KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will sink 800 million ringgit (US210.52

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will sink 800 million ringgit (US210.52
million) into broadband facilities to expand the service to rural
areas and roll out faster access to the Internet, reports said
Saturday.

Energy, Communications and Multimedia Minister Lim Keng Yaik
was quoted by the New Straits Times as saying broadband
penetration nationwide was very low at only 0.44 percent,
compared with 48 percent in neighboring Singapore and 60 percent
in South Korea.

The broadband access would be expanded also to connect
schools, government offices, universities and research
institutions for telemedicine in local clinics, he added.--AFP

;AFP;
ANPAf..r..
SriLanka-oil
Sri Lanka raises gasoline prices by 13 percent
JP/16/money
Sri Lanka raises gasoline prices by 13 percent

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka Saturday raised gasoline prices by 13.3
percent to recoup some of the losses suffered by the state-run
oil company, officials said.

The retail price of gasoline was raised to 68 rupees (68 U.S.
cents) a liter, up from 60 rupees, the Ceylon Petroleum
Corporation (CPC) said.

It said the price increase was however not enough to wipe out
the near five billion rupee (US$50 million) loss suffered as a
result of not increasing prices since February in line with
rising international oil prices.

The government held back the price of diesel which is commonly
used by public transport, but the CPC said it was asking the
government to allow a further increase in gasoline as a cross
subsidy for holding down diesel prices.

An oil price increase was widely expected after the conclusion
of local council elections earlier this month, but the government
had vowed it would not raise prices.--AFP

;Bloomberg;
ANPAf..r..
Money-India-Lpg
India May Allow Private Firms To Sell Subsidized LPG
JP/ /

NEW DELHI: India's government may allow private sector firms to
sell subsidized liquefied petroleum gas to customers in the
domestic market, an Indian Petroleum Ministry official said on
Friday.

"The matter is being considered by the government. A decision
may be taken soon," said the official, declining to elaborate
further.

At present, subsidized LPG is sold only by four state-run
petroleum firms - Indian Oil Corp., Bharat Petroleum Corp.,
Hindustan Petroleum Corp. and IBP Co. Ltd..

LPG is primarily used in the urban households in India as a
cooking fuel.

Though India deregulated its petroleum sector in April last
year, the government continues to subsidize LPG and kerosene.
Currently, the subsidy for LPG is 106 rupees a cylinder.

India's demand for liquefied petroleum gas is expected to rise
8.81 percent on the year to 10.13 million metric tons in the
current fiscal year to March 2005.

India imports around 70 percent of its crude requirement.
Currently, the country's annual consumption of petroleum products
is close to 107 million tons.--Bloomberg

;AP;
ANPA ..r..
Money-Singapore-Arts
Rule-bound Singapore wants to double arts and media sector by
2012
JP/16/money
Rule-bound Singapore wants to double arts and media sector by
2012

SINGAPORE: The Singapore government wants to double the size of
the country's media, design and arts industries to 6 percent of
the economy by 2012, a minister said on Saturday.

The target comes as officials have said they want the country
to move away from its stuffy, rule-bound image and embrace more
creativity as it seeks ways to sustain economic growth.

"The creative industries are poised to play a significant role
in transforming our economy and society," Lee Boon Yang, minister
for information, communication and the arts, told a graduation
ceremony for fine arts students.

Last year, Singapore's trade-dependent economy was valued at
about 160 billion Singapore dollars (US$92.8 billion), implying
that the government expects the arts sector to double in size
from today's S$4.8 billion ($2.8 billion).

Lee said the arts sectors in Britain and the United States now
account for 8 percent of those economies, and are still growing.

Singapore's government has set aside more than 200 million
Singapore dollars ($116 million) over five years to invest in the
arts sector, Lee said, without giving details.
--AP