WTO head pushes G20 for trade deal

GENEVA:The World Trade Organization will urge the G20 key economies meeting this week to make good on pledges to conclude a pact on global commerce by 2010, its director general said Tuesday."I will tell them that we in Geneva have done what they asked of us. They now have the road mapped out, but they still have to walk it," WTO chief Pascal Lamy told representatives of the trade body's 153-member states.Lamy will attend a summit of the Group of 20 (G20) developed and developing countries to be held in Pittsburgh on Thursday.In July, the Group of Eight rich nations and emerging economic powers had said that they wanted the long-stalled Doha Round of talks for a world trade liberalisation pact to wrap up next year.Trade ministers from key trading nations have also called on chief negotiators to map out a work calender for the next three months in order to meet the 2010 deadline.Lamy pointed out although this calender had been drawn up, "a work programme by itself... will not deliver a substantive result.""At this stage, I remain cautious in my forecast. It would be premature for me to predict today that the necessary political engagement will in fact take place over the next three months," he said.The WTO-led Doha Round was launched in the Qatari capital in 2001 with the aim of boosting global commerce to help developing countries, but deadlock between the major trading blocs has dashed repeated attempts to forge a pact.

Indian market welcomes German auto groups

FRANKFURT: India, home of the world's cheapest car, urged German auto and parts makers Tuesday to pitch their world-renowned wares to one of the toughest markets on earth.Managers of brands such as Audi, BMW and Bosch were warned however that the fast-growing class of young Indian consumers and partners were tough customers that wanted the best for a good price.With an average age of around 25, Indian consumers are more and more educated, wealthier, demanding and "not loyal," said Wilfried Aulbur, vice-president of the Indo-German chamber of commerce."It's a pretty difficult animal to handle," he concluded during a seminar on ways out of the automotive crisis at the Frankfurt motor show.Aulbur, also managing director and chief executive of Mercedes-Benz India, said Indians had the "confidence to compete on a global scale" and told German business leaders to expect "very interesting discussions" on price and value.India produces the world's cheapest car, the 2,055-dollar (1,400-euro) Tata Nano, and the country is now the 11th largest auto producer worldwide, said India's ambassador to Germany, Sudhir Vyas.All major auto manufacturers have a presence in the country of nearly 1.2 billion people and car sales jumped by nearly a third in July, the sixth monthly rise running, owing in part to a cut in excise duties on automobiles.Suzuki of Japan plans to build a new Indian plant in 2011 and Volkswagen opened one in late March while estimating the market at more than two million vehicles by 2014.German and Indian cooperation has grown steadily since Mercedes and Tata first teamed up around 40 years ago, and the Nano is laden with parts from 12 German suppliers, seminar moderator Bernhard Steinruecke noted.The Nano "is a car of Indian vision and German technology," he said, adding that without the German companies' research and development, "this car would not be possible."Meanwhile, the Indian manufacturer Reva showed an electric car at the Frankfurt show that it plans to launch in 12 European countries next year.The four-seater NXR has a range of 160 kilometers (100 miles), solar panels in the roof and can be recharged from an electric grid in eight hours.It is expected to cost between 12,200-14,000 euros (18,000-20,700 dollars).Ambuj Sharma, a secretary from India's Department of Heavy Industry, urged the German automotive sector "to join hands with India," which he said was now the auto components centre of Asia. The region is home to two of the world's fastest growing markets.He invited small- and medium-sized enterprises "who are the strength of the German automotive industry to be a part of this growth story."German suppliers were hammered by a global plunge in auto sales that followed the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers one year ago.Sharma said India was now "among the world's most attractive sources for not just the low-cost components but for high-value engineered parts and design."And Ambassador Vyas attached "particular importance" to "capacity building and vocational training for the auto industry" from foreign investors.He said Delhi had set a 2016 goal "to emerge as the destination of choice in the world for design and manufacture of automobiles and auto components," but acknowledged that was before the global collapse.A recovery was underway, the Indian speakers emphasised, though Aulbur warned that "you have to be in it (the Indian market) for the long haul."He also told German managers: "No 'one size fits all' for your customers and your business partners" on a sub-continent equal in size to the 27-member European Union.

BoE chief tipped for new European job

LONDON: The head of the Bank of England is the leading contender to become the deputy chief of a new European-wide board to track the stability of financial institutions, a report said Wednesday.Mervyn King would become number two at the new body to be chaired by European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet, the Financial Times said."There is an appreciation (in Brussels) of the fact that Britain is a large financial centre and its consideration might be above that of some other countries," a source was quoted saying.The board, made up of governors of the 27 national central banks and representatives of the European Commission, will also coordinate risk supervision by national bank regulators.The European Commission will Wednesday unveil draft legislation on its proposed revamp on the European Union's system of financial supervision.All the positions on the new systemic risk board would not require any changes at the helm of central banks, according to the FT.

