Year I Number 193 Monday January 7, 2013 Editor-in-chief Tiago Azevedo Deputy editor-in-chief Vitor Quintã MOP 6.00 www.macaubusinessdaily.com
Art for GDP’s sake: Macau’s potential as auction centre Macau doesn’t lack artists, but it does lack art buyers – the main reason why there still isn’t an art market here, Anita Pou-Chu Fung tells Business Daily. The director of curricula and lecturer of the Superior School of Arts at Macao Polytechnic Institute believes the government could help create a suitable environment for promoting local art. Pages 6 & 7
Tale of Two Cities
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otai is likely to outstrip Macau’s downtown casinos several times over in earnings growth during 2013, says a report from Deutsche Bank AG’s Karen Tang in Hong Kong. Her research suggests the arrival of more mainland visitors from beyond Guangdong will be a major contributing factor in Cotai’s success. DB also lifts its year-on-year gaming revenue growth forecast for 2013 from eight percent
Cotai to outpace downtown casinos
to 11 percent, driven by likely VIP growth of five percent (from a flat performance in 2012) and mass revenue growth of 25 percent (up from 22 percent). The bank also plays down the impact of the partial smoking ban introduced on January 1, pointing out 80 percent of Macau’s overall gaming revenue is generated on 20 percent of the gaming floor space. More on page 3 I SSN 2226-8294
HANG SENG INDEX 23380
23334
23288
23242
23196
Territory tabbed as fastest growing economy – again T he Economist Intelligence Unit has placed the city at the top of its ranking of the world’s fastestgrowing economies for 2013; ahead of Mongolia and mainland China. The unit gave a top ranking to Macau last year, but was eventually forced to revise sharply downward its growth
23150
January 4
HSI - Movers Name
forecast. But its analysts believe the jobs directly and indirectly created by the new casino building projects and the arrival of more mainland Chinese visitors with greater purchasing power will help the territory’s economy perform strongly.
Page 5
%Day
CITIC PACIFIC
2.54
CHINA RES ENTERP
2.46
HENGAN INTL
2.45
HONG KONG EXCHNG
2.00
ALUMINUM CORP-H
1.87
CHINA SHENHUA-H
-1.14
TINGYI HLDG CO
-1.44
HSBC HLDGS PLC
-1.56
WANT WANT CHINA
-1.69
BELLE INTERNATIO
-3.21
Source: Bloomberg
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Social housing build wrangle reaches govt
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Developer’s shareholders to vote on boutique casino plan
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Locally-designed electric motorbikes on sale soon
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business daily January 7, 2013
macau GDP to grow 5-8 pct this year: economist The start of large-scale construction projects, for instance those in the Cotai strip, will be the driver behind this year’s economic growth amid global financial uncertainty, said Joey Lao Chi Ngai, chairman of the Macau Association of Economic Sciences. The city’s gross domestic product (GDP) will grow between 5 and 8 percent this year, he told media on Saturday. While holding a “cautiously optimistic attitude” on the economy, Mr Lao thinks the inflation this year will ease slightly, below 6 percent.
Mong Ha social housing embroiled in back-pay row Housing project caught in divisive argument between contractor and subcontractors Stephanie Lai
sw.lai@macaubusinessdaily.com
MOP 40 mln
Alleged back-pay owed to Kam Wah
If we are unfit for it, they would not even employ us in the first place,” said Mr Hoi. “Hobbs dismissed us because they do not want to pay us,” the manager complained.
Adjustment delay
Mong Ha social housing phase two has 768 units (Photo: Manuel Cardoso)
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subcontractor on phase two of the Mong Ha social housing project asked for help from the Infrastructure Development Office in chasing alleged back-pay from the project’s principal contractor. Hobbs Construction Co Ltd subcontracted the work of foundation building for the social housing and for a stadium to Kam Wah Construction and Engineering Co Ltd a year ago. Hobbs was due pay the company a total of 59.7 million patacas (US$7.5 billion) for the works but over 40 million patacas are still due, Kam Wah manager Hoi Yau Kun told media on January 4.
Hobbs dismissed us because they do not want to pay us Hoi Yau Kun, Kam Wah Construction and Engineering manager
“On November 30 last year they [Hobbs] terminated the contract unilaterally, and in December we tried several times to get the back-pay from them, but in vain,” said Mr Hoi. He added that the back-pay accounted for works spanning the period from July to October last year. “We hope that the government can help us with this situation,” said the Kam Wah manager. In response to Kam Wah’s petition, the Infrastructure Development Office said it is “highly concerned” with the company’s back-pay claims and pledged to look into the case. “Actually this [Friday] morning we have convened a meeting to listen to statements from both the principal [contract] and subcontractors over the back-pay issues,” said Lam Wai Hou, chief of the office’s construction department. “Now we are waiting for the subcontractors to deliver more information before we can ascertain whether this back-pay issue does exist,” Mr Lam added.
Divisive argument On Friday evening, Hobbs issued a press release stating that the company “did not owe any
payment to any subcontractors or material providers”. In the press release, Hobbs turned the tables on Kam Wah by calling on any companies or individuals that are owed backpay from Kam Wah to claim their respective amounts at Hobbs. “In fact, since we dismissed Kam Wah, we’ve already cleared off over 11.6 million [patacas] of back-pay over the construction works and wages to its subcontractors,” said Chan Lou Sang, executive director for Hobbs. “Also, we suspect Kam Wah of an illegal act as we found out one of it subcontractors was a fake company, supposedly in charge of the digging works,” Mr Chan told Business Daily. “We have reported it to the police.” Kam Wah claims it had basically completed the retaining walls at the Mong Ha social housing construction site by October. “Wegotmorethan10subcontractors working on the construction, and that involved around 100-200 workers,” said Mr Hoi. But Hobbs dismissed Kam Wah claiming it was not satisfied with their construction quality, he added. “That was not the case, because the government has been very strict in supervising our construction quality.
Both the Infrastructure Development Office and Hobbs agree that the construction quality of the ongoing foundation building was on-par and that the works were progressing well. “There are no big problems with the foundation works, but that we had to dismiss Kam Wah because its managing of the construction quality was not doing well,” Hobbs’ Mr Chan said. “For every warning that the Infrastructure Development Office and supervision units filed to Kam Wah – I mean every minor adjustment that Kam Wah was requested to make – it always took weeks instead of days to fix the problem,” Mr Chan added. The Mong Ha social housing phase two scheme, is not part of the ‘19,000 public housing units’ pledged by the government. It comprises two residential buildings of 768 units in total, a stadium and a bus transfer station. The whole construction should be ready by 2014. The contract worth over 685 million patacas was granted to Hobbs, which so far has received a pre-payment of about 120 million patacas, Mr Chan stated. “If any dispute has to be resolved by judicial means, the office will start the related administrative procedures,” the Infrastructure Development Office said in a statement on Friday.
We suspect Kam Wah of an illegal act as we found out one of its subcontractors was a fake company Chan Lou Sang, executive director, Hobbs Construction
January 7, 2013 business daily | 3
MACAU
Cotai to outstrip downtown in casino earnings growth
editorial
Juggling act
Deutsche Bank’s Karen Tang says arrival of more mainland visitors from beyond Guangdong will contribute Michael Grimes
michael.grimes@macaubusinessdaily.com
Vítor Quintã
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new report from Karen Tang of Deutsche Bank AG in Hong Kong suggests Cotai casino resorts could see three times the earnings expansion of those on the Macau peninsula during 2013. “We forecast Cotai operators to enjoy strong earnings growth of 26 to 30 percent whereas Peninsula operators could see only single-digit earnings growth,” says the report, titled ‘2013 - Return of the VIPs’. She suggests a number of important drivers that will enable Cotai to outperform the rest of the market. They include a changing visitor mix with arrivals from northern China likely to make an increasing contribution to the numbers. The 2,000-kilometre high-speed rail link now connecting Beijing with the Gongbei border gate could be a factor in that growth. More visitors coming from great distances will mean more overnight stays, she suggests. That will in turn favour Cotai as it has more five-star hotel capacity, with more to come this year. “[The] visitor mix change toward overnight visitors has started already,” states the report. It adds that the percentage of mainland visitors coming from outside Macau’s
vitorquinta@macaubusinessdaily.com
neighbouring Guangdong province rose from 27 percent in early 2011 to 36 percent by November 2012. “Visitors from outside Guangdong spend twice more [as much] per trip. Visitors from outside Guangdong province typically spend HK$15,700 (US$2,025) per trip, which is more than twice that of Guangdong or Hong Kong visitors (HK$7,500 and HK$5,700 for Guangdong and Hong Kong visitors, respectively),” says the report.
Bottleneck gone “We believe one of the bottlenecks for growing visitor volumes (and mass revenue) is the availability of quality hotel rooms in Macau,” adds the document. “This bottleneck should be considerably relieved in 2013 as Sands Cotai Central is opening about 5,700 four- to five-star hotel rooms over 2Q12 to 1Q13. This is a 26 percent addition to end-2011 hotel rooms in Macau. With more hotel rooms, visitors tend to stay longer and gamble longer, which could lead to both higher mass drop and higher mass hold,” says Ms Tang. Despite the government’s cap on live gaming tables that is likely to
see only Sands China Ltd get a fresh allocation of around 200 tables for Cotai this year, Ms Tang says another important driver of Cotai’s fortunes will be the large size of its resorts’ mass floors. That gives managements the flexibility to improve yields by changing the table mix. That includes creating so-called premium mass areas with table minimums similar to lower end VIP, but with bets made on a cash rather than credit basis. “On average, we estimate that the average mass market minimum bet in the Big Seven casinos has risen by 11 percent from HK$1,236 in late June to HK$1,370 in mid November,” states the report. Deutsche Bank research suggests that last year on average Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd’s City of Dreams resort had the highest exposure to the premium mass market – with 49 percent of its tables with minimum bets of HK$2,000 or above; while SJM Holdings Ltd’s Grand Lisboa has the smallest such exposure, with nine percent. The bank suggests market-wide 2013 will see VIP revenue growth of five per cent (up from zero percent in 2012) and mass revenue growth of 25 percent (up from 22 percent).
MPEL’s City of Dreams – the most premium mass tables
Developer shareholders to vote on boutique casino plan H
ong Kong-listed port and infrastructure group PYI Corporation Ltd is to seek formal shareholder approval for a deal that will give it a radical change of business direction as an investor in the Macau casino industry. As Business Daily first reported in November, PYI’s unit Paul Y. Engineering Group Ltd plans to
acquire for HK$2 billion (US$258 million) a company called Falloncroft Investments Ltd, that owns a 65,000 square feet plot on Cotai. The land will then be used to develop a “a super luxury exclusive hotel, casino and retail complex” subject to the approval of the Macau government. The purchase is also conditional on Paul Y. placing or issuing shares
in Hong Kong worth up to HK$4.8 billion for the US$800-million plan. The parent company PYI expects to make a profit of more than HK$164 million (US$21.2 million) from the proposed acquisition of Falloncroft. It said on Saturday a special general meeting of shareholders would be held on January 21 in Hong Kong to approve the deal. Falloncroft owns “the exclusive contractual rights” for the plot next to the One Oasis residential project, the statement said. The government is yet to give out any permission for gaming on the land, a person with knowledge of the situation told Business Daily in November. T.L.
