Somkiat Anuras, vice-chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC) said that Brazil along with other Latin American countries offered Thailand great potential, its vast population and resources as well as high purchasing power. Anuras who travelled with a trade delegation led by Thailand Trade Representative Vachara Panchet last month to Brazil and Panama added that most Thai exporters still remained reluctant to tap into the region despite immense opportunities.

The chamber has recently modified it projections on Thai exports to the Latin America region by $7.5bn for this year from $5bn. While the earlier forecast between this year and 2015 was $10bn but latest release says those figures could go up to $15bn per annum in the coming years.

The TCC vice chairman said as the world was eager to trade with Brazil owing to its growing economic status, the chamber was not far behind to take stock of the situation. While Brazil, South America’s biggest economy and the world’s eighth largest, commences work on 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, the chamber regards that it may provide opportunities for Thai contractors and souvenir producers.

Anuras opines that the Thai investors must forge joint ventures with the Brazilian infrastructure developers to derive infrastructure building opportunities which will be surfacing with the preparation of two mega sporting events. Brazil is expected to spend billions of dollars for add on construction of basic infrastructure, buildings, offices and residences as well as sports arenas, hospitals, hotels and shopping complexes.

Last year, Thailand exported chiefly, automobiles and parts, rubber and machinery to Brazil US$1.22bn worth goods. Although the bilateral trade accrued a trade deficit of $880mn against Thailand due to imports totaling $2.1bn, Brazil still remains the largest trade partner of Thailand in the region.

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Nancy Reyes Lumen, Editor in Chief of Cook Magazine in her blog claimed that last week’s church sermons peppered the new government’s policy by making a clarion call – “No to Casinos, no to resorts, no to motels, no to Shabu (meth/illegal drugs).” While the Philippines Inquirer reported that “The lure of easy money is being promoted by some very powerful men”.

It is feared that these gambling centres may become focal point of other “shadow” industries common to casino culture. The blog added that illegal recruiters were on the prowl to lure hapless poor girls (and boys), offering jobs as maids or entertainers, eventually landing them in flesh trade.

Cristino Naguiat, chairman of the PAGCOR informed AFP on Tuesday “We are way behind Macau and Singapore in terms of the casino industry… (but) we would like to be positioned right at the top.” He also revealed that “Like other Asian gambling industries, the Philippines wants to tap into the vast mainland Chinese market.”

The new government of President Benigno Aquino, which took office on June 30, has suspended issuing fresh licenses to casinos giving free hand to existing operators in the country to monopolistically control the gambling industry. There are four licensees, and each is required to spend at least one billion dollars in developing the ambitious Entertainment City.

The four licenses to build the Entertainment City on reclaimed land along Manila Bay were awarded in 2008 under the former President Gloria Arroyo. The moment the government announced its decision to exploit revenue generation through gambling, the shares of the licensees hit new highs in the stock market.

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Truss’ announcement gains prominence following a recent pre-poll survey gave a slight edge for the Coalition to form the next government of Australia. An opinion poll of Newspoll, a market research firm, commissioned by The Australian newspaper has found that the opposition Liberals leading 52 percent to 48 percent over the ruling Labour.

Truss was echoing similar trade plans which the Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott announced on Monday for the tourism industry of the country. Abbot declared a Coalition government would spend an extra AUD $90mn (US$82mn) to help attract visitors to Australia.

The tourism package includes an AUD $40mn (US$36mn) fund that would provide grants of up to AUD $100,000 to build infrastructure for tourism projects.

Another AUD $14mn fund would provide grants to tourism organizations in regional areas. Tourism Research Australia will also be provided with AUD $8mn to identify emerging trends and gaps in the market, to make the industry to become more sustainable.

The Coalition sees tourism a niche business to Australia as the industry employs close to 500,000 people and earns AUD $24bn in export earnings. The Opposition has also allocated AUD $27mn for Regional Medical Workforce Plan to increase the number of doctors, nurses and dentists in regional and remote areas of Australia.

Truss said the Coalition would appoint an ambassador for trade reform to promote global trade reform and re-establish the Trade Advisory Council abolished by the Labour. He clarified that the Coalition’s highest trade priority would be the Doha round of negotiations towards freer world trade, but it would vigorously pursue FTA with China, Japan, Malaysia, the GCC, South Korea and Indonesia.

All details on future plans for trade and industry by the Opposition were laid out during the election campaigns, and were loaded with the Ruling’s inefficiencies and inequities. Australia’s general elections will be held on 21 of this month.

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The report has also discovered that the ‘culture and heritage’ of the country in the widest sense – extending from theatres, galleries, to pubs, Premiership Football, castles and stately homes – generated £4.6bn in total spending by overseas tourists in 2009. It said Britain’s Monarchy played a pivotal role in making the country magnetic to foreign tourists by recording well over £500mn during the same period.

