Telecoms battle to unlock demand in emerging Asia www.asia.nikkei.com

TOKYO/YANGON -- In a tiny village in central Myanmar, about a two-hour drive from the nation's second largest city Mandalay, electricity does not arrive through power lines. It comes from home generators or solar panels.

Chinese brands outstrip rivals in market share www.chinadaily.com.cn

Chinese automakers are gaining an increasingly larger market share of their home market, but industry insiders said they should not be overly optimistic as there is still a long way to go.

More than 6.38 million China-branded passenger cars were sold from January to August, 4.8 percent growth year-on-year. That's more than double the growth rate of the passenger car sector as a whole, according to statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Chinese brands seized 43.2 percent of the market share in the period, far higher than the runner-up, as German carmakers' products accounted for 20.5 percent of the market.

Yang Xueliang, vice-president of Geely Group, believes the upward trend will go further.

"If the momentum continues, Chinese brands are likely to have a 50 percent or even 60 percent market share in the long run," Yang said at a Chinese brands-themed automotive forum in Shandong province last week.

Geely is one of the fastest-growing Chinese automakers in China. In the first eight months this year, it sold 718,000 new cars, surging 88 percent year-on-year.

Geely now owns Swedish brand Volvo and Malaysia's Proton, and has unveiled its own brand Lynk & Co, aiming to compete with international brands such as GM and Volkswagen.

At Changan Automobile, which has partnerships with Ford, Suzuki and Mazda, the international brand cars accounted for roughly 45 percent of the group's total sales last year, according to Li Wei, its vice-president.

"Our Changan-branded cars took 55 percent. Our own brand is rising within the group, so we feel that Chinese brands as a whole are full of hope too."

Wang Xia, chairman of the Automotive Industry Committee of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said Chinese brands have seized the opportunity and realized rapid growth, but they should not be complacent about what they have achieved. "Instead, they should prepare for a tug of war with international brands over a long period of time," he said.

Wang was echoed by Lu Qun, chairman of Qiantu Motor, an electric carmaker. Lu said he believes that Chinese brands could even raise their market share to 50 percent, but there is a long way to go before really getting established.

"How do we make our brands more attractive? How do we offer customers good value for money? And how do we offer them better experiences? We need to find out answers to those questions," Lu said.

Zhang Xiyong, general manager of BAIC Group, said Chinese carmakers still lag behind international big names in the industry in terms of quality and other competitive factors.

He said there were six automotive companies in the list of the 2016 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands but none of them were Chinese.

Zhang suggested that Chinese companies should try to go global if they want to become global brands.

China sold 800,000 cars overseas last year, a meager 3 percent of what it sold in the domestic market.

As the Belt and Road Initiative has become widely accepted, there is huge potential overseas, said Zhang.

However, he suggested that in China, Chinese automakers should shift their focus from large cities to smaller ones, as people there are becoming major consumer groups.

Xiang Xingchu, general manager of JAC Motors, said Chinese companies should each create their own individual features to appeal to their target customers.

"It is not possible to sell your cars to everyone. Find your target customers and they will be large enough," said Xiang.

"Some say their cars are sporty, some say they excel in safety and some others say they offer premium cars. But aren't premium cars safe? Yes they are. But as a company you have to map out a different route of development."

Xiang said now is one of the best times for Chinese brands, as customers are becoming more reasonable, with growing confidence in Chinese brands.

In addition, the authorities are promulgating stricter requirements in fuel consumption and quality, which are forcing Chinese carmakers to do a better job, he said.

Fu Yuwu, chief of the Society of Automotive Engineers of China, believes new energy cars and connected cars could prove to be sectors where Chinese carmakers can gain an upper hand.

"We have the absolute advantage in smart and connected cars. China is strongly addicted to the internet, even more so than the United States. So I think that if we can make breakthroughs in electric cars as well as smart and connected cars, and if we can introduce business model innovations, then we will have the chance of creating miracles for the Chinese car industry."

Central Asia Metals to buy Lynx Resources for $402m www.mining.com

Israel trade mission to Mongolia www.mongolianbusinessdatabase.com

According to the recent Foreign Minister of Mongolia Mr.Ts.Munkh-Orgil's visit to Israel, Mr.Ophir Gore, Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry's Head of Investment & Trade mission and Mr. Chaim Martin, Head of the Economic Mission to China are going to visit to Mongolia through Oct 22-25 in order to promote Israeli global ranking technology and no-how on cleantech (inluding agritech, water and energy relevant for the mining industry), homeland security solutions, medical devices, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals and follow up/develop the particular B2B relations between Israel and Mongolia.

MNB launches project on sister channel MNB World www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ A new project titled ‘MNB World’ has been launched by the Mongolian National Broadcaster (MNB) which is celebrating its 50th anniversary on September 27.

Uber ready to make concessions to reverse London license decision: paper www.reuters.com

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. taxi firm Uber is prepared to make concessions as it seeks to reverse a decision by London authorities not to renew its license in the city, which represents a potentially big blow for the fast-growing company, a newspaper reported.

WA mining executive Mo Munshi jailed for 11 years in Mongolia over fraud claims www.perthnow.com.au

The family of a WA mining executive being held in a Mongolian detention centre after he was sentenced to 11 years jail say his health is deteriorating and they fear for his life.

