IN BRIEF

New Aussie tourism campaign targets China

SYDNEY: Australia launched a multi-million dollar global tourism campaign in Shanghai yesterday, targeting China's growing affluent classes who are venturing overseas in greater numbers. Australia said it will spend A$170 million over the next three years to boost tourism with officials choosing the Chinese city to kick-off the "Nothing Like Australia" campaign. China is Australia's most valuable international tourism market, worth more than A$3.8 billion in 2011, but officials have said it could be worth up to A$9 billion a year by the end of the decade.

India equity funds post biggest 6-month fall

NEW DELHI: There is little respite seen for Indian equity funds in the near term, with government inaction to tackle a sharp slowdown in domestic growth and a shaky global economy driving investors away from risky assets. India's diversified stock funds fell the most in six months in May, pulled down by banks and automobiles among others, and any chance for a rebound is unlikely after March-quarter gross domestic product growth fell to its slowest pace in nine years. "It's going to be very, very tough," said T P Raman, managing director of Sundaram Mutual Fund.

China to plan for Greek euro exit risk-sources

BEIJING: The Chinese government has called on key agencies including the central bank to come up with plans to deal with the potential economic risks of a Greek withdrawal from the eurozone, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters yesterday. The sources said the plans may include measures to keep the yuan currency stable, increase checks on cross-border capital flows and stepping up policies to stabilise the domestic economy. The central government has called on related state agencies, including the National Development and Reform Commission, the central bank and the banking regulator, to discuss contingency plans.!

Petronas approves floating LNG plant

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's state oil firm Petronas has approved plans to build a floating liquefied natural gas plant offshore Malaysia and aims to bring it online in 2015, which, if it were successful, would make it the first such plant in the world. Petronas' main competitor in the race to bring the first floating LNG plant online is oil major Royal Dutch Shell which approved its Prelude LNG floating plant last year and has said it intends to bring the plant online by 2017. Agencies