March 1/PRNewswire-AsiaNet CENTRE OPENING……. TOKYO: Internet Initiative Japan, provider of corporate-market Internet access and solutions, today announced the opening of a data centre in Nagoya, that will service its clients' back-end e-commerce needs. Further centres would follow in Sapporo, Sendai and Fukuoka, the company said. TOKYO: In a separate press release, Internet Initiative Japan, today gave details of its new "Enterprise Email Service" - a value-added email accounts management service. IIJ said it would mainly target Japanese companies operating in the U.S. WEB POSTCARD……. DUBLIN: Datalex, developer of e-business solutions for the global travel industry, said today online travel companies could integrate tourism fare databases into their websites, with a product called BookIt! which it launched today. LOS ANGELES: Jet Vacations, a subsidiary of PSAInc, today said more and more people were travelling to its website! The company pegged visitor growth rates over the last three months at 1000%, saying it was forced to double server capacity to handle the increased demand. NAME CHANGE……. HONG KONG: US-based Aetna Inc, will operate its newly-acquired Hong Kong insurance and pension businesses under the name, ING Group, the company said today. Hong Kong would become the group's regional headquarters - spearheading growth into North and Southeast Asia. RECORD RESULTS……. LONDON: British American Tobacco today reported "record volumes and record results". Chairman, Martin Broughton, said share earnings were up 11 per cent, operating profits up 27 per cent, and group volumes up by 7 per cent for the second fiscal quarter. PROFITS CLIMB……. HONG KONG: Global supplier of industrial raw materials and transport resources, Noble Group, today reported record revenues for fiscal 1999, with profits climbing 234 per cent. Chairman, Richard S Elman, said the results were due to increasing demand from Asia's recovering economies as well as an influx of business from outside the region. MARKETERS' TOOL……. GREENWICH: FloNetwork Inc. today announced the launch of "the first XML powered e-messaging service for direct marketers". The company said the new platform was developed "to meet the needs of sophisticated direct marketers and publishers……" TOURISM FAIR……. FRANKFURT: Frankfurt Airport Services said today it would be exhibiting at Berlin's International Tourism Exchange March 3 -7, under its new corporate brand. FINANCING ROUND……. LOS ANGELES: U.S. Holding company, Argoquest Holdings, today announced completion of a $US 40 million first round of financing, involving Broadcom Corporation, HSBC Holdings, and Shamrock Holdings, to fund its 60-plus network of Israeli-based technology companies. OPTION AMENDED……. TOKYO: In one of two press releases, anti-virus and Internet content security solutions provider, Trend Micro, today announced it had amended its "Notice of the Grant of Stock Option," released on February 28. GAS PURCHASE……. BEIJI NG: Huaneng Power International, and PetroChina Company Limited, today said they had signed a letter of intent for the purchase of natural gas and pipeline transportation. In a separate press release, Huaneng Power announced it would alter its financial statement disclosure to meet international, rather than US-accounting criteria. AUSTRALIAN BONDS……. MONTREAL: Canada's Deputy Prime Minister, Bernard Landry, today announced Quebec's $A400 million first bond issue on the Australian market. QUALITY STANDARDS……. MONTREAL: In a press release issued today, artificial grass playing surface manufacturer, FieldTurf, welcomed the Federation Internationale de Football Association's (FIFA) specifications for quality standards for artificial fields. MEETING RESOLUTIONS……. JILIN CITY: Jilin Chemical Industrial Company Limited today announced resolutions passed at the company's annual general meeting, including elections of incoming directors for the next three-year term. EQUITIES SITE ……. SINGAPORE: Provider of online financial content, Stockhouse Media Corp, today launched a Singapore equity markets site, www.StockHouse.com.sg - the sixth in a series of the company's country-specific financial portals. CLIENT SIGNED……. TAIPEI: e-business communications solutions provider, Global One, today announced that components supplier, Yageo Corp, had signed for the company's Global Internet Provide VPN service. (AsiaNet is a consortium of leading news agencies distributing unedited, translated press releases for worldwide clients. Contact: www.asianet.com.au for full-text versions). ASIANET