Asia's business news

Taiwan decided to boycott this weekends Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC)

By BBC business reporter Bridget Fallon from Singapore

The issue of security pushed economic matters off the agenda at both Apec summit in Shanghai and at the WTO gathering in Singapore.

At the Apec meeting, ministers agreed to intensify common efforts to fight terrorism.

But despite this common front, some old feuds re-emerged.

Taiwan announced early on Friday that it was boycotting Apec in protest at Beijing's refusal to let it send its envoy of choice to the summit.

Earlier in the week WTO ministers vowed to press on with their big meeting next month in Qatar despite the proximity to Afghanistan.

Speculation continues that the meeting will eventually be moved, possibly even to Singapore.

The Japanese government released more details of its extra budget, which is aimed at boosting the beleaguered economy.

The package will be worth about $16.5bn.

Some money will be spent helping the unemployed, by training workers. Half the budget will also be used to implement Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's structural reforms.

Also this week, figures showed that the country's current account surplus shrank for the ninth straight month in August.

The surplus fell 27% from a year earlier to $5.84bn.

Economists expect future data to show Japan's balance of payments took a further hit in September, as the terror attacks in the US disrupted air traffic and general business activity.

South Korea

In South Korea, the jobless rate in September eased further from August thanks to increased job opportunities in the construction and manufacturing sectors, as well as a rise in temporary employment.

The jobless rate fell to 3.3%, its lowest level since December 1997 and down from 3.6% in August.

This is a rare piece of good news for Asia's third biggest economy.

The 11 September attacks and subsequent retaliation are still expected to delay the recovery of the economy.

India

On Thursday, Indian blue-chip software firm Wipro saw its second quarter profit jump 40%.

The company said this year's earnings would be higher than the industry growth rate of around 30%.

Wipro is India's third biggest software exporter.

Australian airlines

Shares in Qantas soared on Friday after the Australian airline launched a 300m Australian dollar share placement. The company needs the money to buy 17 new aircraft.

Qantas, which already claims about 85% of the Australian market, is trying to increase its market share after the collapse of Ansett last month. Ansett is its biggest rival on the domestic routes.

Meanwhile two Melbourne businessmen began negotiations with Ansett's administrators over a proposal to revive the group.

The consortium said they hoped to seal a deal within two weeks.

Ansett was placed into voluntary administration last month after its parent group Air New Zealand said it could no longer afford to keep it afloat, putting more than 16,000 jobs at risk.