/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCRAP_Public/000327.MBX      T R O U B L E D   C O M P A N Y   R E P O R T E R

                          A S I A   P A C I F I C

              Monday, March 27, 2000, Vol. 3, No. 60

                                 Headlines


* A U S T R A L I A *

AKAI MIRANDA MCLACHLAN: Creditors pull the plug on it
BELL GROUP: Gov't to fund money recovery
BENDICO FABRIC DYEWORKS: To be recommended for liquidation
BOND CORP. HLDGS.: Gov't to fund money recovery
TELSTRA: To lose $250 million bush monopoly


* C H I N A  &  H O N G  K O N G *

AIR EXHIBITS INT'L FAR EAST LTD: Facing winding up petition
KWONG SANG HONG INT'L: Posts narrower annual loss
SURE TIME DEVELOPMENT LTD: Facing winding up petition
ZHONG BAO ENTERPRISES LTD: Facing winding up petition


* I N D O N E S I A *

PT ASTRA INT'L: Two groups submit bid for IBRA's stake
PT BAKRIE & BROS.: Bapepam rejects debt plan
PT BERKATAMA RAYA FINAN.: Faces asset seizure or bankruptcy
PT BII FINANCE: Faces asset seizure or bankruptcy
PT CENTRIS MULTI FINAN.: Faces asset seizure or bankruptcy
PT NEWMONT MINAHASA RAYA: Gov't wants non-court settlement
PT PUTRA SURYA MULTIDANA: Faces asset seizure or bankruptcy
PT TEXMACO GROUP: IMF backs govt trade credits for it


* J A P A N *

ASK CORP.: To merge with other loss-maker in Oct.
ASANO SLATE CO.: To merge with other loss-maker in Oct.
BHARAT HEAVY ELECTRICALS LTD: Bhel consortium faces penalty
FUJI ELECTRIC OF JAPAN: Bhel consortium faces penalty
HIKARI TSUSHIN INC.: Stock falls sharply
ISHIKAWAJIMA HARIMA HEAVY INDUS.CO.: To post $720M loss
ITOCHU: Bhel consortium faces penalty
MINAMI SECURITIES CO.: Declared insolvent
NAGASAKIYA CO.: To be rehabilitated by US group
SOFTBANK CORP.: Stock fall sharply
WEST JAPAN RAILWAY CO.: Estimates pension gap at 300B Yen
YURAKU REAL ESTATE CO.: To dispose of unrealized losses


* K O R E A *

DAEWOO GROUP: Drops $38M plan for Polish pig farm
KOOKMIN BANK: Posts consolidated annual loss
SAMSUNG MOTOR INC.: Politics plays role in sale
SSANGYONG CEMENT: Close to signing foreign investment deal


* M A L A Y S I A *

TONGKAH HOLDINGS: Posts 2nd quarter loss


* P H I L I P P I N E S *

NATIONAL POWER CORP.: May soon be put on auction block
VICTORIAS MILLING CO.: Aggrivating finances with incentives
WESTMONT INVESTMENT CORP.: Senate to probe its liquidity


* S I N G A P O R E *

HIN LEONG TRADING:Denies any part in illegal Iraqi oil deal
LAM SOON CANNERY PTE LTD: Sibling feud threatens viability


* T H A I L A N D *

BUMRUNGRAD HOSPITAL: Share listing approved by SET
ITV: Debt restructure to reduce shareholders' stake to 1%
PHILIPP HOZMANN (THAI) LTD.: Downsizing, reducing debt
SOMBOON GROUP: Restructure nears completion
THAI AIRWAYS INT'L: Sale of 23% stake to take six months
THAI AIRWAYS INT'L: SIA denies entering talks on stake
THAI MILITARY BANK: National Finance mulling stake in
THAI MILITARY BANK: Plan to be finalised this month
THAI PETROCHEM.INDUS.: Stock slides on heavy sales
THAI TEL.AND TEL.: Alcatel angered by debt-reform plan
THAI TEL.& TEL.: Told to upgrade or be sued


=================
A U S T R A L I A
=================

AKAI MIRANDA MCLACHLAN: Creditors pull the plug on it
-----------------------------------------------------
On 22 March 2000, KPMG placed Akai Australia into
liquidation. The video and audio firm is believed to have
suffered losses and been on the market, since about 1997.
$A10m for goodwill and stock at value, had been the asking
price. Its last financial return lodged with the Australian
Securities and Investments Commission, in August, 1998,
showed a $A3.14m loss. The move came on the same day its
Hong Kong parent, Akai Holdings and a subsidiary, faced
court action from creditors applying to have them wound up.
(The Advertiser   23-March-2000

BENDICO FABRIC DYEWORKS: To be recommended for liquidation
----------------------------------------------------------
The 60-strong sacked workforce of a Melbourne textile
company will meet today to drive the final nail in the
coffin of the failed firm that owes them about $650,000 in
lost entitlements.

Administrators of the company, Bendico (Bendico) Fabric
Dyeworks, are expected to recommend to its creditors,
including the former workers, that the company be placed
into liquidation.  Testile, Clothing and Footware Union of
Australia state secretary Michele O'Neil tonight said the
creditors were expected to agree to the liquidation as
former employees wait on the federal government for a
response to their call for Canberra to bail them out over
the entitlements.

The workers were sacked without payment on March 16 amid
criticisms of the Australian Taxation Office over its move
to recover money it was owed, cutting off a vital supply
line to keep the firm's doors open.  Ms O'Neil said her
union had been inundated by calls from the former workers
for financial help.

"Our members are desperate for help as families run out of
food money," she said. "The Federal Government must help
and immediately."

The Goverment recently approved a $4 million bail-out for
342 workers sacked from the New South Wales company,
National Textiles.  (Nationwide General News  23-March-
2000)

BELL GROUP: Gov't to fund money recovery
BOND CORP. HLDGS.: Gov't to fund money recovery
-----------------------------------------------
The West Australian government revealed yesterday it
was funding legal moves by a liquidator to claw back as
much as $1 billion lost by companies associated with Alan
Bond.

The revelation in state parliament followed a newspaper
report suggesting a liquidator had uncovered huge money-
laundering transactions by which some of Bond's offshore
fortune had been brought back to Australia.

WA Premier Richard Court told parliament the State
Insurance Commission was funding moves by Bell Group co-
liquidator Tony Woodings to recover funds lost in the
stripping of Bell Resources and also money from
Southern Equities, formerly Bond Corp.

"It is believed that the action may be able to recover
around $500 million," Mr Court told parliament. "If there
are some successful loss-of-profits actions which we are
currently working through, that money received could be as
high as $1 billion."

Bond was released from jail two weeks ago tomorrow after
serving three years and three months of a prison sentence
for stripping Bell Resources of $1.2 billion.  He has kept
a low profile at his beachside Perth home, emerging for
trips to nearby Cottesloe beach and into the city, but
speaking only briefly to the media so as not to void an
exclusivity contract with a national women's magazine.

Mr Court's statement to parliament came after a newspaper
reported that two large Bond transactions had been
identified.  The newspaper report said a statement of claim
by Bond Corporation Holdings liquidator Richard England
before the Supreme Court of South Australia had revealed
that funds were allegedly sent from Leichtenstein to Bond
family companies in Australia in 1995.

"The money allegedly came from companies in Vaduz
controlled by Mr Bond's Swiss banker Jurg Bollag then
passed through a complex network of companies and bank
accounts in Jersey, New York, Texas and the British Virgin
Islands before landing in Brisbane," according to the
report, written by Bond biographer Paul Barry.

Premier Court told journalists the report "certainly
concerns me" and said the WA government was attempting to
recover lost monies.

"We've got a very significant legal action that is underway
...it is costing a lot of money, but we hope at the end of
the day we will be able to recover some of those lost
taxpayers' funds," Mr Court said.  "As a state government I
can assure you we are moving heaven and earth to try and
recover some of those lost hundreds of millions of
dollars."

In Canberra, federal Attorney-General Daryl Williams said
Australian Federal Police would resume their investigation
of Bond, which was suspended in October 1998, if new
evidence emerged.  Mr Williams said the investigation of
the failed businessman had never really shut down.

"The investigation has not been closed," he told reporters.
"It was suspended in October 1998. If any new evidence
comes in, the AFP will pick it up and run again."

Federal opposition justice spokesman Duncan Kerr said the
government should act.

"These allegations require the AFP to reactivate its
inquiries into possible criminal conduct by those
associated with the collapse and its aftermath," he said in
a statement.  "Those who lost their savings also need to be
assured that the Australian government still has the will
to pursue the funds alleged to have been misappropriated
from the company and anyone alleged to be criminally
involved in their hiding, non-disclosure and laundering."
(Nationwide General News  23-March-2000)

TELSTRA: To lose $250 million bush monopoly
-------------------------------------------
Telstra is to lose its $250 million monopoly on phone
services in remote areas, with the government's campaign to
shore up support for full privatisation moving up a gear.

The move could see satellites replace copper cables as the
regional infrastructure of choice and will spark a bidding
war among Telstra's rivals, who claim they can deliver
better services more cheaply.  About 37,000 remote
households will also be able to call neighbours without
watching the clock for the first time, after the government
called for tenders to extend untimed local calls to all
Australians.

