The $50mn solar photovoltaic (PV) plant that has been built and operated by solar firm Enviromena generates 10MW of clean energy for the Abu Dhabi municipal grid, and makes carbon savings of around 15,000 tons per year. The plant that got linked to the main grid in June comprises of 87,777 photovoltaic modules covering an area of about 23 hectares. It is expected to produce 17,500 MW of electricity per annum, enough to power some 8000 homes.

But the latest dust clouds that screened direct sunlight on to the PV panels are causing serious problems to the ambitious plant. The PV panels, thin-film variety supplied by the US-based First Solar and crystalline panels made by Suntech of China were able to produce just 60 percent of energy efficiently.

Though such snags were included during the feasibility study before installation of the plant, the dust formation in the atmosphere is said to have exceeded 10 times more than the normal dust build ups of the region. However, Director of Masdar, Khaled Awad said the plant’s panels had been cleaned up and output had become normal.

According to Masdar, it is looking at various options to overcome this barrier by installing automated cleaning devices and PV panel coatings, which will either eliminate or minimise dust settling on the panel surfaces. Solar power generation from the UAE is projected to produce 7 percent renewable energy target by 2020, perhaps, outdo the US and European targets by next decade or so.

Nevertheless, the plant authorities confirmed that the setback would not hamper the future of the solar power generation of the country. The Masdar plant is one of the most cost-efficient PV installations in the world in terms of its projected power output.

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In June, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) of Nigeria had announced that a large consignment of fake anti-malarial generic drugs labelled `Made in India’ were seized by the customs which found to have been produced in China. India had then complained its concerns to NAFDAC, and later, the agency had promised that they would send a delegation to jointly formulate models that would avoid the occurrence of fake drugs in future.

India is likely to use resources from the ‘challenge India fund’ maintained by the commerce ministry to protect the reputation of the Indian generic market, and will also try to improve its sales. A major decision would be to open retail pharmacy outlets across Nigeria in collaboration with Indian government to counter the unregulated medical stores which often become the conduit for fake medicines.

The proposed talks is expected to review the possibilities of Indian drug companies to set up manufacturing units in Nigeria and explore whether Indian public sector drug makers could supply low-cost quality drugs to the Nigerian government. India views Africa as one of the fastest growing markets for its generic drugs, and Africa accounts for over 15 percent of India’s total generic exports worth $6bn annually.

The total two-way trade between India and African nations stood at around $30bn in 2007-08. Almost half of the amount came from Indo-Nigerian bilateral trade at about $14bn during the same period, and the trade between the two saw almost a jump of $5bn from its previous year.

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India in January even had banned Chinese toys on the grounds that they contained toxic lead paints and flawed designs. Commerce and Industry Minister of India, Anand Sharma informed the parliament that the country had however lifted the ban two months later on the condition of permitting products those maintained WTO standards as India complied with WTO rules.

During the same parliamentary session, the state minister for commerce of India, Jyotiraditya Scindia said that Indian Embassy in China is in constant touch with the authorities to resolve this issue. The ban on milk and milk products, including chocolate from China will be effective till December 24 this year.

Nonetheless, China purportedly as a retaliatory measure has informed New Delhi that its food and safety organization, GAQSIQ had encountered food safety problems in imported food products like seafood and sesame oil from India. China further clarified its stand that if India insisted on extending the ban on milk and milk products till the end of the year, it would be forced to respond to the quality of the Indian food imports too.

In 2008-09 fiscal, India-China bilateral trade has witnessed a significant jump of about $51bn from its previous year’s $38bn. China has become the largest trading partner of India in 2008-09 by replacing the US. But if China sets for a trade war with India by imposing restrictions on Indian imports as well, the growth in two-way trade is likely be in for drastic decline.

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Both producers and government are blaming each other for the shortfall. Producers claimed production troubles including shortage of labourers and rising cost and government’s low fixed price for the produce that triggered smuggling have played a critical role in pushing the industry to such a situation. On the contrary, the government argued a slew of issues such as lack of co-ordination among the sector, speculation by the growers and roasters and climatic conditions have rather played spoilsport to the industry.

