Financial/High-Tech: GlobalCollect expands its global presence by opening an Asia-Pacific

GlobalCollect expands its global presence by opening an Asia-Pacific office in Singapore
Next to its European headquarters in the Netherlands and its US office in San Francisco, the world's premier
Full-service international payment service provider of local E-payment solutions now has a presence in the Asia-Pacific region

Amsterdam, The Netherlands (BUSINESS WIRE) - In response to continued growth opportunities and increasing demand for e-payment solutions across the Asia-Pacific region, GlobalCollect recently opened its office in Singapore. It will serve as the regional headquarters for GlobalCollect's further expansion across this thriving region where e-commerce is growing steadily.

Jan Manten, CEO of GlobalCollect said: "In a strategic decision to better seize opportunities emerging across the Asia-Pacific region and to be able to move quickly in an extremely dynamic and promising e-commerce environment, we decided to establish a local presence. With online payment acceptance and customer preferences varying greatly from country to country in this region, GlobalCollect is ideally suited to offer full service solutions for processing local e-payments to merchants here. Plus, we can leverage our solid experience in setting up online payment processing platforms across Europe and more recently in the US."

The Singapore office will also serve as a local presence to support GlobalCollect's growing portfolio of existing clients across the Asia-Pacific region which already includes Air China, PC Tools, StrawberryNET and Nespresso Asia.

About GlobalCollect

GlobalCollect is the world's premier Payment Service Provider of local e-payment solutions for international Customer Non-Present (CNP) businesses such as internet, mail and telephone order and specializes in a wide range of industries such as travel, ticketing, telecommunications, retail, publishing, portals, online games and digital content. While most providers are limiting their payment services to a technical link with payment acquirers, GlobalCollect is a full-service partner providing a comprehensive service?portfolio from contractual and technical connections to local payment processors worldwide, bank account network management, matching, reporting and finally fund remittance. Through one single web-enabled technical and administrative interface, our online payment platform offers the largest range of local e-payment methods and currencies in over 200 countries, including all major credit and debit cards, direct debits, bank transfers, real-time bank transfers, e-Wallets, cash at outlets, prepaid methods, checks and invoices.?www.globalcollect.com.

GlobalCollect Bettina Duske, Manager PR & Marketing CommunicationsTel:
+ 31 (0) 23 567 1509 bettina.duske@globalcollect.com

Technology: 2700 visitors converge on Singapore for the inaugural WiMAX forum show

WiMAX Forum Congress Asia 2008

Singapore (BUSINESS WIRE) - On April 9-10, 2008, 2700 visitors converged on the Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre for the inaugural WiMAX Forum Congress Asia, establishing the show as the largest and most important WiMAX? event for the Asia Pacific continent.

"We are very pleased with the inaugural WiMAX Forum Congress Asia event," said Ron Resnick, president and chairman of the WiMAX Forum. "We surpassed our attendance expectations, provided the WiMAX industry with a trade show that was high energy and busy on the exhibit floor for both days and facilitated extensive networking and information gathering opportunities with the experts from key vendors - all under one roof.

Our conference was well received, as we tried to create an engaging and interactive program with opportunities for provocative panel discussions and audience participation, as well as details by service providers outlining their experiences and plans to deploy WiMAX."

Visitors, representing the full mobile broadband ecosystem, met with over 50 exhibiting companies over the two days. The packed exhibition floor was a buzz as visitors networked and secured business relationships with new and existing customers, while over 500 delegates attended the two-day conference, which addressed the key issues surrounding the WiMAX industry across the Asia Pacific region. Visitors to WiMAX Forum congress Asia commented: "A must attend event""Very focused""Great first show, a great event and a great opportunity""A true bridge between providers and operators and markets""The whole WiMAX ecosystem under one roof"

Ecstatic exhibitors had a fantastic event and showed their support by signing up for the 2009 show on April 28-29, 2009 in Singapore. At the close of the exhibition over 92% of the 2008 floor space had already been taken for 2009.

Jo McLean, Group Marketing Manager for Aircom International, commented, "I found the quality of the leads fantastic. A really focused event."

Dan Sparks, VP of Sales, Solectek, said, "It was a great first time experience."

Ciritech had a positive event too; Narlin Kapila, their VP of Marketing, claimed, "This Event has drawn quality visitors involved within the WiMAX industry."