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he government has launched a second three-month-long consultation over its plan to establish a night market on the shore of Sai Van Lake, after a wave of public criticism. Secretary for Administration and Justice Florinda Chan admitted there were flaws in the public consultation process that took place in 2011. For instance, the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau failed to report on the outcome of the consultation within the 180-day limit. This is the first reported case of government departments ignoring the guidelines set in August 2011 to try to bring more transparency to the consultation process. I am sure the government will find a way to find a “social consensus” on the proposed development, despite the dissenting voices – including businessmen’s. But while the storm rages over the Sai Van Lake development, there has been little or no discussion about the fate of the long-empty plots facing neighbouring Nam Van Lake. On the side of the lake closest to the Legislative Assembly building, the lack of a plan for urban development has stalled several big residential and commercial projects. In August Hong Kong company China Star Entertainment Ltd announced it was cancelling plans to build a 30,000-square-meter residential and commercial tower near the lake. In the third quarter of 2010 the government invited the public to submit conceptual planning proposals for the entire Nam Van area. Announcing it was cancelling its development, China Star said “the Macau government has not yet issued any update on the master zoning guideline” and that there would be no guidelines ready anytime soon. Other projects announced by Hong Kong property developers Kerry Properties Ltd, Tenacity International Ltd and the Shun Tak Holdings Ltd conglomerate are also on hold. In November, a Citigroup research report said Shun Tak’s Harbour Mile project could be gazetted in the next 18 months. That forecast seems foolishly optimistic. After all, it has been almost 17 years since the Praia Grande Bay was closed up to create the two lakes, and the reclaimed area between the Macau Tower and the Kun Iam Ecumenical Centre is still empty. On the other side of the water, the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau closed the six remaining lakeside bars in May and announced a plan to redevelop the area. It said a theatre, drama stage, café and a focal point for the city’s book and magazine shops would create the base for a cultural and leisure district. No more has been heard about the plan and only a few groups of non-residents who gather there at night prevent the entire waterfront from becoming a no man’s land. The government has demonstrated a talent for picking its fights and diverting public attention to the least troublesome issue at a moment’s notice. The public has proved to be stubbornly passive when it comes to speaking out against a regime whose incompetence has been disguised only by the windfall from gaming. I am sure the public would prefer to have a government that spends more time solving the issue at hand rather than juggling them about.
The public would prefer to have a government that spends more time solving the issue at hand rather than juggling them about
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business daily January 7, 2013
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HOSPITALITY Slippery slope It is difficult to think of a more stubborn economic indicator than the average length of stay of arrivals to Macau. In the eight years since the gaming market was liberalised, several new casinos have opened, thousands of hotel rooms have been added to the city’s stock, numerous restaurants catering to all tastes have opened, and many new shows and other attractions have come to Macau. Yet the average length of stay of tourists has hardly budged. Day-trippers are the most set in their ways. The vast majority of day-trippers, wherever they come from, stay less than five hours on average. Daytrippers from Taiwan stay for just 2.5 hours on average. The figures for last year, when they become available, will probably tell a similar story.
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2.0
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1.6
1.4
1.2
The average length of stay of overnight visitors generally depends on the average length of stay of overnight visitors from the mainland, by far the city’s biggest source of tourists. The figures for the past two years are cause for concern, as the trend in the average length of stay of mainland overnight tourists is slowly but steadily downward. The average length of stay for overnight visitors from the mainland will probably turn out to be about 10 percent shorter last year than in 2011. The mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea are the city’s five core sources of tourists, together accounting for more than 90 percent of arrivals. The combined average length of stay of overnight visitors from these source markets is also likely to be shorter this year than last year.
Electric dream almost real for Macau’s motorcyclists A Macau company prepares to put two models of electric motorbikes on the road, despite lack of recharging stations Stephanie Lai
sw.lai@macaubusinessdaily.com
O
asis Electric Motorcycle Factory in Areia Preta is set to become the first Macau company to sell electric motorbikes that are designed here. The company may launch the bikes as soon as this month, chairman Alexandre Chan Kuok Keong told Business Daily. “We have two models approved by the Transport Bureau so far, which basically run like 50cc petrol-fuelled motorbikes,” said Mr Chan. Fully charged, they can run at an average speed of 45kph for up to three days when used for commuting, although one model is designed specifically for fast-food deliveries. Their top speed is 60kph. “The advantage of our electric motorbikes is that they can climb slopes better, unlike the ones developed in mainland China, Taiwan or Japan, which are suitable only for level roads,” said Mr Chan. “After recharging, they can go steadily and smoothly all the way up and down the Coloane hills.” Oasis Electric Motorcycle has spent three years developing and refining its manufacturing techniques, after observing the production of South Korean and Japanese bikes. Oasis makes its motorbikes in Guangdong and Zhejiang. The company has waited two years for the government to pronounce its bikes roadworthy. “We have invested around 7 million patacas [US$870,000] in developing these electric motorbikes over the past three years,” said Mr Chan. “We will mark the price for a motorbike at 11,000 to 12,000 patacas, a supposedly friendly price for local consumers.”
J.I.D.
Leasing strategy
10 %
Probable reduction in the average length of stay of mainland overnight tourists in 2012
Oasis says the silicon batteries that its bikes use typically take six hours to recharge but that as little as 30 minutes of recharging is enough to get the machines running again. As well as selling its bikes, the company intends to let licensed motorcyclists lease them. A motorcyclist will be able to lease a bike from a number of depots and the rental fee will cover the costs of recharging, maintenance
The government-approved Oasis electric motorbike models can reach 60kph
and servicing. “The minimum time for the m o to r b i k e to r ech a r g e i s h a l f an hour. That’s why we will let customers exchange bikes with discharged batteries for bikes with charged batteries at our depots,” said Mr Chan. “We will put 200 motorbikes up for lease first and we have set the preliminary monthly rent for a motorbike at 800 patacas. We still have to think about the daily rent.” The company’s biggest difficulty is finding places for depots and recharging stations. “We have already told the government that we would like to
rent some of the motorbike parking spaces public car parks for use as service points,” he said. “The public parking spaces for cars are always extremely crowded but for motorbikes it is the opposite. As you can see, people love to park on the pavements.” The company has asked to rent space for service points in the public car parks in Iao Hon Park, Rua de Malaca, the Science Centre and Taipa’s Central Park, and at the Praça de Ferreira do Amaral roundabout. “We will also negotiate with the car parking companies to try to rent a space in private car parks,” Mr Chan said.
Stay in the finest hotels in Macau and read Business Daily
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January 7, 2013 business daily | 5
MACAU
EIU again forecasts Macau as fastest-growing economy Analyst again expect city to be most-improved economy this year Tony Lai
tony.lai@macaubusinessdaily.com
M
acau once again tops the estimates from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) on the world’s fastestgrowing economies in 2013 with a 14.3-percent growth forecast for gross domestic product. The forecast is based on the belief that “new casino projects are resumed and Chinese visitors (with rising wages) continue to raise gambling revenues” in Macau, according to a ranking released by EIU last week. EIU is an independent firm providing analyses on countries and industries that is part of the multimedia Economist Group. An increase of 14.3 percent this The city’s economy expanded by just 5.1 percent in the third quarter, the slowest year is smaller than what the unit since the financial crisis predicted for the city a year ago. Last year EIU also placed Macau in the first place across the globe the third quarter, the slowest growth Macau’s economy this year would with an expected GDP growth of 15 since the 2009 financial crisis, official maintain “a single-digit growth”, data show. around 7 to 8 percent. percent in 2012. EIU’s prediction is also more EIU also placed Mongolia as the But less than half a year later, in June, the unit cut down its forecast optimistic than the views made by second fastest-growing economy the local experts and academics. this year again with an estimated to 9.8 percent. Wei Qiang, head of asset and 13.5-percent surge in GDP. China The city’s GDP expanded by 10 percent in the first nine months of liability management Bank of ranks sixth with an expected growth (Macau), said last month of over 8.5 percent. last year2xxxxM_Shao and by just 5.1 percent in China Ltd Lin_MacauBusiness_250x247_E3 OK.pdf 1 26/12/12 4:50 PM
MTEL to get fixed-line licence The only bidder for the opening up of the landline telecommunications market, Companhia de Telecomunicações de MTEL, Ltda, will get a licence soon, said Telecommunications Regulation Bureau director Lawrence Tou Veng Keong. “At the moment I see no difficulties in licensing this bidder. We are only waiting to receive some additional information,” Mr Tou said, quoted by Radio Macau. The regulator expects the company to also provide broadband Internet access services in the future. “The most important is to build a network,” he stressed. Companhia de Telecomunicações de Macau SARL currently has a monopoly on both landline and Internet services.
‘Working poor’ down by 14 pct Fewer permanent residents have applied for the government’s income subsidy in the third quarter last year, down by 13.8 percent yearon-year to 1,861 applications, according to data from the Financial Services Bureau. Over 5,300 workers received an average of 1,473 patacas (US$184) a month in the first nine months last year from the administration to top up their salaries to 4,400 patacas. Over 23.6 million patacas was granted in the first three quarters, accounting for only 69 percent of the 34 million patacas the administration aimed to spend on the scheme during the whole year.
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:2xxxxM_Shao Lin_MacauBusiness_250x247_E3 OK H Shing
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business daily January 7, 2013
macau
Help frame a market for art sales, govt told
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The Industry There is much talk about diversifying the economy and concerns are often expressed about what is perceived to be Macau’s excessive dependence on gaming. The cause of these concerns can clearly be seen in the figures for gross value added. There is an obvious trend: gaming accounts for an ever-increasing share of domestic output. Other industries closely related to tourism – commerce, hotels and restaurants – are dwarfed by the gaming sector. Subtracting the value added by the public sector from gross domestic product leaves a figure that might be called the private economy. Gaming accounted for almost two-thirds of the private economy in 2011.
Macau may not lack artists but it does lack art buyers, and that is the reason there is no market for art here, says the director of curricula and lecturer at the Macau Polytechnic Institute’s Superior School of Arts, Anita Pou Chu Fung. Ms Fung told Business Daily the government could help create a suitable environment for promoting Macau art here and abroad Luciana Leitão
leitao.luciana@macaubusiness.com
Photo by Manuel Cardoso
The value added by the commerce, hotel and restaurant industries combined accounted for just over one-tenth in of the private economy in 2011, about one percentage point more than they did in 2004. Over the same period, the proportion of the private economy that gaming accounted for increased by 19.5 percentage points to 65.3 percent. In 2011, all other industries combined accounted for less than one-quarter of the private economy, 27 percentage points less than in 2006, when their contribution to the private economy had peaked at more than half. The combined value added by gaming, commerce, hotels and restaurants was more than three times the combined value added by all other economic activity except public-sector activity. J.I.D. The content of this column is the work of Business Daily’s journalists.
65.3 %
Gaming’s contribution to private value added in 2011
Is there an art market in Macau? If we want to have a market, the government has to do something to help set it up. Currently it is very difficult for an art market to exist in Macau. Who are the buyers? Locals? I don’t think so. Tourists? There are not so many foreigners keen to buy art in Macau. The government might, for instance, ask for a percentage on taxes from casinos to support the art market. Casinos could be obliged to buy artworks, sculptures or oil paintings. We should have
this kind of atmosphere. There are people who can make good art but how do you join all the people together to support the market? For example, in Japan they have something like traditional prints. It’s just like wood carving, in many colours. The government employs a group of people specially to make this kind of art, so they can sustain this traditional art to sell to people, domestically and overseas. Many people know Macau only because we have casinos here, so we could use such fame to
promote, for instance, Chinese painting, ceramics or printmaking. It is very important to let people know about Macau and what kind of art we have here. We have local art made in Macau but we can also have famous artists from the United States, London or Portugal. We can expand into the international market. Before the handover, we had many artists abroad. We still do but fewer than before. Through foreign artists, people can be exposed to art culture, even those who never learned about art.
