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Russia
Announces APEC's Priorities for 2012
Facing a global economic slowdown and uncertainty in the
financial sector, APEC senior officials gathered in St.
Petersburg this week to set their priorities for 2012 aimed at
boosting growth in trade and investment in Asia-Pacific. The
meeting took place just three weeks after APEC Economic Leaders
met in Honolulu, United States, where they took concrete steps
toward building a seamless regional economy to generate growth
and create jobs.
Chairing APEC in 2012, Russia announced the theme for next year,
"Integrate to Grow, Innovate to Prosper", and pledged to
facilitate APEC's collective efforts to increase sustainability
and the pace of development.
With full support from APEC member economies, Russian Senior
Official, Ambassador Gennady Ovechko, announced that APEC will
seek to achieve tangible results based on the following
priorities:
1.Liberalizing trade and investment and expanding regional
economic integration
2.Strengthening food security;
3.Establishing reliable supply chains; and
4.Fostering innovative growth.
Ambassador Ovechko said regional economic integration plays a
key role in promoting peace and stability. Describing the shift
towards the Asia-Pacific, he expressed concern that the Eurozone
crisis could influence financial distortions on world commodity
markets, trade and investment.
"To address these concerns, APEC will seek to make progress on a
number of issues such as integration, investments, fighting
protectionism, securing food markets, establishing reliable
supply chains and fostering innovation policies," said
Ambassador Ovechko, who chaired the Informal Senior Officials'
Meeting. He said APEC has an important role to play in improving
regional and global food security.
"Facing major challenges to the food supply, such as price
fluctuations, APEC will search for sustainable development in
the agricultural sector, facilitation of investment and trade,
establishing efficient and resilient food markets and market
infrastructure." "In 2012, APEC will pursue proposals for
sustainable agricultural development and stable markets
including increased transparency, monitoring and information
exchange on agricultural production, and developing policies for
community resilience and a more inclusive food supply for
socially vulnerable population groups."
Ambassador Ovechko also said APEC will prioritize addressing the
major chokepoints in supply chains to better ensure the smooth
flow of trade. "Reliability of the supply chain is the key issue
in APEC and worldwide. They should respond to possible risks
related to routing, maintenance and development," said Ovechko.
"It is necessary to ensure appropriate risk management, safe
operation and protection of transport and transportation
facilities."
In 2012, APEC plans to push for policies that encourage
innovation in the region that will increase productivity and
ensure economic growth. "We believe that fostering cooperation
in innovation will help us boost future trade and investment in
APEC, improve existing and build new global production and
supply chains," he said. "Some areas include developing hi-tech
sectors and addressing barriers to investment; promoting
technological progress among all APEC economies through
networking among innovation centers; and providing APEC
platforms for cooperation where business and scientists can
discuss markets and policy needs."
APEC officials will convene throughout 2012 in Russia, including
Moscow in February, Kazan in June and Vladivostok in September.
Ministers will also meet during the year in these cities, as
well as in St. Petersburg, Khabarovsk and Yaroslavl. Finally,
the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting will be held on Russky Island
in Vladivostok on 8 - 9 September 2012.
From http://www.apec.org/ 12/13/2011
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Mekong Leaders Agree on
Wide-Ranging Development Plan for Next Decade
MANILA, PHILIPPINES - At the conclusion of the 4th Greater Mekong
Subregion (GMS) Summit today, leaders of the six nations that share
the Mekong River agreed on a new 10-year plan to boost growth,
development and poverty reduction across the GMS. In a joint
declaration issued at the conclusion of the Summit, GMS leaders
endorsed a strategic framework for 2012 to 2022 that calls for a
range of new measures to strengthen regional cooperation, including
more effective resource utilization and more careful balancing of
development with environmental concerns.
"The new Strategic Framework for 2012-2022 will move the GMS to the
next level through multisector investment projects, policy
development, and inter-sector coordination," said ADB President
Haruhiko Kuroda. GMS leaders also endorsed strategies to enhance
agricultural development, including food safety and security;
accelerate the development and implementation of the pro-poor
sustainable tourism industry, with the creation of multi-country
tour packages to help spread revenues more widely; and promote
low-carbon development and enhance management of the sub-region's
richly diverse ecosystems.
Since its inception in 1992, the GMS program has helped bring an
area once divided by conflict increasingly together with investments
of about $14 billion in projects with broad subregional benefits,
including roads, airports and railways; telecommunications; energy;
urban development; tourism; environmental protection; and the
prevention of communicable diseases.
Since the start of the economic cooperation program, gross domestic
product growth in the subregion has averaged about 8% a year, while
real per capita incomes more than tripled between 1993 and 2010. As
of September 2011, ADB assistance for the program totaled about $5
billion. GMS members include Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic
Republic, Myanmar, Thailand, Viet Nam, and Yunnan province and the
Guangxi autonomous region in the People's Republic of China.
From http://beta.adb.org/ 12/20/2011
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Japan Steps Up Asian
Deplomacy
Unlike many of us, Japan's premier didn't sit back and take it
easy at the end of last year. Instead, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda
took to the road to visit two of Asia's ascending powers. He spent
Christmas in Beijing, after a planned visit for earlier in December
was unexpectedly postponed by China's leaders. But it was his trip
to New Delhi on December 27–28 that really energized Tokyo's
diplomatic agenda.
Noda's willingness to rearrange his schedule to accommodate China's
desire to change the summit dates reflects an awareness of the
delicacy of the moment for Beijing. The original date of the summit
coincided with the deeply painful anniversary of World War II
atrocities, the day Japanese Imperial Army troops captured the city
of Nanjing. Postponing a planned summit meeting like this may be
unprecedented, yet it leaves us wondering why Beijing's leaders
didn't appreciate the domestic impact of hosting Japan's leader when
they picked the date. That they saw fit to ask Tokyo to reschedule
reveals perhaps a bit more confusion in Beijing than is usual. But
it also reveals the efforts Japanese and Chinese governments
together are making to get this important bilateral relationship
back on a sound footing.
Meeting on December 26 allowed Noda and Chinese President Hu Jintao
to focus on a much anticipated event, namely the death of Kim
Jong-il, and the succession that was by then underway in North
Korea. As it has in the past, change in North Korea opened the way
for Beijing and Tokyo to move beyond some of the more difficult
bilateral issues between them and concentrate on their common
interests in Northeast Asia. Noda had already declared his interest
in sharing information with Beijing, and on consultations that would
lead to regional cooperation on managing any issues that might arise
as a result of instability on the Korean peninsula.
Yet it was the prime minister's visit to India that suggested more
immediate promise. Where often the Sino-Japanese relationship seems
fraught, the Japan-India strategic partnership has been a source of
growing potential for Tokyo. Economic relations are growing,
although private sector investment by Japanese corporations seems
slower than might be expected. Japan's assistance to India in the
construction of vital infrastructure projects, most notably the
Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project, has been consistent and of
obvious importance to integrating India's growing local economies.
Japan has also found a ready partner in India for diversifying their
access to rare earth materials, a stinging concern since the autumn
of 2010, when China abruptly reduced its exports to Tokyo of these
vital metals.
Less appreciated is the growing strategic harmony between Japan and
India. When I visited New Delhi in November, I was astounded at the
extent of interest in the Indian strategic community in furthering
bilateral cooperation with Japan on everything from the development
of space technology to nuclear cooperation and cyber security
efforts.
Already, Japan and India have had five ministerial-level meetings to
flesh out the contours of their new strategic partnership, and have
agreed to institute a two-plus-two meeting each year to include
defense and foreign ministers. The interaction between the Japanese
and Indian militaries is also increasing, as the two navies have
worked closely on anti-piracy and other maritime security missions.
The armies have had several high-level exchanges, and will soon
initiate staff talks. In 2012, the two nations' air forces will also
upgrade their consultations. The East Asia Summit provided an
important opportunity to consider how Japan and India might work
together to help shape the regional environment as well.
Tokyo and Delhi's concerns about a rising China are certainly part
of the impetus for the acceleration of strategic cooperation, and
this hasn't gone unnoticed in Beijing. China's military and media
have been alert to this burgeoning strategic conversation between
Delhi and Tokyo. I was surprised to find that even my discussion at
the Observer Research Foundation, reported in Asian News
International, got some air time as evidence of containment in the
China Daily.
Yet Japan's renewed diplomatic outreach isn't all about China. It's
clearly all about Japan, and its need for an active agenda of
strategic engagement in Asia. As the prime minister's China visit
attests, Tokyo wants a strong relationship of strategic trust with
Beijing. But perhaps that will take more time. Regardless, Noda's
diplomatic energy is reassuring, and signals clearly that he has his
eye firmly on Japan's strategic interests even as he seeks to work
through the complex array of domestic issues on his agenda. (By
Sheila A. Smith, a senior fellow for Japan studies at the Council on
Foreign Relations)
From http://the-diplomat.com/ 01/06/2012
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CHINA: Public Opinion
Sought on Draft Safety Standards for School Buses
Four draft safety standards for school buses began receiving
public feedback on Tuesday, marking the latest instance of
China's efforts to improve school bus safety following a string
of accidents. This also marks the first time that the country
has made national safety standards for preschool buses, the
Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a
statement on its website.
Car seat safety standards for primary school buses will be
extended to all school buses that carry teenage students, the
statement cited the draft regulations as saying. Public feedback
is welcome on the drafts until Jan. 8, 2012. China reported a
string of school bus accidents in recent months, prompting the
country to introduce new safety regulations and standards for
school buses and improve the design, production and distribution
of the vehicles.
From Xinhua News Agency 12/27/2011
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China to Foster Healthy
Cyberculture
China will continue to manage the Internet in accordance with
relevant laws in 2012, according to a statement from a national
meeting that sets the annual agenda for China's international
communication. China will use the Internet positively, develop it
scientifically and strive to foster a "healthy and upward"
cyberculture, it reads.
The two-day meeting was attended by leading officials in charge of
international communication from provincial-level administrations,
organs of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and
the central government, as well as officials from leading news
organizations. At the meeting, Wang Chen, deputy head of the
publicity department of the CPC Central Committee, pushed for
greater efforts to spread China's voice and project a positive image
of China worldwide.
Efforts would be made to promote China's basic national condition,
values and development pattern, as well as its internal and foreign
policies, according to the meeting. As the country looks to promote
its soft power, it will cultivate world-class media organizations
and encourage media organizations to strengthen exchanges and
cooperation with their foreign counterparts, according to the
statement. Greater efforts will be made to train more professionals
in the field of international communication, it says.
From Xinhua News Agency 01/05/2012
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China to Boost Diplomatic
Efforts in Asia in 2012
China will strengthen diplomatic efforts in Asia in 2012 and
enhance coordination with Asian countries, Assistant Foreign
Minister Liu Zhenmin said on Sunday. In an exclusive interview with
Xinhua, Liu said the regional situation will continue to undergo
profound changes in 2012, posing challenges for China's diplomatic
work. To properly handle differences, China will enhance political
trust and expand common interests with countries in the region, in a
bid to create a favorable environment for China's economic growth
and contribute to peace in both Asia and the world.
There will be important meetings between Chinese leaders and their
counterparts from other Asian countries in 2012, including the Seoul
Nuclear Summit, the BRICS Summit in India, the Asia-Europe Meeting
in Laos, and the East Asia Summit in Cambodia, Liu said. "We will
take the opportunities of high-level visits, strategic dialogues and
exchange mechanisms at various levels to enhance strategic
coordination and mutual understanding with Asian countries," he
said. China will continue to play a constructive role in resolving
hot regional issues, and will properly settle existing differences
with neighboring countries through dialogues, Liu said.
The country adheres to an open policy of mutual benefit, he said,
adding that China will speed up the building of an interconnected
infrastructure network, boost regional financial cooperation,
encourage Chinese enterprises to invest in neighboring countries,
and beef up the construction of free-trade areas with Asian nations
and overseas economic cooperation zones.
Meanwhile, China will also strengthen cultural exchanges with Asian
countries, including celebratory activities to mark the 40th
anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan relations, the 40th
anniversary of China-Maldives diplomatic ties, the 20th anniversary
of China-ROK diplomatic relations, and the 10th anniversary of
China-East Timor diplomatic ties, according to Liu. China plans to
set up more Chinese culture centers and Confucius Institutes in
Asian countries, to cement educational and cultural exchanges and
cooperation with neighboring countries, he added.
From Xinhua News Agency 01/09/2012
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China to Step Up Land
Reform This Year: Minister
China is planning to launch new pilot projects to promote land
reforms this year, Xu Shaoshi, the country's minister of land and
resources, said Monday. The ministry will summarize its experiences
from previous pilot schemes, especially from those related to land
acquisition, which has been an issue of wide social concern, said Xu
at a national conference on land resources that closed in Beijing on
Monday. The new pilots programs will cover the examination and
approval of urban land use, the transferring of land under
collective ownership, land management that supports economic zones,
and differentiated policies on land control, according to Xu.
In China, the latest notable dispute over land use, financing and
elections last year in the village of Wukan in the southern province
of Guangdong led to months of large-scale villager protests against
local authorities. The Ministry of Land and Resources will start
pilot programs that allow local governments to build rental housing
on construction land under collective ownership, drawing experiences
from previous land protection and compensation trial programs, said
Xu.