Last year, out of 30mn overseas tourists, 5.8mn visited a castle, 5mn a historic house and 6.4mn chose to visit a religious monument such as a cathedral. The Tower of London was most popular and received about 2.4mn tourists last year, an increase of 11 percent from the previous year.

Christopher Rodrigues of VisitBritain argued that it was clear that tourism, already Britain’s fifth largest industry and third biggest earner of foreign exchange, was going to be central to the health of the British economy for years to come. On the contrary, UKinbound, which manages inbound tourism of Britain, has challenged the findings of the report, claiming it painted an unrealistic rosy picture.

However, the report too reminds of the significance of government intervention for the success of the tourism industry as there is a host of market barriers need to be addressed. They include co-ordinating the marketing of SMEs that cannot afford to do it themselves, empowering of rural firms faced with higher costs of operating to adopt new technology, and to support many districts across the country that rely on tourism as a key source of jobs for low-skilled and part-time workers.

UKinbound chief executive Mary Rance had stated “With no plans to increase capacity at Heathrow or any other London airport and in the absence of a strategy to restore the competitiveness of the UK as a destination by addressing the barriers to growth, it is fantasy to suggest that such huge growth is attainable.”

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On Tuesday, the Cambodian police with riot gears thwarted a week-long strike sparked off by the suspension of a union official at a Malaysian-owned garment factory, which produced goods for international brands including Gap, Benetton, Adidas and Puma. It has been reported that the clashes between more than 100 armed police force and 3,000 garment workers in Phnom Penh had resulted in nine women being hurt, though authorities maintain the operations did not hurt anyone.

The BBC’s Guy De Launey in Phnom Penh says the unrest could be a symptom of a wider social malaise owing to dwindling orders in Cambodia’s crucial garment industry which resulted in tens of thousands of job losses. Early this month, government increased the minimum wage from about $50 to $60, but the double-digit inflation and the trade unions demands of above $80 seemed to be bogging down the effect.

Albeit the unions retracted from a three-day general strike in protest against the meagre rise, the union official’s suspension is believed to have aggravated the situation. But last week’s Huffington Post report interpreted these strikes as a knee-jerk reaction to irrational calibration of wages by the outsourcing firms or associated agencies.

Interestingly, in last week’s blog by Auret van Heerden, President and CEO of the Fair Labour Association visualizes firms that build strong Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes into their operations and culture would have the edge in many markets. Nevertheless, evidences show such practices by firms are beyond procurement principles as it solely reckons pricing and related aspects devoid of labour rights – especially post-meltdown.

Cambodia’s textile industry accounts for around 85 percent of exports, and is the country’s third-largest source of income after tourism and agriculture. The Southeast Asian state continues to be in the grip of labour problems particularly after the global economic crisis that bombed exports severely to create an economic landscape of joblessness – and desertion of production units by the employers.

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The Finance Minister Tendai Biti admitted “Under the current multi currency regime, the inadequacy of smaller denominations has posed a number of challenges in transactions.” Nonetheless, the economic commentator Bekithemba Mhlanga told VOA Studio 7 reporter Gibbs Dube that the country needed to adopt the rand as its principal currency to hold down large importation costs of notes and coins. “Zimbabwe will fail to import all these required small denominations if it does not adopt the rand,” Mhlanga suggested.

The Zimbabwean government dumped the local currency last year in favour of the US Dollar, the South African Rand and the Botswana Pula as the political crisis and economic meltdown triggered record-breaking hyperinflation. Even though the currency situation improved after it adopted multi currency system the cash flow got impeded in view of US embargo pressure and poor returns from investments.

The acute shortage of foreign currency in the country has even deterred many Zimbabweans from depositing their money in banks. Some reports claim that people are literally washing the dirty US dollar bills to extent their lives in circulation.

The US Federal Reserve destroys about 7,000 tons of worn-out notes every year, and it is estimated, the average $1 bill circulates in the US for about 20 months. Though larger denominations are less dirtied since they are either from banks or international trade, smaller denominational US currencies outlive the estimated circulatory cycle in Zimbabwe.

Interestingly, the retailers have resorted to requesting shoppers to take other goods in exchange of change, and in some cases ‘credit notes’ replaced the balance of small change. Such credit notes even entitled shoppers to redeem them at a later stage for more goods from the issued shops.

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The shutting of doors to Indian exports is seen as a retaliatory measure, or as to garner more items on the negotiating table while both sides meet again in the ongoing bilateral talks. The case in point for the payback is that India does not allow transit facilities to Pakistan’s exports to Nepal and Bhutan.