January 7, 2013 business daily | 7
MACAU What is the missing link, then? The government should create the right atmosphere for promoting art. Secondly, we are missing people to open these kinds of shops or companies. I think I would be a good curator but I have to live, and I have to earn money for myself, and I cannot make a living that way. Macau is a good place for making art but we should have something like a network. Maybe we could open the local market to people abroad. Mainlanders might want to migrate here and they can set up in business here. You can open the door and, if they have good proposals or funds to invest, they can build a good gallery. You can have shops or galleries selling artwork maybe through a link with the casino-hotels. The MGM Macau opened the L2 Gallery showcasing local artists’ work. Is this the way to go? It cannot be only a small group of people. For example, some people can do some very good art, but maybe they already have a job and cannot quit it to sell art. I think it is better if, for instance, people in mainland China who have money want to come to Macau to help. They could choose a particular style of art and turn it into a market niche. How about creating associations to promote artists’ work, like the Art for All Society has been doing? Would that strategy work? There are a lot of such associations. I founded a printmaking association for my students and I’ve applied for some support from
If there were a real market in Macau, there should be many things for people to choose from. There aren’t
the government. I just wanted our students to continue their art life after graduation, so I created this association. Every time I apply for support from the government, I get very little. For example, if we need 5,000 patacas [US$626] they give us 2,000 patacas or 1,000 patacas, and the rest I pay for myself. I think we still have a long way to go until we have an art market. There are still very few artists in Macau. Does this have to do with the lack investment in art education? In Macau we have many people with the ability to make things but they have no time to promote themselves. For example, I have already had more than 20 individual exhibitions but every time they invite me to exhibit, I don’t have time to sleep. Last time I had an exhibition in Creative Macau. I went seven nights without sleep preparing for it. So the problem is not the lack of artists but the lack of art buyers? Yes. Who are the buyers in Macau?
I think we still have a long way to go until we have an art market
I have sold more than 400 or so works, but the buyers were Portuguese. Of every 100 people that buy my work, 70 or 75 are Portuguese. When I studied in London I sold more than 30 works. But in Macau it is very difficult for such a thing to happen. Hotels prefer to go to Hong Kong to find a gallery or a curator to buy the art to put on their walls. They don’t think the locals are very good. I think they don’t buy from local people because, really, in Macau you don’t have artists making art every day, professionally. In the market we cannot see a lot of art work, so the casino-hotels don’t think Macau has high-level art and we don’t have a very professional gallery with many things for you to choose from. If there were a real market in Macau, there should be many things for people to choose from. There aren’t. I would like to open a gallery here, where artists would be making art and people could see them through the glass, but it takes a lot of money to do this. The fact that locals do not buy local art has to do with education, at primary and secondary level? This point is very important. In London, so many children and young people pick up a drawing book and sit on the floor. This kind of education is very important. I think education in Macau is very different and it should be more creative-focused. It should open their minds, so that the children think of the various possibilities. The government has been talking about developing creative and cultural industries. Would this help develop the art business? The government talks a lot but every school has a different approach. Art is not only about a school of art and the way you are taught but it is also about opening your mind. In Europe, they make the child think a lot. They know how to open their minds. Do you believe organising festivals such as the Macau Arts Festival or the Macau International Music Festival is the right strategy for cultural development? I think there are a lot of activities here but people need continuing
education. People even need to have education before they can enjoy these activities. It is better to educate first. Also, maybe we could have something like in Hong Kong, where our students from the mainland can stay over for a year to work here. Why not? I think they can influence people in Macau, because there would
be competition and they could encourage people to learn more. We can also invite some professional people from other places to Macau to help us find a way to create an art market. It is better if we have support from outside. We have now a lot of activities to do with art but how you promote it, here and abroad, is very important.
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business daily January 7, 2013
GREATER CHINA HK shares trim strong 2013 start Hong Kong shares ended their best week in six on a weaker note, as investors on Friday took profit on outperformers in the past two days after the U.S. Federal Reserve signalled growing concern about its stimulative monetary policy. The Fed’s asset-purchase programme has been among the chief reasons for the swelling inflows that have buoyed markets in the Chinese territory. The Hang Seng Index fell 0.3 percent from Thursday’s 19-month high, but posted its best weekly showing since the one that ended November 23, rising 2.9 percent.
China to boost urban transport system As traffic congestion worsens in major cities
Home prices to vary up to 10pct: Li Hong Kong’s home prices will fluctuate as much as 10 percent this year given that an uncertain economic outlook may offset higher land prices, Cheung Kong Holdings Ltd chairman Li Ka Shing said. “There won’t be big changes,” Mr Li said. “It’ll be at most 10 percent on either side. The economy isn’t that great. It’s just so-so.” Still, bidding prices on the city’s plots may be higher, he said. Home prices climbed 20 percent last year and reached a record in November on low mortgage rates, an influx of mainland Chinese buyers and a lack of new housing supply.
China Galaxy Sec files for IPO China Galaxy Securities Co, China’s seventh-biggest brokerage, has filed applications to regulators for a planned US$1.5 billion initial public offering in Hong Kong and Shanghai, IFR reported on Friday. A source with direct knowledge of the issue said the offering was expected in the second quarter, probably in April, IFR, a Thomson Reuters publication, said. However, whether the two listings would happen simultaneously will depend entirely on the securities regulators, which has been maintaining a tight grip on supply on concerns over the health of the stock market, it added.
Beijing is planning to build a road-congestion charging system
C
hina pledged to relieve pressure on the nation’s congested roads by supporting the development of environmentally friendly urban transport systems and encouraging measures that may include a ban on parking in some areas. The government will provide tax breaks and fuel subsidies for mass transit vehicles and increase the use of special lanes to help boost the use of public transport to about 60 percent of all urban travel, according to a statement by the State Council, or cabinet, posted on the central government’s website on Saturday. As many as 300 million of China’s 1.4 billion people will move from the countryside by 2030 to join the 600 million already living in cities, according to Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development estimates. Traffic congestion and worsening pollution is forcing the government to improve urban public transport to cope with the influx. “As China’s urbanisation accelerates, the development of urban transport faces new challenges,” the State Council said in its statement. The government “must prioritise the development of public transit systems to ease traffic congestion, transform urban transport, improve people’s quality of life and improve the provision of public services,” according to the document. Li Keqiang, No 2 in the ruling Communist Party’s hierarchy, is championing urbanisation as a new growth engine that will boost incomes and consumption. The focus on improving public
transport comes as the government faces growing discontent over pollution that’s caused partly by surging car ownership.
Car ownership The number of private passenger vehicles in China was 62.4 million at the end of 2011, a sevenfold increase on the 8.45 million at the end of 2003, according to National Bureau of Statistics data. The number of cars may surpass 200 million by 2020, the official Xinhua news agency reported on July 31, citing the Ministry of Transport. Saturday’s statement fleshes out a broad policy guideline issued in October to support the transport goals in the nation’s current five-year plan which runs through 2015.
Hong Kong luxury sales rebound As Chinese economy picks up pace Stephanie Tong
Minsheng to set up investment arm China Minsheng Banking Corp., the nation’s first privately owned lender, will open an investment banking arm in Hong Kong, as Chinese banks seek to take advantage of the yuan’s increased use in global trade. The board of the Beijing-based lender approved the plan, which still needs regulatory approval, the bank said in a statement to the Shanghai stock exchange on Friday. Minsheng is joining its larger rivals in expanding overseas as Chinese banks exert more influence globally. Minsheng was granted a banking licence in January 2012 by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.
H
ong Kong’s luxury sales rebounded in a sign that confidence is returning to a Chinese economy that probably picked up pace in the final three months of last year after a sevenquarter slowdown. Sales of goods including jewellery and watches jumped 13.7 percent in November from a year earlier after a 2.9 percent decline in October, Hong Kong’s government said in a statement on its website on Saturday. The role of mainland tourists in driving the city’s retail sales makes the figures one gauge of sentiment in the world’s second-biggest economy. Infrastructure projects and an expansion of credit through so-called
shadow banking are supporting growth in China as Xi Jinping cements his leadership after becoming head of the Communist Party in November. “China’s economic data in the past few months have improved and this is supporting luxury sales here,” said Lily Lo, a Hong Kong-based economist at DBS Group Holdings Ltd, Southeast Asia’s biggest lender. “The rebound in luxury sales will be sustainable, although we’re unlikely to see the 30 percent or 40 percent growth of the past.”
Tourist surge In November, visitor arrivals from mainland China jumped to more than
3 million, an increase of 30 percent from a year earlier. The city’s total retail sales rose 9.5 percent from a year earlier, the biggest gain in five months and more than any of seven analysts forecast in a Bloomberg News survey with a median of 4.2 percent. Some luxury companies have been betting that Chinese shoppers will loosen their purse strings after the leadership change, which began in November and will be completed at a meeting of the National People’s Congress in March. The transition will clear uncertainty about political appointees and economic policy, and encourage the giving of business gifts, Kent Wong, managing director at the world’s largest
January 7, 2013 business daily | 9
GREATER CHINA the development of smart cards and mobile payment systems. Initiatives such as increasing the use of vehicle rental and better taxibooking facilities will be supported, it said. In downtown areas, there should be a bus stop every 500 metres and special shuttle services, including airport and school buses, will be allowed to use public transport lanes, the State Council said.
Strategic investors
62.4 million
Private passenger vehicles in China at the end of 2011 The State Council said it aims to make public services the “dominant” form of transport in urban areas and boost the use of electric vehicles such as buses and street cars in addition to rail transit. It will also encourage
The statement didn’t provide details about the financing of any initiatives, how public transport companies and local governments can fund projects or how much the tax breaks and subsidies will cost the government. The State Council did say it will encourage local providers to attract strategic investors, and raise private capital through trusts and equity investments. Companies that may benefit from the policies include BYD Co., the Shenzhen-based automaker partially owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., which is developing electric buses and taxis for the public transport sector. China, home to 16 of the world’s 20 most polluted cities, according to the World Bank, has accelerated approvals for the construction of local transport networks across the country. The National Development and Reform Commission last month authorised the construction of 456 kilometres of subway in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, involving initial investment of 63.7 billion yuan (US$10 billion) and has allowed similar projects in cities including Fuzhou and Urumqi. Hangzhou, capital of the eastern Zhejiang province, in November opened its first subway line and plans to build another nine by 2020, according to a Xinhua report. Beijing put four subway routes into operation on December 30, bringing the number of lines in the Chinese capital to 16. The city, with a population of more than 20 million, already caps the number of new auto registrations and limits the use of private vehicles on designated days based on their licence plate numbers. The government is planning to build a road-congestion charging system, the city’s transport commission said in August.
Home prices snap 8-month losing streak Show signs of a recovery in the property market
A
verage home prices in China’s 100 major cities edged up 0.03 percent in December from a year earlier, snapping eight months of decline and reinforcing signs of a recovery in the property market, a private-sector survey showed. The data from China Real Estate Index System (CREIS) added to evidence that the property market has found support from broad monetary policy easing aimed at reviving economic growth, despite central government pledges to maintain curbs specific to the property sector. Rising home prices could reignite official concerns about property inflation and trigger fresh property curbs. The increase in property prices coincides with signs of a broadening economic recovery, as two purchasing managers’ surveys this week showed the pace of growth in the manufacturing sector quickening. “There is a low possibility of a sharp rise in home prices nationally in 2013, since the destocking process has not finished,” CREIS, a consultancy affiliated to Soufun Holdings Ltd, China’s largest online real estate company, said in a statement. Although the survey marked the first increase in prices over a year earlier for some months, it also showed the seventh straight monthly increase. Average home prices in the 100 largest cities rose 0.2 percent in December from November. In the 10 biggest cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, average home prices rose 0.5 percent from November and were up 1.1 percent
from a year ago, the second year-onyear increase in 2012. China’s fight against property speculation has headed into its third year, but middle-class Chinese still feel priced out of the urban housing market. A recent uptick in land costs – typically a prelude to home price rises – have changed market sentiment and pushed prospective home buyers back to the market in a bid to buy before prices rise even further. Reuters
Ex-Housing official probed for corruption A former Chinese housing official is under investigation after allegations that his family owned 29 apartments were corroborated by the district government, Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday. Prosecutors in Zhengzhou, capital of central Henan province, will investigate Zhai Zhenfeng, the former director of the housing administration bureau in the city’s Erqi district, according to the report. The allegations, from a whistleblower, were first posted on a microblog last week, the agency said. Mr Zhai was removed from his post in September 2011 for offenses including seeking profits for his family, Xinhua said.