According to sources, large scale smuggling is taking place across Columbian borders due higher prices. Though Venezuela produces very high quality Arabica coffee, but Colombia offers a quintal of green coffee beans at about $475, whereas the same in Venezuela fetched less than $220.

Venezuela has seen dwindling production for the last two decades with some green shoots for few years. In 2007-08, the harvest production was 996,000 bags (46kg/bag) and the same in this fiscal was 845,000 bags despite significant rise in domestic demand and consumption. Nelson Moreno, head of the small and medium-sized roasters told Reuters that the most likely place for fulfilling the domestic need with similar beans would be Brazil.

Pedro Vicente Perez, coffee director with the national agricultural federation, Fedeagro confirmed to Reuters that this would be the first time coffee to be imported by Venezuela. The Venezuelan coffee market is largely domestic; moreover, no significant legitimate exports have been recorded since 2004 even though smuggling is on the rise.

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The EFSA’s announcement of assessment in batches with pending 4000 other products for inspection has led to a flashpoint with the Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries in the EU (CIAA). The industry organisation has informed the European Commission (EC) that assessment report in batches would damage the reputation of other products those are under inspection, and would not be assessed by the 31 January 2010 deadline. The organisation has requested to hold an immediate dialogue with EFSA to iron out differences.

The EFSA report affirmed several products of popular companies had deceived the consumers with health benefit claims ranging from improving immune system to brain growth in babies. Ocean Spray cranberry juice, Lipton black tea, fish oil supplements and some pro-biotic supplements came under severe attack for their unproven and unscientific health claims in the report.

Ocean Spray had claimed that drinking its cranberry juice could protect women against urinary infections. Similarly, Unilever was with a claim that Lipton black tea made people more alert and energetic. On the other hand, Equazen claimed its fish oil products could help the central nervous system development in foetuses and breastfed infants. EFSA’s findings rejected all such claims in its clinical trials.

The findings is expected to shake the fundamentals of marketing strategies of high-end food products which largely enjoyed and earned loyalty over many decades without any intervention by such agencies. Though various sources have always criticized the health claim advertising, this is the first time an inter-governmental organization coming out with such a finding which is as a result of the EU’s nutrition and health food regulation of 2006 that mandated manufacturers must substantiate health claims of their products.

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The ECLAC forecast shows that the South American economy will contract by 1.9 percent this year before looking up by 2010 at 3.1 percent growth. The contraction is expected to put further pressure on unemployment in the region at about 9 percent by the year end, adding more than 3mn people to the 180mn living below the poverty line.

ECLAC’s head Alicia Bárcena was of the opinion that the downturn had bottomed up in March 2009 and remaining months in the year would inch towards a full recovery. At another occasion, the vice-president for Latin America, Pamela Cox said the unusual sum was allocated to the region since the governments did not have access to capital markets, or had some access but did not want to crowd out the private sector.

The projections show that the Mexican economy will be worst hit by plunging about 7 percent this year, and is expected to grow by 2.5 percent next year. On the contrary, Panama and Peru are likely to grow by 5 percent next year by doubling their growth from the current 2.5 percent.

It should be noted that the growth projections for especially Brazil, a member of BRIC is just 3.5 percent by next year whereas China and India are expected to grow above 7 percent. Interestingly, the region has to grow at least by 5 percent to accommodate freshers that are coming into the employment scene every year.

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The rice initiative undertaken by FAO, Benin-based Africa Rice Center (WARDA), various Benin’s governmental organizations and several local NGOs is likely produce better results through intensified production and marketing of high quality seeds to satisfy the increasing rice demand of the West-African nation. FAO experts claimed Benin so far had just 8 percent total productive land utilization leaving more than 322,000 hectares of rice-growing land uncultivated, which had the potential to produce $55mn if fully exploited.

The release stated that Benin to achieve this ambitious goal of becoming rice exporting nation it had to annually produce more than 2,200 tons of high quality rice seeds. It is estimated that if the target seed production is met then it would suffice to cover 70 percent of domestic demand. Experts believe the increase in rice production will bring better quality of life to the farmers and dependent families in view of higher revenue and secure food source.

