The experienced banker Piyush Gupta from Citibank was Tuesday appointed the Chief Executive Officer by DBS Group, Southeast Asia's largest bank by assets. Presently, Mr. Gupta is CEO of Citi for South East Asia-Pacific, covering ASEAN, Australia, New Zealand and Guam.

The appointment of Mr. Gupta was described as 'perfect' for the growth of the Singapore lender's franchise, as he has broad-based banking experience, both in frontline and support functions.

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As per the media reports, its smaller Singapore refinery would be shut down by Exxon Mobile, for its first major maintenance turnaround since 2007.

The time decided for the shutdown is May to June 2010; and it will be in stages such that both crude distillation units in the 296,000 per day Jurong Island refinery can be taken down. Apart from this, secondary units will also be taken.

The sources close to the matter said that no major impact on the market would be seen by the extended planning period for this major shutdown.

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The International Monetary Fund holds the viewpoint that once the economy recovers from its worst recession since independence in 1965, Singapore should resume to a policy of allowing the currency to strengthen.

It was specified by the Washington-based lender, via a statement on its Web site, that in order to protect price stability, a tightening stance would be warranted through targeting a trend appreciation, further along the recovery path. Presently, Singapore's monetary policy is broadly apposite.

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Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche has struck a deal with Swiss chemicals group Lonza, in which its subsidiary Genentech Singapore will acquire Lonza's cell culture biologic manufacturing facility in Singapore.

The deal is valued at 360 million dollars.

The acquired facility, which has 80,000 litres of fermentation capacity, is hoped to generate Avastin bulk drug substance.

Avastin helps in treating diseases such as colon, lung and breast cancer. In 2008, global sales of Avastin fetched 5.2 billion Swiss francs to the company.

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With the aim to aid the improvement of ties with policymakers, two new posts of chiefs - president (Europe) and president (Americas) - have been created the Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC), which manages an estimated $200 billion-plus in assets.

Billions have been invested by GIC into Citigroup and UBS. It should be noted that GIC is the world's fourth largest sovereign wealth fund with assets of around $300 billion.

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Sunday, at a community event secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), Lim Swee Say, expressed that Singapore workers need to be better and faster.

He specified that Singapore has a better chance in the new world economy, despite other countries competing fiercely with it for the next three to five years.

The three areas on which the Singapore's workforce needs to concentrate, to be in good position, are increasing productivity, improving capabilities and enhancing flexibility, continued the labor chief.

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The celebrations of the independence anniversary of Malaysia were marred due to fresh racial and religious rows; and Monday saw Najib Razak, Malaysia's Prime Minster requesting the citizens to maintain unity in the multicultural nation.

The Malaysians were urged by the PM to "repair the bridges and tear down the divisive walls" that are present between the races in the nation even 52 years after nationhood and the end of colonial rule.

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Chinese stocks plummeted more than 5 per cent in early trading on Monday, with the index heading for its biggest monthly loss in the past ten months.

China's leading steel manufacturer, Baoshan Steel, slipped 4.4 per cent, while China Southern was lower by 3.9 per cent. China Merchants Bank Co. dropped 5.8 per cent. PetroChina dropped 5.25 per cent to 13.00 Yuan.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped around 150.05 points to settle at 2,710.64 by 11 a. m.

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General Motors Corp. has formed a fifty-fifty joint venture with state-owned automaker FAW Group Corp. to manufacture light-duty trucks and vans in China.

The two companies are making a combined investment of 2 billion Yuan for the new company.

The joint venture will be based in the northeastern Chinese city of Changchun of Jilin Province.

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On Thursday, China Vanke revealed its plans of investing up to CNY11.2 billion ($1.64 billion) via a secondary public offering of new shares.

In a statement, the country's largest property developer by market value specified that a sum of CNY9.2 billion would be utilized by it in the building of 14 real estate projects, while the remaining CNY2 billion will be spent on supplementing its working capital.

The company said that the new shares will total for no than 8% of China Vanke's share base prior to the public offering.

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On Friday, China Shenhua Energy Co., the country's biggest coal producer, said that its first-half net profit increased by 14% from a year earlier because of an increase in its output and sales, in spite of the global economic crisis.

The Beijing-based company said that its net profit was 16.9 billion yuan ($2.5 billion) in the month of January, compared with 14.8 billion yuan a year earlier.

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On Friday, state media said that since the World Trade Organization ruled last year that higher tariffs on imported auto parts were grossly unfair, China might cut these tariffs from next week.

If this step is taken, then the four-year-old regulations that increase the tax on the imports - if they make up too large a share of the finished home-made automobiles - would come to an end.

A joint statement would be issued on Tuesday by the commerce ministry and other government agencies claiming the end of the rule.

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Wednesday saw a resolution being passed by China's legislature, reflecting its interest in “actively dealing with climate change”, by determining news laws and tightening controls over greenhouse emissions.

It should be noted that the country’s efforts to deal with global warming would be increased via this resolution, which was endorsed at the end of a four-day session by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. But the new ground is not broken by the legislation from China's previous statements on climate change.

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On Friday, Air China acknowledged that it had a long-term ambition to lift its stake in Cathay Pacific, for a possible takeover of the Hong Kong airline.

As per the report released on Friday, a sum of 6.34 billion Hong Kong dollars (813 million US) was paid this month by the Chinese flag carrier, with the aim to enhance its holdings in Cathay to 29.99 percent, just below the 30 percent threshold that would initiate a mandatory takeover offer.

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Friday saw PetroChina Co., China's biggest listed oil firm by capacity, revealing a fall of 7.2% in its first-half net profit from a year earlier, the blame of which goes to lower oil prices and weaker energy demand.

The second half of the year will also see the world's oil market dealing with uncertainties, predicts the Beijing-based company. However, the company, while considering China's thirst for energy, said the top priority will be upstream exploration, particularly outside the country.

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Yesterday, 27.75 million DiGi.Com Bhd shares were sold by Time dotCom Bhd (TdC), for RM604.95mil or RM21.80 per share.

It was put forward by TdC, in a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, that the shares have been disposed off by its unit Hakikat Pasti Sdn Bhd.

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It was recently expressed by Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, that there is a need for the country to grow at an annual rate of eight per cent, over the next 10 years, if in case it wants to acquire the developed nation status by 2020.

In a keynote address presented at the National Economic Advisory Council (NEAC) inaugural meeting today, he said that the country, if it achieves anything less than this, will have its goals delayed.

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Pakistan is set to address foreign labor needs of Malaysia, with about 100,000 Pakistani laborers expected to land in the country by the end of financial year 2010. Pakistan High Commissioner to Malaysia, Liutenant General (retired) Tahir Mahmud Qazi, said that his country has sufficient manpower resources to overcome the shortage of laborers in Malaysia.

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Bata (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, a well-known shoe manufacturer, has plans to open 15 stores in the region within two years as a part of its expansion strategy.

The company, which operates a retail chain of 213 stores nationwide, aims to open 5 stores this year to serve the growing market. During the next year, the company will open more 10 stores at various locations, especially in the outskirt areas.

In addition, the Bata Malaysia has also plans to refurbish its existing stores to offer customers with a new shopping experience.