Main Page «
Front Page «
Metro «
International «
Sports «
National «
Editorial «
Op-Ed «
Home «
Timeout «
Letters «

Archive «
Launch Supplement «
Special Supplements «

The South Asian trade experts cautioned that the Hong Kong ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organisation might also face the same fate of Cancun, if the member countries fail to address concerns of the poor countries.
   They said such failure would be a ‘lose-lose’ situation for both the rich and the poor countries in the multilateral trade regime.
   They made the observations at a two-day conference on ‘mainstreaming development in trade negotiations: run- up to Hong Kong.
   In this connection, they stressed on exploring some common positions among the South Asian countries to maximise benefit from the multilateral trading system.
   Representatives from Bangladesh lauded the compensation mechanism for the least developed countries, which are exposed to suffer from preference of erosion, originated from the ongoing negotiation on non-agricultural market access.
   They said as preference of erosion emerged within the multilateral trading system, compensation for LDCs has to be within the system and not through any bilateral arrangement that would weaken the LDCs’ position.
   The inaugural session of the conference was marked by publication of the South Asian Yearbook on trade and development, as well as formal launching of the Centre for Trade and Development (Centad) as an independent research organisation in New Delhi on Thursday.
   The additional commerce and industry secretary of India, Gopal K Pillai, released the yearbook in the formal inauguration session held in the Park Hotel. Portraying the unfair trade practices by the developed countries, Pillai said developed countries were pressing for unrealistic cut in industrial tariffs from the developing countries.
   At present the developed countries are pursuing tariff cut system in NAMA in the light of Swiss formula, where developed nations will have 10 coefficients and developing countries 15.
   ‘This is grossly unfair—given the average tariff for developed countries is 6 per cent and which will increase, whereas the formula reduced the tariff rate of developing countries significantly,’ he added.
   On bilateral issue, the Indian trade bureaucrat said Delhi would find ways to reduce the yawning trade gap between India and Bangladesh through policy measures.
   ‘We are working to resolve the trade issues between the two countries,’ he said adding that Bangladesh’s export to India would likely to rise to $500 million within a couple of years, due to such initiatives. However, he did not elaborate.
   The Indian official’s response came after Bangladesh’s former commerce secretary, Syed Alamgair Farrouk Chowdhury, raised the issue of the trade gap in his introductory statement as the session chairman.
   ‘India should take initiative to remove non-tariff barriers so that Bangladeshi products can have bigger access into the Indian market,’ he said and added that the Bangladesh’s big neighbour has to be more accommodative.
   The research director of the Dhaka-based research organisation, Centre for Policy Dialogue, Mustafizur Rahman, said the issue of preference erosion was not given due importance in the July package.
   ‘The Hong Kong ministerial meeting should provide developed countries with a good opportunity to accord zero tariff access for all LDC products to offset the negative consequences of current NAMA negotiations,’ he said.
   Mustafiz opined that advanced developing countries like China and India should grant LDCs tariff-free market access and that would not cost them much.
   The commerce ministry official, Sharifa Khan, said market access alone could not be beneficial for the LDCs, if the rules of origins were not realistic and non-tariff barriers not removed.
   Economist Rajesh Chadha of the Delhi-based National Council of Applied Economics said erosion of preferences must be compensated by the developed countries through programme of adjustment assistance funded by them.
   ‘The concerns of the LDCs have to be taken care of and these countries have to be given special treatment,’ he added. On the second day of the conference on Friday, experts made deliberations on trade facilitation and development dimension of Doha agenda.
   Former Bangladesh commerce secretary, Suhel Ahmed Choudhury, economist Atiur Rahman, Saman Kelegama of Colombo-based Institute of Policy Studies, Vibek Debroy of Rajiv Ghandi Foundation, J George of Haryana Institute of Public Administration, Abid Suleri of Islamabad-based Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Samar Verma of Oxfam and Prabhash Ranjan of Centad spoke during the conference sessions.

