Turkey Ready to Boost Trade Volume with Pakistan, Minister Aydin

Turkish State Minister Mehmet Aydin on Wednesday expressed Turkey's readiness to boost trade volume with Pakistan.
"Turkey is ready to do its best to raise actual trade volume," Aydin said speaking at a meeting with Pakistani Trade Minister Makhdoom Mohammad Amin.
Aydin is currently in Pakistan to attend Turkey-Pakistan Joint Economic Council meeting.
Aydin is expected to meet Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, and Pakistani ministers of Privatization and Public Works.
Investments related to energy, transportation, civil aviation, dam construction and irrigation are among the main topics that would be discussed during Aydin's talks in Pakistan.

Turkey to Form Country Desks for Foreign Trade

Turkish State Minister Zafer Caglayan announced Wednesday that Turkey would form country desks for foreign trade.
Caglayan told reporters upon his arrival in Egypt where he will be attending the 13th International Business Forum that the Foreign Trade Undersecreteriat was working on a new system.
He said the new system featuring country desks and experts would be announced with a press conference on October 26.
Caglayan said the rules of global trade and competition changed and global volume of exports contracted while number of players trying to get a share from exports increased.
"We can not remain indifferent to the changes in foreign trade. Therefore we are forming country desks for foreign trade and appointing country experts," said Caglayan.
Caglayan said the special desks for 14 new target countries, 25 priority countries, and countries like China --which did not receive due attention in the past-- would be formed.
Commenting on the functioning modality of the new system Caglayan said, "China imports USD 1.5 billion of goods from Turkey while it exports USD 15.5 billion of goods to Turkey. This is because we failed to develop the necessary strategies, and portrayed China as a monster country to be feared. In the new system we will determine the goods China imports, where it imports these from and analyse why we can't export these goods, and what we need to do in order to succeed."

University study highlights greater carbon footprint of container shipping

A study comparing the environmental impact of the two main methods of shipping fresh produce reveals that container ships produce 27 per cent higher emissions of greenhouse gasses than specialised reefer ships.

The research, carried out by the Agribusiness and Economics Research Unit (AERU) of Lincoln University in Christchurch, New Zealand, set out to assess more fully the shipping emissions generated in fresh produce supply chains – which has received less attention in previous studies.

Using the kiwifruit industry as an example, the study focused on shipping emissions and measured greenhouse gasses (GHGs) on outward and return journeys, while accounting for different shipping routes, ship utilisation, and the volume and weight of cargo.

When the emissions of port activities, refrigerant losses and transport of fruit from orchard to port are included, the 27 per cent greater GHGs produced by container shipping increases to 36 per cent higher than by specialised reefer shipping.

Walter Wildöer, chairman of the 360 Quality shipping association, said: “This report clearly demonstrates that shipping fruit in specialised reefer vessels creates a significantly smaller carbon footprint than shipping in with container lines.

“A specialised reefer service picks up its perishable cargo and heads directly for its destination port, with limited port calls only scheduled en route to add further cargo. A container ship, meanwhile, makes far longer round trips, with frequent stops. It is the same difference as between a taxi, which picks up from origin A and drops at destination B; and a bus, which takes an indirect route and stops many times. However, as this report shows the carbon footprint of the taxi per unit is also demonstrably smaller than that of the bus.”

The Lincoln University report supports the theory that reefer shipping is more efficient in transporting perishable cargoes. A report on the shipping industry by independent shipping advisor Drewry shows that the international specialised reefer industry has a capacity of 304.5 million cubic feet and transported 43.55 per cent of perishables last year, while container shipping took 56.45 per cent of perishables but has an overall refrigerated capacity of 1,997 million cubic feet.

“As shown by the Drewry report, the reefer industry is using its resources much more efficiently, taking 43.55 per cent of perishable cargo using 13.2 per cent of the shipping industry’s capacity, compared with the 56.45 per cent taken by container shipping lines, but with 86.8 per cent capacity,” says Wildöer.

“The findings of the Lincoln University report have implications for anyone involved in the fresh produce business wanting to ensure their environmental impact is as small as is possible. This includes exporters, importers and retailers - as well as end consumers, who are becoming increasingly hungry for information on the environmental impact of their purchases.”

Contact:
Dominic Weaver
RED Communications Ltd
Tel: +44 1480 465953
dominic@redcomm.co.uk
www.redcomm.co.uk

Canada's trade deficit in line with global reset

WASHINGTON -- Say goodbye to Canada's status as a net exporter to the world - at least for now.

But don't fret too much. It may not be entirely a bad thing.

Unwinding the distortions and excesses of the past decade is all part of the natural - perhaps even healthy - recovery process for the ailing global economy.

At the epicentre of this massive shift in global trade flows is Canada's main trading partner, the United States, which for too long has consumed too much and produced too little.

Now that's changing. Aided by a falling greenback, the massive U.S. trade deficit is shrinking fast. Americans are saving more, spending less, and the country's exporters are regaining their competitive footing in world markets.