At a glance, the accord hugely favours Pakistan as its goods gain access through Afghanistan to Central Asian countries including lucrative markets of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The amended trade deal was signed by Pakistan Commerce Minister Amin Fahim and his Afghan counterpart Anwarul Haq in the presence of Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Islamabad has for long resisted pressure from Kabul to allow the export of Indian goods by land through Pakistani territory. However, this long-standing demand by both Afghanistan and India seemed to impact more the poor of the region than the governments of the nations involved.

The failures of protracted farcical talks between India and Pakistan continue to push every possible event to be used as a tool to blatantly demonstrate displeasure with one another’s actions. Lately, while Islamabad refuses to give India the Most Favoured Nation status, Delhi has raised both tariff and non-tariff barriers to restrict Pakistan’s exports.

It is yet to be seen whether Clinton would be able to play a meaningful role in the region to re-weld the two nuclear states for ushering in peace and prosperity to the region. But given the frequent border tensions and unrest in Kashmir after a respite indicate that any time in near future it is unlikely the two governments giving in to allow each other land transit rights.

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Albeit the renewable power generation is relatively new to the mountainous south Asian country, it is upbeat about the commencement of the project by early next year. Mewang Gyeltshen, chief engineer from the Ministry of Economic Affairs of Bhutan told Recharge that energy demand was increasing by 12 percent, and country had sufficient supplies but remote households needed a sustainable standalone off-grid system.

On the other hand, India’s energy fund is aimed at developing a South Asian regional power grid, with focus on renewable sectors such as hydro, solar and wind. It will comprise of Bhutan with investment of about $850mn (3,000 MW), a 400-kv transmission line at $50mn with Nepal, a 1,000 MW HVDC link with Sri Lanka costing $415mn and a 1,000-MW HVDC back-to-back link with Bangladesh at $220mn.

It should be recalled the Tala Hydro power project in Bhutan, a joint venture by Indian firms, has been successfully commissioned in September 2006 and transmits power to North India. The project has mutually helped, Bhutan to jack up its economy while India to reduce power shortages in its northern parts.

The success of Tala has prompted other Indian energy firms to foray into Bhutan. Last month, the THDC India Ltd, a Govt. of India undertaking, has signed a MoU with Bhutan for the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of 180 MW Bunakha hydroelectric project in Bhutan. The Bunakha project is a part of the Indian government’s initiative to develop 10,000 MW of hydro power in Bhutan by the year 2020.

Bhutan sells hydropower to India at a price of $0.04 per kW, making 100 percent profit from a production cost of $0.02 per KW. Since it is estimated that for every one percent GDP growth more than the same percentage of energy production is required, Indo-Bhutan energy co-operation is likely to be a long-term one.

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MHmobile is an optimized user interface that enables travellers to book flights and access up to date travel information while on the move. In a world’s first, MHkiosk employs touch-screen technology, and is equipped with passport and card readers for instant passenger recognition, and print 2D barcode boarding passes.

The introduction of the MHkiosk follows Jetstar’s recent debut as the first airline to use iPads as in-flight entertainment on their aircrafts. Jetstar Airways is a low-cost subsidiary of Qantas, the national airline of Australia.

MD/CEO of the MAS, Tengku Datuk Azmil Zahruddin claimed that there was huge interest in the iPad MHkiosks as it was so simple and user-friendly; and he later added that the MAS had plans of introducing more such kiosks depending up on the success. As part of the promotion, the customers using the newly launched kiosks will get a waiver on the administrative fee for travel during the six-month pilot project period.

The kiosks is understood to eliminate admin charges since the ticketing process is electronically managed allowing the customers to select their itineraries, credit card payments, confirmation via SMS and email sans printing material. “It will mean better queue management at our ticket offices during peak hours when customers can be re-directed to ‘stand-alone’ iPad MHkiosks,” said Zahruddin.

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This development has given rise to the market forces to flex its muscles in pushing up wages, and eventually eating up the profit margins. In addition, the narrowing of gap on the outlay of wages with other competing markets has also reflected up on the product prices, which have become higher as compared to other markets.

Surprisingly, though the total labour force of China is about 800mn, very few workers have the required qualifications. It should be recalled, C.P. Lee, Asia-Pacific human resources chief at Motorola Inc. had observed “The skills base does not meet the demands of a rapidly growing (Chinese) market.”

In a rising wages scenario, the Chinese Companies cannot survive in the global market without providing cheap products to its clients, which was the core competency of most Chinese manufacturers hitherto. With that, majority of the Chinese firms will be compelled to shift from the earlier strategy of producing cheap products to quality ones as the market for the cheap products may not exist in future. The absence of cheap goods market will leave the Chinese companies with only one option of leveraging through tapping the available ‘quality’ over a quantity product market.