John Romano, Sr. Marcomm Manager at Beceem, stated, "The show had a good focus and was well organised. Informa is a class operation."

The WiMAX Forum? and its event partner, Informa Telecoms & Media, will now turn their attention to the next show in the series, the WiMAX Forum Global Congress. WiMAX Forum Global Congress, the flagship event in the series, will take place in Amsterdam on June 17-18, 2008 and is expecting to attract over 80 exhibitors and 5000 attendees.

"We look forward to building on our success here in Singapore by providing the WiMAX ecosystem with a global trade show experience and global presence by vendors to present a broad mix of new products to assist operators in deciding their strategy to consider or deploy WiMAX," said Resnick. "Our events are clear evidence that WiMAX, with the capability to deliver Mobile Internet and fixed broadband services, is here today and our members are dedicated to bringing WiMAX Forum Certified mobile broadband products and services to consumers worldwide."

About WiMAX Forum

The WiMAX Forum is an industry-led, not-for-profit organization formed to certify and promote the compatibility and interoperability of broadband wireless products based upon the harmonized IEEE 802.16/ETSI HiperMAN standard. A WiMAX Forum goal is to accelerate the introduction of these systems into the marketplace. WiMAX Forum Certified products are interoperable and support broadband fixed, nomadic, portable and mobile services. Along these lines, the WiMAX Forum works closely with service providers and regulators to ensure that WiMAX Forum Certified systems meet customer and government requirements. Through the WiMAX Forum Congress Events Series of global trade shows and events, the WiMAX Forum is committed to furthering education, training and collaboration to expand the reach of the WiMAX ecosystem. For more information, visit the trade show link at www.wimaxforum.org.

"WiMAX Forum" is a registered trademark of the WiMAX Forum. "WiMAX," the WiMAX Forum logo, "WiMAX Forum Certified," and the WiMAX Forum Certified logo are trademarks of the WiMAX Forum. All other trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.

About Informa Telecoms & Media

Probably best known as creators of the 3GSM World Congress Event Series, Informa Telecoms & Media is the leading provider of market intelligence and strategic services to the global telecoms and media markets. From large exhibitions to focused conferences, Informa Telecoms & Media brings the industry together to enable progress within the dynamic telecoms and media markets. With more than 200 annual events attended by more than 100,000 executives, Informa Telecoms & Media is the world's leading conference and exhibition organizer in the telecoms and media sector.

Through its team of more than 100 analysts and researchers, Informa Telecoms & Media also produces and distributes business information products using innovative formats and powerful channels that meet the real business needs of their customers.
Informa Telecoms & Media's research services, reports and databases guide the decisions of blue chip clients around the world.

Informa Telecoms & Media for WiMAX Forum
David Langrish, +44 (0)207 017 7788
david.langrish@informa.com
or WiMAX Forum
Margaret Bagan, 503-924-3067 Margaret.Bagan@wimaxforum.org

Science: U.S. scientists receive Japan Prize on April 23, 2008

Tokyo - Kyodo JBN/- Dr. Vinton G. Cerf, Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist, Google Inc., U.S.A., and Dr. Robert E. Kahn, Chairman, CEO & President, Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI), U.S.A., received the Japan Prize for Creation of network architecture and communication protocol for the Internet. Dr. Victor A. McKusick, University Professor of Medical Genetics, the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine at The Johns Hopkins University, U.S.A., was awarded the prize for Establishment of medical genetics and contributions to its development.

http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080423/JSTFPRIZE-a http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080423/JSTFPRIZE-b http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080423/JSTFPRIZE-c

The Japan Prize is awarded to world-class scientists and technologists who are credited with original and outstandingachievements and who have contributed to advancement of science and technology, thereby furthering the cause of peace and the prosperity of mankind. Each year, we are honored to hold an award ceremony and banquet in the presence of their Majesties, the Emperor and Empress, and representatives of the three branches of government.

