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.     2008 Asia-Pacific pay-TV operators survey, 4th edition   Programmers, find out what the major cable, satellite and IPTV platforms in Asia  and Australia think about your channels and support, their programming plans and  their hopes and fears for the future of the industry. This survey targets  programming managers at 50 major carriers in 16 countries across the region,  focusing on the largest players in each country. In cooperation with ContentAsia.  Request more information. Media & leisure

Asia - Microsoft/Yahoo! ad threat to Google in Asia Source: Guardian Unlimited, 1 February 2008 Software company Microsoft has made a US$44.6 billion bid to acquire Internet major Yahoo!. The plan was to create a powerful alternative to Google by merging Microsoft's search engine MSN with Yahoo!, grabbing a slice of the rapidly growing US$40 billion online advertising market. Microsoft and Yahoo! won't add up to become serious competition for Google, but could provide stronger competition for Google in Asia, where Yahoo is strong. In China, Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft have all found the country difficult to crack. Local companies such as Baidu are the market leaders in the mainland, but Microsoft will find Yahoo's success in Japan to be a major boost. China - China steps up internet control with video rules Source: TelecomAsia, 1 February 2008 China takes a new step to tighten control of the internet when rules go into force limiting online video-sharing to state companies. The rules are aimed at expanding a Chinese censorship system that tries to block internet use to spread dissent while promoting it for business and education. Online video has exploded in popularity in China, which has 210 million people online and is expected to surpass the US in 2008 as the world's biggest population of internet users. Sites such as Tudou.com, 56.com and Youku.com get as many as 100 million viewers a day, a scale that rivals China's biggest state TV channels. But regulators, wary of hurting a fast-growing industry, are expected to let private operators work around the restrictions. Singapore - Major MICE players set up base in Singapore Source: Business Times Singapore, 1 February 2008 Three major players in the Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) industry are setting up shop in Singapore. Association management companies Kellen Company and Kenes International, as well as German exhibition and convention company Leipziger Messe International, have chosen to anchor themselves in Singapore, reflecting the positive sentiments of the robust MICE market in Singapore and the region. The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) aim to raise the tourism receipts contribution of the BTMICE sector to S$10.5 billion (US$7.4 billion) under the Tourism 2015 blueprint. For the industry as a whole, STB hopes to achieve S$30 billion (US$21 billion) in tourism receipts by 2015. View an example of our experience in this industry. Back to list of articles.  Visit our website to sign up for free intelligence on Asian markets.

This Weekly News Update is a free newsletter, providing a round-up of the week's Asia-Pacific news from our core industry practices. If you have colleagues or friends who may be interested in subscribing, please forward this email to them and copy knowledge@fusionc.com.

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