Bangladeshi woven shirt exporters recouped some of the lost share in the US market on the back of strong growth in sales for the last couple of months, after China fulfilled its export quota to the world’s single biggest apparel consumer.
   The US commerce department data shows Bangladesh, which offers lower-end price close to China, outpaced all competitors except China, in the export growth of shirts.
   In September, Bangladesh dominated the US imports of men’s shirts in non knit category, accounting for around 21 per cent of the total volume, with a massive 187 per cent increase in shipments over the previous month, the commerce department report said.
   Bangladeshi exporters shipped 2.06 million pieces of shirts in September against 0.81 million in August, when Bangladesh had only 9.55 per cent share in the US market.
   The overall export growth of Bangladeshi shirts to the US market also looked satisfactory, market observers said, analysing the post-MFA competition scenarios.
   ‘It’s a tremendous growth. Though it is a single item, it is a major category,’ said an official of the Export Promotion Bureau.
   ‘The striking performance indicates that Bangladeshi exporters proved their resilience and could withstand the price war in post-MFA global apparel market’ the EPB official said.
   During January-September, Bangladesh exporters shipped more than 8.7 million pieces of shirts to the US, with an increase of about 18 per cent over the corresponding period the previous year.
   Bangladesh’s share in the US market during the period rose to 7.64 per cent against 6.46 per cent in 2004.
   US imports of men’s cotton non-knit shirts have increased nearly 20 per cent in the first three quarters of the year, according to the data from the US department of commerce.
   The data showed that China lowered prices by 25 per cent during the period having a knock-on effect on world prices.
   The Chinese exporters offered $47.86 on an average for a dozen of non-knit shirts during January-August, against $65 in 2004, while Bangladeshi exporters offered $49.57 this year against previous year’s average of $50.02.
   The US imports of men’s cotton woven shirts increased by five million dozens in the first seven months of 2005, with surging imports from China and Bangladesh.

The commerce minister, Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, leaves Dhaka today for Beijing to sign the Asia- Pacific Trade Agreement rearranging the existing Bangkok Agreement.
   The accord will be signed on November 2 in the Chinese capital along with approving Beijing’s accession to the business bloc.
   ‘This is going to be a turning point, mainly with the accession of China, and Bangladesh as an LDC in the group is poised to enormously benefit from it,’ Altaf told the official news agency Saturday.
   ‘For the first time, Dhaka will be getting concessionary trade access, both duty free and quota free, at different levels under the new APTA arrangement to countries like China or South Korea,’ he said explaining some benefits.
   The Beijing meet will also discuss the rules of origin issue for products to be traded under concessionary regime among the member states and Bangladesh will get advantage on this as well, he hoped.
   This will also be the first ever ministerial meeting of the Bangkok Agreement bloc. Previously all such meetings were at the expert level, Altaf said.
   The commerce minister said the Beijing meeting will not only seal the transformation of the Bangkok Agreement to APTA but may also take decision in favour of inclusion of some new members to enlarge the economic and business cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.
   Pakistan, Iran, Nepal, Myanmar, Vietnam and Fiji are aspirants to join the APTA, he said. The enlarged bloc may ultimately end up in creating an exclusive region for accelerated economic development and a free trade zone, he said.
   Altaf said the move to enlarge the Bangkok Agreement and put it under a new flagship - the APTA, has come at a time when the Asia-Pacific region is taking a new growth momentum.
   The Bangkok Agreement was signed in 1975 with Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, South Korea and Laos as the core members. It was a United Nations focused drive. ESCAP, the UN agency working for socio-economic development in the Asia-Pacific region, was lending since all secretariat support to it.
   The commerce minister said APTA will strengthen the business ties among member states and ensure the best economic benefits in the new environment. ‘It will open a new horizon to business expansion and economic growth in the region.’
   Explaining some of the business gains, he said South Korea agreed to offer 129 items on duty free, besides 291 items under different concessional rates. Sri Lanka has agreed to offer 48 items at 35 per cent duty, 10 per cent down from the existing rates.
   China is offering 83 items duty free while 25 more items down at 50 per cent level.
   Once the accession issue of new members is sorted out, he said, the business outreach of the bloc will become quite large.

The use of voice over Internet protocol is yet to be legalised in the country, just in order to protect the interests of a few IT companies, though it could pave way for earning plenty of IT outsourcing works.
   The IT professionals and business leaders claimed this saying that through legalisation of the VoIP, the government would get earn a huge revenue.
   The president of ISPAB, Akhtaruzzaman Manju, told the news agency that the system would allow the country to earn about Tk 1,000 crore in foreign exchange. ‘We are not facilitated, while the VoIP is recognised across the world,’ he added.
   It would make the field for working in the call centres and within the first two years, about one lakh employment would be ensured, he added.
   The prime minister, Khaleda Zia, herself called for the legalisation of the VoIP at a meeting of the ICT taskforce, but it did not turn into reality, said former BCS president, Mostafa Jabbar.
   The chief executive officer of SkyBd, Shoeb Chowdhury, said India and Nepal, were earning huge foreign currencies through the system.
   ‘We would ensure government revenue by receiving outsourcing from the US, Europe and Germany.
   The country experienced illegal VoIP business through many IT institutions that have 50 to 300 telephone lines and the Bangladesh Telephone and Telegraph Board was already been informed about it, Akhtaruzzaman said.

