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World Business Quick Take

■ Privatization
India cancels plan
India's finance ministry yesterday said it has scrapped plans made by the previous government to privatize 13 state-run companies, all of which are profitable. The junior finance minister told parliament of the decision to call off the planned divestment in 13 companies was made in keeping with an agreement that the governing Congress party signed with its left-wing political allies when it came to power last year. The 13 companies include the National Aluminum Co, Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd, Engineers India Ltd, Shipping Corp of India Ltd, National Building Construction Corp Ltd and National Fertilizers Ltd.

■ Aviation
China to open up west
China plans to allow overseas carriers to operate an unlimited number of international flights in the country's west in hopes of boosting growth in the relatively underdeveloped region, state media said yesterday. "There will be no more limits on overseas carriers' applications for operating international flights in western areas," the China Daily newspaper quoted civil aviation official Yang Guoqing (楊國慶) as saying. The report gave few specifics, but Yang appeared to indicate that restrictions would be lifted over six provinces and autonomous regions in western China that are now home to 32 airports. Passenger traffic in those areas, which include the important tourism regions of Tibet and Yunnan Province, rose 35 percent last year over the previous year, the report said.

■ Regional groups
ASEAN integration needed
ASEAN "needs more work" on economic integration and has a long way to go before the 10-nation grouping can match the level found in Europe, the next head of the WTO said, according to media reports yesterday. "There is no ASEAN budget, no customs union and no single currency," as in a large part of Europe, Pascal Lamy, the EU's former trade commissioner, told the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in a Monday lecture marking the institution's first anniversary yesterday. The 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have yet to commit to deep economic integration, though targets have been set to deliver "some progress" by 2020, said Lamy, who takes over next month as the new WTO head. European economic integration, which evolved after the devastation of World War II, cannot serve as a model for ASEAN nations due to the huge difference between the regions, Lamy said.

■ Banking
China mulls foreign control
China is considering selling control of a state-owned bank to foreign investors for the first time, news reports said yesterday. The government is reviewing proposals to sell a major stake in the Guangdong Development Bank (廣東開發銀行), a mid-size lender based in southern China, the Financial Times and the Asian Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified sources. Chinese rules limit foreigners to owning 25 percent of a Chinese bank, but the Financial Times said regulators were considering a possible deal that could let buyers control up to 51 percent of Guangdong Development's shares through local joint ventures. The Journal said five to 10 possible investors had expressed interest in the bank and the government is expected to make a decision by the end of the year.

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