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Mostly cloudy 27°C

Humidity:

88%

Wind Speed:

3 KMH

Wind Direction:

NNW (330°)

Barometer:

1011 mb

Dewpoint:

25°C

Heat Index:

30°C

Wind Chill:

27°C

Visibility:

6 km

BANGKOK: Asean member countries must have a minister to promote and champion the grouping's causes within each country as the region moves towards integration by 2015, CIMB group chief executive officer, Datuk Seri Nazir Tun Razak, said today. "We know that the best of ideas will not be well-received unless it is well-explained. "Yet who is marketing Asean? And until we do, we shouldn't assume that the public will resist regional economic integration," he told Thailand Management Association's Top Talk here today. Nazir said little would be reported on Asean except when government leaders gathered at summits. In between, he said, each government would tend to prioritise national politics and projects. He said Asean should change its logo and a rebranding exercise could be a powerful expression of a new era. "There is an urgent need to re-energise and transform the Asean agenda," he said. Nazir said the grouping's secretariat and governments needed to develop a deeper Asean consciousness to face the hard realities of economic integration and in the spirit of new age, adopt more aggressive and even unorthodox strategies. "It is the Asian century. We will enjoy much more of if we team up as one region in this new world order where size and speed of action matter more than ever," he said. He said there was an urgency for Asean to progress as an economic entity, apart from dealing with the micro realities and got more aggressive at the macro level. "Can we not strategically capitalise on the strengths of each country today? Malaysia's connectivity to the Middle East and leadership in Islamic finance puts it in a prime position to attract petro-dollar investments into Asean yet why is Singapore talking about becoming an Islamic finance hub?," he said. Nazir said it would be not too soon to start leveraging on each other through cross-national business cooperation and government incentives rather than competing on all fronts. "Of course, a lot of painful negotiations will be required and certainly there are domestic political realities to manage," he said. On the capital market, he said a lot more progress has been made but it has been focused on the harmonisation of rules and regulations which were useful but clearly the least contentious. "The reality is that we need a merger of national exchanges to stay relevant in the new securities landscape. Unfortunately, no one dares to tackle this issue and some national exchanges are instead spending more time courting non-Asean exchanges," he said. Asean, he said, also needed to create regional institutions that would help develop its capital market. "It is logical for there to be at least one Asean rating agency, with economies of scale to build stronger internal capabilities and enhance credibility to stand tall at the global level," he said. On the banking sector, he said, regional banks would be catalysts for the greater flows of goods and services. "The truth, however, is that we remain frustrated with the lack of commitment by national governments, bureaucracies and the public at large to Asean. We have faced numerous challenges in trying to regionalise our business," he said. BERNAMA

RAMUNIA Holdings Bhd will have to pay RM83,000 per day to Sime Darby Engineering Sdn Bhd (SDE) from March 4 if its proposed disposal of Teluk Ramunia Fabrication Yard is not completed on or before March 3. The sum would be set off from the balance consideration payable by SDE provided that it was due to a delay in the fulfilment of any of the conditions precedent to be delivered by Ramunia and its wholly-owned subsidiary Ramunia Optima Sdn Bhd, CIMB Investment Bank Bhd told Bursa Malaysia on behalf of Sime Darby Bhd today. SDE is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sime Darby. SDE, Ramunia and Ramunia Optima also mutually agreed to extend the date to fulfil the conditions precedent of the definitive sale and purchase agreement dated Aug 3, 2009 from Feb 3, 2010 to April 4, 2010. BERNAMA

Economy Fan Ensuite. Excluding breakfast. Hotel ChinaTown Inn, with 4 different room types, is a highly rated budget hotel ideally located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown. This 2-star hotel offers cost-conscious travellers international standard accommodation and services at affordable prices. At the Hotel Inn, you are surrounded by an open air shopping paradise with a myriad of side-walk eateries and shop corners. Hotel ChinaTown Inn offers attractively furnished rooms which are fairly roomy and quiet with air-conditioning, carpet flooring and an attached bathroom. The Hotel is highly recommended in the Lonely Planet Travel Guide Book (Issue 2001) for "Far better value, and thoroughly recommended, with spotless hotel-quality rooms.

