SYDNEY--28 Feb--AsiaNet/InfoQuest MERCHANDISE MART... COLON CITY: Yet unseen in Latin America, the PanamaInternational Merchandise Mart is under development near theColon Free Zone as the region's first Wholesale MerchandiseMart. www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070226/MXM001 www.panamamerchandisemart.com IT STUDY... COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado: HDI, the world's largestmembership association for IT service and supportprofessionals, has announced the launch of a worldwidebenchmarking study focusing on customer satisfaction with ITsupport. www.thinkhdi.com www.thinkhdi.com/csistudy www.thinkhdi.com/files/CSI_Study.pdf www.thinkhdi.com/publications/pressReleases/pressfeed.xml ASIA-PACIFIC DIABETES... SYDNEY: A new finding, from the Asia-Pacific Cohort StudiesCollaboration (APCSC) and published in the Asia Pacific Journalof Clinical Nutrition, shows that up to 12 per cent ofcardiovascular deaths in the region (heart disease and stroke)are due to diabetes. www.thegeorgeinstitute.org RELATIONSHIP EXPANDED... SAN JOSE, California: Komag, Incorporated and SeagateTechnology have expanded their strategic relationship. Inaddition to the existing media supply agreement, Komag willalso provide Seagate with additional aluminum substrates. www.komag.com www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990816/KOMGLOGO JUMBUCK ENTERTAINMENT... MELBOURNE: Jumbuck Entertainment Ltd, the world's leadingprovider of mobile chat and dating communities, has announcedto the market revenues of A$7.01 million (US$5.5 million) forthe period from 1 July to 31 December, 2006 ("H1-2007"), +24.3per cent compared to the same period in the previous year, andA$2.36 million of NPAT (Net Profit After Tax), +11 per centcompared to the same period in the previous year. www.jumbuck.com COMPANY REPUTATION... NEW YORK: Global business executives assign nearly 60 percent of the blame to CEOs when companies lose reputation aftera crisis strikes, according to a new Safeguarding Reputationsurvey by global public relations firm Weber Shandwick with KRCResearch. www.webershandwick.com www.webershandwick.com/reputationrx www.krcresearch.com INTERACTIVE BROKERS... GREENWICH, Connecticut: Interactive Brokers has recentlyadded the trading of stocks and warrants in Hong Kong to itsworldwide direct access platform. www.interactivebrokers.com www.interactivebrokers.com/en/trading/products.php www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050926/CGM031LOGO FANNIE MAE... WASHINGTON, D.C.: Fannie Mae will redeem the principalamount of MTN securities issues amounting to a total of US$205million on March 9, 2007 at a redemption price equal to 100 percent of the principal amount redeemed plus accrued interest.Fannie Mae will also redeem US$16.555 million in FINSsecurities issues on the same date. www.fanniemae.com OTIS INFLUENTIAL... FARMINGTON, Connecticut: Otis Elevator Company, a unit ofUnited Technologies Corp., is listed in the top 30 of the 500most influential foreign-invested companies in China for 2006,according to Southern Weekend, one of China's largestcirculation weekly publications, and the Multinational ResearchCenter of Nankai University. www.otis.com MICREL INTRODUCES... SAN JOSE, California: Micrel Inc., an industry leader inanalog, high bandwidth communications and Ethernet ICsolutions, has introduced the 4A MIC68400, the latest additionto its MIC68000 family of LDOs designed specifically forpowering FPGA, CPLDs, DSPs and microcontrollers. www.micrel.com NEW NEWSPAPER... KUALA LUMPUR: One of the largest publishers in SoutheastAsia has selected WoodWing Software's industry-leading SmartConnection Enterprise solution for its new daily newspaper, aswell as its existing weekly and monthly magazines. www.woodwing.com PEACE PRIZE... TOKYO: The Niwano Peace Foundation has announced that itwill award the 24th Niwano Peace Prize to Dharma Master ChengYen of Taiwan, the founder of the Buddhist Compassion ReliefTzu Chi Foundation. www.npf.or.jp EXIST GLOBAL... MARINA DEL REY, California: Exist Global, Inc., Asia'sleading provider for software engineering services, announcedthat it has secured venture financing to accelerate its growthplans. www.exist.com (AsiaNet is a consortium of leading news agencies distributing unedited,translated news releases for worldwide clients. Visit www.asianetnews.net forfull-text versions.)