At summit, Asian leaders to press for greater role

WASHINGTON: Asian leaders at this week's economic summit will demand a greater voice in the way global financial institutions make crucial decisions. Likewise, the world's established powers will have some demands of their own.The Western countries who traditionally have wielded power at the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations will want Asia to cut greenhouse gases blamed for dangerous climate change and to slash barriers that prevent free trade.China, with its powerful economy and diplomatic and military strength, will be a leading player at the summit. The other Asian-Pacific G-20 nations — Japan, India, South Korea, Australia and Indonesia — believe their growing importance deserves a bigger say in the world's financial decision-making. The G-20, which represents 80 percent of the world's economic output, is where they will make their case."Broadly, they're looking for more input on how the world runs," said Brad Glosserman, executive director of the Pacific Forum CSIS think tank.It remains to be seen how successful Asian countries will be at getting their points across at a gathering that features 20 leading rich and developing nations, all with competing national interests and often with little in common.Asia has done well, comparatively, during the world economic crisis. But the region has been criticized for protecting its trade and agricultural industries from competition. At the Pittsburgh conference on Thursday and Friday, the West will want Asia to help jump-start stalled world trade liberalization talks, to increase imports and to reduce large trade surpluses.Gary Hufbauer, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said major questions will be: "`What are you doing to stimulate your economy?' — and some of them are doing quite a bit — and `What more can you do?'"Asia will also face questions over climate change. Many argue that if Asia does not make cuts to emissions, progress will stall. Pittsburgh marks one of the last chances world leaders will have to generate momentum before a U.N. conference in December in Copenhagen, Denmark. Countries hope to forge a new agreement to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.Already some leaders worry that disputes among industrialized and developing nations over cuts to emissions threaten to ruin a deal in Copenhagen. Asia is seen as the key to any progress.Japan also could make a splash on climate change. The Democratic Party of Japan, which won last month's national elections, has made bold promises to reduce the country's greenhouse emissions. The new government will be closely watched to see if it is more assertive than previous administrations, which tended to echo U.S. views.Fast-developing India is seen as key not only in the climate discussions but in world trade talks as well.India, along with Brazil, Russia and China, is hoping Pittsburgh will lead to an agreement on proposed new targets to shift voting power in both the IMF and the World Bank to developing countries.In Australia, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will seek international support for his plan to spend his country deep into debt to keep its economy buoyant. He has pointed to worsening unemployment data and declining retail spending in recent months as evidence that government spending remains critical to future growth.In Indonesia, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, will be eager to show that newfound stability in the predominantly Muslim nation of 235 million will continue.South Korea plans to urge advanced nations to extend greater help to poorer countries in their efforts to overcome the economic crisis.Han Duk-soo, South Korea's ambassador to the United States, said Thursday that his country wants to host a G-20 summit next year. South Korea, he said in Washington, can bridge the divide between rich and poor countries, having gone, in a matter of decades, from a country devastated by war to one with a vibrant, thriving economy.Steven Schrage, a former U.S. trade official now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said it would be "a devastating blow to the credibility" of the G-20 if South Korea did not host a summit and "the outcome is that the old boys' club of the G-8 are the only ones that can host summits."