Bloomberg News
Huawei expects profit jump C
Chinese consumers – world’s biggest buyers of luxury goods
jeweller, Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd, said late last year. At the same time, the Communist Party under Mr Xi has said that it wants to discourage official extravagance. In Hong Kong, strength in sales “can be traced back to more active spending by both mainland visitors and local households,” said Donna Kwok, a Hong Kong-based economist at HSBC Holdings Plc. “China’s ongoing recovery, more stable financial market conditions, sturdy job market
conditions and robust wage growth have all played a part.” Ms Kwok said that a Chinese recovery may help the value of Hong Kong retail sales to increase an average 15 percent to 16 percent this year. Chinese consumers have overtaken U.S. shoppers this year to become the world’s biggest buyers of luxury goods, accounting for 25 percent of global sales through purchases at home and overseas, consultant Bain & Co. said. Bloomberg News
hina’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, the world’s No.2 telecom equipment maker, expects a 2012 profit gain after reporting a sharp drop a year ago, thanks to new projects and increased sales in high-end mobile phone markets such as Japan. Net profit is expected to be around US$2.4 billion, rotating and acting chief executive Guo Ping said in a New Year message to employees on Friday. That would be a rise of 29 percent from 11.6 billion yuan (US$1.86 billion) in 2011, based on his forecast. Revenue is expected to exceed US$35 billion, Mr Guo said. In 2011, sales rose 11.7 percent to 203.9 billion yuan, or about US$32 billion. Privately held Huawei and its crosstown rival ZTE Corp have been expanding their footprint in the global telecom equipment
and mobile phone sectors over the past few years. While Huawei has boosted sales and gained market share in Europe, Africa and Asia, it ran into a few obstacles last year in other markets such as the United States and Australia due to national security and cyber espionage concerns. Slower telecom spending stemming from a weak global economy and stiff competition in the increasingly crowded mobile phone sector have also weighed on the outlook of equipment providers and handset manufacturers. “We should devote our limited energy to specific business objectives, and avoid the impulse to expand business blindly,” Mr Guo said. “Managers who expand business blindly must be held accountable.” Reuters
10 |
business daily January 7, 2013
ASIA Japanese buys US$1.76 mln tuna Kiyomura K.K., a Tokyo-based sushi chain, paid a record 155.4 million yen (US$1.76 million) to outbid an affiliate of a Hong Kong-based rival for a tuna. The fresh whole tuna weighed 222 kilograms (489 pounds) at the market’s first auction of 2013. The price compares with the 56 million yen Kiyomura paid last year to take an auction Itamae Sushi Japan K.K., an affiliate of the Hong Kong-based Taste of Japan Group, won the previous year. Itamae had bid as much as 151 million yen for the fish, Makoto Kondo, a spokesman for the Hong Kong-based sushi chain, said.
Japan sees opportunity in Myanmar’s emerging economy Finance minister confirms fresh loan of US$567 million Antoni Slodkowski
plan is to build the first 400 hectares by 2015 and start luring Japanese and global manufacturers. Mr Aso confirmed during the visit that Tokyo would waive part of Myanmar’s 500 billion yen (US$5.74 billion) debt and make a fresh loan of 50 billion yen, partly to kick-start construction of Thilawa. “The Myanmar side has thanked us for waiving their debts many times,” Mr Aso told reporters in Yangon. “I hope this will serve as a first step in boosting Myanmar’s economic development.” Mr Aso, a senior member of the Japan-Myanmar Association, had arranged the visit before he was appointed, but took many by surprise with his decision to go despite a busy domestic agenda. Aiming to offset the economic impact of Tokyo’s frayed relations with Beijing, Shinzo Abe’s new administration has been reaching out to other Asian neighbours, pledging to send special envoys to improve ties with both South Korea and Russia. Myanmar is still re-working its
Peace bid ‘up to govt’: Suu Kyi Tokyo to waive part of Myanmar’s US$5.74 billion debt
J
apan’s deputy prime minister confirmed fresh financial aid for Myanmar during a visit to an industrial zone that underlined the long-isolated nation’s growing importance as an economic partner. With a land mass as large as Britain and France combined, Myanmar shares borders with 40 percent of the world’s population in India, China, Bangladesh and Thailand. President Thein Sein’s quasi-civilian
government has enacted reforms since it took over from a long-ruling military junta nearly two years ago. Taro Aso, who is also Japan’s finance minister, chose the country for his first official visit abroad just a week after taking up his job. His visit sets the stage for Japanese firms to gain privileged access to Myanmar as Western competitors move in slowly after years of economic sanctions.
“I can feel Myanmar has very big potential. It is our intention to support its development by privatepublic partnership,” Mr Aso said as he visited Thilawa, a US$12.6 billion, 2,400 hectare special economic zone and centrepiece of Japan-Myanmar relations. Mitsubishi Corp., Marubeni Corp. and Sumitomo Corp. form the Japanese side of the joint venture developing the industrial park. The
Myanmar democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday said she would not step in to help end worsening conflict between the army and ethnic Kachin rebels without government approval. “It is up to the government. This case is being handled by the government at the moment,” Ms Suu Kyi told AFP when asked if she would get involved in efforts to resolve the fighting, after the army’s use of air strikes drew international concern. The Nobel laureate said she would need an official invitation to join peace negotiations aimed at quelling the raging civil war, which has overshadowed Myanmar’s widely-praised political reforms.
Australia home prices seen rising 10 pct On lower borrowing costs and housing shortage
A
ustralia’s flagging property market is poised to get a boost from record low interest rates and a housing shortage that could boost prices by as much as 10 percent this year. The Reserve Bank of Australia has cut the cash rate by 1.75 percentage points since November 2011 to match a 50-year low, which has helped reduce standard variable mortgage costs to 6.65 percent in November, the lowest in almost two years, central bank data show. Traders are betting
on a 50 percent chance the central bank will drop the rate a quarter point to 2.75 percent by March, interest-rate swap prices compiled by Bloomberg show. While lower borrowing costs failed to stimulate demand in 2012, additional rate cuts and a constrained supply of homes will draw buyers back to the market, said Janu Chan, a Sydney-based economist at St. George Bank Ltd. A decline in home prices is already showing signs of
Sydney – home prices could rise by 5 percent to 10 percent
moderating, with a 0.4 percent decline in 2012 after a 3.6 percent drop in 2011, according to data from Brisbane-based researcher RP Data. “The two most recent rate cuts, and all the successive ones, should
continue to feed through to the economy and have an impact, particularly on housing,” Ms Chan said. “There’s also the supply side – there’s been a long period of underbuilding in various areas.”
January 7, 2013 business daily | 11
ASIA Korea won retreats from 16-month high South Korea’s won retreated from a 16-month high after the Federal Reserve indicated it may end monetary stimulus that boosts the supply of dollars in 2013. Government bonds declined after the Bank of Korea signalled it will not be adding to last year’s two interestrate cuts. Fed policy makers said they will probably end their US$85 billion monthly bond purchases sometime in 2013. Bank of Korea Governor Kim Choong Soo said the central bank will seek other ways to spur economic growth than using monetary policy. The currency stood at 1,063.6 against the dollar at the end of domestic trade on Friday.
Aso says won’t insist on policy accord with BOJ Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso stressed yesterday the need for bigger monetary and fiscal stimulus to revive the economy, but said the government will not insist on issuing a written policy accord with the central bank on a new inflation target. New Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called on the Bank of Japan to share a 2 percent inflation target with the government, double the bank’s current price goal, to show its determination to beat deflation. Mr Aso said cabinet ministers will be able to discuss monetary policy regularly with BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa at the Council of Economic and Fiscal Policy, a top government panel that will kick off this week and meet at least once a month to map out long-term fiscal and economic policies. “As long as there’s talk [on monetary policy] at the council meetings, there’s no need to issue a policy accord [with the BOJ],” Mr Aso told public broadcaster NHK.
laws governing special economic zones after passing new foreign direct investment laws last year. Officials there hope Thilawa will bring employment opportunities to the job-starved country, helping stabilise a country undergoing social and economic upheaval. “With the help of Japan and its technology, we will be able to create jobs for the people and enter a new age of economic development,” said Win Aung, who heads the Myanmar side of the consortium. Japan is also investing in an economic zone in Dawei on Myanmar’s southern peninsula, where the largest industrial complex in Southeast Asia is on the drawing board. Reuters
Ms Chan predicts home prices could rise by 5 percent to 10 percent on average in Australia’s biggest cities, including Sydney, Melbourne and Perth in 2013. Her estimate is higher than those of analysts from Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd and Commonwealth Bank of Australia, who predict average gains of between 3.5 percent and 5 percent in the cities. The median price for homes and apartments across the eight biggest cities was A$483,000 (US$504,397) as of December 31, according to RP Data. Sydney’s was the highest at A$580,246, Melbourne’s median price was A$500,000 and Perth’s was A$479,000. House price growth started to slow in 2010 after rising every year but one in at least 23 years, according to government data. Prices fell 4.1 percent in 2008, before climbing 14 percent again the following year, the data show. Bloomberg News
Major changes expected at many Indian companies
India seeks to boost corporate governance In bid to win back investor confidence
I
ndia’s capital markets regulator unveiled proposals to strengthen corporate governance at Indian companies in a move to match best global practice. The measures include separating the roles of chairman and chief executive to avoid one person having “unfettered powers”, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said. The plan could lead to major changes at many Indian companies, most of which are state- and familyowned with one person holding the offices of chairman and managing director, a position equivalent to a chief executive. Many investors, mostly overseas, have expressed concerns about India’s opaque corporate governance practices in the past. In 2009, the founder and chairman of outsourcing services company Satyam Computer Services shocked investors by admitting inflating the company’s revenue, income and cash balances by more than US$1 billion. “The roles and offices of chairman and CEO should be separated, as far as possible, to promote balance of power,” the regulator said. SEBI also proposed that independent directors at listed companies must be elected by minority shareholders, ending their appointment and removal by majority shareholders. “As such, they occupy their position at the pleasure of the controlling shareholders and may therefore be prone to act in accordance with the will of the major shareholders,” SEBI said in its discussion paper. The regulator also proposed
that a company must disclose to shareholders and the market the reasons for an independent director’s resignation and called for a mandatory limit on how long independent directors can serve on the board. “Over a period of time, an independent director may develop a friendly relationship with the company and the board and may develop a casual approach, which may affect his envisaged role,” said the SEBI, which will consult on the proposals until Jan. 31.
