European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 26, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday june 26, 1991 a the stars and stripes Page 17 today s tip. As part of an increased Effort to attract corporate customers Apple computer inc. Has introduced its first software package that allows users of Large networks of its macintosh personal computers to communicate easily with ism mainframes and minicomputers. Analysts said the Apple software was an improvement Over the cumbersome communications software now available from third party suppliers. Conversion rates London up tuesdays rates for. The . Dollar to other currencies. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound. Other local currencies in dollars. Gold was quoted at $364.25 an ounce Silver at $4. 38.a. June 24 Dune 25 a British Pound .�.1.6425. A 1.6325 German Mark .1,7645 1.7975 French Iran Quot -.,. 6.0595 6.0915. Dutch guilder�?z.2.0375 a 2,0167 belgian franc.�?z37.00 a 36.9625 italis Irlia 1 .-1,328.00 1.333,9,Swiss for arts. I5335. 1,5495 greek drachma .-197.87 a 195.17turkish 4,282.30 a. .4.282.30 saudi arabian Royal .3.7501 a 3,7503 Spanish peseta. 13.10 a 112.18 portuguese escudo. T57.-59 a a a 156,10 canadtan.dollar., to ,1435  1,1420 a austrian Schilling .,., 12.73 a 12 8925 norwegian Krone ,.-7.0560. 6.9880 Ca a ish Krone. 6,9745. 6.9125. These Are unofficial rates As reported by wire service and banking sources and they Are listed to give some idea of daily currency fluctuations /. A a a a. A. The Only official rate concerns the Sale of German Marks to , personnel for personal use and this will be 1.75 through wednes Day based on tuesday s noontime Price fixing. Dow Jones. Of jew Rohlk Tupi a Dow Jones closing Range of averages a monday a a a / a a a a a a High Law. Close change 30 industrials �2957.29 2904.292913,01. -52,55 20 transport a 1182.12 1157.62 1161.50 -29.09 15 of Bililies a 198.00. 195,42 -197.12-0.69 ,63-stacks a 1049.43 1030.47 1034,47 -13.69.amexco opens Warsaw office Warsaw Poland up american express one of the worlds leading firms for travel and financial services opened an office m Warsaw on tuesday after a 52-year absence from Poland. The office which also will include the first automatic Teller machine in Poland will offer various services including travel arrangements currency Exchange Purchase and cashing of american express travellers checks and. Replacement of lost or stolen travellers checks and american express cards. A a a a amex also is actively seeking More outlets for its charge card in Poland. Already it has More than 500 agents an amount that is expected to double by the end of the  the political and economic re forts in Central and Eastern Europe Haiti generated new prospects for Long term growth in the travel and financial sectors a said Jurgen Aumiller president of american express for Europe the Middle East and Africa a by building step by step a direct presence in the Region we Hope to support the further development of the Economy in Poland.�?�. Amex which closed its offices in the Region with the outbreak of world War ii opened an office in Budapest Hungary in january and plans to open one in Prague. By Elaine Kurtenbach the associated press Tokyo a japanese buyouts of co a Linbi pictures the Rockefeller Center and Oiler . Landmarks left Ninny americans apprehensive that the Quot buying. Might never Stop. A now the experts Are becoming incr Cas. Singly concerned because that buying has Quot slowed Way  Vav. The. Japanese investment Boom in the. United states is waning and with it a lifeline of capital that could help the . Economy As it pulls out of the recession. Instead of buying american japanese investors Are keeping their Money at Home or seeking better deals elsewhere. Economists say. A a a the Bottom line is that the Lack of japanese investment has dampened , and it  have Hap pwned at a worse time a a says economist. Maria Ramirez president of Ramirez. Capital consultants inc. With a series of inflation chilling inter Cost rate increases the Central Bank Lias Cut off the seemingly limitless Supply of c i c a p to o no y h a t. A h a s a t a tie j a p an the a worlds largest capital exporter. A. According to the finance ministry Reci japanese investment in the United states dropped 20 percent to s20.i3 billion in 1990 from its Zenith of $32.54 Bil  1989. A. A a. In it annual Survey of overseas invest Niento  Meizai data Bank reported that japanese companies had withdrawn from More than 200 of 12,500. Overseas ventures the vast a a majority of them in the past two years. A a the  most obvious in non manufacturing sectors such As real estate and it Nance says Yasuhiko Sasai Dirac Quot. Tor of the Japan external Trade organization s International economic affairs division y a. A a a a. Real estate investment in the United states has plunged from More than $14 billion in 1989 to $8 billion in. 1990. The. Estimated total for this year is $5 billion to $6 billion according to the association of foreign investors in . Real estate. That. Decline helps keep property prices depressed in the United states Quot. Japanese investors also arc shying away from the u a.  a when credit was cheap Banks were aggressively looking overseas for investment opportunities unavailable in Japan because of government restrictions. V now says Chung a Cha senior Man. Ager 0 f t h e Busi n Ess p i an n 1 tag d e a r t me 111 for Yasuru Trust and banking co., a Scarcity of