From Xinhua News Agency 01/09/2012
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China Warns US to Be
'Careful' in Military Refocus on Asia
BEIJING - China's Ministry of defense warned the United States on
Monday to be "careful in its words and actions" after announcing a
defense rethink that stresses responding to China's rise by shoring
up U.S. alliances and bases across Asia. The statement from the
ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng was Beijing's fullest reaction so
far to the new U.S. strategy unveiled last week. It echoed the mix
of wariness and outward restraint that has marked China's response
to the Obama administration's "pivot" to Asia since late last year.
"We have noted that the United States issued this guide to its
defense strategy, and we will closely observe the impact that U.S.
military strategic adjustment has on the Asia-Pacific region and on
global security developments," Geng said in a statement issued on
the ministry's website. "The accusations leveled at China by the
U.S. side in this document are totally baseless," said Geng. "We
hope that the United States will flow with the tide of the era, and
deal with China and the Chinese military in an objective and
rational way, will be careful in its words and actions, and do more
that is beneficial to the development of relations between the two
countries and their militaries."
President Barack Obama's vowed on Thursday to look beyond the wars
he inherited to focus on Asian security risks - like China and North
Korea - that took a back seat to Iraq and Afghanistan. It marked a
turning point not only for the U.S. military but also for Obama,
entering the final year of his White House term. Facing a
re-election battle, the president declared success in Iraq and
Afghanistan and took a forward-looking stance on the how to preserve
American military pre-eminence. "The tide of war is receding but the
question that this strategy answers is what kind of military will we
need long after the wars of the last decade are over," Obama told a
Pentagon news conference alongside Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on
Thursday.
Under the new strategy, the United States will maintain large bases
in Japan and South Korea and deploy U.S. Marines, navy ships and
aircraft to Australia's Northern Territory. Meanwhile, troop- and
time-intensive counter-insurgency operations, a staple of U.S.
military strategy since the 2007 "surge" of extra troops to Iraq,
would be far more limited. The strategy calls for countering
potential attempts by China and Iran to block U.S. capabilities in
areas like the South China Sea and the Strait of Hormuz.
China has sought to balance voicing its wariness about the U.S.
moves with its desire for steady relations with Washington,
especially as both sides grapple with domestic politics this year,
when China's ruling Communist Party undergoes a leadership handover
and Obama faces a re-election fight.
Obama vows US will stay world's top military power
So far, Beijing officials have avoided the usual high-pitched
assertions that Washington is bent on encircling China, a view
widely echoed by popular Chinese newspapers and websites.
Growing concern
The expanded U.S. military presence in Asia is based on a
miscalculation of Beijing's intent to modernize its military
defenses, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday. "The
accusation targeting China in the document has no basis, and is
fundamentally unrealistic," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin
said at a regular news conference, in response to a question from
state media about whether China poses a threat to U.S. security.
"China adheres to the path of peaceful development, an independent
and peaceful foreign policy and a defensive national defense
policy," Liu added. Still, there is growing concern in the United
States and Asia about China's military developments in recent years.
From http://www.msnbc.msn.com/ 01/09/2012
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'Cold War Thinking' Has No
Place in Asia
BEIJING - Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin on Sunday urged
Asian countries to discard their "cold war mentality" when handling
sensitive regional issues, saying that "exclusive security
partnerships" fall short in terms of coping with the current complex
regional situation. His words came in the wake of China's
occasionally tense relations with its neighbors in Asia last year,
which were further complicated by Washington's strategic shift in
the Asia-Pacific region.
Asia is generally stable and peaceful, yet thorny issues such as
maritime and energy security still remain. "To address emerging
problems, relevant sides have to firstly strengthen mutual trust in
this diverse and complex region," he said. After many years of
efforts, a complex, multi-level security structure has been
established and plays a constructive role in the Asia-Pacific
region. This includes the Six-Party Talks, the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
regional forums, Liu said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency.
All the existing mechanisms should fully exploit their advantages,
be complementary and promote each other, since "in the short-term,
it is hardly possible to forge a pan-Asia-Pacific region security
mechanism which tops all these mechanisms", Liu said. The regional
security mechanism should be based on mutual trust, mutual benefit,
equality and coordination, he said. As China's diplomat in charge of
Asian affairs, Liu's remarks indicate China's stance toward its
Asian neighbors. Although China has enhanced mutual trust with its
neighbors and put forward constructive suggestions for pragmatic
cooperation, its relations with its Asian nations were tested by
some long-standing issues last year.
In 2011, China experienced increased pressure regarding the South
China Sea, where Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Vietnam hold
competing claims. China has been active in resolving regional issues
and endeavored to cooperate with other Asian countries to create a
regional environment featuring peace, stability, equality, mutual
trust and cooperation, Liu said. Relevant countries should put aside
disputes and pursue common development before the disputes are
resolved. Forces outside the region should not intervene in South
China Sea disputes, he said. "This is also the consensus of relevant
countries," he said.
The uneven situation in the Asia-Pacific region made it difficult to
establish a pan-Asia-Pacific region security mechanism, but members
of different mechanisms often cooperated to address issues, said
Zhang Tuosheng, a researcher at the China Foundation for
International and Strategic Studies. "All sides should share
emergency management mechanisms to avoid any escalation in the
region, and I believe, closer economic ties will eventually improve
relations between countries that have territorial disputes," he
added.
Trade between China and other Asian countries reached $965.2 billion
in first 11 months of 2011, up 21 percent year-on-year. China is
currently ASEAN's largest trading partner, while ASEAN is China's
third-largest trading partner. Bilateral trade between China and
ASEAN totaled $328.9 billion in first 11 months of 2011. In July
2011, China and ASEAN adopted an agreement on the guidelines of
implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South
China Sea (DOC), starting substantial cooperation under the DOC
framework.
China also signed an agreement with Vietnam on the basic principles
guiding the settlement of existing maritime issues between the two
countries. "This all proves that China and ASEAN have the resolve,
wisdom and capability to jointly maintain peace and stability in the
South China Sea," Liu said. He reaffirmed that the South China Sea
is an important international transportation channel, whose safety
and freedom of navigation are never affected by disputes.
From China Daily 01/09/2012
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China Moves to Protect
Investor Interests
BEIJING - China's securities regulator announced here Tuesday
that the country has established an investor protection bureau, in a
move to better protect the rights and interests of Chinese investors
in the capital market. The bureau, which has already been put into
operation, will be responsible for drafting and reviewing laws and
regulations that protect investors and help establish an education
and service system for investors, said the China Securities
Regulatory Commission (CSRC) in a press release.
Despite a rising number of institutional investors, China's capital
market is still dominated by individual investors, who often lack
professional knowledge and are at the same time "insensitive but
vulnerable to risks," said the CSRC. China has more than 72 million
individual investors, accounting for 11 percent of the country's
urban population, 80 percent of which only own stocks of market
value less than 100,000 yuan ($15,748), according to the CSRC. But
they have contributed more than 80 percent of the total market
turnover in 2011, it said. They have natural disadvantages in
obtaining market information and professional ability, which leads
to easy infringements of their rights and interests, said the
commission.
The bureau will also assist the establishment of a remedial system
to make up for the violated interests of investors, monitor the
management and operation of the country's investor protection funds,
and promote communication and cooperation with other investor
protection organizations. China's mainland had become the
third-largest equity market after the United States and Japan by the
end of 2011, according to the CSRC. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao
pledged at the national financial work conference over the weekend
to enhance regulation of the equity markets to better protect
investors' legal rights and interests.
From http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/ 01/11/2012
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HK Committed to Free Media
The Government is committed to safeguarding freedom of the press
in Hong Kong. This was the message from Chief Secretary Stephen Lam
today, reiterating a free media is one of Hong Kong's core values.
"This is also one of the fundamentals which have guaranteed Hong
Kong's success as an international city all these years."
Addressing the media after attending a Legislative Council meeting,
he said the Government has made practical arrangements for the media
to cover issues at its new Tamar headquarters, acknowledging there
may have been miscommunication with security staff. "The
Administration Wing has already expressed their apologies in this
regard. We shall guarantee these standing arrangements will
continue," he said.
From http://www.news.gov.hk/ 01/11/2012
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JAPAN: Gov't to Introduce
Regulations Limiting Life of Nuclear Reactors to 40 Years
Environment Minister Goshi Hosono, who is also the minister in
charge of the nuclear crisis, said Friday that the government is
planning to introduce new legislation that will limit the working
life of nuclear reactors to 40 years. Hosono also said that nuclear
plant operators will be required by law to ensure safeguards are in
place to prevent major nuclear accidents, including the loss of
power for cooling reactors, Jiji Press reported. Hosono said the new
regulations will be part of an amendment to the nuclear reactor
regulation law, that the government hopes to submit to the Diet by
the end of January.
All nuclear plants will have to prove they have the technological
capability to ensure safety in the event of an earthquake, tsunami
or other disaster, Hosono told a news conference. Up to now,
utilities have done this voluntarily; there has been no legal
obligation. Of Japan's current 54 nuclear reactors, three have
already been in operation for more than 40 years - a reactor at the Tsuruga plant in Fukui, one in Mihama and the No. 1 reactor at the
stricken Fukushima Daiichi power plant, NHK reported. Over the next
five years, another nine reactors will reach the 40-year limit, NHK
said.
From http://www.japantoday.com/ 01/07/2012
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Bill Sets Curbs on
Public in Epidemics
The government is preparing a bill granting it the power to
impose restrictions on outings, gatherings and other activities to
curb outbreaks of avian flu and other highly virulent and contagious
viruses. Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said Tuesday the
legislation is necessary to "enhance the effectiveness" of measures
to cope with viruses outside the realm of the ordinary. The
legislation would permit the government to declare an emergency
situation and restrict activities when a new virus emerges,
according to government officials.
Local governments have pressed for a legal foundation for
countermeasures, such as closing child care centers and other
places, that were adopted during a flu epidemic in 2009. The
government plans to draft a bill by month's end for submission to
the ordinary Diet session convening later this month, Fujimura said.
From Kyodo 01/12/2012
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NORTH KOREA: Reiterates
'No Dealing' with S. Korea's Conservative Gov't
SEOUL (Yonhap) - North Korea lambasted South Korea's Lee
Myung-bak government again Saturday for failing to pay homage to its
late leader Kim Jong-il, saying that it will not deal with it. The
latest North Korean attack was in line with a similar stance taken
by the country's most powerful decision-making body, the National
Defense Commission, a day earlier.
From http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/ 12/31/2012
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N. Korea's New Year's
Statement Stresses Continuity
The traditional joint New Years editorial of North Korea's
official papers was mostly devoted to stressing dead leader Kim
Jong-il's legacy and his "songun" or military-first doctrine, as if
to reassure everyone that nothing will change now that his
20-something son Kim Jong-un has taken over.
Nam Sung-wook, director of the Institute for National Security
Strategy, said, "It was a poorly-prepared statement that contains
only an outline with no details. There are no specifics on what will
be done other than the consolidation of Kim Jong-un's grip on
power." An intelligence official said the North could hardly be
expected to come up with any new policies before Kim Jong-un has
consolidated his position. He added the editorial seemed "very
guarded." And Kim Yong-hyun of Dongguk University said nothing new
can be expected until the following year.
Powerful Nation
Experts were reduced to scouring the editorial for what it did not
say. For example, it contained noticeably fewer references to the
propaganda goal of turning North Korea into a "powerful and
prosperous nation" for regime founder Kim Il-sung's centenary this
year. Last year the editorial cited the light industry as the "front
lines" of an "all-out offense," mentioning it 21 times while
referring to the "lives of the people" 19 times. But this year,
there were only five references to the light industry and three to
the lives of the people. The amount of space allotted to the economy
was almost halved from 19 pages last year to just 11 this year. And
the expression "powerful and prosperous nation" was mostly replaced
with "powerful nation." This has prompted pundits to conclude that
the regime has lowered its sights.
Position on South Korea
The editorial bemoans that the South Korean government "ignored" the
funeral of Kim Jong-il and "obstructed" people from expressing their
condolences, warning it faces a "scathing judgment." Even after
2010's deadly provocations - the sinking of the Navy corvette
Cheonan and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island - the North in the
2011 editorial called for tensions between the two Koreas to be
resolved soon through actively pursue dialogue and cooperative
projects. There were no such calls this time, and some experts sees
that as a signal that the regime has yet to decide how to deal with
the South in this time of transition.
Stressing Unity
The editorial repeatedly stressed the legacy of Kim Jong-il. There
were 10 references to Kim's legacy, contrasting with just four
references made to the legacy of Kim Il-sung in 1995, the year
following his death. Kim Jong-il is referred to as the "eternal
center of unity" - the word "unity" is used nine times, as against
last year's four. Kim Young-soo of Sogang University said this
evidently is an attempt to warn off anyone who does not support Kim
Jong-un's leadership, and hints there could be bloody purges ahead.
No Mention of Nuclear Weapons
The editorial also made almost no mention of the U.S. except to
demand that its "imperialist troops of aggression, the basic
obstacle to peace on the Korean Peninsula," should pull out of South
Korea. But there was neither any other hostile rhetoric nor a demand
for a peace treaty, which had been regular features of previous New
Year's editorials. Nor was there any mention of the North's nuclear
weapons, which the papers hailed only last week as Kim Jong-il's
greatest legacy.
