<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>March 1, 2009
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Export-reliant econs hit <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
</TD><TD vAlign=bottom>
As the global crisis started to take hold, some suggested Asian economies might be able to 'de-couple' from the West and be able to keep going strong even while the United States and others started to suffer. -- PHOTO: AP
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->HONG KONG - WHEN times were booming, Asia's factories would sometimes struggle to keep pace with the global demand for cars, semiconductors and electronics goods.
But as the worldwide recession has taken hold, the region's export-dependent economies have been hit especially hard - and they are now finding that domestic demand cannot possibly make up for the decline in sales overseas.
'This is a very unhealthy economic growth pattern that developed in the last more than 10 years,' said Mr Chen Xingdong, an economist with BNP Paribas bank in China. 'Asia's economies all are quite heavily dependent on exports. They must turn to domestic demand.'
=> Soln: Bring in more FTrash to depress Sporns' pay, replace them if possible and allow FTrash to remit their spoils back to their homeland?
Analysts say that is easier said than done. In places like Japan, where manufacturers cut production by a record 10 per cent in January and exports plunged more than 45 per cent, the health of the economy at home is still inextricably linked to overseas markets.
'It is hardly possible for Japan to boost domestic demand now and pull the economy up,' said Mr Hideyuki Araki, an economist at the Resona Research Institute in Osaka.
'After all, corporate spending on plants and equipment is linked to exports,' Mr Araki said. 'Japan needs to wait for a recovery in foreign demand.' Across much of Asia the story has been the same.
Hong Kong exports are down almost 22 percent. Singapore's exports fell 35 per cent in January - the biggest drop since the government began keeping year-on-year records more than 30 years ago.
=> Worse than "underpaid" HK govt again!
In South Korea, where they account for more than one-third of GDP, exports are down 34 per cent. 'South Korea is now suffering from a double whammy - sluggish domestic demand and sinking overseas demand,' said analyst Yu Byoung-Gyu of the Hyundai Research Institute in Seoul.
As the global crisis started to take hold, some suggested Asian economies might be able to 'de-couple' from the West and be able to keep going strong even while the United States and others started to suffer.
'The de-coupling theory has been disproved,' according to Ms Sherman Chan, an analyst with Moody's Economy.com. 'Even China is counting on demand from the US and Europe to restore growth,' she said in a recent report. 'All eyes will remain focused on when the US will recover.'
In Taiwan, a leading semiconductor maker, exports fell 44 per cent in January while GDP contracted by 8.4 per cent in the last quarter of 2008 - the kinds of steep declines that cannot be compensated for by domestic demand.
'This is the very fear of export-dependent economies like Taiwan,' said Lucas Lee, an analyst on the island with brokerage firm Mega Securities. 'Few can be sure whether or when global demand will pick up.'
Even in Asia's smaller economies, the drop in exports has had a powerful impact. Thai exports suffered their biggest decline in January in a decade.
Malaysia, which is heavily dependent on exports - in particular electronics, accounting for about 40 per cent of overseas sales - has also been hit hard.
'The impact is now global and Malaysia is no exception,' Malaysian Trade Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said last week. He said the government was looking at a 'worst-case scenario' of exports falling as much as 3-4 percent this year.
=> Still much better than the BEST PAID govt!
Mr Chan, of Moody's Economy.com, said Indonesia and the Philippines looked to be two of the region's bright spots for the year ahead - and that both would be resisting external drags on their economies from 'solid' domestic demand. -- AFP
=> No wonder the Old Fart's new fetish is pinoys and pinays!
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Export-reliant econs hit <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
As the global crisis started to take hold, some suggested Asian economies might be able to 'de-couple' from the West and be able to keep going strong even while the United States and others started to suffer. -- PHOTO: AP
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->HONG KONG - WHEN times were booming, Asia's factories would sometimes struggle to keep pace with the global demand for cars, semiconductors and electronics goods.
But as the worldwide recession has taken hold, the region's export-dependent economies have been hit especially hard - and they are now finding that domestic demand cannot possibly make up for the decline in sales overseas.
'This is a very unhealthy economic growth pattern that developed in the last more than 10 years,' said Mr Chen Xingdong, an economist with BNP Paribas bank in China. 'Asia's economies all are quite heavily dependent on exports. They must turn to domestic demand.'
=> Soln: Bring in more FTrash to depress Sporns' pay, replace them if possible and allow FTrash to remit their spoils back to their homeland?
Analysts say that is easier said than done. In places like Japan, where manufacturers cut production by a record 10 per cent in January and exports plunged more than 45 per cent, the health of the economy at home is still inextricably linked to overseas markets.
'It is hardly possible for Japan to boost domestic demand now and pull the economy up,' said Mr Hideyuki Araki, an economist at the Resona Research Institute in Osaka.
'After all, corporate spending on plants and equipment is linked to exports,' Mr Araki said. 'Japan needs to wait for a recovery in foreign demand.' Across much of Asia the story has been the same.
Hong Kong exports are down almost 22 percent. Singapore's exports fell 35 per cent in January - the biggest drop since the government began keeping year-on-year records more than 30 years ago.
=> Worse than "underpaid" HK govt again!
In South Korea, where they account for more than one-third of GDP, exports are down 34 per cent. 'South Korea is now suffering from a double whammy - sluggish domestic demand and sinking overseas demand,' said analyst Yu Byoung-Gyu of the Hyundai Research Institute in Seoul.
As the global crisis started to take hold, some suggested Asian economies might be able to 'de-couple' from the West and be able to keep going strong even while the United States and others started to suffer.
'The de-coupling theory has been disproved,' according to Ms Sherman Chan, an analyst with Moody's Economy.com. 'Even China is counting on demand from the US and Europe to restore growth,' she said in a recent report. 'All eyes will remain focused on when the US will recover.'
In Taiwan, a leading semiconductor maker, exports fell 44 per cent in January while GDP contracted by 8.4 per cent in the last quarter of 2008 - the kinds of steep declines that cannot be compensated for by domestic demand.
'This is the very fear of export-dependent economies like Taiwan,' said Lucas Lee, an analyst on the island with brokerage firm Mega Securities. 'Few can be sure whether or when global demand will pick up.'
Even in Asia's smaller economies, the drop in exports has had a powerful impact. Thai exports suffered their biggest decline in January in a decade.
Malaysia, which is heavily dependent on exports - in particular electronics, accounting for about 40 per cent of overseas sales - has also been hit hard.
'The impact is now global and Malaysia is no exception,' Malaysian Trade Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said last week. He said the government was looking at a 'worst-case scenario' of exports falling as much as 3-4 percent this year.
=> Still much better than the BEST PAID govt!
Mr Chan, of Moody's Economy.com, said Indonesia and the Philippines looked to be two of the region's bright spots for the year ahead - and that both would be resisting external drags on their economies from 'solid' domestic demand. -- AFP
=> No wonder the Old Fart's new fetish is pinoys and pinays!
