SYDNEY--20 Mar--AsiaNet/Infoquest MICROSOFT CUSTOMERS... BANGKOK - At the Asian Banker Summit 2006 in Bangkok, Microsoft Corp representatives were joined on stage by John Beggs, executive general manager,Commonwealth Bank of Australia. http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO http://www.microsoft.com http://www.microsoft.com/emea/contactus http://photoarchive.ap.org http://www.microsoft.com/emea http://www.microsoft.com/emea/presscentre http://www.microsoft.com/emea ING SIGNS... HANOI - ING Wholesale Banking (ING) announced that it had signed amemorandum of understanding to establish a corporate finance cooperation withVietcombank Securities Company Ltd (VCBS), the securities and investmentbanking arm of Bank of Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank), one of thecountry's five main state-owned banks. LICHTENSTEIN ELECTED... SEOUL - Steel Partners II, L.P. and Icahn Partners LP, Icahn Partners MasterFund LP and High River Limited Partnership, collectively known as The KT&G FullValue Committee announced that Warren Lichtenstein has been elected to theBoard of Directors of KT&G Corporation. MARS WORLD... TOKYO - Trinity Corporation is pleased to announce that it will stage thefirst competition embracing all martial arts in the world, dubbed "MARS WORLDFIGHTING GP", at Jang-Choong stadium in Seoul, South Korea, on April 29, 2006,in partnership with MARS KOREA of Seoul. http://www.ticketlink.co.kr http://www.jangchunggym.co.kr TOP SEMICONDUCTOR... EL SEGUNDO, Calif. - While 2005 was the year of the "soft landing" for theworldwide semiconductor industry, it was not a year of soft results for theglobe's largest chip makers, with the top-three suppliers achieving growth thatexceeded the market average. http://www.isuppli.com/news/clt http://www.isuppli.com FANNIE MAE... WASHINGTON - Fannie Mae will redeem the principal amount indicated of thefollowing securities issues on the redemption date indicated below at aredemption price equal to 100 percent of the principal amount redeemed, plusaccrued interest thereon to the date of redemption. http://www.fanniemae.com http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/305450.html BAN LIFTED... CANBERRA - Australia's Tourism Minister Fran Bailey said she was delightedthe British advertising regulators have decided to lift their ban on theadvertising tagline Where the bloody hell are you? http://www.industry.gov.au MERCEDES-BENZ... NEW YORK - Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios announced that IMGMedia, building on the success of their milestone coverage of the shows in NewYork's Bryant Park, will move forward with a similar new media initiative atMercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios in Los Angeles. www.mbfashionweek.com . EVE ONLINE... REYKJAVIK - CCP Games announced the finalization of a licensing agreementwith Optic Communications to launch EVE Online, its highly successfulmassively-multiplayer online game (MMOG), in China by Q3 of this year. VIETNAM'S LARGEST... MELBOURNE - Aconex, a leading global provider of IT to the constructionindustry, has secured a deal to provide its online information managementservice to Vietnam's largest ever property development - the US$200 millionSaigon Pearl in Ho Chi Minh City. www.aconex.com HONG KONG DISNEYLAND... HONG KONG - With special offers available for guests at Hong KongDisneyland, it's like a dream come true. ENGINEERING STAFFING... SINGAPORE - Kelly Engineering Resources, a highly specialized and rapidlyexpanding business unit of Kelly Services, has opened its first office inAsia. www.kellyservices.com GOL ANNOUNCES... SAO PAULO, Brazil - GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes, Brazil's lowcost, low fare airline ("Gol") announced today that its subsidiary Gol Financeis offering perpetual notes in an offering exempt from registration under theUnited States Securities Act of 1933, as amended ("Securities Act"). www.voegol.com.br/ir (AsiaNet is a consortium of leading news agencies distributing unedited,translated news releases for worldwide clients. Visit www.asianetnews.net forfull-text versions.)