Source:
The Science and Technology Foundation of Japan (JSTF)
Contact:
Ken Shimba, Executive Officer
The Science and Technology Foundation of Japan
Phone: +81-3-5545-0551
Fax: +81-3-5545-0554
E-mail: info@japanprize.jp
URL: http://www.japanprize.jp/prize/prize_e1.htm
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http://asianetnews.netViewImage.asp?ID=94615
http://asianetnews.netViewImage.asp?ID=94616

Business: MWV names Gautam Sircar Country Managing Director for India

Richmond, Va. (BUSINESS WIRE) - MWV (NYSE:MWV) today announced that Gautam Sircar has been appointed managing director for the company's operations in India.

Mr Sircar will directly report to Bruce Thomas, senior vice president, Global Market Strategy and Emerging Markets, and he will have responsibility for all aspects of establishing and maintaining the growing and profitable MWV business within the geographical region encompassing India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

"With a national and international background in consumer businesses, recent experience in packaging, and a keen understanding of operating international businesses, Gautam combines all the qualities required to succeed in this role," said Mr Thomas.

Mr Sircar's most recent role was CEO of Kloeckner Pentaplast India Pty Ltd, the Indian unit of the international producer of films for packaging, printing and specialty applications.

Prior to this, Mr Sircar spent more than 24 years at Unilever working across different brands in the fast moving consumer goods sector in India acquiring deep experience in both domestic and international businesses. He also performed a variety of assignments across finance, audit and commercial supply chain functions to complete his great experience.

"MWV has a strong commitment to supporting, growing and strengthening the Indian marketplace, as evidenced by our recent alliance with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in which we will sponsor research projects that address critical areas in packaging for consumer, agricultural and transportation applications," stated Mr Sircar. "I look forward to further developing our comprehensive packaging solutions in this critical global market."

About MWV

MeadWestvaco Corporation (NYSE:MWV) provides packaging solutions to many of the world's most-admired brands in the food and beverage, media and entertainment, cosmetics and personal care, home and garden, and healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. The company has market-leading positions in its Consumer & Office Products and Specialty Chemicals businesses, and operates in more than 30 countries.

MWV manages all of its forestlands in accordance with internationally recognized forest certification standards, and has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for the fourth consecutive year. For more information, please visit us at www.meadwestvaco.com.

MeadWestvaco Corporation
US Media Contact
Alison von Puschendorf, +1 804-327-7284 mediainquiries@meadwestvaco.com
or India Media Contact
Edelman for MWV
Sachin Talwar, +91 (22) 2281 0168 sachin.talwar@edelman.com

Technology: Satellier enters UK market

Mikele Brack from Atlas Industries to lead London office and European business development

Chicago (BUSINESS WIRE) - Satellier Inc., the global leader in workshare solutions and pioneer in Building Information Modeling services (BIM) for the architecture, engineering, construction and building owner (AECO) industry, announced that it has opened a London office to directly serve the UK market.

Mikele Brack has joined Satellier from Atlas Industries as Executive Vice President and will lead the company's London office and European business development efforts. Mikele led business development at Atlas, a service provider to UK architectural firms, for four years. A graduate of the Sloan Masters programme?at London Business School, Ms. Brack will report to Anthony Flynn, company CMO and Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

CEO Michael Jansen, comments, "We have been working with leading UK-based architecture and engineering practices for the last three years, and this was a natural move. UK firms are expanding globally at a brisk pace, and are very active in areas where we have large concentrations of work, including the UK itself, the Middle East, India, and Eastern Europe."

Satellier brings global best-practice in workshare to UK practices, including advanced BIM workshare service, design management services (DMS) for UK practices active in India, and upcoming technology-driven collaboration environments. Jansen continues, "This is a unique market that requires a special approach. As a graduate of the Cambridge School of Architecture, I have been sensitive to the specific needs of this market since starting in the industry. We are simply thrilled to be here at this extraordinary time, and look forward to working with practices here to further their success in the UK and around the world."

Ms. Brack adds, "Satellier's worldwide integrated workshare model is exactly what UK practices have been looking for ? whether they are globalising, adopting new software platforms or simply looking for an efficient workshare solution which allows them to focus on design. Our emphasis on technology solutions in particular simplifies the process for everyone. With so many leading design practices having chosen London as their global headquarters, the timing for such a solution could not be better. I am truly excited to be a part of the Satellier family and to contribute my expertise in this market to help achieve this vision for practices here."