Protesters hope to highlight issues at G-20 summit

PITTSBURGH: An anti-war group plans to set up a tent city during the Group of Twenty economic summit this week to focus attention on the plight of women and children made refugees by war.The group, Code Pink, will be among many groups and thousands of activists aiming to use the G-20 summit to spotlight causes including the environment and social injustice.History shows protesters can successfully use media-saturated events to push their causes, such as when demonstrators at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul were credited with forcing South Korea's shift to democracy, said Mauro Guillen, a globalization expert at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business."They just want to attract the attention away from the official agenda and put other things on the agenda," Guillen said.Protests can also turn violent. In 1999, 50,000 protesters shut down World Trade Organization sessions in Seattle as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets. There were some 600 arrests and $3 million in property damage. At the most recent G-20 meeting, held in London in April, thousands of people protested, and one man died after a confrontation with police.Domenico Lombardi, who sits on the advisory board of the G-20 research group that provides materials to the G-20 participants — 19 world leaders and representatives of the European Union who control more than 85 percent of the world's money — said the summit is a good target for protesters.One of the most prominent issues raised by protesters involves globalization, a term that encompasses everything from technologies to economic policies that have made the world "borderless and interdependent," Guillen explains.Protesters say the ill effects of globalization can be seen in developing countries disproportionately affected by fluctuating commodity prices or communities left dangling when industries move to other places, Guillen said."It's useful to think about winners and losers, and as a society, it's important to remember the losers," he said. "What do you do about the people who are being left behind?"Fathali Moghaddam, a Georgetown University psychology professor whose book "The New Global Insecurity" comes out in January, said all issues are linked to globalization. For example, Moghaddam calls the environmental protesters "green fundamentalists" who believe "that globalization is ruining the environment, ruining local economies, ruining local cultures and that corporate values are being put above everything else and corporate values are global.""The enemy they see out there are these political leaders who they believe represent either corporate interest or imperial interest or some interest that is helping globalization," Moghaddam said.None of the summit members represents a poor country, "and the issues that really affect large areas of the world are not being tackled," added Lombardi, also a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution's Global Economy and Development Program."Now that they are faced with the pleasant prospect of rebound of the global economy ... they can focus on broader issues, such as climate change, sustainable growth, food security, issues of interest to the world at-large," Lombardi said.The more organized and established protest groups have scheduled events for the week. One of the larger events, The People's March, is being organized for Friday by the Thomas Merton Center, a Pittsburgh activist group that cites peace and social justice as its objectives."I think part of this is public education and public involvement, getting the word out on the many issues that exist," spokeswoman Melissa Minnich said. "The G-20 isn't simple enough that you can sum it up in one issue."Pete Shell, of the group's anti-war committee, said instead of funding wars, the U.S. ought to be investing in jobs, housing issues and alternative energy.On Wednesday, several thousand people are expected downtown for a festival and rally for clean energy jobs at the city's Point State Park. The event is organized by state Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Allegheny, and involves the United Steelworkers union and the Alliance for Climate Protection, founded by former Vice President Al Gore.Code Pink's Pittsburgh director, Francine Porter, said she hopes her group's tent city in Point State Park from Sunday night to Tuesday night will be a reflection of the suffering of refugees.Porter, a critical care nurse and mother of two who lives in the suburbs, said she became an activist after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. She had begun to question the world around her and wondered why others would cause America harm and why the U.S. declared war on Iraq.Her husband is a staunch Republican who she said doesn't agree with her activism, which she says has taken time away from her daughters, ages 12 and 16. The other night, she spent 2 1/2 hours on the phone with an attorney preparing for a federal court case on whether Code Pink could use the park. The group won."For a really long time, I wasn't conscious and I wasn't active," she said. "But there's no going back. I can't imagine my life any other way."

Taiwan share prices close up 1.23 percent

TAIPEI: Taiwan share prices closed 1.23 percent higher Tuesday led by big caps in the electronics sector, dealers said.

The weighted index rose 89.31 points to 7,346.26 on turnover of 97.45 billion Taiwan dollars (2.99 billion US dollars).

Gainers outnumbered losers 1,458 to 801, while 253 stocks were unchanged.

A total of 52 shares surged to their daily 7.0 percent limit, against 10 that were limit-down.

"Trading was very quiet in the first two hours. The market was boosted after buying in the big caps like Hon Hai Precision Industry and MediaTek," said Allen Lin of Concord Securities.

Financials rebounded on reports that Taiwan plans to sign an agreement with China in October that will allow some of the mainland's huge pool of liquidity to start flowing into the island's stockmarket, local newspapers said.

Once it is signed, Chinese institutional investors will be allowed to buy shares on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, which has so far been closed to mainland money, the papers said.

Fubon Financial closed up 1.75 percent at 34.9 and Cathay Financial was 0.95 percent firmer at 52.9 as the sector rose 1.01 percent.

Hon Hai rose 2.45 percent to 125.5 and MediaTek edged up 0.8 percent to 506.

Electronics rose 1.41 percent, plastics 0.98 percent and cement 0.55 percent. The food sector fell 0.12 percent.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co finished 1.63 percent higher at 62.5 while United Microelectronics Corp was up 0.32 percent at 15.5.

Australia announces shock Telstra break-up

SYDNEY: Australia on Tuesday announced shock plans to split up telecoms giant Telstra in a bid to break its market stranglehold before spending 37 billion US dollars on a national broadband network.
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said Telstra, part-owned by the government and subject to strict regulation, would be barred from acquiring new wireless spectrum unless it voluntarily split its retail and network arms.
"The government will require the functional separation of Telstra, unless it decides to voluntarily structurally separate," he said.
Conroy said successive governments had let the former state-owned monopoly keep too much power, even after competitors were allowed into the market in the 1990s.
"After 10-15 years of competition, we've still got 90 percent of profits in the sector made by one company," he told Sky News, describing the situation as "market failure."
Under draft regulatory reforms introduced to parliament Tuesday, Telstra will not have access to further wireless spectrum unless it restructures and sells off its cable infrastructure network and stake in Foxtel pay TV.
But it may be allowed to keep the assets if it comes up with an alternative structural change acceptable to the government and competition regulators.
Conroy said Telstra could not be allowed to retain its market dominance when Australia moves into a new communications era with a 43 billion Australian dollar (37 billion US) high-speed Internet network spanning the vast country.
"At the moment they have copper (fixed line), they have mobile and they have Foxtel -- they're in every platform and they want to move into the new one," he said.
"We're saying we need to find a way to create more competition so Australians as a whole are better off," he added, saying customers were "screaming out" for fast, affordable broadband.
Telstra said it was disappointed at the move but still wanted to work with the government on the broadband network.
"While we are disappointed the government has felt it necessary to introduce this legislation, Telstra remains committed to working with the government to find a solution that is in the best interests of the industry, the nation, Telstra and our shareholders," chief executive David Thodey said.
Investors reacted by dumping Telstra's shares, whose price slumped 4.31 percent to 3.11 dollars at the stock exchange close.
Conroy said the reform, which will help end the historic advantage Telstra has enjoyed over rivals such as Singapore-owned Optus, was long overdue.
"For years industry has been calling for fundamental and historic micro-economic reform in telecommunications," Conroy said. "Today we are delivering this outcome in Australia's long-term national interest."
Conroy said he was expecting "hard-nosed negotiations" with Telstra, which has had a tumultuous relationship with the government since going mostly private in 2006.
Chief executive Thodey has been working to improve relations with Canberra since taking over in May from his controversial predecessor Sol Trujillo, who cut 10,000 jobs and oversaw a fall in the share price.
Analysts said the government, which retains a 12-percent shareholding in Telstra, had left the company with little choice but to restructure.
"It's so-called voluntary separation, but it's volunteering with a gun to the head," BBY analyst Mark McDonnell told Dow Jones Newswires.