The London-based Asia Energy PLC expects an agreement with the Bangladesh government by the end of this year, for developing Phulbari coalmine with an investment of $2 billions.
   ‘We believe that the government will honour the contract and hope that the agreement for developing the field will be signed by this year,’ the company’s joint managing director, David Lenigas, told the news agency.
   In keeping with current contract, Asia Energy Bangladesh on October 2 submitted a feasibility study and scheme for development to the government for approval.
   The company plans to start mining operation in 2006, leading to extraction of first coal in 2008 and full production of over 15 million tonnes per year by 2013.
   The report is now under consideration of the government.
   David informed that the company, listed in the London Stock Exchange, invested $18 millions in last 18 months for the Phulbari project and found 572 million tonnes of high quality bituminous coal in the site.
   ‘In keeping with the government’s plan to increase power generation capacity, Asia Energy has also submitted a proposal to build a 500 megawatt coal-fired power station at the mine site and there is a provision for this to be expanded to 1,000 MW,’ said Lenigas.
   He said about 40,000 people would be relocated over the project period of 30 years and ‘all will be compensated properly’.
   ‘Our environmental and social impact management plans, already approved by the government, will ensure that everybody who is relocated will be fully and fairly compensated,’ he told the news agency.
   ‘It is true that we will have to dewater the mining area, to keep it dry and safe. However, there will be no shortage of water, in fact, quite the contrary. The water extracted from the mine area will be distributed and the effect of our pumping will be limited by injecting some of the pumped water back into the ground.’
   With Asia Energy being backed by some world’s leading financial institutions, including Barclays, Lenigas said the Bangladesh government would get seven percent royalty, ‘which is of international standard.’
   The government will earn $7 billions in royalties, taxes, import duties and port and rail charges.

Hong Kong on Saturday welcomed the European Union’s latest offer on farm tariff cuts as ‘a step forward.’
   ‘I welcome the offer made by the European Union yesterday. I think Peter Mandelson has done quite a bit of useful work and I recognise his efforts,’ Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology John Tsang said.
   ‘This is a step forward. What is good about it is that the ball is still in play. I think that is important. I have urged the relevant members to continue the discussion so that they could come out with a credible package by the time they come to Hong Kong in December,’ the top trade official said.
   The European Commission offered on Friday its steepest-ever cuts in agricultural tariffs to try to break a deadlock in world trade talks, but France and the United States voiced immediate reservations.

The European Union’s offer on farm goods could not make major trading partners happy as they said the ‘sacrifices’ fell short of what needed to keep talks on a global trade deal alive.
   United States and Brazil were joined by Australia Saturday in criticising the EU’s new trade concession.
   The EU trade commissioner, Peter Mandelson, Friday unveiled the proposal in Brussels that the commission would nearly halve average tariff on agricultural imports to just over 12 per cent.
   The United States and other World Trade Organisation members have harshly criticised the EU for not offering deeper cuts in its domestic farm tariffs ahead of a WTO ministerial meeting in Hong Kong in December.
   Mandelson was due to discuss it with Portman and top trade officials from Brazil, India and Australia in a video conference in Washington today. Washington said it was unimpressed.
   ‘While in some areas we believe the EU proposal moves in the right direction, overall we’re disappointed both in the level of the tariff cuts and in the exclusions from the tariff cuts,’ the US trade representative, Rob Portman, told reporters.
   The Brazilian foreign minister, Celso Amorim, described the EU offer as ‘still pretty far’ from what developing countries want to see from the talks.
   ‘The Europeans still wouldn’t go far enough. It was very disappointing,’ a spokesman for Australia’s deputy prime minister and trade minister, Mark Vaile, said.
   Australia has been one of the leading advocates of farm trade reform, the main sticking point in long running negotiations for world trade liberalisation through the Doha Round.
   The WTO’s 148 members are due to meet in December in Hong Kong to try to agree on a blueprint for a deal. The lack of progress so far on farm reform means an accord originally planned to give the world economy a boost and help poor countries could flop after four years of talks.
   The United States and other countries have demanded average cuts of at least 54 per cent and they rejected a previous EU offer they said meant average cuts of under 25 per cent.
   An EU official said the new offer represented an average cut in the EU’s farm import tariffs of 38 per cent. But Brussels is also under intense pressure from France.
   The president, Jacques Chirac, said on Thursday that Paris might veto the deal if Brussels went any further. Top negotiators for the United States, the EU, India, Brazil and Australia could hold another video conference next week and are expected in Geneva on November 8 for more talks.