Currently, Benin as well as other West African nations heavily relies on rice imports. FAO figures showed that the region imported rice of around 6mn tons in 2001, and is projected to reach about 11mn by 2010. The release further asserted Exploiting Benin’s rice production potential would not only enable the country to satisfy domestic demand but also position it to export surplus output to sub-regional and regional markets.

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A naturalisation program was first discussed in October 2004 when it was announced that expats with degrees in medicine, computer science, and other branches of science and technology would be given priority for citizenship. At the moment, there is no data available to estimate how many people would be eligible for the latest program.

The legislation to naturalization process would help many expats to get free iqamas (work/residency permits) or permanent resident status outside the sponsorship system. The announcement is a relief to 6mn migrant workers of Saudi Arabia particularly since Bahrain is planning to bring residency cap on unskilled workers for a maximum of 5 years in any of the GCC states by 2010. Such a law would force about 13mn expats out of the GCC nations, and majority of them with their families are socially and culturally integrated to these countries.

But Dalhan’s statement did not toe the line of Bahrain while he said “The GCC countries and Saudi Arabia cannot dispense with foreign manpower in the foreseeable future”. He admitted that the long-term expats were deeply rooted to the society, and foreigners working under the sponsorship of Saudis ran more than half of the small establishments in the kingdom.

The GCC member states are highly reliant on migrant skilled as well as unskilled work force since most states have more than 70% expat workers. On the occasion, Dalhan told ILO that his country was committed to approve all labour laws except anything contradicts Shariah.

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It should be recalled that China, the largest investor with about $1 trillion in the US treasuries has begun trial trade in its own currency since this month with its trading partners to cut down its losses in international trade. On sixth of this month, three Shanghai companies became the first to conduct cross-border trades with yuan/renminbi. The new Chinese rule allows using yuan instead of USD to settle trade accounts with merchants in Hong Kong and Southeast Asian countries on trial basis.

Though Geithner during his visit to China last month gave assurance on the safety on its investments, China did not seem to be convinced by the economic developments in the US lately. Nonetheless, Geithner during his Middle East visit is likely to stick on to Obama administration’s commitment to protect the value of the dollar and maintaining investor confidence in the US financial system.

Geithner is scheduled to hold high-level meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday with top government officials and leading business executives in Saudi Arabia and the UAE before leaving to visit Britain and France with similar goals. According to sources, Geithner is also expected to apprise the leaders of the US administration’s plans to bring down the deficit the moment the economy starts looking up.

However, it is not known how Geithner would defend the talks over the second economic stimulus package and the rising figures of the federal budget deficit for this fiscal year to nearly $1 trillion. Last week, one of Obama’s top allies in Congress had said that the lawmakers must be open for additional stimulus to overcome the economic uncertainties prevailing in the nation if the injection of $787bn to the economy in February was not providing desired results.

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The customs authorities across the 27 member states have seized 79mn diskettes of pirated DVDs and CDs which has been ironically the exact number of ‘total’ fake items seized in 2007. The seizures of DVDs have witnessed the highest growth at around staggering 2600 percent.

The EU officials said that they found some of the fake items such as toys contained highly toxic substances that could cause severe health hazards. The counterfeit goods including toys, medicines and electronic items do not meet the EU standards.

Cigarettes at 23 percent and clothing at 10 percent are other fake items seized. Fake cigarettes mainly from the UAE recorded a rise of 54 percent while Indonesia has been found to be the largest source of fake food and beverages.

Fake medicines including Viagra, anti-cholesterol, anti- osteoporosis and blood pressure stabilizers also showed 118 percent growth allegedly originating from India. Last month, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) of Nigeria had announced that a large consignment of fake anti-malarial generic pharmaceuticals labelled `Made in India’ were, in fact, found to have been produced in China. Therefore, it is not clear whether China has been responsible for the pharmaceuticals share of the EU counterfeit pie.

The Commission report stated that at the moment it had no mechanism to ascertain the value of counterfeit trade in the EU. However, the latest figures are excluding the losses to industry from pirated music or films traded over the Internet. The officials expressed satisfaction in containing the fake goods through seizures that has helped to stop some of the losses of legitimate trade.

