Victoria Harbor, Hong Kong (photo: Randal Rayborn)

Asahi Breweries ties up with Carlsberg to boost Hong Kong sales: TOKYO — Asahi Breweries Ltd has signed a tie-up deal with Carlsberg A/S and will begin selling its popular Super Dry beer products through the Danish brewery’s retail sales network in Hong Kong… (Via Hong Kong News latest RSS headlines – Hong Kong Herald.com.)

New China-Asean free trade area dawns: A new free trade area has comes into effect, incorporating China and the six founding members of the Association of South East Asian Nations – known as Asean. These countries include Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. They plan to eliminate tariffs on 90% of imported goods. This will reduce the cost of trade and is likely to lead to an expansion of cross border commerce between the countries concerned. In terms of population it will be the largest trade area in the world, with nearly 1.9 billion people and it includes some of the leading export driven economies. Chinese manufacturers will gain and so will South East Asian exporters of raw materials. Those countries are also likely to gain access to cheaper materials and components from the Mainland. But there have been warnings from South East Asia that some industries are not ready to compete with the Mainland and that jobs will be lost. Other members of Asean, including Vietnam and Cambodia are due to follow suite in five years. Regional and bilateral trade agreements have proliferated in recent years. The World Trade Organization says about 400 are due to be in operation by 2010. Supporters say they are a step on the way towards comprehensive global trade liberalisation. But critics say they undermine that effort and put poor countries left out at a disadvantage. (Via RTHK On Internet – Finance News.)

For some in Japan, home is a tiny plastic bunk: For Atsushi Nakanishi, jobless since Christmas, home is a cubicle barely bigger than a coffin – one of dozens of berths stacked two units high in one of central Tokyo’s decrepit ‘capsule’ hotels. The rent is surprisingly high for such a small space: 59,000 yen a month, or about $640, for an upper bunk. But with no upfront deposit or extra utility charges, and basic amenities like fresh linens and free use of a communal bath and sauna, the cost is far less than renting an apartment in Tokyo. (New York Times) (Via News On Japan.)

Singapore Health Ministry Looking to Pull Down Sugar Content in Products: The Singapore Health Ministry, with the aim to promote products which are healthier, is all set to meet with as many as 60 representatives of the food and beverage sector to try and talk them into reducing the current sugar content in their products. As per details shared by Deputy Health Minister Datuk Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin, the meeting, which she would be chairing herself, is scheduled for January 12 and would be attended by, in addition to industry representatives, those from the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry. (Via TopNews Singapore.)

Taiwan is world’s 13th top innovator: EBS: Taipei, Jan. 3 (CNA) Taiwan ranked 13th in the European Business School’s (EBS’s) 2009 innovation capacity rankings among the 131 nations polled around the world and the second among Asian countries, the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) said Sunday. Of five Asian countries that made the EBS top 20 innovators list, known as The Innovation for Development Report 2009-2010, released by the European Business School at the end of 2009, Taiwan ranked only behind Singapore, which ranked sixth, CEPD officials said. The Innovation for Development Report provides a comprehensive look at the role of innovation in enhancing the development process, the report compilers said. Japan trailed Taiwan to rank 15th, followed by Hong Kong at 16th and South Korea at 19th. China ranked far behind at 65th, according to the innovation capacity index. Sweden, Finland and the United States are the world’s most innovative economies, in that order. Other nations that made the top 20 innovators list included Switzerland, the Netherlands and Germany. (Via Taiwan Headlines – Business.)