Search Results for: japan

BY JULIAN RYALL

THE TASK force discussing the Japanese government’s plans for supporting embattled Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) overcame objections from a number of politicians in the ruling Democratic Party of Japan last night (Thursday) to draw up a blueprint for the government’s assistance to the utility.…

BY JULIAN RYALL

AS if Japanese clothing manufacturers did not have enough to worry about already from the physical and logistical damage caused by the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake and the tsunami that it triggered, there are now fears it could cause a labour shortage.…

BY MARK ROWE and KEITH NUTHALL

CENTRAL Asia is often in the news regarding political instability, and the complexity of the region’s borders and ethnicities make for an opacity that can encourage the growth of organised crime. Also, being far from the centres of anti-money laundering activities and standard setting – in Europe, north America and east Asia, the region’s often authoritarian governments have a poor reputation regarding the enforcement of law and judicial probity.…

BY JULIAN RYALL

MORE than two months after northern Japan was shaken by a magnitude-9 earthquake and then inundated by a tsunami that in places reached a height of 38 metres and devastated a nuclear power plant, the final toll – both in terms of human life and the economic impact is still unclear.…

BY JULIAN RYALL

Japan’s prime minister Naoto Kan is the sort of politician who, once he has his heart set on a goal, is dogged in pushing toward that end. Companies in Japan’s nuclear industry are not saying it aloud, but they will have been disappointed by the prime minister’s appearance at a press conference on May 10 in which he announced that he will drop plans to have half of Japan’s future energy needs met by nuclear power and instead step up the nation’s use of energy from renewable sources.…

BY MARK GODFREY

WITH some researchers (most recently Credit Suisse’s China analysts) predicting Chinese e-commerce revenues will grow 100%-a-year to 2015 it’s not surprising international brands are scrambling to understand and tap the dynamics of the country’s web portals. Top of the local business-to-consumer pile Taobao has evolved from an eBay knock off to a massively popular resource for wholesalers and B2C operators.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA

THE INDIAN paints and coating industry has had a very fruitful year, with high growth and expanding markets – the US dollars USD5.3 billion industry grew by 22% in the financial year ending March 2011, according to Mumbai paint company Kansai Nerolac Paints.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

THE ASSOCIATION of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) covers 10 distinct countries, each with a unique culture, mirroring the personal care product markets of the European Union (EU). However, these nations do share some similarities – and maybe more than northern, southern and eastern Europe, especially when it comes to what ASEAN consumers have inside their cosmetics cabinets.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL, DEIRDRE MASON and MJ DESCHAMPS

Car dealers like a good deal – that’s a given. And they hate a bad deal. But when they are getting a bad deal, and the wool is being pulled over their eyes – well, that takes the biscuit.…

BY GAVIN BLAIR

IN the Tohoku, or northeast, region of Japan hit by the triple disasters of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident, auto manufacturers and their suppliers are working to get production back towards full capacity just-auto has been told. Today, (April 18) Nissan reopened its engine plant in the quake-hit city of Iwaki in Fukushima prefecture, while Toyota has resumed production at all of its Japanese factories, including its two Tohoku-based subsidiaries in Miyagi and Iwate prefectures.…