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During Singhania’s visit along with a bi-partisan delegation of parliamentarians he pointed out that North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) among the US, Canada and Mexico was signed without agriculture because Canada objected to the inclusion of it. He expressed confidence in letting the Indo-US FTA to happen soon particularly on the basis of concordance shown by the US lawmakers and several US government officials to have it without agriculture for the time being.

India is looking forward to the next month visit of the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton in ironing out differences on all outstanding issues with the US, which saw last July the collapse of Doha Round talks. The Doha Development Round broke down after India, China and Brazil objected to the US farm subsidies that would inundate their markets with imports of farm and industrial goods. Thawing of Indo-US trade ties on agricultural issues is key to the success of forthcoming Doha Round talks in Geneva later this year.

Manmohan Singh’s second term sans Left Front has seen some major changes including the Left’s consensual candidate, Kamal Nath being replaced by Anand Sharma as Commerce and Industry Minister of India despite the former doing a fairly good job during his term. Last month, Sharma on the sidelines of Cairns Group’s, a coalition of agricultural exporting nations summit, while he met his US counterpart Ron Kirk has jointly agreed to take forward the multilateral negotiations and review the Indo-US bilateral ties.

However, the Indian business houses as well as the government is well aware of the fact the delayed Monsoon which is likely to play havoc to the country’s agricultural trade will thereby prevent them from engaging in any trade talks on agri-based issues for the time being. FICCI president’s words must be seen as an indicator that India is ready to conclude FTA with the US in consensual goods, and could include other items only in , the course of time.

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The European initiative has to be envisaged of its strong ambition to counter climate change goals such as, the reduction of CO2 emissions not only for Europe but also for other parts of the world. The new initiative is expected to provide 15 percent of the energy needs of Europe in a decade from the time it starts producing energy, and is likely to act as an alternative energy option to the Russian supplies which currently top the European needs.

The new concept of generating and transmitting of solar power called Desertec was developed by a network of scientists and politicians of the Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC). The founding meeting of the Desertec Industrial Initiative (DII) will be held on July 13, 2009 by invitation from Munich Re and the Desertec Foundation. The major objective of DII would be to provide clean, safe and cost effective energy to the global needs.

Gloser stated the Desertec solar energy plants could produce 20 giga watts of concentrated solar power (CSP), equivalent to that of 20 large conventional power plants once it was fully operational. The Desertec project would be employing a technology that uses mirrors to harness the sun’s rays to produce steam and drive turbines to produce electricity rather than an array of high-tech photovoltaic cells. The Desertec Foundation claims that in just 6 hours, deserts receive more energy from the sun than humankind consumes within a year.

According to German reinsurer Munich Re which is heading the Desertec consortium, the project involves about 20 firms including Siemens, Deutsche Bank, and energy companies like RWE and E.ON. The project would be largely funded through private investments, and the complete details on the companies and their stakes would be available only after the upcoming meeting.

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Kroll is the world’s leading risk consulting company which provides a broad range of investigative, intelligence, financial, security and technology services to help clients reduce risks, solve problems and capitalize on opportunities. The firm in its report has drawn data from Transparency International, the global coalition against corruption to corroborate its findings on global stimulus fund distribution process.

Transparency International has reported that the economic crises had given rise to a new wave of corruption through the current stimulus program. The corruption can raise procurement contract costs by at least 10 percent in a stable economy – an equivalent of $500bn in corrupt gains – but in emergency situations these costs could rise up to as high as 30 percent of the overall cost of the $5 trillion contract. The report comes hot on heels to FBI director Robert Mueller’s call to brace for potential crime wave involving fraud and corruption related to bank bailout money and the economic stimulus package.

Richard Abbey, MD in Kroll’s Financial Investigations practice stated all crimes needed motive, means and opportunity and in the current economic environment, it provided all the three. He further added that the huge pledged sum by governments across the world had lured fraudsters to grab the life-time opportunity to make easy money.

Blake Coppotelli, senior managing director in Kroll’s Business Intelligence and Investigations suggested that the governmental agencies which oversee the distribution of these funds should enforce robust anti-corruption policies or look for independent experts to supplement their efforts. He further clarified by saying that the nature of the projects – large sums of investment coupled with complex procurement processes have created a perfect setting for fraudsters to cash in on.