Share sale Meanwhile, India has shortlisted six banks, including Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, for
KEY POINTS Govt aims to follow best practice, lift investor confidence Proposes separating chairman, CEO roles Independent directors to be chosen by minority shareholders Govt shortlists six banks for a selldown of state shares
a selldown of state shares worth US$2.3 billion in power producer NTPC Ltd, three sources with direct knowledge of the sale said. Others shortlisted by the Indian government’s department of disinvestment for the NTPC offering are Deutsche Bank and India’s SBI Capital Markets and Kotak Mahindra Capital, the sources said yesterday. All three sources declined to be identified because they were not authorised to speak to the media before an official announcement. India’s cabinet approved a 9.5 percent stake sale in NTPC in November to help rein in its ballooning fiscal deficit. At current market price, the sale could raise as much as US$2.3 billion for the government. The NTPC stake sale is likely to be completed by the end of this month, two of the sources said. Selling some shares in state companies is a central plank of the government’s plan to bring down a widening fiscal deficit, a major weakness that has triggered repeated warnings of a credit downgrade from global ratings agencies. The government is aiming to raise US$5.5 billion from such partial privatisations in the current fiscal year that ends in March. The faltering divestment programme got a boost from a US$1.1 billion offering of miner NMDC Ltd last month. Before the NMDC selldown, the government had raised just US$148 million in the current fiscal year in a process hit by volatile markets and wrangling among government officials. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said last month India would speed up the sales to revive the stock market and would push ahead with reforms aimed at spurring an investment recovery in the flagging economy. The government is also looking to offload some of its stakes in the Steel Authority of India Ltd, NALCO and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd over the next few months, but has not set firm timelines. Reuters
12 |
business daily January 7, 2013
MARKETS Hang SENG INDEX NAME
PRICE
DAY %
VOLUME
ALUMINUM CORP-H
3.82
1.866667
37512165
BANK OF CHINA-H
3.62
-0.2754821
314208133
6.1
0
30161769
30.5
0
1271298
BANK OF COMMUN-H BANK EAST ASIA
NAME
PRICE
DAY %
VOLUME
13.72
2.541106
36594643
65.2
0.539707
3423296
CNOOC LTD
17.34
0.2312139
36921621
COSCO PAC LTD
11.92
1.360544
11443344
SWIRE PACIFIC-A
11.48
-1.034483
11849687
30.9
0
4658434
HANG SENG BK
119.5
0.1676446
912831
CITIC PACIFIC CLP HLDGS LTD
BELLE INTERNATIO
17.48
-3.211517
19723045
ESPRIT HLDGS
BOC HONG KONG HO
24.85
0.2016129
17708329
HANG LUNG PROPER
14.5
0.8344924
2268543
CATHAY PAC AIR
120.9
0.4152824
2644229
CHINA COAL ENE-H
CHEUNG KONG
8.88
-0.6711409
29903416
CHINA CONST BA-H
6.5
0
258003862
CHINA LIFE INS-H
27
-0.3690037
39797087
CHINA MERCHANT
25.95
0.3868472
3011965
CHINA MOBILE
90.65
-0.874795
PRICE
DAY %
VOLUME
SANDS CHINA LTD
36.65
0.5486968
6641587
SINO LAND CO
14.34
-0.1392758
7147582
SUN HUNG KAI PRO
118.8
0.9345794
4921067
97.55
0.4117344
1479393
TENCENT HOLDINGS
259.2
-0.1540832
2631098
TINGYI HLDG CO
20.55
-1.438849
8424900
WANT WANT CHINA
10.44
-1.694915
34154991
HENDERSON LAND D
55.75
0.8137432
3621582
WHARF HLDG
61.75
1.5625
4657615
HENGAN INTL
73.15
2.45098
4825281
WHARF HLDG
60.8
-1.697656
4330854
HONG KG CHINA GS
21.15
-0.2358491
5376652
HONG KONG EXCHNG
142.6
2.002861
10149097
HSBC HLDGS PLC
82
-1.560624
10102994
20315156
HUTCHISON WHAMPO
83
-0.4796163
5402602
CHINA OVERSEAS
24.7
1.437372
19551759
IND & COMM BK-H
5.79
-0.3442341
230828620
CHINA PETROLEU-H
9.14
-0.2183406
61720460
LI & FUNG LTD
14.5
-0.137741
17361358
CHINA RES ENTERP
29.1
2.464789
2728390
MTR CORP
30.75
0.4901961
2007630
12.42
0.8116883
CHINA RES LAND
NAME
MOVERS
25
23398.6
14237067
LOW
22860.25
52W (H) 23400.74
23.5
0.8583691
8794188
NEW WORLD DEV
20.05
1.365015
5189040
PETROCHINA CO-H
11.2
-0.8849558
59991192
CHINA SHENHUA-H
34.8
-1.136364
11093249
PING AN INSURA-H
69.65
-0.5
18459003
CHINA UNICOM HON
12.78
-0.622084
19724578
POWER ASSETS HOL
65.6
0.07627765
2644729
4 23400
INDEX 23398.6 HIGH
CHINA RES POWER
21
(L) 18056.4
22850
2-January
4-January
Hang SENG CHINA ENTErPRISE INDEX PRICE
DAY %
VOLUME
PRICE
DAY %
VOLUME
AGRICULTURAL-H
3.95
-0.2525253
92692709
CHINA PACIFIC-H
30.9
-1.435407
16734196
YANZHOU COAL-H
AIR CHINA LTD-H
6.59
1.697531
14834780
CHINA PETROLEU-H
9.14
-0.2183406
61720460
ALUMINUM CORP-H
3.82
1.866667
37512165
CHINA RAIL CN-H
9.16
4.446978
29
-1.360544
9354790
CHINA RAIL GR-H
4.68
3.62
-0.2754821
314208133
CHINA SHENHUA-H CHINA TELECOM-H
NAME
ANHUI CONCH-H BANK OF CHINA-H
NAME
PRICE
DAY %
VOLUME
14
-0.8498584
31510587
ZIJIN MINING-H
3.08
-2.531646
64330209
39693926
ZOOMLION HEAVY-H
11.8
-0.5059022
10726378
2.857143
44117795
ZTE CORP-H
13.72
-1.436782
11996369
34.8
-1.136364
11093249
6.1
0
30161769
4.3
-0.462963
63090408
22.85
-1.72043
2409200
DONGFENG MOTOR-H
12.04
-1.954397
32446969
4.8
-0.8264463
31217932
GUANGZHOU AUTO-H
7.14
0.2808989
5449820
CHINA COAL ENE-H
8.88
-0.6711409
29903416
HUANENG POWER-H
7.12
-1.111111
27050960
CHINA COM CONS-H
7.74
1.308901
20158178
IND & COMM BK-H
5.79
-0.3442341
230828620
CHINA CONST BA-H
6.5
0
258003862
JIANGXI COPPER-H
21.65
-0.4597701
11696386
CHINA COSCO HO-H
4.2
0
27475000
PETROCHINA CO-H
11.2
-0.8849558
59991192
CHINA LIFE INS-H
27
-0.3690037
39797087
PICC PROPERTY &
11.58
-1.194539
20984853
CHINA LONGYUAN-H
5.55
0.9090909
16413908
PING AN INSURA-H
69.65
-0.5
18459003
CHINA MERCH BK-H
17.78
-0.78125
20679375
SHANDONG WEIG-H
7.6
-0.3931848
10773794
BANK OF COMMUN-H BYD CO LTD-H CHINA CITIC BK-H
CHINA MINSHENG-H
9.53
-0.7291667
30385392
SINOPHARM-H
25.1
2.240326
4753340
CHINA NATL BDG-H
12.14
0.8305648
25752867
TSINGTAO BREW-H
47.1
1.072961
1818117
CHINA OILFIELD-H
16.48
-1.787843
4717885
WEICHAI POWER-H
35.8
-0.8310249
4787143
NAME
MOVERS
11
27
2 12000
INDEX 11937.45 HIGH
11987.23
LOW
11566.51
52W (H) 11989.14 (L) 8987.76
11550
2-January
4-January
Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 NAME
PRICE
DAY %
VOLUME
AGRICULTURAL-A
2.89
3.214286
368017259
AIR CHINA LTD-A
5.81
-3.166667
27060812
NAME
PRICE
DAY %
VOLUME
PRICE
DAY %
6.91
0.5822416
34632185
QINGHAI SALT-A
26.52
-1.044776
5440607
CITIC SECURITI-A
13.26
-0.748503
126574364
SAIC MOTOR-A
17.59
-0.2834467
29867059
CHINA YANGTZE-A
NAME
VOLUME
5.2
1.364522
28565359
CSR CORP LTD -A
5.17
4.233871
111244667
SANY HEAVY INDUS
10.39
-1.888574
39628133
ANGANG STEEL-A
4.25
9.536082
91711097
DAQIN RAILWAY -A
6.82
0.887574
65773369
SHANDONG GOLD-MI
37.14
-2.672956
24649438
ANHUI CONCH-A
18.89
2.384824
48527876
DATANG INTL PO-A
3.99
-0.9925558
28106286
SHANG PHARM -A
11.01
-0.90009
10383260
BANK OF BEIJIN-A
9.3
0
48503277
EVERBRIG SEC -A
14.03
-0.4964539
23196368
SHANG PUDONG-A
10.02
1.008065
261436810
BANK OF CHINA-A
2.96
1.369863
60834358
GD POWER DEVEL-A
2.61
-0.7604563
52243806
BANK OF COMMUN-A
5.06
2.42915
186052160
GEMDALE CORP-A
7.11
1.282051
105292520
10.55
-1.031895
20165634
GF SECURITIES-A
15.29
-0.843061
25.32
-0.7058824
16
ALUMINUM CORP-A
BANK OF NINGBO-A
4.06
-0.2457002
7568706
SHANXI LU'AN -A
SHANGHAI ELECT-A
21.34
-2.512563
26011696
68323535
SHANXI XINGHUA-A
40.05
-3.864618
10518166
28210203
SHANXI XISHAN-A
13.74
-1.222142
20668157
-2.3795
27732134
SHENZEN OVERSE-A
7.57
0.9333333
71337214 113129222
BAOSHAN IRON & S
4.95
1.226994
66463822
GREE ELECTRIC
BBMG CORPORATI-A
7.84
-3.209877
31130825
GUANGHUI ENERG-A
20.01
-1.670762
7721327
HAITONG SECURI-A
10.26
0.09756098
92456497
SUNING APPLIAN-A
6.97
4.81203
4.32
0.6993007
39507987
HANGZHOU HIKVI-A
29.06
-6.589521
11489754
TSINGTAO BREW-A
33.18
0.3629764
1932775
HENAN SHUAN-A
57.12
-1.34715
4493413
WEICHAI POWER-A
25.41
0.3951008
11855842
BYD CO LTD -A CHINA CITIC BK-A CHINA CNR CORP-A
4.66
3.325942
119224634
CHINA COAL ENE-A
7.77
-0.6393862
15048785
HONG YUAN SEC-A
18.85
0
19070785
WULIANGYE YIBIN
27.9
-1.168969
40950760
CHINA CONST BA-A
4.7
2.173913
74139046
HUATAI SECURIT-A
9.66
-1.428571
34853809
YANGQUAN COAL -A
14.3
-1.582932
23967680
CHINA COSCO HO-A
4.48
1.587302
71177401
HUAXIA BANK CO
10.33
-0.1932367
62240129
YANTAI CHANGYU-A
47.03
0.06382979
2578341
CHINA CSSC HOL-A
22.79
-1.936317
15414208
IND & COMM BK-A
4.22
1.686747
118413534
YANTAI WANHUA-A
15.17
-2.818706
17653647
CHINA EAST AIR-A
3.43
-2.279202
28503488
INDUSTRIAL BAN-A
16.79
0.5991612
118790532
YANZHOU COAL-A
18.14
-0.4936917
7496738
CHINA EVERBRIG-A
3.07
0.6557377
174675064
INNER MONG BAO-A
37.6
0.400534
47012494
YUNNAN BAIYAO-A
65.1
-4.264706
4597994
CHINA INTL MAR-A
12.15
5.377277
39425782
INNER MONG YIL-A
22.35
1.683348
16000915
ZHONGJIN GOLD
16.19
-2.645821
42659698
21.6
0.9345794
33906646
INNER MONGOLIA-A
5.44
