FORTUNE, Jan 24, 00. GET RICH QUICK-IN ASIA
Forget the Silicon Valley gold rush- the unheralded story of last year is one that took place in Asia. Flush with new dot-com offerings, Asian equity markets exploded. From Tokyo to Singapore, market performed as if they were on speed; Korea's Kosdaq, more than quadrupled.
Individual issues did even better. Japan's Big Three Internet stocks rose at rates that made most U.S. Internet pkays look like staid utilities: Yahoo Japan jumped 4,206%; Softbabk (now Japan's fifth-biggest company) rose more than 1,250%; Hikari Tsushin, mobil -phone and Internet investment firm, was up almost 2,999%. Shares in Pacific Century CyberWorks, an internet investment firm , started in May by Richard Li, the son of multibillionaire Li Ka-shing, climbed some 120%.
Overvalued? Maybe. But they are likely to be worth more with the billions that the west is pouring into Asian economies. Those who missed the U.S. boom can capitalize on this one in its infancy. The Internet still had modest presence in Asia. But with phone rates falling and PC sales rising, the number of Asia's Internet users will probably triple in the next three years, to 135 million.....
...In turn, the Internet will force Asian companies to reorganize themselves and behave in ways that raise their return on equity. Don't expect this to escape the notice of many investors in 2000. |