The editorial apparently left them out because the U.S. tentatively
agreed last month to supply the North with 20,000 tons of food
supplements every month for a year in return for the North halting
uranium enrichment. The regime is desperate for aid from the
international community, which has dried up since Pyongyang pulled
out of six-party nuclear disarmament talks in 2008. Prof. Yang Moo-jin
of the University of North Korean Studies said, "The North probably
didn't mention either the U.S. or the nuclear issue because it wants
the talks to resume quickly" so it can extract more concessions.
From http://english.chosun.com/ 01/02/2012
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SOUTH KOREA: KCC Seeks
to Revise Law on Online Identification, Personal Information
The Korea Communications Commission said Thursday that it will
consider putting a stop to the system that checks Internet users'
private information and also prohibit the collection of resident
registration numbers online. In a briefing on next year's policies
to President Lee Myung-bak, the state media and telecom regulator
said it will revise the information and communications network law
step-by-step until 2014 to prevent the collection and use of
resident registration numbers online.
Beginning next year, websites with more than 10,000 visitors per day
will be banned from collecting the personal registration numbers and
the measure will be expanded to all websites in 2013. Websites that
do not abide by the regulation will be fined starting in 2014,
according to KCC officials. The commission will also take a look
into the self-identification system, which has been in place for six
years, interpreted as a move gearing toward its abolishment. The
self-identification system mandates online users to enter their
names and resident registration ID to log into a certain services.
The collection of such private information online was initially
introduced in July 2007 to block people from publishing abusive
comments and postings on the Internet with their anonymous IDs.
However, it has become a controversial topic with many people
arguing its inefficiency. A taskforce will be created with other
related government branches for a comprehensive analysis on the
issue.
As other parts of next year's newly-introduced policies, the
commission said it will create 10,000 new jobs next year by
supporting small and mid-sized venture firms and new growth engines
in fields like software, content and applications. The commission
will also support telecoms to offer nationwide coverage of the new
upgraded and faster fourth generation Long Term Evolution network
services in 2012.
SK Telecom and LG Uplus are already moving to launch the LTE
services in many regions across the country and KT Corp. is getting
ready to begin the 4G network services next week.The KCC also
reaffirmed its intention to end analog television services for
terrestrial broadcasts by the end of next year and introduce
digitalized broadcasts in 2013. In a related effort, it will provide
financial support funds for low-income families to purchase digital
TVs or lend them analog-to-digital converters for free. (By Cho
Ji-hyun)
From http://www.koreaherald.com/ 12/29/2011
TOP↑
Financial Watchdog Mulls
Banking Law Revision
South Korea's financial watchdog is moving to reform the
country's banking law, its chief said Wednesday, amid mounting
controversy over a U.S. fund's plan to sell its controlling stake in
Korea Exchange Bank. The envisioned law amendment revolves around a
clause that prohibits a non-financial player from holding more than
a 4 percent stake in local commercial banks.
"The non-financial player policy was adopted in 2002. Since then,
issues (over the policy) have been raised several times," said
Financial Services Commission Chairman Kim Seok-dong in an interview
with Yonhap News Agency. "Apart from the Lone Star Funds issue,
overall plans to revise (laws on) bank ownership structure are under
review," Kim said.
The top regulator's remarks come as Lone Star's plan to wrap up a
deal with No. 4 banking group Hana Financial Group Co. to sell its
51.02 percent stake in KEB faces strong public criticism and doubts
over its eligibility as a financial industry player. In 2003, the
U.S. private equity firm became a major shareholder of the No. 5
lender as it was recognized as a financial industry player allowed
to buy 10 percent or more of a local bank by law.
Opponents, however, have argued that Lone Star should be
reclassified as an industrial player and should have been barred
from buying KEB nine years ago, citing its asset portfolio which
includes non-financial assets. Under local banking law, a company is
classified as an industrial group or a non-financial player if more
than 25 percent of its capital is invested in non-financial firms or
its assets in such firms exceed 2 trillion won ($1.7 billion).
A non-financial player cannot hold more than a 4 percent stake in a
lender. Critics said if Lone Star is classified as an industrial
capitalist, its 2003 purchase of KEB should be ruled illegitimate
from the beginning. The banking law revision, which is expected to
be completed in the first half, may include measures such as raising
the 2 trillion won limit as well as tightening document submissions
of overseas assets.
The FSC is set to give its final permission on the deal between Lone
Star and Hana Financial upon the completion of the Financial
Supervisory Service's assessment of Lone Star's eligibility as a
financial player. Meanwhile, the FSC chairman said he is aiming for
a "timely" privatization of the state-run KDB Financial Group Inc.
and Woori Finance Holdings Co. for the sake of the local finance
industry and market. The government, which owns 100 percent of KDB
Financial, must begin to reduce its stake no later than May 2014
under the current blueprint for the banking group's privatization.
From http://www.koreaherald.com/ 01/04/2012
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MALAYSIA: Government
Relaxes Labour Rules
The Government has reopened 10 sectors and 11 sub-sectors under
services previously frozen for the 6P amnesty programme. Home
Ministry secretary-general Tan Sri Mahmood Adam said the
decision, effective immediately, was on condition that the
employment of workers and illegal immigrants was only for two
years. "At the same time, the informal sector, namely foreign
maids, was approved for the legalising process," he said. "This
decision was made by the Deputy Prime Minister as chairman of
the Cabinet Committee on Workers and Illegal Immigrants and it
is valid until the legalising process is completed," he said in
a statement yesterday. Mahmood said the decision followed
appeals from various parties who wanted the matter to be
reviewed. The 10 outside policy sectors are croupier,
mining/quarrying, mangrove wood, stall/cafe/canteen/catering,
restaurant, fast food, grasscutter, newspaper vendor, house and
vehicle cleaners, and car workshop workers. The 11 sub-sectors
are scrap metal, cargo handling, welfare home, spa/reflexology,
hotel, golf caddy, laundry, barber, goldsmith, wholesale and
retail and textile business. He said the ministry had opened a
third one-stop centre for the legalising process at the Seberang
Jaya Immigration Department in Penang. All three centres will
operate daily from 8am to 5pm until the process ends on Jan 10.
From http://thestar.com.my/ 12/28/2011
TOP↑
Govt to Introduce
Measures to Address Christian Community's Concerns
The Government will introduce several measures to address
concerns raised by the Christian community. These include the
appointment of heads of mission schools, teaching of Bible Knowledge
and tax exemption status for Christian organisations. The decision
made by the Cabinet Wednesday was announced by Prime Minister Datuk
Seri Najib Tun Razak at a luncheon hosted for senior leaders of the
Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM). Minister in the Prime
Minister's Department Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon said the Education
Ministry would engage and consult the respective school boards so
that school heads appointed would be suitable and acceptable. On
Bible Knowledge for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia, Dr Koh said the
subject would be taught in schools after school hours upon parents'
request. A procedure would also be put in place to ensure donations
to churches recognised and certified by CFM would be given tax
exemption. "The Prime Minister gave due recognition to the
tremendous contributions of mission schools and their wish that the
ethos and traditions of such schools be maintained. "The Prime
Minister also reiterated the support given by the Government to
mission schools with a total of RM240mil allocated over the past
four years, including RM100mil under the 2012 Budget," Dr Koh said.
From http://thestar.com.my/ 01/04/2012
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PHILIPPINES: Reviews
Proposed Web GIS System Standards
The Regional Geographic Information Network (RGIN) has evaluated
the proposed data standards and data policy of the Climate Change
and Risk Reduction Information Support System Project (CRISP) to be
presented to the RGIN meeting on 27 January, 2012 and to the
Regional Development Council for final approval and adoption. The
RGIN is a network of 20 regional line agencies, five provincial
local government units, and a Non-Government Organisation which
intends to establish a more systematic and organised sharing of
geographically referenced information and knowledge among network
partners and critical stakeholders in the region. The data standards
and data policies include the information on Geographic Information
System data structures for the project, and the data sharing policy
and responsibilities of the members and other end-users of the GIS
data. The review indicated the urgent need for geospatial data to
prepare and respond to threats posed by natural calamities, and to
explore ways on how to keep the system sustainable. The members also
suggested to include the guidelines on uploading, updating,
deleting, and sharing the data with third parties. All
recommendations will be incorporated in the Operations Manual of the
system. According to NEDA Knowledge Management Division Chief Ronilo
H. Bulseco, the three cities in the region, Tuguegarao, Cauayan and
Santiago shall also be encouraged to become part of the RGIN and
they shall also be briefed on the project for wider and more
accurate information system in local development planning.
From http://www.futuregov.asia/ 01/04/2012
TOP↑
SINGAPORE: SIT Launches 7
New Degree Programmes
The Singapore Institute of Technology has launched seven new
degree programmes for its August 2012 intake. The programmes are
offered in partnership with four universities from the US and UK.
These include Trinity College Dublin's occupational therapy and
physiotherapy degrees, which will be offered in Nanyang Polytechnic,
Glasgow School of Art's communication design and interior design
courses at Temasek Polytechnic, Wheelock College's early childhood
education programme at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, and University of
Glasgow's aeronautical engineering and aerospace systems degrees at
Singapore Polytechnic. These degree programmes are offered mostly to
polytechnic graduates. This brings the number of programmes offered
from 17 to 24. The institute has also increased its intake from 950
to 1,300, as it hopes to take in about 2,000 students by 2015. SIT
said these courses were chosen after it consulted government
agencies on the manpower needs of Singapore's economy. Tan Chek
Ming, deputy president (Operations), at SIT, said: "We will consult
with the government agencies such EDB, MOH, and MDA to see whether
there is a need of graduates in these areas. And once we have
ascertained those... that's when SIT goes out to do more evaluations
and investigations, and then embark on a search for appropriate
overseas universities to bring in these programmes to Singapore."
Although the institute started out in 2010 with a focus in science
and technology, Mr Tan said SIT is planning to expand in other
disciplines such as finance and accountancy as well. Right now, only
about 30 per cent of its students are taking degree programmes in
other areas such as hospitality. Mr Tan said the figure may go up to
40 per cent by next year. "We are still studying the matter to see
whether there is enough supply and demand, and in this case, again,
we're consulting with ACRA (Accounting and Corporate Regulatory
Authority) and IPAS (Insolvency Practitioners Association of
Singapore) to make sure that even if we do produce and train more
people in this area, the industry must be able to take them," said
Mr Tan.
From http://www.channelnewsasia.com/ 01/13/2012
TOP↑
Singapore to Build Digital
Elevation Map
Users of the map will gain a better idea about the flow of
rainwater during storms. The data could also be aggregated and
analysed with land use information and rainfall patterns to help
government make better predictions and take measures accordingly.
Private land surveyors expect the cost of collecting the data to be
between S$100 million (US$78 million) to S$125 million (US$97
million), based on similar, small-scale work that was undertaken by
the construction industry; and they expect the use of advanced tools
to lower the cost. Singapore had built a large-scale flood control
system that had been effective for many years. However, the scale of
recent rainfalls has overwhelmed the system in a number of
instances, leading to damaging floods in city areas. The country's
Public Utilities Board is conducting improvement work at some of the
worst-hit commercial buildings to make them more resistant to
floods. A Canal will also be checked to determine whether its
current capacity is maximised. Singapore's Environment and Water
Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said that the country's
investments in anti-flood measures must be as effective in managing
droughts and other severe weather conditions. A panel of experts
convened by the government reviewing the country's flood protection
mechanisms has recently delivered their recommendations.
Balakrishnan said the government is committed to turn these
recommendations into reality.
From Futuregov.asia 01/17/2012
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THAILAND: Govt to Move on
High-speed Rail Projects
The Transport Ministry has vowed to press ahead with a plan to
develop five high-speed railway routes as proposed by the former
Democrat-led government, Transport Minister Sukumpol Suwanatat says.
The plan was approved by the previous government and endorsed by
parliament. The minister reaffirmed the current government's support
for all five high-speed routes after an agreement was signed between
China's Vice President Xi Jingping and Prime Minister Yingluck
Shinawatra on Thursday for China to develop the high-speed train
project to run from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. Government spokeswoman
Thitima Chaisang said other routes would be added later. That the
Bangkok-Chiang Mai line was given a priority revives hopes that the
other four routes would still be developed. ACM Sukumpol said no
objections had been raised to the original project to build five
high-speed railway routes and so relevant agencies would start
detailed discussions. According to the minister, the 745km
Bangkok-Chiang Mai route will cost about 230 billion baht; the 870km
Bangkok-Ubon Ratchathani route will cost about 180 billion baht, the
615km Bangkok-Nakhon Ratchasima-Nong Khai route will cost about 200
billion baht, the 982km Bangkok-Hua Hin-Padang Besar (Malaysia)
route will cost about 300 billion baht and the 221km Bangkok-Rayong
route will cost about 70 billion baht. Office of Transport and
Traffic Policy and Planning director Soithip Traisuddhi said a
committee will be set up to study the details of the projects and
will present them to the cabinet for consideration. Ms Soithip said
Chinese investors are interested in backing three routes _
Bangkok-Chiang Mai, Bangkok-Nakhon Ratchasima-Nong Khai and Bangkok-Hua
Hin-Padang Besar. A source at the Transport Ministry said China
wanted to invest in the route that will run from Bangkok to Nong
Khai because just across the border from the Thai province, a
Laos-China high-speed rail track is also planned to run from
Vientiane to Kunming, the capital of China's Yunnan province.
