said on 1 October that Kyrgyz law requires only that market traders have a license. (by Timur Onica)

From http://www.eurasianet.org/ 10/02/2003

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TURKEY: Top Court Annuls Motor Vehicle Law Arrangement

ANKARA - The Constitutional Court yesterday annulled and issued a stay of execution on a law arrangement imposing an additional motor vehicles tax on taxpayers. Constitutional Court Chairman Hasim Kilic told reporters after a court meeting on Tuesday that they annulled the arrangement with a majority of votes. Parliament adopted the law arrangement submitted by ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party at the end of July after the Constitutional court had canceled the previous form of the legislation amid inequality concerns. Automotive sector officials had voiced concerns that the law would harm the sector's performance this year, jeopardizing a sales target of 300,000 units. The opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) had filed with the top court, seeking the annulment of the arrangement. Kilic yesterday said that the court's decision would be published in the Official Gazette with its rationale.

From http://www.turkishdailynews.com/ 10/08/2003

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Government Making Plans to Meet Increased Water Consumption

ANKARA - Energy Minister Hilmi Guler has drawn attention to an increase in water consumption in Turkey, detailing government projects aimed at meeting increasing projected water need. Speaking yesterday at the Turkey-Britain Water Council seminar at the Bilkent Hotel in Ankara, Guler said that Turkey's population would reach 80 million by 2025, adding that water consumption per person would grow to approximately 1,300 cubic meters. Guler stated that the government was planning to establish a National Water Research Institute and is currently working on a bill to that effect. Drawing attention to the need for water in the Middle East, Guler said Turkey planned to export excess water to its neighbors. Guler called on Britain to lend its support to the Peace Water Project, based in Antalya. The project was launched in 1992 to sell water from Turkey to Israel and other Middle Eastern countries. Negotiations are still under way, and Guler noted they would hold talks with Israel in November on the issue.

From http://www.turkishdailynews.com/ 10/09/2003

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UZBEKISTAN: Draft Bill "On Electronic Digital Signature" Published

Draft bill "On electronic digital signature" was published for national discussion. The draft bill was approved in the first reading of the last session of Oliy Majlis (Uzbek Parliament) held on 29-30 August 2003. The parliamentary committee on issues of industry, construction, transport and communication jointly with interested ministries and departments is entrusted to generalise received proposals and submit the bill for consideration of legislators. The bill establishes that digital signature on electronic documents is acknowledged upon receipt of a special close electronic key, allowing to identify its owner, integrity and invariability of the document. The approved draft consists of 21 articles, which stipulate norms providing acknowledgement of equivalence of digital and paper signature at simultaneous observance of conditions established by the law. In order to create an electronic digital signature, closed keys known only to the signing person are created, as well as open keys - for check-up of authenticity of the signature, which should be known to the information system user. In line with the bill, close and open keys of electronic digital signature can be created by legal and physical entities or on their forms of address by registration centres. At that, however, it is necessary to use only certified technical and programme means. The bill puts certain obligations on the closed key owner, such as ensuring appropriate control over the use of key and prior measures in case of breaking its access mode. Moreover, the closed key owner is responsible for losses caused by unauthorised use through non-execution of obligations established by the law. The bill emphasises the legal status and authorities of centres for registration of electronic digital signature keys. They should render assistance to closed key owners and all their clientele and should serve as a main link in creating and using the electronic digital signature.

From http://www.uzreport.com/ 10/01/2003

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Authenticity labels and an accreditation system for Aboriginal artists will form the centrepiece of a Howard government plan to make the indigenous art industry more ethical, accountable and professional. A national code of conduct - with an accreditation system for indigenous art centres and an art labelling system to denote authenticity - are the key planks of the $7million-plus program to be announced in Melbourne this morning by retiring Arts Minister Richard Alston. "If there are no rules, then people cut corners or do their own thing," Senator Alston said yesterday. "It is important to spell out what the expectations are." It comes after The Australian revealed Aboriginal artists had been forced to live and paint in "sweatshop" conditions on the outskirts of Melbourne, by art dealers who refused to help when they complained of sickness and refused to let them go home. The indigenous art centres strategy and action plan is a blueprint for strengthening arts centres, stamping out malpractice and increasing the direct economic benefits to artists of an industry worth millions of dollars each year. The plan is being funded with more than $5.2 million from the federal Government, and an additional $2million from the states combined, in line with government response to the Myer report into contemporary visual art and craft. Art centres play a vital economic role in remote communities - for many of which art sales are the only externally generated source of income - but many centres are highly unstable and struggle to make their mark in wider commercial terms. "Arts centres are in a very parlous state of affairs that is desperately in need of some stabilisation," Senator Alston said yesterday. The introduction of performance-based funding models contingent on dollars of art sold - "the best single indicator, although not the only indicator" - will force the centres to become more self-reliant and accountable, Senator Alston said. Penalties, including withdrawal of funding, will be used to force art centres to meet professional and ethical standards under a proposed accreditation program, and abide by a code of conduct aimed at facilitating better dealings with artists and the marketplace. "Clearly you can withhold or withdraw funding to make (the need for enforcement) abundantly plain," Senator Alston said. He said carpetbagging - unethical private dealers poaching artists and their work - would be stamped out by the development of standard clauses for use in contracts between art centres and individual artists. "It is to give the artists some feeling of security, and make them realise it is not in anyone's interest to do work cheaply on a moonlighting basis," Senator Alston said. Some art centres will be eligible for triennial funding under the strategy - rather than annual grants - to give greater stability. The bulk of their grants will still be administered by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services - which provide them with more than $4 million annually - but the Government will now play a greater role in enforcement. (by Georgina Safe)

From http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/ 10/03/2003

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The most interesting aspect of yesterday's release of the draft of the Government's long-awaited Corporate Law Economic Reform Program covering audit reform and corporate disclosure is that there was nothing of substance in it that wasn't anticipated. Indeed, encouragingly, the broad themes that underpin the CLERP 9 reforms have already been accepted, in many instances adopted, and are generally supported by the market. The reforms represent the Government's response to the waves of corporate reform triggered offshore by the Enron and WorldCom scandals, the collapse of Andersen and, in this market, the failure of HIH. Hence the focus on auditors and financial reporting and - given that there has been a report from the royal commission into HIH's collapse, the Ramsey report on auditor independence and a host of other reviews of the audit function - the absence of anything revolutionary in the draft bill. With most of the measures proposed, the objections will be to the detail rather than substance of the proposals. Auditors will be concerned about the definition of "independence", where the test appears tougher than expected. Companies will be unhappy with the proposed extension of remuneration disclosure, the introduction of non-binding shareholder resolutions on remuneration, and new powers for the Australian Securities and Investment Commission that will enable it to be investigator, prosecutor, judge and jury in relation to breaches of the continuous disclosure regime. Labor and the Democrats will be irate that the measures are largely reasonable and are more about creating better structures than trying to micro-regulate. CLERP 9 gives legislative backing to accounting standards, gives a reconstituted Financial Reporting Council oversight of audit standards and auditor independence, introduces a definition of independence for auditors that includes restricting the ability of auditors to be subsequently employed by a client, and mandates auditor rotation after five years. It also will implement a proportionate liability regime for audit firms and give them the option of incorporating to limit their exposure to liability. For companies, it requires CEOs and their chief financial officers to make written declarations that their accounts are in accordance with the law and accounting standards, and also requires that annual reports contain the management discussion and analysis that shareholders would reasonably require to make an informed assessment of the company and its prospects. On remuneration disclosure, the Government proposes to introduce what will probably be deemed the "Chris Cuffe amendment". Cuffe was the Colonial fund management executive who received a $32 million payout. Companies will have to disclose not just the remuneration of the top five managers in the parent company but the top five managers in the larger group - potentially forcing disclosure of the rewards of the top 10 executives. The Business Council has warned that this could ignite executive salary inflation below the CEO level. The measures, by and large, are sensible, even if one could quibble about the bill's support for non-binding shareholder resolutions on remuneration. That is a silly and populist measure that blurs the conventional demarcations between shareholders, board and managements and could have unintended and unpredictable implications for corporate governance in the longer term. In the wake of Enron and WorldCom, the rest of the world has focused heavily on reforms to the role of auditors that are designed to improve audit independence and integrity, and indeed the usefulness of audits. The only truly contentious aspect of the CLERP 9 measures dealing with auditors is whether the definition of independence is too vague. Originally the Government proposed that a lack of independence would be established through a test, which required that a reasonable person would conclude the auditor wasn't independent. Instead it has decided to adopt the HIH Royal Commission's recommended approach and will assess independence in the context of whether a reasonable person "might" conclude that the auditor isn't independent. The risk in lowering the threshold for concluding a lack of independence is that directors will find it too difficult to determine what someone might conclude and therefore err on the side of caution. Services an auditor might provide without compromising the independence of its audit - and where knowledge gained through the audit might add value or create efficiency - could be excluded, thereby increasing costs, decreasing the effectiveness of the accounting services and, given the small number of big accounting firms, complicating a supply-demand equation that is already stressed. Against that, it is understandable the that Government would err on the conservative side when it comes to auditor conflicts, even if there are some undesirable side-effects. The most positive aspect of the CLERP 9 package is that it isn't revolutionary - it reflects what has largely already happened in the market post-Enron and WorldCom. Amidst the politically-driven, over-the-top clamour about governance and executive greed, the Government has kept a sense of perspective. Our system of continuously-evolving, light-handed, disclosure-oriented co-regulation has proved largely effective under stress where other more prescriptive regimes have been found wanting.

From http://www.theage.com.au/ 10/09/2003

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After months of public debate on the Federal Government's proposed higher education reforms, parliament yesterday began its debate. More than 50 MPs are listed to speak. Opposition Education spokeswoman Jenny Macklin began by warning that the Government's controversial plans would make Australia's university system the most expensive in the Western world. "The centrepiece of this legislation will allow universities to increase their HECS fees by 30 per cent," she said. "That's not reform - it's just a price hike." One of six to speak yesterday, independent MP Peter Andren said he worried that regional universities would be left behind after the deregulation of fees. "I have yet to be convinced that a flexible HECS will not disadvantage regional universities compared with the city-based sandstone universities," Mr Andren said. Education Minister Brendan Nelson's package, which will also allow universities to double the number of full-fee places, faces stiff opposition, with Labor, the Greens and the Democrats vowing to block it in the Senate. The debate will continue when Parliament sits on Monday. - The Senate inquiry into higher education resumes today in Canberra with the architect of HECS, Bruce Chapman, scheduled to appear. (by Orietta Guerrera)

From http://www.theage.com.au/ 10/10/2003

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Laws that could further curb the rights of Victorians to sue for injuries caused by negligence may be introduced into State Parliament as early as next week, lawyers and the union movement warned yesterday. Law Institute chief executive John Cain called on Finance Minister John Lenders to release the proposed changes for discussion immediately. He said the Wrongs and Other Acts (Law of Negligence) Bill would have far-reaching consequences for the legal rights of Victorians who were injured through negligence. Earlier this year, the Government capped general damages payouts for pain and suffering and removed the right to sue for general damages when injuries resulted in less than 6 per cent permanent physical impairment or 11 per cent psychiatric impairment. The changes were introduced in response to widespread public alarm over ballooning public liability insurance costs. Trades Hall secretary Leigh Hubbard and the Police Association said the changes were being made without adequate public consultation. Mr. Hubbard said the changes meant that people would be presumed to have been aware of obvious risks of harm, unless they could prove otherwise. The changes would also create a presumption of voluntary assumption of risk, meaning a person injured, say on a fairground attraction, could be denied the right to sue regardless of operator negligence. He warned that the dependants of people found to have contributed to their own deaths faced the prospect of greatly reduced damages payments. The exact legislation still had to be finalised but the Government had consulted widely, a spokeswoman for Mr. Lenders said. (by Fergus Shiel)

From http://www.theage.com.au/ 10/13/2003

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New regulations are to be introduced in the Cook Islands to control the operation of offshore banks. Financial Supervisory Commissioner Rose-Marie Olaso says a letter has been sent to the 16 shell banks currently operating and some have already said they won't be renewing their licenses. She says others have indicated they will wait to see what the new requirements are before making a decision. Olaso says the regulations will be in line with international standards. My year end, we're planning to come up with Pacific regulations to implement the Banking Act. We will have to come up with ratios on capital, minimum capital and some prudential guidelines that will set limits on loans, a single bar limit. This involves concentration of loans to any given person, loans to officers and directors and the rest of the prudential regulations, she said. The Cook Islands remain on a list of non-co-operative countries associated with money laundering, although Olaso says they we continuing to work on meeting the requirements to be taken off it.

From http://www.pacificislands.cc/ 10/16/2003

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Law Reform Commissioner Imrana Jalal said Tuesday passage of the Family Law Bill has come at a right time and will benefit many families, especially the poor. "The Family law bill attempts to modify and modernize the existing family legislation," says Jalal. "The family law legislation currently contains nine pieces of separate legislation and the family law bill brings back nine pieces of legislation into one comprehensive law," she said. "It provides counseling and reconciliation services. It allows for alternative dispute resolutions so that instead of couples going to court fighting about their children, they will be assisted by a claim counselor to come to a decision about their children without having to go to court, spend money on lawyers and basically solve their problems in an environment that is not conducive to content decision making." Meanwhile, the NGO Coalition on Human Rights has welcomed the bill.

From http://www.pacificislands.cc/ 10/16/2003

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The controversial mahogany bill has become legislation after it was passed in parliament last night as the government members out-voted the opposition. However, the member for Ba Open, Mahendra Chaudhry contested clause 6 of the Act, which reads: "Trustees shall not be covered under the Trust Act".? Chaudhry object to the word got? in that clause. The Trust Act covers the trustees and if anyone misuses funds that person will be charged, but the Fiji Mahogany Trust is not liable to answer to anyone thanks to the clause. Meanwhile, Public Enterprise Minister, Irami Matairavula will appoint trustees from the 14 Mahogany estates to form the board of directors for the Fiji Hardwood Corporation. The mahogany was planted by the government in agreement with land owners, however there have been disputes over ownership and revenue sharing since the trees started coming to maturity.

From http://www.pacificislands.cc/ 10/16/2003

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This South Pacific nation has become the first developing country in the world to ratify the framework convention for tobacco control, a global agreement designed to reduce the devastating health and economic impact of cigarette smoking. The World Health Organisation has described Fiji's decision as a landmark achievement that will serve as an inspiration to the world. Fiji is only the third country after Norway and Malta to ratify the convention. The FCTC is a legally binding treaty negotiated by the 192 WHO members. As the world's first public health treaty, it provides the basic tools for its members to enact comprehensive tobacco control legislation.

From http://www.pacificislands.cc/ 10/18/2003

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New laws came into force today carrying sentences of up to seven years jail for computer crime. The Crimes Amendment Act sets out a raft of new offences which Police Minister George Hawkins said put the law in line with the latest technology. It is now an offence to access a computer for dishonest purposes, damage or interfere with a computer system, access a computer without authorisation or make, sell, distribute or possess software to commit a crime. In some instances the Act clarifies existing laws to make sure they cover computer crimes like hacking and sending pornography by computer. Mr. Hawkins said the computer-related offences carried penalties ranging from five to seven years. The Act also extends the offence of burglary to include the current "entering with intent" offence. It also introduces the offence of taking, obtaining or copying trade secrets. Mr. Hawkins said the change to the burglary law was like to have an impact on reported crime statistics. Because the "entering with intent" change, he expected an increase in the overall number of burglaries reported.

From http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ 10/01/2003

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The Government is tightening its flagship policy for improving frontline healthcare because more than 160,000 patients have flouted the rules. It wants people to stick with one GP or clinic so the staff can manage their healthcare better, but an audit has revealed widespread "doctor-shopping", especially in Auckland. Officials fear some people's health is being compromised by this, since doctors in some cases do not have access to vital patient records from other clinics. Nationally, 8.6 per cent of enrolments in primary health organisations (PHOs) - umbrella groups for frontline healthcare - are of patients who have enrolled in two or more. Worst is the Counties Manukau health district, where 13.6 per cent of enrolments are so-called duplicates, followed by central Auckland on 12 per cent. To combat this, the Health Ministry is planning a public education campaign and has beefed up the enrolment criteria. These are among 33 recommendations, some related to improved computer software, now being implemented or discussed further after months of study. To enrol patients, practices now have the formal, extra requirement of seeking their approval to obtain their medical records, if they are shifting from another PHO. "It is about putting more onus on the practice and the patient to acknowledge that enrolment is happening," Chris Mules, a Counties Manukau District Health Board manager, said yesterday. PHOs are the Government's vehicle for delivering lower-cost primary healthcare to millions of New Zealanders. It wants them set up nationwide. So far there are 53, the first of which were created in July last year. The Government is spending more than $400 million extra over three years on implementing its primary healthcare strategy. It eventually wants lower-cost primary health care for all, and so far PHOs are delivering it to about half of those enrolled. The organisations in areas of greater poverty and with larger Maori or Pacific Island populations are given more funding per capita, although rich people in these PHOs are entitled to the cheaper care too, as are under-18-year-olds in any of the organisations. The study also shows that many patients make casual visits to after-hours clinics or other doctors outside the PHO in which they are enrolled. This and dual enrolments have caused financial difficulties for some PHOs, as the taxpayer funding follows patients. About 8 per cent of the Government's bulk funding for primary healthcare is spent on patients' casual medical visits outside their "home" PHOs. The money is deducted from these organisations to pay subsidies to the other clinics. The ministry has moved to limit to three a month the number of these casual visits a patient's home PHO is liable for, although the ministry will continue to reimburse the "casual" clinic with any subsidies due for additional visits. Act Party health spokeswoman Heather Roy, who has been pushing for an education campaign, welcomed yesterday's announcement of one, but said it should have been started sooner. Few people knew how the system worked, she said. Medical Association spokesman Dr Peter Foley agreed with the need for public education, saying it had to emphasise the obligations of patients as well as doctors. Ministry spokesman Jim Primrose said it would have been pointless to start an education campaign last year when far fewer people were enrolled than now. Umbrella groups for general practitioners and frontline health clinics, formed since July last year. Government expects the organisations will reduce all patients' fees for primary care over the next decade. More than 2 million people now covered by the organisations. Fees for 1 million of them have been reduced. Patients are asked to sign an enrolment form to join and have their medical records transferred to the clinic. Many patients are provisionally enrolled, by being on the books of a GP who joins one of the organisations (at present there are 53). Areas of poverty and high Maori or Pacific Island population have been targeted first, but even rich people in the primary health organisations in these areas receive the cheaper care. (by Martin Johnston)

From http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ 10/07/2003

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Laws outlining how children are cared for in families and after the breakdown of a relationship are being overhauled for the first time in more than three decades. The Care of Children Bill will replace the Guardianship Act of 1968, and places an increased focus on the welfare of the children. It also recognises that family structures have changed considerably. Key clauses of the bill will rewrite the language around relationship breakdowns. Gone are custodial "rights" to children, to be replaced by concepts of shared parenting and of an adult's responsibility to a child. Access orders will be replaced by parenting orders, which consider the day-to-day care of a child and determine who a child lives with and when. All guardians will have an ongoing role in a child's care, whether or not they are living with the child. The diversity of families will be recognised, including same-sex and de facto relationships, and those people who can apply to be a child's guardian will be broadened to include extended family. The view of a child must be sought and considered when parenting and guardian issues are being decided. Already, aspects of the legislation have proved contentious, including the recognition of same-sex relationships and the continuation of existing law which allows a young girl to get an abortion without telling her parents. The law also opens up some proceedings of the Family Court, allowing greater reporting of cases. The court will be able to dismiss applications it considers vexatious or frivolous. Associate Justice Minister Lianne Dalziel, who is overseeing the legislation, told the Herald the court review might help prevent parents or guardians using their children as pawns when a relationship breaks down. She said a rewrite of guardianship laws was long overdue and her catchphase for the legislation had been "for the sake of the child". "One of the things I really wanted to get away from is the idea that we would continue to have this win-lose attitude that seems to prevail around people's views around the Family Court. "What I don't want to see happen is for the different expressions on the day-to-day care of children and contact to simply become the modern-day equivalent of custody and access." She said the old language of custody made it appear a parent had virtual property rights over a child. Ms Dalziel said the law was not removing a parent's rights but was instead urging parents and guardians to consider them as responsibilities. The law would work well if guardians focused on a co-operative approach to their children. "I can't legislate for good behaviour, I wish I could. If I could ... then I would say that every decision a parent ever makes should be solely focused on the welfare and best interests of children." The justice and electoral select committee will begin hearing planned submissions on the law today. Almost 300 submissions have been received, and the committee will hold meetings in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The Government wants the law to come into force by the middle of next year. The Labour-led Coalition has the support of the Green Party for the law's debate at the select committee. The overriding principle of the law is the welfare and best interests of the child. * Guardianship covers parents' responsibilities, not rights. * Different family structures are recognised, including same-sex and de facto relationships. * Parents can agree to appoint a new partner as an extra guardian, rather than needing court approval. * Custody and access orders are replaced with parenting orders. * Those orders determine who provides the day-to-day care of a child, and whether it is shared. * They also stipulate what contact other guardians may have. * Extended family may apply for a parenting order. * Courts get greater powers to strike out guardianship proceedings if they are frivolous or vexatious. * A child's view must be sought and considered when guardianship is being determined. (by Helen Tunnah)

From http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ 10/08/2003

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The Supreme Court Bill was voted into law today after a raucous debate in Parliament and last-minute appeals for a referendum from Opposition parties. Attorney-General Margaret Wilson, the bill's staunch defender, told MPs it was time New Zealand stood on its own feet. "We must throw off, once and for all, the fetters of our colonial past," she said amid a torrent of interjections from National, ACT and New Zealand First. "The development of New Zealand law has been stifled ... everyone must have access to justice." The bill abolishes the right of appeal to the London-based Privy Council and from July 1 next year, a New Zealand Supreme Court will be the country's final court of appeal. Opponents of the change argue there is insufficient support for it in Parliament, the Privy Council is a better court and public opinion should be tested in a referendum. The bill passed its third reading 63-53, which would have been 63-57 if all the ACT MPs had been there. The Government achieved that relatively narrow majority with the help of the Greens, and other parties said 63 votes in a Parliament of 120 was far short of what was needed for such an important change. Ms Wilson said it had been on the agenda of different governments for 30 years. More than 50 independent countries had withdrawn from the Privy Council and soon there would be only the Bahamas, Brunei, Mauritius and Tuvalu left. "The Opposition may be the last to want to leave, but this government has more dignity than that," Ms Wilson said. National's leader Bill English led the protest charge, saying the new court could not succeed without broad public support and the Government had condemned it to failure because it had refused to hold a referendum. "This is being passed on a narrow, left-wing majority," he said. "It is a disgrace ... the Government is contemptuous of public opinion." Mr English said the appointment process for judges in the new court - they will be chosen by the Attorney-General on the advice of a special panel - should be replaced. He called for a parliamentary committee to interview prospective appointees, and for their appointment to be confirmed by a vote in Parliament. NZ First leader Winston Peters' bellowing speech damned Labour's seven Maori MPs for not voting against the bill. "Can you hear the voice of Maoridom? There is a deafening silence," he said. "I challenge them to speak for their people, to cross the floor on this bill." Green MP Nandor Tanczos said his party was proud to support the bill. "Having a final court of appeal in London is bizarre, and just not credible for an independent country," he said. Mr Tanczos recalled that National had introduced a bill in 1996 with the same intention as the Supreme Court Bill. "They oppose it now just because it is something the Government is doing," he said.

