Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has approved the importation of whale meat from Iceland and Norway. The 65 tonnes of whale meat imported was held in Japanese customs since June as the country tried to establish its legality. Under UN rules whale meat trade is banned, however the three countries involved were able to sign reservations on the treaty making it legal. Iceland and Norway hope that access to the Japanese market will be key to maintaining and expanding their businesses.

in an effort to secure food supplies, South Korea has acquired 1.3m hectares of farmland in Madagascar for the next 99 years in order to grow food crops for Seoul. South Korea plans to harvest maize and palm oil in the African land and ship it back to Seoul. The land represents about half of Madagascar's arable land.

Japan has reached recession for the first time since 2001, as a result of the global financial crisis. After declining an annualized 3.7% in the second quarter, Japan's economy contracted at an annual pace of 0.4% during the July-September period. GDP shrank 0.1% and business investment dropped 1.7% compared to the previous quarter.

Chinese President, Hu Juntao, will be visiting Cuba in the next following days in order to strengthen economic ties between the two countries. China is currently Cuba's second largest trading partner, with bilateral trade at $2.3 billion in 2007. Mr. Hu will also be traveling to Costa Rica in order to promote a free trade agreement between China and Central America.

Hong Kong fell into recession in the third quarter as the global economic slowdown continues to impact its economy. Hong Kong's GDP fell 0.5% from the previous quarter and the full year GDP growth is now expected to be between 3-3.5%, much lower than the originally forecast of 4-5%.

Japan's largest mobile phone carrier, Docomo, announced that it will buy a 26% stake in India's Tata Teleservices Ltd. for about 269 billion yen. With the investment, Docomo hopes to boost its hold in India's wireless market to help offset the slowing growth in Japan's market.

South Korea plans to create 50,000 jobs by the end of next year by investing $3.6billion on infrastructure. This is Japan's second fiscal stimulus in two weeks, and it is aimed at decreasing unemployment as the country faces its lowest employment growth in three years.

Taiwan's ex-president, Mr. Chen Shui-Bian, is currently facing corruption allegations and was formally taken into custody yesterday. Mr. Chen is being accused of illegally using a special presidential fund and of being involved in money laundering. The conviction seems to represent Asia's commitment to fight corruption.

China's retail sales experienced its fastest growth rate in nine years, despite the current global financial crisis. Retail sales rose 22% in October from last year to $148 billion. Chinese officials hope that the recently announced stimulus package will encourage people to raise domestic consumption.

The Chinese Government has announced a US$586 billion stimulus package in an effort to avert further negative economic impacts caused by the global financial crisis. The money will be invested on infrastructure and social welfare programs during the next two years.