The U.S. trade deficit shrank for a second successive month in August to $30.7-billion (U.S.) - less than half the record $64.9-billion gap reached last year, the U.S. Commerce Department reported yesterday.

We may not like it, but Canada is playing its part to put the global economy back on a more sustainable path. The Canadian trade deficit widened to $2-billion (Canadian) in August from $1.3-billion in July.

And excluding the energy sector, the gap is even larger.

After years of trade surpluses, Canada is now facing at least a few years of deficits, said BMO Nesbitt Burns economist Douglas Porter.

"Canadian firms will find it very tough to compete with the United States," Mr. Porter said. "One way or another, we have to get the U.S. trade deficit down and what that means is that Americans have to produce more, and possibly consume less. And unfortunately that means we are going to produce a bit less and consume a bit more."

It's a dynamic that exporters like John Hayward, president of industrial pump maker Hayward Gordon Ltd. of Halton Hills, Ont., find all too familiar. He's nervously watching the Canadian dollar's ascent as he vies against a U.S. rival for a multimillion-dollar contract with a gold miner in Chile that is priced in U.S. dollars.

The Canadian dollar, now flirting with 96 cents (U.S.), is already up 4 per cent since he bid on the contract, and Mr. Hayward says the customer recently asked him to freeze his price for another 30 days.

"We said, no. We had to float it," meaning the customer would have to pick up any additional cost related to a higher dollar, Mr. Hayward explained, acknowledging that the decision could cost him the much-needed business.

Even winning the contract comes with risk. Deliveries wouldn't start until 2011, leaving the company dangerously exposed to any further rise in the loonie.

"It's the speed that currency fluctuates that's tough to manage for a lot of companies like us that have long sales cycles," he said. "I've got to get on a huge currency management program if we get a contract like that. It's tough to manage over a month, let alone a year."

Mr. Hayward said the company is doing two things to cope with the new reality. It's invested in more efficient machinery. And second, he's begun shifting some production to U.S. suppliers, in part to get around Buy American rules on government contracts.

"Companies in Canada should be thinking of getting more of their cost base in U.S. dollars," he said. "I've had to shift some production to U.S. suppliers, and I'd be wanting to keep it that way."

Canada's swelling trade deficit is a reflection of the fact that the Canadian economy is emerging from the recession in relatively good shape. Its banks are healthy and consumer credit is growing again.

And, unlike the U.S., the job market has stabilized.

Canadian consumption is holding up pretty well, driving demand for all the things that Canadians routinely import - from cars and electronics, to machinery and equipment.

"For now, recovery north of the border will remain a two-speed affair, with domestic sectors like housing and consumers leading, while the still-beleaguered trade sector restrains gross domestic product growth," CIBC World Markets economist Peter Buchanan said in a research note.

And with the loonie at its highest level in a year - near 96 cents (U.S.) - Canadians are finding those imported items cheaper to buy.

Toronto-Dominion Bank economist Grant Bishop said the "silver lining" of the widening trade deficit is that Canadian companies can take advantage of the high dollar to boost "imports of productivity-enhancing" machinery and equipment.

Imports of machinery and equipment - in volume, though not price - are up 50 per cent so far in July and August compared with the entire second quarter.

***

By the numbers

CANADA

Deficit: $2-billion

Exports: $29.2-billion,

down 5.1 per cent v. July

Energy, flat

Industrial goods and materials,

down 3.3 per cent

Machinery and equipment,

down 10.4 per cent

Automotive products, down 5.5 per cent

Imports: $31.2-billion, down 2.8 per cent

Energy, down 9.8 per cent

Industrial goods and materials, down 3.4 per cent

Machinery and equipment, down 4.9 per cent

Automotive products, up 3.8 per cent

UNITED STATES

Deficit: $30.7-billion (U.S.)

Exports: $128.2-billion, up 0.2 per cent v. July

Automobiles, up 7.3 per cent

Civilian aircraft, down 40.3 per cent

Telecommunications equipment, up 2.7 per cent

Food, up 1.2 per cent

Imports: $158.9-billion,

down 0.6 per cent

Automobiles, up 8.6 per cent

Civilian aircraft, down 59.3 per cent

Consumer goods, down 2 per cent

Capital goods, down 0.2 per cent

Figures as of August, 2009

"Barrie McKenna"

Mad cow fear: Japan suspends beef from US plant

Japan has suspended beef shipments from an American meat-packing plant after finding cattle parts banned under an agreement to prevent the spread of mad cow disease, the agriculture ministry said Saturday.

Japanese quarantine inspectors found bovine spinal columns in one of 732 boxes sent by Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc., which arrived in Japan last month, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said in a statement. The box contained 35 pounds (16 kilograms) of chilled short loin with spinal bones.

The suspension only affects Tyson's factory in Nebraska, one of 46 meat-packing plants approved to export beef to Japan.

The Japanese ministry also asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to investigate how the box containing the banned parts ended up in Japan.

Japan banned all U.S. beef imports in 2003 after the first case of mad cow disease was discovered in the United States. Japan resumed buying American beef in 2006 after a bilateral trade agreement setting new safety standards.

