TIKRIT, IRAQ: Saddam Hussein made his palaces a desert paradise, but now his hometown is seeking foreign investors to turn the late dictator's playground into a tourist mecca.

Local officials see the 76 abandoned Saddam villas sprawled across hundreds of hectares (acres) as a potential gold mine for Tikrit's cash-strapped Salahuddin province.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) will be appointing a master consultant to plan a suitable development programme for the 1,200ha of land set to be developed in Sungai Buloh, Selangor into a new hub in the Klang Valley.

From left: Liew, Ng and Leong at the launch of S P Setia’s new marketing
campaign with Firefly

KUALA LUMPUR: S P Setia Bhd believes that its new branding campaign with Firefly airlines will provide greater reach for its products.

KUALA LUMPUR: Asia Pacific Land Bhd (AP Land) is acquiring 95% of the issued and paid-up capital in PT Primabahagia Permai Sejati (PT PPS), which has the location permit for a plot of 14,000 ha (34,594 acres) land in East Kalimantan for oil palm plantation.

KUALA LUMPUR: KPJ Healthcare Bhd is buying a piece of leasehold land in Johor for RM7.07 million.

In a filing to Bursa Malaysia on March 31, its unit Pasir Gudang Specialist Hospital Sdn Bhd had on the same day entered a conditional sale and purchase agreement with Johor Land Bhd for the acquisition of the 3.25-acre land.

KUALA LUMPUR: KYM Holdings Bhd is planning a residential development of bungalows, terraced homes, condominium and apartment on its newly acquired 41.36-acre leasehold land in Ipoh.

KUALA LUMPUR: OSK Property Holdings Bhd, through its unit Jelang Vista Sdn Bhd, is buying two plots of residential land at Cyberjaya for RM32.68 million.

KUALA LUMPUR: Bolton Bhd, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Kenneison Brothers Sdn Bhd, is selling its remaining 150,000 shares in Kenneison Builders Sdn Bhd for RM203,171.

In a filing to Bursa Malaysia on March 31, the developer said the 150,000 shares of RM1 each in Kenneison Builders, representing 60% of its equity interest, will be sold to Golden Prima Entity Sdn Bhd.

KUALA LUMPUR: General Corp Bhd saw a net profit of RM25.34 million for the fourth quarter ended Jan 31, 2010 (4QFY2010), from a net loss of RM10.2 million a year earlier, on the constructions of several projects.

SHANGHAI: The Industrial and Commerical Bank of China (ICBC) has decided to cut discounts for homebuyers on interest mortgage loans, a Chinese daily reported.

The Shanghai Daily reported on March 31 that the Beijing headquarters had ordered the Shanghai branch to cut down the mortgage rate discount for first-time homebuyers from the previous 30%.