Be sure to check out our "Recent Columns" page for more news. The Latest in Asian Business News : April 1999 Columns Business Opportunity Looking for suppliers or manufacturers: 1)a glass encased radio transponder to be implanted in the ears of farm animals to be used as electronic id tags 2)Portland cement to be purchased, via international tender in PRC, by a railway financed by Asian Bank UNDERGROUND BUSINESS May 9, 1999 Fret not. It is not about illegal business. It's about the underground rapid transit system business. The congestion of horse-drawn surface traffic, coupled with the need to make newer and larger areas accessible to residential use, led to the construction of world's first subway in London in 1863. On a 3.7 miles TUBE, the first year served 9 million passengers! Budapest had its subway in 1896, first on the Europen continent. Paris was 4 years later than Hungary. In 1900, France built the first 87 miles subway system, metropolitain, popularly known as the METRO. New York was ahead of European continent. Nevertheless, it abandoned its first ill-fated subway, started in 1870, because of commercial failure. Beijing's subway is a hundred years later than that of NY. As the urbanization in PRC has progressed rapidly, subway, as a mode of public transportation, has become more and more in demand. At present, only Beijing, Tienjing, Shanghai and Kuangzhou have subway. 15 other cities have applied to build their own rapid transit system underground. It will require 1.8 billion US$ to finance 430 kilometers distance. Even more applications are anticipated. So you see, the UNDERGROUND BUSINESS in PRC looks like a big cake. Anybody wishing to have a slice will need knowledgeable local support and assistance. We can provide that.   E-mail: VJCHANG@hotmail.com Tel/Fax USA : (301) 438-7439 Business Opportunity 1)Looking for sales agent of coal, coke and phosphorus rock.   2) Looking for partner/buyer of pulp mill: -product-entire bleached sulphate pulp -annual output 100,000 MT -key equipments are supplied by Finland & Sweden -total investment requeired : US$250,000,000 -already invested US$180,000,000 Principals desired: joint venture or sale (100% or partial). Location! Location! Location! April 16, 1999 When you are buying a house, the best advice that could be given consists of only 3 words: LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. Well, when you wish to relocate or establish your industry, you must also always bear in mind LOCATION. In the early fifties, ROC(Taiwan) started to experiment with industrial parks. When the results were encouragin, Taiwan established other kinds of industrial park : EXPORT PROCESSING ZONE, SCIENTIFIC INDUSTRIAL PARKS, PETROCHEMICAL INDUSTRIAL PARK, etc... Industrial parks has now become an important pillar of the export strategies of many developing countries. Subic Bay, the Philippines, has been turned from a US naval base into an industrial park; Soozhow, PRC, has copied Singapore's Jurong, which also will have clones in Thailand and Vietnam. Taiwan has just approved 3 so-called INTELLIGENT INDUSTRIAL PARKS to be established on the island! Given all these choices, it is difficult to select a right location if you are planning to establish or relocate your enterprise to Pacific rim area. Just remember, LOCATION is the key word. Fret not, we can help you pinpoint the best location for you.   E-mail: VJCHANG@hotmail.com Tel/Fax USA : (301) 438-7439 How to Build Your Babel Tower of Wealth in Asia Business Opportunity Port authorities in a Pacific rim country are inviting bids for gigantic container-cranes. More information can be provided on request   April 9, 1999 Christians know very well verses 1-9, chapter 11 of Genesis, the story of the Tower of Babel. Yes, the world is full of languages and dialects. Even within one country, fellow citizens are not always able to understand each other. In the two most populous nations, China has 8 distinct languages and numerous dialects, while India has 16 languages (official and constitutionally recognized) and 1652 dialects! Mr John Naisbitt pointed out in his book, MEGATRENDS ASIA, the challenge of Asian languages: "English has been dominant in the business communities".. (but in time). ."Mandarin will move to center stage as the language of Asia". Mandarin is not only spoken in ROC and PRC, but it has already replaced Cantonese in Hongkong. Since 1979, Singapore has encouraged their ethnic Chinese citizens to use Mandarin as the "mother tongue". A most interesting side-development of Mandarin in Southeast Asia: Girls and boys, belonging to different Chinese dialect groups, have no problems talking of love, using Mandarin, at their rendez-vous. Therefore, Mr Naisbitt's conclusions: 1) Bilingual Asians are in growing demand 2) "In Asia, navigate gently, don't push to gain ground. If you need a buffer, get an overseas Chinese partner". We obviously think he is very perceptive. So, If you have been bothered or worried about this Tower of Babel problem in marketing your goods in Asia, contact us for a satisfactory solution   E-mail: VJCHANG@hotmail.com Tel/Fax USA : (301) 438-7439 Chinese Rivers are Going Northward/Westward? April 3, 1999 Because of its topographical situation, Chinese mainland rivers flow mostly eastward. Before 1938, Bank of China made a survey--drawing a line from Yunan Province (bordering Burma) to Heilungjiang Province (bordering Russia)--cutting the mainland into two parts:Northwestern and Southeastern. An interesting discovery was that the first part was about 64% of the China land mass while the second part comprised only 36%. The population distribution was an astonishing 6% in the Northwestern and 94% in the Southwestern region. Why? It was PRINCIPALLY due to topography and water resources. During the last 20 years, PRC has made the most tangible and visible economic progress in the second region. However, due to political reasons and the discovery of underground natural resources, the Northwestern population has also increased and the economic situation improved. Still, there are many so called BACKWARD REGIONS in the interior provinces. The PRC authorities have been moving to DEVELOP BOTH THE INTERIOR of the SE and NW regions. How? Woo investments, both domestic and overseas, into the targeted areas. The ambitious plans include channeling rivers northward from the south and, ultimately, westward to make use of newly discovered water resources underground. These projects can also bring ancillary, novel opportunities as, for example,the recent preliminary report claiming that the PRC has been successful in growing vegetables in the desert area. While the results of said project remain unverified, it is evident, these developments represent business opportunities that can include generous tax holidays and other measures to assure investors of their profits. Find it worthwhile to learn more? We shall be happy to apprise you with more details. E-mail: VJCHANG@hotmail.com Tel/Fax USA : (301) 438-7439     Email: VJCHANG@hotmail.com Tel/Fax USA : (301) 438-7439