Communications Minister Richard Alston said the $150
million project could also give remote residents cheaper
access to the Internet and better television services, as
new technologies came into play.

"Carriers' proposals will have to demonstrate how they will
provide untimed local calls while maximising other benefits
for those hardy families and residents in the extended
zones," he said.

The revamp of the Universal Service Obligation (USO), which
guarantees access to basic telephone and digital data
services, comes as the government ramps up its push to sell
the remaining 50.1 per cent of Telstra.  The Australian
Democrats said it would do nothing to fix service problems.
But farmers, who have called for a moratorium on full
privatisation, said competition was long overdue.

"This will provide rural and regional Australians with
value-for-money, world-class services for the first time in
decades," National Farmers Federation president Ian Donges
said.

Telstra complains the USO costs up to $1.8 million a year
and said competition would give customers choice without
eroding services or allowing new providers to "cherry pick"
high value customers.

"Importantly, Telstra's competitors in Australia's very
competitive telecommunications market will now be able to
bid to provide services in rural areas which, in the past,
they have declined to offer," policy director Rob Lomdahl
said.

Transport and Regional Services Minister John Anderson said
the decision to remove Telstra's monopoly was not
necessarily a reflection on its service, but competition
meant better services and lower prices.

Rivals Optus and Vodafone both expressed their interest in
bidding, Optus saying it could use its satellite network to
provide high-speed Internet access and access to pay and
free-to-air television as well. (The Age  23-March-2000)


==============================
C H I N A  &  H O N G  K O N G
==============================

AIR EXHIBITS INT'L FAR EAST LTD: Facing winding up petition
-----------------------------------------------------------
The High Court of Hong Kong SAR, Court of First Instance,
has scheduled a hearing for May 10 on the petition of The
Hong Kong and Tourist Association Board Limited for the
winding up of Air Exhibits International Far East Limited.
A notice of legal appearance must be filed on or before May
9.

KWONG SANG HONG INT'L: Posts narrower annual loss
-------------------------------------------------
A 44.2% rise in turnover was not enough to lift beleaguered
property company Kwong Sang Hong International back into
the black last year.  The company, which is involved in
property investment and trading, cosmetics manufacturing
and distribution and loan financing, yesterday posted a
$4.4M net loss for the year to November 30. This was a
substantial improvement on the previous year's $735.5M
loss.

The property group reported an operating profit of $44.4M,
up from $27.3M in 1998, and would have posted a net profit
if it had not been dragged down by $28.4M in associated
company losses. The previous year's figures included $54.3M
in associated company losses. Losses per share totalled 0.7
cents, down from $1.199 in 1998.  The company has not
declared a final dividend, and did not pay one in the
previous year.

SURE TIME DEVELOPMENT LTD: Facing winding up petition
-----------------------------------------------------
The High Court of Hong Kong SAR, Court of First Instance,
has scheduled a hearing for April 5 on the petition of
Domora Company Limited for the winding up of Sure Time
Development Limited. A notice of legal appearance must be
filed on or before April 4.

ZHONG BAO ENTERPRISES LTD: Facing winding up petition
-----------------------------------------------------
The High Court of Hong Kong SAR, Court of First Instance,
has scheduled a hearing for April 12 on the petition of
Union Carbide Asia Limited for the winding up of Zhong Bao
Enterprises (H.K.) Limited. A notice of legal appearance
must be filed on or before April 11.


=================
I N D O N E S I A
=================

PT ASTRA INT'L: Two groups submit bid for IBRA's stake
------------------------------------------------------
Only two of the three shortlisted investor consortia
submitted final bids for the Indonesian Bank Restructuring
Agency's (IBRA) 45 percent stake in PT Astra International
on Thursday, and the winner will be announced on Friday,
one day ahead of schedule.

Only moments before receiving the bid documents, IBRA
chairman Cacuk Sudarijanto said that the agency had decided
to announce the winner on Friday instead of Saturday as
originally scheduled.

"This new schedule will allow the winner to call its bank
in New York," Cacuk added.

One of the three shortlisted bidders, the consortium led by
Lazard Asia Fund, made a last minute decision to submit a
joint bid with Singapore's Cycle & Carriage Ltd.
consortium. This group includes Bhakti Investama and
Batavia Investment Management.

The second bidder, led by Newbridge Capital of the U.S.,
includes PT Saratoga Investama Sedaya, Chase Asia Equity
Partners, PT Nusantara Investment Fund, and Colony Capital.
Gilbert Global Equity Partners, which was previously the
co-leader of the Newbridge consortium, dropped out of the
bidding reportedly due to timing constraints.

The first group of bidders declined to say why they decided
to submit a joint bid for the 1.04 billion Astra shares,
but an informed source said that both Lazard and Cycle &
Carriage encountered difficulties raising such a large
amount of cash in such a short period of time.

"We definitely need the money (at the latest) by March 28,"
Cacuk added.

The bid documents were submitted to a notary and the
presentation ceremony was attended by representatives of
the mass media, the World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund.

"I assure you that the transaction will be fair and
transparent. The bid documents will be opened at the same
time tomorrow," he said, apparently in a bid to alleviate
worries about unfair conduct by IBRA.  "There will be no
intervention from (people) higher than me, not even from
the President. It will be entirely IBRA business," he
added.

Cacuk said that price would be the most important factor in
selecting the winner. Astra shares closed flat on Thursday
at Rp 3,725.  Cacuk made the comment amid speculation that
the government favored the Newbridge-led consortium which
includes Saratoga Investama, a consulting company
controlled by the Soeryadjaya family, the founder of Astra
who had to "surrender" control of the company in 1993 to
investors linked to former president Soeharto.

The Soeryadjaya family is also known to be close to
President Abdurrahman Wahid.  Edwin Soeryadjaya of Saratoga
declined to comment on this. He only said, "We're pleased
to submit our bid."

Newbridge, together with Gilbert, was appointed the
preferred bidder for the Astra stake last September, but
the transaction failed following acrimonious debates with
Astra management led by Rini Soewandi (since replaced) and
controversy over alleged lack of transparency and the
contentious issue of due diligence.

Cacuk said that as part of the effort to safeguard fairness
within the bidding process, the Government of Singapore's
Investment Corp., had not been allowed to participate in
the due diligence process, and had not been allowed to
review the terms and conditions submitted by the two
bidders.

"This is because the Singapore investment company was
included in both the Newbridge consortium and the Lazard
consortium," he added.

The consortia have just completed a three-week due
diligence on Astra, the country's largest carmaker, that
also has large investments in plantations, heavy equipment,
motorcycle and finance industries.  Cacuk dismissed reports
that Malaysia's Kumpulan Guthrie, not included in the
shorlist, had made a last minute bid.

"Until now, I have not received any paper (bid) from them,"
he said.

Cacuk added that the government would allow the winning
bidder to pay in U.S. dollars based on Rp 7,460 per dollar,
the middle rate prevailing on Wednesday.  Astra is
considered the jewel among IBRA's prime assets and proceeds
from the sale will contribute to the Rp 17 trillion revenue
target to be raised by the agency in the current fiscal
year ending March 31.

Cacuk declined to say how much cash he expected from the
transaction but analysts said IBRA expected at least $500
million. The agency has so far raised around Rp 11
trillion.  The Astra sale will be the first high profile
deal to be completed by the agency since its botched
transaction with Standard Chartered Bank of Britain for
Bank Bali late last year.

Cacuk said that a successful completion of the Astra deal
would help revive confidence in the country's ailing
economy.

Meanwhile, Astra President Theodore P. Rachmat, a cousin of
Williamn Soeryadjaya, said he would welcome any winning
bidder for the Astra stake.  "May the best bidder win," he
said.  (The Jakarta Post  24-March-2000)

PT BAKRIE & BROS.: Bapepam rejects debt plan
--------------------------------------------
PT Bakrie & Bros. failed to hold an extraordinary general
meeting of shareholders following a letter of disapproval
from the Jakarta stock market watchdog, Bapepam.

Bapepam said in a letter it rejected the agenda of the
meeting, at which shareholders were to be asked to approve
the proposal of Bakrie & Bros. for debt restructuring.

"Bapepam asked us to first go to the commercial court to
seek legal majority creditors' agreement before holding the
shareholders meeting," said Irwan Sjarkawi, Bakrie & Bros.
president and chief executive. He added he didn't know
when the company will be in a position to do so.
Diversified conglomerate Bakrie & Bros. is the flagship
listed company of the Bakrie Group, controlled by the
Bakrie family.

Mr. Sjarkawi said Bakrie's creditors have in principle
agreed to a proposal that would see Bakrie transfer five of
its most valuable assets into a new company 95% owned by
the creditors. The creditors also would own 95% of Bakrie &
Bros., which has $1.2 billion in total debt.