From http://www.bangkokpost.com/ 12/27/2011
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Govt Urged to Set
Guidelines for Drug Prices
A financial expert has called on the government to fix
discrepancies in the drug expenditure of several national health
care schemes. Inspector-general of the Finance Ministry, Kulit
Sombatsiri, said this would not only help curb the skyrocketing cost
of medical care but would also give bargaining power to funding
agencies to negotiate for cheaper medicines. Mr Kulit said a lack of
reference prices on medicines has led to difficulties in health
finance management and significant differences in the cost of
medical treatment among three major national health care schemes.
"Medicine prices between generic and brand-name regimens differ
greatly. They depend on who the buyers are _ state or private
hospitals, wholesalers or pharmacies," he told participants
attending the Thailand Health Care Summit yesterday. "Even the price
of paracetamol varies, resulting in high expenditure in medical
treatment, particularly drug purchases." Mr Kulit said there are
currently three national health schemes. First, the civil service
medical benefits scheme is provided for five million civil servants
and their families. Its budget is open-ended and handled by the
comptroller general. Second, the social security scheme is available
for nine million people who are employees of private companies. The
government, employees and employers all help contribute to the
estimated 20 billion baht fund each year, he said. Last, he said, is
the universal health care scheme which covers most of the rest of
the country's population, including the poor and the unemployed. Its
approximately 90 billion baht annual budget is overseen by the
National Health Security Office.
Mr Kulit said each scheme depends on its own different diagnosis
related groups (DRG) system, which oversees the average cost of
expenses for treating a certain disease. Figures in the DRG system
are calculated from treatment costs quoted by state hospitals.
However, he said the social security and the universal health care
schemes have different prices for treating the same illness. For
example, treatment of an intestinal disease ranges from between
9,000 and 15,000 baht. He said the civil service medical benefits
scheme spent as much as 45 billion baht out of a total 62 billion
baht on medicines for out-patients in the 2010 fiscal year. This
sky-high drug expenditure has prompted state agencies to seek ways
to stem growing treatment costs. Mr Kulit said a national clearing
house should be established to set reference prices for medicines.
"Having a central agency to oversee health financing will not only
help solve double standards in drug purchasing and the different DRG
systems, but also provide bargaining power for health funders to
negotiate with pharmaceutical firms for cheaper drug prices," he
said. The national committee on health financing development chaired
by Deputy Prime Minister Pol Gen Kowit Wattana is considering the
feasibility of establishing such a mechanism so health benefits and
schemes would be run efficiently, based on accountability and
similar standards.
Ramathibodi Hospital director Than Supatraphan who attended the
gathering said treating chronic diseases such as high-blood
pressure, diabetes and heart disease among the elderly will soon be
a challenge confronting medical services as the country's elderly
population will be quite significant by 2020. Dr Than said elderly
people with these diseases require continuous care and medication.
Treatment of these illnesses would likely lead to an increase in
health expenditure which would be exacerbated without proper
financial management in the long term. Niyada Kiatying-Angsulee,
manager of Thai Drug Watch, told the gathering that medicines were a
major source of income for hospitals. They benefit when they
prescribe brand-name drugs. The pharmacist also criticised the
Commerce Ministry for failing to introduce a reference price for
medicines, which has led to double standards in health financing and
drug prices.
From http://www.bangkokpost.com/ 12/27/2011
TOP↑
Thai Panel Calls for
Reform to Royal Insult Law
An independent Thai commission has called for reform of the
kingdom's law against insulting the monarchy, which has attracted
mounting criticism for suppressing freedom of expression. In a
letter to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, sent to AFP on
Thursday, the Truth for Reconciliation Commission of Thailand (TRCT)
said the government "should push for an amendment of the law
governing lese majeste offences". Under the law now, anyone
convicted of insulting the king, queen, heir or regent faces up to
15 years in prison on each separate count of lese majeste, but the
TRCT said the combined prison term should not exceed seven years.
"It would be appropriate if punishment for offences against Criminal
Penal Code Section 112 were based more on popular sentiment than it
is now. This means that it should be less harsh," the letter said.
It also called for a senior official to be appointed to authorise
criminal proceedings in lese majeste cases. Currently any member of
the public can bring a prosecution and the police are required by
the law to investigate. The letter, dated December 30, said "the
people should also encourage and support such an amendment in order
to bring about peace and reconciliation in our country". Despite the
recommendations and recent attacks on the law, Thailand's political
parties have since said they will not reform it.
The United States, the European Union and the United Nations have
all expressed concern over recent convictions, which have also
sparked small protests both for and against the law in the Thai
capital Bangkok. A 61-year-old Thai man was jailed in November for
20 years for sending text messages deemed insulting to the monarchy,
while a US citizen in December was handed two-and-a-half years in
prison for allegedly defaming the king. The same month a political
activist was sentenced to 15 years in jail for defaming the royals
during speeches at rallies in 2008 held by the "Red Shirt" movement,
which supports ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra. Opponents of the
law say it has increasingly been used in Thailand as a political
tool to stifle free speech, particularly under the last government,
which was supported by the Bangkok-based elite. Observers say the
new government led by Yingluck, who is Thaksin's sister, has yet to
deal with the problem since it came to power in August. The TRCT was
set up by the last government in 2010 after the worst political
violence in decades, which saw more than 90 people die in clashes
between the army and Red Shirt demonstrators.
From http://www.channelnewsasia.com/ 01/12/2012
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Thailand Cabinet Approves
4 Financial Decrees to Facilitate Water Management Investment
Cabinet approves 4 financial decrees to facilitate water
management investment - The Thai cabinet on Tuesday approved four
urgent decrees on the acquisition of funds for massive investment in
the country's water management projects to restore confidence among
the public after the country has been severely hit by its worst
flooding in decades. Council of State Secretary-General Atchaporn
Charuchinda announced the cabinet meeting action to a news briefing
after the cabinet last week agreed in principle but assigned
concerned agencies to thrash out and revised details of the four
financial decrees.
From http://buzz.thaimogul.com/ 01/12/2012
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BANGLADESH: Policy
Coordination Must to Face Economic Crisis - ADB
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) feels there should be greater
coordination among the government policies to address the
country's current economic crisis. "Greater coordination among
monetary, fiscal and exchange rate policies is essential for
addressing macroeconomic challenges," Thevakumar Kandiah,
just-retired country director of the multilateral donor agency,
told UNB in an exclusive interview. Kandiah, who gave the
interview on January 11, retired the next day from his job after
a long career with the ADB. According to the outgoing ADB
country chief, after attaining6.7 percent growth in gross
domestic product (GDP) in fiscal 2010-11, the country's
macroeconomic management came under pressure in 2011 from
rapidly rising inflation, a sharp rise in government borrowing
from the banking system, and growing pressure on foreign
exchange reserves, and the exchange rate. "Fiscal management
also faces challenges, with decline in aid absorption, and
growing subsidies financed by higher bank borrowing," he said.
Terming energy crisis as the most important infrastructural
impediment to development in Bangladesh, Kandiah observed that
the rental power plants have been effective to solve the nagging
crisis in the short term, but it has put pressure on the economy
because of sharp and sudden rise in fuel imports for power
generation. He said, the gas crisis has taken a serious turn
because significant reserves could not be discovered and the
crisis may continue. The efforts to secure more gas supplies by
expediting exploration and additional investment on gas
production need to be more vigorously pursued. Adjusting the
power, gas and petroleum prices reflecting the actual costs of
supply may create short-term difficulties, but will benefit the
economy in the long run. "Aformula for petroleum prices
adjustment will be effective. This will ensure efficient use of
these scarce resources and adequate finances for essential
future infrastructure development in the power and energy
sectors." Defending the donor agency's role in the country's
energy sector, Kandiah said ADB has continued interest in the
energy sector as it has always been in the past.
According to the ADB's Country Partnership Strategy for
Bangladesh for 2011-2015, the energy sector will continue to be
an important sector for ADB assistance to the country during the
next five years. Replying to a question, Kandiah said, there are
no major differences on key economic policy issues between the
two big political parties. The political stability is essential
for attracting investment and boosting economic growth. "We hope
that it will be possible to adopt a better political culture
based on mutual respect and democratic tolerance." About the
government's move to resume the operations some state-owned
enterprises, which were shut down during the previous government
because of their continuous losses, he said it is necessary to
ensure that, once reopened, these enterprises are able to run
profitably, and do not become a burden on the government budget.
When asked for comparing Bangladesh economy with the economies
of the other nations in South and South East Asia, the outgoing
ADB country director said despite challenges, Bangladesh is
making good progress in socioeconomic developments.
The country succeeded in maintaining average GDP growth of
6percent in the past decade, up from 4.8 percent in the 1990s
and 3.5 percent in the 1980s. He said Bangladesh aspires to
attain middle income country status by2021, and seeks to make
substantial progress on the 'Human Development Index'. Referring
to a recent Household Income and Expenditure Survey, it showed a
decrease in poverty from 40 percent to 31.5 percent over the
past five years. "The economy nonetheless needs to grow faster
to make any major impact in terms of poverty reduction, and
match the growth rates achieved by other strong performers in
developing Asia. Bangladesh has great potential to grow faster
than before by removing infrastructure shortages, deepening
reforms, improving the investment climate, and strengthening
regional connectivity." Kandiah mentioned that ADB assistance to
Bangladesh has significantly increased over the years. Under the
ADB's Country Partnership Strategy for Bangladesh for 2011-2015,
around US$1 billion will be provided annually during the next
five years. The assistance was around $500 million per annum on
an average during 2005-2006.
From http://thenewnationbd.com/ 01/16/2012
TOP↑
INDIA: Lower House Passes
Anti-corruption Bill
The lower house of the Indian parliament has passed
anti-corruption Lokpal bill amidst fresh protest hunger strike by
campaigner Anna Hazare against a "toothless" Lokpal. The Lokpal bill
sets up an independent ombudsman with the power to prosecute
politicians and civil servants. A string of major corruption
scandals has hit the government's reputation/ Photo credit: AP Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh said the passage of the bill was a "special
moment" in the life of the nation. But Hazare has called the bill
"weak and useless" in its present form. A string of major corruption
scandals has damaged the government's reputation.
Loud applause
Dr. Singh spoke out strongly in parliament in support of the bill.
"There are some very special moments in the life of the nation. This
is one of them," he said. "The broad provisions of the bill have
been debated both in public domain and by political parties. It is
my honest belief that the bill which is now before the house lives
up to the promise." He received loud applause when he said it was
wrong to paint all officials as corrupt. Singh said it was also the
duty of parliament to determine the passage of the law, in an
apparent reference to Hazare, whose 12-day anti-corruption fast in
August became the focus of a national campaign and put pressure on
the government to act on the issue. Hazare's main complaint is that
the bill proposes keeping India's top investigation agency, CBI, out
of the purview of the ombudsman. In other words, the nine-member
Lokpal committee - which will include the ombudsman - will not have
its own investigative agency, a major demand of anti-corruption
activists like Mr Hazare and many opposition parties. The government
has also kept outside the ombudsman's remit a "citizen's charter"
for the timely investigation of public grievances against the
government, another demand of Hazare. Instead, it has tabled a
separate citizen's charter bill in parliament which makes it
mandatory for every government ministry and department to act within
30 days on public complaints about services.
Jail protests
Ahead of his three-day fast in Mumbai, which began on Tuesday,
Hazare said: "Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is not keeping his word
on bringing a strong anti-corruption law." The BBC's Supriya Menon
has been to a rally supporting Anna Hazare in Mumbai. There were
reports on Tuesday that the 74-year-old Mr Hazare was sick and
running a high temperature but was refusing to end the fast. His
supporters in Delhi will also hold protests at the capital's Ramlila
ground, the site of Hazare's fast in August. Hazare's aides say that
more than 125,000 people have signed up to "go to jail" if
parliament does not pass the bill they want. A recent survey said
corruption in India had cost billions of dollars and threatened to
derail growth.
From http://southasia.oneworld.net/ 12/28/2011
TOP↑
Internet Censorship in
India
Blocking of websites in India for political considerations has
been in news for some time. The fact that this power is being
politically misused is confirmed by the incident where the website
of a political cartoonist, Mr Aseem Trivedi participating in the
Anna Hazare protest in MMRDA grounds has been blocked. Times of
India has reported that the cartoon site of Aseem Trivedi was
blocked by blocking the domain name cartoonsagainstcorruption.com.
The uniqueness of this blocking incident has been that it is not an
ISP level blocking but a blocking at the domain name level by a
notice to the domain name registrar BigRock. Also the site has been
remove not by a Court order but by Police action. While the cartoon
site has reportedly been now moved to another host, the incident
creates a legal precedent of far reaching consequences though in a
wrong context. It is to be noted that blocking an objectionable
content is different from forcing cancellation of a domain name.
Domain Name is a "Virtual Property" and what Mumbai Police have done
in this case is "Depriving a Citizen of his Right to Property". This
is violation of his fundamental right. The action needs to be
questioned. The domain name registrar BigRock.in should also be
questioned on the propriety of their action without even giving an
opportunity for the domain owner to defend. It amounts to deficiency
of service on their part. Their action reminds me of the famous
quote in the Post Emergency days that "When some people were asked
to bend, they crawled". This incident is therefore to be considered
as a serious threat to democratic principles. As we know
Bloggernews.net is also a blocked site in India. I therefore request
viewers of this post to redistribute this information to their
friends in India so that some legal action can be initiated in
Mumbai against this illegal action of the Mumbai Police.