From http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ 10/14/2003

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New Zealanders who want to kill for profit in overseas wars could be jailed for 14 years under Government plans to ban mercenaries. Justice Minister Phil Goff said the new law would apply to anyone who funded or recruited mercenaries, and any New Zealanders who tried to work as a mercenary. "It's effectively paid murder," Mr Goff said last night. The Mercenary Activities (Prohibition) Bill defines mercenaries as people hired to fight in armed conflicts or concerted acts of violence for significant private gain. It does not apply to the Armed Forces here, or anyone who joins another country's defence force, but it would apply to any New Zealander working overseas as a paid mercenary. A foreigner who came to New Zealand, and was known to have worked, trained, funded or recruited mercenaries, could also be prosecuted. Mr Goff said New Zealand was not awash with mercenaries, but there had been speculation recruiters had been here before. He said the legislation was not aimed at those people working perhaps as highly paid security guards in a country such as war-torn Iraq, but it would target those who chose to "fight and kill for profit" in wars or events such as coups. The bill will allow New Zealand to implement the provisions of an international convention against mercenaries, which may soon be strengthened to also include provisions on mercenaries involved in gun running. Mr Goff said the law here would also be strengthened if the convention was altered. (by Helen Tunnah)

From http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ 10/16/2003

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The Government says it hopes to issue a "clear and detailed" policy on the foreshore and seabed before Christmas, but is unlikely to introduce legislation until next year. Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen outlined a rough policy timetable today after saying earlier this week there was no policy timetable. "The Government expects to be able to release a clear and detailed policy statement on the foreshore and seabed issue before Christmas," Dr Cullen said. "Legislation is not likely to be introduced until the House resumes after the summer break." Dr Cullen released the statement after the crown delivered a memorandum to the Waitangi Tribunal saying it could not completely comply with its requests for an inquiry. The tribunal had been considering holding an urgent inquiry in early November, but the Government sought an adjournment, saying it was taking a "pause". In exchange for an adjournment the tribunal wanted six weeks' notice of the proposed policy, five days to hold a hearing and two months to write a report on any proposal before the Government finalised its policy. Dr Cullen said the Government wanted the tribunal to take part, but could not comply with all of its timetable requests. "This will give the tribunals a chance to provide advice and to feed into the deliberative process. The crown is happy to co-operate with the tribunal in that regard," Dr Cullen said. "But in the end, this matter will be resolved in the legislative arena so any solution must be able to attract a parliamentary majority." Dr Cullen said the Government would be flexible over the timing and would continue to consult on policy as legislation was drafted and moved through Parliament next year. "We recognise the need for certainty and will use our best endeavour to produce a result within a reasonable time frame but we cannot be dogmatic about the timing because we will continue to consult even as the bill is being drafted." The Government has been struggling to find a solution to the foreshore issue after the Court of Appeal ruled that crown ownership of the foreshore and seabed was not as clear-cut as ministers had believed. The court said it was possible that some successful claims for customary title could lead to a private fee simple title being granted.

From http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ 10/23/2003

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Mentally impaired criminals will be dealt with more appropriately following legislation today. A major change is that people found not guilty or unfit to stand trial by reason of insanity no longer have to be remanded to a hospital or secure facility. Instead, a judge can grant bail while the best way of dealing with the person is established. "Of course, in the normal course of events people who commit a minor offence but do not have a mental impairment would be unlikely to be remanded in custody," Mr Goff said. "Therefore, mentally ill and intellectually disabled people would have been placed at a disadvantage compared to others charged with similar offences, for no strong reason. The Criminal Procedure (Mentally Impaired Persons) Bill updates and modernises the law relating to mentally impaired people charged with criminal offences. Justice Minister Phil Goff said it would cover three situations: * when a defendant was unfit to stand trial due to their mental condition; * when a defendant was acquitted on the grounds of insanity; and * when a convicted offender's mental condition meant they would be better detained in a psychiatric hospital or care facility than a prison. "... people with an intellectual disability who appear before the courts will be dealt with in a more appropriate way than is possible under current legislation," Mr Goff said. "One important change is that under the bill's new procedures, a person cannot be found unfit to stand trial unless the court is first satisfied that there is sufficient evidence of their physical responsibility for the offence with which they are charged. "This address the risk under the current law that a person can be found unfit to stand trial and placed into secure care even though they have not committed the alleged offence." The bill also included: * new rights of appeal on findings of fitness to stand trial, for both the defence and prosecution; * a judge could accept that a person was not guilty by reason of insanity without a trial, if the prosecution and defence agreed; and * provision for a court to order a convicted offender receive treatment or care in a hospital or secure facility while also being subject to a prison sentence. The bill was originally called the Criminal Justice Amendment Bill (No 7) but the name was changed to more appropriately reflect its content. National MP Lynda Scott said the removal of the provision to remand those found not guilty or unfit to stand trial by reason of insanity to a hospital or secure facility was one of the main reasons her party could not support the bill. The likely result of that change was that families would have to care for those people. "We know judges work very hard in this country and do their very best but not all judges have very clear knowledge about mental illness or intellectual disability," Dr Scott said. That would result in more cases like that of paranoid schizophrenic Paul Ellis. Ellis bashed his father, Tony Ellis, to death with a baseball bat on October 26, 2001, after being freed from a psychiatric unit by a judge without a full assessment being given on why the man was dangerous. "... he was released and his father paid the price for that and died," Dr Scott said. That change was introduced through a supplementary order paper, which meant the select committee which had examined the bill had not considered that clause, nor heard from experts on it. "(Mr Goff) can not stand up and say there is no risk, he cannot make this sort of substantial change without anybody in the sector having had a chance to have a look at this, so unfortunately we will not be able to support it on those grounds," Dr Scott said. New Zealand First and ACT also opposed the bill but the Greens and United Future joined the Government in supporting it, ensuring its passage by 69-48 votes.

From http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ 10/23/2003

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The Attorney General of Tonga has vowed any proposed constitutional changes will not restrict freedom of expression. Aisea Taumoepeau told parliament that a new constitution will recognise and consider the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He said the bill to amend the constitution was important, and the articles of the United Nations? declaration would be considered together with other Acts, instead of interpreting them separately. Article 19 states everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and _expression, and Article 29 says everyone has a duty to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible. Tonga legislative assembly has now entered its second week of debating the proposed changes. Public petitioners and people representatives have argued if the amendment becomes law, it will restrict basic rights and the freedom of the public and the media.

From http://www.pacificislands.cc/ 10/15/2003

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The government has dismissed claims that the constitution has been amended for the purpose of?shutting the Taimi O Tonga newspaper out of the country. A government spokesperson, Eseta Fusitua ,said the changes merely complete a process begun three years ago with the Communications Act, which was brought in to police the internet, television and radio. She says the principles needed to be embedded in the constitution. Mood quality lawmaking should ensure that the principles are in the constitution to enable the specific bills to be made, so really in the case of the media, our principles were not fully embedded and quite clearly we did not have the individual bills to deal with the four mediums, she said. The change to the constitution clause seven a move opponents say severely restricts freedom of speech. The publisher of the Taimi O Tonga newspaper, Kalafi Moala, says the measure will possibly spell the end of the distribution of the paper in the Kingdom.

From http://www.pacificislands.cc/ 10/18/2003

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The government has pushed through another law which will extend its control over the country media. The Newspaper Act was passed Tuesday morning and follows last week amendments to the Constitution and the Media Operators Act passed in July. The new measure is aimed at regulating newspapers and controlling their content. Pro-democracy MP, Dr Fred Sevele, says the new law is disturbing and draconian. Some of the provisions in the Act are such that newspapers will be heavily regulated to the point that I think that if there are political contents that are critical of the Government, they may not be given a licence? he said.

From http://www.pacificislands.cc/ 10/22/2003

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Step Forward for Fight Against Global Corruption

The first global anti-corruption convention was on Wednesday finalized by delegates in Vienna, opening the way to more effective co-operation in prosecuting crooked public officials and recovering stolen assets spirited abroad, reports the Financial Times. The text must now go to the United Nations' General Assembly, which is expected to rubber-stamp the final draft, ahead of a signing ceremony in Mexico in early December. It will come into force after 30 countries have ratified its provisions into national law, a process that could take two years or more. Peter Rooke, who sits on the advisory board of the anti-graft watchdog Transparency International, said the move sent "a powerful political signal" that countries were getting serious about the international problem. The convention's highlight is ground-breaking provisions to facilitate the return of assets stolen by officials or leaders in one country and transferred to another-a subject that had engendered "quite a battle between the developed and developing world", he said. The final provisions on the return of assets ran to between five and six pages, which will now have to be examined closely to assess their impact. Rooke nonetheless regretted the fact that, under US pressure, the text shied away from dealing with private-to-private sector corruption, as well as the financing of political parties. He also noted that tough decisions on how the agreement should be monitored had been deferred to a future conference of state parties-suggesting that was a battle anti-corruption campaigners would need to fight another day. Meanwhile, in related news, the FT writes that Kenya's nine-month-old government came under pressure Wednesday to introduce sweeping reforms to the judiciary, following the release of a damning report into corruption among judges and magistrates. A committee set up by President Mwai Kibaki's government found there was credible and substantial evidence of "corruption, unethical conduct and other forms of misbehavior" among five of Kenya's nine appeals court judges, 18 of 36 high court judges and 82 of 254 magistrates. WMRC Daily Analysis reports that the Bangladeshi government on Tuesday approved new legislation, to be known as the public procurement regulations. The move comes at the behest of the World Bank and the IMF-who had refused to provide a $300 million loan until the regulations were approved. According to a report in the Daily Star newspaper, the new regulations have been designed to ensure a greater level of transparency, accountability and efficiency in all public-sector transactions. The high levels of corruption that pervade all of Bangladesh's institutions has long been of concern to the international community, not just because large amounts of aid are effectively siphoned off for personal gain, but also because the situation concerns foreign investors, who face a difficult investment environment. The Financial Times notes in another story that American Mineral Fields, the Canadian mining company, hopes to conclude negotiations this month to relaunch its $330 million copper and cobalt tailings project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Tim Head, AMF's chief executive, said AMF's ongoing negotiations with the government and Gecamines, Congo's ailing state copper company, are aimed at bringing the project in line with a new national mining code. The code was initiated with World Bank backing this year in an attempt to cut out layers of corrupt bureaucracy and provide a more stable fiscal and legal environment for investment. The Times of Zambia reports that the World Bank has acknowledged recent successes scored by the Zambian government in its poverty reduction programs. The bank, however, challenged Government to strengthen the Anti-Corruption Commission and other corporate bodies on good governance to improve on accountability in the public sector. Director for Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi Hartwig Schaffer said yesterday Government also needed to deal with factors responsible for the poor performance and accountability of the sector if poverty reduction programs were to succeed.

From http://web.worldbank.org/ 10/02/2003

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Many Asian Countries Fail Report Card on Corruption

SINGAPORE (AFP) - Asia has fared poorly in a global report on corruption released on Tuesday, with many nations in the region ranked among the worst in the world for graft and honesty. Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan were among the few leading lights for Asia, with anti-graft watchdog Transparency International (TI) placing them in the top 21 of least corrupt nations out of 133 polled in its annual survey. Bangladesh took out the inglorious title of the most corrupt nation in the world for a third successive year with a score of just 1.3 out of 10, just edging out the African nation of Nigeria. Myanmar, ranked 129, and Indonesia, 122, also had rankings of less than two out of 10, which TI said meant corruption was "pervasive" in those countries. A score of 10 means a country is perceived to be "highly clean" while zero equates to "highly corrupt". Vietnam was next on the list of corrupt Asian nations, ranked equal 100 in the world with the likes of Guatamala, Kazakhstan and Moldova on a score of 2.4. Pakistan and the Philippines shared 92nd position with six other nations, including Gambia and Albania, with just 2.5 out of 10. India fared little better, recording a score of 2.8 to rank equal 83rd in the world with Malawi and Romania. Thailand may be enjoying a booming economy at the moment but TI said corruption was still a big problem in the Southeast Asian nation, giving it a score of three and a share of 70th position in the world. China and Sri Lanka were next on the list for Asia on equal 66th position in the world and a score of 3.4, followed by South Korea, 4.3 and equal 50th position, then Malaysia with a score of 5.2 and ranking of equal 37th. TI, which is based in Berlin, said the survey did not include all countries, including other nations in Asia with reputations for corruption such as Cambodia and Laos, because of insufficient data. The survey is a compilation of 17 polls reflecting the perceptions of academics, risk analysts and business people. Singapore stood far above all other nations in Asia in the TI report at fifth in the world and one of only six nations with a score of more than nine, which the watchdog said indicated "very low levels" of perceived corruption. Finland, Iceland and Denmark topped the world rankings. Hong Kong was equal 14th with Austria on a score of eight, while Japan was equal 21st with a score of seven. A Singapore-based political risk analyst with Hill and Associates Risk Consultancy, Bruce Gale, told AFP the TI report would likely have political ramifications in Asia. Gale pointed to a host of elections scheduled to be held in Asia over the next 12 months, including in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia. "Opposition groups are going to pick up on these things and use them," Gale said. "Whether it will make a difference or not is an entirely different matter but it's certainly an issue that will be disccused." Gale said corruption was not necessarily getting worse in Asia, but the perception of graft was growing amid the trend for more open societies in Asia. Economic hardship in many Asian countries also led to a greater focus on corruption. "When things are going fine, the economy is booming, you don't worry too much about corruption," Gale said. "But when things start to slow down, people ask what is wrong and corruption is one obvious answer."

http://www.haveeru.com.mv/ 10/07/2003

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Bureaucracy Stifling Poor Nations, Says World Bank

It takes two days to start a business in Australia,but move to the Congo and just getting permission will take 215 days. The burden of bureaucracy and redtape is stifling wealth creation in poor countries, The Times reports the World Bank says in a report entitled "Doing Business in 2004". The developing world needs more businesses to lift three billion people who earn less than $2 a day out of grinding poverty, but oppressive regulation is deterring entrepreneurs. In a survey of business regulation in more than 130 countries, the World Bank found a link between cumbersome regulation and poverty, says the news report. It costs an American $210 to set up shop in the world's richest economy, a tiny fraction of his annual income; but a Cambodian must spend $1,500, or five times his income, to start a business in one of the world's poorest countries. This disparity between wealth and opportunity not only prevents job creation but encourages corruption, the World Bank says. "Countries that regulate the most - poor countries - have the fewest checks and balances in government to ensure that regulatory discretion is not used to abuse businesses and extract bribes." The study analyses five topics: starting a business; hiring and firing workers; enforcing a contract; getting credit; and closing a business. Further, the dense jungle of bureaucracy in developing countries are a significant factor hampering economic growth in these countries, Handelsblatt (Germany) notes the report Doing Business in 2004 said. The study compares the scope of business regulation in 130 countries. "Developing countries are over-regulated," IFC spokesperson Georg Schmidt summarized the key finding. "Poor countries are thus neglecting multiple growth opportunities," he said. Meanwhile the Wall Street Journal Europe writes in an editorial that the report, which the bank intends to update and expand yearly, crunches voluminous amounts of data to discover that "heavier regulation is generally associated with more inefficiency in public institutions¡­and more unemployed people, corruption, less productivity and investment, but not with better quality of private or public goods." The upshot of all this research is put succinctly by the report's authors: "Instead of spending resources on more regulation, governments are better off defining the property rights of their citizens and protecting them against injury from other citizens and from the state." The Bank has issued a report that deserves to be taken seriously, not least by its legions of country officers and development workers. Having taken the trouble to compile such a strong case for deregulation and property rights, the Bank needs to put this knowledge into action. The Korea Herald notes that the report said in much of Africa, Latin America and the former Soviet Union, excess regulation stifles productive activity. "And government does not focus on what it should-defining and protecting property rights." In Africa, poverty rates have increased during the past three decades, with more than 40 percent of the continent's population living on less than $1 a day, according to the report. Xinhua quotes Michael Klein, vice president for Private Sector Development of the IFC of the World Bank Group and the IFC chief economist as saying that "the report provides policy makers and the public with quantitative measures on business regulations - data that will facilitate the reform efforts of governments." Doing Business in 2004, which is a report based on data from more than 130 countries, focuses on five topics including starting a business, hiring and firing, enforcing contracts, getting credit and closing a business. "These topics cover the fundamental aspects of a firm's life cycle," said Caralee McLiesh, an author of the report. "And the report reflects the study of many public and private institutions. " The report also offers answers to critical questions including what are the main obstacles to regulatory reform and what are the best regulatory models. Agence France Presse notes the Bank said that contrary to popular belief, "many times what works in developed countries works well in developing countries too" on business regulations. Streamlined regulations and use of new technology "have produced excellent results in wealthy countries such as Canada and Singapore, in middle-income countries including Latvia and Mexico, and in poor countries including Honduras, Moldova, Pakistan, and Vietnam," the report said.