Hence, to grab new buyers whom seek quality products, the manufacturing companies while dishing out higher wages will also be forced to retain or recruit competent labour force to produce superior quality products. The higher wages which trigger job losses will equip the existing companies the liberty to choose the best from the competitive labour market to cater to the new quality-preferred clientele.

Incidentally, it goes without saying cheap labour often adversely affects the efficiency of the workforce, and the China growth story is an example to that premise. China’s strategy to garner market share was always been associated with manufacturing more quantity while often blowing to the wind the standards of quality.

So as former chief Asia economist at Citigroup Inc., Huang Yiping’s contention, China may be heading for the so-called Lewis turning point, but the silver lining would be that the country would also be in the process of becoming a “quality global factory”. Huang was referring to the economic theory by the late Nobel Prize-winning economist W. Arthur Lewis where manufacturing competitiveness and the pace of growth begin to turn down as labour costs rise.

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Last week, Mehmet Simsek, Finance Minister of Turkey told that his country’s GDP would grow 12 percent in the first quarter of 2010. He had claimed that the economy was recovering quickly from the backlash of the global meltdown in view of country’s several internal crisis management programs.

The 2nd TWTB meet, which is expected to become a venue for 7bn of trade deals, is held between 14th and 20th June. According to sources, the meet has been able to attract nearly 2,200 businessmen from 135 countries and 1,200 Turkish traders as well. About 1,600 translators are interpreting the forums into 38 languages, and the participants would form delegations to visit 62 provinces of Turkey.

The primary objective of the meet would be to include and optimize small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of Turkey to tide over the challenges from the monopolistic-oriented economies. Moreover, Turkey has no intention to endlessly wait for the EU membership to shape its economy to usher in growth particularly at a time when Europe is facing a volatile economic climate.

Through the TUSKON, a confederation with a strong base in Turkey and abroad, the country will be assisting entrepreneurs to overcome the language barrier by providing language courses, and in some cases even translations. The Turkish business confederation along with its affiliations across the world would be working together by simplifying and expediting business processes for country’s SMEs to make the export engine move forward rapidly.

The TUSKON has sister organizations in 135 countries across the world, and these institutions are set up by the Turkish entrepreneurs and volunteers to integrate its members to the international business environment. The Indo-Turkish Business Association, Thai-Turkish Business Association, South Africa Turkish Business Association and the Turkish and Cameroon Business Association are some of the business organizations affiliated to the parent confederation.

Turkey as an emerging export-oriented economy is paying vital importance for the TWTB meet as its trading history indicates those Turkish international business entities monetized significantly better than the domestic ones. A number of government agencies and companies including the Foreign Ministry, the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM), Turkish Airlines (THY) and Bank Asya are joining force with the TUSKON to make the meet successful.

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Botswana also signed a MoU to engage Cuban medical personnel every two years with a clause not to re-employ them after the completion of their service. Minister of Health, Dr John Seakgosing who accompanied the President said that his country was looking forward to Cuba’s new offering in the treatment of diabetes through co-operation in providing medical care to its growing diabetic population.

Botswana will also be seeking the Cuban know-how in controlling vector menace through the use of biolarvicides chiefly to mitigate debilitating diseases such as malaria, filariasis and Onchocerciasis. Some studies have indicated the vector-spread diseases had seriously impacted the progress of the African countries by lowering productivity through prolonged sicknesses to their working citizens or their relatives.

On the diplomatic front, the Foreign Minister of Botswana, Phadu Skelernani termed the US embargo against Cuba as “unnecessary”, and appealed for revocation of the sanctions. He was maintaining the rhetoric of his president, who said on the first day of his visit, “Sometimes, in Africa, we receive millions of dollars from rich countries. However, proportionally speaking, Cuba gives us a lot more than anybody else”.

Skelernani and the Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Marcelino Medina signed agreement on co-operation and Seakgosing and his Cuban counterpart, Jose Ramon Balaguer signed pact on development of a comprehensive health care system. The trip to Cuba is the Botswanan President’s second one, the last time he visited the island was in 2007 as the Vice-President of his country.

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Qimiao apprised Cambodia’s financial and banking methodology has particularly helped many of Cambodia’s commercial banks and micro-finance institutions to raise their standards of corporate governance, which eventually got rewarded with greater investments. Likewise, Chea Chanto, governor of the National Bank of Cambodia opined the recent bad experience of the world financial crisis taught Cambodia the hard way about how the failure of bank and financial system could impact livelihoods.

Chanto also told that Cambodia has learned a lot from the Asian financial crisis, and the National Bank of Cambodia has taken a series of measures to better supervise and regulate the banking and financial system in the country. Banks have an overwhelmingly dominant position in the country’s financial system, representing more than 90 percent and are extremely important engines of economic growth, he added.