From http://www.bloggernews.net/ 01/07/2012
TOP↑
Orissa Government to
Formulate E-governance Policy
With view of facilitating the implementation of e-Governance
projects in a speedy manner, the state government of Orissa has
decided to take a series of initiatives. New policies on information
technology and hardware production are imminent. All these proposed
policies have been discussed at a recently convened meeting presided
by the state's chief secretary. The state government had roped in
the globally reputed consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers, to prepare a
report on the implementation of e-Governance in 21 key departments.
The report is an overview of the preparedness of these departments
to implement e-governance initiatives. The report has also shed
light on the manpower and hardware requirement for such departments.
Detailed project reports (DPRs) will be prepared by all the
departments. The state's chief secretary has asked different
departments to prioritise the activities of the department which
they would put first put to online. According to official sources
said that the Rural Development department has developed software
and applied it to the accounts monitoring of different projects. The
works and other engineering departments have been advised to adopt
this software with modifications as per the needs of the department.
The works department has also developed a project monitoring
software which other engineering departments including rural
development have been asked to adopt.
From http://egov.eletsonline.com/ 01/07/2012
TOP↑
SRI LANKA: To Amend
Election Law to Introduce Electronic Voting
Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya told media that the
government is considering amending the current election law so that
it would be possible to initiate electronic voting instead of the
laborious hand counting system that is in practice now. "Large
amounts of public money are spent on elections as they are done
manually with the entire process needing many people and resources,"
said Deshapriya. "Thousands of people have to be deployed to carry
ballot boxes, distribute voting cards, guard polling stations and
monitor that the elections are not rigged. The largest number of
public workers is needed to count and tally the results." The
re-allocation of electorates and aligning of the system will enable
electronic voting to be implemented in Sri Lanka, one of South
Asia's oldest democracies and the first in the region to get the
universal franchise for women, said Deshapriya.
From Xinhuanet.com 01/16/2012
TOP↑
NEPAL: Minister Stresses
on Developing Science, Technology for Nepal's Prosperity
Minister for Science and Technology Kalpana Dhamala said the
country could not take strides without developing science and
technology. According to RSS, addressing an interaction programme
organized after visiting different departments under the Tribhuwan
University (TU) on Monday, Minister Dhamala said she was effortful
to steer ahead the science and technology sector to the path of
development and progress. 'Emphasis should be laid on the
advancement of technology considering needs of the country so as to
take Nepal to the direction of prosperity', she added. At the
programme, Dean at the Institute of Science and Technology, TU,
Prof. Dr. Mukunda Gajurel stressed that the government should spur
investment in the area of science and technology so as to bring
about advancement in this sector. Scientist Diensh Bhujel opined
that much could be done in the science and technology sector if the
government came up with commitment and courage. On the occasion,
heads of the departments of botany and biology had apprised the
Minister about the problems facing their departments.
From http://www.nepalnews.com/ 01/10/2012
TOP↑
|
 |
UAE: Announces Plans to
Publish Data
The United Arab Emirates has announced plans to publish more
data, according a Jan. 9 report in Gulf News.com by Zaher Bitar.
The federal government "has urged its ministries and departments
to publish more open data on their websites to enhance
e-readiness and help promote the concept of open government, one
of the pillars of a knowledge-based economy," according to the
article, noting that publishing open data is one of criteria in
the United Nations' e-government survey. Emirates e-government
has allocated a special section on the UAE federal government
portal (government.ae) for open data from all federal government
entities, according to the article, further noting, "Dubai is
the first emirate to implement e-government by bringing all
services online." "Ahmad Bin Humaidan, director general of Dubai
E-government, told Gulf News that although most of the required
data are available on the websites of the government bodies, the
government plans to publish more data to add to the existing
online information and services through a centralised portal to
increase awareness and access," the report said.
From http://www.freedominfo.org/ 01/13/2012
TOP↑
Minister: Azerbaijan's Tax
Policy Is Ground to Pursue Efficient and Competitive Economical
Policy in Region
Taxation service and its role in e-government in Azerbaijan
The structure of economy was changing and diversifying, and the
private business was developing into main factor of economic life of
Azerbaijan, Fazil Mammadov, Minister of Taxes said in interview with
foreign media outlets. "In such a phase the modernization of
taxation service was an important task assumed by leadership of the
country," Mammadov said. "When launching this process a number of
key goals were put forward. These included improvement of
legislation, establishment of taxation management based on
up-to-date standards and development of wide range of taxation
services," he said. Mammadov underlined that the taxation service
modernization process started in Azerbaijan approximately 10-11
years ago. "Then Haydar Aliyev, the late national leader, the
previous President of Azerbaijan charged us with very serious tasks
when signing the decree on establishment of Ministry of Taxes. Our
country experienced the period of revival and Azerbaijan started to
make its contribution to energy sector in both regional and world
scale," he said.
He stressed that gradually the large-scale reforms started to be
implemented in the taxation system having acquired serious political
support in the person of President of the country. "As you know this
factor is important for every serious reform implemented in the area
of economy. I think that in fact the attitude of leadership of the
country to the implemented works played an important role in all
successes achieved by the taxation service. In these terms in fact
we also had some luck because both Haydar Aliyev, the National
Leader and Ilham Aliyev, President were the persons with quite
demanding, open and pragmatic views in regard to economic reforms,"
Mammadov added. He stressed that during the last 10 years Azerbaijan
undersigned very significant achievements in the area of mitigation
of taxation load, modernization of taxation management, and
implementation and expansion of information technologies in taxation
service. "We have managed to establish efficient taxation tools, to
build the adequate and flexible taxation system compliant with
changing and rapidly growing volume of economy. Today the
Azerbaijani economy accounts for 80 percent of economy of the
Southern Caucasus. There are over 400 thousands taxpayers in our
country. The Azerbaijani taxation system renders services to the
largest economic system of the region," Mammadov underscored.
The Minister said the main line of the reforms implemented by
ministry in taxation system during the recent years is to achieve
securing of success in all areas of the taxation service as a whole
by ensuring improvement of the service in terms of technology. The
Ministry of Taxes started the process of electronization of the
services to be considered an integral part of the electronic
government in 2005 and the wide State Program was implemented for
improvement of tax administration in the taxation system. "As a
result of dialogue and wide exchange of experiences with the
international financial institutions, as well as our foreign
partners firstly the technological foundation of the taxation system
capable of integrating within itself the mobile and wide-range
technical capacities was established," Mammadov underlined. He
stressed that the implementation of Automated Tax Information System
(AVIS) giving the opportunity to conduct tax administration
processes in electronic mode was achieved in 2006. "This gave us the
opportunity to store and process data in the integrated information
space and to ensure electronic document circulation and rapid
information exchange. We could fully electronize all intra-system
processes within short space of time," he added.
He stressed that the quite broad technical capacities have been
designed for AVIS. "When establishing this system we envisaged to
apply thereby to taxpayers the most up-to-date practices existing in
the area of electronic services during the forthcoming period. All
these were surely implemented in parallel with the process of
fulfillment fiscal tasks stipulated in the budget," Mammadov said.
According to the minister, the economic growth in the country, the
intensiveness of economic relations influenced the opportunities for
more radical change of the system. "Moreover, the created
circumstances were favorable for implementation of these reforms and
I would like to reiterate that we had political support in the
person of leaders of the country which was necessary for
implementation of the reforms," he said. Therefore in the next 5
years the implementation of more serious projects was started, he
added. He mentioned that in 2007 the Internet Tax Office portal of
the Ministry of Taxes, one of the largest state portals was
commissioned and the mailing of declarations in electronic format
was launched. "The implementation of electronic declarations system
in general had significantly reduced the time required for
development and ending to a tax agency of the declarations.
Currently on average 90 percent of declarations submitted by
taxpayers to the Ministry of Taxes is sent in electronic format," he
underlined.
Mammadov stressed that during the past period the opportunity for
use of electronic tax invoices by taxpayers, and for benefiting from
"Online record keeping" system facilitating correspondence in
electronic format between citizens and state agencies was created.
He said a personal electronic mail box was created in
www.e-taxes.gov.az webpage of the Ministry for every taxpayer so
that the taxpayers could obtain thereby any document of
informational nature related to the taxation system. He stressed
that since 2008 the implementation registration of entrepreneurial
entities using the one-stop shop principle has been an integral part
of the electronic services rendered by us and is very positively
appraised by taxpayers and international organizations. "It is worth
mentioning that Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of
Azerbaijan personally participated in presentation ceremony of the
one-stop shop system. The successful application of this system in
state registration of commercial entities later on gave impetus to
application of the one-stop shop principle in other areas as well.
This process is continuously modernized," Mammadov said.
Benefits of private enterprise development in Azerbaijan
There are two approaches to viewing the reforms accompanied by the
application of modern technologies to the tax system, minister
believes. "If you approach the reforms from the standpoint of tax
authorities, we may observe a more sophisticated control procedure.
From this perspective, control has enabled an analysis of tax
statements and a transparent procedure of control over the payment
of taxes using software," Mammadov said. He stressed that the
carefully designed and introduced analytical measures have increased
tax collection and facilitated the gathering of valuable
information, which is highly important for identifying future
directions of the tax policy. "In our opinion, this makes a direct
impact to the taxpayers to be more loyal and to increase the level
of being voluntary in the process of carrying out their payments.
Today in Azerbaijan 90 percent taxpayers present their declarations,
and 80 percent carrying out their tax payments in time. This is a
high indicator in comparison with the developed countries, and I
consider this is one the most important achievements that we gained
in fact," Mammadov underlined. He believes that on the other hand,
information and communication technologies play an important role in
ensuring of transparency in the activity of state agencies.
"E-services strengthen confidence to the state body, as well as it
contributes to prevent the corruption and procrastination. At the
same time, this process stimulates to the transparency of taxpayers
activity, and make use new technologies," he said.
Overall, successful development of business depends on the
establishment of operational mechanisms that makes opportunity to
eliminate all problems in maximum fast and convenient way which
state agencies faced in the operation process, the Minister
believes. "In tax system we have maximally tried to simplify this
process. Nowadays anyone who wants to be engaged with the business
can easily pass through the state registration, can send his (her)
declaration not coming to the tax authorities, can pay taxes, and
can be informed on the issues that concerned him by phone 195 which
is our special service 24 hours a days," Mammadov said. The Minister
stressed that the decree of Mr. Ilham Aliyev, the President of the
Republic of Azerbaijan on "Measures in the organization of
e-services in State agencies" dated 23 May 2011 put serious duties
for closed perspectives in front of state agencies. "We see 2012 as
a year of serious changes in the field of e-government. I consider
that in a short space of time you will be witness of great changes
in this field in Azerbaijan," Mammadov said. Azerbaijan tax services
will be active participation of this process, minister believes. He
said that the Ministry of Taxes intends to complete the
implementation of tax system by the new technologies entirely in the
near future and the implementation of relations between tax agencies
and tax payers without any contact, only by electronic means and
achieve the provision of the e-audit.
"We try to establish attractive, simple and the same time
transparency and stable tax system for competitive investors. The
tax policy of our country is ground for carrying out an efficient
and competitive economical policy in the region," Mammadov said. He
mentioned that in accordance with the requirements set by the
President of the country in front of us we are trying to create
partnership relations between public and private sector based on
mutual benefits. A special attention will be offered to taxpayers
based on modern information technologies and being reliable in tax
administration in any space of time and place. "We also are trying
that taxpayer not to accept tax service as an observing body, but to
see it as a reliable partner to come up with any problem. In this
regard, the process of formation of professional staff of tax
service is being continued," he added. According to Mammadov, the
movement of capital flow in the modern world, the allocation of
financial resources in sufficient large scale area, the attraction
of investment for the development of non-oil sector in economy, as
well as the transformation of modern business activities to
electronic format creates a foundation for tax system to become a
public service with more flexible conforming opportunities to meet
market requirements. "Our government is to continue this policy more
actively in coming years," he underlined.
From http://en.trend.az/ 01/06/2012
TOP↑
Top Official: National
Human Rights Program Defines Main Directions of Azerbaijan's
Activity
The National Action Program on Improvement of Human Rights and
Freedoms Protection should be considered in the context of
challenges raised within preparation of "Azerbaijan 2020: Look into
the future" development strategy, head of Human Rights Protection
Sector of the Department for Law Enforcement Agencies Affairs at the
Azerbaijani Presidential Administration Chingiz Asgarov said.
Asgarov noted that the program defines protection of human rights as
a priority of the Azerbaijani president's policy. The National
Program reflects Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's position, his
view of the country as a modern democratic state with a developed
economy and effective social policy, holding strong positions in the
region, he said. Previous experience in carrying out activities in
human rights, as well as other countries' experience was used while
developing the Program, Asgarov added. The program outlines the main
directions of Azerbaijan's activity for the upcoming years and, in
fact, provides the public and the international community with a
complete picture of country's priorities in protection of human
rights and freedoms. The program also took into account the position
of the European Court of Human Rights defined not only in decisions
concerning Azerbaijan, but also other countries. Asgarov said the
National Program defines the mechanisms of coordination, monitoring
and evaluation of its execution for the first time. A special
working group has been tasked to coordinate the execution of the
National Program and it consists of representatives from agencies
set as executors of different activities. Asgarov said the
Azerbaijani President's order on approval of National Program
recommends the Ombudsman to lead the working group. "The working
group will regularly inform the Azerbaijani President on results of
activities. The Presidential Administration will analyze this data
and based on assessments, provide the President with proposals on
improving the program. Thus, a comprehensive and efficient mechanism
of execution is being provided," Asgarov said.
