[Bloomberg] Firms Waiting For “Right Time to Enter”

 

American Businesses keen to join OPIC

October 29th, 1998


A memo issued to leaders of top US firms revealed that there would be “significant economic opportunities” in the near future. American firms have thus been closely monitoring developments in the IMF closely to explore the potential of investing in the “El Dorado” of developing Asian economies.

As the economic crisis in Asia has yet to resolve itself and instead seems to be worsening, American equity has been floated as a possible option to bail countries out. This is not a new idea and would help US firms achieve their business development goals of expanding operations in the Far East.

Donald Trump, leader of the Trump organisation shared candidly with Bloomberg, “Yeah, of course, we’re looking for an opportunity to crack the Asian market and if they need our help, they can contact me.”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

[Financial Times] Thai Baht Loses its Peg, Value Plummets

The beginning of an exchange rate-induced crisis in what was a tiger economy  A shocking tragedy befalls the Kingdom of Thailand as the state proceeded to float its currency following its perceived inability to sustain its peg to the greenback. A series of speculative attacks amounted to a sharp depreciation of the Thai baht, sending ripples across interlinked financial systems in the Asia-Pacific region. Notably, huge current account deficits, growing real estate asset bubbles, lax regulations in the financial sector, and dwindling foreign exchange reserves diminished investor confidence in the currency and the economic strength of the country. Inevitably, compounded with rumours of a currency devaluation, speculative attacks largely undermined the Bank of Thailand’s ability to defend the baht, ultimately floating the currency. 
Read more

[Asia Times] Thai Imports at Record Low, Worry Brewing

Trade conditions worsen, exporters panic while domestic producers celebrate   With the further depreciation of the Thai baht, Thailand’s quantity demanded for imports has declined  due to a diminishing external value of the Baht (and hence more expensive foreign goods for Thai locals).  This has led to a fall in export demand for trade partners like Japan and Indonesia, with this impact being  the worst in South Korea. In the past month, South Korean exports of electronics, manufacturing materials,  and even basic construction materials like wood and cement have declined by 10.2% as these  export-oriented industries see their long-term profitability being threatened. Smaller enterprises have been  pushed to the brink of insolvency, with a few companies barely breaking even.  Thai manufacturers are ecstatic about such uncompetitive markets, however the general consumer does  seem to think differently. Prices are slowly rising as well, with the...
Read more