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Strategies & Market Trends : World Outlook -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RealMuLan who wrote (1619)	4/3/2003 1:55:44 PM
From: Don Green	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 48798

Yiwu Zhang I am not hoping for that, but I know the Japanese are VERY cautious about health issues.

To: RealMuLan who wrote (1619)	4/3/2003 5:10:59 PM
From: Condor	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 48798

Hi Yiwu, I live in a small communirty three hundred miles from Toronto. Our clinic and pharmacy personnel are all wearing masks re: SARS. A company that I'm a shareholder in operates in Beijing. People are getting nervous. The issue is large here Yiwu. I wouldn't trivialize it. In one fashion or another it could blind side China and N. America. Regards C

To: RealMuLan who wrote (1619)	4/15/2003 9:43:15 PM
From: Don Green	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 48798

Yiwu Zhang> >>SARS issues might curtail that! << Don't hold your breath. SARS has never become a real problem outside GuangDong, and even if in Guangdong, the situation is pretty much controlled now. And in Shanghai, as far as I know, not even one case reported. Beijing has 12 cases only. SARS Seen Slowing Asia Economic Growth Mon April 14, 2003 11:12 PM ET By Tan Ee Lyn HONG KONG (Reuters) - The impact from the deadly SARS virus will slow economic growth in most parts of Asia, as the disease changes lifestyles and harms consumption, the Standard & Poors ratings agency said on Tuesday. U.S. and Canadian scientists said they had independently mapped the genome of the new virus blamed for causing Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), raising hopes a test could be quickly developed so treatment can be given as soon as possible. Carried around the world by travelers, the virus has infected more than 3,300 people and killed at least 144 in some 20 countries in the last six weeks since first showing up in southern China in November. The outbreak of what the World Health Organization (WHO) has dubbed the "21st century disease" has forced airlines to cut flights, ravaged tourism in the worst affected areas, changed consumption patterns and strained healthcare systems. Standard & Poor's said the outbreak will lower the growth rates of most economies in Asia for 2003, and the gravest damage would be inflicted on Hong Kong. "The adjustments in each economy are largely proportionate to the gravity of the outbreak, and to the importance of tourism and domestic consumption to the economy," said Ping Chew, director in Standard & Poor's Asia-Pacific Sovereign Ratings Group. "If the virus is ultimately controlled, the effects and damage to real economy and public finance of the countries in the region are likely to be short-lived...," he said in a statement. JUMP IN BEIJING CASES Chinese state media said on Tuesday Beijing reported 15 new SARS cases, its largest one-day jump, and which takes the overall toll in China's capital to 37. China has been worst hit by the virus with 64 deaths and 1,426 cases, most of whom have been discharged from hospital. Premier Wen Jiabao told a government meeting earlier this week "the epidemic was brought under control in some areas, but the overall situation remains grave." The WHO, which has warned that SARS could become a global epidemic and spread quickly in an interconnected world, has a team in China trying to track the source and extent of the epidemic there. After a near blackout on coverage of SARS, China is orchestrating a media blitz to convince its citizens to adopt healthier lifestyles in hopes of fending off the virus. State television warns people against smoking and drinking. Official pamphlets urge them to scrub their hands after cleaning their noses, and official Web sites advise keeping surgical face masks on hand, just in case. HONG KONG'S PAIN But Chinese leaders seem most perturbed about Hong Kong, which reported a record seven more deaths from SARS on Monday, bringing its total death toll to 47. At least 1,190 people have been infected in the city. In a low-profile meeting on Saturday in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa told his boss, Chinese President Hu Jintao, that his government had been unable to bring the disease under "effective control." Tung's cabinet will discuss on Tuesday ways of easing the financial pain felt by Hong Kong's nearly seven million residents. About 60,000 workers from the restaurant and hotel industries have either lost jobs or forced to take unpaid leave. Unions have warned the jobless rate may hit eight percent. Singapore, which has the world's fourth-highest number of cases, with 158 confirmed infections and 72 suspected, revealed seven more confirmed cases on Monday. Twelve people are believed to have died from the illness, and 84 have recovered. Canadian health officials said on Monday SARS has spread to a tightly knit religious group in Toronto, with 31 probable and suspect cases. With 287 probable and suspect cases, including 13 deaths, Canada is the only country outside of Asia where people have died of SARS.

