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June 28, 2000
HONG KONG (AP) - The Hong Kong stock exchange became the world's second bourse to go public Tuesday when its shares made a strong debut on the main board.
Stock in the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. soared 120 percent to 8.55 Hong Kong dollars (dlrs 1.10) in early trading, from 3.88 Hong Kong dollars (50 cents), the level it was valued when the company was formed this year through the merger of the stock and futures exchanges.
Company Chairman Charles Lee said the listing "marks the completion of a series of reforms in the securities and futures industry."
"It also opens up challenges and opportunities for the unification of global exchanges," Lee said at the listing ceremony.
Market activity will be a main driver for the company's revenue, and thus for the share price.
The Australian Stock Exchange went public in October 1998.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - Taiwan's EVA Airways Corp. announced Tuesday an order for seven Boeing 777 jets and an option to buy eight more, a deal worth U.S. dlrs 3 billion.
The sale marked a big comeback in Taiwan for Seattle-based Boeing, which last year lost a major order with China Airlines to the aircraft maker's top rival, Airbus Industrie.
The EVA firm order includes three B777-200X, which each seat 250 passengers and can fly nonstop from Taipei to New York, Paris or London.
The other four are B777-300X jets, which can carry 310 passengers and will be used on the carrier's European routes, EVA spokesman Nieh Kuo-wei said.
Delivery will begin in 2005, with both models to be equipped with the latest cabin entertainment systems, the company said.
EVA did not say when it might exercise the eight option orders.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Malaysia is disappointed that most of the proposals to reform the international financial architecture are focused on the public sector's role, Deputy Finance Minister Chan Kong Choy said Tuesday.
"We are disappointed that most of the proposals continue to emphasize measures on the part of the public sector to improve transparency, to strengthen the domestic economy and financial sector to meet international standards and codes," Chan said in his speech at the Regional Conference On Capital Mobility, organized by the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research.
"Such proposals are based on the premise that they would be sufficient to ensure well-informed and, presumably, sound and rational market decisions," he added.
Chan said a system of direct regulation and monitoring is essential to protect small economies like Malaysia from coming under attack by highly leveraged institutions.
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - The Asia-Pacific region will account for 45 percent of global growth in the manufacture of vehicles between 1998 and 2006, a company analysis said Tuesday.
The average growth rates range from a high of 21.3 percent for Thailand, to 2.7 percent in Australia and 1.1 percent in Japan, which are both mature markets, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers Corporate Finance and Investment Banking Services.
A release said the growth presented good opportunities for higher employment and export revenue in Thailand, which is becoming a major center for motor vehicle manufacturing and export in Southeast Asia.
The report said Thailand-based companies supplying the major carmakers had to take decisive steps to secure their positions in the supply chain during a period of excess capacity and consolidation among manufacturers who will look worldwide for the best-value suppliers.
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