Xinhua Asia-Pacific News Summary at 1600 GMT, Jan. 12

SINGAPORE -- Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said here Friday that Singapore will try to beef up the region's resilience against common threats such as terrorism, cybercrime and climate change during its chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Lee made the remarks during the opening of the Experience ASEAN festival, which was staged by Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to usher in the country's chairmanship of ASEAN. He added that Singapore will also make efforts to help member economies innovate and use technology. (Singapore-ASEAN)

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MANILA -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Takehiko Nakao said on Friday that ADB and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) are exploring to co-finance several development projects this year.

"We have been cooperating well," Nakao told Xinhua at the ADB headquarters in Manila. (The Philippines-ADB-AIIB)

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VIENTIANE -- Lao police on Friday transferred 104 telecommunications fraud suspects to the Chinese side following a handover ceremony held at Wattay International Airport in Lao capital Vientiane.

In the second half of 2017, according to information from the public, together with investigation, Chinese police found that a group of crime suspects were conducting fraud activities in Laos with a huge amount of money involved. Many people were deceived. (Laos-China-Law)

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HONG KONG -- Food Safety authority of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) said Friday that it has decided to suspend import of poultry products from Kagawa Prefecture of Japan due to avian influenza outbreak there.(Hong Kong-Japan-Poultry) Enditem