To: RealMuLan who wrote (1619)	4/16/2003 11:10:59 AM
From: Don Green	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 48798

Yz> Don't hold your breath. SARS has never become a real problem outside GuangDong, and even if in Guangdong, the situation is pretty much controlled now. And in Shanghai, as far as I know, not even one case reported. Beijing has 12 cases only. The Chinese capital, which has officially reported 40 cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, and four deaths, may have as many as 200 probable cases, according to a team from the United Nations agency visiting the city. More than 1,000 people are under observation for the disease, it said. Beijing May Have 5 Times More SARS Cases Than Posted quote.bloomberg.com

To: RealMuLan who wrote (1619)	4/18/2003 2:59:19 AM
From: Don Green	Respond to of 48798

>Matsushit to cut Japanese hires for foreign hires DG> SARS issues might curtail that! << YZ>> Don't hold your breath. SARS has never become a real problem outside GuangDong, SARS bans strand thousands of workers HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - Columns of black suitcases reach from floor to ceiling at a Vietnamese training center for overseas laborers, while white burlap sacks stuffed with everything from rice noodles to toothpaste sit untouched. The abandoned belongings represent lives put on hold because some Asian countries gripped by fears of SARS have closed their borders to workers from infected places. Bans issued by countries like Malaysia and South Korea have left an estimated 20,000 Vietnamese laborers in limbo. Other Southeast Asian nations, such as Indonesia and the Philippines, have temporarily stopped sending their workers to hard-hit SARS countries. The situation is especially bleak for workers like Dong Duc Trinh, 34. He quit his job two months ago as a carpenter in Bac Giang province, just north of Hanoi, and took out a US$1,300 loan to pay for training and a plane ticket to a three-year construction job in Malaysia. Trinh said goodbye to his wife and 2-year-old son with the promise that he would soon make US$150 to US$200 a month working overseas -- it would take him six months to earn the same amount in Vietnam. But just before he finished his training in Hanoi, Malaysia issued a ban on workers from Vietnam, where five people have died of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome - a contagious, pneumonia-like illness. Trinh is now stuck with no job and 200,000 dong (US$13) in interest he must pay the bank every month. "I don't know what to do,'' he said, shaking his head. "I haven't informed my family or my wife about my ordeal. I plan to tell them when I get back home.'' SARS has killed more than 160 people worldwide out of more than 3,000 infected. The disease is believed to have originated in southern China, and most fatalities have been in mainland China and Hong Kong. But air travelers helped spread SARS quickly to more than 20 countries, which has led to the travel bans. The bans also are affecting businesses - such as construction companies and factories - that rely on cheap labor from neighboring Asian countries. Taiwan is now requiring health certificates and 10- to 15-day quarantines for Vietnamese laborers, while South Korea has closed its doors altogether to SARS-infected countries. "We expect this ban to affect manufacturing companies which are already suffering from a lack of available workers,'' said Kim Jae-jin, from the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business. Some of those companies are now looking to Thailand, which has remained relatively unscathed by SARS with only two deaths and eight cases reported. "They seem to feel confident that Thailand is not a disease-transmitting country, and they are confident that we can control it,'' said Nakorn Silpa-archa, director general of the Labor Ministry's foreign employment office, adding that 2,000 workers are set to leave for Taiwan. But for others, getting accepted into countries where the jobs exist isn't necessarily the biggest hurdle. Some governments have forbidden their laborers to go to nations where they fear SARS is a problem. Indonesia has temporarily halted the export of its workers - about 3,000 a month - to Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia. Hong Kong has been especially hard-hit by SARS with at least 65 deaths, and Singapore has suffered at least 15 fatalities. But no SARS deaths have been reported in Taiwan and one person has died of the disease in Malaysia. The Philippines also has extended a ban barring domestic helpers from traveling to Hong Kong. The stoppage was initially imposed after the Hong Kong government slashed maids' salaries. More than 150,000 Filipinos work in Hong Kong, and one has died of SARS there. Workers arriving in Singapore, which has clamped down tightly on potential SARS cases, must undergo a 10-day mandatory quarantine in the city-state before going to work. The procedure is expected to affect about 600 laborers over the next month. But even with all the precautions, some workers question whether more harm will result from the labor bans than from the disease itself. "We work hard, harder than workers from other countries, and if we are well, I hope the Singapore government does not discriminate against us,'' said a Chinese laborer who asked to be identified as Zhao from Hubei province. "Some people are avoiding us. Why? Singapore also has SARS cases and there are Chinese nurses in the hospitals here.'' - AP