The assets involved in the restructuring plan are a 2.2%
stake in the New York-listed satellite phone network
Iridium LLC, a 52.5% stake in PT Bakrie Sumatera
Plantation, a 70% stake in PT Bakrie Electronics Co., a 20%
stake in coal miner PT Arutmin Indonesia and a 25.54% stake
in PT Bakrie Kasei Corp.Bakrie has said several times over
the past two years that it had reached agreement in
principle with its creditors on a debt-restructuring deal,
but it has yet to reach a final accord. (The Asian Wall
Street Journal  22-March-2000)

PT BERKATAMA RAYA FINAN.: Faces asset seizure or bankruptcy
PT BII FINANCE: Faces asset seizure or bankruptcy
PT CENTRIS MULTI FINAN.: Faces asset seizure or bankruptcy
PT PUTRA SURYA MULTIDANA: Faces asset seizure or bankruptcy
-----------------------------------------------------------
Indonesia Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) has threatened
either to seize the collateral or file bankruptcy petitions
against seven companies if they fail to reach an agreement
on how to settle their debts to the agency, Mr. Andreas
said. The seven companies include PT Berkatama Raya
Finance, PT BII Finance, PT Centris Multi Finance, and PT
Putra Surya Multidana, which are all finance companies.

Meanwhile, Indonesian banks have transferred a total of 250
trillion rupiah ($33.6 billion) in nonperforming loans to
IBRA as of Tuesday, an official with IBRA said. Andreas
Bunanta, a top executive at IBRA's department of loan
workouts and collections, said the amount rose after PT
Bank Negara Indonesia transferred more than 19 trillion
rupiah of its nonperforming loans to IBRA last week.
several other banks are ready to transfer nonperforming
loans to IBRA.

The debt that Bank Negara more recently transferred to IBRA
included around 15 trillion rupiah of bad loans that were
made to the Texmaco group of companies, Indonesia's largest
textile concern, Mr. Andreas said.

"The latest transfer of Texmaco debt to IBRA makes Texmaco
IBRA's largest debtor, with outstanding debt of 19 trillion
rupiah," he said, adding that Texmaco had already owed
around four trillion rupiah to IBRA before the latest
transfer of loans.

Mr. Anreas said he expects statement PT Bank Mandiri to
transfer 16.5 trillion rupiah of nonperforming loans by the
end of the month. State-owned PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia and
PT Bank Tabungan Negara will also soon transfer bad debt,
but Mr. Andreas said he didn't know yet how much their
transfers would total.

IBRA was set up by the government to recover domestic
banks' bad debts and around 164 trillion rupiah in
government emergency funds that were injected into several
domestic banks from late 1997 through early 1998.  Pandu
Djajanto, who heads the legal bureau of IBRA, said the
agency will ask the government to enanct a law legitimizing
its existence to give its decisions more credibility. IBRA
was created by a government decree, giving it less than
statutory status.

"We hope that the government and the legislators will
approve our proposal to give more legitimacy to our efforts
to resolve bank and corporate problems," Mr. Pandu said.
(The Asian Wall Street Journal  22-March-2000)

PT NEWMONT MINAHASA RAYA: Gov't wants non-court settlement
----------------------------------------------------------
Minister of Mines and Energy Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
emphasized on Thursday that the tax dispute between gold
mining company PT Newmont Minahasa Raya and the Minahasa
regency in North Sulawesi should be resolved through an out
of court settlement.

He called on the regency administration to stop pursing its
litigation efforts against the company and solve the
dispute out of court.

Bambang said a coordinating team comprised of officials
from the Ministry of Mines and Energy, the Ministry of Home
Affairs, the North Sulawesi provincial and the Minahasa
regency administrations, as well as from Newmont, were now
engaged in discussions in order to resolve their dispute.

"We're taking reconciliatory steps and will honor whatever
the results (of the discussions) are," Bambang told
reporters following the inauguration of several new
directorate generals at his ministry.

The regency last year filed a lawsuit against Newmont in
the Tondano District Court following Newmont's refusal to
pay C-class taxes, levied for the exploitation of
industrial minerals and building materials. The regency
demanded Rp 61 billion (US$8.4 million) in overdue taxes.

Newmont said the taxes were not included in the contract of
work (COW) it had signed with the government.  It admitted
removing overburden containing sand, gravel and stones, but
it did so to access the gold ore beneath and did not make
commercial use of the removed material.

The Tondano court issued in January a temporary ruling to
bar the company from operating its gold mine until the
court completes the hearing of the case.  Newmont said
Monday during the hearing with the House of
Representatives' Commission VIII for mines and energy that
the Manado High Court had upheld the suspension ruling,
allowing the district court to execute the ruling.

"We can understand the regency's move to file the lawsuit,
but if the current negotiations work we will have a new
agreement to act on," Bambang said.

He said he could not predict the results of the
negotiations, but added Newmont's contract emphasized out
of court solutions to to disputes.  He commented that
should the negotiations fail both parties could seek
litigation.

"This (the litigation process) has to be conducted through
an arbitration or a justice institution approved by both
sides," he said.

Newmont spokesperson Yonaniko Salim said the coordinating
team was at present in Minahasa to assess the C-class
mining products extracted by the company.  According to
her, the nine-strong team started working in mid-March and
would stay in Minahasa for two weeks.

She said the company was waiting for the Tondano District
Court officials to temporarily close down its operation
following the Manado High Court's recent approval of the
decision.  Newmont Minahasa Raya is 80 percent owned by the
Denver-based Newmont Mining Corporation and 20 percent by
Tanjung Sarapung, which is controlled by local miner Yusuf
Merukh.  (The Jakarta Post  24-March-2000)

PT TEXMACO GROUP: IMF backs govt trade credits for it
-----------------------------------------------------
Government moves to channel further trade credit to the
bankrupt Texmaco Group are necessary to maintain the value
of the conglomerate while it is in state hands,
International Monetary Fund senior resident representative
in Indonesia John Dodsworth said.

The group is now effectively under the supervision of the
Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency after 15 trln rupiah
of its bad loans was transferred to the body from state
banks.

"I'm not involved in decisions as to credits being given
but I can see a good reason for why credits would be given
to preserve the assets of Texmaco during the period under
which it is being restructured," Dodsworth told an American
Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia luncheon."

Every company needs to have working capital. We have to try
to maximise the value of the assets that have fallen into
the state's hands," he said. "It doesn't make sense to say:
'Because you're under IBRA, you don't have any more working
capital'." (World Reporter  22-March-2000)


=========
J A P A N
=========

ASK CORP.: To merge with other loss-maker in Oct.
ASANO SLATE CO.: To merge with other loss-maker in Oct.
-------------------------------------------------------
Ask Corp. (5391) and Asano Slate Co. (5272), two producers
of slate and other building materials in the Taiheiyo
Cement Corp. (5233) group, will merge on Oct. 1, company
sources said.

The union is at the request of the parent, which wants the
two firms to shed overlapping facilities to help beef up
overall group performance.  Ask and Asano Slate approved
the merger at separate extraordinary board meetings the
same day. Both companies expect to post pretax loss for the
term ending March 31.

Ask is expected to be the surviving entity, but the share-
swap ratio, capitalization and the name of the new concern
will be subject to further talks.

Taiheiyo Cement is the top shareholder in both firms,
holding a 29.5% stake in Ask and 61.6% in Asano Slate.
Ask is Japan's top slate manufacturer and is listed on the
first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, while Asano
Slate, listed on the TSE's second section, is the second-
largest producer. The merged company is expected to hold a
share of just under 60% of the domestic slate market, with
annual sales running to over 50 billion yen.

Construction investment and prices remain in a slump and
there is no prospect for a recovery in the slate market
within the near future, industry analysts said. (Nikkei
22-March-2000)

BHARAT HEAVY ELECTRICALS LTD: Bhel consortium faces penalty
FUJI ELECTRIC OF JAPAN: Bhel consortium faces penalty
ITOCHU: Bhel consortium faces penalty
-----------------------------------------------------------
The West Bengal Power Development Corporation (WBPDCL) is
preparing to slap a huge liquidated damage of nearly Rs 60
crore on the consortium made up of Itochu, Fuji Electric of
Japan and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (Bhel) for the
latter's alleged failure to hand over the first unit of the
Bakreswar thermal power plant within 42 months.

The consortium, however, is sure to fight the penalty claim
tooth and nail. The onus of proving that the consortium
alone was responsible for the delay will be on WBPDCL.
Power industry sources said the delay has been due to a
variety of reasons, all of which are not attributable to
the consortium.

The WBPDCL has been received a pat in the back from the
Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (formerly
OECF), which has lent money to cover 85 per cent of the
project, for best utilisation of funds among all JBIC-
funded projects. It will be quite an irony if the 20-week
delay in the same power project causes payment of
liquidated damages.

Under the terms of agreement between the corporation and
the consortium for supply and erection of the turbines and
boilers of the first three Bakreswar units, the consortium
was to have handed over the first unit within 42 months of
zero date. A failure will mean charging of penalty at the
rate of one-quarter per cent of the value of the contract
every week.

In this case, the contract was awarded to the consortium
for the first two units together for a value of Rs 1180
crore. The realisable maximum liquidated damage, however,
is limited to 10 per cent of the contract value. In this
case, the scheduled hand-over date expired on November
30, 1999.

If things progress without further hiccups, the consortium
may hand over unit I around April 18. This will mean a full
20 week delay. At the rate of Rs 2.9 crore per week, the
liquidated damage for 20 weeks will be Rs 58 crore.

Though Itochu was the consortium leader, the order was
shared between Bhel (80 per cent and Fuji (20 per cent). It
is unclear how the three will share the penalty burden if
they are indeed found guilty of delay. The delay was all
the more unfortunate in view of the consortium being
able to synchronise the unit in 37 months and 17 days - a
national record.

