Singapore  - Following the global economic slowdown and shrinking demand for electronics and other goods from all it's top markets, Singapore's non-oil domestic exports suffered a year-on-year fall of 35 per cent in January, the International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, the city state's agency to promote external business, reported on Tuesday.

The heavy drop in January followed a year-on-year decline by 21 per cent in December.

Berlin  - German investor confidence is expected to record its fourth consecutive rise this month, according to data from a key indicator set for release Tuesday.

The uptick in investors' outlook comes amid hopes that signs of an economic recovery could emerge as the year unfolds.

Drawn up by the Mannheim-based Centre for European Economic Research, the ZEW index is forecast by analysts to edge up to minus 26 points after the index posted a bigger-than-forecast rise to minus 31 points in January from -45.2 in December.

Manila  - Remittances from overseas Filipinos posted a better-than-expected 13.7-per-cent growth in 2008 despite the worsening global economic crisis, the government said Monday.

Central bank Governor Amando Tetangco said remittances totaled 16.42 billion dollars in 2008, slightly higher than the bank's forecast of 16.3 billion dollars for the whole year.

Remittances in 2007 were 14.44 billion dollars, Tetangco said.

Tokyo  - Japan's economy contracted at an annual pace of 12.7 per cent in the October-to-December quarter, its worst drop since the oil crisis 35 years ago, amid a record decline in exports, the government said Monday.

The contraction in the world's second-largest economy was larger than economists had expected and came amid a 13.9-per-cent drop in exports, due to recessions in the US and Europe that cut demand for Japanese cars and electronics.

Beijing - China's foreign direct investment fell by 33 per cent year-on-year in January due to the global financial crisis, the commerce ministry said on Monday.

The size of the fourth consecutive monthly drop in foreign direct investment was also influenced by last month's lunar new holiday and a particularly high total in January
2008, ministry spokesman Yao Jian told reporters.

China officially used foreign investment valued at 7.54 billion dollars last month, Yao said.