Xinhua Asia-Pacific news summary at 0600 GMT, July 19

Jul 19, 2012 (Xinhua via COMTEX) --SUVA -- Fiji's Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama hassaid that he is not surprised that the New Zealand police arereportedly investigating an alleged plot to kill him.

Bainimarama, who now is in Seoul, South Korea, on a visit, wasquoted as saying that the plot is a "work of cowards" and NewZealand should do something about its own terrorists. (Fiji-President-Plot)

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SYDNEY -- Australian business conditions weakened in the Junequarter, a quarterly survey released by National Australia Bank (NAB) showed on Thursday.

The survey showed the business conditions index fell to minusone in the June quarter, from plus three in the March quarter.Business confidence deteriorated a little in the quarter,registering an index of minus two from minus one in the Marchquarter. (Australia-Business Conditions)

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YANGON -- Myanmar held the first state-level Martyrs' Dayceremony here Thursday with the presence of government leadershipin more than two decades to commemorate fallen national heroesGeneral Aung San and eight others who sacrificed their lives forthe country's independence in the late 1940s.

The 65th Martyrs' Day ceremony was significantly attended byVice President Sai Mauk Kham, paying tribute before the tombs ofthe martyrs. (Myanmar-Martyrs'Day)

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SEOUL -- The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank), SouthKorea's state-run trade bank, said Thursday that it has raised 1.75 billion Chinese yuan (280 million U.S. dollars) through dimsumbond sales in Hong Kong.

The fixed-rate yuan-denominated bonds with a maturity of threeyears were priced to yield 3.25 percent, according to an e-mailedstatement. The yield was changed into 139 basis points more thanthe three-month Libor after swapping yuan into the U.S. dollar. (South Korea-Dimsum Bond)

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WELLINGTON -- The New Zealand government came under increasingpressure Thursday over its plans to open up its territorial watersand exclusive economic zone (EEZ) to oil and gas and mineralexploration and production.

The day after the government's Bill setting out a managementregime for the country's EEZ passed its second reading inParliament against loud protests from environmental campaignersand opposition politicians, an appeal was launched to block agovernment permit for Brazilian oil giant Petrobras to drill offthe North Island's East Cape. (New Zealand-Offshore Oil)

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SEOUL -- Growing production in overseas plants by localmanufacturers will possibly dampen the South Korean economy as itmay hurt exports, employment and investment at home, a centralbank report showed Thursday.

According to the report co-authored by Bank of Koreaeconomists, a growth in overseas plant production by domesticmanufacturers has not yet soured exports of the South Koreaneconomy as the portion of vertical trade increased. (SouthKorea-Overseas Production)

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JAKARTA -- The Indonesian government plans to intensify theinspection and surveillance of imports as an effort to control thesoaring trade in illegal goods brought into the country, anofficial said here on Thursday.

Bachroel Khairi, head of policy research and development at theTrade Ministry, said that 88 of his staff have been providingtraining in import surveillance to port officials. "We arefocusing on preparing ourselves and optimizing importsurveillance, " he said.

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WELLINGTON -- New Zealand's population could peak in about 50years and then begin to shrink barring any changes in migrationor fertility as deaths start to outnumber births, according toprojections from the government statistics agency Thursday.

The total population currently at 4.4 million was projectedto reach 5 million in the mid-2020s and 6 million in 2061,according to the National Population Projections from StatisticsNew Zealand. (New Zealand-Population)

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OSAKA -- About 3,000 people in a city of southwestern Japaneseisland of Kyushu were forced to evacuate their homes again onThursday due to threats of landslide and flood caused by heavyrain, local press reported.

The residents in Aso City where landslides hit houses last weekwere ordered to evacuate their houses on Thursday morning as heavyrain continued to fall on the area covered with volcanic ash soilwhich is very fragile. (Japan-Evacuation)