In contrast, it should be recalled that Qimiao had said in the recently concluded Cambodia Development Cooperation Forum (CDCF) “transparency and accountability in the management of public finances and natural resources” were critical issues. This reference was in line with the international watchdog organization, Global Witness, which slammed donors last week for continuing to hand over huge sums of aid money, despite evidence of widespread corruption and mismanagement of public funds. Overseas donors continued to pledge financial support on the controversial Land Management and Administration Project, or LMAP that supposed to have rendered many homeless.

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The TI earlier had presented series of detailed recommendations to curb humanitarian issues including corruption and social asymmetries. In its recent press release it had appealed the OAS member states to urgently implement anti-corruption laws to ensure peace, security and sustainable development of the region.

According to Transparency International (TI), the anti-corruption organisation, despite the OAS being the first regional organization to adopt a convention against corruption in 1996, TI monitoring reports show there are serious gaps in its implementation. Although Insulza and other participants were able to identify the issues, it is not sure how the General Assembly – “Peace, Security and Cooperation” would translate them into meaningful action.

The Secretary General Insulza acknowledged “in Latin America there are too many poor, and we have important levels of inequality; but most Afro-descendants are poor, most indigenous citizens are poor, an important number of households headed by women are poor, and 80 percent of the disabled are poor. Therefore, poverty and inequality in our region have colour, gender and condition. It’s a reality. That is why we place such strong emphasis on the relationship between discrimination and human rights and also between discrimination and socio-economic problems.”

Latin America and the Caribbean have the highest income inequality worldwide, with five of the ten most unequal countries in the world located in the region. The two-day meet is believed to have reached an agreement on broad-based involvement from private business entities along with governments to promote democracy, social equality and responsibility, and the fight against crime.

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Atawodi disclosed that Lagos State had 33 illegal jetties that were being used to bring illegal goods into the country. He further added between May 2005 and May 2008, 236 vessels of various types involved in illegal bunkering were confiscated, and many of them were quietly cleared.

The Air Vice-Marshal brought forth the figures to justify the necessity of the highly controversial PICOMSS program set up to monitor and ensure maritime safety following the September 11, 2001 terror attack in the US. The PICOMSS is an ad-hoc government agency created on the behest of the US and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to facilitate detection and deterrence of security incidents involving ships and ports in line with the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code.

The PICOMSS Chairman said a maritime security agency was needed to tackle piracy, oil bunkering and midstream discharge among other illegal activities that had for long bedevilled the maritime sector and hindered economic and security development of Nigeria. While explaining the function of PICOMSS, he cited the example of the Nigeria Air Force, whose responsibility was air defence, but was not in charge of airport security. He argued the Nigerian Navy had to do with maritime defence but was not in charge of the security of ships and ports facilities.

Atawodi opined that the piracy had been squarely responsible for the decline in Nigeria’s fishing industry from 40 companies with 250 registered vessels to 19 companies with 170, which costed the country some $200mn in four years. According to him, once the security of ships and ports facilities was managed by the independent Maritime Security Agency the Nigerian waters would be able to regain its over-arching trade potential.

However, a smooth passage of the bill before the National Assembly is unlikely to happen as there is stiff challenge to such an agency which has been allocated about $151mn in this year’s budget against NSA’s recommendation of just $38.37mn required to set up the same. The anomalies in the setting up process of the agency have forced the bill to be suspended, and has been demanded to re-work before it is re-introduced for consideration.

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The Trade Minister’s words were marked by clear ideas on which the country’s economic path would be paved in the coming years regardless of its size. He said NZ started its reform process 30 years ago with very high protectionist barriers but now was solidly centred on reciprocal trade liberalisation.

Groser shifted his focus from the FTA talks to WTO negotiations and expressed dismay over the inertia at the WTO. He said the WTO negotiating process was suffering from sclerosis, and criticized the WTO Director General’s use of the metaphor of having done 80 percent of the negotiation. He added that but last 20 percent or whatever number one chose to illustrate the remaining negotiating gap – was proving elusive.

He arrayed data on NZ trade policies including the collective effort in the early 1990s that it would not put all its eggs in the then GATT or now WTO basket. He pointed out since then, while emphasising multilateral trade policy, successive NZ Governments had aggressively and successively pursued a bi-partisan strategy of developing FTAs with economies which were either major trading partners or promised to be – i.e. the emerging economies.

“All projections suggest that in even twenty to thirty years’ time, the countries with the largest populations will have the largest economies. We will be living in a truly multi-polar world in which we are highly likely to have four economic super-powers with huge populations (China, India, the US and the hybrid model of the 27 Member EU) plus a range of very significant economies on a second tier including Japan, Korea, Indonesia and, of course the other of the so-called ‘BRICs’ – the formulation that includes not just China and India but also Brazil and Russia”, claimed Groser.