From http://en.trend.az/ 01/09/2012
TOP↑
New Trends in SOCAR
Strategy
Sometimes, not very noticeable events can lead to brilliant
results. SOCAR, along with the German Development Agency of North
Rhine Westphalia NRW.İNWEST GmbH and the cluster of new the
nano-microfabrication, NanoMikro + Werkstoffe. NRW signed a
Memorandum of Understanding which provides a division of the
Research and Production Centre of SOCAR's Nanotechnology in North
Rhine- Westphalia, as well as financing a technical and legal basis
for joint projects such as the definition of the territory for the
production of Nano-systems and the study of the market. Cooperation
between the parties will be focused on the organisation of sales and
market study in the European Union and elsewhere. The memorandum
also provides the implementation of joint projects in the EU on the
basis of SOCAR nanotechnology.
It is not a trivial investment that SOCAR has made in its network of
filling stations, which, of course, is also very important for the
company, but is an expansion of markets for its products. It is a
modern commercial approach of the 21st century and SOCAR has taken
another step to get closer to the level of the most successful
European oil companies. According to Battelle and R & D Magazine
forecasts, investing in research and development in the world will
grow by 5.2 per cent in 2012, amounting to the sum of more than $1.4
trillion and the main engines of growth will be the Asian economies.
Expenses for research and development in some European countries
(per cent of GDP):
2010 2011 2012 forecast
Germany 2,82 2,85 2,87
Russia 1,03 1,05 1,08
Switzerland 3 3 3
Turkey 0,85 0,9 0,9
Poland 0,68 0,72 0,72
Czech 1,53 1,55 1,55
Hungary 1,15 1,2 1,2
Romania 0,59 0,65 0,66
The share of expenditure on research and development in Azerbaijan
in recent years is 0.2 per cent of the GDP (according to the
Government Committee of Statistics of Azerbaijan). This proportion
is three to four per cent in most developed countries. Battelle
experts believe international cooperation in this field to be one of
the major trends in 2012. Nano developments of Azerbaijani
scientists made in recent years in the oil industry were highly
regarded by international organisations. Their application has
improved a number of processes associated with mining, drilling,
petrochemical production quality and environmental standards. The
company has approved a NANONEFT programme planned for 2010-2015.
Decisions on joint practical work with their German colleagues in
the field of nanotechnology in the oil and gas industry is a new
trend in the company's policy, which is marked not just by the
desire to conquer sales markets and offer products of intellectual
capital. It is a brand new level for SOCAR and Azerbaijan. The
country is on the last slot on high technology export according to a
report on global competitiveness of world economies.
Another new trend in the strategy of SOCAR is training future
personnel. Recently, the company and the Texas A & M University
agreed to cooperate in this area. The head of SOCAR, met with the
leaders of the world-renowned University of Texas A & M in Houston
where he discussed the possibilities of future cooperation under the
decree of the President of Azerbaijan on the establishment of a Baku
oil high school as part of the company's structure. He said that
SOCAR has implemented large-scale investment projects outside of
Azerbaijan, particularly in Europe and noted that the company needs
experts with up-to-date knowledge and having a high intellectual
potential in order to take rightful place in international markets.
Talks with the University of Aberdeen (Scotland) were also held.
There is a curriculum being prepared at the school at the moment.
SOCAR Investment in research and development, as well as the
creation of a strong human resource capacity will create conditions
for a breakthrough of the company on a global scale.
From http://en.trend.az/ 01/11/2012
TOP↑
IRAN: Strict Cyber
Regulations Lay Groundwork for 'Halal' Network
New cyber regulations announced by Iran last week, including
requiring Internet cafes to install surveillance cameras, could be
just a precursor to the Islamic Republic's "halal" network, many
observers are saying. That network, an "Islamically permissible"
intranet that the nation's telecommunications ministry publicized in
early 2011, would disconnect Iran from the rest of the world and run
a parallel internal service that would automatically censor material
and block popular global sites and search engines, such as Facebook,
Google and Wikipedia. "I don't think it's a question of if, but a
question of when," said Austin Heap, executive director of the
Censorship Research Center, who also works on developing
technologies for increasing Internet freedom. At the time of the
announcement, Iranian authorities said the new infrastructure would
be revealed soon, but did not give a specific time frame. "They are
taking the lessons of the 2009 uprisings and figuring out how to
prevent that," Heap said. "A halal network would be only what the
regime would want you to see."
Iran's network could mirror what Burma, another nation with
draconian cyber crackdowns, has done to isolate its people from the
Web, limiting users to a national intranet at a high price that
deters most potential users. Internet users in Iran have reported
more blocked sites and spottier connections since the nation's
harshest cyber regulations to date were unveiled last week. Cyber
police issued a list of 20 new restrictions that cyber cafes, or
Cafe Nets, as they are called in Iran, must implement by Jan. 18.
They include requiring a user to provide full name, father's name,
Iranian identification number, zip code and telephone number, in
addition to presenting photo identification. The laws require cafes
to install closed-circuit surveillance cameras that must be checked
at the end of every business day. Cafes also must keep records of
all websites and browsing history, along with surveillance tapes,
for six months. The new restrictions forbid cafes to allow the use
of any circumvention technology, such as Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)
or proxy servers, the devices Iranians typically use to access
blocked sites.
This latest attack on Internet users comes amid increasing tensions
between Iran and the West and deteriorating economic conditions as
the Islamic Republic preemptively prepares for possible civilian
unrest during its parliamentary elections March 2. Since the 2009
post-election uprisings in Iran, protesters facing violent
retaliation by government forces turned to the Internet and the use
of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, as
well as blogging sites, as effective, popular and safer ways to
voice disenchantment against the regime. Protesters gained global
recognition, as well as the attention of their hard-line government,
by using the Internet as the cornerstone of their political and
social activism, obtaining information, organizing, recruiting and
disseminating ideas to other Iranians and abroad. As the government
began its online suppression, blocking pivotal sites and slowing
Internet connections days before the election, Heap, a 27-year-old
programmer living in Northern California, began instructing Iranians
on how to run third-party proxy servers to access government-blocked
sites. After studying the Iranian government's technology, he
developed specific software for the Iranians that encrypts data and
hides Web activity.
"It's a giant PR campaign. They want the only story out there to be
the one they're trying to push," said Heap, who believes that the
regime has improved its Internet surveillance significantly since
2009. "This is a way of brand control for a dictatorship. They want
control over the story." Since 2009, the Islamic Republic has
arrested many journalists, photojournalists and bloggers who openly
criticized the regime. Last year, suspicions that Iran's rapid
advancement in cyber surveillance capabilities could be imported
from the West prompted Congress' investigative division, the
Government Accountability Office, to launch a probe into American
suppliers selling high-level communications spy technology to the
nation. While the study was unable to name specific businesses, the
report was used to enforce broadened sanctions against Iran, making
it illegal for U.S. entities to export sensitive technologies. But
the obstacles to unplugging Iran's savvy and Internet-dependent
society are more than technical. Two-thirds of the country's 78
million people are under the age of 35, and about 40 percent of the
population have Internet in their homes, according to Internet World
Stats, making it one of the highest per capita cyber-connected
populations in the world.
"Their goal is to close off the political ambience and limit the
interaction of political and social activists," said Ramin, a
32-year-old political blogger from Tehran who declined to reveal his
real name for security purposes. Although Ramin does not frequent
Internet cafes, he spends about six hours a day online, including
about two hours on Facebook. "Shutting down the Internet is not the
biggest deal. What I am afraid of is losing communication with the
outside and losing our means of getting information," he said.
Suppressing the free flow of ideas and censoring popular sentiment
are nothing new for the Islamic Republic, which has engaged in a
"soft war" against Western ideas, influence and infiltration since
the 2009 uprisings. In those two years, roughly $76 million of the
total $11.5 billion allocated to the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps
has been spent on cyber warfare, a battle "against old enemies using
new strategies," the government once said about combating cyber
dissidents in a hard-line newspaper. A task force of 250,000 cyber
police currently monitors the Internet, specific sites, blogs and
individuals suspected of using circumvention tools. "The regime
thinks that with censorship and force they can control the people
and stay in power for many more years, but sooner or later, the
people will rise up again," Ramin said.
From http://www.foxnews.com/ 01/12/2012
TOP↑
Iran Issues Warning to
Gulf Arabs on Oil
CAIRO - Iran warned Gulf Arab oil producers against boosting
production to offset any potential drop in Tehran's crude exports in
the event of an embargo affecting its oil sales, the latest salvo in
the dispute between the West and the Islamic Republic over its
nuclear program. The comments by Iran's Opec governor, published on
Sunday, came as Saudi Arabia's oil minister was quoted the same day
denying that his country's earlier pledges to boost output as needed
to meet global demand was linked to a potential siphoning of Iranian
crude from the market because of sanctions.
Sanctions over military action
In a related development, the United States and Israel agreed to
postpone a large joint military exercise from this spring to late in
the year to avoid aggravating an already tense regional situation
driven by conflicts with Iran, Israeli media reported on Sunday. The
drill, slated for May and named "Austere Challenge," was announced
in November by Andrew Shapiro, US assistant secretary of state for
politics-military affairs, at the Washington Institute for Near East
Policy. The exercise as originally planned would include more than
5,000 US and Israeli forces and, among other things, simulate
Israel's ballistic missile defense. It would be the "largest and
most significant joint exercise in the allies' history," Shapiro had
said. Britain's foreign secretary, meanwhile, said that European
nations will intensify pressure on Iran over its nuclear program,
but insisted the West wasn't pressing for military action. William
Hague told Sky News television that he believed the European Union
would agree tough new sanctions against Tehran's oil sector later
this month, and would continue to look for peaceful methods of
persuading Iran to ditch its pursuit of a nuclear weapon. The top US
military commander is scheduled for talks in Israel this week at a
time when the US is concerned that Israel might be preparing to
attack Iran over its nuclear program.
The Israeli Defense Ministry confirmed the planned visit Thursday by
Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of
Staff. It did not give his agenda for talks with Israelis - but Iran
is expected to be at the top. World oil markets have been jolted
over concerns that Iran may choke off the vital Strait of Hormuz in
retaliation for sanctions hampering its ability to sell its oil.
Saudi Arabia and other key Gulf Arab producers have recently said
they are ready to provide stable and secure supplies of oil. Iran's
official news agency IRNA said on Sunday that the US has relayed a
message to Iran about security in the Strait of Hormuz. It gave no
details, and there was no immediate comment from Washington. The US
recently imposed sanctions targeting Iran's central bank and, by
extension, refiners' ability to buy and pay for crude. The European
Union is also weighing an embargo on Iranian oil, while Japan, one
of Iran's top Asian customers, has pledged to buy less crude from
the country.
Unfriendly act
Mohammad Ali Khatibi, Iran's Opec governor, was quoted on Sunday by
the pro-reform Shargh newspaper as saying that attempts by Gulf
nations to replace Iran's output with their own would make them an
"accomplice in further events." "These acts will not be considered
friendly," Khatibi said, adding that if the Arab producers "apply
prudence and announce that they will not participate in replacing
oil, then adventurist countries will not show interest," in the
embargo. The embargo concerns are linked to Iran's nuclear program.
The West maintains Iran is enriching uranium for weapons purposes
while Tehran says its program is for purely peaceful purposes such
as generating electricity.
Saudi oil to the rescue
Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer and a close US ally,
had said that it was ready to raise its output to accommodate global
market needs. The country is the only member of the 12-nation
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries that has
significant spare capacity, currently estimated at roughly more than
2 million barrels per day. With concerns building amid the standoff
between Iran and the West over Tehran's nuclear program, a string of
Asian and Western officials have visited Saudi Arabia over the past
week. While offering assurances that it could meet a shortfall in
supply through its spare capacity, Saudi officials have also been
careful to say that it was an internal matter if nations chose to
abide by any sanctions. Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi appeared to try to
further clarify the country's position in comments published Sunday
in the daily Al-Ektisadiyah newspaper. "We never said that Saudi
Arabia is trying to compensate for Iranian oil in the case that
sanctions [are enacted]," Al-Naimi was quoted as saying. "We said
that we are prepared to meet the increase in global demand as a
result of any circumstances." The kingdom has a production capacity
of 12.5 million barrels and is believed to be producing slightly
over 9 million to 9.5 million barrels per day. Iran's warning
introduces a new layer of complication to an issue that has the
potential for broad regional and global fallout.
From http://businessmirror.com.ph/ 01/16/2012
TOP↑
KAZAKHSTAN: Launching New
Modernisation Programmes
Kazakhstan has launched a long term programme designed to create
an optimal housing model, set to improve the quality of housing and
communal services and ensure a comfortable lifestyle for the
population, the Prime Minister's official website said. The
modernisation of the housing and communal services programme
launched as a pilot system last year, will enable repairs on general
condominium type properties, including thermo-modernisation by
creating special types of financing. "The unprecedented work was
conducted in all regions to modernise homes and communal complexes
and to repair and construct roads, towns and settlements," President
Nazarbayev said earlier. The Kazakh Centre for Modernisation and
Development of the Communal and Housing Sector together with the
Centre for Public-Private Partnership are developing measures to set
up the elements of the Public-Private Partnership in the municipal
sector, including water supply and the sewerage system, natural gas
industry, power supply, heat supply, garbage removal and lift
maintenance. "More than 81,000 kilometres of a network of natural
gas, power and heat supplies all within the modernisation programme
of housing and communal services is taking place in the Kazakh
Republic from 2011 - 2020," Prime Minister Karim Massimov said
earlier at a meeting of the parliamentary faction of the Nur Otan
party.