From http://web.worldbank.org/ 10/08/2003

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`Citizens' Participation Pivotal to Truly Democratic Society': International Conference on Local Autonomy Held in Hanyang University

A group of administrative experts from around the globe discussed the role of metropolitan councils as part of efforts to promote citizens' participation in social issues at Hanyang University in Seoul. The annual international conference sponsored by the Graduate School of Local Autonomy of Hanyang University and The Korea Times, comes at a time when President Roh Moo-hyun is trying to help local governments take root, lending the gathering further significance. Attending the 17th International Conference on Local Autonomy held at the Center for Local Autonomy co-hosted by Hanyang University and the Friedrich-Niemann Foundation, Prof. Park Eung-kyu said in his opening address, ``Citizens' participation is a key instrument in the process of achieving and sustaining excellence and high performance in the public sector.'' Park, director of the Center for Hanyang's Local Autonomy, also put an emphasis on the local assemblies' role as an essential filtering function. ``As Korea devolves into a post-industrialized society and the social values change accordingly, it is harder to coordinate all the conflicting opinions and build a consensus.'' Park added that a truly democratic and law-governed society will only come a step closer when all the issues are addressed through active participation of the citizens in accordance with democratic procedures. In his welcome speech, Ulrich Niemann, resident representative of the Friedrich-Naumann Foundation, iterated that democracy simply means that people are enabled to play an active role in their own affairs saying, ``local autonomy is a central pillar of the house of democracy.'' ``Since the end of the 1980's when the first roots of democracy in South Korea started to spread out, the Friedrich-Naumann-Foundation and the newly founded Center for Local Autonomy of Hanyang University started to help to implant and strengthen democratic structures,'' Niemann said in his opening address. ``Today the journey of the South Korean society to more political decentralization and real local autonomy is irreversible but it has not reached its final destination.'' In congratulatory speeches, Kim Chong-yang, president of Hanyang University, and Michael Geier, the German ambassador to South Korea celebrated the international seminar. `` The local autonomy system, effectuated in 1991, has enabled Koreans to elect the heads of their self-ruled regional governments by direct vote and form municipal assemblies composed of resident representatives.'' Kim, however, said that resident participation must not end in a simple participation in elections. ``It (residents' participation) should lead residents participating in solving various political issues in a more active fashion ¡­ citizen participation will surely help give a sense of firm responsibility and greater autonomy to community residents.'' Prof. Manfred Roeber from the University of Applied Sciences Berlin then introduce a two-tier-system where an upper level (the Senate and central administrative apparatus) is responsible for those matters important for the city as a whole whilst the lower level (boroughs) fulfill all other administrative tasks. ``Strengthening the role of citizens in local affairs means in the case of Berlin that boroughs must be put in a position where they can decide on substantial local matters. In another session, Derek Osbourne, Councilor of the Royal Borough of Kinston Upon Thames, England presented a report on the nature of governance in London. ``Citizens' participation in the wider political processes involved in the planning and delivery of local services has been the cornerstone of policy at the Royal Borough for a number of years,'' Derek said. ``The approach we have adopted has been to bring decision making as close as possible to the people by decentralizing a wide range of services to neighborhoods.'' He also touched upon four types of participation _ passive participation, participation by consultation, functional participation and interactive participation. ``The lesson to be learned from the London experience, I would argure, is that local structure is the most appropriate mechanism to promote interactive participation _ the coming together on developing strategies that addresses a wide range of issues facing local communities.'' Dr. Jeong Jae-gak of Hanyang University's Center for Local Autonomy, also said in his presentation that increasing support and attracting public attention to local councils is essential for of Korea's growth. `` Citizens' participation is also limited (in Seoul) ¡­ this is caused by low support from citizens toward council members.'' Jeong said that citizens' participation and the adoption of a new election system should be reviewed and steadfast promotion and democracy education is needed to support residents' political participation. Also, Bernard Rowan, associate professor of Chicago State University, provided a summary of the major structural features of the New York City Council, emphasizing the promotion of citizen participation. Rowan said that the promotion of public involvement in governance depends upon two interacting spheres _ the development of civil society and the level of governmental responsiveness or collaboration with civil society. ``There should be a nexus between government-led ("top-down") and civil society generated ("bottom-up") efforts to build citizen participation¡­ good governance is about fostering the development of habits of participation, not just episodic or occasional, issue-related involvement,'' Rowan said. The Friedrich-Naumann Foundation established in Germany in 1958 is the foundation for liberal and reformist politics and sees itself as an agent of organized liberalism. Its programs aim at promoting the principles of freedom of the individual in human dignity. The annual conference has been established as a key venue of discussion on issues of local autonomy in South Korea, providing useful insight for the country that is embracing the age of diversification. Hanyang University and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation launched a study on local autonomy and democracy in South Korea after signing a joint research agreement in 1986. The following September, the two organizations set up the Center for Local Autonomy at the university to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and experience on the subject. Based on the know-how accumulated through the implementation of joint research projects, Hanyang University established the Graduate School of Local Autonomy in 1995, the first of its kind here, to offer courses on local autonomy, police administration and social welfare. (by Yoo Dong-ho)

From The Korea Times 10/09/2003

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China Will Host Conference for Young Asian, European Parliamentarians

BEIJING (Xinhuanet) -- China will host an annual meeting for about 100 young parliamentarians from Asia and Europe from Oct.23 to 26 in Guilin, a scenic city of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The conference, the fifth Asia-Europe Young Parliamentarians Meeting, is sponsored by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China (NPC), China's top legislature. Delegates will discuss topics covering the current international situation, globalization and cultural exchanges, said the general office of the NPC Standing Committee. The meeting is the result of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), which decided to allocate funds for the event. The conference aimed to promote exchange and cooperation between the parliaments in the two continents.

From http://news.xinhuanet.com/ 10/16/2003

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Governance Comes of Age in the Pacific

WEIGHING THE CHOICES Workshop participants agreed that change is required in the Pacific, but tradition must be balanced with modern governance to have sustainable impact Improving governance in the Pacific will help achieve the Millennium De- velopment Goals, promote economic development, and improve liveli- hoods, concluded representatives of governments and nongovernment organizations (NGOs) from 11 Pacific countries at a workshop on Regional Governance Strategy for the Pacific held in late July in the Fiji Islands. They discussed preliminary findings of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) governance assessments and considered the relationship between modern public administration systems and traditional "custom" societies of ADB's Pacific developing member countries (DMCs). In recent years, ADB has been conducting governance assessments to look at the "machinery of government," civil service, local government, public expenditure management, justice and regulatory systems, and civil society participation in public policy making. ADB has gathered country-specific data through discussions with senior officials, NGO representatives, development partners, and available published material. The governance assessments have concluded that Pacific DMCs tend to share similar weaknesses in governance. Key areas for improvement include policy analysis and formulation, budgeting to permit greater forward planning and control, and interaction between civil society and government. The assessments have also pointed to weak oversight mechanisms, both at the administrative and parliamentary levels. The clash between traditional and modern governance was found to be pervasive, as reflected in numerous failed attempts to apply the merit principle in the civil service. Based on the country assessments and ADB's capacities, it was suggested that ADB's governance support focus on public financial management-helping countries rein in public expenditures and strengthen control mechanisms. ADB could also help develop NGO capacity to comprehend-and support improvements to-public administration, including expenditure management. While generally concurring with ADB governance assessments, workshop participants identified areas requiring further attention. For example, some observed that national reform agendas have often been driven by donors and consultants without adequately considering country-specific factors. This tendency has negatively affected the sustainability of reform initiatives, which have faltered when consultants depart and donor projects come to an end. Several participants encouraged ADB to further analyze the quality of senior leadership, and the limited understanding by politicians of the respective roles of Parliament, its committees, and individual parliamentarians. These issues were considered very important, given the potential impact of corruption in public service systems on economic and social development, or abuse of traditional customs and values. While participants noted a need to balance tradition with modern governance, they also agreed that change is required. They identified as particularly important strengthening parliamentary oversight committees, training media, introducing civic education in schools, and enhancing policy-making and implementation skills. Many called for a translation of laws and other governance documents into local languages-a daunting task in some countries where local languages number in the hundreds. Looking beyond the productive exchange of information and views at the workshop, participants agreed that next steps should include setting governance reform priorities for each country. Given the well-established relation between good governance and the well-being of the poor, it was recognized that improving public administrations must be high on the policy agenda for all Pacific DMCs.(by Jak Jabes and Thuy Mellor)

From http://www.adb.org/ 10/22/2003

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CHINA: Hong Kong New Office to Strengthen the Handling of Wage Security Claims

The Labour Department opens a new office today (October 2) to speed up the granting of ex-gratia payments under the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund (PWIF) to employees who are owed wages and other entitlements due to their employers' insolvency. A spokesman for the department said that it had recently recruited 11 experienced practitioners in auditing, accounting or human resources management for the setting up of a new office dedicated to the processing of PWIF applications. The new office is located at Room 703, Tower Two, Lippo Centre, Admiralty. It is expected that the new office will clear some 6,500 additional applications in a year so that employees can obtain speedier payment from the PWIF. "The Labour Department will continue to stringently vet applications for ex-gratia payments from the PWIF and refer all suspected fraud and PWIF abuses to the relevant authorities for investigation," the spokesman said. "We take a serious view of any attempt by any person to obtain payments fraudulently, and we will take every measure to combat those who provide false information with intent to defraud the PWIF," he said. A special task force comprising representatives of the Labour Department, the Commercial Crime Bureau (CCB) of the Police, the Official Receiver's Office (ORO) and the Legal Aid Department has been set up to clamp down on suspected fraud and abuses of PWIF. The task force investigates possible frauds, misfeasance and theft by directors or workers. Since the formation of the task force, the Labour Department has referred 31 cases to the CCB and the ORO for investigation. So far, the CCB has arrested four directors, two managers and 28 employees in four conspiracy cases. The director and an employee in one of the cases were sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment on September 22. Investigation of the remaining three cases is underway.

From http://www.info.gov.hk/ 10/02/2003

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China's Power Industry to Adopt Licensing, Registration System

China will soon adopt a system of licensing and registration for its power industry in an effort to make the sector more market-oriented and in line with international practice. This was disclosed by an official with the newly-founded government watchdog, the State Power Regulatory Committee. Only qualified entities will be allowed to operate power businesses, in line with the law and government policies concerning social development, environmental protection and industrial safety. China is undertaking bold reforms of a number of public utilities, like the power industry, water conservation sector, hospitals and environmental facilities. These sectors are being opened to domestic and foreign investors step by step.

From CRI 10/06/2003

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Tung Chee Hwa's Resignation Motion Vetoed Down

A motion demanding Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa's resignation was vetoed down on Wednesday in the first 2003/2004 Legislative Council meeting. The motion was vetoed down by 31 to 21. It is the second such motion being vetoed down by the legislators. Legislators against the motion said Tung has made great efforts over the past six years on administration. His works are visible and those words denying chief executive's deeds are baseless. Chief Secretary for administration Donald Tsang said at the meeting that Hong Kong is at the crossroads and chief executive does not blench when facing all the difficulties. "He is actively finding broader directions for Hong Kong's economic readjustment," Tsang added. Regarding words in the motion that there had been "retrogression in human rights, the rule of law" under Tung, Secretary for Justice Elsie Leung said organizations of the UN reviewing Hong Kong's human rights has given positive appraisement to the city, and "those saying over retrogression in Hong Kong's human rights are ungrounded." Secretary for Constitutional Affairs Stephen Lam said that since the establishment of the Special Administrative Region, as a government with the support of the Legislative Council and the community, we have weathered quite a few storms and challenges. "We have overcome the Asian financial crisis. We have defeated SARS. We have made progress in terms of furthering our economic co-operation with the mainland through the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement and such other initiatives," said Lam. "We believe that the record of the government is there for the community to judge," he said.

From http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ 10/09/2003

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United Nations Procurement Orientations Held in Beijing and Guangdong

The Ministry of Commerce will sponsor the United Nations Procurement Orientations in Beijing and Guangdong on October 12-13 and on October 15-17 respectively. It is learned that the commodities procured by the United Nations are mainly made in China, and most of them are resold to the United Nations by third parties. Therefore, Chinese enterprises especially SMEs eagerly want to have an insight into the UN's procurement procedures and establish contacts with the UN procurement agencies. At the same time, the UN procurement agencies also hope to have more opportunities to have direct communications with the Chinese enterprises and obtain more information about Chinese enterprises and their products. Fifteen major officials from 12 UN procurement agencies will attend the orientations, which will be the largest event of its kind the United Nations have ever held in the world.

From FDI 10/14/2003

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Hong Kong: 846 to Vie for District Council Seats

A total of 846 nominations have been received for the 2003 District Council Election. The two-week nomination period ended today, seeing more nominations than the 800 received for the 1999 election. Welcoming the increase, Secretary for Constitutional Affairs Stephen Lam said more people are developing an interest in participating in Hong Kong politics. According to the preliminary count, he said more than 10% of the candidates are younger than 30, representing an infusion of new blood into our political circles. Mr Lam encouraged registered voters to turn out for the November 23 election. He said a higher turn out will better the representativeness of our District Councils, and will also be positive for Hong Kong's long-term democratic development. Two briefing sessions for candidates will be held October 18 at the International Trade & Exhibition Centre in Kowloon Bay. Candidates in nine districts in Hong Kong and Kowloon will be briefed at 10am, while those in the nine New Territories and Islands districts will attend at 2.30pm.

From http://www.news.gov.hk/ 10/15/2003

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China to Further Deepen Reform of Foreign Trade System from 5 Aspects

The State Council has decided to reform the current export refund mechanism. When answering reports' questions on how to deepen the reform of the foreign trade mechanism, responsible officials from the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce and the State Administration of Tax expressed that the Chinese Government will deepen the reform of the foreign trade mechanism from 5 aspects. These 5 aspects include: (1) Constructing a convenient and fair operation mechanism for foreign trade. (2) Putting in place a positive and stable mechanism for promotion of foreign trade. (3) Setting up quick and high-efficient foreign trade monitor and response mechanism. (4) Building a standardized and transparent foreign trade administration mechanism. (5) Forming a foreign trade agency service system with improved mechanism and efficient coordination. This reform of the export refund mechanism will create conditions for further reform of foreign trade system. The settlement of the outstanding refunds payable in the past will be conducive to the relief of enterprises' shortage of fund, and make it possible for enterprises to pick up development. The new refund system ensures that new refunds will be settled in time, which will stimulate enterprises to expand exports on commission basis, and will be conducive to the development of China's foreign trade agency system.

From FDI 10/15/2003

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Beijing to Be More Open for SARS Information

Beijing is to establish a news release system for public health information in a bid to prevent another outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). District leaders will be responsible for SARS prevention in their districts and a supervision mechanism should be strictly implemented, said Liang Wannian, deputy director of the Beijing Health Bureau, at a press conference Wednesday. Beijing was one of the worst-hit regions in the last SARS crisis and the former mayor was dismissed for delaying the release of SARS information. China has stepped up warnings to local authorities against covering up any new SARS outbreak, which may occur this winter and next spring. People delaying reporting or hiding the true situation would be severely punished, warned Chinese Vice-Premier Wu Yi at a national conference on SARS prevention last Thursday. Vice-Premier Wu Yi says more measures should be taken to prevent SARS resurgence at a national meeting October 9, 2003. [Xinhua] The Ministry of Health reactivated its nationwide system of daily reports on Sept. 19, and it said Wednesday that no new infections had been reported. Beijing has set up a wide network to ensure the timely and accurate report of SARS cases to the authorities, said Deng Xiaohong, another deputy director of the Beijing Health Bureau. Any cases that resemble SARS should be given medical observation. The reporting mechanism was implemented by residential communities in urban areas and village committees in rural areas. Deng urges strict SARS prevention measures for places where the epidemic can easily spread. Public places including schools, construction sites and railway stations should be kept well ventilated and sterilized, said Deng. He also asked relevant departments to improve the living conditions of migrant workers, whose health is usually not guaranteed. Civil aviation and quarantine departments in Beijing are also required to strengthen health inspection and sterilization over flights coming from abroad. Beijing has opened 66 special clinics for fever patients to prevent spread of SARS through hospitals and will finish examination and repair of medical equipment in Xiaotangshan Hospital, built during the SARS outbreak in spring of this year, before the end of November. The city has also stored supplies, including prevention clothing, disinfectants, medicines, medical apparatus and diagnosing agents. According to the World Health Organization, SARS will be the most serious infectious disease for human beings in the 21st century. The cause of the disease is still unclear and scientists have not found effective ways of curing and preventing SARS. The Beijing Health Bureau signed a cooperation contract on SARS research Wednesday with the British Medical Research Council to study SARS prevention.

From http://www1.chinadaily.com 10/16/2003

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Communal Elections to Help Promote Grass-roots Democracy

In China, urbanites normally have the upper hand over their rural compatriots in almost everything. But in one thing, at least, they have to bow to the more-experienced villagers -- elections. While village elections have been popular in the countryside over the past two decades, communal elections are still something new to the majority of residents in Chinese cities. After a few years of small-scale experiments in communal elections, this year China is determined to make greater strides in promoting grass-roots democracy, by increasing the number of pilot provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities to almost 20. "Sunlit European City" is one of the residential blocks in the New Pudong District of Shanghai, east China, that conducted communal elections this year. Last Saturday, Oct. 18, 551 of the 591 residents took part in the election of their community committee. "It was a surprise to us that so many people joined in the elections," said Cao Yujie, a female member of the 11-member committee responsible for organizing the elections in "Sunlit European City". Earlier, the election committee feared fewer people would vote, since people are so occupied with their personal issues like business, employment and family chores, Cao noted. The same enthusiasm is being experienced by residents in other pilot cities like Beijing, Tianjin, Nanjing, Wuhan, Harbin, Jinan, Changsha, Yinchuan and Ningbo. In the elections of the "Dianliu Residential Block", in Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province, east China, 1,386 of the 1,410 electorates voted for their candidates. The communal elections have altered the country's decades-old tradition of appointing community leaders by local government. Under the new practice, the community committee will no longer be allowed to be involved in commercial activities, and the government is responsible for covering all the office expenditure and salaries of the community committee. Thanks to the reform, residents will enjoy greater democracy and better public service from the community committee which now employs more professionals, rather than retired or unemployed people. To ensure the success of this year's communal elections, the Ministry of Civil Affairs sponsored a national training course on relevant issues in Nanjing City, the capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, and meanwhile, similar training programs were conducted in all the pilot cities. All those who have lived in a residential block for a period of time, which differs from city to city, are allowed to participate in communal elections, according to the law. This has made it accessible for people of all age groups, transients from other parts of the country, as well as foreigners and compatriots from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao. Many well-educated people and youngsters have joined the competition. Chen Xiang, a graduate from the prestigious Qinghua University in Beijing, has been elected as a deputy head of the community committee in Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province, in central China. A foreign national in Shanghai's Pudong and a Taiwan businessman in Tianjin were elected as leaders of their community committee last month, according to local media. A Chinese-American, who is only known as Mr. Feng, returned to Shanghai recently just for the elections, but to his distress, he had missed the date to register to vote. "I will come back for the elections three years later," Feng said, referring to the regulation that communal elections are held once every three years. International organizations have showed their interest in the elections. UNDP sent officials to monitor the elections in Nanjing. "The efforts by the Chinese government are commendable," the officials said. Zhang Mingliang, an official with the Ministry of Civil Affairs, recently said that democracy is the soul for community development and autonomy is the orientation for it. Some Chinese experts pointed out that communities are always the basis for the work of the government and a bridge between the government and the public.

From Xinhua News Agency 10/23/2003

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JAPAN: Miyagi Police Partied with State Money

SENDAI - The Miyagi prefectural police used some of the state funds they received for investigations to hold parties last summer to congratulate themselves on the security services they provided for the 2002 soccer World Cup, documents obtained by a citizens' ombudsman showed Thursday. The police used some 6 million yen in public funds, or 3,000 yen for each of about 2,000 police officers, and the parties were held at hotels and pubs in July and August last year, according to the ombudsman in the city of Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture.

From http://www.japantoday.com/ 10/09/2003

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Japan PM Dissolves Parliament

TOKYO -- Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has dissolved the lower house of parliament, paving the way for new elections. The poll is to be held November 9, with the dominant issue likely to be how best to revitalize the world's second-largest economy. Japan has been in an economic trough for a decade, though it has shown signs recently of a pickup in confidence. Riding that upswing, Koizumi is hoping to sweep to victory in the November elections and push through a fresh mandate for reform. Koizumi won a landslide re-election to a second three-year team as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party last month, and the November polls could consolidate his standing as one of the nation's longest-serving leaders. Last month the popular prime minister also reshuffled his cabinet, replacing several key members but hanging onto some reform-orientated ministers. Despite strong opposition, Koizumi kept his controversial economic policy and banking adviser, Heizo Takenaka, known for his tough stance on cleaning up the huge pile of bad debt amassed by Japan's banks. When Koizumi took office in 2001, he called for tough, no-pain, no-gain economic reforms to reverse Japan's long-running economic slump. He capped government spending and pushed through laws to deregulate industry and privatize government institutions like the post office. Critics, however, say he has caused too much pain and not enough gain and have called for more government spending to create new jobs. While Japan has shown signs of recovery, joblessness remains near a record high, hovering above 5 percent. The expected dissolution of Parliament places the 480 seats of the lower house -- the more powerful of the legislature's two chambers -- up for grabs.

From http://edition.cnn.com/ 10/10/2003

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Koizumi Order Paves Way for Election

Tokyo - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi today ordered the lower house of Japan's parliament be dissolved, paving the way for national elections that he's counting on to strengthen his party. The dissolution places the 480 seats of the lower house - the more powerful of the legislature's two chambers - up for grabs. Koizumi, whose seat will also be contested, set November 9 as the date for the balloting, said Takenori Kanzaki, who leads the New Komeito Party, a member of the three-party ruling coalition. The order, issued at a morning cabinet meeting, was to be submitted to the lower chamber this afternoon. The elections offer the popular prime minister a chance to solidify his leadership over the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, after his landslide re-election to a second three-year term as party president last month. The LDP hopes the poll will help extend its dominance over parliament in the face of a more unified opposition. Koizumi's ruling coalition already controls a majority in the chamber, with 285 seats. The largest opposition bloc, the Democratic Party of Japan, has 137 seats. "We must win," LDP secretary-general Shinzo Abe told reporters. "We intend to explain our positions so that the people can decide which party is the most appropriate to lead this country." Naoto Kan, head of the Democratic Party, said he was ready for battle. "Few Japanese believe things are fine the way they are," he said. "We will take the Liberal Democrats head on." Japan's prolonged economic slowdown is likely to be the central issue of the election. Despite his push for a public spending cap and new laws to deregulate industry and privatise government institutions like the post office, Koizumi's policies have yet to usher in an era of prosperity. While corporate profits are improving, businesses continue to suffer from a prolonged downward trend in prices, known as deflation, which cuts deeply into profits and diminishes the value of other assets. Joblessness continues to hover above 5 per cent, near a record high. Supporters say Koizumi needs more time to complete his reforms. But Japan's largest opposition bloc - which merged in anticipation of elections - has blamed him for the country's economic woes and slammed him for backing the US-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Koizumi's party will also face a high-profile challenge from former Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka, an outspoken conservative and one of the few politicians in this country who can rival his popularity. Tanaka, the daughter of a former prime minister, became the first woman in Japan to head the foreign ministry when Koizumi named her to his first cabinet in April 2001. But she was pushed out after becoming embroiled in a public spat with her subordinates and later resigned from parliament over a funds misappropriation scandal. Cleared of any wrongdoing, she announced this week she will try to regain her seat, but will run as an independent. In parliament's final act before the lower chamber's dissolution, the upper house passed into law a two-year extension to key anti-terrorism legislation today. The bill was approved by the lower house last week. Since the law was first passed in October 2001, Japanese naval ships and hundreds of military personnel have transported fuel and supplies for US and other allies' vessels involved in rooting out remnants of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

From http://www.smh.com.au/ 10/10/2003

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PM Koizumi Dissolves Lower House for Snap Election

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, right, tries to make a point during a debate with Minshuto President Naoto Kan, left, in the Lower House Thursday. The prime minister and Kan trade parting shots on reform. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is expected to dissolve the Lower House during the plenary session this afternoon, setting the stage for an election early next month. The official dates for the start of campaigning and the election, Oct. 28 and Nov. 9, respectively, will be formally announced at a special Cabinet meeting after the dissolution. This is the first time in almost three and a half years that a prime minister has dissolved the Lower House and called for a general election. The last was called by Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori in June 2000. It is also the first Lower House election since Koizumi took office in April 2001. The ruling coalition is expected to seek public support for Koizumi's structural reform policies. The opposition, led by Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan), will likely go after the administration by attacking Koizumi's economic policies. On Thursday, Koizumi and Minshuto President Naoto Kan sparred in a Diet committee debate, the last exchange between the two before the dissolution. ``No progress has been made in terms of structural reforms or economic recovery in the two and a half years since the (Koizumi) administration was formed,'' Kan said. Koizumi responded, ``I hope to set the course for reform with the support of the voters.'' Japanese Communist Party Executive Committee Chairman Kazuo Shii demanded that Koizumi increase funding for national pensions with money from national coffers, while Social Democratic Party head Takako Doi accused the government of ``concealing an election issue'' by failing to make clear the timing and cost of dispatching Self-Defense Forces personnel to Iraq. On Wednesday, Koizumi confidently predicted his ruling Liberal Democratic Party will emerge from the coming election with nothing less than a majority of seats. ``The election will focus on the administration's accomplishments and whether we should continue down the path of structural reform,'' Koizumi told reporters in Nusa Dua, Indonesia, where he attended the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. ``I think it's only natural,'' he added, ``that we as a party aim for a majority of seats (in the Lower House).''