DIGISTAR CORPORATION BHD'S wholly-owned subsidiary Digistar Holdings Sdn Bhd has accepted a purchase order of RM3.4 million from MEASAT Broadcast Network Systems Sdn Bhd for the supply and commissioning of a base band system for Astro All Asia Broadcast Centre. The Astro project is one-off in nature and is expected to be completed within three months. The company also accepted a contract from Pasukhas Construction Sdn Bhd to supply and install various electrical and extra low voltage systems for the Inland Revenue Department building at Cyberjaya, Selangor, for RM7.85 million. The project is expected to completed by March 29, 2011. BERNAMA

Light rain 27°C

Humidity:

88%

Wind Speed:

8 KMH

Wind Direction:

SSE (160°)

Barometer:

1010 mb

Dewpoint:

25°C

Heat Index:

30°C

Wind Chill:

27°C

Visibility:

5 km

IRIS Corporation Bhd's joint venture with Data Edge Ltd and Polish Security Printing Works has been awarded a tender for the introduction of Machine Readable Passport and Machine Readable Visa in Dhaka. In a filing to Bursa Malaysia today, Iris said the company was notified of the tender award to the joint venture by the Bangladeshi government yesterday. The notification of tender award constituted the formation of a contract with an estimated price of Tk5,261.47 million or US$76.09 million (RM259.70 million), it said. It said the contract agreement would be binding upon the joint venture furnishing a payment of Tk.101.53 million or US$1.47 million (RM5.02 million) as performance security to the Bangladeshi government within 21 days and upon signing the final contract agreement within 28 days. The agreement would contribute positively to the earnings and earnings per share of the ICB Group in the future, it added. -- BERNAMA

AIRASIA X, the low-cost long-haul airline, today appointed Lufthansa Technik Philippines (LTP) as its maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services provider. Both parties signed an agreement on the sidelines of the Singapore Airshow at the Changi Exhibition Centre today for the LTP to provide MRO services for AirAsia X's fleet of eight Airbus aircraft comprising A330s and A340s for three years beginning next month. The services will be provided at the LTP facility in Manila. The LTP is the subsidiary of Hamburg-based Lufthansa Technik AG, the world's largest MRO provider. AirAsia X is an affiliate of short-haul carrier AirAsia, Asia's leading and largest low-cost airline. "With the LTP on board to provide us expert MRO services, we are able to continue to provide safe flights as well as ensure that our aircraft are kept in an optimum condition," said AirAsia X Engineering Head Anaz Ahmad Tajuddin. He said this would lead to cost-efficiency, thus enhancing AirAsia's ability to continue offering super low fares. AirAsia X had previously worked with the LTP when its A340 underwent a 40-hour layover involving the main landing gear seal change at the LTP facility in Manila last month. Bernama

DiGi.Com Bhd recorded a lower pre-tax profit of RM1.366 billion for the financial year ended December 31, 2009, compared to RM1.547 billion in the same period of 2008. In a filing to Bursa Malaysia, DiGi said its revenue rose to RM4.9 billion from RM4.814 billion previously. Year-on-year, the Group's revenue grew by two percent to RM4.9 billion on the back of steady demand for mobile services from its 7.7 million subscriber base, up eight per cent year-on-year. Average revenue per user (ARPU) decreased to RM55 from RM59, primarily due to reduced spending by the low income segment affected by the economic slowdown, and increased competition. Its Chief Executive Officer, Johan Dennelind, said in a statement that 2009 was a year of transition for the company, in focusing on the internet for the people, by rolling out its Turbo 3G network. "We are proud to have held up relatively well in our core mobile business while at the same time establishing ourselves as a leading mobile internet player. "Concerted efforts to improve our competitiveness and relevance to customers helped strengthen the customer base in the fourth quarter, particularly driven by an increase in take up of mobile internet services. "The focus now is to turn this into revenue momentum," he explained. On prospects for 2010, Dennelind said the Group is optimistic that overall usage trend would stabilise and business continuing to grow, arising from a big pent up demand for quality broadband and internet access. He said the future growth of the industry would be driven by a higher uptake of mobile internet services. "We are pleased that the launch of the DiGi internet last year has been well received with more than 500,000 cumulative (3G) mobile internet customers to date," he said. Moving forward, he said DiGi would continue to invest in the expansion of the most advanced Turbo 3G (14.4Mbps HSPA) network to rapidly broaden its internet footprint nationwide. "While growing coverage in locations already present in, we also plan to be in new market centres this year. "This is to meet the increasing customer demand for data services and capitalise on this mega trend for future growth," he added. -- BERNAMA