0.7407407
76571721
ZIJIN MINING-A
3.81
-0.5221932
79824294
150033642
JIANGSU HENGRU-A
28.48
-5.38206
12754446
ZOOMLION HEAVY-A
9.2
-0.1085776
69578840
93.01
-0.3855628
6829443
9.72
-0.3076923
32166498
5.658005
53266851
CHINA LIFE INS-A CHINA MERCH BK-A
13.53
-1.6
CHINA MERCHANT-A
31.49
5.352961
17712288
JIANGSU YANGHE-A
CHINA MERCHANT-A
10.41
-1.327014
34161564
JIANGXI COPPER-A
25.21
CHINA MINSHENG-A
7.98
1.526718
285152831
JINDUICHENG -A
11.68
-0.2561913
14192320
CHINA NATIONAL-A
7.99
-3.033981
41100211
JIZHONG ENERGY-A
13.7
-0.9399855
25454342
13.41
2.054795
66221030
206.94
-0.9951201
5837034
CHINA OILFIELD-A
16.53
0.7926829
11497141
KANGMEI PHARMA-A
CHINA PACIFIC-A
22.96
2.044444
46996960
KWEICHOW MOUTA-A
6.96
0.5780347
36630894
LUZHOU LAOJIAO-A
35.23
-0.480226
11122177
2.24
-0.8849558
152619831
CHINA PETROLEU-A
ZTE CORP-A
MOVERS 106
CHINA RAILWAY-A
6.38
8.688245
119077288
CHINA RAILWAY-A
3.22
5.921053
170546519
NINGBO PORT CO-A
2.54
-1.167315
66623365
4.2
1.941748
136043512
HIGH
2551.81
LOW
2447.39
CHINA SHENHUA-A
25.17
-0.7100592
23987747
CHINA SHIPBUIL-A
4.74
-0.6289308
36198460
PETROCHINA CO-A
9.05
0.1106195
28263007
CHINA SOUTHERN-A
3.85
-1.534527
47730325
PING AN BANK-A
15.99
-0.1872659
44385137
CHINA STATE -A
3.95
1.282051
204937184
PING AN INSURA-A
47.11
4.018547
58713483
CHINA UNITED-A
3.49
-0.2857143
128981591
POLY REAL ESTA-A
14.19
4.338235
112483693
10.12
0
166448824
QINGDAO HAIER-A
13.42
0.1492537
11938193
PRICE DAY %
Volume
PRICE DAY %
Volume
CHINA VANKE CO-A
8 2560
INDEX 2524.409
METALLURGICAL-A PANGANG GROUP -A
186
52W (H) 2717.825 (L) 2102.135
2440
28-December
4-January
FTSE TAIWAN 50 INDEX NAME
NAME
NAME
PRICE DAY %
Volume
ACER INC
25.4
1.195219
17434081
FORMOSA PLASTIC
80.3
0.6265664
8202936
TAIWAN MOBILE CO
ADVANCED SEMICON
26.2
-2.238806
25726609
FOXCONN TECHNOLO
89.5
-1.104972
8054106
TPK HOLDING CO L
ASIA CEMENT CORP
37.2
-0.8
3016732
FUBON FINANCIAL
35 -0.8498584
13830415
TSMC
ASUSTEK COMPUTER
319.5
-2.143951
4756383
HON HAI PRECISIO
88
-1.234568
42728314
AU OPTRONICS COR
13.75
0
192178117
HOTAI MOTOR CO
243
1.67364
503590
CATCHER TECH
149
1.016949
17611894
HTC CORP
287
-2.380952
24077697
CATHAY FINANCIAL
31.5 -0.9433962
14681309
HUA NAN FINANCIA
16.7
-1.474926
6728227
YUANTA FINANCIAL
CHANG HWA BANK
16 -0.9287926
7772947
LARGAN PRECISION
802
-2.669903
1908685
YULON MOTOR CO
56.5 -0.3527337
4297062
CHENG SHIN RUBBE
75.5 -0.6578947
4044528
LITE-ON TECHNOLO
39.6
-1
4531229
CHIMEI INNOLUX C
16.8
0
171256345
MEDIATEK INC
305.5
-6.288344
25593700
CHINA DEVELOPMEN
7.55 -0.9186352
39743624
MEGA FINANCIAL H
22.95 -0.6493506
15478267
28 -0.3558719
21522283
NAN YA PLASTICS
CHINA STEEL CORP
60
1.694915
16265265
PRESIDENT CHAIN
158
0.6369427
919347
QUANTA COMPUTER
65.7
-3.806735
15531227
CHINATRUST FINAN
16.7
-1.474926
72744358
CHUNGHWA TELECOM
93.9
0.9677419
5704323
19.5
-1.265823
11151564
SILICONWARE PREC
31.45
0
4710046
105.5 -0.9389671
4115083
SINOPAC FINANCIA
12.5
-1.960784
12376074
COMPAL ELECTRON DELTA ELECT INC FAR EASTERN NEW
33.5
-0.297619
10254928
SYNNEX TECH INTL
55
-2.135231
9684010
FAR EASTONE TELE
73.7
1.515152
8317528
TAIWAN CEMENT
39
0.3861004
8682170
17.75
-1.114206
8459539
TAIWAN COOPERATI
16.4 -0.9063444
5566488
78.6
1.028278
10284848
TAIWAN FERTILIZE
75.2 -0.9222661
4524782
88 -0.5649718
2318100
TAIWAN GLASS IND
30.6
1417184
FIRST FINANCIAL FORMOSA CHEM & F FORMOSA PETROCHE
0
103.5
0
531
0.9505703
4151131
101.5
0.4950495
39502577
UNI-PRESIDENT
54.4
0.9276438
10912160
UNITED MICROELEC
12.4
0.4048583
106856008
29.85
-0.5
6224394
14.9 -0.6666667
16399892
WISTRON CORP
MOVERS
14
32
4 5500
INDEX 5468.7 HIGH
5497.74
LOW
5406.31
6106525
52W (H) 5621.53 (L) 4719.96
5400
2-January
4-January
January 7, 2013 business daily | 13
MARKETS GAMING STOCKS - DAILY PERFORMANCE (Hong Kong Stock Exchange) GALAXy ENTErTAINMENT
MELCo CroWN ENTErTAINMENT
MGM CHINA HoLDINGS
32.0
31.5
Max 31.95
Average 31.816
Min 31.35
31.0
Last 31.8
SANDS CHINA LTD
Max 47.5
Average 47.006
Min 4.7
Last 47.5
48.0
14.6
47.5
14.5
47.0
14.4
46.5
14.3
46.0
SJM HoLDINGS LTD
Max 14.5
Average 14.362
Min 14.3
Last 14.38
WyNN MACAU LTD 19.2
37.0 36.8
22.6 22.4
19.0
36.6
22.2 18.8
36.4
Average 36.675
Max 36.95
Min 36.4
Last 36.65
36.2
Average 18.878
NAME
PRICE
WTI CRUDE FUTURE Feb13
93.09
0.182953078
1.383140928
109.4300003
80.05999756
BRENT CRUDE FUTR Feb13
111.31
-0.740146246
0.1800018
119.2999954
90.38999939
GASOLINE RBOB FUT Feb13
276.43
-1.193837795
0.094144911
292.9699898
220.3500032
GAS OIL FUT (ICE) Feb13
930.75
-0.693518272
0.404530744
1031.5
800.25
3.287
2.782989368
-1.909877648
4.090000153
3.049999952
DAY %
YTD %
(H) 52W
Last 19
HEATING OIL FUTR Feb13
301.77
-0.244620013
-0.465071295
333.4599972
255.6599855
1656.1
-1.5346
-0.5023
1796.08
1527.21
Silver Spot $/Oz
30.2955
-1.9484
0.6161
37.4775
26.1513
Platinum Spot $/Oz
1558.25
-0.4676
2.6684
1736
1379.05
Palladium Spot $/Oz
688.58
-2.1737
-1.5836
725.19
553.75
LME ALUMINUM 3MO ($)
2060
-2.646502836
-0.627110468
2361.5
1827.25
LME COPPER 3MO ($)
8085
-0.96766291
1.941747573
8765
7219.5
LME ZINC
2040
-2.298850575
-1.923076923
2220
1745
3MO ($)
LME NICKEL 3MO ($) AGRICULTURE ROUGH RICE (CBOT) Mar13 Mar13
17355
-0.828571429
1.72919109
22150
15236
15.285
1.494023904
0.724876442
16.84000015
14.89999962
680.25
-1.305767138
-2.577873255
846.25
511
AUD GBP CHF EUR JPY MOP HKD CNY INR THB SGD TWD PHP IDR AUDJPY EURCHF EURGBP EURCNY EURMOP EURJPY HKDMOP
NAME
2.17
1032557
11
-1.256732
3.092783
11.19
7.95
1100195
0.074
4.225352
5.714285
0.119
0.055
25588017
24.85
0.2016129
3.112032
25
18.2
17708329
CENTURY LEGEND
0.29
7.407407
9.433968
0.335
0.213
673524
CHEUK NANG HLDGS
5.78
1.760563
-3.505839
6.25
2.76
116094
CHINA OVERSEAS
24.7
1.437372
6.926405
24.75
12.066
19551759
CHINESE ESTATES
12.38
-2.21169
-5.351681
13.26
8.3
103605
CHOW TAI FOOK JE
13.2
-0.1512859
6.109328
15.16
8.4
6287200 1065000
ARISTOCRAT LEISU
COFFEE 'C' FUTURE Mar13
147.35
0.580204778
2.468706537
249
141.25
CROWN LTD
SUGAR #11 (WORLD) Mar13
18.85
-1.308900524
-3.382880574
25.12999916
18.30999947
AMAX HOLDINGS LT
COTTON NO.2 FUTR Mar13
75.05
-0.450988195
-0.119776417
98.5
66.84999847
BOC HONG KONG HO
DAY % YTD %
1.87
-1.578947
-1.0582
1.92
0.99
1.32
0.7633588
8.196719
1.43
0.41
3888000
GALAXY ENTERTAIN
31.8
2.086677
4.777593
32
13.28
11674020
HANG SENG BK
119.5
0.1676446
0.6739706
120
92
912831
HOPEWELL HLDGS
33.95
0.1474926
2.105263
34.25
19.049
652837
82
-1.560624
0.8610048
83.4
58.55
10102994
HUTCHISON TELE H
3.45
-0.2890173
-3.089886
3.88
2.91
13370000
LUK FOOK HLDGS I
27.75
1.277372
13.72951
33.2
14.7
7235217
MELCO INTL DEVEL
10.04
4.692388
11.43174
10.06
5.12
18761432
2102.135
MGM CHINA HOLDIN
14.38
-0.2773925
2.567757
14.76
9.554
3762800
6857.35
MIDLAND HOLDINGS
3.93
-0.2538071
6.216215
5.217
3.249
3442000
NEPTUNE GROUP
0.145
-3.333333
-4.60526
0.222
0.084
3800000
NEW WORLD DEV
12.42
0.8116883
3.327783
13.2
6.6
14237067
SANDS CHINA LTD
6641587
DAY %
YTD %
(H) 52W
(L) 52W
DOW JONES INDUS. AVG
US
13435.21
0.3274499
2.526456
13661.87
12035.08984
NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX
US
3101.657
0.03518712
2.720415
3196.932
2658.83
FTSE 100 INDEX
GB
6089.84
0.7027883
3.255951
6089.839844
5229.76
DAX INDEX
GE
7776.37
0.2569478
2.154119
7789.94
5914.43
HSBC HLDGS PLC
NIKKEI 225
JN
10688.11
2.817941
2.817947
10734.23047
8238.96
HANG SENG INDEX
HK
23331.09
-0.2885215
2.975559
23400.74
18056.4
CSI 300 INDEX
CH
2524.409
0.05774981
0.05775105
2717.825
TAIWAN TAIEX INDEX
TA
7805.99
-0.3936536
1.38308
8170.72
1758.99
AU
4723.78
-0.356531
1.609602
4743.4
3985
ID
4410.02
0.2446322
2.162144
4418.484
3635.283
FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI
MA
1692.58
0.2149267
1699.68
NZX ALL INDEX
NZ
884.66
-0.1335451
0.2955599
PHILIPPINES ALL SHARE IX
PH
3778.43
0.4132473
2.147888
36.65
0.5486968
7.952869
36.95
20.65
SHUN HO RESOURCE
1.49
-0.6666667
6.428573
1.5
1
0
1508.93
SHUN TAK HOLDING
4.39
4.028436
4.773268
4.43
2.506
11757475
889.036
718.491
SJM HOLDINGS LTD
19
2.481122
5.555556
19.1
11.973
6080538
3778.43
3053.67
SMARTONE TELECOM
14.28
-0.41841
1.420455
17.5
12.96
2901279
WYNN MACAU LTD
22.35
2.522936
6.682574
25.5
14.62
14354079
HSBC Dragon 300 Index Singapor
SI
632.88
0.64
1.9
NA
NA
STOCK EXCH OF THAI INDEX
TH
1416.66
0.5857669
1.776668
1416.67
1033.4
HO CHI MINH STOCK INDEX
VN
426.06
1.619481
2.980201
492.44
332.28
BOC HONG KONG HO
3.07
0
Laos Composite Index
LO
1232.05
0.7482214
1.422494
1249.34
876.33
GALAXY ENTERTAIN
4.14
2.475248
14.93
1.564626
5.363443
ASIA ENTERTAINME
3.45
7.8125
12.7451
7.24
2.4
310837
BALLY TECHNOLOGI
46.81
1.518109
4.696938
51.16
38.99
629865
0
3.3
2.33
9700
4.282115
4.14
1.79
9500
18.1
10.92
3483337
INTL GAME TECH JONES LANG LASAL
86.9
0.4856614
3.526325
87.62
61.39
242443
51.1903
2.874397
10.89753
58.3216
32.6127
10555785
MELCO CROWN-ADR
18.2
1.5625
8.076009
18.28
9.13
4194185
MGM CHINA HOLDIN
1.85
0
0
1.96
1.2863
1000