From http://www.asahi.com/ 10/10/2003

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47 Lawmakers Decide to Call It Quits

With the dissolution Friday of the House of Representatives in the leadup to a general election in early November, 47 Lower House members have announced their intention to retire from politics. Retiring members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party include Masajuro Shiokawa, a former finance minister; Hiromu Nonaka, a former LDP secretary general; Seisuke Okuno, a former justice minister; Hiroshi Mitsuzuka, a former finance minister; and Takami Eto, a former chief of the former Management and Coordination Agency. Tetsuzo Fuwa, chairman of the Japanese Communist Party's Central Committee; Eisei Ito, a vice president of the Democratic Party of Japan; and Sekisuke Nakanishi, a Social Democratic Party member and former chief of the Management and Coordination Agency, have also said they will retire. Of the 46 lawmakers, 25 are LDP members, 10 are from the DPJ and 10 are from the JCP. Their average age is 71.8. Okuno, 90, is the oldest. The last dissolution of the Lower House, in 2000, saw 42 lawmakers retire. The LDP, led by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, has introduced a mandatory retirement age of 73 for the party's proportional representation candidates for the next general election. The system is seen as a way of making it easier for younger people to be elected. Former Justice Minister Kazuo Tanikawa, who turned 73 in July, decided not to run in the upcoming election in line with this policy. But Yasuhiro Nakasone, 85, and Kiichi Miyazawa, 84 -- both former prime ministers and proportional representation lawmakers -- have said they intend to run for re-election.

From The Japan Times 10/11/2003

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APEC Officials Support Japan's Structural Reform Plan

Senior officials attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum have basically expressed their support for Japan's proposal for structural reforms for all the group's 21 member economies. According to Kyodo News, the officials discussed the issue on the first day of their final meeting Tuesday in Singapore to prepare for an annual gathering of APEC trade and foreign ministers later this week. The ministerial meeting will culminate in the annual informal summit of APEC leaders next week. The senior officials have so far held three preparatory meetings this year. Japan had circulated an action agenda for structural reform for all APEC economies in the hope that it would be adopted by APEC countries at their upcoming summit. Thailand supported the proposal and requested that APEC leaders give their political commitment to Japan's proposal, Kyodon News said, adding that the United States was among the countries which explicitly supported the proposal. Japan is optimistic that the proposal will be endorsed by the ministers and formally adopted by APEC leaders next week, according to the Kyodo News. Japan had proposed recently that APEC take concrete measures to strengthen its members structural reform efforts. APEC comprises 21 economies, namely Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, China's Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.

From cctv.com 10/14/2003

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Poll: Cabinet Support Rate Down to 59.6%

The Cabinet of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi saw its public approval rate decline in a recent survey carried out by The Yomiuri Shimbun, apparently due to the turmoil over the dismissal of the president of Japan Highway Public Corporation. In the survey, carried out through face-to-face interviews on Saturday and Sunday, 59.6 percent of respondents said they approved of the Koizumi Cabinet, down 5.4 percentage points from the previous survey taken on Sept. 27 and 28. On the other hand, the disapproval rate rose 3.8 percentage points to 29.5 percent. In the September survey, the Koizumi administration saw its public approval rate rise 7.3 percentage points from the survey taken in August, apparently because the public gave high marks to Koizumi following his reelection as president of the Liberal Democratic Party, over the lineup of the new Cabinet and party leadership, including the appointment of Shinzo Abe as LDP secretary general. When asked why they approved of the Cabinet, 46 percent of respondents, the largest percentage, said the new Cabinet was better than previous ones, while 34 percent said they gave high marks to Koizumi's political views. Meanwhile, 42 percent of the respondents, the largest percentage, said they did not approve of the Cabinet because it had so far made no noteworthy achievements. When asked to evaluate the performance of Koizumi's Cabinet over the past 2-1/2 years, 59 percent of respondents said they gave it a "very high," or "somewhat high," evaluation, up 8 percentage points from the responses to a similar question asked in the survey taken in May.

From http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/ 10/21/2003

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'Swing Vote' Could Usher in Two-Party System for Japan

A brewing political drama could open the way for a two-party system in Japan. Already the ruling and opposition parties are bracing for the Nov. 9 general election in which a transfer of power between two major parties looms as a real possibility for the first time since the end of World War II. Policy debates will likely invigorate campaigning as never before. The Democratic Party of Japan, the largest opposition group since absorbing the Liberal Party last month, is promoting a "manifesto" spelling out what the DPJ will do if it takes over the reins of government. The Liberal Democratic Party is publicizing its own manifesto. This augurs well for Japanese politics. Contesting power on the basis of specific election promises will go a long way toward breaking the bureaucratic hold on politics. In this sense, the forthcoming election will likely change the ways of party politics significantly. The question at stake is whether the DPJ, an avowed advocate of party-led politics, will score sufficient gains in the election to set the stage for a two-party system. Voters, of course, hold the key. The LDP is aiming to secure a 241-seat majority in the Lower House -- a target set publicly by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. The party has not won a majority in any of the three general elections held during the past decade. In 1993, the LDP was roiled by an internal dispute over a single-seat constituency system and by a subsequent parliamentary vote of no confidence against the Cabinet of Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa. In the election later that year, the party's strength plummeted to 223 seats -- a devastating defeat that deprived it of the power monopoly it had held since 1955. In 1996, when the single-seat/proportional representation system was introduced, the LDP managed to win 239 seats. In 2000, however, the number dropped to 233, as support for the LDP declined noticeably in urban districts. While the LDP has languished all these years, opposition parties have repeatedly switched alliances, wasting much of their political capital in the process. That is why they have been unable to pose a serious challenge to the LDP in power, except for a brief period in which a non-LDP coalition ruled the country. So far, a two-party system has been a mirage despite the introduction of the single-seat system. The fragmentation of the opposition camp is one reason. Another reason is that the proportional representation system effectively guarantees the existence of minor parties. The DPJ-LP merger may re-energize opposition forces, considering that it materialized despite marked differences in policy and style between the two parties in the past. Naoto Kan, the DPJ leader, hails from citizens' movements while Ichiro Ozawa, the former LP chief, is known as a conservative polemic. As it stands, the DPJ is a hodgepodge of politicians of different stripes, including former union leaders and Liberal Democrats. The significance of the merger is that it was born of the realization that a consolidation of opposition forces is the only way to challenge Prime Minister Koizumi, whose structural-reform initiative continues to enjoy high public approval. To snatch power from the LDP, the DPJ must demonstrate strong leadership. For that, it must forge internal accords on economic, welfare and security policies. Otherwise, it could meet the same fate as Shinshinto (New Frontier Party), which split into seven groups a year after its defeat in the 1996 election. The general public holds political parties in low esteem. In an NHK poll in November 2002, 80 percent expressed confidence in television and newspapers, and 71 percent in local public offices. By contrast, the government was trusted by 40 percent, the Diet by 37 and political parities by just 21 percent. Moreover, the political parties and the Diet -- foundations of the democratic system -- were blamed for failing to reflect vox populi in politics. Why are the political parties held in such low esteem? The biggest reason, given by 82 percent, was: "They're so busy ironing out differences in their approach, or staking out positions of influence, that they don't direct their attention to the people." And 81 percent expressed dissatisfaction with the opposition parties, saying, "They only criticize the ruling parties." Low public confidence in the political parties stems in part from their past failure to conduct meaningful policy debates. With a change of power now closer to reality than at any time in the past decade, manifesto-based policy discussions represent an essential step toward reinvigorating stagnant politics. Pension reform is a top campaign issue. The DPJ manifesto calls for the creation of a new pension system financed by consumption-tax revenue. Kan himself has made it clear that the party will consider raising the levy in the future. A tax increase is usually a taboo subject at election time. The DPJ deserves credit for having the courage to bring up the likelihood of a consumption-tax increase, which is widely considered inevitable. The LDP also needs to present a plan. As for the proposed privatization of postal services, a key item on Koizumi's reform agenda, the LDP manifesto says it would begin in April 2007. But how privatization will proceed is unclear. The manifesto says only that a "conclusion will be reached around the autumn of 2004" -- perhaps in deference to legislators with ties to postal interests. The DPJ, meanwhile, declares that it will make highways toll-free in three years and eliminate 18 trillion yen in government subsidies. These promises are commendable for their specificity, but they are likely to end up as empty slogans unless they are supported by equally specific plans of action. The major flaw in the two parties' manifestos is that they are vague in some respect. To be credible they must be specific not only in their goals but also in the ways of achieving them. A Kyodo News poll indicates a high degree of public concern for the manifestos Forty-one percent said they "give importance" to these declared policy commitments -- twice the percentage of negative replies (20 percent). Voters nonaffiliated with a party are likely to react readily to policy debates in which a government change is at stake. These voters could well outnumber the governing party's supporters if public discontent with political parties should deepen further. The question is whether the DPJ will attract enough "swing voters" to replace the LDP. If it does, the upcoming general election will likely set the stage for a two-party system in Japan. (by Keizo Nabeshima)

From The Japan Times 10/20/2003

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Koizumi Fails to Evict LDP Elder: One Octogenarian Down, One to Go as Nakasone Refuses to Quit

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi tried Thursday to persuade two octogenarian former prime ministers to retire from politics because of their age, effecting a quiet exit in the case of Kiichi Miyazawa but running up against a brick wall in the shape of Yasuhiro Nakasone. Former prime minister Yasuhiro Nakasone meets the press after refusing a request by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi not to run in the Nov. 9 election. Political observers said Koizumi's failure to persuade both men to quit may be viewed by voters as a leadership shortcoming. Nakasone, 85, and Miyazawa, 84, had both voiced plans to run in the Nov. 9 general election for the House of Representatives on the Liberal Democratic Party's proportional representation ticket -- effectively defying a new LDP rule banning people 73 or older from running in that segment of the vote. LDP executives had initially hoped the two influential octogenarians would voluntarily decide to retire. But with official campaigning kicking off Tuesday and time running out, they left the matter in the hands of Koizumi, the party president. Koizumi visited the Tokyo offices of Nakasone and Miyazawa Thursday morning. He asked them to not run in the election, citing calls within the LDP for the age limit to be applied without exception in order to accelerate a changing of the guard. He added that, in light of the illustrious accomplishments of the two seasoned lawmakers, they could still make great contributions to Japan and the world even if they left the Diet. "I cannot accept such a (request) whatsoever," a fuming Nakasone told a news conference after his meeting with the prime minister. "It is absolutely disrespectful for (Koizumi) to come to see me all of a sudden. "It's political terrorism of sorts, like throwing a bomb at me." Nakasone said he rejected Koizumi's request because LDP leaders in 1996 had promised to keep him at the top of the party's proportional representation list for the Northern Kanto bloc for the rest of his life in return for his abandoning a bid to contest a single-seat constituency in his home prefecture of Gunma. He added that he still needed to work as a lawmaker to realize his lifelong political goal of revising the Constitution. The LDP is set to draw up a constitutional revision blueprint in 2005, when it marks the 50th anniversary of its founding. "If (the LDP) says it doesn't need elders, old people across the nation would be offended," said Nakasone, who served as prime minister from November 1982 to November 1987. "It's a mistake to do things just (to polish the party's image for) the election." Nakasone hinted that he might run in a single-seat constituency if the party drops him from its proportional representation list. Since the LDP top brass have ruled out making Nakasone an official party candidate, however, he would probably have to run as an independent. In contrast to the visibly agitated Nakasone, Miyazawa responded calmly. "I would like to voluntarily withdraw from running," Miyazawa told reporters after his meeting with Koizumi. "I cannot embarrass the prime minister, the party president." Miyazawa served as prime minister from November 1991 to August 1993. "I would like to make my contribution to the party's generational change," he said. Nakasone's adamant refusal was a heavy blow to Koizumi, who is seeking to convince voters that the LDP has transformed itself from a party of veteran politicians steeped in old-style politics to one comprising younger, reform-minded individuals. Koizumi's appointment of 49-year-old Shinzo Abe as LDP secretary general was symbolic of this strategy, which has thus far been received favorably by the public. But Thursday's embarrassing confrontation with the party elders, coupled with the ongoing turmoil over the government's efforts to sack Japan Highway Public Corp. President Haruho Fujii, have cast a shadow over Koizumi's reform drive. He nevertheless remained hopeful that Nakasone would relent. "I did not want to ask my senior (lawmakers) to leave," Koizumi later told reporters. "But I do want to stick to the 73-year-old age limit without any exceptions, and I sincerely hope (Nakasone) understands and cooperates." Opposition parties, for their part, criticized Koizumi for his lack of leadership within his own party. Yukio Edano, policy chief of the Democratic Party of Japan, said Koizumi's failure to persuade Nakasone clearly demonstrates his lack of power within the LDP. Meanwhile, Shizuka Kamei, leader of the LDP faction to which Nakasone belongs, lambasted Koizumi's decision. "It's suicidal for the party to disrespectfully treat someone like Mr. Nakasone, who has contributed so much to the nation," remarked the former party policy affairs chief. Yet support of this kind for Nakasone appeared limited to members of the Kamei faction. "It's about time (Nakasone) left," said one senior LDP lawmaker, adding that many in the party feel the same way. "In politics, no one should be promised a seat for the rest of his life, because voters change over time and so should politicians." (by JUNKO TAKAHASHI)

From The Japan Times 10/24/2003

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SOUTH KOREA: E-procurement Efficient, Transparent

If there were a system that could help a company improve both its transparency and efficiency, what would stop enterprise from adopting it in a second? That is exactly KT did and it has found out that corporate transparency, once feared by decadent managers, and efficiency can and should go hand in hand. Desktop procurement, as e-procurement is sometimes called, was first introduced at four main branches in the Seoul metropolitan district last October, said Seo Jung-soo, vice president of the financial management division. What KT found was that the procurement costs could be reduced by 10.8 percent with the duration of the process being shortened from the previous 10 days to just one to three days. As in other Internet purchasing, KT employees find what they need, place the order and have the products delivered, all without having to make a single confirmation outside the Internet, not even the invoice. Many of the items that are purchased through DP are MRO (maintenance, repair and operation) which have to be procured frequently and the use of the online system helps reduce costs. Accordingly, KT is planning to increase the number of items on the DP list from the current 16,000 to 30,000 with 130 billion won worth of procurement being done online annually. DP is an example of how an effective system is optimized for the benefit of all parties involved, KT president and CEO Dr. Lee Yong-Kyong was quoted as saying during the recent opening ceremony for the KT-DP Center at the company headquarters in Pundang, Kyonggi Province. ``This is an important part of our determined efforts to increase value for customers as well as shareholders and this is a very innovative and transparent process,'' Dr. Lee said. He went on to say that this is just the type of innovation that has become much more possible now that KT is a private company. ``No matter how good a system is, it does no good if the users are not able to make the best out of it. Through training as well as close cooperation, I am certain that the efficiency of the DP system will improve further,'' said Lee. Perhaps as a result of these combined efforts, KT was designated with the highest status for corporate governance by Credit Lyonnais in April this year and recognized by Goldman's Sachs as having the best corporate governance in Asia in September of last year.

From The Korea Times 10/08/2003

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North Korea's Reforms

For a country as cautious as North Korea, a lot has changed since a series of economic reforms were announced 15 months ago. One source, an aid worker who recently spent more than a month travelling around the North, noticed many small developments. The electricity supply, for instance, has slightly improved in the capital city, Pyongyang, as well as on the east coast in Hamhung and Chongjin. Apartment-block lights are now on for much longer. Second-hand bicycles, from Japan and China, are numerous, particularly in cities on the poor, industrial east coast. Farmers are allowed their own small gardens, and farmers' markets are now referred to simply as "markets", because, as well as food, they sell consumer goods. Significantly, these markets have been given official approval. In fact, in June-despite its nuclear troubles with the outside world-the government appealed for help from other countries in running them. As Marcus Noland of the Institute for International Economics in Washington, DC, explains, one immediate effect of the reforms is that there are now products available for hard currency, such as video players and movies like "The Lion King" dubbed in Korean, which were previously unobtainable. The government is also encouraging foreign investment in industries such as mining, energy, agriculture and information technology. And in an unprecedented move, the leadership recently gave its approval for a South Korean company that assembles cars in North Korea to launch a marketing campaign there. North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Il, also has a penchant for all things high-tech. Mobile-phone services have been started in the country's main cities and along its motorways. North Korea's tourism authority claims that 2,000 Motorola and Nokia mobile handphones were sold in Pyongyang between November 2002 and August 2003. This in a country where barely a million land lines exist, out of a total population of 23m. The Hermit Kingdom recently announced plans to develop broadband internet capabilities to improve the business environment. The plan is to link the domestic intranet, called Kwangmyong, to the internet. The North's national domain designation, ".kp", is still not in use, but the government has reportedly been testing e-mail addresses incorporating it. There is even an internet caf¨¦ in Pyongyang, though at $10 per hour it is affordable only to the few tourists, diplomats and journalists who visit the city. Currently, only Mr Kim and a few privileged others can use the optical communications lines supplied to North Korea by China's China Telecom. Contrast this to the state of affairs in the south, which has the world's greatest penetration of high-speed broadband connections and where more than 65% of households now have internet access. The evidence, although anecdotal, suggests that the North is really trying to change. But these observations say little about how the economy as a whole is doing. The sad truth seems to be that the leadership in the North undertook its partial reforms out of necessity, not because it had understood or embraced the market. Rather, for the past 15 months, according to a Korea expert, Kongdan Oh, at the Institute for Defence Analyses in Virginia, the country has been "creatively muddling through". While the average North Korean has more economic freedom, the economy is near collapse.Remove the rose-tinted glasses Nicholas Eberstadt of the American Enterprise Institute, in Washington, DC, estimates that, if anything, economic decline has accelerated, not reversed. Last year's price and wage increases saw prices rise 10 to 20-fold and wages rise by 20 times or more, the idea being to bring them more into line with market rates. But the increases have not been matched by measures to boost output, so inflation has spiralled out of control. The price of staple foods, for instance, has risen by as much as 400%, and the country continues to rely on foreign handouts to feed its people. In a recent paper, Mr Noland argues that those with access to foreign exchange, such as senior party officials, do not feel the effects of inflation as severely as salaried workers who have no access to foreign exchange. So for urban residents with access to hard currency, in some respects things are much better. But for the bulk of the population, things are quite grim. As much as 80% of an average family's income now goes towards food. Just how committed is the regime of Kim Jong Il to its programme of market reform? Probably not very. It shows no sign of embracing reforms that could potentially undermine the state's control. It continues to emphasise "military-first" policies, reserving the best of everything for the army it depends on. And even if greater economic reform were undertaken, it is far from certain that it would be successful any time soon. The economy continues to suffer from a lack of energy, transport infrastructure and basic foodstuffs. Many factories-all of which under the reforms now have to pay their own way-have been shut down, leaving people without jobs and therefore no money to buy food. And since the North admitted last year to its illicit nuclear programme, aid flows have diminished and oil deliveries by the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organisation have been suspended. Foreign investors still stay away and the few companies that have been bold enough to invest in the North, such as Hyundai Asan, have lost millions of dollars. So, though much has changed in North Korea over the past 15 months, the probability is that more will stay the same.