funds has dried up once Lucra live investment markets in real estate mergers and acquisitions. And aircraft leasing a among other areas. Japanese companies have been less inclined  Hack irom their factories in the United states. A a manufacturers can t just Slop investing. They have to expand to keep their overseas ventures going a Sasai says. But difficulties encountered by manufacturers who moved their production to the United states and Oiler countries in the past five years partly to smooth Trade friction my be discouraging More such  a.  with foreign was of doing business and worries Over How to Deal with environmental Impact restrictions Patent issues product liability. Cases and different hiring practices have tarnished overseas ventures for Many japanese investors. Spine japanese companies also Are finding their newly purchased american manufacturers a hefty economie Burden after Bridges tone corp., Japan s hug Gest producer of rubber products us Quirck Firestone tire and rubber co. For $2.6 billion in 1988, it became saddled with $3 billion in debt that Many analysts say May damage the firms Long term profitability. A. One reason that a mass exodus by the 1,433 japanese manufacturers with plants employing More than 300,000 people in the United slates is unlikely is. 1 hat potential buyers for such factories arc Tew and far Between. A there arc lots of distressed Sellers firms that were  leveraged and now need to get out. But no one will buy Quot sighs one Tokyo mergers Ami acquisition expert. 1 but japanese investors have become much Hoosier and that Means a1 slower economic recovery. Polish economic gloom brightens with surge in foreign investment Warsaw Poland a after lagging behind Czechoslovakia and Hungary in attracting Western Quot investors Eastern Europe a largest country signed a flurry of deals this month that Promise an in How of hundreds of millions of dollars. Poland is finally starting to reap some benefits from its crash privatization program although it May be some time he fore those benefits trickle Down to the Cash strapped populace. In. Addition to the Rise in foreign invest a ment deals Poland has reached agreements that will  to Purchase. Equipment on favourable terms for mod in sizing communications  and banking. The Steps Are crucial to upgrading Poland a backward Economy and meshing with the West. / a the successes come however against a backdrop of social. Gloom. Statistics show that the recession is worsening. For example sales to Poland a biggest mar. Ket the soviet. Union Are expected to drop 70 percent this year. A and a political tug of War May not be helping the business climate. President Lech Walesa is threatening to dissolve parliament which he accuses of dragging its feet on legislation for economic Reform. Nevertheless a foreign investment Bill that just cleared parliament ends the need for government consent for most business deals and guarantees that foreign companies can move profits out of Poland. An april agreement by Western creditor governments to slash Poland s $46 billion foreign debt also helped attract foreign investment. A Quot. Among major deals announced since june t Are a  financial Center. And Unilever s Purchase of a majority stake in the former state soap monopoly. On monday Exxon a German affiliate said it would be. A partner in a venture a worker tests an Otake television at scr Vass  new factory in Poland. Running service stations. Pepsico and coca cola also Are pursuing investment proposals the big names arc very important because they convince the other hesitating companies that it is Worth it to come Here and get started Quot said Janusz Walecki director of the foreign investment Agency a promotion Bureau. A although Poland charged ahead with the most Radical economic Reform plan of the East bloc countries that ousted communist rulers in 1989, it had been less successful than Hungary and Czechoslovakia in attracting investment. With 38 million people Poland offers a larger potential Market Plum  with 15 million residents or Hungary with it million. But its Economy was ravaged in the 1980s by political upheaval and an in Meuse foreign debt posing too Many risks for most investors i he first non communist government launched Radical economic reforms in january 1990, but ministries remained hesitant to commit to deals. The turning Point appears. To have co m e w h e n n r i a i e b  i n e s s c h a or p i o n Jan Khz Szypot Bielecki was sworn in As prime minister in january of this year. A Obielecki just Plain understands that if he does t get some deals done and lock in some of these Western companies that the. Whole great interest in Poland is going to erode a said Edgar Fulton director of the . Trade development Center. A a a. Billet As the largest . Investment in Poland to Date two engineering companies Golub corp. Of Schenectady n.y., and Epstein engineering inc of Chicago agreed this month to spend $100.million to build a financial Center with the National Bank of Poland.  Unilever the British dutch consumer products giant is paying $20 million for 80 percent of the Pollina detergent company the largest acquisition so far in the drive to sell state owned industries to private investors Unilever also plans to spend $24 million on new equipment. Pepsico and coca cola Are dueling with investment proposals 6f $60 million and $50 million respectively general motors is considering putting $400 million into the polish Auto Industry