Q: Why is Cisco expanding in India and China?

A: Cisco Systems is planning major investment in China and India as it focuses its attention on the world’s two fastest-growing major economies. The US firm intends to step up procurement from Chinese suppliers, develop its product research capacity and launch several joint ventures. It has also made a similar pledge to ramp up its presence in India, where it plans to triple its workforce by 2012.

Cisco said it was committed to “truly globalising” its business. China and India are key battlegrounds for global technology firms, because of their massive domestic markets and the attractive low-cost manufacturing locations they offer. Cisco has been in China since 1994 and claims to have invested an estimated US$8.5 bln there in the past five years.

问：为何思科不断扩大在印度和中国的投资？

答：思科系统公司（Cisco Systems）看中世界两个发展最快的经济体，正计划在中国和印度进行重大投资。这间美国公司有意加强向中国供应商进行采购、发展其产品研发能力以及成立若干合资企业。该公司同样致力拓展在印度的业务，计划在2012年前将员工人数增加两倍。思科表示要将其业务“真正实行全球化”。

中国和印度是全球科技公司争夺的重要领地，因为它们拥有庞大的国内市场和廉价的制造基地。思科从1994年开始便在中国开展业务，并称过去五年在华投资估计达85亿美元。

Q: China’s steel output is up?

A: China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) forecasted that China’s crude steel output in 2007 would reach 480 million tons, up 14% compared with the previous year. Luo Bingsheng, executive vice chairman of the CISA, said China’s crude steel output in the first nine months stood at 363 mln tons, up 17.61%, and pig iron output increased by 15.68% to 346 mln tons. Driven by increasing international steel prices, China’s steel export amounted to 49.5 mln tons in the same period, up 73.2%, of which crude steel accounted for more than 40% of the total.

Meanwhile, international shipping prices for iron ore have increased significantly, such as spot-contract commission for delivery from Brazil to China which has rocketed to US$88.3 per ton. Comparing with the commission on long-term contracts which is usually below US$20, such an increase is “unusual and unreasonable”, CISA said. China’s iron ore transporting volume takes up 46% of the world’s total, far exceeding its shipping capability, which has only 30 bulk carriers for now, or 4% of the world’s total, Luo said.

问：中国钢铁产量上升？

答：中国钢铁工业协会（CISA）预测，2007年，中国粗钢产量有望达到4.8亿吨，较上年增长14%。CISA常务副会长罗冰生表示，前九个月，中国粗钢产量增长17.61%至3.63亿吨，生铁产量增长15.68%至3.46亿吨。由于国际钢铁价格上涨，同期中国钢铁出口量增长73.2%至4,950万吨，其中粗钢占40%以上。

同时，铁矿石的国际运输价格显著上升，例如巴西交付至中国的现货合同佣金已飙升至每吨88.3美元。CISA表示，与通常低于20美元的长期合同佣金相比，该涨幅“不寻常和不合理”。罗冰生表示，中国的铁矿石运输量占全球总量的46%，远远超过其运输能力，中国目前仅有30艘散货船，占全球总量的4%。

Read Also: You Will Never See How Much We Can Attend Your Needs of Financial/business/economic translations

Q: What are they talking about at the transport meeting in Singapore?

A: Mostly about open skies. Singapore is hosting the 13th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Transport Ministers Meeting that was opened yesterday by premier Lee Hsien Loong. One of the key issues is the opening up of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore air route, a sector that has been dominated by Malaysian Airlines (MAS) and Singapore Airlines (SIA).

Indeed, it is one of the worlds most expensive sectors, with a return ticket for the 35-minute flight costing some US$300. Few other city pairs are as costly (passengers flying London-Paris and Melbourne-Sydney have far greater choice of fares). Malaysia and Singapore are in the midst of opening up their skies to allow budget carriers such as AirAsia and Tiger Airways a piece of the action. MAS is crying foul but SIA says bring it on.

The increased deregulation that is forthcoming is likely to stimulate and significantly change the competitive dynamics of the KUL-SIN route. AirAsia is the main beneficiary of this move as the LCC has been dreaming about flying to Changi since it first flew in September 2001.

MAS stands to lose the most because it currently generates over 10% of its revenue from this sector. Not so for SIA, with less than 5%. The opening up of this market could reasonably reduce fares, at least 30-35% to begin with. Some ticket prices during peak hours could potentially go even as low as 50%, from what passengers are paying now.

Are you looking for Financial Industry Translation? We are here for your assistance.

But as with many accords between Malaysia and Singapore, the devil is in the details. The ASEAN plan is to free access between ASEAN capitals (10 cities) by 2008. When it happens, open skies presents both an opportunity and a challenge for the regions carriers.

While a strong airline such as SIA is able to take advantage of operating more services, weaker carriers face the potential for increased and stiffer competition in their home markets. ASEAN wants a Single Aviation Market by 2015. The flight path leading up to that could be very turbulent.

EVENT CALENDARS

—————————————————————————–

No significant events

问：新加坡交通会议的主题是什么？

答：大部分是关于开放领空。新加坡正在举办第13届东南亚国家联盟（东盟）交通部长会议，昨天，新加坡总理李显龙主持了会议开幕式。会议主题之一为开放吉隆坡至新加坡航线，该航线一直由马来西亚航空（马航）和新加坡航空（新航）所控制。事实上，这是全球最贵的航线之一，整个航程仅为35分钟，但是往返机票高达300美元。如此昂贵的城际航线不多（往返伦敦至巴黎以及墨尔本至悉尼的乘客有更多票价选择）。

马来西亚和新加坡正着手开放各自领空，以便AirAsia和Tiger Airways等廉价航空公司能参与进来。马航高呼不公平，新航乐观其成。即将实施的进一步开放市场的措施可能会刺激及显著改变吉隆坡至新加坡航线的竞争动力。AirAsia 是主要的受益者，因为这间廉价航空公司自2001年9月首飞以来一直梦想能飞往樟宜机场。马航受影响最严重，因为其目前超过10%的收入来自这条航线，而新航不足5%。

这条航线的开放将导致票价合理降低，一开始至少降低30-35%。高峰时段的某些票价甚至有可能较现价低50%。但是与马来西亚和新加坡签订的许多协议一样，细节才是关键。东盟计划于2008年之前开放东盟各成员国首都（10个城市）之间的航线。届时将为区内的航空公司带来机遇和挑战。新航等实力雄厚的航空公司可透过经营更多服务获利，但是实力薄弱的航空公司可能会在本土市场面临更激烈的竞争。东盟希望在2015年之前建立单一航空市场。要实现这个目标并不容易。

事件日志

Take a look at how we helped our client by localizing their project for Financial Industry Translation. Click here to read the complete case study

—————————————————————————–

无重大事件