One of the main reasons for subsequent delay was due to
delayed completion of the coal mills. Ordering for the
mills on Mitsui Babcock, UK, was delayed as the Polish
government had approached the Government of India
requesting for the order. Delay in acquiring land for the
ash pond was further aggravated due to unprecedented rains
in September-October.

Even as the consortium was readying to go for the statutory
14-day trial run, an accident shut down the unit on
February 16. Preliminary findings point out to a
manufacturing fault at Bhel's Hardwar works.  It is
suspected that a bolt in the generator's rotor got loosened
and hit the stator causing electrical fault.  (Business
Standard  18-March-2000)

HIKARI TSUSHIN INC.: Stock falls sharply
SOFTBANK CORP.: Stock fall sharply
----------------------------------------
Japanese Internet-related stocks fell, led by Softbank
Corp. and Hikari Tsushin Inc., as investors sold some of
last-year's best performing stocks before next week's
fiscal year-end.

"The first stage of dot.com fever is over," said Minoru
Tada, a manager at World Nichiei Securities Co.'s equity
department, referring to Internet businesses. "Investors
are about to finish their preparation for year-end book-
closing."

Softbank, one of the world's largest backers of Internet
businesses, fell for third day, declining 2,500 yen to
98,500. It has now lost 22 percent since Tuesday's close,
erasing a 40 percent gain in the previous five days.
Hikari Tsushin, a mobile phone subscription service with
investments in Internet-related companies, was bid down as
potential sellers outweighed the number of investors
prepared to buy.

Nippon Telegraph & Telephone, the world's largest phone
company, gained 30,000 yen to 1.53 million, extending
yesterday's 8 percent gain. (Bloomberg  23-March-2000)

ISHIKAWAJIMA HARIMA HEAVY INDUS.CO.: To post $720M loss
-------------------------------------------------------
Ishikawajima Harima Heavy Industries Co. (TSE:7013)
reported Tuesday it will post group net loss of 76 billion
yen (US$720 million), 69 billion yen more than an earlier
projection, for the year through March 31.

The larger-than-expected loss is attributed to 113.8
billion yen in extraordinary loss, 97 billion yen of which
will be booked as provisions to cover retirement pay
obligations.  Parent-only extraordinary loss will amount to
101.4 billion yen and net loss is projected at 67 billion
yen, 59 billion yen more than earlier forecast.

IHI will cancel dividend payout for the first time in 12
years. Apart from covering retirement fund shortfalls, 9.5
billion yen of the special loss will go toward covering of
losses on plant construction projects in Southeast Asia and
Japan. Also included in the extraordinary loss will be 3
billion yen to cover costs from disposing of some plants
and equipment and 1.5 billion yen loss accrued from the
liquidation of affiliates.

While the largest ever net loss at IHI will reduce
stockholders' equity at the parent by some 60 billion yen
to about 120 billion yen, the company "will front load loss
disposal to avoid dragging loss into future years," a
senior executive said.

Consolidated sales for fiscal 1999 are projected to shrink
5% to 1 trillion yen, with group pretax loss growing to 11
billion yen, up from an earlier projected 9 billion yen.

The company also lowered its parent-only sales projection
to 810 billion yen from 835 billion yen and revised its
pretax loss forecast to 15 billion yen from 13 billion yen.
(Asia Pulse  22-March-2000)

MINAMI SECURITIES CO.: Declared insolvent
-----------------------------------------
Tokyo District Court has declared Minami Securities Co.
insolvent with liabilities worth about 18 billion yen,
Teikoku Data Bank Ltd. said Tuesday.

To protect clients' assets, the Financial Supervisory
Agency and the Finance Ministry's Kanto Local Finance
Bureau on March 6 called for bankruptcy proceedings to be
initiated against the Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture-based
Minami, which they claimed had a negative net worth.

Minami, established in September 1960, was acquired by its
current president, Koichi Hirata, in June 1999. Hirata has
been charged by a court-appointed administrator of Minami's
assets with taking away about 3 billion yen worth of stock
certificates and other securities of clients.

Last week, the authorities filed criminal charges with
police against the brokerage house over its alleged
unauthorized corporate bond sales. (Jiji Press English News
Service  21-March-2000)

NAGASAKIYA CO.: To be rehabilitated by US group
-----------------------------------------------
Japan's collapsed supermarket operator, Nagasakiya Co.
Ltd., will be rehabilitated with the help of US investment
group Cerberus, reports said Thursday.

Cerberus will inject fresh capital into Nagasakiya and was
looking for a Japanese partner to run the retailer, Jiji
Press and Kyodo News agency said.  The US group has told
Nagasakiya's court-appointed administrator its plan was
to help the company, which went under with combined debts
of 432.4 billion yen (4.0 billion dollars), the reports
said.

Nagasakiya filed for court protection from creditors under
the corporate rehabilitation law in February, effectively
declaring bankruptcy. Cerberus hopes to revive the retailer
and list it on the stock exchange again, the reports said.
(Agence France Presse  23-March-2000)

WEST JAPAN RAILWAY CO.: Estimates pension gap at 300B Yen
---------------------------------------------------------
West Japan Railway Co. (9021) estimates that it has
unfunded pension and severance liabilities of about 300
billion yen according to new accounting standards that take
effect next fiscal year.

The company, commonly known as JR West, plans to eliminate
this shortfall by writing off 25 billion yen each year for
the next 12 years. Although this will have a negative
impact on earnings, the company hopes this will be
mitigated by declining labor expenses.

JR West expects about 2,000 employees to leave the company
each year for the next 10 years. At the same time, it plans
to hire about 600 new graduates a year.

The company had set aside 211.5 billion yen as a reserve
for retirement allowances at the end of last fiscal year,
but it estimates its liability at about 500 billion yen,
assuming a discount rate of 3%.  (Nikkei  24-March-2000)

YURAKU REAL ESTATE CO.: To dispose of unrealized losses
-------------------------------------------------------
Yuraku Real Estate Co. (8838) said Thursday that it will in
the year ending March 31 dispose of 1.6 billion yen in
unrealized losses from property for sale that has a market
value more than 50% below the book value.

The company also plans to write off 1.6 billion yen in
unfunded retirement payout liabilities and book a 500
million yen loss against loan loss reserves.  As a result,
the firm's extraordinary loss is expected to increase by
3.7 billion yen from the original estimate.
(Nikkei  24-March-2000)


=========
K O R E A
=========

DAEWOO GROUP: Drops $38M plan for Polish pig farm
-------------------------------------------------
Daewoo-FSO, the Polish subsidiary of the embattled South
Korean conglomerate Daewoo, has abandoned plans to spend
38-million dollars (euros) building Poland's biggest pig
farm, a company spokesman said on Friday.

"The cancellation is part of Daewoo's new logic which
consists of concentrating on autombile production," the
company spokesman said.

The planned farm, which would have raised 250,000 pigs and
been the largest farm of its kind in Poland, was due to be
built on land which Daewoo inherited when it took over the
FSO car factory.  Daewoo saw a big drop in Polish sales in
February, which are down 32 percent since the saem time
last year, due mainly to doubts over the future of the
company, analysts said.

The South Korean company, however, managed to hold second
place in the Polish market behind Fiat of Italy. (Malaysia
Jaring  25-March-2000)

KOOKMIN BANK: Posts consolidated annual loss
--------------------------------------------
Kookmin Bank, South Korea's biggest commercial bank
reported a consolidated loss in 1999 as affiliates like
Kookmin Leasing saw poor results.

Korean banks were required to report results including
subsidiaries where they control the management for the
first time in 1999 to give a better picture of their
financial health. The bank posted a net consolidated loss
of 27.8B won last year, compared with unconsolidated profit
of 107.9B won, according to its annual report.  The 1999
consolidated loss was smaller than its loss of 321.9B won
compiled on a similar basis for 1998.

SAMSUNG MOTOR INC.: Politics plays role in sale
-----------------------------------------------
South Korean politics - and regional rivalries - are
playing a prominent role in the delicate negotiations for
the sale of Samsung Motor Inc., a symbol of the economic
crisis that overwhelmed the national economy in 1997.

As the creditor banks that own Samsung Motor prepare for a
new round in deadlocked negotiations next week with Renault
in Paris, residents of the southeastern port of Pusan, the
site of the company's costly new plant, are turning up the
heat on the national government to seal a deal. With
elections for the National Assembly next month, the
government fears it will be unable to increase its support
in Pusan if a sale fails to come to fruition.

In a direct challenge to President Kim Dae Jung, a
citizens' committee from Pusan has warned that the Pusan
plant would cease to exist and ''turn into scrap iron'' if
the deal fell through.

The warning worries Mr. Kim, who is already viewed with
distrust in Pusan if only because his power base is the
relatively poor Cholla region on the opposite side of the
Korean Peninsula. Mr. Kim, anxious to show he is president
of "all Koreans," hopes his governing party will make
inroads into the opposition machine that dominates the
southeastern region in elections next month for all seats
in the National Assembly.

The South Korean finance minister, Lee Hun Jai, suggested
the overriding importance of domestic politics, stating
flatly that Mr. Kim "wishes and expects the Samsung Motor
issue will be completed as soon as possible for the economy
of the Pusan region."

