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 25-Jan-08 The push towards convergence gains momentum in Korea

Korea is one of the world's most wired countries with 90% of household having access to high-speed Internet. But the full commercialisation of Internet protocol TV (IPTV) has been delayed for years as authorities struggled to coordinate a marriage between media and phone regulations. To ensure that Korea will not be left stranded in global IPTV competition, the broadcasting and telecommunications sectors will converge under a reform plan. Korean telecoms firms are counting on IPTV services as revenue from traditional voice calls stagnates. The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute forecasts that IPTV-related businesses will generate W12.9 trillion (US$13.5 billion) in production by 2012. Even as cable firms lobby the government to block the entry of telecom firms onto their turf, the broadcasters are planning to make inroads into the mobile phone service market in 2008, by reselling handsets and services of existing telecom companies SK Telecom, KTF and LG Telecom. 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 - Perstorp consolidates position in polyols China - BlueStar plans new methionine plant Japan - Mitsui earmarks US$6.4 billion for investment

Consumer & retail Asia - Asians seen shopping more in first half of 2008 Indonesia - Carrefour to buy Indonesian retailer Japan - Beer shipments continue to slide in 2007

Financial services China - Insurance premium forecast to surge 24% in 2007 India - IBA proposes setting up an indigenous payment network Korea - Banks protest move to delay bancassurance expansion

Industrial & logistics China - Shanghai attracts cargo allies India - Bosch opens packaging plant to boost sales, sourcing Korea - Big firm vie for courier operators

Information & communication technology   Japan - Fujitsu to spin off chip operations Japan - KDDI in talks to buy Chubu telecom arm Vietnam - SMBs to Spend US$1.4 billion on ICT in 2008

Life science India - Emaar, Fortis plan JV to set up 25 hospitals Japan - Generics market to reach US$3.2 billion in 2009 Vietnam - B Braun Melsungen to build medical-equipment factory

Media & leisure China - Internet users reach 210 million China - Arrivals to Chinese SARs to rise in 2007 Korea - Media convergence put on fast track

Previous issues

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] Korean petrochemical industry remains bullish [23-Nov-07]

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