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It should be noted that despite the three-decade old sanctions in effect, during the Bush administration, since 2001 the US has exported goods worth $546mn to Iran till 2007 until it dwindled down last year. In comparison to $8.3mn of Bush’s first year of the first term in 2001, the US exported goods valued at $146mn in 2007 to record a tenfold growth in exports to Iran. Under the US sanctions, only exporting of goods pertaining to basic humanitarian needs such as medical supplies and food items are allowed.

Going by the Obama’s soft diplomatic stance on the dispute over the re-election of Ahmadinejad as the president of Iran and the ongoing unrest one has to assume that the new US administration does not want to tamper with their business opportunities anywhere in the world. Though the trade with Iran is of negligible amount as compared to its chief trading partners, the US is well aware of the fact there are several countries more than willing to do business with Iran. Moreover, it does not make business sense as it is common for Iran and other sanctioned countries to use trans-shipment points such as the UAE to obtain US goods undetected.

China with $8bn, Germany with $5.7bn, Italy with $3.2bn, France with $2.6bn and Japan with $1.9bn are major exporters to Iran. Exports from the US were largely agricultural products and medical supplies, but brassieres, fur clothing, sculptures, perfume, musical instruments and military apparel were also other merchandise which found their way to Iran. However, a sizeable decrease in cigarette exports, a major product of export from the US to Iran in the last decade has been witnessed owing to the increased presence of the American cigarette companies in Iran and Turkey.

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Apart from the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are also seemed to have impressed by livestock farming opportunities in Thailand. The southern provinces, the Andaman region of Thailand have been chosen for the proposed mega livestock farms.

The climatic conditions and geographic placing of Thailand are claimed to be the most suited in Southern Asia for livestock production and paddy cultivation. However, the UAE’s interest in rice production would not be possible due to shortage in suitable lands.

The UAE already has ambitious plans to establish agricultural production centres in Sudan and Pakistan. The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development aims to develop 70,000 acres of land for food production in Sudan alone.

Similarly, Saudi Arabia has also invested in overseas agricultural farms including Pakistan to ward off any potential food shortage threat like that which confronted the globe last year. The desert nations are showing keen interest in developing agricultural and livestock farms outside their region since engaging in similar activities in the region would require manifold expenditure, and also not sure of the results.

To cater to the burgeoning Middle East market, Thailand has made several plans for investing in the production of halal meat and dairy products in countries such as, Pakistan and Bangladesh. According to Thai government sources, Charoen Pokpand Foods, the largest agri-business firm of the country is preparing to develop mega livestock farms in Russia as part of its expansion plans to fulfil its export shortfalls.

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Export based economy of Japan has been devastated recently by the global economic crisis. The Japan’s exports dropped by 50 percent triggering a 5.4 percent plunge in its GDP due to falling demand for its merchandise from the US and the EU, its major trade partners.

During the meet, Iran invited Japan to set up branches of their banks in Iran, and apprised of the opportunities in fields such as, marine transportation system, oil projects, and construction of marine structures. Another major area of investment brought to the notice by Iran was national railway network project including construction of railroads for express trains and other related projects.

Currently, Japan is the third largest importer of Iran’s industrial and mining products, and about 22 percent of its total oil output is exported to Japan. The two-way trade between both countries is about $20bn in 2008.

With renewed ties, Iran is expecting to triple the trade volume in the coming years through increased economic participation by Japan. Iran’s non-oil exports to Japan include carpets, pistachios and dry fruits.

After concluding the Tokyo visit, Nahavandian informed he had assurances by several Japanese authorities including Japan’s MP, Kotaro Tamura that a Japanese delegation would soon visit the country to review the trade possibilities in Iran. Tamura is one of the strong supporters in fostering better ties with Iran that extend to all spheres of bilateral co-operation. Iran’s anti-American stance and Japan’s US ally status often vexed the relations between both countries for the past several decades.

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Even after the cognizance of the success of one’s competitor, still indecisively sitting on the fence and thinking whether one should induct the services of B2Bs in one’s business, would be suicidal for oneself or any trader. Traders’ outdated methods of depending on their own old networks will not only wipe out existing market share, perhaps even one’s company from the international markets.