The gist of the address disclosed that NZ current FTAs including China, Thailand, Singapore and Chile and future FTAs or any other trade deals were and will be designed to follow an extreme application of what is called ‘first mover advantage’ strategy – getting in first, to avoid the possibility of being left to last.

NZ is the first developed country to have established a comprehensive FTA with China. Besides, NZ has negotiated a parallel FTA with Hong Kong – NZ is the only country in the world so far, other than China itself, to have such a relationship.

At a glance, the NZ-Russia FTA opens up business opportunities for not only the NZ dairy industry but also extend to other areas such as agro-tech, tourism and education. New Zealand’s exports to Russia are worth NZ$187mn ($127mn) last year, of which about two-thirds are dairy products. That’s just a fraction of the more than the $30bn of food Russia purchases annually.

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The report recommends reducing the number of large industrial fishing vessels and redirecting counter-productive subsidies. It identifies human activities has dire effect on the world’s oceans and seas.

The vulnerable marine ecosystems, such as corals, and important fisheries are being damaged by over-exploitation, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, destructive fishing practices, invasive alien species and marine pollution, especially from land-based sources. Besides, increased sea temperatures, sea-level rise and ocean acidification caused by climate change also pose a greater threat to marine life which will eventually impact the lives of coastal and island communities and economies.

It is estimated that 11 to 26mn tons of fish or one-fifth of the global reported catch annually fall under the category of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. Similarly, only about 25 percent of commercial stocks are in a healthy or even reasonably healthy state. Some 30 percent of fish stocks are considered collapsed and 90 percent of large predatory fish like the blue fin tuna, so prized by sushi aficionados have almost disappeared since the middle of the 20th century.

Nonetheless, the five-day conference on fish conservation opened at the UN Headquarters in New York on Monday gives hope on taking stern measures to contain all kinds of man-made oceanic hazards. The review is held every four years to address the declining numbers of fish stocks under the UN agreement, which took effect from 2001.

The conference is reviewing implementation of the UN Fish Stocks Agreement that establishes a legal regime for long-term conservation and sustainable use of straddling and highly migratory fish stocks. It will provide an opportunity for countries to consider new measures to tighten implementation of the legal regime.

The day one of the conference witnessed the UN Ambassador for the tiny Pacific nation of Palau, Stuart Beck, condemning the killing of 73mn sharks a year, for shark fin soup alone. “The slaughter of sharks for their fins to make soup is as needless and cruel as the killing of elephants for their tusks to make ornaments,” he said.

Sharks are susceptible to overfishing because of their low fertility rates and long life spans. But shark fishing has boomed since the 1980s triggered by demand from China and other nations for shark fin soup, a prized symbol of wealth.

The global seafood consumption has doubled over the past 40 years with many switching to seafood diet as it was found healthier than other meat products. With the UN estimation of about 20mn boats with fishing capacity of 1.8 to 2.8 times larger than the oceans can sustainably support, the industry leaders as well as governments may have to make grave compromises on ocean management to see a sustainable ocean in the coming decades. The UN lists the top 10 nations with the biggest fisheries hauls as China, Peru, the US, Indonesia, Japan, Chile, India, Russia, Thailand and the Philippines.

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SA’s present crisis besides damaging trade with Europe and Asia, it also corroborates the criticism by some European countries in regards to the preparedness of the country to host such a mega event like the World Cup come June and July. The SA Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Tina Joemat-Pettersson told reporters losses to the industries under her ministry are estimated over 1bn rand ($127mn).

The strike, well over a fortnight has already brought the exim trade of the country to a standstill inflicting potential losses to the job market and international trade contracts. Items like metals, cars, fruits and wine to Europe and Asia, as well as imports of automotive parts and fuel supplies is reported to have affected. FIFA, the football governing body has informed imports of some equipment for the event has also been impacted.

Though it was predicted before the strike the coal and iron ore exports and fuel supplies could be stalled, stocks and supply process as so far avoided such a situation. Likewise, the domestic power supplies also have not been affected much by the strike since coal for the power plants is largely supplied through conveyor belts directly from the mines.

The workers of the SA logistics group Transnet which has about 54000 trade union members began strike demanding 15 percent pay hike despite the group conceding 11 percent. Although over 60 percent have returned to work since Monday, the smaller South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) has decided to go ahead with its demand.

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Al Tayer’s projection comes after global cues such as growth in the US, European, Chinese and Indian economies driving demand for crude and related products. It should be recalled, last week at an international conference on petrochemicals Mukesh Ambani, the oil baron said crude prices could rise to $100 a barrel in the near future.

Under the theme of ‘Finance for the Next Decade of Growth’, the two-day MENASA Forum, held between 23 and 24 May 2010, widely focused on discussing the critical opportunities and challenges confronting the region over the next decade. Over 250 members of the regional and international banking and financial services industry, regulators and senior business executives attended the Forum hosted by the DIFC.