Japan Airlines to cut 6,800 jobs

TOKYO: Japan Airlines is to cut 6,800 jobs and pursue a tie-up with a foreign carrier in an effort to return to profit, its president Haruka Nishimatsu said on Tuesday.
"We are talking about a personnel cut of 6,800," he told reporters. "It's a significant figure. The personnel reduction cannot wait."
JAL, which lost more than one billion dollars in the April-June quarter, has already slashed thousands of jobs in recent years.
Nishimatsu said JAL aimed to seal a tie-up with an overseas carrier by mid-October. According to local media, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines' parent company are both interested in taking stakes in the Japanese group.

Dollar boosted by weak equities, China-US trade row

LONDON: The dollar won support on Monday from falling equity markets and concerns about an escalating trade dispute between China and the United States, dealers said.
In late morning trade here, the European single currency fell to 1.4536 dollars from 1.4573 dollars in New York late on Friday.
Against the Japanese currency, the dollar rose to 90.73 yen from 90.64 yen on Friday.
In earlier Asian trade, however, the greenback had hit a seven-month low of 90.19 yen, as a pre-weekend pullback on Wall Street and lower US bond yields prompted investors to put their money elsewhere.
But falling global stock markets and the China-US trade row have since lifted the safe-haven US currency somewhat.
"Euro/dollar is starting the week slightly weaker," said Commerzbank analyst Antje Praefcke.
"Notably, weaker stock markets in Asia have allowed the dollar to appreciate this morning. This development is supported by tensions between China and the United States."
Europe's main stock markets retreated on Monday, mirroring pre-weekend losses on Wall Street and earlier in Asia, as investors took profits from recent gains.
China on Sunday hit out at US tariffs on its tyre exports and said it would investigate possible unfair practices in US exports of car parts and chicken meat, in a growing row between the two giants.

China has already warned that it was likely to retaliate against the US tyre tariffs, adding that the US move amounted to a "grave" form of protectionism.
"Following the imposition of import duties on tires from China to the US, Beijing last night announced an investigation into poultry imports from the US in connection with a suspicion of price dumping," added Praefcke.
"Should these tensions escalate, they threaten to disturb world trade, which would affect the economic recovery."
The euro was meanwhile dampened on Monday by a raft of downbeat economic news.
Industrial production in the eurozone fell by 0.3 percent in July and by 15.9 percent over 12 months, the EU's Eurostat data agency said.
The figures, which were adjusted for seasonal variations marked a slight slowdown from June when industrial production decreased by 0.2 percent, showing that in some areas of Europe's economy the green shoots of recovery have yet to take root.
The European Commission forecast that the European Union economy will shrink by 4.0 percent in 2009 -- but would climb out of recession in the third quarter.
But the recovery from recession will be weighed down by rising unemployment and strained government finances, it cautioned.
In London on Monday, the euro was changing hands at 1.4536 dollars against 1.4573 dollars late on Friday, at 131.95 yen (132.12), 0.8788 pounds (0.8740) and 1.5128 Swiss francs (1.5123).
The dollar stood at 90.73 yen (90.64) and 1.0402 Swiss francs (1.0376).
The pound was at 1.6548 dollars (1.6671).
On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold fell to 995.17 dollars an ounce from 1,008.25 dollars an ounce late on Friday.

