| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : JUNE 14, 1999 ISSUE | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| INTERNATIONAL -- ASIAN COVER STORY
The Stars of Asia (int'l edition) 50 Asian leaders at the forefront of change After two years of economic turmoil, Asia is finally on the rebound. How strongly it will bounce back depends largely on the region's commitment to reform. This year, BUSINESS WEEK's Stars of Asia list includes 50 leaders who demonstrate such commitment. Some are dogged politicians pushing for greater transparency and accountability. Others are innovators using the downturn to upgrade their businesses. Others are fearlessly spotlighting deep-seated problems such as corruption. If the example they set is followed widely, Asia will reemerge mightier than before. Countries with strong reformist political leaders are coming out of the starting gate first. Thanks to consistently bold policies aimed at restructuring their ailing economies, they are giving foreign investors the confidence to return to the region. These policymakers tend to be straight-talking, no-nonsense technocrats who have a vision of where they're going and relentlessly pursue it. South Korea is making one of the swiftest comebacks. President Kim Dae Jung, a BUSINESS WEEK Star for two years running, can largely take credit for that. A diehard reformist, Kim can boast 4.6% economic growth for the first quarter, as opposed to deep recession last year. Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and economic czar Lee Hsien Loong also used the downturn to liberalize the financial sector and, in particular, push through sweeping banking reforms. His moves have made Singapore far more competitive than before the crisis. Many Stars have done well because they were prudent to begin with. They stuck to their core businesses and avoided too much debt. A stickler for asset quality, Paul C. Lo, president of Taipei-based Bank SinoPac, runs a bank with a minuscule number of bad loans. Lo avoided undue exposure to the volatile property market during boom times, keeping the bulk of lending for consumer banking. Michael Chan, chairman of Hong Kong's fast-food chain Cafe de Coral Holdings Ltd., also resisted pressure to get into the once-sizzling property market. Now, he's taking advantage of weak real estate prices to expand his franchise and is posting strong profits. Some Stars know how to turn crisis into a moneymaking opportunity. Last 'September, Hideo Sawada launched discount Skymark Airlines in a bid to take on Japan's pricey domestic carriers. In China, thirtysomething Yang Yuanqing has transformed Legend Holdings into China's most successful computer maker, outmaneuvering more sophisticated international players in his home market. OPPORTUNIST. Other stars seized the moment to modernize. In the middle of Japan's worst postwar financial crisis, Yoshifumi Nishikawa, president of once-ailing Sumitomo Bank Ltd., has aggressively slashed costs and targeted such growth areas as mutual funds. Since October, the bank's stock has doubled. In India, despite economic slowdown, the quality and volume of stock trading continues to rise thanks to Ravi Narain and his technocrats, who set up an electronic bourse modeled after the NASDAQ. In the front of the pack are visionaries who have embraced the New Economy. No Internet startup companies made our list this year, mainly because the industry is still in its embryonic stages. But Taiwan manager Chen Wen-Chi, president of Via Technologies Inc., certainly did. A maker of chipsets, or core logic chips, Chen survived a shakeout to become a leader in the global industry. The reformers on our list, by exposing bad policies and practices, are keeping up the pressure on Asia's laggards. Thai economist Pasuk Phongpaichit detailed a web of corruption among police, politicians, and business leaders, and prompted Bangkok to take action. He Qinglian's equally hard-hitting expose on corruption in China has become a handbook for Beijing's leaders in their struggle to clean up the seamy side of the Chinese economy. As Asia emerges from its slump, the region enters an era where openness is demanded by shareholders and voters alike. By being in the forefront of the new age, BUSINESS WEEK's Stars are the first to reap its rewards. A number of BUSINESS WEEK correspondents and editors contributed to this special report on Asia's Stars. They are: Duane Anderson, Joyce Barnathan, Brian Bremner, Bruce Einhorn, Amy Louise Kazmin, Manjeet Kripalani, Irene M. Kunii, Jonathan Moore, Sheri Prasso, Dexter Roberts, Michael Shari, Miki Tanikawa, Emily Thornton, and Jennifer Veale. Sheri Prasso in New York and Joyce Barnathan in Hong Kong supervised the project. By Joyce Barnathan in Hong Kong, with bureau reports To read a correction/clarification about this story, click here.
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