[Reuters] S Korea vows cooperation with China, Japan on financial crisis

S Korea vows cooperation with China, Japan on financial crisis
FUKUOKA, Japan, (Reuters) - South Korea vowed on Saturday to beef up cooperation with Japan and China to tackle the fallout from a global financial crisis battering the economies of the North Asian neighbours.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak met Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in southern Japan in separate bilateral meetings ahead of a rare trilateral summit between the three countries, which have a long history of animosity towards each other.

”The two leaders agreed to closely cooperate in having follow-up efforts implemented to those made under the (recent) G20 financial summit meeting,” the South Korean presidential office said in a statement after the two-way talks with Japan’s Mr Aso.

Japan’s Mr Aso called for an early resumption of talks on a bilateral free trade agreement with South Korea during the talks, a Japanese official told reporters.

Mr Lee agreed on the need to expand trade between the two countries, but on the trade talks said only that continued working level dialogue would be beneficial.

Mr Wen and Mr Lee would ”closely cooperate in improving the international financial regime” to prevent a repeat of the crisis, Mr Lee’s office said following the meeting with the Chinese premier.

The summit among the leaders of the three North Asian countries, which account for 75 per cent of the region’s economy and two-thirds of its trade, follows the collapse of a bailout for US auto makers that sparked sell-offs in global stock markets and sent the dollar to a 13-year low against the yen.

The White House on Friday was considering emergency aid for the teetering auto firms after Congress failed to approve a $14bn bailout plan.

Japan’s ties with its neighbours have long been plagued by their bitter memories of Tokyo’s past military aggression and two-way feuds still rankle. But the financial crisis means the focus is likely to be on cooperation rather than rivalry.

On Friday, Seoul -- whose economy has been the worst-hit among the three countries -- agreed new currency swap deals with Tokyo and Beijing worth the equivalent of nearly $50bn, the latest effort to stabilise an economy the central bank says is set for its slowest growth in over a decade.

Seoul is keen to boost a regional web of bilateral currency swap deals known as the Chiang Mai Initiative (CMI), and the three leaders are likely to back efforts to speed up those discussions, which experts say have been too slow.

The three leaders will issue a statement on the international financial and economic situation and are likely to commit to stimulating their stumbling economies, but are not likely to unveil new stimulus plans, a Japanese official said earlier.

Japan announced on Friday that it would expand its stimulus plans and bolster a war chest for bank rescues to $131 billion, but kept markets guessing on whether Tokyo would intervene to stop a surging yen from pushing the economy deeper into recession.

China, threatened with a slowdown in its dynamic economy, launched a 4 trillion yuan ($586bn) stimulus plan on Nov. 9 and on Wednesday pledged to boost public spending and cut taxes.

China is targeting growth of about 8 per cent next year but will have to contend with a host of potential challenges from deflation to capital outflows, the country’s banking regulator said on Saturday.

South Korea has this year offered $130bn in measures to shore up its banking system and another $25bn in fiscal spending and tax cut plans to try to prevent a recession in its export-driven economy.

Its central bank has slashed interest rates to a record low, while promising to do more if needed.

Despite the expected show of unity, bilateral feuds can still flare up. As the summit got under way, a small group of Japanese right-wing activists gathered near Fukuoka City Hall to protest the meeting and demand the return of disputed territory.

Japanese media said Mr Aso would protest again to Beijing over an incident in which two Chinese survey ships entered waters near disputed islands in the East China Sea which are thought to lie near potential oil and gas reserves.

South Korea and Japan have a running dispute of their own over another remote crop of islets which lie near fertile fishing grounds and possible maritime deposits of natural gas hydrate that could be worth billions of dollars.
© Reuters Limited

한국, 중국, 일본이 통화스왑을 통해 금융위기에 공동대처하기로 했다는 내용이다. 이미 한국은행에서 발표한 내용이기에 큰 의미가 있지는 않다. 다만 3개국 정상회담을 정기적으로 개최하기로 했다는 점이눈길을 끈다. 과거에 한국과 중국을 침략했던 일본과 피해국들이 협력을 다져나갈 개기이기 때문이다.

문제는 남아있다. 중국과 일본은 동중국해에서 영토분쟁을 하고 있으며, 한국과 일본은 독도를 두고 다투고 있다. 영토분쟁이 이뤄지고 있는 곳들은 모두 천연자원이 매장되있는 돈되는 땅이다. 3개국은 그 동안 이 문제를 해결하지 못했다.

작은 섬문제를 해결하지 못하고 있는 3개국이 금융위기에 함께 맞서기로 한것은 의미가 있다. 하지만 섬하나 때문에 몇십년을 다퉈온 그들이 미래를 향한 협력에 최선을 다할것인지 의문이다.

[Reuters] E-Land plans to raise up to $369 mln in HK IPO

UPDATE 1-E-Land plans to raise up to $369 mln in HK IPO
Wed Apr 23, 2008 10:34am IST

(Adds details)

By Kennix Chim

HONG KONG, April 23 (Reuters) - Retailer E-Land Fashion China Holdings Ltd, a spin-off from South Korea's E-Land World Ltd, plans to raise as much as $369 million in a Hong Kong initial public offering as the stock market rebounds.

The women's apparel retailer, which kicks off a marketing roadshow on Wednesday, is Hong Kong's second IPO since March and will be closely watched after the poor trading performance of this year's market newcomers. For a related story, click [ID:nHKG285789]

The company is selling 496.3 million shares, or 25 percent of its enlarged share capital at HK$3.80-HK$5.80 each, according to a document obtained by Reuters that details the terms of the deal. Of the shares on offer, 60 percent are new shares and 40 percent are existing shares.

E-land focuses on managing a portfolio of seven women's apparel brands including E-Land, Scofield and Teenie Weenie, which are operated under a licence from its parent. The company plans to increase the number of brands under its portfolio to 10 by the end of 2010.

E-Land has an overallotment option to issue 74.4 million shares, or up to 15 percent of the offering, all of which would be secondary shares, the document said.

The price range represents a price-to-earnings multiple of 15 to 22.8 times UBS's earnings forecast for 2008.

By comparison, high-end luxury apparel retailer Ports Design (0589.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) trades at 26.4 times 2008 forecast earnings. Other peers include Esprit (0330.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) and Giordano (0709.HK: Quote, Profile, Research), which trade at 18 times and 15 times, respectively, 2008 forecast earnings.

E-Land will start its Hong Kong public offering on May 2, with a trading debut scheduled for May 16.

Its IPO comes as Hong Kong's benchmark index .HSI rebounds after losing 18 percent in the first quarter of the year. The index was up nearly 1 percent on Wednesday.

The company has 1,084 outlets in 428 department stores in 125 cities across China. It plans to add 1,200 retail outlets within three years, UBS (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research), which is one of its sponsors, said in a research report.

The firm outsources nearly all of its manufacturing to independent third parties in China.

UBS estimates the firm could post 452 million yuan ($64.66 million) in net profit in 2008, a 56 percent increase over last year.

Goldman Sachs (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research), UBS and Citigroup (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research) are sponsoring the deal.

(US$1=HK$7.8=6.99 yuan)

(Reporting by Kennix Chim; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree)