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World Business Quick Take

■ Tourism
SARS hurts Thailand
Thailand's tourist arrivals may fall by half during the Songkran and Easter holidays as people stay home because of the deadly respiratory disease that has killed at least 111 people worldwide, most of them in Asia. Arrivals next week may drop from 200,000 last year, the Kasikorn Research Center Co, formerly the Thai Farmers Research Center Co, wrote in a report. The report forecasts a 40 percent decline in tourism revenue during the holidays. "During Songkran we may have 80 percent occupancy, but for Easter we are expecting just 50 percent occupancy," said James Batt, managing director of Laguna Resorts & Hotels Pcl in Phuket.

■ Multinationals
China plans to groom firms
China plans to groom 50 companies to become among the world's top 500 multinationals within the next 12 years, state media reported yesterday. Officials want to achieve this ambitious objective via a "go-out" strategy that encourages local companies to invest more abroad, the China Daily said. But some state-employed economists think the government is not doing enough yet to implement this strategy, according to the paper. "The government should have a special commission and fund to tackle this demanding and pressing task," said Lin Yaoqin, an economist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the top think tank.

■ Tourism
Travelers skirt Vietnam
Passenger numbers at the airport of Vietnam's largest city have fallen almost 30 percent since the first case of a deadly flu-like virus was discovered in the country a month ago, the Vietnam News reported. Although there have been no confirmed cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome in Ho Chi Minh City, the disease has cut into passenger traffic at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, the paper said, without citing anyone. The report didn't specify over what period the drop was recorded, and didn't give actual passenger numbers.

■ Communications
WorldCom to change name
WorldCom Inc, which filed the largest US bankruptcy after disclosing accounting errors expected to reach US$11 billion, will change its name to MCI next week, a person familiar with the matter said. WorldCom became the No. 2 US long-distance telephone company in 1998 when it bought MCI Communications Corp. The Wall Street Journal earlier today reported the name change. A new name may help WorldCom break with the company's past, analysts have said. Capellas is trying to clean up WorldCom's finances to guide it out of bankruptcy this year.

■ Newspapers
Murdoch considers selling
News Corp's Independent Newspapers Ltd is in talks to sell its New Zealand newspapers, raising speculation Rupert Murdoch may sell publications in smaller markets, after the US$6.6 billion acquisition of DirecTV reinforced his focus on pay-television. John Fairfax Holdings Ltd, Australia's second-biggest newspaper publisher, will offer NZ$1.2 billion (US$660 million) to buy Independent Newspapers' New Zealand publications, a person familiar with the transaction said. "It's possible that Murdoch may be getting out of print to focus on electronic media and his satellite business," said Paul Xiradis, who oversees the equivalent of US$670 million of equities at Ausbil Dexia Ltd.
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