In the coming weeks, Satellier will host two executive workshops for UK-based architectural principals: "Participating and Partnering in the India Development Boom - An Insider View", scheduled for May 13, 2008; and "Applying BIM for Maximum Business Gain", scheduled for June 10, 2008. To register, please email: dana.wormer@satellier.com.

The company also has plans to open an office in Dubai, UAE, to directly serve the Middle East market.

About Satellier

Satellier Inc. is the worldwide leader of global workshare solutions and a BIM services pioneer to AECO partners. Founded in 2000, the company has over 450 employees in offices in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, London, New Delhi, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. Satellier's comprehensive workshare services add critical expertise and scale to partner organizations and projects. Practice areas include BIM modeling, Architecture, Engineering, MEP, and India Design Management Services (DMS).

The company's portfolio of 5000 projects in 50 countries spans a range of markets, including retail, healthcare, residential, office complexes, mixed-use facilities, hospitality, education, campuses, and more. Clients powered by workshare achieve the competitive advantages of lower cost of production, higher rates of innovation in core areas, fast scaling to new markets and opportunities, lower cost and risk in expansion, infusion of BIM into their business, and, ultimately, higher revenue and profits.

Visit the Satellier website www.satellier.com for more details.
Satellier Inc.Dana Wormer, +1 215-888-0960 dana.wormer@satellier.com

Science: Australian Team leads the way in single Photon production

Melbourne, Australia (BUSINESS WIRE) - The world's first commercial source of individual photons using diamond based quantum technologyhas been developed by Quantum Communications Victoria (QCV) within the School of Physics at The University of Melbourne, Australia.

QCV will be exhibiting at the Defence Services Asia (DSA) 2008 Conference and Exposition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 21 to 24 April to showcase their Single Photon Source technology.

The technology uses the unique properties of diamond to produce single particles of light (photons) on demand at room temperature.

"This is a critical moment in the development of quantum based technologies for practical use," said QCV Product Development Director Dr Steve Trpkovski. "The availability of a commercial single photon source will enable many viable quantum technologies to reach the market place."

The device, which can be accessed with a standard optical fibre connection, has the potential to be used for many applications including as a component in secure telecommunications systems, for quantum metrology and other quantum based applications.

"As an initial application, the Single Photon Source will be integrated into existing commercial Quantum Cryptosystems, drastically improving their performance and ultimately providing 100% secure telecommunications," said Dr Trpkovski.

QCV is considering partners and investors to participate in a start-up which will pursue commercialisation of the Single Photon Source into various markets.

The Australian based development team are collaborating with MagiQ Pty Ltd, a Boston based supplier of Quantum Cryptography Systems, to optimise the integration of the Single Photon Source into existing systems with testing and field trials to be conducted in the near future.

Further work is being undertaken in investigating the various other applications for the QCV Single Photon Source including: additional quantum applications, microscopy and optical sensing.

QCV is supported by a State Government Infrastructure grant in Victoria, Australia and is the first group in the world to produce such a commercial device.

QCV, School of Physics,
The University of Melbourne Australia
Dr Steve Trpkovski, +61 411 733 234strp@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Joanna Gajewski, +613 8344 8744 joannag@unimelb.edu.au
www.qcvictoria.com

Business: Business in Asia Today - April 24, 2008

PANASONIC FACTORY SOLUTIONS STRENGTHENING ASIAN OPERATIONS
Singapore (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Panasonic Factory Solutions Co., the arm of the Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. (TSE:6752) group that makes manufacturing equipment for electronic devices, is bolstering its business in Asia.
The company has integrated the factory automation division of Panasonic Industry Asia Pte. Ltd., which is responsible for Asian sales, with development and manufacturing unit Panasonic Factory Solutions Singapore Pte Ltd.
The merged company will operate under the name Panasonic Factory Solutions Asia and will be responsible for everything from development through sales and customer support for Southeast Asia, the Middle East, southern Asia and the Pacific region.

PHILIPPINES' EASTWOOD CITY CYBERPARK EARNS US$288 MLN IN '07
Manila (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Eastwood City Cyberpark, owned by leading developer Megaworld Corporation, has reported a total of $US288.09 million in export revenues last year.
Citing data from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), Megaworld said offshoring and outsourcing revenues increased by 21 per cent from the $US188.5 million recorded in 2006.
The owner and developer of Eastwood City located in Libis, Quezon City also claimed that business process outsourcing firms in the Cyberpark alone employed about 12,515 individuals last year.

