Holding(s) in Company

2 December 2004

Aberdeen Asian Smaller Companies Investment Trust PLC

Notifiable Holding

Aberdeen Asian Smaller Companies Investment Trust PLC ("the Company") has today
been notified that Rio Tinto Pension Investments Limited, the pension subsidiary
of Rio Tinto plc, is interested in 1,610,000 Ordinary 25p shares of the Company,
representing 5.92% of the issued share capital of the Company.

The shares are held as follows:

Registered Name               No. of        Percentage of
                              Shares        Issued Share
                                            Cap.
HSBC Global Custody Nominee   1,550,000     5.70%
(UK) Ltd - 810313
HSBC Global Custody Nominee   60,000        0.22%
(UK) Ltd - 813025
Total                         1,610,000     5.92%