Statistics show that business from B2Bs has seen significant growth in the past five years. Apart from the fact that e-commerce has changed the way international business is done, interest in online services also increased dramatically owing to ease of doing business.

Usually, a new user has a tendency to avoid adapting to new methods of doing things and more so to a thing which is related to technology that initially appears to be complicated, time consuming and expensive. This is just a misconception of the small businessman, but in reality, online based businesses reduce one’s cost and time considerably. Although large international traders are using B2B services effectively, these portals in totality have helped small and medium enterprises to a great extent.

If the reluctance to B2Bs is just related to its usage, it is suggested that it would not take more than two hours to learn the functions and utilities of any leading B2Bs even to a novice of internet. Still a trader finds it difficult to imbibe the concept by oneself; it is recommended to employ a relevant staffer who has basic knowledge of computers and internet.

A staffer with relevant qualification would not cost much either. Either one’s staffer or oneself can create a profile in leading B2Bs and get going with business, either as a free member or a premium one. In the premium membership, one can avail of all the fascinating features including description of one’s company, products and/or services, a mini website (sub-domain), etc. Such a company profile in any leading B2Bs can become a multi-pronged marketing tool of one’s business in no time.

If one is worried about the authenticity of the business from B2Bs, it is suggested that with proper planning and research into these portals, before joining any premium membership, could avoid any future disappointments. Though it is cost effective and fast in enhancing one’s business, it goes without saying that one has to employ all the parameters which one uses in one’s usual business to avoid any fraud.

Every business pattern will have its own merits and demerits, though B2Bs are with lower risks, it is highly recommended to take the services of the right portal to generate trade inquiries and thereafter profits through this process. To conclude, a trader would be familiar with other traders’ claims of doing business and instant success through B2Bs, but if it is not happening for oneself, one should be patient and should try to be active with one’s profile.

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A major chunk of Indian chocolate market is ruled by Cadbury and it enjoys holding more than 70 percent of market share. Nestle, the Swiss leaders in packaged food with 25 percent share is the only other major competitor for Cadbury in India.

Cadbury India’s Cocoa Department produces over 2.5mn hybrid seedlings annually and distributes it among farmers. India as compared to other cocoa growing countries, its farmers use cocoa as an inter-crop between areca nut and coconut trees.

Cadbury believes that it can persuade 20 per cent of Indian farmers to plant cocoa and thereby bring more acreage under cocoa plantation. The co-ordination with the farmers and producers is expected to increase country’s production of the beans from 10,000 tons to ambitious 150,000 tons per year or 3 per cent of global production by 2020.

India’s Cocoa Development board is also understood to have undertaken a similar initiative to increase the production to 16,000 tons in two years’ time. India’s annual consumption of the beans is about 18,000 tons, and more than 40 percent of its total requirement is still met through imports.

India’s import of cocoa beans and cocoa products in 2007-08 fiscal has increased by four-fold at about 8,000 tons, the same was just 2,000 tons in the beginning of the decade. According to Cadbury’s India forecast, cocoa demand is growing around 15 percent annually and will reach about 30,000 tons in the next 5 years. Industry observers said India through public-private partnership was attempting a cocoa revolution once again in the country to become a bellwether state of the beans in the region.

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A free trade deal with ASEAN member states has strategic importance to India since the country exports 12 percent to these states and imports 10 percent. The FTA is expected to increase the trade from the current $40bn to $50bn by next year.

Indian officials said that there were plans to even sign the India-South Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) along with the ASEAN FTA. The South Korean representatives are expected to attend the upcoming summit to engage in talks with the ASEAN members as well as concluding the formalities on CEPA with India.

Both trade deals require Indian cabinet approval, and would be the first such approval by the United Progressive Alliance after returning to power consecutively for the second time. The FTA had earlier missed the April date due to parliamentary elections in India.

The talks between India and ASEAN were stalled several times as the association insisted on cuts in tariff twice a year. But in the recent talks, India was able to convince the ASEAN members on duty cuts once in twelve months, and the same will be reviewed every January. As per the deal, duty to be cut for the highly sensitive products including tea, coffee, pepper, crude and refined palm oil is between 30 and 45 percent by Dec 31, 2019.

