Trump says US-China trade talks 'going well' but wants to see Xi. US President Donald Trump was upbeat on Thursday about high-level trade talks with Chinese officials in Washington but said no final deal would be made until he meets with Chinese President Xi Jingping. The United States and China opened a pivotal round of talks on Wednesday aimed at bridging deep differences over China's intellectual property and technology transfer practices and easing a months-long tariff war.

Venezuela's Maduro loosens private sector, currency red tape: sources. As Venezuela grapples with US sanctions on its vital oil industry, socialist President Nicolas Maduro has made plans to lift some price and foreign exchange controls in a bid to revive the country's battered economy, sources said. Since 2014, Mr Maduro's government has directly imported and distributed raw material for industries like food processing and construction. But the government has now informed some companies in private meetings that they can buy their own foreign currency to import what they need, five industrial and financial industry sources said.

Singapore-based maritime tech accelerator launched, said to be world's first. Ship management company Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) and entrepreneur network Techstars announced on Friday the joint launch of a maritime tech startup accelerator to be based in EPS’ headquarters in Singapore. From April 2019, the EPS MaritimeTech Accelerator Powered by Techstars will accept applications from startups around the world and ultimately select ten companies – including the most promising Singapore and regional early-stage ventures – to participate in the first run.

Genting Singapore says casino licence of Resorts World at Sentosa renewed for three more years. Genting Singapore on Thursday said that the Casino Regulatory Authority of Singapore has renewed the casino licence of Resorts World at Sentosa for another three years, starting from Feb 6.

ThaiBev beefs up stake in Vietnam F&B to 99% for US$14.7 million. Following its purchase of a 49 per cent stake in Vietnam F&B Alliance Investment Joint Stock Company in 2017, Thai Beverage (ThaiBev) has signed an agreement to additionally acquire another 50 per cent stake in Vietnam F&B, to make up about 99 per cent of the firm. The aggregate consideration for the acquisition is 340.8 billion dong, or US$14.7 million.

Offeror for LTC to exercise compulsory buyout of shares from dissenting shareholders. STEEL trading and property group LTC Corporation on Thursday said that it has received sufficient valid acceptances to exercise its right of compulsory acquisition for all the shares of the shareholders who have not accepted the exit offer. This will occur on or after Feb 21. Mountbatten Resources, the investment vehicle for LTC’s controlling Cheng family, will then proceed to delist LTC from the Singapore Exchange.

SGX RegCo urges caution when dealing in Sevak shares, citing unusual price movements. Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo) on Thursday urged investors and potential investors to exercise caution when trading shares of IT solutions company Sevak Limited. In an announcement, it noted that the share price of Sevak had climbed steadily from S$2.51 on Sept 17, 2018 to S$4.05 on Oct 19, 2018, a meteoric rise of S$1.54 or 61 per cent, despite a general decline in the broad market.

Source: SGX Masnet, The Business Times, Bloomberg, Channel NewsAsia, Reuters, PSR