The Weekly News Update is a weekly roundup of business news from around the Asia-Pacific region, covering Fusion Consulting's core industry practices: chemicals, consumer & retail, financial services, industrial & logistics, information & communication technology, life science and media & leisure. If you have colleagues or friends who may be interested in subscribing, please forward this email to them and copy knowledge@fusionc.com.

Dear ?NAME?,      MI for the Strategic Planning Process  The most important Key Success Factor in linking market intelligence (MI) with  strategic planning is mutual respect between MI and top management. Find  out how this can be achieved through case studies on five companies including  ABB, Orange and Shell in MI for the Strategic Planning Process, the latest  report from Global Intelligence Alliance. Request free copy. In the news this week  l 10-Apr-08 Beverage firms in India focus on fruit drinks, target teens

Growth in the fruit drinks segment has been accelerated by increased consumption by teenagers in the last two years. Leveraging the market opportunity, soft drink concentrate maker Rasna has launched a ready-to-drink fruit concentrate called Fruitplus, targeting teenagers above 15. Packaged drinking water maker Sabols Foods also plans to foray into the fruit juice market while CavinKare has entered the fruit drink segment by acquiring 100% of MAA Fruits. The Rs72 billion (US$1.8 billion) carbonated drinks category is expected to face the heat of rising competition from the fruit drinks segment. Even the cola giants are now focusing on non-cola drinks. Coca-Cola has set up another manufacturing facility in India that will manufacture its fruit juice drinks of Maaza and Minute Maid while PepsiCo rolled out its fruit drink Tropicana Twister nationally in March 2008. Both are targeting the 18 to 29 year age group. Click here to view this week's articles for all industries.    What you don't know can hurt you  Receive all the key news on your markets, industry and competitors each  week, with alerts for important breaking news, and avoid information  overload with human filtering. Find out more about our Market Monitoring   Service and web-based Intelligence Plaza system by emailing   marketing@fusionc.com.

Chemical China - Weak shoe sector hits adipic acid India - Essar plans polypropylene plant India - Narendra Plastic to invest in two units

Consumer & retail India - Rasna eyes ready-drink market Japan - Kirin keen to buy Aussie milk processor Singapore - Wyeth to expand milk products plant

Financial services Hong Kong - Hong Kong and Dubai sign Islamic finance pact India - PNB to go solo in credit cards Korea - Insurers up capital to boost market share

Industrial & logistics Hong Kong - Barloworld buys Flynt India - Auto industry sees double-digit growth in FY 2007-08 Korea - Siemens solidifies security in takeover

Information & communication technology   China - Microsoft eyes doubling mobile sales in the mainland India - Incentives for the semiconductor industry draw seven proposals Singapore - Motorola closes handset plant; may sell the business altogether

Life science Asia - India overtakes China in clinical trials India - Rural pharma the next engine of growth India - Pharmaceutical M&As see unhealthy decline

Media & leisure China - Media revenue to reach US$79 billion in 2008 India - Trai to put ceiling on channels' DTH rates Singapore - Government Won't put price cap on pay-TV services

Previous issues

Banks target Asia's wealthy [4-Apr-08] Foreign investors unfazed by Vietnam's economic difficulties [28-Mar-08] India's chemical sector benefits from China's cut in export rebates [21-Mar-08] Foreign game makers accelerate Asian drive [14-Mar-08] Asian players withdraw from fiercely competitive Chinese handset market [7-Mar-08] India to exploit nutraceuticals [29-Feb-08]

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