The US deficits, red-hot housing and other asset prices, and volatile energy markets may darken rosy world growth forecasts, the International Monetary Fund’s chief economist said in remarks released Friday.
   Raghuram Rajan said the global economy would likely grow about 4.3 per cent both this year and next, but said there were ‘considerable’ risks from growing economic imbalances.
   ‘The central concern has to be about consumption growth in the United States, which has been holding up the world economy,’ Rajan said in a speech dated October 25, but distributed by the IMF on Friday.
   He warned high energy prices, if they feed inflation and inflationary expectations, could cause the US Federal Reserve to raise rates faster and further than now expected and lead to an abrupt fall in consumer spending.
   ‘This would have several negative effects,’ he said higher interest rates could stunt house price growth and hinders investment at a time when more investment is desperately needed in low-income countries and emerging markets, he said.
   ‘My greatest worry is not that US consumption will slow—it has to, because it is being fuelled by unsustainable forces,’ Rajan said. ‘My worry is that it will slow abruptly, taking away a major support from world growth before other supports are in place.’
   The US current account deficit—approaching 6.25 per cent of gross domestic product and more than 1.5 per cent of world GDP this year—is another key source of instability, Rajan said.
   ‘To finance it, the United States needs to pull in 70 per cent of all global capital flows,’ he said, adding oil producing Middle Eastern countries were increasingly filling the gap as their surpluses eclipse emerging Asia’s.
   Rajan said the US current account gap was more than fully financed at present.
   ‘From the evidence we have so far, foreign central banks do not appear to vary their purchases of the US treasuries in a systematic way with changes in the trade-weighted dollar,’ he said. Still, he warned private investors could be scared away.

The new super-jumbo Airbus, the A380, landed early Saturday in Frankfurt on its first trip to a major airport, as part of a series of tests the airliner must undergo before it enters commercial operation.
   The world’s biggest passenger jet landed at 8:57 am (0657 GMT), three minutes earlier than expected, on the north runway of Frankfurt airport, Europe’s second-busiest after London Heathrow, an AFP correspondent reported.
   After eight hours of tests, the airliner is set to return early Sunday to Toulouse in southern France, where Airbus is headquartered.
   The A380 will go through in the minutest detail all the routine procedures of airline travel, from embarking and disembarking, to the loading of food and drinks, luggage and fuel.
   One test will try out the double-decker boarding bridges, designed and built especially for the A380, which allow simultaneous boarding of economy and higher-class passengers.
   The myriad tests are part of the year-long certification process of the new airliner, which measures 80 metres (262-feet) in wingspan and 73 meters in length and which was unveiled for the first time in April in Toulouse.
   The A380 is capable of carrying from 555 to 840 passengers, about 40 per cent more than rival Boeing’s 747 jet.
   Frankfurt airport was chosen for the A380 tests because it is currently investing about 100 million euros (121 million dollars) in renovating its two terminals, not least in order to be able to handle the new super-size jet.
   The A380 is scheduled to enter commercial operation at the end of 2006, when Singapore Airlines will be the first air carrier to use the jet.

Chile, the world’s No 1 copper producer, concluded negotiations Friday for a free trade agreement with China, its top customer for the red metal, and expects to formalize the agreement next month.
   Chile and China opened negotiations for a free trade deal in April last year. Once signed and ratified by both countries it will be the Asian nation’s first ever with a Latin American country.
   Negotiators expect the deal to go into effect on July 1 next year, Carlos Furche, Chile’s director for international economic relations, told Reuters by telephone.
   Chile wants to be the bridge between Asia, led by China’s booming economy, and Latin America. The new accord is seen opening the door to Asian exports into the countries of Latin America’s southern cone.
   Presidents Ricardo Lagos of Chile and Hu Jintao of China will formalise the agreement at the mid-November Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea, Chile Foreign Relations Minister Ignacio Walker told local radio. He did not give a date for when the pact might be ratified by lawmakers.
   Once in place, the accord will mean immediate, tariff-free access to China for more than 90 per cent of Chilean exports, including copper. Last year China was the biggest single buyer of Chile’s copper exports, buying 18 per cent, or $2.728 billion worth. That was the bulk of Chile’s $3.2 billion 2004 exports to China.
   Chile’s imports from China last year were a little over $1.8 billion. China’s rapid, robust economic growth has seen it consume base metals like copper at massive rates as it invests heavily in infrastructure.
   Chilean state copper miner Codelco, the world’s largest producer of the metal, this year entered into an agreement with China state-owned metals trading firm Minmetals Corp under which it pledged to invest $2 billion in Codelco in exchange for a guaranteed long-term supply of copper.
   ‘(Trade with China) is very focused on copper and minerals, although once the agreement is in place we will be able to grow and diversify our exports, especially in the area of agricultural and fishing products,’ Furche said.
   The new trade deal also means tariff-free trade access for other Chilean mineral exports, as well as vegetables and fish oils, Walker said.