MGM RESORTS INTE
12.64
1.444623
8.591062
14.9401
8.83
9495856
SHFL ENTERTAINME
14.63
1.597222
0.8965517
18.77
11.75
354600
SJM HOLDINGS LTD
2.48
3.76569
7.35931
2.48
1.5484
15850
120.78
1.206637
7.369546
129.6589
84.4902
2129025
LAS VEGAS SANDS
Shanghai Shenzhen Composite index is listing the biggest companies by market capitalisation. All data supplied by Bloomberg unless otherwise indicated.
VOLUME CRNCY
EMPEROR ENTERTAI
PRICE
JAKARTA COMPOSITE INDEX
PRICE
FUTURE BRIGHT
COUNTRY
2057.28
0.9582 1.5235 0.8931 1.2043 76.03 7.9823 7.7498 6.2105 48.6088 30.2 1.2152 28.914 40.795 8875 74.482 1.19995 0.77553 7.7018 9.6245 94.12 1.029
(L) 52W
1194.5
0.7455944
(L) 52W
0.9582 1.5235 0.8931 1.2043 76.03 7.9823 7.7498 6.2105 48.6088 30.2 1.2152 28.914 40.735 8875 74.482 1.19995 0.77553 7.7018 9.6245 94.12 1.029
3.32
652
1728.25
-0.36991
(H) 52W
1.0857 1.6381 0.9972 1.3487 88.41 8.0039 7.7713 6.3964 57.3275 32 1.3006 30.245 44.35 9815 92.481 1.21846 0.8506 8.4894 10.7712 115.99 1.0314
(H) 52W
948.25
-2.99751685
2011.94
YTD %
2.539679
-3.952442159
-1.388388027
SK
0.9828 -0.6615 -0.995 -0.9174 -2.3256 0.0025 -0.009 0 -0.1453 0.361 -0.4726 0.0413 0.1955 0.0511 -3.3174 -0.0761 0.2866 1.2731 1.4079 -1.4235 0
0
-1.091992058
World Stock MarketS - Indices
DAY %
-0.1905 -0.6492 -0.173 -0.2062 -1.418 0.0075 0 0.0305 -1.0622 -0.361 -0.3911 -0.062 -0.4643 -1.3792 -1.2414 0.0306 -0.4182 0.9835 0.6953 -1.2239 0.0097
3.23
747.25 1367.25
S&P/ASX 200 INDEX
Last 22.35
Min 21.95
MACAU RELATED STOCKS
WHEAT FUTURE(CBT) Mar13
KOSPI INDEX
Average 22.268
PRICE 1.048 1.6069 0.9246 1.3069 88.15 7.983 7.7513 6.2306 55.075 30.47 1.2272 29.021 40.925 9788 92.392 1.2084 0.81309 8.1142 10.3842 115.21 1.0299
SOYBEAN FUTURE Mar13
NAME
21.8 Max 22.55
(L) 52W
Gold Spot $/Oz
CORN FUTURE
Min 18.7
CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATES
NATURAL GAS FUTR Feb13
METALS
22.0
18.6 Max 19.1
Commodities ENERGY
14.2
WYNN RESORTS LTD
AUD HKD
USD
14 |
business daily January 7, 2013
Opinion The political economy of 2013
W
Mohamed A. El-Erian
CEO and co-CIO of PIMCO, and the author of When Markets Collide
atching America’s leaders scramble in the closing days of 2012 to avoid a “fiscal cliff” that would plunge the economy into recession was yet another illustration of an inconvenient truth: messy politics remains a major driver of economic developments. In some cases during 2012, politics was a force for good: consider Prime Minister Mario Monti’s ability to pull Italy back from the brink of financial turmoil. But, in other cases, like Greece, political dysfunction aggravated economic problems. Close and defining linkages between politics and economics are likely to persist in 2013. Having said this, we should also expect much greater segmentation in terms of impact – and that the consequences will affect both individual countries and the global system as a whole. In some countries – for example, Italy, Japan, and the United States – politics will
remain the primary driver of economic-policy approaches. But elsewhere – China, Egypt, Germany, and Greece come to mind – the reverse will be true, with economics becoming a key determinant of political outcomes. This duality in causation speaks to a world that will become more heterogeneous in 2013 – and in at least two ways: it will lack unifying political themes, and it will be subject to multi-speed growth and financial dynamics that imply a range of possible scenarios for multilateral policy interactions. With an election looming in Italy, the country’s technocratic interim administration will return the reins of power to a democratically elected government. The question, both for Italy and Europe as a whole, is whether the new government will maintain the current economic policy stance or shift to one that is less acceptable to the country’s external partners (particularly
Germany and the European Central Bank). Monti may or may not be involved in the new government. The further removed from it he is, the greater the temptation will be to alter the policy approach in response to popular pressures. This would involve less emphasis on fiscal and structural reforms, raising concerns in Berlin, Brussels, and Frankfurt.
Economic impact Japan’s incoming government has already signalled an economic-policy pivot, relying on what it directly controls (fiscal policy), together with pressure on the Bank of Japan, to relax the monetarypolicy stance, in an effort to generate faster growth and higher inflation. In the process, officials are weakening the yen. They will also try to lower Japan’s dependence on exports and rethink sending
production facilities to lower-wage countries. The economic impact of politics in the U.S., while important, will be less dynamic: absent a more cooperative Congress, politics will mute policy responses rather than fuel greater activism. Continued congressional polarisation would maintain policy uncertainty, confound debt and deficit negotiations, and impede economic growth. From stymieing mediumterm fiscal reforms to delaying needed overhauls of the labour and housing markets, congressional dysfunction would keep U.S. economic performance below its capacity; over time, it would also eat away at potential output. In other countries, the causal direction will run primarily from economics to politics. In Egypt and Greece, for example, rising poverty, high unemployment, and financial turmoil could place governments under pressure. Popular frustration may not wait for the ballot box. Instead, hard times could fuel civil unrest, threatening their governments’ legitimacy, credibility, and effectiveness – and with no obvious alternatives that could ensure rapid economic recovery and rising living standards. In China, the credibility of the incoming leadership will depend in large part on whether the economy can consolidate
In some countries … politics will remain the primary driver of economicpolicy approaches. But elsewhere … the reverse will be true, with economics becoming a key determinant of political outcomes
its soft landing. Specifically, any prolonged period of sub-7percent growth could encourage opposition and dissent – not only in the countryside, but also in urban centres.
Important question Then there is Germany, which holds the key to the integrity and unity of the euro zone. So far, Chancellor Angela Merkel has been largely successful in insulating the German economy from the turmoil elsewhere in Europe. Unemployment has remained remarkably low and confidence relatively high. And, while growth has moderated recently, Germany remains one of Europe’s bestperforming economies – and not just its paymaster. While some would have favoured greater policy activism, Merkel’s Germany has provided a steady anchor for a euro zone struggling to end bouts of financial instability and put an end to questions about its survival as a well-functioning monetary union (one that aspires to becoming much more). A change in German leadership would, therefore, raise questions about Europe’s policy underpinning. How politics and economics interact nationally and globally is one of the important questions for 2013 and beyond. There are three scenarios: good economics and effective politics provide the basis for a growing and more cooperative global economy; bad economics interact with dysfunctional politics to ruin the day; or the world muddles through, increasingly unstable, as a tug of war between economics and politics plays out, with no clear result or direction. Part of the answer depends on what happens in three countries in particular – China, Germany, and the U.S. Their economic and political stability is essential to the well-being of a world economy that has yet to recover fully from the 2008 global financial crisis. Current indications, albeit incomplete, suggest that the three will continue to anchor the global economy in 2013. That is the good news. The bad news is that their anchor may remain both tentative and insufficient to restore the level of growth and financial stability to which billions of people aspire. © Project Syndicate
editorial council Paulo A. Azevedo, Tiago Azevedo, Duncan Davidson, Emanuel Graça Founder & Publisher Paulo A. Azevedo | pazevedo@macaubusinessdaily.com Editor-in-Chief Tiago Azevedo DEputy Editor-in-Chief Vitor Quintã Associate editor Michael Grimes Newsdesk Alex Lee, Stephanie Lai, Tony Lai Creative Director José Manuel Cardoso Designer Janne Louhikari Contributors Frederico Rato, José I. Duarte, Pereira Coutinho, Ricardo Siu, Rose N. Lai, Zen Udani Photography Carmo Correia, John Si, Manuel Cardoso Assistant to the publisher Laurentina da Silva | ltinas@macaubusinessdaily.com office manager Elsa Vong | elsav@macaubusinessdaily.com Agencies Bloomberg, Reuters, AFP, Xinhua, Lusa, Project Syndicate Printed in Macau by Welfare Ltd.