Oil prices fall further

LONDON: World oil prices sank on Monday, extending heavy pre-weekend losses as weak global stock markets and the US-China trade row dented investor sentiment.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for October delivery slid 48 cents to 68.81 dollars per barrel.
Brent North Sea crude for October delivery dipped 19 cents to 67.50 dollars in early afternoon London trade.
"The fall is really related to some weakness in equities markets," said Victor Shum, senior principal at energy consultancy Purvin and Gertz in Singapore.
Japanese share prices tumbled 2.32 percent on Monday as investors fretted about pre-weekend losses on Wall Street and a stronger yen, leading to a fall in Asian equities.
Europe's main stock markets also fell on Monday, at one stage losing more than one percent in Frankfurt, London and Paris.
"We continue to have this tug-of-war between weak supply fundamentals and optimistic hopes of economic recovery, so we are likely to stay in this 65 dollar to 75 dollar range," Shum added.
Oil had slumped Friday as traders banked profits from a four-day rally spurred by growing optimism that the global economy was emerging from recession.
Before the weekend, New York crude dived 2.62 dollars on Friday and London Brent oil wiped out 2.17 dollars after fresh falls on Wall Street.
"Crude futures fell nearly four percent on Friday as US equities slid, causing a moderation of expectations for the strength of global economic growth and recovery in oil demand," said Sucden analyst Nimit Khamar.
He added that the worsening China-US trade dispute was also dampening the market. The United States is the world's biggest energy consuming nation followed by number two China.
"The trade row between China and the US is also weighing on market sentiment, as increased protectionism could hinder a global economic recovery," Khamar said.
"US President Obama on Friday announced additional duties on Chinese manufactured tires.
"In response Beijing accused Washington of 'rampant protectionism' and threatened action against US auto and US poultry imports."
China on Monday hauled the United States to the World Trade Organisation over what it alleged were unfair tariffs imposed by Washington on Chinese tyre imports.
The White House on Friday imposed punitive duties of an extra 35 percent on Chinese-made tyres amid warnings that a surge in the Chinese-made goods had cost more than 5,000 jobs in the United States.
Last week, meanwhile, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries decided to maintain its production levels as the cartel deemed the market to be "oversupplied". OPEC pumps about 40 percent of world oil supplies.

Chinese stimulus may have lifted intra-Asia trade

GENEVA: China's massive fiscal stimulus may have been the engine that has lifted Asian intra-regional trade in recent months, a joint report by the World Trade Organisation, OECD and UNCTAD said Monday.

"The fact that China's imports grew twice as fast as its exports in July also suggests that intra-Asian trade could be benefiting from the country's fiscal stimulus," said the report.

Trade flows have rebounded more strongly for several Asian economies compared to Western developed economies, said the report, pointing out that the trend suggests that growth "could be due to intra-regional trade."

It cited South Korean export figures as an example, where in July, exports to the world grew at a slower pace of just 22 percent compared to those to Asia, which grew at 26 percent. Exports to China grew at the fastest rate of 27 percent.

Taiwan's government had said in July that the island has benefited from China's four-trillion-yuan (580-billion-dollar) stimulus package which the giant economy unveiled late last year.

The widely-praised fiscal stimulus however came under fire at the "Summer Davos" meet in northeastern China's Dalian city where economists say that it is aggravating imbalances in the economy.

Beijing had said Friday that it was on track to meet its target of eight percent economic growth in 2009 -- the rate it says it needs to ward off social unrest -- thanks largely to the massive programme of government cash handouts.

China calls for WTO talks on US tire tariffs

BEIJING: China accused Washington on Monday of violating World Trade Organization rules by raising tariffs on Chinese tires and demanded talks in the WTO on the latest and most acrimonious in a string of trade disputes.
"The American side's imposition of protective measures on Chinese tires violates WTO regulations," Commerce Ministry spokesman Yao Jian said in a statement. Yao said Beijing was exercising its rights as a WTO member to demand talks to settle the dispute.
President Barack Obama approved the tariffs Friday to slow the rapid growth of U.S. imports of Chinese-made tires that have been blamed for the loss of thousands of American jobs. That drew an accusation of trade protectionism from Beijing.
Yao's statement called on other governments to oppose protectionism.
The White House said Obama acted under a provision in the U.S.-Chinese agreement on Beijing's WTO membership that allows Washington to slow the rise of Chinese imports to allow American industry to adjust.
Obama's order Friday raised tariffs for three years on Chinese tires — by 35 percent in the first year, 30 percent in the second and 25 percent in the third.
The United Steelworkers brought the case in April and said more than 5,000 tire workers have lost jobs since 2004 as Chinese tires flooded the U.S. market.
China's government said Sunday it is launching antidumping investigations into imported U.S. auto and chicken products.
The Commerce Ministry said it would look into complaints that American auto and chicken products are being dumped into the Chinese market or are benefiting from subsidies.