Saudi Arabia, the top global oil exporter, won the go-ahead from major trading nations Friday to join the World Trade Organisation, probably by mid-December, after 12 years of tough on-off negotiations.
   A working party, including all major trading nations in the WTO, approved the final package of Saudi entry terms and agreed to pass them on for endorsement to a meeting of the body’s ruling General Council on November 11.
   The decision was hailed as ‘an historic occasion’ by WTO Director- General Pascal Lamy and as ‘a victory for the principles and objectives of the multilateral trading system’ by the Saudi commerce minister, Hashim A Yamani.
   Approval in the council is seen as a foregone conclusion, and will clear the way—if Riyadh moves rapidly to wrap up remaining formalities—for the country to attend a major WTO ministerial meeting in Hong Kong in December as a full member.
   Entry of the kingdom, which will bring WTO membership to 149, is likely to open its long-protected but growing economy to the outside world—a fact that has worried some elements in the Saudi Islamic religious establishment.
   It is expected to boost foreign investment, providing funds for diversification and bring new export opportunities for Saudi firms.

Beijing does not plan massive construction of new hotels for the 2008 Olympics, even though a quarter million foreign visitors are expected for the world’s largest sports event, state media said Saturday.
   The officials are not losing any sleep over where all the foreigners are going to stay, since there are nearly 4,90,000 beds throughout the city, the Xinhua news agency reported.
   That impressive number is arrived at by counting absolutely everything the city’s hospitality sector has to offer, including one-star hotels and hostels of varying quality, according to the agency.
   Even so, there may not be enough beds to go around, as domestic visitors plus the normal tourist inflow will boost demand in 2008 to 550,000, Xinhua said.
   To make up for this shortfall, the city plans to enlist the hotels of neighbouring cities such as Tianjin, boosting the number of beds by 100,000, the agency reported.
   Critics have voiced concerns that China is spending too much money on preparations for the 2008 Games.
   The National Stadium, nicknamed the ‘Bird’s Nest’ because of its giant lattice-work structure of irregularly angled metal girders, is estimated to cost 3.13 billion yuan ($386 million).
   The National Aquatic Centre, meanwhile, has a price tag of 1.02 billion yuan.

French consumers are refusing to be infected by the mounting optimism of business chiefs, with concern about inflation and the impact of economic reforms seen as culprits for entrenched gloom.
   The latest evidence of diverging sentiment came on Friday with consumer morale sinking back in October to its lowest since the series began in late 2003, in contrast to a report on Monday that showed business confidence hit an 8-month high in October.
   Households are refusing to cheer up even though the jobless rate has fallen in three of the past four months and despite other indications that the euro zone’s second biggest economy has turned the corner and is starting to pick up.
   That is disappointing news for Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, who made cutting jobless queues a priority in the hope this would lift consumer morale. And analysts said it could end up preventing economic recovery from becoming broadly based.
   ‘Concerns about structural reforms, pensions, job security, and a whole range of similar issues, are holding back consumer confidence and won’t go away any time soon,’ said Ken Wattret, chief euroland market economist at BNP Paribas.
   ‘The reform process is inevitable but because it is slow, it is hanging like a dark cloud over households without having a dramatic impact on the economy and growth.’
   Analysts said it may take more than a couple of months of declining unemployment to lift French consumer sentiment given the underlying causes of their gloom is more deep rooted.
   Economists also cited insecurity about the outlook for personal finances which is being stoked by households’ concern that their purchasing power is being eroded.
   France is not the only euro zone country where consumer sentiment is failing to keep pace with improving business morale — this has also been seen to some extent in Germany and Italy.
   Pushing reforms through more quickly may help the health of the economy but that looks politically unfeasible in France.
   The government suffered a crushing blow when voters rejected the European Union constitution in a referendum in May and is now keen to shore up its ratings in the run up to presidential elections in 2007.
   It has already watered down some of its reform and privatisation plans. For example, on Thursday Villepin gave up on plans to sell part of energy group Areva, the world’s largest builder of nuclear power reactors.
   Resistance to reforms and discontent about purchasing power and job insecurity is nevertheless running high.
   Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets around France earlier in October to voice discontent about such issues and two unions have called a November 8 power workers’ strike to protest against the partial sale of state power giant EDF.
   ‘This dichotomy between the improvement in economic conditions and the perception that households have is not unusual,’ said Nicolas Bouzou, chief economist at Xerfi.
   ‘It is simply linked to the fact that, unlike company chiefs, households are not in the ‘front row’ of economic developments. The French are also very sensitive to a political context which seems unstable to them.’
   Another factor is a perception that purchasing power is being eroded, a view underscored by the consumer sentiment report which showed mounting pessimism about past and future price developments.
   ‘Almost all entries point downwards, except from the good time to spend’ measure, said Nicolas Claquin, economist at CCF.