From http://www.economist.com/ 10/09/2003

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Roh's Confidence Vote

President Roh Moo-hyun made the right choice when he made a bombshell announcement that he would subject himself to a confidence vote in connection with allegedly illegal corporate contributions to presidential election campaigns. True, legitimate questions can be asked about the propriety of his action. Many will ask if SK Group's alleged illegal donations to one of Roh's closest confidants and political parties is so serious as to submit his presidency to a confidence vote. But Roh would find his freedom of action severely restricted if a criminal investigation should prove he was connected to the scandal. A confidence vote is certainly preferable to a lame-duck presidency, which would otherwise last till his five-year term in office ends in February 2008. Roh has reservations about holding a national referendum as a confidence vote for undisclosed security reasons. But we propose that he go ahead with a national referendum, as no other means are as viable as this in consulting public opinion on such a crucial issue. The proposed confidence vote should put an end to illegal corporate donations to candidates seeking election to public office, who have rarely played by the rules when raising campaign funds. Didn't a freedom fighter-turned lawmaker, regarded as one of the cleanest politicians in the nation, admit in the past that he received illicit money for his election? Presidential candidates have been no exceptions in the past. They have relied heavily on illegal corporate contributions to finance their election campaigns. But they have denied criminal charges and avoided being prosecuted if they were found to be implicated in a fundraising scandal. That has been possible because those closest to the candidates have done the dirty job and denied their bosses' involvement when their past wrongdoings were exposed. Nor has the prosecution, compliant with the president's wishes, pushed hard to shed the light on illegal fundraising. Instead, it used to open an investigation half-heartedly when a scandal surfaced and closed it as soon as the public anger died down. SK Group's allegedly illegal contributions may prove to be a classic case in many ways. During the presidential election last year, the prosecution says, the business group donated billions of won to the rival political parties from its off-the-book secret funds. But the campaign financiers of the two parties have denied the charges. What sets the SK Group scandal apart from the past cases, however, is that President Roh is determined to deal squarely with it instead of evading it, as his predecessors have done. The prosecution is equally determined to air the presidential candidates' dirty linen in public this time in order to end illegal corporate contributions. A senior prosecutor investigating the case said that he is targeting illegally raised campaign funds, rather than personal wrongdoings. He says, "Candidates ask corporations for money when an election comes around. Isn't it a decades-old practice for corporations to raise funds by illegal means and donate them to candidates?" As he says, the prosecution will win the plaudits of voters if it succeeds in ending this unsavory practice. The prosecution's investigation should help disclose how much money each party actually spent to elect its standard-bearer to the presidency last December. Few believe the two parties' total campaign expenses were well within the legal limit, as they claimed when they reported them to the National Election Commission earlier this year. President Roh has not decided yet whether the confidence vote will be held before or after the general elections scheduled for next April. Political confusion may be inevitable until the dust settles down after the confidence vote. But all concerned parties - the electorate, the political parties and the corporate community - are urged to exercise self-restraint and engage in business as usual. That is needed to turn a misfortune into a blessing - corruption-free electioneering.

From http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/ 10/11/2003

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Nation in Leadership Crisis

The current turmoil following President Roh Moo-hyun's surprise call on Friday for renewed public confidence, barely eight months into what is supposed to be his five-year tenure, has deeper origins than the moralist leader's embarrassment over a series of corruption scandals involving his closest confidants. Little doubt that the latest bribery allegations concerning his long-time aide, Choi Do-sul, appear to have prodded Roh to make an unprecedented proposal as a sitting president to subject his leadership to the evaluation of the public. But it is also obvious that the embattled leader is trapped by problems derived from his blunt but sensitive character, not to mention the continuously declining approval ratings for his unpopular administration. He seemingly has deep-seated grudges against his political opponents and the unfriendly news media, among other major obstacles to successful governance that he believes he is struggling with. In a broader perspective, however, the current disturbance can be seen as a critical transition in the evolutionary process of Korean democracy as well. Democratic institutions in this country have just been weaned from decades of "boss politics" dominated by a few charismatic faction heads with stalwart regional support bases. The nation is groping for a new leadership which meets the needs of changing times, and this has yet to emerge. Inheriting a tarnished legacy of illegal fundraising and rampant influence peddling in the political arena, President Roh seems determined to change the course of Korean politics even if it means sacrificing his political career. Or, "constantly shaken up" by the hostile opposition-controlled National Assembly and the critical press, he has concluded that he has no other choice but to ask for a fresh mandate from the electorate if he is to retain his presidency and efficiently handle the numerous important issues pressing for solutions. Apart from legitimate questions about the propriety of his abrupt action, Roh has chosen the only realistically viable option available to him. In his second press conference on Saturday, he resolutely said: "If a president is sacrificed in the middle of his term and if that serves to straighten out Korean politics, I think that is a bigger stride forward for political development in this nation than the case where the president simply completes his term." It would certainly be a momentous achievement if the president can contribute to removing outstanding bad practices from Korean politics, whether by winning or losing the public's confidence. Moving a step forward from his initially unclear position on how to gauge public opinion on his performance, Roh said that, if it requires revising relevant laws, he was willing to face a national referendum that could lead to his resignation. We are concerned that, even if morally impeccable, this can be a risky political gamble for the administration and the nation, with each of the rival political parties attempting to gain most from the chaotic situation. On Saturday, Roh did well to reject the mass resignations by his entire cabinet and presidential staff. His prompt action helped ease chaos in the short term. Still, the people were alerted to a possible vacuum in government in the wake of the president's bombshell statement. The months ahead presage a tough time for the Roh presidency and the entire nation. The dice has been cast. There is not much sense in debating the letter of the Constitution empowering the president to submit only "policies relating to diplomacy, national defense, unification and other matters relating to national destiny to a national referendum." The nation is faced with a major leadership crisis demanding wise and swift handling. An early vote should be the only way out of the chaos. The people will have to make a thoughtful decision to reduce the price of yet another lesson on their precarious journey to full democracy.

From http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/ 10/13/2003

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National Referendum on Roh's Leadership to Be Held on December 15

President Roh Moo-hyun on Monday proposed that a national referendum be held to ask the people whether they would reaffirm their trust in him, saying the best time would be about Dec. 15. "If I fail to win the vote of confidence from the public, I will step down next Feb. 15," he said. President Roh made the proposal during a speech to the National Assembly for the passage of the 2004 budget bill. "Because the opposition Grand National Party and the Millennium Democratic Party, the former ruling group, are both demanding a national referendum, I believe we can easily reach an agreement on the issue," he said. "If I fail to win the vote of confidence, it would be the best way to hold a new presidential election, along with general elections on April 15 next year, to prevent any waste of national energy and minimize confusion in state affairs." The president emphasized that there were no conditions or hidden intentions behind his call for a reconfirmation of trust. The remark is being analyzed as a strong indication of his intention that he will not link the referendum, if it is held, with any specific policies and strictly limit it to the vote of confidence in him. "Following the vote of confidence on Dec. 15, [if the result were negative] each party could prepare its presidential candidates over the next two months," he said. "I would resign the presidency by Feb. 15, and they could hold a presidential election and general elections simultaneously on April 15, which would be within 60 days of my resignation." By contrast, if Roh won the vote, he would reshuffle his cabinet and Chong Wa Dae staff, after evaluating their operations, and reform the operation of state affairs, he said. "Based on the public sentiment to be shown in the process of the vote of confidence, I will collect a wide range of opinions about the reform," he said. The president also stressed that no matter what result the referendum brings, he will accept it in a humble way and administer state affairs with all his energy until the moment he retires. Regarding the direction of political reforms, President Roh said that the nation needed to overcome regionalism by reforming the election system. In connection with political funds, he said, "The current system basically forces candidates to rely on irregularities and expedients. I propose that a dramatic decision be made on extending the statute of limitations for the political fund law." Roh revealed the background of his decision on the vote of confidence in a very emotional way. "I know that there are many guesses and evaluations about my decision, but it is not that I made the decision recklessly or easily," he said. "While I was in Bali, Indonesia, to attend the ASEAN-plus-3 Summit, I learned about the Choi Do-sul case and I felt like everything was going black before my eyes." He continued: "I thought, 'how I could face the people back in Korea and how could I make an address on state affairs when those words would most likely fall on deaf ears?' Besides, I am supposed to say good and right things when I preside over cabinet meetings, but I thought I couldn't have the guts to do that. I felt devastated." Roh said he could handle the stress from the scandals about other aides of his - Ahn Hee-jung, Roh Geon-pyeong and Lee Gi-myoung - without much shame. "But about this case [involving Choi Do-sul] I had few words to say. How can I devote myself to the administration of state affairs at a time when disputes and news reports are continuously coming out about the scandal? I judged that this situation went beyond the confusion in state affairs and reached the point of paralysis." (by Digital Chosun)

From http://english.chosun.com/ 10/13/2003

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New Administrative Capital in Motion

A special management law for building the new administrative capital is set to go before the National Assembly for approval after being endorsed by the Cabinet on Wednesday (Oct. 15). The management law stated clearly for the first time that the new capital will be located in the Chungcheong provinces. Also, a special budget to support the construction will be managed by the Ministry of Construction and Transportation (MOCT). Prime Minister Goh Kun announced that three reform bills regarding the construction of a new administrative capital, the promotion of balanced national development and decentralization had all been approved by the Cabinet in a meeting at Cheong Wa Dae. The MOCT also said the special bill for building a new administrative capital has been revised, including the management of the budget, and will be submitted to the Assembly for approval to start the project in earnest. "Although the building of the new capital can be promoted with the current laws, including the Special Management Law on Building Provisional Administrative Capital legislated in 1977, the new law will create a chance to induce the backing of the nation," said Lee Choon-hee, chief of the administrative capital relocation team. "Also, the law will make the process more efficient." Regarding concerns of the project being delayed, including getting caught in partisan bickering in the Assembly, Lee said he is positive the bill will be passed, but the project will move ahead no matter what by using the current laws, including the selection of the location. According to the law, the government will also compensate landowners in the new administrative capital site based on declared land value retroactive to Jan. 1 2003. But an annual average growth will be added when the compensation is calculated next year, Lee explained. After consultations with experts, it was concluded that there is no unconstitutionality in the method of compensation, he added. Lee stressed that the development of the new capital will be a good example for the government's efforts to control land speculation as the government will make its best efforts to prevent any specific individuals or bodies from profiting from the project. According to the bill, development for private purposes in the new capital area and its surrounding regions will be restricted until 2010 to prevent speculation. Permission for land development and constructing buildings in the region will only be allowed after 2010 when the government completes the basic city plan. With the bill, government ministries will have a legal basis on which appoint the candidate sites for the new administrative capital and adjacent regions as either land transaction permitted areas, speculation-prone zones and speculation overheated zones, to prevent illegal investments. A presidential committee, comprising experts from both the government and the private sector, will be formed and in charge of handling major policies involving the project. After public hearings and intensive research, the committee, co-chaired by the prime minister and a private expert, will designate a final site for the new administrative capital and major administrative organs to be relocated pending the approval of President Roh Moo-hyun. The committee will comprise 13 members from government ministries and 17 from academia and civic organizations.

From https://www.egov.go.kr/ 10/15/2003

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Chaebol Need to Develop Succession System

South Korean family-controlled conglomerates, or chaebol, regard lack of a succession system as one of the most serious challenges they face in the course of improving their corporate governance, a U.S.-based consultancy said yesterday. ``In a recent survey of 30 top chaebol executives on corporate governance-related issues, we found out of the seven criteria we provided, the lack of a succession system is the most troublesome,'' Park Chul-joon, partner of Bain & Company Korea said on the second day of the World Knowledge Forum in Seoul. ``The respondents think it is a very important issue. But it is rated the lowest among seven criteria according to our survey.'' The second biggest issue in the improvement of corporate governance of Korean companies is about having a professional management talent pool. ``This phenomenom is actually well evidenced in the Western evolution of private companies. Having a superman-type business leader is effective in the early stages of a company. But as the company grows, the environment changes and complexity increases, it is hard for one man to decide everything,'' Park pointed out. ``Korean companies had a compressed development period in comparison to Western companies and grew three or four times faster. They were unable to build a systematic process to allow for the development of an independent management team. This is a big problem that they face today.'' The concept of corporate governance is still evolving and it varies according to each company's business and management situation. Bain & Company recommended four common criteria to measure corporate governance: protection of minority shareholder rights for fairness, full disclosure of management, monitoring of management decisions and accountability of the performance of their business. ``For now, compliance in terms of regulations and legal requirements are the typical definitions of corporate governance when discussed in Korea,'' Park added. When asked about the model corporate governance, Robin Buchanan, senior partner at Bain & Company U.K., advised Korea to develop its own model to suit its local culture, stressing that the Western way is not always right. ``There are two things we believe are important: trying to align the interest of various shareholders, and ensuring that we have a process and structures that facilitate decision-making to create long-term value,'' he said. Park made the same comment on the current move of Korean companies to adopt a holding company system as part of efforts to improve their governance. ``In certain situations having a holding company structure would simplify and clarify the transparency issue but at the same time it is not always the best structure for all Korean companies, and the reasons to have holding company are not all about transparency.'' According to the Bain survey, having the right organizational structure according to the type of business is essential. (by Seo Jee-yeon jyseo)

From The Korea Times 10/16/2003

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Reform of Public Sector at Half-way Point

South Korea's efforts to reform public companies following the 1997-98 economic crisis have been fruitful outwardly, but there remains a long way to go in the field of ``software,'' according to a recent report. The Ministry of Planning and Budget (MPB) yesterday announced the results of a competitiveness survey by the Korea Productivity Center on 16 public firms, including Korea Electric Power Corp. and Korea National Railroad. The research shows that the labor and capital productivity of the public firms have improved somewhat over the past several years, while total factor productivity, a key measure of management efficiency, leaves much to be desired. Labor productivity grew by a yearly average of 9.9 percent between 1998-2002, higher than the 5.9 percent recorded between 1993-97 and the 7.7 percent by private companies. Capital productivity also improved from minus 5.58 percent to minus 3.71 percent. But total factor productivity recorded a 1.46-percent drop, worse than the 0.08-percent fall seen before the economic crisis and 0.19-percent increase by private firms. The government admitted that previous restructuring efforts for state-owned enterprises were focused on scaling down business through a reduction of manpower and asset sales. ``It was an inevitable measure to cushion the impact of the economic crisis, although it was not without adverse effects,'' Chang Young-chul, director of MPB's fiscal reform bureau, said. The government will focus more efforts on technology- and knowledge-oriented growth to enhance the efficiency of the system at public firms, he added. During the Kim Dae-jung administration, eight of the country's 26 state-owned enterprises were sold to private interests as part of efforts to restructure the bulky yet inefficient public sector. The current administration also is poised to decide the fate of three other firms _ Korea Electric Power Corp., Korea District Heating Corp. and Korea Gas Corp.

From The Korea Times 10/17/2003

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GNP Apologizes for Fund Scandal

The main opposition Grand National Party yesterday apologized for one of its lawmakers' involvement in a controversy, in which he is suspected of receiving a huge amount of illegal campaign funds from a conglomerate shortly before the December presidential election. "The GNP gives a sincere apology for the controversy stirred up by Rep. Choi Don-woong's admission to having accepted money from SK Group and expects a fair investigation by the prosecution," Party Chairman Choe Byung-yul said through his spokesman. It is the first time the opposition party has issued such an apology since the prosecution began looking into the allegation that Choi, the GNP's former chief financial officer, received 10 billion won from the nation's third-largest conglomerate to support its presidential campaign. The apology came after the party's key officeholders and young lawmakers recommended Choe quickly take appropriate measures to avoid aggravating public mistrust. President Roh's political rival group has been calling for a thorough probe into the suspicion that Roh's longtime aide took 1.1 billion won from SK Group, but it has been silent about Choi's case. The opposition leader was said to be willing to make a second apology if the probe reveals further misconduct. The SK scandal has been rocking political circles, prompting President Roh Moo-hyun to propose a national referendum to shore up his stay in office after his aide was implicated in the scandal. Seizing on the potential hypocrisy of the GNP's attack on President Roh, Lee Pyeong-soo, who heads public relations for the newly formed pro-Roh group, said "The GNP is nothing but a looting organization which extorts money from businesses." Rep. Chung Dong-chea, chief publicist for the new breakaway group, said, "The GNP should sink to their knees and seek forgiveness from the public." The new party also called for an apology from a GNP lawmaker for raising "a groundless allegation," in which Rep. Shim Kyu-cheol claimed he heard from a colleague close to Rep. Chyung Dai-chul of the new party that Chyung accepted 20 billion won from SK Group. Rep. Kim Geun-tae, floor leader of the new party, said that the GNP was trying to wriggle out of its responsibility for the SK scandal, expecting Rep. Shim would ultimately be held accountable for the outcome of the investigation. (by Joo Sang-min)

From http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/ 10/23/2003

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Toward Clean Politics

Are clean politics impossible? Should politicians go on taking astronomical amounts of illegal corporate money, telling "white" lies and then facing humiliation - just endlessly? The politicians may believe they can continue their dirty tricks because the voters have incredibly short memories. Or do they think the voters are equally lacking in moral values, and see us as accomplices in this shameful legacy of corrupt politics? The word "shame" seems to have disappeared from the vocabulary of Korean politicians a long time ago. The latest case of shamelessness is that of Choi Don-woong, the Grand National Party's fund manager for the last presidential election. After insisting for more than a month that he had not taken a penny from SK Group, the opposition lawmaker at last admitted Tuesday that he received 10 billion won from the nation's third-largest conglomerate before the December election. This shady deal reminds one of a third-rate gangster movie. The nation's largest political party, which holds the controlling majority in the National Assembly after losing the last presidential election by a slight margin, should know and behave far better than that. And no less inappropriate is the response of the party leadership to the baffling developments surrounding its secret ties with business. GNP chairman Choe Byung-yul was comically near-sighted, and morally vacuous as well, when he threatened to impeach President Roh Moo-hyun over a graft scandal involving SK Group and a former Blue House staff member. Interestingly, the prosecution has found that Roh's underling accepted 1.1 billion won, less than one-tenth the amount SK gave the GNP campaign fund-raiser. Choe and other GNP leaders are unanimously refusing to disclose how the illegal contribution was spent. Even the party's presidential candidate, Lee Hoi-chang, who is making a timely visit from the United States, denied that he was aware of the enormous donation - before or after the election. Given that the election cost the party some 24 billion won, according to its report to the state election watchdog, one cannot but suspect a brazenfaced scheme by the powerful opposition group to conceal unlawful fund raising. There is no doubt that the first thing for the beleaguered GNP to do at this extremely embarrassing moment is honestly reveal to the electorate how it spent SK's donation, and release records of its total expenditures for the last election. Then the party may be able to take the lead in the long-awaited movement to realize political reform - starting with the revision of the idealistic but unrealistic laws governing political funds and elections. By so doing, the ailing giant will be able to recover lost public confidence and the moral high ground. In a representative democracy, an opposition party that has lost moral credence is dead wood. It is a great shame that the GNP is misusing its majority power to play chicken with smaller parties, including the faction that recently split from the former ruling Millennium Democratic Party. With the general elections only six months away, it must realize that there is not much time for interparty negotiations on legal changes to ensure transparency in the management of political funds. That would be the first crucial step toward lifting Korean politics out of the perennial corruption in which they are now stymied. Without giving hope to the people in deep despair, the GNP won't be able to retain its power. The only way for the party to shed its disgraceful image as a gang of power-hungry opportunists is to be honest about its misdeeds and take up the banner for reform. From time to time, honesty is the best policy, even in the ruthless world of politics. This appears to be one of those times.

