Hillary Clinton in South Korea 2009: What do you think?

Earlier today, I was watching some parts of the press conference of Hillary Clinton in South Korea. The visit came at a time when there is a sense of unease among many people in South Korea about a military conflict with North Korea. So, Hillary tried to assure the South Koreans leaders that USA was with Seoul totally. Of course, this was good but I wish that she also talked about global economic recession very seriously.

Well, I think that for people living outside of Korea, economic recession is now more important than Korean conflict. She is next in China and I guess that she will request Chinese leaders to put pressure on North Korean government.

Baidu Growing in China but Not that Much

Google may the top name in search engine, but in China, it is Baidu in search engine market. Google has tried a lot, but yet could not do anything in the Chinese market. Well, I feel that one of the reasons that Baidu has become so successful in China is that Baidu people understands the local market very well. Now, the financial result of the company has come out and it showed that in the fourth quarter, its net income has increased 31%. Well, it is good, but it is not enough and in fact, the revenue did not increase compared to the third quarter. Not only that, there is fear that the revenue of Baidu may not increase in 2009 that much. It shows that the Chinese economy is not doing well and there is a sense of slowdown in China. This is very bad news for the country as still millions of people are poor. The expectation of ordinary people has increased a lot and that is why, people are now expecting that the government will be able to do something for them. On the other hand, the Chinese government is now at a very tight condition and unfortunately, the condition of global economy is not good and they are helpless.

China and Russia New World Order: Cash and Energy

This news did not exactly shock me, but it reminded me of the new world order that is gradually emerging in international economy. For many decades, there was bitter relationship between China and Soviet Union or Russia. The two countries were both communist and they had bitter feud over who will be the leader in communist world. As a result, China entered into a good friendship with USA and in the end, there was a continuous sense of mistrust between the two neighbors Russia and China. Now, economics is more important than politics in our world today and that is why, Russia and China could enter into a $25 billion energy deal recently which would ensure a lot of cash for Russia and continuous fuel supply for China. Under the deal, China will give some money to Russia and in return, Russia will supply certain amount of oil every year for the next 20 years to China.

This is a very good deal for both the countries as they need cash and energy security. What is your idea about it? Will it be profitable for both the countries? Do you think that India should enter into this kind of deal with Russia and some other countries in Central Asia?

Hillary Clinton in Japan Visit

Hillary Rodham Clinton is the Secretary of State of USA. Now, she is visiting some Asian countries at this moment and yesterday she came to Japan. Today, she is going to Indonesia. This is the very important trip for two reasons. First of all, this is the first official visit of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. Secondly, it has come at a time when the global economy is suffering from acute economic recession. So, it is a very important visit for Asian countries too.

The visit to Japan came at a time when most people in the country are very worried about their future. Japanese economy is passing the toughest time since 1970s. In Japan, job security is a very important matter for most people and now, they find themselves into a position in which hardly anyone knows that if tomorrow they will have a job or not.

Hillary Clinton has assured Japanese government that new Obama administration consider Japan to be a trusted friend and USA would give its support about Japan’s relationship with North Korea.

I wonder if the visit of Hillary Clinton will help to bring assurance among the people of Japan about their economic condition.

Toyota to Reduce Domestic Production by 54% in January-March Quarter

Global car maker Toyota Motor Corp. is going to reduce its domestic production by 54 percent in the ongoing quarter, ending this March. Such a huge slash in production is because of large drop in demand both in Japan as well as in the US. World car market is now stumbling due to global economic downturn. Toyota has also predicted its first ever yearly operating loss in 70 years. Toyota’s production in the current quarter will be reduced to 519,000 volumes, compared to 1.13 million volumes in the same period of last year.

It is not only Toyota, but also almost all the car makers are finding it pretty tough to cope up with the ever-worsening economic recession. Surviving in the market has become a big challenge for some big companies like General Motors. The situation got aggravated for the companies like Toyota as they saw an extensive drop in the demand of hybrid cars too in the recent months, because people are now less interested to hybrid cars as global fuel price got decreased significantly.

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Bloomberg

LG Electronics to Reduce Costs without Cutting Jobs

South Korean company LG Electronics has said that it would reduce its expenses and costs by $2.2 billion, this year in order to come to terms with the ongoing global economic recession. LG predicted that the economic slowdown would cause 20% fall in selling LG products. That is why, the company is trying to minimize its costs, in stead of cutting jobs. However, LG hopes its handset share in emerging markets across the world would increase this year.

LG is one of the leading consumer electronics company in the world and they have strong presence in the global mobile phone market. Now, let us see if the decision of reducing costs without cutting jobs works for LG to contend with ongoing economic recession in the world.

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Smart Brief

Honda to Price Insight Hybrid Car Under $20,000 for the USA Market

Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co has already decided to sell its hybrid car model ‘Insight’ for a price tag hitting less than $20,000 in the U.S. Insight hybrid model will be launched in the Japanese market on February 6 with a price tag of 1.89 million yen ($21,140). Earlier, Honda said that the price for gasoline-electric car for the overseas market could vary, depending on the exchange rate. However, now they want to sell it for $20,000 in the US.

Well, the demand for hybrid car fell very recently in the US because of decrease in gasoline price in the world market. Moreover, people have become more reluctant to buy new car amidst the ongoing economic recession in America. Many people have already lost their jobs and there are many who are worried about job security. So, it would be very good for Honda if they can release Insight hybrid vehicle for a minimal price for the US market.

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Reuters

Toyota Motor Recorded 31.8% Decline in January Sales in USA

Toyota Motor saw a sharp decline in its USA sales in January. The Japanese automaker recorded 31.8 percent fall in its January sales in USA compared to the January sales of last year. Sales of all of the Toyota models fell in January. With this sharp decline in USA sales in January, the automaker experienced more than 30 percent year-over-year sales drop for three months in a row. However, still Toyota did better than other competitors in USA in January in terms of sales volumes. Toyota light trucks fared comparatively better than other models in January. However, hybrid car sales fell sharply because of lower gasoline price.

Toyota is one of the leading automakers in the world, but the company is finding it hard to cope up with the global economic recession. The surging Japanese Yen has aggravated the situation for the Japanese automaker. The company is even prediction its first annual operational loss in 70 years. It has cut down production in many of its domestic as well abroad plants in order to avoid inventory build up.

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Forbes

Toyota Cutting Executive Salaries due to Sales Drop

Japanese newspaper Nikkei has recently reported that Toyota, the largest automaker in the country, is going to cut salary for its executives in order to come to terms with its prediction of first operational loss in 71 years due to ongoing economic recession in world market- leading to slower demand across the world. The situation has been aggravated because of surging Japanese Yen against foreign currencies.

Well, Nikkei did not indicate any source of the news of cutting salaries for the company executives in Toyota Motor Corp. The report even did not say when and to what extent the salary for the executives would be cut. However, you can not simply rule out the report yet because the company is going through a tough time both domestically as well as internationally at this moment. They are cutting production throughout the world in order to prevent inventory building.

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Bloomberg