The Japanese foreign minister, Nobutaka Machimura, said Japan is likely to resume US beef imports by the end of this year, news reports said Saturday.
   Machimura made the comments in Washington after meeting with the US secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, and White House National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, Kyodo News said.
   He told reporters before the meeting, ‘I have an expectation that we could make a decision by the end of the year to resume imports,’ Kyodo said.
   ‘I have an impression that we have taken too much time with our domestic procedures,’ he said, according to Kyodo.
   The comment came after US senators introduced legislation that would impose retaliatory tariffs over the Japanese ban on US beef imports.
   The bill, introduced by a bipartisan group of 20 senators, directs the US administration to impose tariffs on Japanese exports to the United States if Tokyo does not lift its ban on US beef by December 31.

Brazil’s sugar industry Friday praised the World Trade Organisation’s order that the European Union reduce sugar exports by May 22 to comply with an earlier ruling that branded most of the bloc’s sugar exports as illegal.
   The Sao Paulo Cane Agro industry Union (Unica) said Brazilian sugar mills could begin filling the unmet world demand left by European exporters on the world market by 2006.
   ‘It’s clear that the time limit is good, it’s fantastic,’ said Eduardo Pereira de Carvalho, president of Unica, which with Brazil’s foreign ministry led the WTO challenge against EU sugar subsidies.
   The WTO arbitration panel was asked by major sugar exporters Brazil, Australia and Thailand to decide when the EU would have to implement its ruling issued in 2004, or risk trade sanctions.
   EU agriculture ministers are hoping to agree on a radical sugar reform next month that would go a long way toward WTO compliance and overhaul a subsidy policy little changed since its conception in the late 1960s.
   Carvalho said WTO documents estimated that Brazil is losing $494 million a year under the EU’s current sugar export subsidy regime.
   Brazil, the world’s largest producer and exporter of sugar, would expand its cane output from a current 400 million tonnes by another 180 million by 2010 to meet new demand.

The US economy grew at a stronger-than-expected 3.8 per cent annual rate in the third quarter, the government reported Friday, shaking off the drag from two hurricanes and rising energy prices.
   The commerce department report, together with a separate one from the Labour department showing slow-growing employment costs, underlined the economy’s momentum, while a third report said consumer confidence was waning in October.
   Strong spending by consumers and the government helped power the expansion as growth in gross domestic product accelerated from the second quarter’s 3.3 per cent rate.

The European companies scrambled Friday to defend themselves after a probe alleged more than 2,000 firms paid altogether $1.8 billion (1.49 billion euros) in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein’s regime as Iraq abused a UN humanitarian aid programme.
   The French bank BNP Paribas, which managed the accounts of the United Nation’s oil-for-food program, rejected criticism it had acted improperly and insisted that it had carried out its responsibilities ‘in good faith and in conformity’ with the relevant UN resolution.
   The investigation led by former US Federal Reserve Board chairman Paul Volcker concluded in a report issued on Thursday that Saddam’s regime manipulated the programme set up to help ordinary Iraqis suffering under international sanctions. It ran from 1996 to 2003.
   According to the 500-page report, 139 companies paid illegal oil surcharges to Baghdad and 2,253 firms gave Saddam’s regime kickbacks on humanitarian-related goods shipped to Iraq, while an inept UN headquarters failed to exert administrative control.
   The report singled out BNP for detailed criticism, saying it faced a clear conflict of interest.
   The bank also allegedly failed to intervene or question when obscure companies were depositing and withdrawing vast amounts of money in a flurry of transactions, the report alleged.
   German engineering giant Siemens dismissed allegations it paid $1.6 million in kickbacks, saying the report’s conclusion it was involved in any illegal activities as ‘premature and unjustified’.
   Truck and construction equipment maker Volvo Group said it was conducting an investigation after its former agent in Iraq supposedly told investigators he had made payments.
   The Volcker report said the payments had totalled hundreds of thousands of dollars related to a contract to supply equipment.
   ‘If it is confirmed that the accusations are valid and improper actions have occurred, we will naturally take actions,’ Volvo’s chief executive Leif Johansson said in a statement.
   Wikforss said however that any Volvo payments that may have been made were not seen as bribes. Russian companies singled out in the reported reacted angrily, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov charging that the report used falsified documents.
   The activities of the inquiry, which accused Russian state energy company Zarubezhneft of giving bribes, ‘represent an ill-intentioned throwback to Cold War times,’ the company said in a written statement published on its website.
   A report ‘has a politicised accusatory bias with a one-sided and prejudiced interpretation,’ said Zarubezhneft.
   Switzerland, however, asked for addition information about 37 Swiss-based companies listed in the report, pledging to prosecute any criminal actions.