Against this background, Mr. Lee saw a solution in
Renault's bid for Samsung Motor, into which the Samsung
chairman, Lee Kun Hee, invested $5 billion before giving it
up last year.

"I strongly believe there will be a compromise," said Mr.
Lee, observing that ''the government of Pusan wants to find
a buyer for Samsung to restore the economy of Pusan."

The opposition Grand National Party, sure of its dominant
position in Pusan, criticized the government for showing
weakness - and has turned the issue into a springboard for
criticism of Mr. Kim's economic policies.

"Samsung Motors is a life-or-death issue for the citizens
of Pusan," said Park Shin Il, an aide to the party
chairman, Lee Hoi Chang, whom Mr. Kim defeated in the 1997
presidential election. "An appropriate, fair and legitimate
price ought to be obtained. Our party accuses the
government of failing to secure a fair price for business
and industry."

How long the government-controlled Hanvit Bank, as Samsung
Motor's leading creditor, can resist Renault's offer of
$450 million for the plant is not clear. Hanvit executives
said they would not back down on their demand for more than
$600 million, but they might not find another buyer.

The Pusan committee to save the company has declared
Renault "the only alternative to resuscitate Samsung
Motor."

Parts suppliers warned of bankruptcies among several
hundred companies responsible for producing components that
go into Samsung cars.  Analysts believe the government,
through its power over Hanvit Bank, will have the final
word.

"It's a waiting game," said Richard Samuelson, director of
Warburg, Dillon Read Securities here. "Clearly the
government has the power. They want to maximize the price."

Mr. Lee, comparing the deal to the sale of Korea First Bank
to Newbridge Capital Ltd. last year, said: "When we
negotiated with Newbridge Capital, they proposed conditions
we could not meet. We reached agreement. Both parties
compromised somewhat."  (The International Herald Tribune
24-March-2000)

SSANGYONG CEMENT: Close to signing foreign investment deal
----------------------------------------------------------
Ssangyong Cement is close to attracting equity investment
worth $330 million from a foreign cement firm, company
President Myung Ho-kun said yesterday.

"We are a few steps short of concluding a deal," Myung
said. "I am planning to visit the United States next month
to sign a basic contract and expect to receive investment
funds before the end of this June."

He said the foreign investor and its advisor Merrill Lynch
have accepted Ssangyong's proposals.  Ssangyong plans to
hand over common shares worth $150 million and preferred
stock worth $150 million to the foreign investor, which
Myung declined to identify.

The foreign partner will have a controlling stake but the
two sides will name an equal number of directors for joint
management of the company, Myung said.

"Upon completion of the deal, we are planning to repurchase
company shares from the exchange and scrap them to boost
share prices," Myung said.

He added that the company will spin off its ferrite
magnetic and fine ceramic divisions by the end of June for
listing on the Kosdaq market in April next year.  If the
restructuring plans are implemented as planned, the company
will be able to reduce its net loss to 76.6 billion won
this year and achieve profits of 95.1 billion won on sales
of 1.51 trillion won next year, said Myung. (The Korea
Herald  24-March-2000)


===============
M A L A Y S I A
===============

TONGKAH HOLDINGS: Posts 2nd quarter loss
---------------------------------------
Tongkah Holdings Bhd saw RM92.274 million in group pretax
loss in the second quarter period ended Dec 31, 1999 on the
back of RM89.1 million in group turnover.

There were no comparative results given for the previous
corresponding second quarter.  In its unaudited results
issued Wednesday, Tongkah said group turnover was
contributed by its manufacturing division while the pre-tax
loss was caused by exceptional items.

The exceptional items were brought about by write-off of
the difference between the nominal value of
bonds/Irredemable Convertible Unsecured Loan Stocks
(ICULS) issued and the secured and unsecured loans.
(Asia Pulse  23-March-2000)


=====================
P H I L I P P I N E S
=====================

NATIONAL POWER CORP.: May soon be put on auction block
------------------------------------------------------
Energy Secretary Mario V. Tiaoqui yesterday said the
government may soon be able to privatize the National Power
Corp. (Napocor), given Congress' commitment to pass the
Omnibus Power bill by June this year.

"Congress has committed to pass the Omnibus Power bill by
the second quarter of this year. There has been a lot of
discussions on the bill, particularly in the House of
Representatives, so I guess they're really looking at the
second quarter (as their target date)," Mr. Tiaoqui told
BusinessWorld.

The proposed Omnibus Reform Act or House Bill 8457 seeks to
restructure and liberalize the country's power industry to
promote inflow of capital and eventually lower power rates.
The bill also contains the proposed guidelines for the
privatization of Napocor.

Mr. Tiaoqui said Congress' commitment to approving the
Omnibus Power bill by June this year is a positive
development for the power sector. Mr. Tiaoqui added that
the reform bill is now "badly needed" in the power sector.

"As you well know, (Napocor) is presently funding its
capital requirements mainly through borrowings. And it is
now so heavily indebted that its capacity to fund future
projects has diminished," Mr. Tiaoqui said.

During his speech at the Via Mare penthouse in Ortigas,
Pasig City, Mr. Tiaoqui, however, noted that while
Napocor's privatization will "free the government from
financial responsibility over system expansion and market
risks," it will not totally end the government's
participation in the power sector.

"The Department of Energy, on the other hand, will
continnue to provide policy directions to ensure greater
private sector participation and adequate and reliable
supply of electricity," he added.  (Business World  24-
March-2000)

VICTORIAS MILLING CO.: Aggrivating finances with incentives
-----------------------------------------------------------
Cash-strapped sugar firm Victorias Milling Co. (VMC) may be
aggravating its current financial problems with its
aggressive bid to attract more sugarcane planter clients.

The mill has increased its trucking allowance incentive for
sugarcane planters to entice more of them to mill with VMC,
the country's largest sugar processing firm.  A mill
usually extends trucking allowances to planters to
encourage their continued availment of the mill's services.

For one month from March 6 up to April 6, VMC will grant
its planter clients a PhP200 trucking allowance per metric
ton (MT) of sugarcane delivered to its plant site in the
Victorias-Manapla-Cadiz milling district.  The amount
represents a 30% hike over its previous rate of PhP150 per
MT.

With the increase, VMC aims to process more canes which
will enable the firm to improve its earnings and its
overall financial state.  However, some industry players
think the scheme will be doing the already debt-ridden mill
more harm than good.

One Negros Occidental-based sugarcane planter said VMC's
move could trigger larger financial losses for the company
since it will represent an additional expense for the firm.
Citing rough computations, the planter said VMC could lose
up to PhP200 per metric ton of cane that it processes with
its bigger trucking allowance.

"VMC earns an average of PhP335 in gross sales per metric
ton of sugarcane that it mills. Now, VMC's average overhead
cost per metric ton of cane is P500, including the PhP200
trucking allowance. So that means lugi ang VMC (VMC is
losing) ng PhP165 per metric ton," the source explained.

Even given its previous trucking allowance of PhP150, the
source noted, VMC is already losing an average of PhP115
per metric ton of cane that it mills.  VMC is currently
saddled with a huge PhP6.5-billion debt (US$159 million at
PhP40.867:US$1), inclusive of interest.

The planter said the increased trucking allowance will mean
that VMC will effectively have to shell out close to an
additional PhP20 million ($489,392)for the whole one-month
target period, an amount which it could instead use for
other important expenditures like its yearly repairs.

"Victorias can ill afford it. Victorias is already buried
deep in debt and yet it is still bold enough to grant this
big an incentive," the planter told BusinessWorld in a
telephone interview. "As a planter, you'd be happy with
that but if you're a stockholder, you'd wonder why they
would have to do that when Victorias anyway is efficient.
When you're efficient, the planters will always come to you
even without that (incentive) because they know they'd get
more sugar from their cane," the source said.

Instead of giving out the additional PhP20 million for the
planters' trucking allowance, the source said, Victorias
should use the amount to finance the repair of its steam
turbine generator which recently broke down. The steam
turbine generator powers VMC's refinery.

"Some of the VMC's stockholders here are now worrying that
VMC might not have enough money for necessary repairs
during the off-season," the source said. "What happens?
That adversely affects your operations for the next crop
season."

The source did not say how much repairs for the generator
will cost. Sugar mills traditionally close down in July to
undertake their yearly maintenance repairs. Industry
sources said VMC jacked up its trucking allowance in
response to the move of two other mills -- First Farmers
Milling Corp. and Lopez Sugar Corp. -- to offer free
transport services to sugarcane planters. (Business World
24-March-2000)

WESTMONT INVESTMENT CORP.: Senate to probe its liquidity
--------------------------------------------------------
The Senate has set its own investigation into cash-strapped
Westmont Investment Corp. (Wincorp) for possible violation
of general banking rules.

Senator Gregorio B. Honasan, who sought the probe, accused
the investment house of accepting deposits for lending,
allegedly in violation of its license.

"Wincorp is not allowed to accept deposits for the purpose
of lending because it does not have a quasi-banking
license," the solon said in a newly filed resolution.

Mr. Honasan said Wincorp has been offering five-year long-
term commercial papers (LTCP) to clients with a promise to
buy them back after 30 days. The company's cash woes,
however, has prevented it from paying investors in full.