From http://en.trend.az/ 01/03/2012
TOP↑
Kazakh President Signs
National Security Law
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed the Law on "National
Security of Kazakhstan" aimed at improving the system (mechanism) to
ensure national security, the press-service of the President
reported on Friday. This law has been developed on the President's
order. The law revises directions of the national security. Thus,
political security was separated as special sphere. It envisages
protection of the constitutional system, the system of state bodies
and public administration procedure. Moreover, the law defines
threats to information security. According to the law, information
impact on social and individual consciousness, connected with the
deliberate distortion and spread of false information which can
detriment national security is classified as threats to the national
security. The law also increased the importance of economic security
issues. In particular, such a threat as decrease in stability of the
financial system is determined.
From http://en.trend.az/ 01/06/2012
TOP↑
President Signs Law on
State Support for Industrial Innovation
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbev signed the law on "State
support for industrial innovation", the presidential press-service
reported on Monday. The law is aimed at creating the legal, economic
and institutional framework which will promote the industrial
innovation in the priority sectors of the economy. Moreover, the law
stipulates the measures of the state support for the industrial
innovation activity.
From http://en.trend.az/ 01/09/2012
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TURKMENISTAN: Parliament
Adopted Law on Political Parties
Turkmen parliament on Tuesday at the thirteenth session adopted
law on political parties, State Information Service of Turkmenistan
reported. According to the report, the bill has been prepared in
accordance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights and Article 30 of the Constitution of Turkmenistan, which
provides the right of citizens to form political parties. The
current draft of law on political parties determine the legal basis
for the creation of political parties, their rights and obligations,
warranties of activity, regulates the relations of political parties
with government agencies and other organizations. The subject of
regulation of the new bill are the social relations arising in
connection with the exercise by citizens of Turkmenistan, the right
of association in political parties and the establishment,
operation, reorganization and liquidation of political parties in
the country. On the eve President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly
Berdimuhamedov, said in his program statement as a presidential
candidate that he supports establishment of new parties in the
country.
From http://en.trend.az/ 01/11/2012
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Turkmenistan Improves
Legislation on Intellectual Property
The members of Mejlis of Turkmenistan jointly with the relevant
agencies have drafted a new edition of Part 4 of the Civil Code
relating to intellectual property rights. According to the official
report, the amendments are intended to promote national and
international level safeguards to protect the rights of the subjects
of intellectual property. In addition, the Parliament of
Turkmenistan has passed the Law "On Copyright and Related Rights",
regulating relations arising in connection with creation and use of
science works, literature and art works, phonograms, performances,
broadcasts, organization of on-air and cable broadcasting. It is
expected that the new law will become the effective tool in
protecting the rights and legitimate interests of authors and
creators of the objects of related rights.
From http://www.turkmenistan.ru/ 01/12/2012
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UZBEKISTAN: Law on
Competition Comes into Force
The new law was adopted by the legislative house of the
parliament in November 2011 and approved by the Senate in December
2011. Uzbek President Islam Karimov signed the law on January 6
2012. The law on "Competition and Restriction of Monopolistic
Activity in Commodity Markets", adopted in 1996, was in force in
Uzbekistan up to now. The adoption of the new law is stipulated by
the fact that a number of rules of the existing law do not quite
correspond to the level of economic development in the country. In
particular, the issues of control over competition in the financial
service markets and the regulation of the auction (tenders) and
exchange auction were not covered. The main purpose of the new law
is to further regulate the relations of competition in commodity and
financial markets. According to the law, the financial market is the
sphere of circulation of financial services rendered by the banks
and other credit, insurers and financial organizations, as well as
the services of professional participants of the securities market
in Uzbekistan or its part. The new law clarified the definition of
some concepts. Some of them were expanded and included into separate
articles - "A group of persons", "Dominant position",
"Monopolistically high price of the goods" and "Exclusive low price
of the goods." Such new concepts as "financial service", "relevant
market", "state authorities", "anticompetitive actions",
"coordination of economic activity", "agreement", "concerted
actions", and "economic concentration" were also introduced along
with the specification of common definition. Furthermore, a separate
chapter of the law is devoted to the anti-competitive actions. It
prohibits unfair competition, as well as coordinated actions and
deals of economic entities, acts and actions of state bodies, and
associations of legal entities that restrict competition.
From http://en.trend.az/ 01/09/2012
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AUSTRALIA: State
Government Alters OPR Agreement
The State Government has paved the way for Chinese investors to
take a stake in the Oakajee Port and Rail project in the Mid
West after modifying the company's state agreement. OPR will
lose its exclusive rights to develop the project, north of
Geraldton, but is likely to remain the key to getting the port
built. The project has struggled with cost blowouts and delays
in the last three years. But, the Premier Colin Barnett believes
the new arrangements that have been announced will guarantee it
gets built. Under the revised agreement, OPR will lose its
exclusive rights to build the project and that opens the door
for other parties to be involved. The Premier has long wanted
Chinese investment in the port and has visited China to push the
project. He has also been the driving force behind the changes
to the agreement. The state opposition says there is now even
greater uncertainty about the port's future. Analysts suggest
the changes could mean new investors take a stake early in the
new year. The Australian Foreign Investment Review board gave
the green light to Japanese giant Mitsubishi to buy Murchison's
50 per cent stake in OPR. If the sale goes ahead, Mitsubishi
will have to find nearly $6 billion to build the port and rail
project and it's likely Chinese companies which already have
huge amounts invested in Mid West mines will be involved.
From http://www.abc.net.au/ 12/29/2011
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Govt Rebuked on Relocation
Grant Scheme
There are claims key towns in the New South Wales south east have
been omitted from the State Governments regional relocation grant
program. Upper House MP and former Member for Monaro, Steve Whan,
says leaked documents show that Cooma, Bombala and Jindabyne have
not been included in advertising for the grant program. The
relocation scheme offers people $7,000 to move from the city to the
bush but has so far only attracted 200 applicants. Mr Whan says the
Government is ignoring job opportunities on the Monaro. "The $1m
promotion of a program that's failing by the New South Wales
Government is going to compound the failings of the regional
relocation program," he said. "It's not including any towns in the
Snowy River, the Bombala or the Cooma-Monaro Shires as towns which
it encourages people to come and move to."
From http://www.abc.net.au/ 01/11/2012
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FIJI: Regime Announces End
to Emergency Laws, Censorship
Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has announced an end to
emergency laws that have been in place in the country since 2009,
ABC News reports. In his New Year's address to the nation, Commodore
Bainimarama said the Public Emergency Regulations would end from
Saturday. The regulations give police and the military extended
powers, censor the media, and restrict public assembly. Welcoming
the announcement, NZ Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully said
the lifting of the regulations was an important step towards holding
"free and fair elections". Commodore Bainimarama stressed public
order would be maintained. He also said that he would be announcing
a nationwide consultation process for a new constitution for the
country in the next few weeks.
From http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/ 01/02/2012
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Fiji Lifts Martial Law,
but Installs New Regulations
SYDNEY, Australia - Fiji's military rulers on Saturday officially
lifted a state of martial law that has been in place since 2009,
setting the stage for public deliberations on a new constitution and
a promised return to democratic elections within the next two years.
However, even as the lifting of martial law was being praised in the
capital, Suva, the country's leader, Commodore Josaia Voreqe
Bainimarama, also known as Frank Bainimarama, announced a raft of
new regulations and restrictions that have prompted concerns that
his government will pursue the sheen of legitimacy while continuing
to silence its critics through force. Fiji, a former British colony
made up of roughly 330 islands in the central Pacific Ocean, has
been under military rule since a 2006 coup led by Mr. Bainimarama.
The emergency regulations that ended Saturday had greatly expanded
police powers, placed government censors in newsrooms and curtailed
the rights of nongovernmental organizations and religious
organizations to hold meetings.
In a speech on Friday, Mr. Bainimarama announced that the emergency
laws, which were enacted after a decision to abrogate the
Constitution led the courts to declare his government illegitimate,
would end. He said that the emergency powers had given his
government time to stabilize the country, which has been troubled by
political and ethnic tensions for decades. His opponents, however,
accused the military junta of using its powers to crush dissent and
hobble civil society. "There is nothing more I want than a Fiji with
a truly democratic government, one representative of all Fijians,"
Mr. Bainimarama said. "For the first time in our history, we are on
the path to making this a reality." Since gaining independence from
Britain in 1970, Fiji has been dominated by four military juntas.
But the latest coup and subsequent crackdown isolated the island
state, which is a member of the British-led Commonwealth of Nations.
Australia and New Zealand have imposed unilateral sanctions, and the
country's membership in the Commonwealth was suspended in 2009.
The governments of both Australia and New Zealand cautiously
welcomed the decision to lift the emergency regulations, although
they said that any discussion of an end to sanctions or to the
country's regional isolation would be contingent on measurable
progress on human rights issues and the development of democracy.
While life will be easier for opposition groups, there is a strong
possibility that speech considered inflammatory by the government
could still be punished, said Jenny Hayward-Jones, a regional expert
at the Lowy Institute, a research organization based in Sydney. "It
seems likely that organizations who were the targets of the Public
Emergency Regulations - mostly NGOs, the Methodist Church, prominent
individual critics and media outlets - will need to continue to be
cautious in whatever comments they make about government in the
public domain, because they still stand to be punished under the
additional decrees," Ms. Hayward-Jones said.
In his speech, Mr. Bainimarama compared the new regulations to
antiterrorism legislation in the United States and hate crimes
legislation in Britain and Australia that forbid inflammatory public
speech. Toward the end of the announcement, however, he stated that
no attempts to destabilize the elections or constitutional
consultations would be allowed. "Know that elections cannot be held
in an environment devoid of social cohesion and economic stability,"
Mr. Bainimarama said. "Know that those who seek to destabilize
society only do so to serve their own interests. They do not serve
you. Also know that we will not tolerate an iota of disruption to
the peace, safety, stability and common and equal citizenry we now
enjoy."
From http://www.nytimes.com/ 01/07/2012
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Fiji Publishes Tightened
New Public Order Act
The Fiji interim government has published its revised Public
Order Act, granting itself extended and vast powers to maintain
security. The Act came in force last Friday - a day before the
Public Emergency Regulations were lifted. The Act stipulates that no
one can legally challenge actions taken by the Prime Minister or
senior police officers under the Act. It gives the police the power
to use force, including arms, to break up gatherings considered to
be a threat to public safety while banning criminal and civil
proceedings for any harm or loss caused by the use of such force.
The Act also allows for closer controls on anyone suspected of
breaking the law and detailed rules for meetings, parades and
processions. The Act also allows police to ban any private gathering
attended by a person who has been found in breach of any conditions
imposed on previous meetings.
From http://www.rnzi.com/ 01/09/2012
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NEW ZEALAND: Government
Criticised Over Budget Policy
The Government has been accused of ducking its responsibility to
get beneficiaries back into work. Labour's social development
spokesperson, Jacinda Ardern, has taken a swipe at the Government's
policy of dealing with hardship funding. In September 2010 the
Government introduced a change of policy requiring people who
repeatedly request hardship grants to get budgeting help. As a
result of this policy change New Plymouth Budget Advisory service
manager Stacia Smith said their referrals from Work and Income would
more than double this year. She said the change was not fixing
income mismanagement problems. Instead beneficiaries attending free
budget advice sessions were merely turning up to get a piece of
paper signed as proof they had sought help, Mrs Smith said. Ms
Ardern said it was not budget advice beneficiaries needed but jobs -
and that was Work and Income's responsibility. "It's not a budget
adviser's primary responsibility to try to get beneficiaries into
work.
"To solely say the only thing going on with these people is budget
mismanagement isn't right," she said. "It's no surprise that the
cost of living has increased at the same time as the cost of extra
hardship funding. "Families will always be better off if they're in
work and finding jobs is a better approach to dealing with this."
Minister for Social Development Paula Bennett said beneficiaries in
genuine need were able to get hardship assistance from Work and
Income. "When people continue to live outside their means they are
referred to a budgeting service for advice," she said. "Some people
make poor decisions through lack of understanding and education.
"Budgeting services are there to assist them and I strongly urge
people to make the most of this free service." The Work and Income
policy change went some way towards balancing the right obligations
and incentives for those reliant on welfare, she said. "The
continuation of welfare reforms this year will complete it." The
Taranaki Daily News asked Ms Bennett whether the policy change was
helping educate beneficiaries and if she had received any other
feedback about the manipulation of the system.
From http://www.stuff.co.nz/ 01/12/2012
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Government Plans to Make
Mineral Exploration Easier
The Government is 'very conscious' of environmental obligations,
says Energy and Resources Minister Phil Heatley. Photo / NZPAThe
Government is planning "significant" changes to the Crown Minerals
Act next year to make it easier for miners to explore and then
extract minerals, and it will consult the public and industry soon.