NESTLE MALAYSIA POSTS 33.3 PCT JUMP IN Q1 PRE-TAX PROFIT
Kuala Lumpur (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Nestle (Malaysia) Berhad (KLSE:4707) has posted a 33.3 per cent jump in first quarter pre-tax profit despite the ongoing surge in the prices of major raw materials.
Its pre-tax profit rose to RM124.758 million (US$39 million) for the three months ended 31 March 2008 against RM93.625 million for the previous corresponding period.
The higher profit was struck on the back of a 9.9 per cent increase in revenue to RM927.688 million from RM844.450 million a year earlier, the leading food and beverage manufacturer said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia on April 23.
Earnings per share climbed to 40.23 sen from 29.78 sen previously.

UK-BASED PROPERTY PLAYER DANDARA TO PARTNER WITH ICICI BANK
New Delhi (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - UK real estate firm Dandara is likely to link up with India's ICICI Bank to woo high net worth individuals in India for investing in the UK's real estate market.
The 200 million pound (US$395.76 million) UK-based company is in talks with the largest private sector bank of India to endorse Dandara's properties and market them to ICICI customers.
"The due diligence process is going on and in next 2-3 months we expect the deal to close and as per the agreement we will be able to reach the customers of ICICI Bank, which has a very wide network in the country," said Dandara Holdings Ltd Group Investment Sales Director Seamus Nuget.

INDONESIAN TELCO NTS TO INVEST US$1 BLN TO EXPAND COVERAGE AREA
Jakarta (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - The operator of the third generation (3G) telecommunication service PT Natrindo Telepon Seluler (NTS) said it plans to invest US$1 billion this year for the expansion of infrastructure networks building more base transceiver stations (BTS) in Java and Sumatra, according to NTS President Erik Aas.
NTS, which is owned by Malaysia's Maxis (KLSE:5051) and an investor from Saudi Arabia, operates only with 1,200 units of BTS in East Java, West Java, Jakarta and Banten.
The company hopes to increase the number of BTS to 3,700 units with 2 million subscribers this year.

CHINA'S EXPORT-LED ENTERPRISES URGED TO SLOW DOWN EXPORTS
Beijing (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Chinese experts have called on export-oriented enterprises to further carry out innovation, improve efficiency and produce more brand products to boost export.
The number of orders received by a number of Chinese enterprises has dropped due to the accelerated appreciation of RMB, adjustment of export rebate rate by the government, rising of labor cost and shrunk demands from the United States, according to the foreign trade experts.
Statistics show that US$3.678 billion in transactions were reached at the recently held 18th East China Fair in Shanghai, up only 3.52 per cent over the previous one.

AUSTRALIAN HOSPITAL OPERATOR RAMSAY TO MANAGE IRISH HOSPITAL
Sydney (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Australian private hospital operator Ramsay Health Care Ltd (ASX:RHC) has signed a contract to manage a new hospital about to be built in Ireland.
The deal continues the company's expansion into the UK market, which began last September with Ramsay's acquisition of UK private hospital operator Capio.
Ramsay said construction of the 72-bed Adare Hospital & Clinic in Limerick will begin soon and is scheduled to open in 2010. The company will receive management fees for operating the hospital, but will not be contributing any funds for its construction.

VIETNAM AIRLINES POSTS US$368 MLN Q1 EARNINGS
Hanoi (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Vietnam Airlines has reported revenue early this week of more than VND5.9 trillion (US$368.7 million) for the first quarter of this year, accounting for 25.84 per cent of the year's projected earnings.
Breaking down the report, VNA said it had more than 15,140 flights in the first quarter, an increase of 9.3 per cent over the same period last year.
About 2.4 million passengers used VNAs flights, an increase of 14.7 per cent. Of them, 1.4 million were domestic passengers and 953,000 foreigners.
The report also outlined the challenges the airline faced while working to meet first quarter targets such as the cost of fuel, which rose 20 per cent over the estimated price, forcing the airline to spend an additional VND491 billion in fuel costs.