EU forecasts end to recession

BRUSSELS: The European Union said Monday that the recession in the euro-zone and EU will likely have ended in the third quarter with the resumption of modest economic growth.
In an update to its May forecast, the EU cast doubt on strength of the upswing, saying it won't change its prediction for the euro-zone and EU economies to shrink by 4 percent this year.
The EU executive sees both the euro-zone and the EU growing 0.2 percent in the third quarter compared to the three months before, and improving just 0.1 percent in the final quarter of the year.
Official statistics for the third quarter have not yet been published and the EU's figure is an estimate based on growth in the seven largest EU nations.
The European Commission said it was not changing its forecast for the year because the economy fared worse at the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009.
It warned that "uncertainty remains rife" on how strong the recovery will be.
"While the recovery may surprise on the upside in the very short term, how sustainable it will be remains to be seen," it said. "The situation has improved ... but the weak economy will continue to take its toll on jobs and public finances."
The 16 nations that use the euro fell into recession in the second quarter of 2008, the first since the currency was launched in 1999 and the worst for euro nations Germany and France since World War II.
The EU executive called for economic stimulus packages and help for the financial sector to stay in place throughout 2010 and for a clear exit strategy for EU nations to start repaying public debt.
It also said governments needed to step up measures to kickstart bank lending to make sure that they are "ready to lend at reasonable terms when companies and households resume their investment plans."
Separately, the EU statistics agency Eurostat said industrial production in the euro area fell 0.3 percent in July compared to June, or 15.9 percent from a year ago. Energy output shrank 1.2 percent from a month earlier as factories slowed for the summer and demand remained low.
Production of non-durable consumer goods grew 0.7 percent from June but output of higher-priced durable goods — such as refrigerators or furniture — fell 0.8 percent. Output of factory machinery fell 1.8 percent from the month before.
Eurostat also reported that some 702,000 fewer workers were on euro-zone payrolls in the second quarter compared to the first three months of this year. It said the number of employed people shrank by 0.5 percent from the previous quarter and 1.8 percent from a year ago.
Manufacturing, construction, financial services, agriculture and trade, transport and communication services shed the most jobs, it said. The public sector, health and education added workers.

JAL mulls raising $2.8 bln

TOKYO: Japan Airlines Corp. (JAL) is considering plans to raise around 250 billion yen (2.8 billion dollars) by March next year to help finance its restructuring, a newspaper reported on Sunday.
Under the plan, Japan's cash-strapped carrier will request 100 billion yen in loans from financial institutions, the Nikkei business daily reported.
It will separately raise more than 100 billion yen by issuing new shares, while raising a further 50-60 billion yen by selling stocks in subsidiaries and other assets, the newspaper said.
JAL plans to ask aircraft makers, trading houses, investment funds and the government-run Development Bank of Japan to take stakes, it said.
US carrier Delta Air Lines has already told JAL of its interest in investing up to 50 billion yen, local media earlier reported.
Such an investment would give the world's largest airline operator a stake of up to 11 percent in JAL, which is undergoing a government-supervised reorganisation, media reported.
Jiji Press, meanwhile, reported AMR Corp., the parent of American Airlines, had also shown interest in buying shares in JAL or setting up a joint venture with the Japanese carrier.
JAL is likely to go ahead with talks with AMR if it fails to reach an accord with Delta, Jiji said. Both American Airlines and JAL belong to the oneworld global airline alliance.
JAL lost more than one billion dollars in the April-June quarter and has announced more than 11,000 job cuts since 2005.

Saudis lose out to Russia in oil cuts

LONDON: Saudi Arabia sacrificed billions of dollars in revenues this year by cutting oil output to prop up the price of crude, only to see Russia snatch a bigger chunk of the market, analysts say.

Now the Gulf kingdom, previously a vigilant enforcer of the cuts by the OPEC cartel that checked the sharp fall in oil prices last year, appears to be expanding its own oil flow again in exasperation.

"The cartel has lost a significant portion of market share in global crude production in the last year mostly to Russia," wrote Francisco Blanch, a commodities analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, in a note.

With its production capacity rising but output held down by lower quotas, he estimated, "Saudi Arabia's 'missed oil revenues' are probably running at close to 100 billion dollars per annum, or almost 25 percent of GDP."

Saudi Arabia may be "taking too much weight on its shoulders," he suggested.

"Saudi Arabia citizens have taken up the largest share of the reduction in revenues" from the recent output cuts.

Now observers say the country's patience is running out, especially since other OPEC members, notably Iran, Venezuela and Angola, are accused of failing to comply with the agreed cuts.

"I think Saudi may at some point say, 'We've had enough either you comply, or you get out, or we will increase output," John Hall, an independent London-based analyst, told AFP at the OPEC talks.

"Saudi may want to impose some sort of retribution on the other members and also on Russia for taking its market share."

Under drastic cuts agreed by the 12 members of the cartel in late 2008, when prices had tumbled from historic summer highs to a mere 32 dollars a barrel, Saudi Arabia was obliged to slash 1.31 million barrels a day from its output.

The kingdom, OPEC's biggest and most influential producer, brought its flow to just above eight million barrels a day, while Russian production crept up from 10 to 10.2 million this year, the International Energy Agency says.

But Saudi's restraint has slipped since.