From http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/ 10/24/2003

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Choi Implicates GNP Leaders in Scandal

Grand National Party Rep. Choi Don-woong (front left), who is in the center of the SK scandal, talks with Rep. Lim Tae-hee, chief secretary for the GNP chairman, during a caucusn party at the National Assembly yesterday. Rep. Choi Don-woong indicated yesterday that the leadership of the Grand National Party might have been behind the acceptance of 10 billion won in improper campaign funds from SK Group ahead of last December's presidential election. "I acted as a liaison officer and simply delivered the money as it was funneled to the GNP from SK," a GNP official quoted Rep. Choi as saying. Party insiders said it was assumed that the party leadership consulted with SK management on the donation before Choi actually took it. Choi has admitted having received 10 billion won from the conglomerate, but remained silent on the destination of the money. "Rep. Choi relayed the money to the party's financial bureau through a few party employees," the official said. Prosecutors said they would call in Rep. Kim Young-iel, who served late last year as GNP secretary-general, next week to determine whether he was involved. Appearing at the party's emergency meeting yesterday, Rep. Choi tried to seek understanding from party colleagues about his confession before the prosecution, saying the investigative authorities possessed strong evidence to prove the charges against him. "I basically had to admit taking the money illegally when the indisputable evidence surfaced," the GNP lawmaker said in a statement read by party spokesman Park Jin during the meeting. In the statement, Rep. Choi said, "I tried to remain silent about the allegation in light of the political sensitivity of the issue for our party." However, he contended that his role in the election fund scandal was limited, though he did divulge some information in a media interview Thursday about his involvement and how the money was delivered. Nonetheless, he denied the allegation that he pocketed a portion of the sum, saying, "I have no idea how the money was used, but I presume that all the money was spent on the election campaigns." (by Choe Yong-shik)

From http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/ 10/25/2003

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MONGOLIA: ADB Approves Loans for Second Phase of Public Sector Reforms

MANILA - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will begin the second phase of a program to enhance Mongolia's public sector accountability and efficiency with the help of a loan package totaling US$15.5 million equivalent approved today. The program will support the implementation of public sector administrative and financial management reforms started under ADB's Governance Reform Program (GRP), which was funded by a $25 million equivalent loan approved in December 1999. Under the GRP, a 10-year governance plan was formulated to guide reforms to 2009, focusing on improving fiscal discipline, strengthening public sector budget formulation and operational efficiency, and addressing the social impact of reforms. It also provided initial implementation support on a pilot basis. The most important milestone was the enactment in June 2002 of a Public Sector Management and Finance Law (PSMFL), which provides a sound legal framework to guide budget, output, performance, and financial management reforms. "The GRP laid a solid foundation to guide public sector administration and financial management reforms in Mongolia," says Ramesh Subramaniam, an ADB Senior Economist. "But a formidable reform agenda must still be fulfilled. Effective implementation of the PSFML is particularly critical to ensure that reforms do not fail." Mongolia's public sector system faces a number of challenges, including organizational constraints, lack of transparency, and poor accountability, as well as difficult geographical terrain that hinders public service delivery. A lack of budgetary discipline is mainly due to the large size of the public sector - there is one public sector agency for every 350 people in the country. All together, the public sector employs about 144,700 people. Thus, the public sector wage bill as a share of gross domestic product (GDP), at 8.2% in 2000, is among the highest in the region. Consolidated government expenditure as a share of GDP, meanwhile, averaged about 39% per year in 1993-2000. A major strain is the generous public pension system, which in 2001 accounted for almost 6% of GDP. Without reform measures or a vastly increased budget, it is projected that the pension fund will be in deficit by about 9% by 2005, rising to 16.4% in 2010 and 34.4% by 2020. The second phase of the GRP will adopt a three-pronged approach to tackling these issues: To enhance institutional capacity, the program will support strategic planning and budgeting measures with a focus on health, education, social welfare, and labor. It will also strengthen public sector financial governance norms and establish sound oversight for public sector accounting and auditing. To improve fiscal sustainability, it will help in formulating a framework to strengthen the social security system and carry out pension reforms to ease budgetary pressures. It will also start reducing multiple layers of administration that impede efficiency. To mainstream governance reforms, the program will support measures to strengthen the State Service Council to improve the quality of the civil service, making key public institutions more transparent and accountable. "ADB's approach will be a gradual one that allows for considerable flexibility and enables it to address capacity constraints and conduct discussions with stakeholders over a longer period," says Mr. Subramaniam. "If they are to work, the measures must be mainstreamed gradually at all levels of the public sector in appropriate sequence, while addressing structural and capacity constraints and clarifying the relative roles and responsibilities of governments at different levels." Thus, the program will be conducted through two subprograms. The first is funded by an ADB loan of $13.5 million equivalent, supported by a technical assistance loan of about $2 million equivalent, both from ADB's concessional Asian Development Fund (ADF). The program loan carries a 24-year term and the TA loan a 32-year term, with both including a grace period of eight years. Interest in each case is 1% per annum during the grace period and 1.5% per annum subsequently. The TA loan will help build the Government's capacity to implement key measures to be undertaken under the second phase of GRP. It will fund on-the-job training programs for government accountants and auditors and support strategic planning. Subprogram 1 will be undertaken from October 2003 to December 2005. A second subprogram will be prepared after the midterm review of the first subprogram to support a series of critical follow-up measures to complete the reforms. For this, a further loan of $10 million will be presented for ADB's consideration, based on satisfactory progress of subprogram 1. The Ministry of Finance and Economy will be the executing agency and responsible for implementing all measures related to the PSMFL, public sector financial management reforms, and social security reforms. The Cabinet Secretariat will be the implementing agency for all the local government reform issues, civil service reforms, and the anticorruption component.

From http://www.adb.org/ 10/14/2003

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INDONESIA: Corruption Rampant in Courts, Police, Govt

The lack of political will to combat corruption has once again positioned Indonesia as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, anticorruption activists say.Quoting a survey released by the Berlin-based Transparency International (TI) on Tuesday, Emmy Hafild said Indonesia was the second most corrupt country in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) after Myanmar, and the third in Asia after Bangladesh and Myanmar. Globally, Indonesia, together with Kenya, ranked sixth with a Corruption Perception Index of 1.9, with the highest or cleanest score being 10. Last year Indonesia ranked fourth among 122 countries surveyed with a corruption index of 1.9. "There is no improvement as the rank rises due to the increase in the number of countries surveyed," she added. A total of 133 countries were surveyed from June 2002 through June 2003. Emmy Hafild, who is also the secretary-general of Transparency International (TI) Indonesia, called on the public, civil society groups, and the mass media to use the upcoming general elections to embark on an anticorruption campaign. Indonesia is scheduled to hold a legislative election in April 2004 and two-stage direct presidential elections in July and September 2004. The TI report was based on 13 surveys conducted by various groups, including the Partnership for Governance Reform in Indonesia, Asian Development Bank, World Bank, Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC), Transparency International, and Gallup International. The surveys, conducted between June last year and June this year, involved businessmen, academics, expatriates and ordinary people. The 1.9 score represents an average, ranging from 0.7 at the worst to 2.9 at the best based on the surveys conducted here. TI gives 1 point for the most corrupt country and 10 points for the cleanest country. According to Emmy, corruption was still rampant in the courts and police force in the form of bribery and blackmail, and in the general procurement of government and military supplies in the forms of embezzlement of state funds and kickbacks. Corruption was also committed by members of the House of Representatives and political parties through the practice of money politics, Emmy said. Emmy praised the recent National Anti-Bribery Movement announced by businessmen grouped in the Indonesian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. "But unfortunately, the government has not given a good response to the movement," she added. TI Indonesia chairman Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas, who recently received the Bung Hatta Anticorruption Award, said corruption had grown worse as the country's leaders had failed to set good examples. "We need continued efforts to fight corruption," said Erry, who is a former president of publicly-listed company, PT Timah. TI Indonesia supervisory board chairman Todung Mulya Lubis said combating corruption in the country required a powerful institution. "I hoped the planned Corruption Eradication Commission will be a powerful body. It's our last chance for combating corruption," said Todung, who is also a member of the team in charge of selecting members of the commission. He said the selection committee had agreed on Monday to invite non-governmental organizations such as Indonesian Corruption Watch and Government Watch to nominate candidates for the commission. "We have received 32 candidates' names, but we hope for more from these organizations," he said, while refusing to divulge who the 32 candidates were. (By Ahmad Junaidi)

From http://www.thejakartapost.com/ 10/08/2003

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Political Parties Unpopular With Public

Major political parties contesting the 2004 general election have failed to woo support from poor people living in urban areas, according to a recent poll. The survey, carried out by the Institute for Business Ethics Development Studies (LSPEU) on 2,995 respondents at random in six major cities, revealed that 26 percent were still thinking about the party they would vote for and 32 percent declined to disclose their preference. "This means that political parties are unpopular among poor people in urban areas. The people have no enthusiasm for the parties," LSPEU director Fachry Ali told a media conference here on Wednesday. Poor people were defined as those whose monthly expenditure was below Rp 1 million (US$119). The lack of popularity was confirmed by the low percentage of respondents favoring any particular party. Among the unpopular parties, the Golkar Party ranked first with support from 10.8 percent of respondents, followed by President Megawati Soekarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), with 7.4 percent. The National Awakening Party (PKB), National Mandate Party (PAN) and Vice President Hamzah Haz' United Development Party (PPP) came third, fourth and fifth respectively. There was a significant change in party preference compared with the 1999 election, as 24.7 percent of respondents admitted to voting for PDI Perjuangan, 12.2 percent Golkar, 8.6 percent PKB, 6.8 percent PPP and 4.7 percent Muslim-based PPP. Preference for parties was mostly influenced by respondents' assessment of party achievement (46.4 percent), followed by the party leadership factor (10.6 percent) and party programs and platforms (10.3 percent). "Despite their economic status, the public are well informed about the performance of the political parties, Fachry said, adding that people could easily recall the activities of political parties from what they had seen on TV. The survey showed that 78.6 percent of respondents obtained information on the parties from TV. Respondents who had access to dailies, magazines, tabloids, or radio were less than nine percent on average. The poll was carried out between Aug. 10 and Aug. 30 in Jakarta, Serang, Bandung, Semarang, Yogyakarta and Surabaya, all cities in Java. In each city, 500 people were targeted at random for their responses. The sampling error in the survey was plus or minus 1.91 percent, with confidence of 0.95 percent. Fachry said Java was chosen because most of the country's population lives on the island. He added that poor people were targeted as respondents because they made up the majority of the country's population. He said five more surveys would be carried out with the same respondents ahead of the April 2004 election to determine what patterns might emerge regarding their political preferences.

From http://www.thejakartapost.com/ 10/09/2003

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Delay May Boost Akbar Election Bid

Golkar executives upped the pressure on Saturday on participants of the party's leadership meeting in Jakarta to delay the selection of its presidential candidate from February to April next year.A number of Golkar executives said the delay was proposed for the sake of the party's internal consolidation to win the general elections. "Should the announcement be delayed, the entire energy and resources of the party will focus on how to win the election. I have persuaded many chapters to support the idea," Agun Gunandjar Sudarsa, the Golkar executive in charge of legislation, said on the sidelines of the meeting at the Shangri-La Hotel in Central Jakarta. He claimed that at least 20 of the 30 Golkar provincial chapters had thrown their weight behind the delay. Mohammad Hasbi and Zamzami Noer from Central Java and South Sumatra chapters respectively concurred, saying they believed the postponement of the election of the presidential candidate would help the party regain its supremacy in the election. Based on Golkar's convention rules, the preconvention scheduled for Oct. 20 and Oct. 21 will reduce the seven candidates to five before the party selects its sole candidate in February next year. Some Golkar executives said the delay would give the presidential candidates no choice but to campaign for the party ahead of the general elections on April 5. Golkar finished second behind the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle in the 1999 election, winning 22 percent of the vote. After a selection process in regental and provincial chapters, businessman Aburizal Bakrie, media mogul Surya Paloh, former Indonesian Military chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto, party chairman Akbar Tandjung, former chief of the Army's Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad) Lt. Gen. (ret.) Prabowo Subianto, and Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengku Buwono X qualified for the preconvention, scheduled for Monday to Tuesday. Many believe the delay to the convention will also give the party chairman, Akbar Tandjung, more time to contest the convention, pending a ruling from the Supreme Court (MA) on his conviction in a graft case. "If the selection of Golkar's definite presidential candidate takes place in February and the MA has not delivered its verdict, Golkar cadres will not vote for Akbar," a party figure said. The proposal was criticized by other Golkar leaders, including deputy chairmen Fahmi Idris and Marzuki Darusman. Fahmi said the delay would only show that Golkar was inconsistent in implementing its own rules. "Golkar must not easily change rules because it will only tarnish its image," he said. Marzuki added that the party's executive board had no basis to delay the schedule. "If there is a proposal to delay the schedule, it must come from the provincial chapter with genuine arguments," he said. According to Marzuki, the reasons behind the proposal to delay the election of the party's presidential candidate were outdated, as they had been rejected during the previous leadership meeting last April. Chairman of the North Maluku chapter, Yamin Tawari, meanwhile, urged Golkar leaders to set a good example by consistently complying with all the rules of the game. He suggested the leadership meeting drop the proposal to delay the convention, but focus on the strategy to win the election. "Such a debate on the proposal will be a waste of time," Yamin said. The country will hold the legislative elections on April 5 and the direct presidential election on July 5 next year, with the run-off on Sept. 20.

From http://www.thejakartapost.com/ 10/19/2003

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Transitional Govt Sought in Aceh

Experts are calling for the revocation of martial law and the establishment of a transitional administration with full support from the central government in Nanggroe Aceh Darusalam in a bid to resolve the conflict there. Kusnanto Anggoro, a military observer with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said during a discussion here on Monday that martial law in Aceh, originally scheduled to end on Nov. 19, seemed to have already crippled the armed wing of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). "However, an immediate political solution is needed to solve the chronic problem in the province once and for all instead of prolonging martial law," Kusnanto said. Prolonging military rule would hinder democratization in the province and prevent the local civil administration from developing, not to mention the excesses due to extremely limited public access to monitor the military's activities, he said. He, however, pointed out that the military should not be discouraged by such calls as it could continue operations, but only in selected areas instead of the whole province. President Megawati Soekarnoputri issued on May 19 the martial law decree, allowing the Indonesian military (TNI) to launch an all-out campaign against GAM rebels. TNI data shows that close to 1,000 GAM rebels have been killed and almost 2,000 others detained over the last 5 months. The TNI has also confiscated 434 of an estimated 2,000 weapons owned by GAM, which had around 5,000 armed members. Andi Widjajanto, a defense researcher from the University of Indonesia, said that the central government should appoint a civilian as the head of the proposed transitional administration and give him full authority to solve all the problems in Aceh. "It would be similar to the United Nations mission to East Timor in 1999," said Andi, referring to the UN mission that took charge of East Timor after Indonesia left the territory in September 1999. The transitional administration, according to Andi, should be backed up by the military in a proportionate manner to repress the rebels. Such an administration could be expected to play a greater role in establishing competent local administrators as the foundation of a normal civil governance throughout the province, he said. He predicted that Aceh would be ready to elect its governor directly by 2006 if such a proposal was implemented. Meanwhile, Aceh Military Operation Commander Maj. Gen. Bambang Darmono complained on Monday that many Acehnese people still supported GAM and assisted rebel leaders in evading the government troops hunting for them. "I can't deny that we (the military) find difficulties in our search for GAM leaders because many Acehnese civilians continue to support the movement and assist their leaders in hiding from government troops. "For instance, Ishak Daud, GAM commander for Peureulak region in East Aceh, is sometimes covertly wearing Muslim clothes, and indeed, it affects our soldiers psychologically," Bambang said in a press conference to evaluate the five-month old campaign. Also present at the press briefing was Aceh Martial Law Administrator Maj. Gen. Endang Suwarya. Bambang's remarks contradicted earlier military claims that government forces had taken control of more than 90 percent of Aceh's territory. The TNI has also said repeatedly that more and more of the Acehnese had been expressing support for the ongoing operations in Aceh. Endang said the military would evaluate the presence of its posts stationed near main roads and relocate them into hamlets and villages. "Our concern is merely securing civilians during the holy month," Endang said, referring to Ramadhan. Aceh is a predominantly Muslim province where Ramadhan is taken very seriously. Asked whether GAM's strength had been reduced, Endang admitted that for the time being, GAM still existed, especially in their strongholds of East Aceh, Bireuen, Pidie and North Aceh. Noted Muslim scholar Nurcholish "Cak Nur" Madjid, who has recently returned from the province, praised the military, saying that more local Ulemas had expressed hope that the military would be able to maintain the current security situation there. "I don't know if Jakarta has to lift or extend martial law in the province, but during my visit to Aceh recently, many local ulemas said that they were happy with the current situation," Cak Nur said on the sidelines of a meeting held by Indonesian Justice and Unity Party on Monday.

From http://www.thejakartapost.com/ 10/21/2003

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Presidential Candidates' Platforms Vague

Golkar's presidential candidates presented their electoral platforms before some 500 party members from across the country on Tuesday, but analysts said their programs were too general and vague. Their programs seemed uninteresting even to party members as many convention participants did not bother to show up at the auditorium where the candidates unveiled their manifestos. Almost half of the seats in the auditorium were vacant when media baron Surya Paloh and Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X presented their views on Tuesday afternoon. Even on Tuesday morning, when Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung, businessman Aburizal Bakrie, and former Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) chief Prabowo Subianto presented their programs, many members were absent from the auditorium. Wiranto, who turned up in the evening session, used a slide show to attract the audience during his presentation. Political analysts attending the presentations said that the candidates failed to specify what programs they would put in place. Dewi Fortuna Anwar of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) urged candidates to spell out their plans for their first 100 days in office. "Their ideas are simply too general. They will not be able to finish their programs by the end of the five-year presidential term," said Fachry Ali of the Institute for the Study and Advancement of Business Ethics (LSPEU). Syamsuharto from the Surabaya-based Airlangga University stressed that the programs offered by the presidential candidates needed to be feasible and practical. Opening the morning session, Aburizal said that he would create labor-oriented programs that would employ more people and reduce unemployment. "A labor-oriented program will give more opportunities to people to work," said Aburizal, adding he would also boost the economic recovery. Meanwhile, Akbar said that while he would continue to promote democracy, he would also maintain political stability by restricting the number of political parties. Akbar said he would reduce the number of political parties by imposing strict requirements for individuals to set up political parties. He did not elaborate. Under the existing political party law, a party has to have branches in 50 percent of the country's provinces and in 50 percent of the regencies in those provinces in order to be recognized as a legitimate political party, among other requirements. At least 50 political parties have been declared legitimate and thus have the chance to participate in the 2004 general elections. Akbar, who was sentenced to three years in jail for his role in a Rp 40 billion financial scandal, argued that cutting the number of parties would encourage the convergence of ideas and political platforms. Prabowo, meanwhile, said he would provide poor people with low-cost housing, and loan facilities for small and medium enterprises. Prabowo, a son-in-law of former president Soeharto, said that he had heard rumors that bribes were being paid to secure support during the convention. "But, I believe in the integrity of the convention participants," he said. At least 534 people are attending the convention. Surya Paloh expressed his disappointment over the changes to the convention rules and schedules. He said that there had been inconsistencies during the convention. As for the effort to achieve national reconciliation, Surya said that what was needed now was not politicians but rather statesman. Hamengkubuwono, meanwhile, proposed a worldwide campaign to improve Indonesia's image and bargaining position in the global community.

From http://www.thejakartapost.com/ 10/22/2003

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MALAYSIA: Review JPPS Role in Projects

Several backbenchers called for a review of the role played by the State Federal Development Department (JPPS) in the implementation of Federal development projects in Sabah. Among them was Haji Abdul Malek Chua (Umno-Kuamut) who proposed that the State Government take over the distribution and implementation of projects from JPPS. Malek said it was unwise to let only one agency handle thousands of projects at one time. "Constraints such as small number of personnel and lack of understanding on local issues will definitely not give any chance to JPPS to function efficiently and trustworthily," he said. He said it was only appropriate that the State Government be the authority on Federal development projects implemented in Sabah since it had the necessary machinery to do the job more efficiently. The JPPS, he said, should only monitor and coordinate the respective Federal and State agencies. Parti Bersatu Sabah's Kedamaian Assemblyman, Herbert Lagadan, proposed that development funds from the Federal Government be channeled straight to the State Government. At the same time, he questioned the rationale behind the existence of the JPPS, especially to oversee the implementation of Federal projects which, he claimed, suggested that the Federal Government does not trust the State Barisan Nasional government. Meanwhile, his colleague from Tamparuli, Edward Linggu, said the authorities, particularly, JPPS need to coordinate better with the Wakil Rakyat when implementing development projects in certain constituencies. "There were projects by JPPS in my constituency that even I as the Wakil Rakyat did not know about," he said.

From http://www.dailyexpress.com.my 10/22/2003

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PHILIPPINES: RP Prospects Dim on Higher Political Risk

IT never rains but it pours. Volatility in the country's politics ahead of next year's presidential election led an influential US-based credit-rating firm to revise its outlook on Philippine bonds from stable to negative. Representing the firm's opinion on a country's capacity to pay its debts, the lower-rating outlook means the government-and consequently all private borrowers nationwide-faces the prospect of rising interest rates on commercial and consumer loans. A negative outlook also means the Philippines will likely receive a lower credit rating over the medium term, further dampening investor interest in the local economy. In a statement Moody's Investors Service warned that "a continued deterioration in the political climate could weaken further the country's external payments position." This means that nervous businessmen will likely shift their assets into dollars over the next few months, depreciating the peso further, a classic situation of capital flight. Moody's noted "deep political tensions" in the country, judging from the failed July 27 military mutiny and from the Court of Appeal's suspension of the central bank governor, Rafael Carlos B. Buenaventura, and other senior monetary officials. "Although the [Arroyo] administration has prevailed against these challenges, political risks are rising as the 2004 presidential election approaches," Moody's said. Malaca?ang moved to dispel the political uncertainty, saying President Arroyo is close to announcing a decision about her plans for next year. Deputy spokesman Ricardo Saludo said the President's unhurried decision about her plans should not be construed as the main cause of political instability in the country. "The difference of a few weeks would not seriously affect the country's credit rating. Perhaps that study was done a few weeks or a month ago," Saludo said. "We know she will clarify her political plans soon," he added. Moody's cited weak exports, as well as declining foreign investments, in revising its ratings outlook. Exports in the first seven months of the year grew by 0.5 percent, or way below the government's full-year target of 5 percent. Monetary authorities have since reduced their full-year export-growth target to 3 percent. The expected decline in exports in turn led monetary authorities to reduce their current-account target to a $1.7-billion surplus from $2.4 billion previously. The current account is a record of the net inflow of dollars arising from the country's external trade in goods and services and from other income and current transfers. Besides weak exports, the decline in foreign investments is also forcing monetary authorities to look for other sources of foreign exchange. "While the authorities have maintained official foreign-exchange reserves at a prudent level, they have had to rely on external borrowing to bolster reserve holdings," said Moody's. Philippine officials on Tuesday dismissed any impact that Moody's negative outlook would have on the government's borrowing tack. "The market should have discounted that already. We do not intend to change our borrowing plans even with the outlook change," National Treasurer Sergio Edeza said. The central bank's deputy governor, Amando Tetangco Jr., expressed hope that Moody's rating outlook would be "reversed" after a new administration is sworn into office in July next year. The Philippines-the largest sovereign debt issuer in Asia next to Japan-has borrowed around $2.25 billion through bonds in the international market since November 2002, including $750 million for the state utility firm National Power Corp. The government still needs to raise another $250 million to meet its foreign-financing requirements for 2003.

