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Fears About SARS Hurting Asian Economies
Aired April 21, 2003 - 15:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Well, beyond the health concerns, public fears about the spread of SARS are beginning to have a major economic effect, especially in Asia. Hotels and nightclubs in Singapore are just two of the businesses forced to adjust to new public behavior.
Let's get more now from CNN's Andrew Brown.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREW BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wednesday evening at Singapore's La Meridien, and the piano player is performing another solo, quite literally. He is just about the only person in the lobby. This downtown hotel has never experienced occupancy this low. Only 30 percent of rooms are sold, break-even point is around 50 percent. So it's no wonder the management's been cutting costs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't have anymore new recruits, no overtime. We just ended a five-day work week. Normally people work in Singapore six days in the hotel business. So it's five days. And with these measures, we should be able to cut down our losses.
BROWN: It's the same story all over town. SARS has depressed tourism, leaving many hotels and retailers without customers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Business is very bad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's down by almost 80 percent.
BROWN: The government has predicted SARS will shave a half to 1 percentage point off annual growth. The good news is analysts say they don't see Singapore's electronics manufacturers being strongly affected by SARS since buyers will continue to source chips and other components from here. The bad news is these manufacturers are mainly supplying U.S. tech companies, which according to some experts, are still in a fragile state.
V. ANANTHA-NAGESWARAN, CREDIT SUISSE: Despite the result that we have seen in the last couple days in Microsoft and Intel, both top line and bottom line growth still looks very sluggish, to put it mildly.
BROWN: While some Singaporean businesses may be racing into the red, Lee Juan Tsao is upbeat about his prospect. Each day, he's paying 12 percent less for the taxi he drives around town. Part of a special SARS discount.
LEE JUAN TSAO, TAXI DRIVER: Our company reduce our rental. You see -- yes, this is how company look into the welfare of taxi drivers.
BROWN: Mr. Lee regularly disinfects his taxi, but it will take more than a clean machine to get the Singapore economy firing on all cylinders again.
With new SARS cases reported each day, many people are staying away from bars and restaurants to reduce the risk of infection. Apparently, they're being productive in other ways.
WEI SIANG YU, DOCTOR: With the couples, the husbands and wives are spending more time together, I think it's about time that -- for procreation.
BROWN: Love in the time of SARS is blossoming.
Andrew Brown, CNN, Singapore.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 21, 2003 - 15:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Well, beyond the health concerns, public fears about the spread of SARS are beginning to have a major economic effect, especially in Asia. Hotels and nightclubs in Singapore are just two of the businesses forced to adjust to new public behavior.
Let's get more now from CNN's Andrew Brown.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREW BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wednesday evening at Singapore's La Meridien, and the piano player is performing another solo, quite literally. He is just about the only person in the lobby. This downtown hotel has never experienced occupancy this low. Only 30 percent of rooms are sold, break-even point is around 50 percent. So it's no wonder the management's been cutting costs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't have anymore new recruits, no overtime. We just ended a five-day work week. Normally people work in Singapore six days in the hotel business. So it's five days. And with these measures, we should be able to cut down our losses.
BROWN: It's the same story all over town. SARS has depressed tourism, leaving many hotels and retailers without customers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Business is very bad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's down by almost 80 percent.
BROWN: The government has predicted SARS will shave a half to 1 percentage point off annual growth. The good news is analysts say they don't see Singapore's electronics manufacturers being strongly affected by SARS since buyers will continue to source chips and other components from here. The bad news is these manufacturers are mainly supplying U.S. tech companies, which according to some experts, are still in a fragile state.
V. ANANTHA-NAGESWARAN, CREDIT SUISSE: Despite the result that we have seen in the last couple days in Microsoft and Intel, both top line and bottom line growth still looks very sluggish, to put it mildly.
BROWN: While some Singaporean businesses may be racing into the red, Lee Juan Tsao is upbeat about his prospect. Each day, he's paying 12 percent less for the taxi he drives around town. Part of a special SARS discount.
LEE JUAN TSAO, TAXI DRIVER: Our company reduce our rental. You see -- yes, this is how company look into the welfare of taxi drivers.
BROWN: Mr. Lee regularly disinfects his taxi, but it will take more than a clean machine to get the Singapore economy firing on all cylinders again.
With new SARS cases reported each day, many people are staying away from bars and restaurants to reduce the risk of infection. Apparently, they're being productive in other ways.
WEI SIANG YU, DOCTOR: With the couples, the husbands and wives are spending more time together, I think it's about time that -- for procreation.
BROWN: Love in the time of SARS is blossoming.
Andrew Brown, CNN, Singapore.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
