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?,    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.    China's water and wastewater treatment sector   Huge demand exists in China for clean water with ample opportunities for  investors, water companies or water technology suppliers in the municipal and  industrial water supply and wastewater treatment market. Market-oriented  regulatory changes have lowered pricing risk, and opened up the sector.    Find out what the needs, solutions and opportunities are. In the news this week  l 1-Feb-08 Malaysia losing out in the FDI race?

Malaysia recorded a 54.4% rise in foreign direct investment (FDI) flow in 2007 to US$9.4 billion. But effort to woo investment could stall as efforts to get rid of red tape and inept bureaucrats falter. The country's long-running policies favouring ethnic Malays are also seen as hurting foreign investment. These could threaten to put Malaysia further behind Singapore (US$36.9 billion), Vietnam (US$20 billion), and Thailand (US$10 billion) in the FDI race. In Asia, China received the most FDI inflows (US$67.3 billion), followed by Hong Kong (US$54.4 billion). With Asian countries fiercely competing to get a slice of the FDI pie, Malaysia has lowered its corporate tax rate (from 27% in 2007 to 26% in 2008 and 25% in 2009) and tax exemptions in a bid to draw in more FDI. The biotechnology and medical devices industries show the most promise in securing FDI. This week, US-based stem cell transplantation research firm Bio-Cellular Research Organisation announced it will site its manufacturing plant in Pahang from Slovakia. Another US-based biotechnology company Wafergen Biosystems also announced it is setting up a R&D centre in Kedah. 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 - BASF R&D centers launched in Shanghai China - Avery Dennison opens new coater Malaysia - Hextar Chemicals in venture with India's Unitop

Consumer & retail China - Tesco to open Shanghai store in new drive on China India - International retailer set sight on cash & carry business Vietnam - Vietnam set 20% retail sales growth

Financial services Malaysia - DBS's Islamic arm eyes stake in a Malaysian bank Singapore - Temasek raises Stanchart stake to 19% Singapore - Amex card spending up 22% in 2007

Industrial & logistics China - Trial of Beijing-Hamburg rail freight service cuts sea times in half Japan - City-Link ties up with Japan's Sagawa Global Malaysia - MASkargo to start dedicated cargo flights to India

Information & communication technology   China - China No.1 in high-tech competitiveness Malaysia - Google eyeing Malaysian hub Singapore - SMBs to spend US$1 billion on telecoms in 2008

Life science Indonesia - Sales Volume of pharmaceutical products to grow by 10% Malaysia - Pahang to host world's largest stem cell plant Singapore - Actelion opens regional office in Singapore

Media & leisure Korea - Microsoft to tie-up with Daum and Celrun for IPTV service Singapore - Outbound travel to grow 4.5% in first half of 2008 Thailand - CASBAA slams Thai pay-TV sector

Previous issues

The push towards convergence gains momentum in Korea [25-Jan-08] Japanese transport companies expand in China [18-Jan-08] China shows strong potential for pharma outsourcing [11-Jan-08] Epoxy producers in Japan strengthen setup to meet surging demand [14-Dec-07] Foreign firms buy into Taiwan's banking sector [7-Dec-07] Eyes on booming Asian luxury goods market [30-Nov-07]

Visit our website to sign up for free intelligence on Asian markets.

Best regards, The Market Monitoring Team Fusion Consulting