From http://www.manilatimes.net/ 10/01/2003

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President Will Run in 2004 Polls

What a difference nine months makes! President Arroyo on Saturday finally made her much-awaited announcement about her political plans for 2004: She is running for president. Citing her more than two-and-a-half years' experience in the presidency as the main reason, the President brushed aside her December 30, 2002, promise not to run. She had made up her mind on October 1. With this declaration, the President gave hope to her supporters and left her critics crowing that she never meant to keep her promise any way. "I have gained the experience necessary to understand what we need to do in order to change society in a way that leads to economic development and the elimination of poverty. Thus, I have deferred my retirement," she told an estimated 40,000-strong crowd that attended the Pampanga Senior Citizens' Congress at the Expo Filipino Pavilion at Clark Field. She said that in reaching this decision, she has sacrificed her yearnings for "personal quiet and release from presidential strain and anxiety." She decided to run on her discernment and was not prodded by her party, the ruling Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats, or pressured by various sectors in the society. "I am not motivated to run, because I was thrust, shoved, urged or pressed. Nakikita ko ang higit pang sakripisyo at gagampanan ko ito [I see the need for a bigger sacrifice and I will perform it]," she said. She recalled that when she made the decision last year not to run, she had hoped it would end the "poisoned politicking." But this did not stop her enemies, as a group of young military officers allegedly backed up by opposition personalities staged a failed mutiny on July 27, and a series of bank robberies occurred, which she linked to the destabilization plot to topple her administration. These, she said, clearly indicated conspiracy to bring down the government. "Some ask why I changed my mind. What matters most is that I changed my mind because of a higher cause: to change society in a way that flourishes our future. It would have been easier to take the road to retirement than to take up the call laid before me," she said. Mrs. Arroyo stressed she sought the presidency knowing she would be criticized for reneging on her word. With her decision to run in 2004, the President hopes that businessmen and investors who are reportedly leaving the country owing to economic and political conditions in the country will be heartened to keep their assets here. (By Maila Ager)

From http://www.manilatimes.net 10/05/2003

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Courts to Close as Magistrates March to Senate

The country's courts will be closed today as judges and their staff will go on nationwide strike to protest what they say is the slowness of the Senate in approving a bill calling for higher pay for members of the judiciary. Members from three nationwide organizations of judges would lead a mass action in the Senate. These organizations are the Philippine Judicial Association (PJA) composed of regional trial court judges; Philippine Trial Judges League (PTJL) made up of municipal Judges and the Metropolitan and City Judges Association of the Philippines (Metrocjap). The protest action, however, may just be a case of barking up the wrong tree, said Sen. Francis Pangilinan, chair of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights. In a telephone interview, Pangilinan told The Times that the bill in question had been passed on third and final reading in the Senate as well as in the House of Representatives. "The ball is now in the hands of the bicameral conference committee and they are trying to consolidate the conflicting provisions of both chambers," Pangilinan said. Judge Mariano de la Cruz Jr., PJA president, said the three organizations and a group of court personnel have been pushing for the immediate passage of the bill. They said the bill was being blocked by some senators. "This mass action is the only way that the public litigants and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines [IBP] will know about the sad plight of the members of the judiciary," de la Cruz said. The judiciary's share in the national budget should be equal to that of the other branches of government, the groups said. Of the proposed P865-billion budget for 2004, only .09 percent of 1 percent, or P7.8 billion, is allotted to the judiciary, the judges say. "This is despite the fact that the judiciary is tasked with a very vital and indispensable function of dispensing justice. [The judiciary, which is] overloaded with hundreds of thousands of cases gets so much less than many departments and agencies in the executive branch," the judges' organizations said in their manifestation. Once approved, the bill, Rationalizing the Pay Scale of the Judiciary, would streamline the administration of justice by rationalizing the pay structure for justices, judges and state lawyers. The bill is one of the first priority maesures of the Arroyo administration. Currently, almost one-third of the trial courts nationwide are vacant, because most lawyers are not interested in working in the judiciary owing to low salaries. "[The bill] seeks to raise the compensation package to competitive levels in order to, among others, entice competent private practitioners to join the judiciary," Pangilinan said. Alluding to the striking judges, Pangilinan said: "Maybe they are misinformed about the movements of the bill. It is already in the bicameral and they are about to finish it in a couple of days and will soon be submitted to both Houses for ratification." (By Ma. Theresa Torres)

From http://www.manilatimes.net/ 10/06/2003

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RP Corruption Not That Bad, Says President

President Arroyo on Wednesday played down the global report on corruption where the Philippines was ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Many Asian countries were also ranked as some of the most corrupt according to the Transparency International listing. The President said the report on perceptions of corruption did not take into consideration actions taken by Asian governments, especially the Philippines, to minimize if not eradicate corruption. "We may not have breached the level of perceptions on corruption in our country, but we are surely doing something about it, which is not reflected in the report," the President said. The country shared the 92nd slot with Pakistan and six other nations with just 2.5 points out of a perfect score of 10, which means being "highly clean." President Arroyo said with the recent reforms being imposed by the government, corruption in the bureaucracy is starting to fall down. "Our revenue agencies are registering increases in collections. The drive for good governance is inexorably moving forward," she said. She expressed confidence that positive results of the reforms and lifestyle checks would soon be reflected and we are confident it will eventually have an influence on corruption perceptions on the Philippines. Transparency International's recent report showed that only Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan were among the few who are on the top 21 of least corrupt nations out of 133 polled in its annual survey. Bangladesh scored 1.3 out of 10 just edging out Nigeria. Myanmar, ranked 129 and Indonesia, 122, also had rankings of less than two out of 10, which mean that corruption was "pervasive" in those countries. Vietnam got a score of 2.4; India, 2.8 points; and Thailand, despite a booming economy, got a score of 3 falling on the 70th position. China and Sri Lanka were on the 66th slot with 3.4 points, South Korea got 4.3 and Malaysia with 5.2 points on the 37th position. (By Ma. Theresa Torres)

From http://www.manilatimes.net/ 10/09/2003

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Reporma Bolts Ruling Coalition

The political party Reporma on Friday broke away from the ruling People Power Coalition (PPC) to pursue its advocacy of good governance and principled leadership-things it claimed the administration failed to carry out. The latest shift in the political landscape raises the possibility of a "third force" being formed to contest the election next year. The PPC is an alliance of parties and civil societies that opposed former President Joseph Estrada. It was formed after Estrada was ousted through the peaceful "EDSA 2" revolution in 2001. Reporma-reportedly financed by the Zobel family and several Makati businessmen-was formed in 1998, when its founding chief, Renato de Villa, ran for president in 1998. Hermilando Mandanas, Reporma secretary-general and Batangas governor, said the 600 members of the party unanimously voted to bolt the PPC days after President Arroyo announced she would run. Mandanas said Reporma doubts the President's capability to carry out good governance and reforms now that she has decided to run. He maintained that her latest announcement indicates she may not be able to focus on reforms and concentrate more on politics, particularly on her candidacy. Besides pushing for reforms, member-officials of Reporma said they would also focus on the empowerment of the local government units. The party would campaign against constitutional change. Congressmen from the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) Party have pushed for Charter change by way of a constitutional assembly. Asked if other parties plan to bolt the PPC, Mandanas said he noted that political moves indicate other PPC-aligned may bolt. "Other parties are free to decide. But as I see in the news stories and in other developments, other parties may move out of the PPC," he said. But even after the party bolted the PPC, Mandanas said de Villa, Reporma chief and presidential adviser on strategic concerns, need not cut his links with the administration, since it was the party that decided the move. "No, Secretary de Villa will not resign as security adviser to the President. It was more of a party decision," Mandanas said. Reporma has not chosen or endorsed any presidential candidate for 2004. Mandanas said the patty has yet to hold a national directorate meeting, which would decide whom to support as president. "Eventually we will make a choice," he said. Observers, however, predict that Reporma will coalesce with its old-time partner, Aksyon-Demokratiko, and support its president, former senator and education secretary Raul Roco. Reporma, Aksyon-Demokratiko and Promdi, headed by Cebu Gov. Lito Osme?a, have had a standing partnership since 2001. The three parties led the impeachment campaign against former President Estrada. (By Niel Villegas Mugas)

From http://www.manilatimes.net/ 10/11/2003

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Ilocos Civil Servants Rally Versus GSIS

Some 120 government workers in Ilocos, who are members of the Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (Courage), initiated a protest action against the continuing delay in the processing and releases of loans and other benefits from the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS). Courage also raised issues on the persisting operational problems of the GSIS, particularly on the collection of premium arrearages incurred by nonpaying government agencies. Courage said the GSIS is holding its members hostage by not extending loans to them to compel the government to pay its obligation to the detriment of government employees. "In the process of implementing prompt collections from the government, it is very much unjustifiable for GSIS to hold the employees as hostage to compel the government to pay arrearages due. GSIS should set the members free to enjoy the benefits and privileges due to them," Courage said in a position paper. Oscar Calica, Courage regional chair for the Ilocos, said their action was their contribution to the various protests being held against the GSIS management. The protest was followed by a dialogue with GSIS officials here, headed by La Union GSIS manager, Delia Madarazo. Courage demanded that the GSIS act immediately on their complaints, including enjoyment of loans extended to members, high interest rates of salary loans and other charges, GSIS earnings in relation to increasing contributions of government employees, increase in employees compensation premium and retirement benefits. Courage also asserted that the GSIS should operate in the spirit of cooperation and should lower the interest on loans and other charges since loan repayments are the member's hard earned money. "GSIS is doing this in time when many members are in dire need of cash to finance basic needs such as school fees of their children, repair of houses damaged by calamities and others," Courage said. For her part, Madarazo retorted during the dialogue that the procedure that GSIS follows is the "premium based" policy, meaning "what you pay is what you get." "Just like any insurance business, if you want to be covered and avail of the benefits, you must pay the corresponding premiums. What benefits would you get if you are not paying?" Madarazo asked, referring to the delinquent payers. "There is no problem with those who are regularly paying their contributions. The problem lies in nonpaying agencies. Gusto ba ng mga nagbabayad na miembro na i-subsidize nila ang mga hindi nagbabayad [Are those paying the premiums willing to subsidize the delinquent payers]?" she added. Maderazo said there are 24 government agencies in La Union, including two local government units, 29 agencies in Abra and 18 LGUs that have premium arrearages. The GSIS branch office here, which covers the provinces of Abra and La Union, is serving at least 165 government agencies. San Fernando is the regional center in Ilocos region that hosts almost all the national government offices. Madarazo told Courage to file their complaints to their respective central offices in matters of updating their contributions with the GSIS. She said that GSIS has instituted reforms like posting individually and uploading in the computer and permanent improvement in the processing systems to ensure prompt delivery of services. (By Jun Elias)

From http://www.manilatimes.net 10/14/2003

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SINGAPORE: Parliament to Sit on 10 Nov

Parliament will sit again at 1.30pm, 10 November, and several news bills introduced this month are expected to be debated. Among these new bills are the Consumer Protection or Fair Trading Bill, and the Maritime Offences Bill. Under the Fair Trading Bill, 20 specific unfair practices have been identified for which customers may be able to get redress in court. This includes exerting undue pressure on consumers to enter into a transaction; recommending replacements for goods when these are not necessary, or even using fine print to hide important facts. Consumers could also be allowed to cancel certain transaction contracts within a cancellation period. The Bill also proposed giving the Consumers Association of Singapore more teeth. This includes allowing it to get court injunctions against errant traders who persist with unethical business practices. As for the Maritime Offences Bill, it spells out the actions that could be prosecuted. mong them are hijacking a ship, damaging it, or even giving false information which endangers the safe navigation of a ship. Procedures in dealing with those involved, including extradition, are also dealt with.

From http://www.channelnewsasia.com/ 10/21/2003

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THAILAND£º NBC Panel Flayed for Lack of Transparency

A media pressure group yesterday protested to the PM's Office over what it saw as a lack of transparency in filling vacancies on the nominating committee for the broadcasting regulator. Supinya Klangnarong, secretary general of the Campaign for Popular Media Reform, handed the group's petition to Rongpol Charoenphan, deputy permanent secretary of the PM's Office, at Government House. The petition noted that names of candidates for the election of panel members had not been made available to the public. Supinya suspected that certain powerful groups were trying to exclude NGOs, particularly the vocal ones opposing the presence of representatives from media businesses on the committee. Some NGOs were notified by mail too late to register for the election, she said. The selection of members on the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has dragged on due to disputes over the composition of the nominating panel.The original 17 members were elected from representatives of groups registering for the contest. Six of them later resigned in response to complaints that the election was unfair. Three academics have filled some of the vacant seats on the nominating panel. An election for the three vacant slots reserved for NGOs will be held later.

From http://www.nationmultimedia.com/ 10/02/2003

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Boards to Be Official-Heavy

TOT Corp Plc and CAT Telecom Co will continue to be dominated by bureaucrats when the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Ministry appoints new directors to the state agencies next week. ICT Minister Surapong Suebwonglee said yesterday that high-ranking state officials from telecom and other fields would make up the majority of the new boards. "The remainder will be made up of members from the private sector and academic circles," he said. Surapong disbanded the existing boards last week because they had been unable to improve the competitive edge of TOT or CAT Telecom. But he said that Amnuaysak Thoonsiri, from CAT Telecom's board, and Dr Suvit Maesincee, from TOT's board, would keep their jobs. Both represent the private sector on their respective boards, he said. Amnuaysak is a former vice president of Ericsson (Thailand), and Suvit has experience in a private business. Amnuaysak was also reportedly close to other private telecom operators, including Shin Corp Plc. "Amnuaysak can help CAT Telecom a great deal," Surapong said. The new boards would be expected to steer both state enterprises to list on the stock exchange next year. The government has continually postponed the listing of both state enterprises, citing the unfavourable market conditions. Surapong said his ministry would also send representatives to sit on both boards to coordinate their work. Each board would select its own chairman later. Surapong last week removed Khunying Dhipavadee Meksawan from her position as joint chairman of both boards so she could implement the e-government project. Khunying Dhipavadee is also the permanent secretary of the ICT Ministry. Surapong said he would also remove the existing board of cell-phone operator Thai Mobile, which is jointly owned by TOT and CAT Telecom.

From http://www.nationmultimedia.com/ 10/15/2003

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BANGLADESH: Country Retains 1st Position in Corruption

Bangladesh retains its championship in corruption scoring the lowest position among 133 countries of the world for the third consecutive year, according to Transparency International (TI). Launching its Corruption Perceptions Index 2003 (CPI) yesterday, the Berlin-based TI said corruption is pervasive in Bangladesh. "Corruption means the abuse of public office for private gains, and the CPI 2003 takes into account the corruption of politicians and government officials," TI said. And, Bangladesh appears to be most corrupt country in the world, making hat-trick this year. The CPI, which relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people, academics and risk analysts, and ranges between 10 (highly clean) and 0 (highly corrupt), was launched simultaneously across the world. Finland has been ranked the No. 1 showing the most clean country on Earth. In Dhaka, the CPI was launched by the Bangladesh Chapter of Transparency International through a press conference at the National Press Club in the city." There is no symptom that the level of corruption is going down in Bangladesh, which is very discouraging and frustrating," said Professor Khan Sarwar Murshid, Chairman of the Trustee Board of TIB, in his reaction to this year's CPI. He said the Transparency International does not take majority of the incidence of corruption in Bangladesh into account while ranking the country in the CPI. "Bangladesh has been ranked the lowest in the CPI 2003 on the basis of a fraction of corruption incidence, and most of the incidence of corruption remain unreported." Professor Murshid also asserted that the Transparency International never consulted with the TIB, while ranking Bangladesh in the CPIs. Making a comparative analysis of the scores received by Bangladesh over the last three years, the CPI 2003 ranked Bangladesh as the lowest among 133 countries of the world and also among the Asia and Pacific countries. This year's Transparency International's CPI reveals that Bangladesh scored 1.3 this year, compared to 1.2 in 2002 and 0.4 in 2001, while the country occupies the first position from the bottom level of the chart. "The difference between the CPI 2001 and CPI 2003 shows that Bangladesh makes somewhat progress regarding corruption. But, the progress is so minimal that it cannot be accepted as progress in any way," Professor Murshid said. In order to rank Bangladesh in the CPI 2003, the Transparency International interviewed the senior business leaders, executives of local and multinational companies, expatriate business executives, senior managers, experts, foreign investors in Bangladesh, multilateral organisations like the World Bank, IMF and the UNDP, academics and members of the civil society regarding the level of corruption in the country. The questions asked during the interviews were related to: (a) Undocumented extra payments connected with import and export permits, public utilities and contacts, business licences, tax payments or loan applications; (b) How common are bribes to politicians, senior civil servants, and judges; (c) How common are bribes, how costly are they for doing business, and how frequently are public contracts awarded to friends and relatives; (d) Payments for favourable regulations and judicial decisions; (e) Frequency of bribing and corruption as a constraint to business; (f) Pervasiveness of corruption among public officials (politicians and civil servants); (g) Severity of corruption within the state; and (f) How widespread is the incidence of corruption. The TI also used the information from the Global Competitiveness Report 2001, Global Competitiveness Report 2002 and Global Competitiveness Report 2003 of the World Economic Forum, the World Business Environment Survey 2001 of the World Bank, the Country Risk Service and Country Forecast 2003 of the Economist Intelligence Unit, State Capacity Survey 2002 of the Columbia University, the Risk Ratings of the World Markets Research Centre and Survey 2002 of the Multilateral Development Bank. Professor Murshid further asked how many high ranking officials or big businessmen have so far been arrested or punished on charge of corruption in Bangladesh. "When donors provide funds for Bangladesh, they provide for the ordinary people of this country. But there is no accountability in using the funds. Nothing happens to those who misuse or embezzle the funds," he regretted. The TIB Chairman also felt the urgent necessity to form an independent, powerful and effective Anti-Corruption Commission in the country to bring down the existing level of corruption in the country. The proposed Anti-Corruption Commission should be free from political influence and have adequate authority. "If the members of the propose Anti-Corruption Commission are appointed by the sitting ministers of the government, it will never be able to exercise its authority freely and also never be able to attain the trust of ordinary people," he observed. Among distinguished personalities within Transparency International's Bangladesh chapter are Chariman of Bangladesh Freedom Foundation (local NGO) and Editor of Daily Star Mahfuz Anam, Tawfique Nawaz, Kazi Aminul Huque, Samson H. Chowdhury, S. Ruby Ghuznavi and Syed Humayun Kabir.

From http://nation.ittefaq.com/ 10/08/2003

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10-15% of Public Procurement Budget Lost to Corruption

Corruption eats up 10-15 per cent of the country's $3 billion public procurement budget, leading to the loss of scarce resources and the deterioration the investment climate, World Bank and ADB officials told a seminar yesterday. "Pervasive rent-seeking and corruption produce kick-backs, ranging between 10 and 15 percent," said ADB representative Peter L Peterson at a National Seminar on the Public Procurement Regulations 2003. Speaking at the inaugural session, Acting World Bank head Muhinder S Mudahar said over the years the public procurement system suffered from opaque procurement practices, a lack of transparency and inadequate accountibility mechanisms, including rent-seeking practices. "This situation leads to wasteful use of scarce public resources, domestic or borrowed. At a more fundamental level, it causes erosion of public confidence and adversely affects the national investment climate," he observed. The success of the reforms in public procurement depends not only on the government's political will but also on support from the employees, Mudahar added. The Central Procurement Technical Unit of the Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) of the Ministry of Planning organised the seminar at the Bangladesh Institute of Administration Management Foundation. IMED Secretary Manik Lal Somaddar chaired the inaugural session. State Minister for Finance and Planning Anwarul Kabir Talukder attended the seminar as special guest. Speaking at the seminar, Anwarul Kabir Talukder said the time has come to fight unitedly against corruption. "Corruption will reduce if there is a combined effort," he said. The state minister termed the formulation of the public procurement regulation a major reform, adding that it was done in a relatively short time. In his speech, Peterson said good practices reduce costs and produce timely results; poor practices lead to waste and delays and are often the cause of allegations of corruption and misuse of public resources. According to some estimates, the economic losses due to corruption slows GDP growth by two to three percentage points a year, he told the audience. The ADB views the Public Procurement Regulations 2003 as a major breakthrough for transparency and accountibility in the procurement process and a major step in the harmonisation of procedures by development partners, he added.

From http://www.thedailystar.net/ 10/16/2003

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Telecoms Ministry Fails to Come Up With Proposal

Legalisation of Internet telephony hangs in the balance as the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (MoPT) failed to send a proposal to the cabinet division even three months after a decision. "The issue of legalising Internet telephony will be sent to the cabinet for approval," Telecommunication Minister M Aminul Haque told The Daily Star earlier. When contacted, MoPT Secretary Faruk Ahmed Siddique admitted the failure. "We hope to send it to the cabinet soon," he said without specifying any date. Internet telephony or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is the most cost-effective overseas telecommunications system. The system may enable 'mobile to mobile' phone users to receive international calls. Currently, about 10 lakh people use 'mobile to mobile' phones because of lack of landline interconnectivity. A vested quarter, close to the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party, has allegedly halted the process of legalising the VoIP, sources in the industry alleged. Prime Minister Khaleda Zia at a meeting of the Information Communication Technology Taskforce in June directed the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission to prepare a proposal on legalising Internet telephony. However, Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) does not want the VoIP to be allowed for fear of revenue loss. But illegal operators continue using the Internet telephony, bypassing the BTTB switchboard resulting in 90 percent drop in overseas incoming calls through BTTB's network, a senior BTTB official said. The BTTB has so far disconnected 3,000 fixed line telephones on allegation of overseas call termination and generation through Internet telephony. Leaders of the Internet Service Providers Association earlier said legalisation of the VoIP could earn the country billions of dollars through establishment of telecoms-related businesses. (by Mustak Hossain)

From http://www.bangladesh-web.com/ 10/26/2003

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BHUTAN: RCSC Reconstituted

His Majesty the King has commanded the reconstitution of the Royal Civil Service Commission with seven new members and the chairman to be rotated among the members every three months. The new members are Dasho Sonam Tenzing, director general in the ministry of home and cultural affairs, Tshering Dorji, registrar general of the royal court of justice, Nima Wangdi, director of revenue and customs, Kinley Dorji, managing director of the Kuensel corporation, Pema Wangda, director in the ministry of labour and human resources, Jigme Zangpo, secretary of the National Assembly, and Dasho Bap Kesang, secretary of the RCSC secretariat. The former commission comprised the six cabinet ministers, one deputy minister and the auditor general. The reconstitution follows a resolution by the 81st session of the National Assembly that the RCSC should be established as an independent body. The membership was to be recommended by the heads of the three branches of government. The RCSC is governed by a royal charter of 1982.

