Week ahead in Asia & Pacific from May 17

Following are some of the main Asia and Pacific news events
expected this week (all times GMT).

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SATURDAY, MAY 17

NANCHANG, China - China-sponsored conference in Nanchang,
Jiangxi province involving government officials and Taiwan
businessmen. China is expected to announce new policies at the
conference to help Taiwan companies stay competitive in China,
amid rising labour costs and an appreciating Chinese yuan.

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SUNDAY, MAY 18

WASHINGTON - The U.S. envoy handling talks on ending North
Korea's nuclear capability hosts a two-day meeting with his
counterparts from South Korea and Japan as Washington
accelerates efforts to secure a declaration from Pyongyang of
its nuclear programmes.

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MONDAY, MAY 19

MANILA - Rodolfo Garcia, Manila's chief negotiator with the
Moro Islamic Liberation Front, holds a news conference, a week
after fighting erupted between Philippine security forces and
Muslim rebels who accused each other of breaking a
five-year-old ceasefire.

TOKYO - Bank of Japan starts two-day meeting to review
interest rates. The central bank of the world's second-biggest
economy is expected to leave its 0.5 percent interest rate
unchanged, its hands tied by the dilemma of a pick up in
inflation owing to soaring oil prices and the prospect of a
slow down in economic growth owing to weakening demand from the
United States.

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TUESDAY, MAY 20

SYDNEY - Macquarie Group Ltd (MQG.AX: Quote, Profile, Research), Australia's top
listed investment bank, expected to post full-year profit
growth of at least 23 percent to A$1.8 billion.

NEW DELHI - Indian drugs firm Dr Reddy's Laboratories
(REDY.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) expected to report a 64 percent fall in quarterly net
profit from last year when earnings were inflated by one-off
gains from an exclusivity period for a generic version of
GlaxoSmithKline PLC's (GSK.L: Quote, Profile, Research) anti-nausea drug, Zofran.

TAIPEI - Ma Ying-jeou to be inaugurated as president of
Taiwan, opening what could be a spell of better relations with
Beijing after two terms of sword-crossing with the
independence-leaning Chen Shui-bian.

TOKYO - Taro Aso, seen as strong candidate to succeed
Japan's deeply unpopular Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, speaks at
Kyodo News Agency. Analysts expect Fukuda to remain in power at
least until after July's G8 summit in Hokkaido.

TOKYO - Bank of Japan announces rates decision.

SINGAPORE - World Bank Managing Director Juan Jose Daboub
speaks at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy about "The
Food Crisis: Challenges for a New Asia".

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WEDNESDAY, MAY 21

ISLAMABAD - Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers meet for
first time since the formation of a new Pakistani government.

WEST BENGAL, India - Results from local village elections
in the state, which could show how support for the ruling
communists has eroded after a series of land disputes over
their
industrialisation policy.

TOKYO - Honda Motor Co Ltd (7267.T: Quote, Profile, Research), Japan's No.2
automaker, holds mid-year news conference to brief on current
business and present future strategy, against a backdrop of a
shrinking U.S. market.

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THURSDAY, MAY 22

HONG KONG - Lenovo Group Ltd (0992.HK: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's No.4 PC
maker, reports full-year earnings. Since beating market
expectations a year ago, Lenovo has ditched its underperforming
cellphone arm, but must still tackle a global slowdown in IT
spending and an expensive foray into consumer segments, plus
aggressive competition from Taiwan's Acer Inc (2353.TW: Quote, Profile, Research).

DHAKA - Aga Khan, chief of Aga Khan Foundation speaks at a
news conference.

TOKYO - Nikkei annual two-day international conference on
"the Future of Asia": panellists include Prime Minister Yasuo
Fukuda, Japanese Environment Minister Ichiro Kamoshita,
Singapore's first prime minister and current Minister Mentor
Lee Kuan Yew, former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

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FRIDAY, MAY 23

BEIJING - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev starts two-day
visit to China, part of his first foreign trip since his
inauguration, underlining the upswing in relations between the
two countries. Russia is eager to boost exports of oil, gas and
nuclear products to China, the world's second biggest consumer
of oil and power, though China's growing world clout is watched
with some anxiety by Moscow's elite.

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SATURDAY, MAY 24

KOBE, Japan - G8 environment ministers start a three-day
meeting which will focus on biodiversity, the "3 Rs" -- reduce,
reuse, recycle -- and climate change.

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