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January 7, 2013 business daily | 15
OPINION Business
wires Leading reports from Asia’s best business newspapers
Asahi Shimbun Japanese companies purchased a record number of foreign businesses in 2012, topping a record set 22 years earlier at the height of Japan’s asset-inflated economic bubble. Figures from Recof Corp., a mergers-andacquisitions consulting firm, showed Japanese companies were involved in 1,848 takeovers last year, up 10 percent from 2011. Nearly a third of them, 515 transactions, involved the purchase of a foreign business, exceeding the previous high of 463 in 1990. The acquisitions of foreign companies were worth 7.3 trillion yen (US$83 billion), up 15 percent from 2011.
Korea Herald LG Display agreed to pay damages ordered by the Chinese government for fixing the price of its panels, while Samsung Display said it would need more time to look into the issue. On Friday, the world’s two top makers of liquid-crystal display panels – Samsung and LG Display – were ordered to pay US$35 million in damages by China’s National Development and Reform Commission for price-rigging its panels. The commission said it fined Samsung 101 million yuan (US$16.2 million) and LG 118 million yuan, for fixing prices LCD panels that were supplied to Chinese TV makers between 2001 and 2006.
Bangkok Post Full-scale implementation of the 300-baht (US$9.8) daily minimum wage will not fan inflationorworsenunemployment, Thailand’s National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) said on Saturday. Noting concerns over the possibility of higher inflation after the wage hike was implemented nationally last week, Arkhom Tempitayapaisit, secretarygeneral of the board, said the rise in labour costs was only one among several factors, including oil prices, contributing to higher inflation. The new wage rate would immediately bring about equity in the labour market and improve worker performance, he said.
Jakarta Globe Indonesia’s National Election Committee will today reveal the names of political parties that passed the factual verification process to participate in the April 2014 legislative election. Analysts said that a maximum of 10 parties will pass the factual verification process – nine are the parties currently represented in the House of Representatives and the other is the National Democrat Party. According to the election law, only a party that can pass the factual verification process in all 33 provinces will be allowed to participate in the election.
Dynastic Asia Kishore Mahbubani
Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore
T
o the extent that culture matters in politics, the recent spate of leadership changes in Northeast Asia suggests that Asian societies are more tolerant – if not supportive – of dynastic succession. South Korea’s recently elected president, Park Geun-hye, is the daughter of Park Chung Hee, who ruled the country from 1961 to 1979. China’s incoming president, Xi Jinping, is the son of Xi Zhongxun, a former vice premier. Japan’s new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is the grandson and grandnephew of two former Japanese prime ministers, and the son of a former foreign minister. Kim Jong-un is the son and grandson of his two predecessors in North Korea. This pattern is not confined to Northeast Asia. President Benigno Aquino III of the Philippines is the son of former President Corazon Aquino. Prime Ministers Najib Abdul Razak and Lee Hsien Loong of Malaysia and Singapore, respectively, are also sons of former prime ministers. In India, Rahul Gandhi is waiting in the wings, preparing to step into the shoes of his greatgrandfather (Jawaharlal Nehru), grandmother (Indira Gandhi), and father (Rajiv Gandhi). In Pakistan, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari – son of President Asif Ali Zardari and the assassinated former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, and grandson of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto – recently made his political debut. Is dynastic succession becoming the norm throughout Asia? There is no denying that a distinguished lineage gives political candidates an advantage over rivals. But it is also clear that having distinguished relatives is no guarantee of success. Consider the checkered record of former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Her father was a respected president; yet she could well be remembered as one of the country’s most corrupt.
Sense of duty The key issue is leaders’ attitude when they assume office. If they do so with a sense of entitlement from their lineage, they are likely to fail, as Arroyo did. Fortunately for East Asia, most seem to approach power with a keen sense of duty and a commitment to strengthening their countries. The term “princeling” is probably an unfair description of China’s Xi. After all, he hardly can be said to have led a charmed life. After his father was purged by Mao Zedong, he went to work in the countryside, even before the 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution, experiencing firsthand all of the hardships that many of his generation endured.
Rahul Gandhi
Having risen to the top, he feels no sense of entitlement. From all accounts, he feels an even greater sense of responsibility to prove that he gained his position on the basis of merit, not privilege. Xi must also be aware that the children of the People’s Republic’s second generation of leaders face considerable public resentment, owing to their rapid accumulation of wealth. That explains his focus on combating corruption. If he fails to do so, he will be deemed a failure, and the Chinese Communist Party’s political monopoly may end sooner than anyone anticipates. Xi carries a huge burden on his shoulders. So does Park Geun-hye. Like Xi, she had to struggle to reach the top. Her father lifted South Korea out of poverty and turned it into an economic tiger. But his rule was also brutally repressive. To make matters worse for Park, many of her predecessors are perceived as failures. Two former presidents, Roh Tae-woo and Chun Doo-hwan, were prosecuted; another, Roh Moo-hyun, committed suicide. There are also unkind rumours swirling around outgoing President Lee Myung-bak. South Korea is clearly a successful country that is struggling to define itself. In theory, it should be celebrating its economic and cultural achievements. In practice, as a small country in a troubled neighbourhood – and with North Korea a constant source of tension – it lives in existential anxiety. And Park, whose victory has not diminished her people’s ambivalent attitude toward her father, must know that healing the obvious divisions in South Korean society will not be easy.
Tough job The most difficult job is the one that awaits Rahul Gandhi. No single party can
dominate Indian politics as the Congress Party has done since independence, implying a future of difficult and quarrelsome coalitions. In these circumstances, India needs, above all, decisive leadership. Yet, like Hamlet, Rahul seems uncertain. He could have taken the job several years ago, if he had chosen to do so. His hesitation must reflect a deep anxiety. Yet his reluctance is
Asia’s pattern of dynastic leadership does not render it immune from the challenges that the rest of the world faces
understandable. Again, dynastic succession does not ensure success. Malaysia’s Razak, for example, has made an enormous effort to reunify his country with his “1Malaysia” message. Yet all the indications are that he will face an extremely hard-fought election in 2013. Though unlikely, his Barisan Nasional coalition could fall apart. No such prospect faced his predecessors. In Japan, Abe is universally regarded to have performed badly in his first stint as Prime Minister in 2006-2007, despite his distinguished lineage. Now he takes over an even more troubled country with huge domestic and external challenges. Few are betting on his succeeding. In short, Asia’s pattern of dynastic leadership does not render it immune from the challenges that the rest of the world faces. As Asia creates the world’s largest middle class – projected to grow more than three-fold, from 500 million to 1.75 billion, by 2020 – it will also have to cope with demands for more competent and more accountable governments. In Asia today, uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. © Project Syndicate
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business daily January 7, 2013
CLOSING Swiss bank to close after U.S. fine
Taiwan’s opposition plans huge rally
The U.S. government has raised the stakes in its crackdown on Swiss banks through a hard-charging prosecution that has forced the closing of a 272-yearold Swiss firm for offering tax-evasion services to wealthy Americans. Tax lawyers and former prosecutors said on Friday the closing of Wegelin & Co, Switzerland’s oldest private bank, served as a stark warning for some Swiss banks under investigation, especially smaller firms such as Wegelin. Wegelin, founded in 1741, said it would shut its doors permanently after pleading guilty to an indictment charging it with helping Americans dodge taxes through secret accounts.
Taiwan’s main opposition party said yesterday it would stage a huge demonstration against the government’s economic record, vowing to draw a turnout of 100,000 people. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said members and supporters would take to Taipei’s streets next Sunday. “People can no longer tolerate the government’s poor economic performance. We demand a dramatic cabinet reshuffle including Premier Sean Chen if the sluggish economy is to be revitalised,” DPP spokesman Lin Chun-hsien told AFP. The trade-dependent economy contracted in the second quarter of 2012 for the first time in nearly three years.
Debt ceiling, euro crisis threaten growth: Lagarde U.S. and European issues to affect developing countries, says IMF director
Madrid passes enabling law for ‘EuroVegas’style casino resort
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Christine Lagarde, IMF managing director
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ailure to find a solution to the U.S. debt-ceiling debate and matters in Europe will result in a “major world economic crisis,” International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde said. Without a resolution, there will be a crisis “due to the size of the economies of these two and their relationship with other countries in terms of trade and investment,” she told reporters in the Malawian capital, Lilongwe, yesterday. While the U.S. Congress approved a deal to avoid raising taxes on most Americans in the so-called fiscal cliff, policy makers need to agree on raising the US$16.4 trillion debt ceiling, which it reached on December 31, according to the Treasury Department. Extraordinary measures the agency is taking will be exhausted as early as mid-February, the Congressional Budget Office said. In Europe, growth has weakened as a crisis over debt levels among some member nations continued into a third year. The U.S. and European issues will affect developing countries
including African nations, which also face risks from rising food prices, Ms Lagarde said. “In this context, it will be essential for African countries to have strong macroeconomic frameworks, improve institutional capacity, and ensure sustainable and inclusive growth in order to maintain the impressive economic performances of the last 10 years,” she said.
Portugal ‘on right track’ In an interview published Saturday, Ms Lagarde said Portugal is “on the right track” in meeting economic reform targets set by its international creditors in exchange for rescue funding. “The programme is on the right track. A significant part of fiscal adjustment has been carried out,” she told the Portuguese weekly newspaper Expresso. While noting high unemployment and remaining risks due to the continuing crisis, Ms Lagarde said she was “very confident”. “The Portuguese authorities
and people of Portugal have been extremely courageous and firm in carrying out tough and painful reforms,” she said. Portugal, which obtained a 78 billion euro (US$102 billion) bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund in May 2011, in exchange agreed a three-year reform programme that has thrown the country into recession and sent unemployment soaring to a record 16 percent. “We are of course very worried by the rise in unemployment but we are working with the authorities and our European partners to ensure that structural reforms help in creating jobs and lead to growth,” Ms Lagarde said. “However now that the work is two-thirds through, the main aim must be to complete the adjustment programme,” she added. The country’s centre-right coalition government in November adopted a tough belt-tightening budget that included wide-ranging tax hikes. Bloomberg News/AFP
legal framework has been agreed by Madrid lawmakers that could eventually allow Macau and Singapore casino developer Sheldon Adelson to build a 15-billion euros (157 billion patacas) EuroVegas resort in the Spanish capital. Spain’s El País newspaper says enabling legislation for so-called integrated development centres (CIDs) – including a proposal for a gaming tax on gross bets levied at 10 percent – was passed by the regional government, the Madrid Congress, on December 28. It was piggybacked onto a budget law that also dealt with regional healthcare reforms and taxes for the capital of a country currently in severe economic crisis. The bill was passed without any of the amendments that had been proposed by opposition parties, reports GamblingCompliance.com. The law sets out criteria for the authorisation and development of CIDs, as well as specifying gaming tax levels. In November Mr Adelson, chairman and chief executive of Las Vegas Sands Corp, said he was confident Madrid would offer a gaming tax rate lower than the 15 percent Singapore levies on mass market players (it’s five percent of the gross for VIP play). But Singapore also charges seven percent Goods and Services Tax on bets for both groups of casino customers. It’s not clear at this stage whether bets in any Madrid casino resorts would be exempted from such sales tax. Antonio Miguel Carmona, Socialist Party economic spokesman, said the casino resort provisions of the bill were “like a throwback to the 1940s” – an emotive reference to the early years of Franco’s fascist government. He added the bill acted as a “safe passage for corruption”. M.G.
Sheldon Adelson with Madrid lawmakers