Hanoi - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Vietnam will launch an aircraft component assembly factory in Vietnam in June, local media reported Wednesday.

The state-run newspaper Lao Dong quoted Stanley A Deal, Boeing's deputy chairman of Asia-Pacific sales, as saying the factory would produce wing flaps for Boeing 737 aircraft.

The company is a subsidiary of Japan's Mitsubishi corporation.

The 7-million-dollar factory, located 15 kilometres north of Hanoi, has been under construction since January 2008.

Tokyo  - Japan's exports dropped by 49.4 per cent in February, the biggest plunge on record, as global demand for cars and electronics declined, the Ministry of Finance said Wednesday.

Exports dropped to 3.5 trillion yen (35.7 billion dollars) year-on-year in February, the fifth consecutive monthly drop and the biggest since the beginning of records in 1980.

Imports were down by 43 per cent to 3.4 trillion yen, creating a trade surplus of 82.4 billion yen, down 91.2 per cent compared with the same month last year. It is the first trade surplus in five months.

Tokyo  - Tokyo stocks fell in early trading on Wednesday on profit-taking, breaking a two-day climb.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average dipped by 0.73 per cent, or 61.58 points to 8,426.72 by mid-trading, reversing earlier gains.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was almost flat, dropping 0.27 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 812.45.

Traders also reacted to reports that Japan's overseas exports dropped by 49.4 per cent in February year-on-year, with consumer electronics titles contributing most to the slump.

Tokyo - Exhibitor numbers for this year's Tokyo Motor Show are down as carmakers are hit by the global downturn, organizers said Tuesday.

The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) said only 122 companies were to take part in the show held every two years, down from 241 exhibitors in 2007.

Carmakers including Germany's Volkswagen AG, Bayerische Motorenwerke AG and Mercedes-Benz have not registered their participation, neither did their ailing US rivals General Motors Corp, Ford Motor Co and Chrysler LLC.

Tokyo - Sanyo

Tokyo, March 24: A team of researchers has claimed to have found evidence of what may be an early third-century palace that could have been part of the Yamatai kingdom ruled by Himiko, the legendary Japanese queen.

According to a report in The Asahi Shimbun, excavations at the Makimuku ruins in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, show there were as many as three buildings facing the same direction in a line, dating back to the late second century to early fourth century.

Researchers also uncovered evidence of fortified barriers stretching 40 meters.