"Based on unaudited figures, Wincorp lent 7.1 billion
Philippine peso (PhP) (US$173.7 million at PhP40.867:US$1)
worth of funds from 1,300 investors," the solon said.

Of the total amount extended to at least 21 firms, PhP6.9
billion ($168.8 million) was funded by 1,200 individual
investors while PhP200 million ($4.9 million) was funded by
100 corporate investors.

Under Republic Act 586, an investment firm found to have
accepted unauthorized deposits face a fine of PhP50,000
($1,223) to P200,000 ($4,894), Mr. Honasan said.

Aside from the Senate, Malaca¤ang, the Bangko Sentral and
the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are all
conducting probes into the investment house's financial
problems.  The SEC will turn over to the Bangko Sentral its
audit findings and recommendations on Wincorp by next week.

"Much attention has been given to the BW case, but we have
also been working on Wincorp. However, our audit just
started last week and so we have nothing concrete as of
now. Next week, we will be ready to submit our
recommendations," said an SEC official, requesting
anonymity, referring to the statements made by the Bangko
Sentral that the Wincorp case has been gathering dust at
the SEC. (Business World  24-March-2000)


=================
S I N G A P O R E
=================

HIN LEONG TRADING:Denies any part in illegal Iraqi oil deal
-----------------------------------------------------------
Local oil trader Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd has denied any
involvement in a conspiracy to illegally purchase Iraqi
oil.

Three Asian businessmen, including a former Thai deputy
finance minister and a Singaporean, were detained by US
Customs agents on Tuesday on charges of conspiring to
illegally purchase Iraqi oil on behalf of Hin Leong,
documents from the US District Court in San Diego said.

When contacted yesterday, Hin Leong's spokesman said: "As
far as Hin Leong is concerned, we did not appoint anyone as
representative." He said Hin Leong was approached by a Thai
individual named Ted in December who said he was acting on
behalf of a US company with Iranian fuel oil available for
export.

"At that time, we said we would consider buying the oil if
it could be delivered to Singapore with the proper legal
documentation and quality," said the spokesman. "From the
documents he represented to us, the cargo was of Iranian
origin. We had no knowledge that the cargo had any
connection with Iraq."

The spokesman added: "We provided Ted with a draft contract
for him to procure the seller's signature. He did not do so
to our knowledge, and as far as we were concerned, that was
the close of the matter.  However, he may have used our
draft contract to hold himself out as our representative.
Ted was not our representative, he was representing the
seller."

The three men were arrested after a four-year sting
investigation into efforts to import Iraqi oil into
Thailand, which would violate United Nations (UN) sanctions
on Iraqi oil exports.

In court documents, Thai national Amnard Vorachard was
accused of acting as a broker for the purchase of Iraqi
oil. He negotiated with an undercover US Customs agent
posing as a black market Iraqi oil seller and planned to
draft false Iranian oil certificates to sell 1.2 million
barrels of Iraqi oil.

Also arrested were Thai national Surasak Nananukool, a
former deputy finance minister, and Singaporean Simon Tan,
US Customs officials said.  A Singapore Ministry of Foreign
Affairs spokeswoman said the ministry was aware of the
case, but did not have further information on Mr Tan.

The US and many other countries imposed an embargo on Iraqi
oil exports after the Gulf War, which followed Iraq's
invasion of Kuwait in 1990. (Singapore Business Times  25-
March-2000)

LAM SOON CANNERY PTE LTD: Sibling feud threatens viability
----------------------------------------------------------
A family feud is threatening to break up one of
Singapore's most famous brand names -- Lam Soon, known for
its cooking oil, soap and vegetable oil products.

The two protagonists, Whang Tar Choung, 77, and Whang Tar
Liang, 73, are sons of Lam Soon founder Ng Keng Soon.
Tar Liang is suing elder brother Tar Choung and his
children to have their family-owned holding company Lam
Soon Cannery Pte Ltd wound up so that he and his family can
go their own way.

The case, expected to be heard in the High Court next week,
revolves around allegations of mismanagement. The younger
Whang is charging that his older brother and his son, Wong
Siong Tiat alias Whang Sun Tze, have mismanaged things so
badly that Tar Choung has had to bring in an outside party
to help pay off the companies' debts.

According to the petition in the High Court, Tar Choung and
his companies owe the banks about $20 million. One of his
main companies, Metal Containers Group, run by Sun Tze,
owes another $40 million or so. Metal Containers also had
accumulated losses of nearly $63 million as at end 1998.

To repay the debts, 7.5 acres of residential land in Upper
East Coast Road and 19 acres of freehold land in Jalan
Jurong Kechil were sold for $25.5 million and $95 million
respectively. The Jurong site was where the soap and oil
manufacturing plant stood on and is now the site of
Signature Park condominium.

The Singapore suit comes in the wake of legal and corporate
battles in Thailand where Tar Liang and his allies ousted
his brother's representatives on their Thai company's
board.

Also at the centre of the feud is Tar Choung's Malaysian
ally, Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd, a listed Malaysian oil
palm plantation group. Tar Liang, who was in charge of the
group's Malaysian and Thai operations, says in court papers
that the family business is being broken up by the entry of
Hap Seng into the Lam Soon Group, including Tar Choung's
family holding company, T C Whang & Co (Pte) Ltd.

Tar Liang, a chemistry graduate from Berkeley University in
California, wants Lam Soon Cannery wound up so that Hap
Seng won't be able to take control of the other companies
in the group.

There are also civil suits pending in the Malaysian High
Court between the two parties.  Tar Liang claims that had
the sites been developed by themselves as they had
originally planned into residential units, Lam Soon would
have enjoyed between $150 million and $200 million in
profits.

The Lam Soon Cannery Company -- Lam meaning south in
Hokkien and Soon the last name of the founder -- was
started by Keng Soon in 1929. Over the years shares were
given to other members of the family, and the company
became an investment holding company owning shares in the
operating companies of the family.

Eventually, Tar Choung (and his family), being the elder
son, controlled 53 per cent of Cannery and Tar Liang and
his family, 47 per cent.

Tar Liang discloses in his petition: "Being essentially a
family business, the company was operated on the basis of
mutual trust and confidence ... In summary, the company is
run like a typical Chinese family business on traditional
lines, with the entire responsibility for the progress and
administration of the business resting on the two elder
sons, who at all material times conducted the business with
the interest of the family in mind. If informalities were
at times overlooked, this was never done with a view to
prejudicing anyone."

However, things have now changed dramatically, as is
reflected in the conclusion of Tar Liang's petition.

"WTC's (Whang Tar Choung) conduct with regard to the issue
of the trademarks, his suit against me in Malaysia over the
debenture, our disagreement over the conduct and management
of the affairs of the family business, his inviting Hap
Seng (a complete stranger and most of all a competitor to
our family business in Malaysia) to the Lam Soon group, his
removal of me as a director of LSCM (Lam Soon Cannery
Malaysia) and his obvious alignment of his interests with
Hap Seng against me lead me to the inevitable conclusion
that the trust and confidence which had subsisted between
the shareholders and on which the company had been founded
no longer exists."

Seven other parties including Sun Tze and other members of
Tar Choung's family have been named as respondents.
(Singapore Business Times  24-March-2000)


===============
T H A I L A N D
===============

BUMRUNGRAD HOSPITAL: Share listing approved by SET
--------------------------------------------------
Bumrungrad Hospital's new shares have been approved for
listing by the Stock Exchange of Thailand following the
completion of its capital-increase process.

Bumrungrad Hospital was among a number of companies
considering delisting and its shares were suspended for 30
days until April 4 to give the company's management time to
decide whether to propose business rehabilitation to the
companies' shareholders, whether to ask for voluntary
delisting, or whether to go for other options which would
benefit all shareholders.

The SET will allow trading of the company's shares, under
the REHABCO sector, from April 5 to May 4. The shares will
be suspended again from May 8 until the company's operating
results return to positive territory for at least two
consecutive quarters. (The Nation  24-March-2000)

ITV: Debt restructure to reduce shareholders' stake to 1%
---------------------------------------------------------
Major shareholders of iTV will see their stake cut from 10%
to 1% under a debt-restructuring deal with Siam Commercial
Bank.

The deal comes as the Nation Multimedia Group, which holds
a 10% stake in the television station, prepares to pull out
its programmes and staff from iTV after months of
acrimonious debate over the restructuring plan.  A meeting
between iTV management and Siam Commercial Bank over the
debt-restructuring is scheduled today, with an iTV board
meeting set for tomorrow.

Siam Commercial Bank, which also holds 10% of iTV, is
pressing a reduction of capital from one billion baht to
100 million baht, with the proceeds used to retire
outstanding debt of around four billion baht. The bank
would then swop some debt for equity, followed by a share
sale to a strategic foreign investor.

"In any case, the bank maintains a policy to continue Thai
ownership of iTV," one executive said. "A public offering
is certain, but probably won't happen for three years. But
for now, we need to complete the restructuring by mid-
year." iTV faces a concession payment of 800 million baht
due in May.

On Tuesday, iTV news director Thepchai Yong called a
meeting with 100 staff to announce his resignation, citing
pressure from management which had affected the quality of
news.  Mr Thepchai, a former Nation executive, told staff
the station's coverage of the senate elections was the
breaking point, saying he believed coverage had fallen
behind that of channels 7 and 9.