Mo Munshi, a dual Australian and UK citizen, has been banned from leaving Mongolia since March 2015 and has not seen his family for two-and-a-half years.

In June, the 57-year-old was placed in a detention centre in Ulaanbaatar, where he is unable to speak to his family, sleeps on a wooden bench and is fed two meals a day.

He is only permitted to shower once every 21 days and for nearly three months was not allowed to shave, get a haircut or trim his nails.

His family is too afraid to travel to Mongolia to visit him after they were threatened with kidnap. They are only able to communicate with him through lawyers.

They increasingly fear the approaching Mongolian winter — which will see temperatures plunge to -30C — will take further toll on his failing health.

Holding back tears, daughter Minah explained: “I have grave concerns that he won’t ever see my children again because he won’t survive.”

His son, Arif, added: “It’s nightmare, that’s the only word I can use to describe it.

“We’re not allowed any contact with him, there’s no phone, there’s no Skype, no email. We can’t talk to him directly, so it’s been really hard for all of us.

“His elderly parents who are also living here in Perth are in their 80s. They are very distressed at this situation. They are facing the prospect of perhaps never seeing their son again.”

Mr Munshi is a geologist and founder of Gobi Coal and Energy, which owns two mines in western Mongolia. He has worked FIFO across WA for companies, while his children are former pupils at Christ Church Grammar and PLC.

His family say he was lured to the Central Asia nation in 2015 by a notorious businessman who he believed would introduce him to potential investors.

They are pleading for the Australian and British governments to lobby authorities in Mongolia to secure his release and fear that if his appeal fails, he will be moved to a remote closed prison.

“Given our father’s very serious health issues, and the Mongolian prison conditions, we now urge the Government to help bring our dad home,” Minah said.

“He’s 57, he’s got a bulging disc in his back and severe varicose veins which need surgery and the correct medication.”

Mr Munshi’s Perth lawyers, Alisdair Putt and Jessica Edis, travelled to Mongolia this week.

“He is clearly a long way from home, isolated, unwell and facing the Mongolian winter in basic prison conditions,” Mr Putt said.

In July, he was given a two-day trial over what his lawyers say is a commercial or civil, not criminal matter to do with mining interests he has in Mongolia. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison and ordered to pay $US25 million to the complainant.

Mr Munshi’s company was audited by PWC and KPMG who could find no evidence of any wrongdoing.

He was first arrested on March 10, 2015, by plain-clothes police at an airport in Mongolia.

His passports were taken and he was detained until midnight, then released. Several months later, Mr Munshi’s passports returned but he was subjected to a travel ban and not allowed to leave the country.

His family said he was invited to Mongolia to meet potential investors by a businessman who had been recommended to him by a senior Mongolian political figure. But they claim the man’s aim was to extract money and property from their father.

“As we understand it, this isn’t the first time that they’ve been involved in an extortion case like this because that’s effectively what this case is,” Minah said.

In a letter to the family, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the legal aspects of the case were a matter for Mr Munshi and his lawyers, but that his case was being raised at all appropriate opportunities with Mongolian authorities.

In a letter dated August 17, 2017, Ms Bishop said Mr Munshi’s welfare was a “first priority” and that Australian consular support will continue for as long as required.

UK chip designer Imagination bought by Chinese firm www.bbc.com

UK technology firm Imagination, which designs graphics chips for smartphones, is being bought for £550m by a Chinese-backed investment firm.
Imagination put itself up for sale in June after Apple, its largest customer, said it would stop using its products.
The boss of Imagination, Andrew Heath, said the takeover by China-backed Canyon Bridge was a "very good outcome" and would ensure it remained in the UK.
It becomes the latest UK chip designer to be bought by a foreign investor.
Last year, ARM, which designs microchip technology used in Apple and Samsung smartphones, was bought by Japan's Softbank for £24bn.
Canyon Bridge recently raised $1.5bn (£1.1bn) from Chinese investors and has offices in Beijing and San Francisco.
'British innovation'
The firm said it currently has no plans to cut jobs at Hertfordshire-based Imagination after the takeover.
Ray Bingham, a partner at Canyon Bridge, said: "We are investing in UK talent and expertise in order to accelerate the expansion of Imagination, particularly into Asia, where its technology platform will lead the continued globalisation of British-developed innovation."
Imagination saw its shares halve in value when Apple said in April that it would end a deal to use its products.
The two firms are still engaged in a dispute over the move - with Imagination questioning Apple's "assertions" that it would be able to develop its own computer chip designs without breaching Imagination's intellectual property rights.
Apple's royalty payments for the chip technology, used in its iPhones, iPads and iPods, accounted for about half of Imagination's revenues.

Russia launches ‘world’s biggest & most powerful’ nuclear icebreaker www.rt.com

The first serially-produced Sibir nuclear-powered icebreaker, designed to reinforce Russia’s leadership in the Arctic, was commissioned on Friday at the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg.

Acting foreign minister takes part in ministerial meeting of Foreign ministers of LLCD www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ 2017 Annual Ministerial Meeting of Foreign Ministers of Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDC) took place in the framework of the 72th session of the UN General Assembly, in New York on September 20.