Platinum hit the highest level for a quarter of a century as demand for the metal outpaced supply.
   Tropical Storm Beta and bird flu fears affected trading of coffee and soya futures respectively.
   Wool prices hit the lowest point for five and half years in leading producer Australia. The Commodities Research Bureau’s index of 17 commodities dipped to 321.26 points on Friday from 321.54 points the previous week.
   GOLD: Gold prices jumped to $470.75 per ounce Friday from $462.85 the previous week on the London Bullion Market.
   SILVER: Prices rose to $7.79 per ounce Friday from $7.60 the previous week in London.
   PLATINUM AND PALLADIUM: Platinum rose to a 25-year high point and palladium reached the best level for a year on the London Platinum and Palladium Market, an ounce of platinum rose to $940 per ounce at the late fixing Friday from $925.50 the previous week. Palladium climbed to $224 per ounce from $208.
   BASE METALS: Base metals prices showed mixed fortunes this week, with copper easing after a record run higher.
   Three-month copper prices on the LME dipped to $ 3,841per tonne. Aluminium prices gained to $1,938 per tonne.
   Nickel prices fell to $11,755 per tonne. Lead prices dropped to $951 per tonne. Zinc prices increased to $1,544 per tonne. Tin prices slid to $6,250 per tonne.
   RUBBER: Singapore’s RSS December 3 contract decreased to 166.50 cents on Friday.
   COCOA: On the LIFFE, London’s futures exchange, the price of cocoa for December delivery climbed to 822 pounds. On the New York Board of Trade, the December contract climbed to $1,379 per tonne on Friday.
   COFFEE: On the LIFFE, Robusta quality for January delivery fell to $945 per tonne on Friday, from $969. On the NYBoT, Arabica for December delivery slipped to 98.10 cents per pound.
   SUGAR: By Friday on LIFFE, the price of a tonne of white sugar for December delivery stood at $289.80.
   GRAINS AND SOYA: On the Chicago Board of Trade, the price of wheat for December delivery dropped to 324.50 US cents.
   Soyabeans for November delivery slipped to 567.50 cents per bushel on Friday.
   COTTON: On the New York Cotton Exchange, the December contract declined to 52.00 US cents per pound.
   WOOL: The Australian Eastern index fell to 6.76 Australian dollars per kg on Thursday, the lowest point since March 2000.

Asian rubber prices were steady on Friday but supported by expectations producers will not drop their offer levels since raw material costs are near selling prices.
   Supplies coming to market will tighten next week as persistent rain in Thailand and one-week Muslim festival holiday in Indonesia and Malaysia, providing price support.
   ‘Producers are not going to drop their prices. They’re getting no material next week and their factories shut down. Physical prices are not moving anywhere next week,’ said a Singapore dealer.
   Major tyre makers have been covering their needs for nearby shipments recently and China has been seen bargain-hunting.
   Top Japanese tyre maker Bridgestone Corp. bought Thai RSS3 rubber sheet for January shipment overnight at $1.65 a kg.
   On Friday, offers for RSS3 were virtually unchanged on the day, while buyers were bidding at $1.64 a kg. Offers for tyre- grade Standard Thai Rubber, or STR20 block, for December and January shipment were flat at $1.67 a kg.
   The most active March 2006 rubber O JRU: contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange fell to a low of 186.8 yen per kg before rebounding to 191.8, up 3.2 yen, by Friday’s close. March had dropped around three per cent since Monday. Other contracts rose between 0.5 and 3.6 yen.
   Supplies in Thailand, the world’s top producer and exporter of rubber, have shrunk because of the rainy season in the key growing south area that began this month and is likely to last until the end of November. The heavy rains hamper cultivation.

The dollar pushed higher Friday, buoyed by news that the US economy beat expectations and expanded at an annual rate of 3.8 per cent in the third quarter.
   The euro fell to $1.2068 after trading at $1.2139 late Thursday in New York.
   The dollar edged up to 115.66 yen against 115.43 on Thursday.
   The report on gross domestic product in the world’s biggest economy in the July-September period topped expectations of a 3.6 per cent expansion, and showed acceleration from 3.3 per cent in the previous quarter.
   The report suggested the economy appears to have weathered the impact of hurricanes Katrina and Rita and a surge in energy costs.
   ‘Ultimately, the rise in GDP shows that the US economy remains strong, despite two major hurricanes and continued interest rate increases,’ wrote analysts at Forex Capital Markets.
   ‘Although the technical picture for the dollar is beginning to recede, the fundamental picture in the US remains kinder for the US currency on the basis of further Fed rate hikes, until the data begin to get the attention of the Treasury market,’ said Ashraf Laidi, chief currency analyst at MG Financial Group.