After the announcement, iTV news editors, most of whom are
former staff members of the Nation, persuaded Mr Thepchai
to reverse his decision.  On Monday, Nation executives had
agreed to pull from iTV their staff and news programmes.

Original plans had called for Mr Thepchai to set up a
company to produce documentaries. Other news staff would
rejoin the Nation Group to help develop UBC Channel 8. The
Nation plans to launch a full news service on UBC on March
30. One iTV board member said the withdrawal of the Nation
would have little impact. Programming policy would continue
to follow a mix of 70% news and 30% entertainment.

"The justification cited by Mr Thepchai is nonsense," one
director said. "iTV is confident it has the staff to cope
if the Nation does pull out."

Reports that iTV management had benefited in equipment
purchases leading to the station's financial troubles were
part of a smear campaign, another executive said, noting
that Nation editor-in-chief Suthichai Yoon had sat on the
station's purchasing committee. (Bangkok Post  23-March-
2000)

PHILIPP HOZMANN (THAI) LTD.: Downsizing, reducing debt
------------------------------------------------------
Many high-flying foreign construction firms have built
their empires on Thailand's promising construction
industry. However, some of them have taken a hard tumble.
Take the case of Philipp Holzmann (Thai) Ltd.  The company
is downsizing its operation and reducing its activities as
a general contractor in the Thai construction business.

"We are now studying possibilities to do other businesses
with our more limited resources. It may be construction
consultancy or we may sell some of our technologies and
expertise to interested people over the next six to nine
months," said Peter Kirketerp, the company's managing
director.

Philipp Holzmann (Thai) was established in 1989 with full
support from its German parent firm, Philipp Holzmann AG,
to compete with Thai rivals.  Holzmann in Germany was
recently brought back from the brink of bankruptcy after
its management and creditor banks agreed on a combination
of state and private aid worth US$2.2 billion, together
with the redundancy of 2,700 employees and reduced wages.

"Although our parent firm is almost bankrupt, we have to
look after the Thai operation and won't leave Thailand,"
said Mr Kirketerp.

The company now has core objectives to pursue unpaid fees
worth 1.7 billion baht from Thai developers, downscale the
organisation and find new business areas that will fit the
changing circumstances.

The debt collection is expected to take one to three years.
Some clients show good intentions to pay debts while some
do not. The company has already proceeded with 12 court
cases against those who refused to take responsibility for
debts even though their construction works are finished.

At the peak of its activities, the company had 800 office
staff and 1,000 construction workers but now it has only 40
people working in the office and 15 workers at construction
sites. Further redundancies will be made this year.

Mr Kirketerp, recalled that the company has been struggling
with financial troubles since 1997. Its problems began at
the same time as the baht float and financial crisis in
mid-1997.  At that time, it had a total of 23 projects on
hand, but after the crisis, 17 projects were suspended or
terminated as their developers were unable to pay money to
the contractor.

Only six projects were handled through to the finish in
1998.  Because of the baht float, the company realised 2.25
billion baht in foreign exchange losses in 1997. The parent
firm fully absorbed the foreign-exchange loss. The firm and
its wholly-owned material supplier subsidiary, CPH Trading
Ltd, posted a net loss of 3.8 billion baht in 1997. The
company has no debts but its accumulated loss at the end of
1999 was almost three billion baht.

"The cash crisis at the Thai subsidiary didn't cause the
collapse of our parent firm, but the top management didn't
have any clear policy to deal with the problems here. They
prolonged the situation for almost three years," said Mr
Kirketerp.

That and the lack of careful analysis of the Thai property
market also contributed to the hardship. The company was
too diversified to bid for new contracts during the
previous property boom.  The investment in prime office
space worth 80 million baht at the Lake Ratchada Building
is now doubtful, with the office market so depreciated.

"We won't bid for any new construction contracts. We will
just wait and see what we should move into," said Mr
Kirketerp.

He admitted that the Thai construction business is highly
competitive and the margin is very low-only 1-2% or 5% at
best.

"We know we can't compete with local giants. The Thai
contractors now can do the work the foreign ones do. They
compete with low prices to do concrete and labour jobs, not
products or technology."

The company is now responsible for only one building
construction project, owned by the Metropolitan Electricity
Authority in the Mor Chit area. This project is expected to
generate income of 50 million baht this year.

However, Mr Kirketerp said there were some chances of work
in the Hopewell project. The stalled transit-system venture
is financially supported by the German bank KfW. If the
project is rehabilitated, the company sees some
opportunities to work on civil projects and construction
management or join with the other contractors to supply
technology or expertise. (Bangkok Post  23-March-2000)

SOMBOON GROUP: Restructure nears completion
-------------------------------------------
Somboon Group, the country's leading car-parts
manufacturer, expects sales growth to reach 30 per cent
this year.

The group is close to concluding debt-restructuring
agreements worth Bt3.5 billion with Bangkok Bank.
Verayut Kitaphanich, Somboon Group president, said the car
market was likely to grow by more than 30 per cent this
year.

He expected his company to record sales worth Bt1.56
billion, compared with Bt1.2 billion in 1999. Also, the
company would expand production capacity by 10 to 20 per
cent in its two subsidiaries - Somboon Advance Technology
Co (SAT) and Somboon Malleable Iron Industrial Co (SMI),
Verayut said.

Its other subsidiary was Bangkok Spring Industrial Co,
which was now operating at 60 per cent capacity.  The
expansion would require the group to invest Bt20 million
this year, after investing Bt100 million last year, Verayut
said. Somboon Group is among three leading spare parts
manufacturers in Thailand, including Summit Auto Parts and
NHK Group. Saddled with US dollar loans, it ran into
financial trouble after the baht's devaluation.

Verayut said that under the debt-restructuring plan, the
creditors would reschedule the repayment period forwards
another five years and reduce interest-rate charges from
minimum lending rate plus one per cent, to the minimum
lending rate alone. This restructuring plan projected the
company would post a sales growth of at least 10 per cent
annually, so that by 2005, it would have total sales
revenue of Bt2 billion.

Verayut said the company would also try to improve its
profit margins by delivering directly to car manufacturers.
These direct sales should account for 30 per cent of the
company's total during the next five years. It currently
represents just five per cent.

At present, Mitsubishi Group is a major customer of the
Somboon Group, accounting for 45 per cent of its total
sales.  Verayut said that after the economic crisis, the
Somboon Group had restructured its operation by reducing
its number of subsidiaries from five to three. This move
reduced its management costs.

At the same time, the company moved to reduce its reliance
on imported components, from 90 per cent to 70 per cent.

"After the company completed its restructuring last year,
we have been able to reduce management costs by 20 per
cent. As a result, the company began to post profit last
year," Verayut said. (The Nation  24-March-2000)

THAI AIRWAYS INT'L: Sale of 23% stake to take six months
--------------------------------------------------------
Thai Airways International (THAI) expects the government's
plan to sell a 23 percent stake in the country's flagship
carrier to be completed within six months, as the airline
needs cash to reduce its debt.

Some 400 million shares - 300 million new and 100 million
existing--will be sold to foreign partners, the public and
employees. The government last week approved the sale,
which will raise about 16.7 billion baht ($441 million),
based on yesterday's closing share price of 41.75 baht.

"Fund from the share sale will strengthen Thai Airways'
financial position at a time when the debt is rising,"
President Thamnoon Wanglee told ITV television network.

At the end of 1999, Thai Airways had a long-term debt of 76
billion baht, which is expected to rise further as the
carrier needs to borrow to finance the purchase of four new
aircraft from US.-based Boeing Co. and Europe's Airbus
Industrie, to be delivered this year.

Under the plan, foreign strategic partners will be allowed
to buy up to 10 percent of the company, and the remaining
13 percent will be offered to the Thai public and the
company's employees. (Business Day  23-March-2000)

THAI AIRWAYS INT'L: SIA denies entering talks on stake
------------------------------------------------------
Singapore Airlines (SIA) has denied a media report that it
was close to acquiring a stake in Thai Airways
International.

"We continue to be interested in joining the Star effort to
bid for a stake in [Thai]," an SIA spokesman said.  "We are
presently waiting for the Thai Government to invite
interested parties to bid."

SIA is expected to join the Star Alliance next month.
Speculation was rife in foreign exchange markets that SIA
was buying Thai baht on Tuesday to pay for a stake in Thai
Airways.  Thai Airways has declined to comment on the
rumours.

The Thai cabinet approved on Tuesday a plan for Thai
Airways to sell 400 million shares held by the finance
ministry to strategic partners and the public later this
year.  Deputy Prime Minister Supachai Panitchpakdi said
that the public share offer could take place within three
months after the flotation plan obtained cabinet approval.

On SIA's talks with Brierley Investments over a possible
stake in Air New Zealand, the spokesman declined to
elaborate except to say "nothing conclusive came out of the
meeting with Brierley."  (South China Morning Post  23-
March-2000)

THAI MILITARY BANK: Plan to be finalised this month
---------------------------------------------------
A 30-billion-baht recapitalisation plan for Thai Military
Bank is expected to clear regulatory hurdles by the end of
the month, members of the Financial Restructuring Advisory
Committee said yesterday.