From http://www.kuenselonline.com/ 09/30/2003

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INDIA: Joshi Back in Cabinet After PM Sends Back Resignation Letter

New Delhi - The 11-day drama over the resignation of HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi from the Union Cabinet ended on Tuesday with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee rejecting it after the Allahabad High Court stayed proceedings against Joshi in the Babri masjid demolition case in the Rae Barelli court. Shortly after the Lucknow bench of the High Court stayed the trial court's framing of charges against Joshi till disposal of his writ petition challenging the September 19 verdict, Vajpayee spoke to Joshi and congratulated him on the stay. The Prime Minister told Joshi that he was turning down his resignation and asked him to resume work, a PMO spokesman said. Later Joshi said that he has accepted the decision of the Prime Minister with "humility" but felt the case "is politically motivated and does not involve issues of moral turpitude". "The Allahabad High Court has stayed the Rae Barelli special court order which made me submit my resignation to uphold the highest moral traditions." "I believe and agree with the view that demolition case is politically motivated and that it does not involve issues of criminal and moral turpitude", he said. Joshi, who resigned on September 19 after the Rae Barelli court decided to frame charges against him, said in a statement on Tuesday that he resigned to honour the court ruling though he never considered himself guilty in the December six 1992 incident. He said Ayodhya issue should be resolved at the earliest which would result in a grand reconciliation in the country. "I feel that the time is ripe for finding an amicable solution to the Ayodhya issue. Overwhelming public opinion favours that building a magnificent temple at the birth place of Sri Ram would bring peace in the country creating emotional bridges of happiness and brotherhood among all citizens," he said. Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani also spoke to Joshi and greeted him while the party expressed happiness over the High Court decision. BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu, who spoke to the Prime Minister after the High Court decision, said the party had always been of the view that there was no need for anyone to resign. "It is a political case and we will fight it politically and legally." "We are happy about the stay given by the court and I am confident that subsequently when the issue comes up for hearing all our people will be discharged", Naidu said.

From http://www.expressindia.com/ 09/30/2003

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Elections to Focus on Development Issues, Says PM Vajpayee

BHOPAL - Sending out a clear poll message not only to the Congress but elements within his own party and the saffron combine, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today said it was necessary that elections be completely focused on issues related to development. In Bhopal, while he attacked the Digvijay Singh government for the lack of roads and power in the state, the PM chose not to utter a single word on the events that transpired in Ayodhya just days ago. ''In MP, the electorate has to decide. For this it is necessary that the elections be centred on developmental issues. It is natural that other questions will come up but development is the biggest issue,'' Vajpayee said. As he addressed a women's meet - it was a programme that had earlier been touted as the culmination of Uma Bharti's rath yatra - and took the attack to Digvijay, it was hard to escape the conclusion that he had in mind an audience outside MP as well. ''I have heard that the MP CM and others are very worried about bachelors. They said the state was not receiving rain because the PM is a bachelor. But since the day this was said, it has not stopped raining in this state. But should an election be fought on such issues? For that matter even the President is a bachelor and it makes no difference.'' ''But this has become an election issue. This is okay as a joke but to spread such superstition is not okay. The world does not unfold according to the nakashatra aur graha (stars). I have no objection to those who have faith in the stars but we need purusharth aur parishram (strength and hard work).'' His attack on the state of roads and the power sector in MP was far more pointed: ''Sadak mein gaddhe ya gaddhon mein sadak hai yahan (Are there potholes on the roads or a road through potholes)? Sometimes we read news of lack of roads, of the lack of power in the state. At the time of elections such questions have to be answered. Ten years is not a short time. In five years, we have brought about a qualitative change in the country.'' He stressed that while India was demonstrating to the world how growth, employment and progress could be achieved through democratic means, it was not happening as fast as it should because the country was made up of states, and some states such as MP were not keeping pace. In this context, he pointed to the high infant mortality rate in the state and the lack of literacy. He singled out the fact that MP had the highest number of rape cases in the country and said this could not be tolerated: ''A single case of rape in Delhi has resounded through the world, and these figures cannot be of concern only to people in MP.''

From http://www.indian-express.com/ 10/20/2003

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NEPAL: Govt. Plotting to Lengthen Its Days

KATHMANDU - Leaders of the major political parties have said the government\'s commitment to hold general elections in current scenario is no more than a tacit move to lengthen its tenure. Speaking at a program organized by Reporters\' Club in Kathmandu Wednesday, leaders of major political parties including Nepali Congress and Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist and Leninist) claimed that the government could not hole elections without support from the agitating five political parties. The leaders unanimously criticized the government for its failure to reach conclusions during the peace talks with the Maoists and not responding the unilateral call of ceasefire by the Maoists during the Dashain. Standing committee member of CPN (UML) Bamdev Gautam said, \"The King himself should initiate the process to resolve the political impasse created after the royal takeover of Oct. 4 last year.\"The protest against the royal move would continue, said Gautam further, \"but the demand to reinstate the dissolved parliament will prove lethal to the agitating parties.\"Expressing his dissatisfaction over the demand, Gautam said, \"To let the King either to dissolve or reinstall parliament under Article 127 is to let him use dictatorial powers.\"The five political parties protesting against the royal move have been demanding either to reinstate the dissolved House of Representatives or to form an all-party government to rectify the move. However, central committee member of Nepali Congress Ram Chandra Poudel said the house would automatically come into existence if there appears no possibility of holding election. Speaking at the same programme, central committee member of Rastriya Prajatantra Party Khemraj Pundit said the parties should go for election despite the current security situation. \"Changing of Prime ministers can not solve the present problem,\" said Pundit. Similarly, leader of CPN (Marxist) C.P. Mainali said only the new constitution could solve the political problem. \"It is necessary to draft a new constitution even to address the 18-point demand put forward by the five parties,\" added Mainali.

From http://www.kantipuronline.com/ 10/08/2003

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Govt. Nominates Eleven Municipality Chiefs

KATHMANDU - The government has made nominations of mayors and assistant Mayors for eleven more municipalities. According to the press statement issued by the local ministry Thursday the nominations of chiefs for fifty seven municipalities out of the total fifty eight throughout the country is over except for Mahendra Nagar municipality in Kanchanpur district. The municipalities with nominated chiefs include Inaruwa, Itahari, Janakpur, Panauti, Birendranagar, Tikapur, Amargadhi, Kalaiya, lekhnath, Bhaktapur and Byash.

From http://www.kantipuronline.com/ 10/16/2003

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AFGHANISTAN: Party of Ex-Afghan King's Cousin Protests

A political party run by the cousin of Afghanistan's former king lashed out at President Hamid Karzai on Monday, calling him an unsuitable leader whose administration has done nothing to re-establish security in the war-ravaged country. "This government is not a lawful government and it is not a government that was established in accordance with the desire of the people," said Azizullah, the deputy head of the National Unity Movement, which backs a return to constitutional monarchy. The movement's leader, Sultan Mahmoud Ghazi, is a cousin of the octogenarian former king, Mohammad Zaher Shah. The king has never backed Ghazi's movement, however, and insists he has no desire to return to the throne. Ghazi, who gave a press conference in the capital, said Karzai's government "has not been able to meet the needs of its people, above all on the issue of security." Karzai's U.S.-backed administration has little influence outside Kabul, where private warlords, some elevated to the position of provincial governor, hold sway. Taliban insurgents have launched increasingly bold attacks in recent months, targeting government employees, Afghan soldiers and aid workers. Ghazi said the government must do more to ensure that warlords don't hijack historic presidential elections scheduled for next June. The administration on Sunday passed an election law barring warlords from entering the race for president, but it was unclear how such a ban could be enforced.

From http://www.aopnews.com/ 10/14/2003

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IRAN: Iran Gets New Science, Research, and Technology Minister

The Iranian legislature on 8 October gave a vote of confidence for Jafar Tofiqi-Darian as the new minister of science, research, and technology, ISNA reported. Two hundred three out of 290 parliamentarians were present at the time of voting and 198 cast votes -- 163 in favor, 27 against, and eight undecided. President Mohammad Khatami spoke in favor of his nominee, IRNA reported. Khatami proposed Tofiqi-Darian on 1 October following Science, Research, and Technology Minister Mustafa Moin's resignation in late July. The legislature did not confirm the first nominee for Moin's job, Reza Faraji-Dana.

From http://www.rferl.org/ 10/09/2003

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KAZAKHSTAN: Opposition Leader Gets Suspended Sentence, Fine

Former leader of the opposition Republican People's Party Amirzhan Kosanov was sentenced on 13 October to one year of probation and a fine of about $225,000 for tax evasion, Interfax-Kazakhstan reported. The verdict was handed down by the Medeu Raion Court of Almaty, which found Kosanov guilty of failing to pay 3,253,375 tenges (about $22,000) in taxes on grants received by the Reform Center, a nongovernmental organization that he headed. Kosanov told journalists he is not guilty and that he intends to appeal. He added that he believes the charges against him were trumped up on the instructions of government officials. The Republican People's Party, which is currently unregistered, is headed by former Prime Minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin, who lives in exile abroad.

From http://www.rferl.org/ 10/14/2003

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TURKEY: Commission to Set Minimum Wages Will Meet on Nov. 4

ANKARA- The commission to set minimum wages will meet on Nov. 4 to determine new wages in 2004. The commission will begin to work after the opening speech of Labor and Social Security Minister Murat Basesgioglu. Representatives from the Confederation of Turkish Labor Unions (Turk-Is) and the Turkish Confederation of Employers' Union (TISK) will also declare their views as regard to new wages. At the commission consisting of a total of 15 members, five workers, five employers and five government representatives, Turk-Is will represent workers while TISK will represent employers. Turk-Is demands the minimum wages should be fixed in a way that will meet the needs of a four-member family at least. TISK claims that the minimum wages should be different for those under the age of 16 and those above the said age. Minimum wages are still TL 306 million (gross) and net TL 225,999,000.

From http://www.turkishdailynews.com/ 10/20/2003

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Prof. Dincer Becomes Prime Ministry Undersecretary

ANKARA - Professor Omer Dincer, who has been appointed Prime Ministry undersecretary, said he would continue his efforts to help reconstruct the bureaucracy. Prof. Dincer took over the post from the former Undersecretary Fikret Uccan through a ceremony. Uccan, in his speech at the ceremony, said he was leaving the post after 11 months, adding, "I am happy to turn over my post to Prof. Dincer. I hope he will be successful." Prof. Dincer said that the Prime Ministry Undersecretariat was a mechanism that should lead the bureaucracy. Dincer mentioned he was coordinating the reconstruction of the public administration and now he would undertake the two jobs. "I believe that the undersecretariat will provide me with the power and support necessary to change the bureaucracy and the bureaucracy will take its place, while creating a competitive society," said Dincer. In response to a question from a reporter, asking whether Unccan was thinking about retiring, the former undersecretary said he would be the Prime Ministry chief advisor for the time being.

From http://www.turkishdailynews.com/ 10/23/2003

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TURKMENISTAN: Turkmenistan Appoints New Defense Minister

Ashgabat - Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov has appointed Agageldy Mamedgeldyev as the new defense minister, a source on the presidential administration told Interfax on Monday. Mamedgeldyev used to head the State Border Service. Rejepbai Arazov, the former defense minister and deputy prime minister, was appointed chairman of the Turkmen trade union federation.

From http://www.interfax.com/ 09/29/2003

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UZBEKISTAN: Presidents Appoints New Deputy Prime Minister

Uzbek President Islam Karimov appointed Alisher Azizkhojayev a deputy prime minister on 7 October 2003. Prior to appointment Alisher Azizkhojayev served for a few years as rector of the Presidential Academy of State and Societal Development.

From http://www.uzreport.com/ 10/08/2003

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AUSTRALIA: Police 'Intervention Force' Needed

Australia should set up a 2000-strong specialist police unit to be on standby to restore law and order in failing states in the Pacific, a national security think tank has urged. As well, the Australian Defence Force should remain structured to focus on regional threats rather than being reshaped to support US-led coalitions, because the Bush doctrine of pre-emption had already had its day, Australian Strategic Policy Institute director Hugh White said yesterday. Mr White's comments come as cabinet's National Security Committee reviews defence purchasing, and debate rages over whether to concentrate on defending Australia and its air and sea approaches or to focus more on the war on terrorism and provide light armour and readily deployable forces for future US-led coalitions. In an address to the National Press Club in Canberra, Mr White said the specialist police unit would relieve the pressure on the Australian Federal Police, which was being stretched by commitments to the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. He said concerns over countries such as Fiji, Tonga, Nauru and Vanuatu meant the problem was likely to worsen - requiring the establishment of a permanent unit, rather than diverting police from domestic duties. "I think we now well understand the seriousness of the problems in the southwest Pacific . . . but I don't think we understand the scale of the task we are undertaking," Mr White said. "And we are fated to lead this effort. "We are putting a strain on our current police resources which is unsustainable." Despite calls for Australia to have light deployable forces to work with US-led coalitions, he said, the war on terrorism had not changed Australia's traditional security concerns. Supporting Indonesia in its fight against terrorist groups and encouraging its fragile democracy, dealing with China as it overtakes Japan as the leading power in the region, dealing with North Korea's nuclear threat and allowing the US to base more troops in Australia were other crucial considerations. "Of course we need to have capacity to interoperate with the US . . . but our capacity to take independent actions in the region is at the heart of our military capacity," Mr White said. "The idea that we reshape the ADF in order to support primarily US-led coalitions . . . is, I think, therefore a mistake. "The Bush doctrine (of pre-emptive attacks) has already passed," he said. "There are no more Iraqs, no more countries in which it even remotely makes sense for the United States to undertake the scale of military operations it has there." (by John Kerin)

From http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/ 10/02/2003

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Costello Puts View on Senate Reform

Federal Treasurer Peter Costello has nominated the specific model he wants adopted for Senate reform, distinguishing his position from that of Prime Minister John Howard. Writing in The Sunday Age, Mr Costello says his view is that the system should be changed "so that legislation that has been rejected twice by the Senate in one Parliament could be passed by a joint sitting after a further election". Mr Howard has put two options for change on the table - this one, and that of having a joint sitting within the life of the Parliament. The latter was the Prime Minister's initial position, but in releasing a discussion paper last week he has left open the choice between them. Yesterday a spokesman for Mr Howard said, "The Prime Minister would be happy with either model." The aim of the change - which would have to go to a constitutional referendum - would be to limit the Senate's power to block legislation. At present the only way to have a joint sitting is to win a double dissolution election. The option nominated by Mr Costello, which he advocated even before the release of last week's paper, is seen as the only one which would have any hope of getting support from the Opposition. But Labor would only embrace it if the Government agreed to other substantial changes, and it appears unlikely the Coalition would be willing to go far enough. Mr Costello also attacks the Clerk of the Senate, Harry Evans, who last week said the reduction of Senate power would make the Prime Minister "more of a dictator than before". "The Clerk of the Senate is not elected. You didn't vote him into office. You can't vote him out of office. He's been in that job since February 1988," Mr Costello writes. "You can vote the Prime Minister out of office. You get to vote on his performance every three years." Mr Costello questions the accountability of the Senate. adding, "Once upon a time the Senate was there to make Government keep its promises. Now the Senate is there to force the Government to break its promises." He said allowing a joint sitting after an ordinary election would mean "the issues in contention would have been debated openly in the Parliament before the election and during the election campaign itself. "The mandate would be clear, and resolution of the conflict possible". Mr Costello is using Senate reform as one non-economic issue on which to map out some territory for himself.Speaking after Mr Howard announced he was staying on in his job, Mr Costello said he intended to comment on a range of issues. (by Michelle Grattan)

From http://www.theage.com.au/ 10/12/2003

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NEW ZEALAND: First Rules Out Centre-right Deal

Frustrated New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has ruled out cosying up with centre-right parties and any prospects of signing up to pre-election coalition agreements. The matter was raised at NZ First's caucus meeting yesterday, where MPs firmly agreed the party would head into the next election on its own, Mr Peters said. He expressed annoyance his party was being drawn into speculation about the forging of closer relationships between Opposition parties, in the wake of discussions sparked by Act and some National MPs. Mr Peters said no approaches to NZ First had been made by either Act or National. But the issue was being discussed outside the party and had been raised during a recent speech by Act president Catherine Judd. Ms Judd talked of the need for parties of the centre right - including NZ First - to co-operate and present a credible alternative to Labour and the Greens before the next election. National MP Don Brash sparked controversy in his own party last week after promoting a stronger working relationship between National and Act, and raising the notion of a clear coalition commitment before the next election. Mr Peters said none of the comments made by politicians regarding NZ First's role in some type of centre-right agreement had been made "with our agreement, connivance or assistance whatsoever". Attempts to drag NZ First into talk of such arrangements were "part of their tactics to embrace others around them and we're not falling for it". "As J.R. Ewing used to say in a programme called Dallas 'misery loves company and we have no intention of being a part of it'." He dismissed speculation that senior MP Ron Mark might be more supportive of such accommodations. "That's wrong. I've had it confirmed." Mr Peters said the party would not change its stance before the 2005 election, and ruled out pre-election coalition negotiations. "Voters will decide the formation of the next Government," he said. "To devise a construction before the people have even voted is on our view anti-democratic." Mr Peters said he thought talk of closer relations between Act and National was suicidal for both parties. "The fact that you have got to do that is a clear admission to the public you haven't got the wherewithal to do it on your own." Act leader Richard Prebble said his party disagreed with New Zealand First on several fronts, including the party's "racist" immigration policy. There were also issues around Mr Peters' track record when it came to remaining in power once in Government. But he believed Mr Peters had a significant contribution to make on "resolving New Zealand's racial differences" which would be supported by the wider centre-right constituency. "Whether that proves to be a sufficient basis for a centre-right coalition is yet to be seen," said Mr Prebble. He said it was more honest to declare potential coalition partners to voters before, rather than after, an election. He also said the centre-left could remain in power for some time if centre-right parties failed to reach closer and more stable agreements. Mr Peters, whose party is polling well, defined his party as "centrist". (by Ruth Berry)

From http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ 10/08/2003

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Privy Council Axing Hits Snags

Pressure is mounting on the Government to delay axing links with the Privy Council after United Future withdrew its support in the face of public opposition. United Future's 11th-hour decision means legislation establishing a Supreme Court will now be passed by only a narrow margin. Outside the Government, only the Green Party has given its blessing. The legislation was back before Parliament last night. National Party justice spokesman Richard Worth said it set a "dangerous precedent" for embarking on major constitutional change without widespread public support. In a sign that the issue has strained the Government's relations with United Future, Attorney-General Margaret Wilson accused her opponents of playing politics over the issue and said United's main concern was staying on side with the business lobby. She said the Government was acting in "wider interests" and there would be no delay. But United Future's leader Peter Dunne said he was concerned at the level of opposition, particularly by business, to the establishment of a locally based Supreme Court. "We believe strongly that significant changes to our institutions should be made only with full public and political concurrence and this is not yet clear in the case of the Supreme Court Bill." United Future supported the Supreme Court bill through its previous stages but reserved its position on the final vote. National, NZ First and ACT are collecting signatures for a referendum on whether to axe links with the Privy Council, but even if they are successful the result is not binding on the Government. There has been vocal opposition from the business community, Maori and the legal profession. Ms Wilson told Parliament yesterday the United Kingdom was establishing its own Supreme Court and Caribbean nations were also establishing their own regional final appellate court. "This leaves New Zealand, the Bahamas, Brunei and Mauritius as the only independent Commonwealth countries using the Privy Council." (by Tracy Watkins)

From http://www.stuff.co.nz/ 10/08/2003

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Police Get New Powers

New terrorism offences have passed into law today giving police new powers to deal with all criminal activities. Sitting under urgency, all parties in Parliament , with the exception of the Greens, supported the majority of the proposals put forward in the Counter Terrorism Bill. Justice Minister Phil Goff said the law was necessary to implement international treaty obligations after the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. The bill contains a number of terrorist-related offences. Participating in or recruiting members of terrorist groups, as well as procedures for the designation of terrorist entities and the freezing of their assets, become new offences under the legislation. New offences created by the legislation include: * improperly dealing with nuclear material, radioactive material or unmarked plastic explosives; * harbouring or concealing a person who had carried out or intended to carry out terrorist activity; * causing sickness or disease in animals, intending to endanger the health or safety of an animal population and causing major economic damage; contaminating products such as food, water or crops