South Asia yearbook on trade published
The Centre for Trade and Development (Centad), a New Delhi-based research organisation, published the South Asia Yearbook of Trade and Development on Thursday in New Delhi. Contributors of the book include: Muchkund Dubey, Rupa Chanda, Rajesh Mehta, Saman Kelegama, Indar Nath Mukhherji, Gopal Naik, Ratnakar Adhikari, Mohammed Saqib, Nitya Nanda, Ravindra Pratap, Huma Fakhar, Pooja Agarwal and K M Gopakumar. The book reviewed different issues of the World Trade Organisation and analysed possible alliance building among the South Asian countries.
— New Age

Taj becomes partner of Double Skywards Miles’
The Taj Group of hotels has become the new partner of the Skywards, the frequent flyer programme of Emirates and SriLankan Airlines. To celebrate the new partnership, Skywards members would earn double Miles for their stays at any of their hotels worldwide, until November 15, said a press release. Welcoming the hotel group, the Skywards’ vice-president, Brian LaBelle, said: ‘We are delighted to welcome the Taj Group as a new hotel partner with Skywards. Our members are discerning travellers and we are confident that they will enjoy the comfort and service of this renowned hotel group.’ The members will earn 500 Skywards Miles per qualifying stay, when they stay at any one of the nearly 73 Taj properties in the US, UK, Africa, the Middle East, Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Mauritius, the Seychelles and the Maldives. The number will be doubled to 1,000 Miles till November 15. Skywards Miles can be exchanged for free flights and upgrades to hundreds of destinations, plus free leisure activities and quality goods. The senior vice-president, sales and marketing of Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces, Ajoy K Misra, said the Skywards programme had a premium reputation and it perfectly matched with the Taj brand.
— New Age

BP could cut 2,500 jobs across Europe
British oil giant BP, whose profits soared during the third quarter, may cut 2,500 jobs or nearly nine per cent of its European refining and marketing divison as part of a confirmed restructuring programme, a spokewoman said Friday. BP’s European refining and marketing unit currently employs 28,000 people, with the under-threat jobs accounting for some 8.9 per cent. Details emerged the same week that BP posted a surge in third-quarter net profit to $4.41 billion as record energy prices helped to offset production damage caused by recent US hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
— AFP

Delta to merge Song with main fleet
Delta Air Lines Inc will close down its low-cost carrier Song, the bankrupt airline said on Friday, as it focuses on turning around its core operations. The decision, a victory for discount rival JetBlue Airways Corp and a setback for Delta, whose previous management had hoped Song could compete against discount carriers like JetBlue. ‘Delta was never willing to admit that they couldn’t compete with JetBlue’s costs with Song, even though they were not reducing their pilot pay,’ said Standard & Poor’s analyst Jim Corridore. ‘Clearly they have finally admitted it.’ Shares in JetBlue, whose low-cost service with amenities like leather seats and satellite television was widely viewed as a model for Song and which flew many of the same routes, soared as much as 11 per cent.
— Reuters

Bristol-Myers profit up, misses estimates
Drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said Friday its third quarter net profit rose 27 per cent, largely on the sale of its US and Canadian nonprescription medicines business. But the company’s shares tumbled more than 3 per cent as it missed Wall Street’s forecast, lowered earnings guidance for the year and on Thursday said it might abandon development of a key drug. The company earned $964 million, or 49 cents a share, in the three months ended Sept. 30, up from $758 million, or 38 cents a share, a year ago. Net sales were essentially flat at $4.77 billion versus $4.78 billion a year ago as the maker of Pravachol for cholesterol and the anti-clotting agent Plavix continues to struggle with generic competition.
— Reuters

Chevron profit up but misses forecasts
No 2 US oil company Chevron Corp on Friday posted a 12 per cent rise in quarterly profit on the back of record crude oil prices, but damage and production outages from recent hurricanes dragged results below Wall Street forecasts. Chevron, fresh off a bruising battle over the summer to acquire smaller rival Unocal Corp, also warned that hurricane costs would hit results in the fourth quarter. It is the largest operator in the Gulf of Mexico shelf region and also has significant operations in deeper waters. The rise in Chevron’s profit was more muted than those reported by some of its peers this week, as the energy sector enjoys a windfall from record crude oil prices that touched $70 a barrel and sharply higher refining margins.
— Reuters

Wal-Mart pressuring electronics rivals
Wal-Mart Stores Inc will roll out its holiday advertising campaign next week, and jitters that the seasonal pricing competition is getting an early start put pressure this week on shares of electronics retailers Circuit City Stores and Best Buy Co. On Tuesday, Wal-Mart said it would launch an ‘aggressive’ advertising campaign for the holidays starting on November 1, which would make it the earliest launch in the retailer’s history.
— Reuters