Bushset for his Asian travels

CURRENCY concerns and trade liberalisation will top the agenda when US President George Bush kicks off a 10-day, six-country Asian tour in Tokyo on Friday.

Economists say Bush is likely to raise the issue of Tokyo's repeated intervention in currency markets to weaken the yen in support of its exporters.

He is also likely to focus on the Chinese yuan's peg to the dollar, at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum in Thailand on 20-21 October. Washington says the yuan is undervalued, unfairly aids Chinese exporters and destroys US jobs.

Efforts to breathe life into stalled global trade talks may also figure.