Thai Military Bank is seeking to raise at least 30 billion
baht in capital. But with market prices for the bank's
shares under 10 baht par value, the management has been
negotiating with regulators to see what additional
incentives can be offered to investors purchasing new
shares.

One option presented by the bank will involve the issue of
one billion new preferred shares in the local market,
raising 10 billion baht in capital.  This would be matched
by another 10 billion baht provided by the Finance Ministry
under terms of the state financial recapitalisation
programme.

The Finance Ministry would also buy new shares matching the
9.9 billion baht in capital raised by Thai Military Bank
last year through the issue of capital securities under a
"Super-Caps" programme.

Local investors buying new preferred shares would be
offered warrants to purchase the Finance Ministry's stake
in the future.  One sticking point, however, is that Thai
Military Bank also wants to issue warrants to investors
covering the preferred shares bought by the ministry for
the Super-Caps capital.

Under the bank's proposal, investors would receive two
warrants for preferred shares purchased.  But this clashes
with certain conditions set out under the government
recapitalisation programme.  One possible solution would be
to offer a blend of capital raised locally, mixing the
issues of new common shares with the preferred shares.

Investors buying common shares would receive two warrants,
covering the Finance Ministry's matching purchase for the
Super-Caps portion and new shares.  Investors purchasing
preferred shares would only receive one warrant.

"In any case, this is something which the cabinet will have
to decide, since it still goes against certain conditions
of the state programme," one source said. "A final
solution, regardless, is expected by the end of the month."

The state programme, announced in August 1998, reserved 300
billion baht to recapitalise local banks and finance
companies. State capital would be offered matching the
amount of new funds raised by institutions.

But Prasarn Trairatvorakul, secretary-general of the
Securities and Exchange Commission and an advisory
committee member, said he believed the bank could raise new
capital without amending terms of the state programme.

Dr Prasarn, a director of the Financial Restructuring
Advisory Committee, said basic principles for Thai Military
Bank's recapitalisation plan had been settled.

At the end of 1999, Thai Military Bank had set aside
provisions equal to about 68% of its total required
provisions by the end of the year.  New capital is required
to meet not only the provisioning requirement, but also to
serve as a cushion for business expansion.

Shares of Thai Military Bank on the Stock Exchange of
Thailand yesterday closed at nine baht, down 50 satang, on
turnover worth 43.86 million baht. (Bangkok Post  23-March-
2000)

THAI MILITARY BANK: National Finance mulling stake in
-----------------------------------------------------
National Finance Plc, an affiliate of Siam Commercial Bank,
is considering acquiring a sizeable stake in Thai Military
Bank by subscribing to its capital increase under the
August 14 Banking Restructuring Programme, central bank
officials said.

Bantherng Tantiwit, chairman of National Finance, has
consulted Bank of Thailand governor MR Chatu Mongol Sonakul
about the possibility of acquiring a stake in Thai Military
Bank, they said on condition of anonymity.

National Finance would be interested in the stake if it
fails to obtain a licence from the central bank allowing it
to upgrade itself from a finance company to a restricted
bank, they said.  Details of the size of the stake were not
disclosed.

If National Finance obtains a licence, it would be able to
conduct almost as many financial services as a commercial
bank. But it might not get the licence, media reports said.
National Finance's interest in Thai Military Bank coincides
with the bank's efforts to increase its capital. The bank
is seeking approval from the Financial Restructuring
Advisory Committee (FRAC), which supervises bank
restructuring, for substantial assistance in a capital
increase.

It will need about Bt40 billion to fulfil its 100-per-cent
provisioning requirements by the end of this year.  There
have been confusing media reports about the formula of the
bank's recapitalisation plan, which should be approved by
financial authorities this week.

Media reports have been inaccurate, the bank said in a
press release yesterday.  Reports that the bank asked the
FRAC to revise regulations to facilitate its
recapitalisation were incorrect, it said.

"The bank would like to clarify that those news articles
are not correct," it said. "The bank is presently waiting
for the result of the consideration from the FRAC."

Thai Military Bank is seriously considering National
Finance's proposal because it would allow it to raise
equity in the bearish stock market, one central bank
official said. However, since National Finance does not
have substantial funds, the bank decided to turn to the
government, the official said.

Thai Military Bank is trying to attract investors to its
new issue by offering two warrants for every preferred
share, central bank officials said.  Last year, the bank
raised Bt9.96 billion through a hybrid securities issue.
The FRAC will match these funds with an additional Bt9.96
billion, they said.

The bank hopes that it can raise another Bt10 billion on
its own and a further Bt10 billion under the bank
restructuring programme, they said. In all, the bank plans
to raise Bt39.92 billion, they said. (The Nation  24-March-
2000)

THAI PETROCHEM.INDUS.: Stock slides on heavy sales
--------------------------------------------------
Stocks slid on heavy selling in shares of Thai
Petrochemical Industry, the country's biggest corporate
debtor, traders said.

Decliners outnumbered advancers 112 to 83, excluding shares
traded on the foreign board.  Thai Petrochemical's price
dropped steadily after the stock exchange resumed trading
the shares. Panic selling was triggered by a Mar. 15 Thai
bankruptcy court ruling that said the company was insolvent
and needed to restructure its debt. Its shares had been
suspended since Mar 7.  Thai Petrochemical sank 19%.

Analysts said trading value was quite low, as most
investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the U.S. FOMC
meeting. (The Asian Wall Street Journal  22-March-2000)

THAI TEL.AND TEL.: Alcatel angered by debt-reform plan
------------------------------------------------------
Thai Telephone and Telecommunications' debt-restructuring
plan is unfair as banks are given priority over equipment
suppliers, according to Alcatel, Europe's No 2 phone-
equipment maker.

Thai Telephone, which operates 1.5 million fixed-telephone
lines outside Bangkok, this month received preliminary
approval from the majority of its financial and trade
creditors to restructure US$1.2 billion of debt.

"The plan produces an imbalance between the [interests of]
secured lender and suppliers," said Georges Jaffres,
managing director of Alcatel (Thailand).

Alcatel, which is one of Thai Telephone's biggest suppliers
and owns about a 10th of the debt, voted against the plan.
Equipment suppliers including Sumitomo of Japan and
Ericsson of Sweden own about a third of the debt.

The debt workout proposal, which must receive final
endorsement from all creditors again, will allow Thai
Telephone to swap 15 per cent of its debt into equity and
extend loan repayment for up to 18 years.

Thai Telephone has not paid principal on its debt for more
than two years as the currency devaluation of 1997
increased its foreign-currency debt and recession cut
revenue. (South China Morning Post  23-March-2000)

THAI TEL.& TEL.: Told to upgrade or be sued
-------------------------------------------
Alcatel yesterday threatened to take Thai Telephone &
Telecommunication to court over $100 million in outstanding
debt if the local fixed-line operator rejects an expansion
plan to upgrade its network.

Alcatel has made a $25-million proposal for TT&T to upgrade
its telephone network to handle high-speed data
transmission, Internet and even a Personal Communication
Telephone (PCT) service.  However if TT&T turns down the
request, "Alcatel would have no choice but to take action",
said George Jaffres, managing director of Alcatel Thailand.

This would involve taking court action against TT&T for the
$100 million in outstanding debt owed to Alcatel for
equipment purchases.  Alcatel said the plan was aimed at
generating more income to TT&T from new services and that
other creditors should be happy to eventually have their
debts paid sooner.

TT&T vice-president Witit Sujjapong said Alcatel's proposal
was not new and was unacceptable because it would only
incur further debt for TT&T. Moreover any plan that
resulted in creating additional debt for TT&T during the
restructuring period needed endorsement by all creditors
under the framework of the central bank's Corporate Debt-
Restructuring Advisory Committee, he said.

Mr Jaffres criticised the restructuring plan as giving
unfair treatment to different creditors. He said Alcatel's
proposal was aimed at enabling the Thai operator to compete
when the Thai telecom market was liberalised.

While Alcatel was among creditors who did endorse the plan
last month, Mr Jaffres said the plan lacked a firm business
direction for future development and also discriminated
against suppliers in favour of financial creditors.

Mr Witit dismissed Alcatel's claim. He said the plan was
fair enough for all.  He said that Alcatel had to accept
the fact that it is merely an unsecured creditor which,
according to the practice of the central bank's Corporate
Debt-Restructuring Advisory Committee, has no right to vote
and has fewer privileges than secured creditors or
institutional creditors.

However, he said that since TT&T considered all creditors
important, it had allowed them the right to vote. Unsecured
creditors also include Ericsson and Sumitomo.  Mr Witit
said that both Ericsson and Sumitomo understood their
positions and that they couldn't have rights equal to those
of secured creditors.

The Alcatel proposal had been made earlier and was not an
investment, but rather new debt which would only add to
TT&T's interest burden. The proposed new services in the
intelligent network were not good enough to convince TT&T
to accept them. He said that there were still two months
for TT&T to sign formal agreements outlining the debt-
restructuring plan.

Creditors who felt unhappy could still submit proposals and
TT&T would take them into consideration. "Any proposal
needs approval from all creditors," he added. (Bangkok Post
23-March-2000)


S U B S C R I P T I O N  I N F O R M A T I O N

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