KYOKUTO KAIHATSU TO DEVELOP SPECIALTY VEHICLES IN CHINA
Tokyo (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Kyokuto Kaihatsu Kogyo Co. (TSE:7226) is launching full-scale technology development in China for cement mixers and other specialty vehicles for the construction industry.
By the end of fiscal 2008, the company will double to 10 the number of Chinese engineers assigned to designing new vehicles at its plant in Kunshan, Jiangsu province.
Because many high-rise buildings are being built in China, the engineers will work to develop large concrete pump trucks that can carry concrete to the upper floors of buildings.

NOVARTIS, AVENTIS TO ARBITRATE CLAIMS, DIFFERENCES IN LONDON
New Delhi (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics Inc and Aventis Pharma on Wednesday resolved to refer their differences and claims over marketing of anti-rabies vaccine in South Asia to arbitration in London.
The companies on Wednesday informed Supreme Court, which was hearing the matter, that all the disputes and differences have been referred to the sole arbitration of former Chief Justice of India Justice S P Bharucha.
"In conducting arbitration, the sole arbitrator will be guided by the rules of arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce... The seat of the arbitration and the place for making and publishing of the award shall be London, England.
The substantive law of the contract shall be Indian law." It was also decided that Chiron Behring Vaccines (now Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics GmbH) would neither appoint any distributor nor market the vaccine in India and Nepal for a period of eight weeks from the date of the order or until the first sitting of the arbitrator, whichever is earlier.

Source:
Business in Asia Today - APRIL 24, 2008
published by Asia Pulse

COPYRIGHT © 2008

Energy: Buccaneer has second Gulf of Mexico success

Sydney, Australia (BUSINESS WIRE) - Australian company Buccaneer Energy Limited (ASX:BCC) today announced its second successful well at its Pompano Project located 11 kilometres off the coast in the Gulf of Mexico, Texas in 55 feet of water.

ASX-listed Buccaneer Energy Limited ("Buccaneer" or "the Company") announced today that the second well in the Pompano field was successfully tested in two gas-productive sands totalling 74 feet (22.4 metres) of net gas pay found in the well. Buccaneer has a 65% working interest in the well.

This is a dual completion well, allowing for two sand intervals to be produced simultaneously. The well's Operator, AnaTexas Offshore, plans to put the well into production in the next 10 days.

"These two sands are expected to produce at a combined rate of 7 million cubic feet per day plus 30 barrels of high quality condensate," says Director Mr Dean Gallegos. "We're pleased to report that the level of production surpasses our expectations of 6.0 million cubic feet per day."

Notably, the pressure reading from the E Sand was estimated to be a 4,820 psi bottom hole pressure (BHP), which the Operator advises is a near-virgin pressure. With the pre-drill estimate of 2,500 psi BHP, it is evident that the E Sand has repressurised since it was last drilled in 1982. According to the Operator, this increased BHP in the E Sand will have a positive impact on recoverable reserves.

This successful well follows on from the Pompano # 1 well that was drilled in January 2008 and was put into production in mid March 2008 at the rate of 7 million cubic feet per day. As a result of the strong market for gas in the United States, it is anticipated that the two wells will generate net revenue of US$1.3 to US$1.5 million per month for Buccaneer at the current gas price.

Corporate overheads are running at approximately US$250,000 per month meaning the Company will be profitable, the Company has a current market capitalization of approximately A$37.0 million "We choose the Pompano project as our first because the infrastructure is already was already in place,"

Mr Gallegos stated, "The project has two off-shore platforms and sales pipelines and this has saved us approximately US$15 million in development costs and 6-9 months of time and the benefits of having this infrastructure in place are now bearing fruit.""Buccaneer has a 65% working interest in the Pompano project including these first two wells, which is relatively a high level compared to other companies in similar arrangements.
This means all successful wells that are drilled at the project have a bottom line financial impact for our shareholders. We believe that if it is a development project and the risk is relatively low compared to an exploratory project then the working interest should be higher." stated Mr Gallegos.

"Going forward there are at least another four other drilling locations at the Pompano Project, Buccaneer hopes to drill at least two of these this calendar year. All of the wells we will drill at Pompano will have at least 2P (proven and possible) reserves associated with them, therefore we have a high degree of confidence that we will be successful in a high percentage of future wells at the project.

According to Mr Gallegos, Buccaneer's strong management team is one of the key reasons for the Company's prime position within this industry.