Mad cow disease, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is a degenerative nerve disease in cattle. In humans, eating meat products contaminated with the illness is linked to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare and fatal malady.

Under the bilateral trade agreement, U.S. exporters must remove spinal columns, brain tissue and other parts considered linked to the mad cow disease. U.S. beef shipments to Japan must also come only from cattle age 20 months or younger, which are believed to pose less of a risk.

Washington has repeatedly criticized Japan for its tough import restrictions, which authorities say have no scientific basis.

U.S. officials have urged Japan to allow imports of beef from cattle aged up to 30 months, a widely used safety standard elsewhere.

Mauritius denies being tax haven, invites investors

9 Oct 2009, 0412 hrs IST, Sunil Kumar, ET Bureau

MAURITIUS: Largely seen as a tax haven by Indians, there is more to Mauritius. At least that is what the country wants to be seen as. Dispelling the notion that it is a tax haven, being used by companies to circumvent Indian tax laws, Mauritius vice prime minister and finance minister Ramakrishna Sithanen said: “It is a wrong perception, a myth that India has about us. We do not figure in the list of tax havens of the OECD. We have transparent legislation and strong regulatory framework. We are also open to exchange information with authorities of other countries on money laundering and abuse of jurisdiction. But we have not received a single request from India on these counts.”

Speaking on the sidelines of an international seminar to promote Mauritius as a destination for private equity investment, Mr Sithanen strongly supported the Double Taxation Avoidance Treaty (DTAA) it has with India, and said that it is not a one-off treaty between the two countries but that both the countries have such treaties with many other countries.

“It is unfair to single us out and any unilateral move to change the terms of the treaty would be in violation of international laws. In fact, the proposed direct tax code of India which proposes treaty over-writing is also a unilateral move and against international laws,” he said.

The minister also pointed out that the country is taking further steps to enhance its reputation of a clean and compliant jurisdiction. These include securing more information relating to beneficiary owner, business plan and filing of financial summaries.

Detailing the steps, Milan J N Meetarbhan, chief executive of Financial Services Commission, the country’s financial regulator said: “We have now formulated what we call the ‘ultimate purpose test’. We encourage companies to have some substance here, say to have board meeting here. We insist on statutory segregation of assets and liabilities.” He added: “We don’t want just global businesses structured out of Mauritius but businesses to create job and wealth for our people.”

Mr Sithanen insisted that Mauritius is a country of real people and real economy, not just shell companies or conduit companies. “It is in our interest that we play a fair and transparent game, and we have taken all efforts to score good on that count,” he said.

It is in this context that the country held three international conferences, Mauritius as a destination for private equity investment, as global internet data centre and as a BPO centre, during September 28 to October 3 to position itself as a safe, cost competitive and knowledge-intensive platform for the conduct of global business.

Once founded on sugar and later diversified into textiles, tourism and offshore banking, the country is eyeing further diversification to strengthen its economy. “Economic diversification has been at the centre of our growth strategies. Our effort is to make our economy an eight-legged table, not just four, so that even if one is under strain, we continue to be stable. We plan to grow in ICT/BPO, seafood export, energy industry and many others,” said Mr Sithanen.


(The visit to this event was organised by the Mauritian government)

SE Asia, NE to explore trade potential

8 Oct 2009, 2220 hrs IST, Bikash Singh, ET Bureau

GUWAHATI: In a move to explore trade potential between the North East and Southeast Asia, diplomats from eight Southeast Asian countries are

expected to participate in a business summit here in the fourth week of October.

The summit will be organised by the North East Trade Promotion & Development Council (NETPDC) on the sidelines of Third Asom International Trade Fair. The trade exposition starts on October 14.

The fair is being sponsored DoNER. Eight ambassadors and first secretaries from Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Nepal, Bhutan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh and China are expected to participate in the summit. In this regard, deputy prime minister of Thailand Korbsak Sabhavasu had a meeting with minister for development of northeastern region (DoNER) and mines BK Handique in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Early completion of the trilateral highway between Moreh (India) and Maesot (Thailand) though Bagan (Myanmar) was discussed. The first phase of construction started in 2004 at a cost of $700 million. The 1,360-km-long highway project was envisaged to link the three countries. In the meeting, promotion of the Buddhist tourist circuit in the North East, was discussed. It was also agreed that eco-tourism would be a priority.

The Thai government has a capacity building programme under which Northeastern states could be involved. Mr Handique had said that youth exchange programmes could open new cooperation avenues. A cultural group from Thailand can also participate in the Hornbill Festival of Nagaland. Efforts are on to bring a cultural troupe from Myanmar for the Hornbill Festival.

A series of high-level business summits has been held with Thailand for promotion of trade and investment in the North East. It has resulted in some MoUs and investments. Both sides agreed that the focus should be to consolidate and carry forward the interactions in the identified areas of infrastructure like roads, inland waterways, tourism, agro and food processing and energy (mini hydel projects).