Earlier, Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Fiscal Committee and Chairman of the Emirates Group delivered the key note address on the first day of the Forum. He told that the platform was a great occasion for discussing how the MENASA countries could forge greater integration in trade, investment and finance, and stressed at setting up of a mechanism for cooperation similar to that of the ASEAN.

Arif Masood Naqvi, Founder and Group CEO, Abraaj Capital observed the MENASA region remained as the heart of the emerging markets, helping drive global growth through the combination of population growth, economic reform and hydrocarbon wealth. Likewise, Al Tayer said the vast potential of the MENASA region was “undeniable” despite the challenges being faced in the post-global downturn environment.

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The report has clarified that though the term “infrastructure” could denote a wide range of facilities and systems including economic and financial infrastructure, social infrastructure and physical infrastructure, the study has centred on physical infrastructure. As per the report, the projections for the future infrastructural development have been drawn from a study by the consulting firm, Booz Allen Hamilton.

In a 2007 report, Booz Allen Hamilton has estimated that investment needed to “modernize obsolescent systems and meet expanding demand” for infrastructure worldwide between 2005 and 2030 was at about US$ 41 trillion. It said the North American (the US and the Canadian) share of the infrastructure needs alone would be around US$ 6.5 trillion through 2030.

While the PIR finds both involvement by public sector as in the case of China and a broad-based public private partnership (PPP) seen in India has country-specific successful models in the speedy development of infrastructural projects. The report highlights the Eleventh Five Year Plan for Energy development by the National Development and Reform Commission of the People’s Republic of China as an example of one such plan which sets specific goals for the development of energy infrastructure in China. The PPP-based National Highway Development Programme of India which aims to deliver about 55,000 kilometres of highways is cited as one good example with a clearly well-defined role for the private sector.

The Positive Infrastructure Initiative was launched in 2009 in response to a clear mandate provided to the Forum at the Annual Meeting 2009 in Davos by the CEOs of the leading infrastructural organizations to ensure that the massive fiscal spending on infrastructure not only generates the employment to restart the global economy but also creates infrastructure assets that foster long-term economic competitiveness, and are environmentally and socially sustainable.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas. The official website of the WEF in its latest press release has made available details about the report.

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The disease-spreading ability of mosquitoes has been constantly a threat to majority of developing countries as they inflicted great productivity losses to these economies by hamstringing communities with illnesses such as malaria, dengue, etc. These vectors have taken the lives of largest number of people in the recorded human history by spreading diseases more than any other natural calamities or illnesses.

One of the latest 78 grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support innovations in global health in 18 countries towards Okeng’s effort has to be seen as an endorsement for the continuance and efficacy of the plant research. The professor, who is assisted by his colleagues Dr. James Kalema and Dr. Mary Namaganda, has received a grant of $100,000 from the foundation to help the Ugandans to grow these plants in their yards to keep mosquitoes and related diseases at bay.

Okeng apprised that malaria was the biggest killer and contributor of poverty in Africa and Uganda. “When people are sick, they are unable to do productive work. They spend all their money in treating malaria. Our target is to reduce poverty as well as increase incomes,” he explained.

The professor claimed the idea was the first of its kind in Uganda and the world as well. He described that he acquired the knowledge of insect-eating mosquitoes in the 1960s as a student interested in animal and plant biology.

He revisited the idea when there was opposition to the nationwide spraying of households with DDT, an insecticide toxic to animals and humans, to control malaria. “We want people to have choices and shift from using insecticides,” he added.

The plants are said to be very effective in killing any flying insects like house flies, moths, aphids or mosquitoes, and initial studies show bees are not been ensnared. However, the team has informed that the plants will be promoted only after a conclusive study on the effect of these on the bees. This is the first time the plants will be cultivated and utilised in disease control though people knew about these insect-eating plants existed in Africa long ago.

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China’s State Council on its last Thursday’s release said the government encouraged private investment in domestic oil and gas exploration and crude oil, natural gas, refined oil storage and transportation and pipeline transportation facilities and networks. China’s strategy to bring private players to the energy sector in a big way is regarded as an attempt to support its economy that is projected to grow more than 10 percent, eventually increasing energy needs.

Zhao Youshan, head of the Commercial Petroleum Flow Committee of China, opined the involvement of private oil enterprises in the national strategic reserve of oil could relieve the pressure of oil exploration and production to some extent. Currently, all prospective domestic oil and gas blocks are owned by the state. The new oil and gas directive is likely to allow private enterprises to have significant stake in domestic oil and gas exploration as well as production.