"The main contributor to the growing output since April has been Saudi Arabia," said Torbjorn Kjus, an analyst at the Norwegian financial group DNB Nor.

The IEA's latest monthly report showed Saudi production exceeding the quota in August for the third month in a row, reaching 8.2 million barrels a day.

Ahead of their meeting in Vienna, ministers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) stressed the importance of enforcing the agreed quota cuts.

Saudi Arabia's powerful oil minister Ali al-Naimi told reporters ahead of the meeting that "the market is in very good shape: very well-supplied," with demand recovering in key markets such as China.

"The price is good for everybody, consumer (and) producer," hovering recently between 68 and 73 dollars per barrel, he insisted, saying OPEC's priority was to enforce compliance with existing cuts "as best we can."

Yet that issue was conspicuous by its absence from the meeting's final declaration, which said OPEC held output steady as expected and expressed grave caution on the uncertainty of economic recovery in the months ahead.

A vicious global economic downturn has sapped demand for energy, dragging crude prices from record highs of above 147 dollars in July 2008 to 32.40 dollars in December.

They have since recovered to hover around 70 dollars after OPEC, whose 12 members pump 40 percent of the world's oil, agreed in late 2008 to remove a massive 4.2 million barrels of daily output from the market.

"While OPEC members seem pleased with the attained result, the path ahead will not be easy," said Blanch, however. "There are just too many free-riders around."

Magna wants to cut 10,500 jobs, 4,500 in Germany

BERLIN: Canadian auto parts maker Magna and its Russian finance partner plan to cut 10,500 jobs in Europe when taking over car makers Opel and Vauxhall, 4,500 of them in Germany, a German newspaper reported.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS), in its weekly edition to appear Sunday, reported the number of anticipated job cuts citing a spokesman for Magna.

The weekly Der Spiegel put the job losses at Opel in Germany at 4,100, with the buyers of a controlling stake in General Motors' European units planning "to eliminate 3,000 jobs in production and 1,100 in administration", Der Spiegel reported without citing any sources, in its edition to appear Monday.

Both reported figures are higher than previous estimates of job losses.

Germany's Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg also said that there could be more job cuts than originally expected.

"Since spring, it was known by all the parties, including representatives of the (Opel) employees, and from the information I was given, that the number (of job cuts) mentioned by Magna only concerned the productions sector but other job cuts were feared in administration," Guttenberg said in an interview to appear Sunday in the Bild am Sonntag.

Magna had earlier indicated that it wanted to cut about 10,000 of the 50,000 jobs in GM's European units, Opel and Vauxhall. Half of the workforce is in Germany where there are four Opel factories.

"The central administration at Ruesselsheim won't be spared," Roland Koch, head of the Hesse regional government, referring to one Opel facility, told the FAS.

Under the deal announced Thursday, GM will sell a 55-percent stake in Opel to a consortium equally owned by Magna and state-owned Russian lender Sberbank. GM will retain 35 percent and employees the rest.

Elsewhere in Europe there were also worries about where Opel's new owners would make the major cuts that analysts say are crucial for long-term survival.

Opel has about 7,000 employees in Spain, 4,700 at Vauxhall in Britain, 5,500 in Belgium, 1,800 in Italy, 1,600 in Austria and 1,500 in France, according to GM Europe's website.

Fore x Trade

Fore x trade represents the trade done by the currency. Many people goes from one country to another country to earn money. They even get low income of that country but to their home country the money costs high.
Lets, talk an example of Nepal, from Nepal many people goes to foreign country to earn money. the go to Dubai and Qatar to earn money. They even get low income in that country but according to Nepal they really get high income. This is one of the part of fore x trade.
Some people make their home made products and sell to the foreigners ti is also the fore x trade. The income of the currency from another country is fore x trade.

Jet Airways 'sick leave' strike cancels flights again

NEW DELHI: A "sick leave" strike by pilots at India's second-largest airline, Jet Airways, forced cancellation of flights for a fifth day Saturday after talks to end the wildcat work stoppage ended without a deal.
"We have cancelled 281 flights for the day. Of these, 260 are domestic and 21 international," an airline spokesman said. The private carrier operates 365 domestic and 74 international flights daily.
Thousands of Jet customers have been forced to change their travel plans since the strike began Tuesday causing one of the biggest aviation disruptions in India in recent years.
The two sides held Friday a first set of talks called by the country's chief labour commissioner in New Delhi that concluded after nine hours without agreement.
"The discussions are inconclusive. Everything is inconclusive," Saroj Datta, executive director of Jet Airways, told reporters after the meeting.
Talks were expected to resume late Saturday in Mumbai at the airline's headquarters.
More than 430 pilots -- over half the airline's 760-pilot roster -- have reported sick since Tuesday in what the company called a "simulated strike" triggered by the sacking of two pilots for setting up a union.
Money-losing Jet, which flies to London, New York, Toronto, Singapore and other international destinations as well as to most Indian cities, has also fired two other pilots for alleged discipline breaches.
The union says the two other pilots were dismissed for their union involvement.
The pilots are demanding reinstatement of their colleagues to end the strike that media reports say is costing the airline owned by Indian tycoon Naresh Goyal eight million dollars a day.
"The management has agreed to take back the pilots, but the meeting was not quite conclusive," Girish Kaushik, president of the newly formed National Aviators Guild, said late Friday.
The Press Trust of India quoted Kaushik as saying he was "hopeful" that an agreement could soon be reached.
Indian media reports said Jet management wanted the union disbanded or restrictions imposed on its ability to disrupt flights.

