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World Business Quick Take

■ Logistics
DHL to expand HK hub
International logistics giant DHL said yesterday it is investing US$110 million to expand its Central Asia hub in Hong Kong to meet strong growth in Asia led by China. The expanded air express cargo facility, to be renamed Central Asia SuperHub, will be completed by the end of 2007, brought on-line six years early, reflecting strong growth in the region, it said. Apart from Hong Kong, DHL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deutsche Post World Net, also operates five hubs in Bangkok, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo. Asia is the fastest-growing region for DHL whose revenues in the area grew 19 percent to US$2.3 billion in the first six months of this year.

■ Computers
Japan to use Linux more
Japan aims to switch some government computers to the free Linux operating system and reduce its dependence on Microsoft Windows, officials indicated yesterday. Japan is drawing up guidelines for its ministries recommending open source software such as Linux as an "important option" in government procurement, an official at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said. "This is not intended to exclude a particular software nor to recommend a particular one but it reflects the recent development of open source software as reliable systems," the official said. "Currently our procurement of software is dominated by commercial software," the majority of which is Windows, the official added. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that Japan sees the use of Linux as a way of lowering procurement costs and bolstering its defenses against cyber-attacks.

■ Management
Singapore CFOs faulted
Finance chiefs of companies in Singapore face the danger of inaccuracies and mistakes because they take on too much work, a study said yesterday. They spend excessive time on routine and repetitive tasks and lag behind the rest of the Asia-Pacific region in critical functions such as fraud risk management, a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers and CFO Asia Research Services found. Nearly 400 chief financial officers (CFOs) and senior financial executives from 13 countries were polled. Sixty percent of the CFOs in Singapore said more than half of their department's time was spent on tasks such as transaction processing and monthly closing activities, compared with the region's average of 50 percent.

■ Electronics
Video iPod expected
A new video-enabled iPod is expected to be unveiled by Apple Computer Inc during a press conference next week -- though the maverick company is masterful at foiling such predictions. Apple e-mailed invitations that included the words "One more thing ..." printed over a background photo that appears to depict theater curtains. The company, which has pocketed a fortune from the sales of its iPod digital music player, said nothing else in the e-mail, other than that the press event would take place in San Jose next Wednesday. "From our checks with industry and channel sources, we believe Apple will release a first-generation video-capable iPod," American Technology Research said in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America analysts also expect Apple to launch a new video-playing iPod, saying it would help support iPod's prices and "cause investors and consumers to think about Apple's growing position in the digital home."

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