According to Beijing Times, the enterprises bidding for the project should meet certain criteria, such as the volume of a single oil storage tank should be no less than 10,000 cubic meters. Though the reserve capacities of private enterprises are comparatively small, the private players seemed to be eager to join the national oil reserves with state support including finance, infrastructure and easily adaptable laws.

At present, the private enterprises involved in the supply of crude oil is very limited since they are stipulated to import 2,530 tons of crude oil per annum or about the daily imports 500,000 barrels. However, the private participation in oil and gas sector comes at a time when the country plans to augment the use of non-fossil fuels from the current 8.5 percent to 15 percent by this year end.

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India would be largely interested in absorbing Israel’s technological prowess in areas such as bio-tech, nano-technology, healthcare, security services, water management and agriculture. On the other hand, Israel will focus on the India’s manufacturing potential to overcome its limitations on this front.

Although there are equal trade and utility potential for both countries, the tariff differences remained a roadblock for the smooth transition of trade talks ever since they began. India’s tariffs are on the higher end, and will have to make steep reductions to accommodate Israel’s trading needs. However, given the smaller size of Israel’s manufacturing industry, India does not have to worry about any massive influx of goods if it compromised on tariffs.

Speaking to Business Line, Eli Belotserkovsky, Deputy Chief Mission, Embassy of Israel, said that there are very few issues that need to be sorted out to finalise a FTA between the two nations. He opined that the two-way trade was evenly matched at about $2bn, and projected to grow up to $6bn once the FTA was signed.

Belotserkovsky admitted that they were not good at mass production or heavy equipment, where India could play a big role. He also said that the textile trade was another area which had immense potential between the two nations.

The Indo-Israeli FTA is expected to promote investment opportunities for both governments as well as private enterprises. Among goods and services, both countries’ major area of focus would be agriculture as it has been in the past few years.

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The US consumes nearly a quarter of the world’s oil production but just produces about 10 percent. It buys around $400bn worth of foreign oil or about the same as last year’s balance of payments deficit with its trading partners.

One of the companies that has established itself in used cooking oil energy domain is Minnesota-based Restaurant Technologies (RTI), the leading provider of bulk cooking oil management services to the restaurant industry. RTI has generated $240mn revenue by collecting used cooking oil, and more than 100mn gallons of used oil have been sold to biodiesel manufacturers, animal feed and other buyers.

Likewise, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota Community has recently celebrated its first anniversary of producing bio-diesel from waste soybean oil used in frying chicken, French fries and other foods. The bio-diesel is used to fuel shuttle buses that transport guests and employees among properties around the community. The success of the tribal community on implementing the bio-diesel program indicates that it made economic and environmental sense virtually practical even for small communities to engage in such initiatives.

The Dakota community extracts bio-diesel by pumping 100 gallons into the BioPro 380 processor at a time. Twenty gallons of methanol (wood alcohol) and small amounts of potassium chloride and sulphuric acid are added to the machine with minimal usage of vinegar late in the process. About 48 hours later, around 95 gallons of biodiesel and 25 gallons of glycerine are produced.

Last week, East Ridge, Tennessee has decided to utilize a self-produced new biodiesel blend to fuel its city operations fleet. It is estimated that this clean alternative to conventional fuel not only would make the air cleaner in East Ridge but also expected to provide revenue, eventually helped to lower taxes.

As per the program, the residents may pick up or drop designated or non-designated collection containers at any East Ridge Swap Center. These containers, once full with cooled used cooking oil—may be exchanged for an empty one. By switching to a biodiesel blend, the city of East Ridge is expected reduce its operating costs on civic amenities such as garbage collection, mowing, roadway maintenance, fire/rescue and street sweeping.

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The Sultanate of Oman is conducting this workshop to enhance its interest and scientific advancement in the fields of architecture control, eco-tourism and environment protection. In the past few decades, Oman has been able to leapfrog various eco-friendly projects including renewable energy, management of waste, water resources and anti-pollution drive on marine world.

The study meet which is jointly organized by Ministry of Heritage and Culture and French Embassy is expected to promote sustainable development programs with emphasis on green architecture and eco-tourism. Oman industry heads would be primarily interested in technology transfer and other inputs from France to take their green industry to the next level of development.

French Ambassador to the Sultanate Malika Berak is of the opinion that the three-day event will prove to be an opportunity to expand bilateral ties as 10 leading architecture agencies with good number of experts from France have agreed to take part in the workshop. The event will target French and Omani architects, researchers, institutional representatives and officials in charge of sustainable development affairs to put accent on an eco-friendly comprehensive plan for all future developments in possible sectors.

According to sources, Jean Gautier, Director of Architecture at French Ministry of Culture and Communication, will give a presentation on the urban planning project ‘Grand Paris’. Besides, the Muscat municipality projects are also likely to be featured at the event to draw expert feedback.

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