APEC looks to push stalled liberalisation process: Japan and the United States will be in the spotlight on Monday when trade ministers from 18 economies sit down in the Borneo city of Kuching for two days of talks to try to breathe some life into the trade liberalisation process in the Asia Pacific region.

US delinks Indonesia aid from reforms: The United States will not link economic support for Indonesia to the pace of political reforms in the country, a newspaper said on Sunday. The Sunday Times quoted a Clinton administration official as saying on Saturday that US continued to believe that economic and political reforms shouldproceed in tandem.

Pfizer sees `awesome' Viagra sales in Malaysia: Pfizer Inc expects "awesome sales" of its impotence drug Viagra in Malaysia, the local Sunday Mail newspaper reported. The company has been getting hundreds of calls daily enquiring about the drug, Radzmi Rahmat, managing director of Pfizer in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, was quoted saying.

Move to reduce Telstra market dominance: Two Australian telecom companies said on Sunday they had begun a political campaign to reduce the market dominance of local industry giant Telstra Corp Ltd. A letter sent to the national government last Friday and issued by Optus Communications Pty Ltd and AAPT Ltd said Telstra should be subject to more regulatory pressure before it became fully privatised.

Oman banks merger: Commercial Bank of Oman and Bank of Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait have completed a planned merger, a senior official said on Sunday. The merged bank, called Commercial Bank of Oman, has capital of 55.4 million rials($144 million) and 66 branches.