Brazil sets deadline on fighter jet deal

BRASILIA: Brazil has set a deadline for French manufacturer Dassault to finalize its bid for a multi-billion-dollar fighter jet contract, also increasing pressure on competing offers by Swedish and US firms.

Dassault has until September 21 to "formalize before the Brazilian Air Force a commercial proposition for the Rafale fighter jet consistent with the parameters set by French President Nicolas Sarkozy," the Defense Ministry said in a statement late Friday.

Lula has already indicated that Dassault is positioned to win the contest to supply the air force with modern fighters that will bolster his country's ambitions to become Latin America's preeminent military power.

On Monday, Lula and Sarkozy issued a joint statement announcing that Brazil's official negotiations to buy 36 of Dassault's Rafale jets would begin, without however ending the tender process.

Despite agreeing that Dassault's technology transfer plans seem ambitious, some analysts have objected to the package's price, which a French presidency source estimated at seven billion euros (10.2 billion dollars).

The Brazilian president, who wants his country to become one of the 21st century's big powers, has been adamant that Brazil must acquire the specialized knowledge to build its own independent defense industry.

"President Sarkozy is the only president up to now who has told me he not only wants to transfer the technology to Brazil, but also build the plane in Brazil and let our country have the option of selling to all Latin America what will be built here," Lula said.

"Now we have to see if Dassault can show the same flexibility as Sarkozy."

In 2005, Washington prevented Brasilia from selling 24 of its Super Tucano turboprop patrol planes to Venezuela because they contained US-made components, increasing Brazil's wariness of US controls on the export of sensitive military technology and software.

Sarkozy also took on "the commitment to offer Rafale aircraft at competitive prices that are reasonable and comparable to those paid by the French armed forces," the Brazilian Defense Ministry said.

Lula stressed that "if someone wants to make a better offer (than France), let them do it. That's the way negotiations work."

The September 21 deadline also applies to the two sidelined rival bidders -- Boeing of the United States, offering its F/A-18 Super Hornet, and Sweden's Saab, with its Gripen NG -- which the Defense Ministry said were invited to submit proposals "seeking to match the French."

Boeing and Saab have already indicated they want to improve their offers, according to the Brazilian Air Force. Saab and the US embassy said in statements this week that they had agreed to transfer key technology.

The air force's technical evaluation prioritizes technology transfer, weapon systems domain, local industry involvement and commercial supply.

"One thing is sure: we want a transfer of technology and to build the planes in Brazil," said Lula, stressing he had the final say in the decision.

"The air force has the technological knowhow to make the evaluation, and it will do so," he added. "But the decision is political and strategic, and it's up to the president of the republic and no one else."

Last December, France sealed a deal to sell Brazil five Scorpene attack submarines and 50 military helicopters -- and the associated technology -- for 12 billion dollars.

The equipment will be manufactured in Brazil and involve technology transfers. Paris, meanwhile, has said it plans to purchase 10 KC-390 military transport aircraft, which Brazil's Embraer aims to develop in a joint project with France.

Gold holds steady, silver follows suit

KATHMANDU: This week, along with gold silver too broke its previous records with its trading price $16.90 per ounce.
According to Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association (NEGOSIDA), due to devaluation of the American dollar compared to euro and yen there was a sudden increase in the
gold price in the international market with gold
at $1000 per ounce and silver at $16.90 per ounce. There was an increment of $40 per ounce in gold trading price compared to the gold price last week.
The domestic gold market this week opened at Rs 25,335 per 10 gram on Sunday. Gold got traded for Rs 25,290 per 10 gram on Monday. Gold again priced at Rs 25,335 on Tuesday. With an increment of Rs 45 on Wednesday gold reached Rs 25,380 per 10 gram. On Thursday, the gold trading price was Rs 25,140 per 10 gram and the domestic gold market closed on Friday at Rs 25,335 per 10 gram.
Meanwhile, silver opened at Rs 408 per 10 gram on Sunday and remained at the same price on Monday.
With an increment
of Rs 7.50 silver was traded for Rs 416.50 per 10 gram while with another increment of Rs 5.50 on Wednesday silver priced at Rs 422 per 10 gram.
However there was a fall of Rs 3.50 silver in the domestic market on Thursday and silver priced at Rs 418.50. On Friday, it closed at Rs 418.50 per 10 gram, said NEGOSIDA.