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The US action comes after the EU re-introduced its export subsidy program in early this year. Many industry observers felt these moves would only trigger more protectionist measures from countries those are affected by this action. Though these declared subsidies are within the WTO limits there would be political pressure within the affected countries to retaliate and prompt them to reverse their decision.

Trade Minister Simon Crean and Agriculture Minister Tony Burke of Australia in a joint statement said that they would try to garner support from other countries to pressurize the US to reverse its decision at the Cairns Group Ministerial meeting in Bali in early next month. The Cairns Group is a coalition of 19 agricultural exporting nations which account for over 25 percent of the global agricultural exports that aims to liberalise trade in the respective sector.

New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser said dairy farmers the world over were under pressure, but the US move was a short-sighted response while the international dairy market had recently been showing signs of stabilising. New Zealand is the largest dairy merchandise export earner and second largest meat export earner with nearly 24 and 12 percent share respectively in total goods exported. The price advantage enjoyed by New Zealand dairy products will get diluted in the global market with the re-introduction of US handout to its dairy exports.

Nonetheless, the president of the Australian National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) David Crombie warned the US handout would only shore up domestic jobs in the short-term but undermines the possibilities of faster global economic recovery. Similarly, Fonterra, the world’s largest dairy exporter echoed the sentiments of the NFF, contending that the US decision had the potential to damage a world dairy market which remained fragile.

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Top trade shows still attract many companies to showcase their products and services, but a majority of small and medium enterprises (SME) have totally resorted to do the same through B2Bs. And this in fact, has reduced unnecessary movement of people and commodities to several such shows resulting in lowering cost of marketing as well as energy to every business entity involved.

Besides, instead of traveling to meet a new client to a foreign land, traders found this new rendezvous in the form of B2B portal. In business development process, after making initial interactions through emails, they sometimes even confirm their business facilities through video-conferencing before inking the deals, and this too is made possible through B2Bs.

According to studies, more than 60% of SME utilize the services of B2Bs directly or indirectly. Though there is a flurry and mushrooming of several B2Bs with claims of providing complete business solutions, leading B2Bs are still largely sought after in the e-commerce arena.

B2Bs are environmentally appealing mainly because of the non-involvement of any kind global warming material being used in the business development process.

. The complete business process except product delivery involves just electronic interaction and transaction.

. Products or services are presented to the client/clients by redirecting them to their respective websites from their B2B profile or through the same profile itself depending upon the B2B package their have opted for.

. Avoids physical presence in all stages of business, and in abstract services even delivery is made electronically.

B2Bs generated huge revenues as compared to other business models engaged in global trade without emitting any harmful green house gases or cutting trees which was otherwise used extensively in paper-based business processes of the past. Perhaps serious concern for the deteriorating health of the environment due to climate change and other related issues have prompted businesses to take a paradigm shift to opt for B2Bs.

Most B2Bs expect bringing in such awareness among traders will also help these portals to grow besides other positive aspects. In addition, these portals hope environmentally conscious traders to market B2B concept to non-users through word of mouth or other means to adopt it as part of ‘save the planet slogan’. Some of the B2Bs provide even international services including transport, go-between and other services, besides the regulars, import and export to put their use into good effect.

Apart from the eco-friendly aspects of these portals there are other attractive reasons for traders to adopt this model such as, negligible cost involved in marketing operations of any given company, user-friendliness and not to mention the speed in delivering goods. Though there are any scales to measure the amount or number of benefits to the environment after the arrival of B2B portals is available, looking into the features as well as the time presence, one is made to believe, they have made a huge positive impact in the eco front. The eco-conscious traders, if they have not started utilizing these services, will certainly adopt this business tool as a medium for their global and even for their domestic trading needs very soon.

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The projects in the pipeline and in progress range from city trams to heavier freight routes. From the sponsorship line-up including IBM and Sharp during the ongoing MENA Rail 2009 conference in Dubai made it apparent that besides railway companies there are many in the fray vying to have a piece of the mega Gulf railway pie.

Various companies that provide rail-related products and services have opened offices across the Gulf region to utilize business opportunities and market their wares. Invensys, a UK based company that provides industrial automation, rail transportation and controls is one such company that has set up office in Dubai to augment its regional visibility.