"Our management team is 100% based in the US in Houston, Texas," Mr Gallegos stated, "Combined they have around 175 man years of experience in the oil and gas industry both locally and internationally. By being physically located in the US they have the ability to monitor the current opportunities and acquire the ones that conform to Buccaneer's requirements in a timely fashion."

Pompano Project - Background

The Pompano gas field lies offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, in Brazos Block 446-L SE/4, which is approximately 90 miles southwest of Houston, Texas. The field is approximately 11 kilometres offshore in 55 feet of water.

The Pompano gas field was discovered in 1966 and produced over 120 billion cubic feet of gas prior to being shut-in in 2003. The Pompano Project is essentially a re-development of the Pompano gas field with new well locations based on modern 3D seismic data.

Well #1 was directionally drilled in January 2008 from the field's existing "B" satellite platform to 7,825 feet measured depth. Well #1 intersected three gas bearing sands located between 6,700 feet and 7,426 feet measured depth ("MD") which were successfully flow tested. Production commenced from this well in early March 2008 from the B and 6700 A sands.

Well #2 spudded in late February 2008 and was directionally drilled from the field's existing "A" Production Platform.

Well #2 encountered several gas bearing sands between 7,300 feet and 8,980 feet MD. The well has been completed using a dual string completion over the B and E sands so as to enable concurrent production of these two zones. It is expected Well #2 will be placed on production around the end of April 2008.

The Pompano Project is using the field's extensive existing production and pipeline facilities, which has achieved a significant capital cost saving and a reduction in time to production for the project.

About Buccaneer

Buccaneer Energy's wholly owned subsidiary Buccaneer Resources is based in Houston, Texas and is an upstream oil and gas company. It specialises in the development and expansion of behind-pipe proved and probable reserves and low-risk exploration plays with growth potential.

Buccaneer's growth strategy is focused on the progressive expansion of oil and gas production and reserves by acquiring significant working interests in low-cost, low-risk development properties that possess significant undeveloped upside.

Buccaneer Energy Limited
Dean Gallegos, 0416 220 007 or 02-9233 2520 Director

Business: Convergys signs relationship management Agreements with Two Leading Financial Services Companies

Cincinnati - Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG), a global leader in relationship management, announced today it has signed contract renewals and expansions with two leading financial services companies.

Under terms of these renewed and expanded contracts, Convergys will provide additional live-agent support for on-going customer service, retention programs, and back office solutions, including multi-language customer care for client customers speaking Spanish, Cantonese, Korean, Japanese, Mandarin, and English.

Cumulatively, the contracts are valued at more than $85 million over the next three years.

"The Financial Services sector offers considerable opportunity for growth.
With these two client wins, we've signed a total of seven contracts for Customer Management services so far this year, and we expect to see revenue growth accelerate through the rest of the year," said Dave Dougherty, president and CEO of Convergys. "Financial Services firms continue to see the value of our unique relationship management approach to improve the quality and lower the cost of providing customer service across a variety of service channels.”

Convergys provides innovative solutions that drive more value from the many interactions our clients have with their customers and employees every day.
In delivering relationship management solutions, Convergys is able to deploy the optimal mix of live agent, automation, and self-service (e.g., speech and IVR, e-mail and Web self-service), as well as back office solutions, consulting, and professional services support to meet our clients’ financial and performance objectives.

About Convergys

Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG) is a global leader in relationship management. We provide solutions that drive more value from the relationships our clients have with their customers and employees.
Convergys turns these everyday interactions into a source of profit and strategic advantage for our clients.

For 25 years, our unique combination of domain expertise, operational excellence, and innovative technologies has delivered process improvement and actionable business insight to clients that now span more than 70 countries and 35 languages.

Convergys is a member of the S&P 500 and has been voted a Fortune Most Admired Company for eight consecutive years. We have approximately 75,000 employees in 84 customer contact centers and other facilities in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, and our global headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. For more information, visit
www.convergys.com

To receive Convergys news releases by email, click on http://www.convergys.com/news_email.html

(Convergys and the Convergys logo are registered trademarks of Convergys Corporation.)

Contacts:

Business and Financial Media - John Pratt
+1 513 723 3333 or john.pratt@convergys.com

Trade Media - Jeff Hazel
+1 513 723 7153 or jeff.hazel@convergys.com