Ala Ghanem, the regional director of business development at Invensys opined the Gulf was the most promising region at the moment for railway and related businesses. He acknowledged that there were not only many projects coming up but also were massive ones that no one in this field could afford to sideline.

The foremost project is the first proposed route of 1,970km long running through Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain over Qatar, and crossing the relevant stretches of water by bridge and continuing to UAE and Oman. The second will cover 1,984km from Kuwait to Saudi Arabia before passing through UAE and ending in Oman. The ultimate goal of this project is to link the whole of Middle East with each every country of the region. Once completed it is likely to have 16 lanes and an approximate length of 19,000km.

Other projects such as $4.2bn worth Dubai metro system, Abu Dhabi’s freight rail network, 130km of metro lines and a 340km tram system, 580km of high-speed rail to Al Ain, Dubai and Al Gharbia and Bahrain’s $8.13bn rail line with six lanes stretching 184km are few of those projects attracting many from this field.

According to Unife, a European rail consortium the global market is worth $167bn (Dh608.81bn) a year, and the Middle East and Africa account for just about $5.5bn. Michael Clausecker, the director general of Unife asserted that though it would not be the largest market, but it was one with substantial opportunities and substantial growth potential.
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The US Trade Representative Ron Kirk revealed about the stalemate on the FTA at the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony of the Jacob Zuma presidency. However, he claimed there was still room for growth as South Africa was by far the largest beneficiary of trade under Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). He later added that it was possible to think of a new start with the new government at the helm since the US had very good foundation in South Africa with over 600 US business investments in various sectors.

Even though the central reason for the disinterest is not spelled out by the US authorities, the possibilities to this action seemed to be the same old ones. The old demand of the US particularly the intellectual property rights, and protectionist strategy could have checkmated the deal as of now.

South Africa is one of the SACU members that has largely benefitted by the Generalised System of Preferences that allows certain products to enter the US duty-free. South African clothing and selected textile products have duty-free access to the US market through the AGOA, an initiative of the Clinton administration.

According to the Department of Trade and Industry of South Africa, the US is the largest market for its merchandise. On the other hand, South Africa’s third largest imports are from the US.

South Africa’s trade analyst Peter Draper admitted that the US government’s move did not come as a surprise “for a number of reasons”. In his opinion, the failure to clinch FTA with the US is a huge blow to SACU.

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The new FTA is expected to largely benefit the Canadian producers and exporters as the duties of all Canadian non-agricultural merchandise exports are eliminated thus making it more competitive in those markets. Tariffs will also be removed or reduced on selected Canadian agricultural exports such as durum wheat, frozen french fries, beer and crude canola oil.

Now Canada will have access to state of the art technologies and other knowhow from the sophisticated EFTA markets at lower costs that includes the importation of machinery and scientific and precision instruments. Besides, the new deal is likely to attract other European countries as well in reaching similar trade ties and thereby increase the visibility of the Canadian business entities over there.

The EFTA was the seventh-largest export destination of Canada last year. The two-way trade between both parties reached $13.2bn in 2008 with Canada exporting goods worth $4.2bn. In 2007, the two-way trade was valued at about $12.9bn with the Canadian exports and imports reaching at about $5.2bn and about $7.7bn respectively.

According to the deal, there will be significant cuts in tariffs of merchandise from both sides, but Canada’s tariffs on sensitive shipbuilding products will stay. They have decided to waive these tariffs in phases over a period of 15 years with regard to the sensitivity of each product.

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The White House formally announced a program under which lenders will voluntarily freeze interest rates for certain homeowners with adjustable-rate loans. This aims to help the home owners to get a chance to hold on to their properties. The government hopes this temporary arrangement will bear the desired result soon. Even though this will make losses on the returns of mortgage-loan investors, many widely believe this is for the good of the overall economy.

The banking and financial institutions too partook in the process of putting the economy back on track by reducing interests. The average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages slipped below 6% this week to the lowest level in two years. The Bank of England reduced its interest from 5.75% to 5.50% and the Federal Reserve is expected to cut at-least by quarter points on the short term rate. The government’s corrective measures to overcome the threat perception of economic recession, is good news for the US as well as the world economy.

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