The Government has indicated for some time that it intends reviewing
the act, which sets out the regulatory framework for prospecting and
mining, activities it wants to boost under its economic development
plan. "We're going to make significant changes to the Crown Minerals
Act because conversations to date under previous ministers have
found that there are opportunities to improve the way that companies
can access our minerals, apply for opportunities to explore, that
type of thing," Energy and Resources Minister Phil Heatley told the
Herald. A consultation paper will be released early this year to
inform the Government on changes to the act.
The proposal comes as oil exploration company TAG Oil has written of
turning the East Coast into the "Texas of the south" with the
potential of building thousands of wells in the region. Mr Heatley
would not comment on which aspects of the Crown Minerals Act would
be amended, but said "we can certainly make it more streamlined as a
general high-level term for these companies to identify probable
areas". Under Schedule Four of the act, mining is prohibited on much
of the conservation estate, and the National Government in 2010
backed off plans to remove some areas from that protection in the
face of significant public opposition. Economic Development Minister
Steven Joyce recently expressed confidence that the Government could
"bring the public along" with its plans to develop a bigger mining
industry. Mr Heatley said that although the Government planned to
"get the best out of natural resources" to create jobs and lift the
economy "we're very, very conscious of our environmental
obligations".
The chief executive of mining industry group Straterra, Chris Baker,
said New Zealand needed a regulatory regime that was "competitive"
with other countries to attract mining industry investment. "There's
no question a number of potential investors would say we are not
competitive, so there needs to be changes that make the process, and
this is not about lowering standards, it's about making the process
transparent, understandable and deliverable." However, Greens
co-leader Russel Norman did not accept Mr Heatley and Mr Baker's
assurances that environmental protections would not be weakened
under Crown Minerals Act amendments. "The Government's made no bones
about the fact their economic strategy involves more short-term
extractive industries." The changes to the Crown Minerals Act were
not discussed during talks late last year when Prime Minister John
Key sounded the Greens' co-leaders out on the possibility of a more
formal political relationship.
From http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ 01/16/2012
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SOLOMON ISLANDS: Ratifies
Anti-corruption Convention
Solomon Islands have officially ratified the United Nations
Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). The instruments formalizing
the Solomon Islands membership to UNCAC was made on the 8th of
January 2012 by the Solomon Islands Embassy in New York. Foreign
Minister Peter Shanel Agovaka says that the ratification of UNCAC is
a significant step taken by the government. "This is a firm
demonstration, not only to our people but also to the international
community, that there is strong political will in this current
government in the fight against corruption," said the Foreign
Minister. "The challenge for Solomon Islands is the adoption of an
effective follow-up and monitoring mechanism. Effective technical
assistance, as foreseen in the UNCAC, is therefore crucial for the
successful implementation of the Convention." The UNCAC is the most
recent of a long series of developments in which experts and
politicians have recognized the far-reaching impact of corruption
and economic crimes, including money laundering that undermine the
value of democracy, sustainable development, and rule of law. The
UNCAC was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on October
31, 2003, entering into force on December 14, 2005.
From http://www.solomontimes.com/ 01/12/2012
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South Asia: Corruption
Plagues Daily Life - Political Parties and Police Seen as Most
Corrupt
South Asians regularly have to pay bribes when dealing with their
public institutions, be it to speed up paperwork, avoid problems
with authorities such as the police, or simply access basic
services. A new survey of six South Asian countries published today
by Transparency International, the anti-corruption organisation,
found that more than one in three people who deal with public
services said they pay bribes. In previous surveys of this nature,
only Sub-Saharan Africa had a higher rate of bribe-paying.
The report, Daily Lives and Corruption, Public Opinion in South
Asia, surveyed 7500 people between 2010 and 2011 in Bangladesh,
India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The results help
explain why the region is perceived to have some of the world's
highest levels of corruption, with none of the surveyed countries in
the top half of Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions
Index, in which they all score less than 3.5 out of 10.
Political parties and the police are the most corrupt institutions
in all six countries according to the survey, followed closely by
the parliament and public officials. Officials entrusted to oversee
deals related to buying, selling, inheriting and renting land were
the next likely to demand a bribe. "With bribery such a big a part
of life for South Asians, you can see why so many people are angry
at their governments for not tackling corruption. People are sick of
paying bribes just to get on with their daily lives, and they are
sick of the sleaze and undue influence of public servants," said
Rukshana Nanayakkara, Senior Programme Coordinator for South Asia at
Transparency International.
People prepared to fight corruption
While people across the region say the problem is getting worse,
they are also likely to do something about it. 62 per cent of those
interviewed believe corruption has become worse in the past three
years. People from India and Pakistan are most pessimistic about
worsening corruption.
83 per cent of people declared themselves ready to get involved in
fighting corruption. In India tens of thousands demonstrated for
strong anti-corruption laws in August (see annex for more examples
of people fighting corruption). Less than a quarter of Indians
surveyed thought their government's efforts to fight corruption were
effective. "Governments beware. People think corruption is on the
rise and are willing to take action against it. In 2011 popular
protests have sent a strong message to governments. They must
respect the voice of their people and encourage citizen engagement,"
said Nanayakkara.
According to the survey, the country most plagued by bribery is
Bangladesh where 66 per cent report paying bribes to public
institutions, mostly just to gain access to services that people
should already be entitled to. Another common reason people cited
for paying bribes was to avoid problems with authorities. Two-thirds
of Indians, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis who dealt with the police
ended up paying a bribe.
In Nepal, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka, bribes were mostly paid to
speed things up, highlighting how corruption can also be a barrier
to business expansion. In Sri Lanka significantly more people paid
bribes to tax authorities than other services, while in Nepal and
the Maldives, customs services reportedly receive the most bribes.
From http://www.transparency.org/ 12/22/2011
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The First Meeting of ASEAN
Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights on the ASEAN Human
Rights Declaration
The ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR)
convened its First Meeting on the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration (AHRD)
from 08 - 09 January 2012 in Siem Reap, Cambodia. This was the first
meeting under the Cambodian Chairmanship and chaired by H.E. Om
Yentieng, Senior Minister and President of the Cambodian Human
Rights Committee (CHRC), the Cambodian Representative, the Chair of
AICHR, in 2012.
The Chair's Statement of the 19th ASEAN Summit noted the task given
by the Foreign Ministers to AICHR to finalize the drafting of the
ASEAN Human Rights Declaration and to submit a Progress Report to
the AMM Retreat in January 2012. Pursuant to this task, the Meeting
held discussion and adopted the Progress Report on the AHRD to the
ASEAN Foreign Ministers. In the Progress Report, AICHR reaffirmed
its commitment and determination to finalize the AHRD in 2012 and
set out the way it will achieve that aim. AICHR also appreciated the
hard work of the Drafting Group to produce the basic draft of the
AHRD and their Final Report.
The Meeting also discussed its tentative 2012 calendar for
deliberation on the AHRD. The 2012 calendar for AICHR sets out the
agreed dates and venues for AICHR meetings on the AHRD and the three
regular meetings of AICHR. The Meeting expressed appreciation to the
Host for the hospitality and excellent arrangements for the Meeting.
The Second Meeting of AICHR on the AHRD will be held from 17 - 19
February 2012 at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia.
From http://www.asean.org/
01/08/2012
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Global Organizations to
Expand Cooperation on Green Growth for Development
Mexico City - Governments looking to design and implement green
growth policies and move towards a green economy now have a new
source of information and assistance. Four leading global
organizations today signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create
the Green Growth Knowledge Platform, a cutting edge global
initiative that will identify and address major knowledge gaps in
green growth theory and practice. The agreement was signed by the
Global Green Growth Institute, the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development, the United Nations Environment
Programme, and the World Bank.
"This MoU marks the formal launch of essential international
cooperation on testing, exploring, and refining policies and actions
on green growth for practical implementation in both developed and
developing countries," said Richard Samans, Executive Director of
the Global Green Growth Institute. The coming decade will offer
major opportunities for synergy between environmental and economic
sustainability. For example, developing countries can factor "green"
into their new investments in infrastructure and can further develop
agriculture and other natural resources to improve livelihoods,
create jobs, and reduce poverty.
"Governments seeking to re-ignite growth after the crisis," said
OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría, "should harness innovation,
investment, and entrepreneurship to drive the shift to greener
economies. We must intensify our efforts to move towards green
growth to preserve natural capital and reduce pollution. It will be
essential to avoid path dependency by breaking old habits of
consumption and investing in new technology and infrastructure. The
Green Growth Knowledge Platform will be key for facilitating
collaboration among our four institutions, to provide governments
with the best possible tools to achieve this goal."
The Green Growth Knowledge Platform will improve local, national,
and global economic policy-making around the world by providing
rigorous and relevant analysis of the various synergies and
tradeoffs between the economy and the environment. It will
complement other efforts by emphasizing policy instruments that
yield local environmental co-benefits while stimulating growth,
providing a compelling set of incentives for governments.
Sylvie Lemmet, Director of UNEP's Division of Technology, Industry
and Economics, said, "The Platform offers new opportunities to push
the envelope on how a green economy transition can generate jobs and
income, while producing positive impacts on the environment and
setting a new threshold for enhanced global cooperation towards
accelerating and scaling up sustainable development."
The MoU signing took place on the eve of the inaugural Green Growth
Knowledge Platform conference. The conference, with more than 120
leading scholars and practitioners, has been organized in
partnership with Mexico to:
·take stock of the current understanding of the economics of green
growth;
·engage researchers and practitioners in an ongoing dialogue to
increase understanding of how green growth approaches can be applied
in the field;
·identify knowledge gaps and establish priorities for
knowledge-building work and implementation; and
·launch follow-on efforts.
"This conference is taking an important step in convening a
community of experts and practitioners to develop a shared,
evidence-based vision of the contributions greener growth can make
to sustainable development," said Rachel Kyte, Vice President for
Sustainable Development at the World Bank. "By joining forces and
sharing data, we can equip policy makers everywhere with better
tools to manage the choices and trade-offs that greener and more
inclusive growth may entail."
The MoU signing and conference are the first steps toward the Green
Growth Knowledge Platform's efforts to shape the global knowledge
agenda for green growth. Moving forward, the Platform will organize
new research programs around a handful of priority themes to be
identified later this week, as well as cultivate a dynamic global
community of green growth researchers and practitioners.
From http://web.worldbank.org/ 01/11/2012
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CHINA: New Corruption
Patterns Observed
A set of new corruption patterns in China, including
transnational graft and investment-like kickbacks, were disclosed in
a blue book published Friday by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences,
Xinhua reported. The flow and integration of resources, capital,
cultures and information around the globe has cultivated
cross-border corruption, while cash is no longer the preferred form
of bribery, which has instead become long-term benefits such as
favorable business contracts, access to resource and investments.
More and more cases of corruption in China are involving groups
rather than individuals, and acts of corruption are being done
through implicit means, the report said. It also noted that the
fields of corruption have expanded from the business, political and
judicial areas to social, cultural and educational sectors.
From China.org.cn 12/25/2011
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China Announces Plan to Boost
Services for Elderly
Chinese government issued a five-year plan Tuesday to boost
social services for the elderly under the mounting pressure of an
aging population of 178 million. By 2015, the country expects to
provide 30 beds in nursing homes and community care centers for
every 1,000 elderly people, according to the plan announced by the
State Council on its website.
The country now has a total of 178 million people over 60,
accounting for 13.26 percent of the total population. It has become
the only country in the world with an elderly population of more
than 100 million, and the figure will increase by 3 percent
annually, a State Council statement said. The elderly population is
estimated to reach 221 million in 2015 and 243 million in 2020, the
statement said. The country's social services have lagged behind the
needs of the elderly, said Li Liguo, minister of civil affairs.
In 2010, the number of beds in nursing homes and community care
centers for the aged totaled 3.2 million across China, or 18 beds
for every 1,000. The ratio was lower than 50 to 70 beds per 1,000 in
developed countries, Li said. To meet the target in 2015 set by the
plan, the country plans to add 3.4 million beds and renovate 30
percent of the current facilities, he said. In next five years, new
communities will be required to include care centers for the
elderly, he said.
According to the plan, the country will work to transform some
unused public buildings into nursing homes and encourage small
hotels, villages, enterprises and hospitals to convert unused
facilities into nursing homes. In next five years, at least 50
percent of revenue from the state welfare lottery program will be
spent on social services for the elderly, Li said. The government
will encourage enterprises and non-governmental organizations to
invest in social service facilities for the elderly, he said. The
government will provide preferential policies of land use and credit
to attract more investment in the sector, according to the plan.
Under the plan, the government will also help elderly people install
barrier-free facilities in their residences.
From Xinhua News Agency 12/28/2011
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City Gov't Spending
Becomes Transparent
Unlike many other mayors in the country whose salaries are
carefully concealed from the public, the pay of Lu Guoxian, mayor of
Jiaozuo, a city in Central China's Henan province, is published
online. Along with the salaries of government employees, the website
of the Jiaozuo finance bureau also regularly publishes information
such as the city's annual budget, the progress of government
projects, notices of upcoming hearings and the cell phone numbers of
finance officers.
A city with a medium-sized economy in Henan, Jiaozuo tops a
nationwide government financial transparency ranking with 78 points,
according to a study by the Shanghai University of Finance and
Economics in 2010. In a country where the disclosure of government
information is still not a common practice, Jiaozuo's efforts to
disclose its accounts are remarkable, and, to some extent,
astonishing.
It's important to take a close look at the reform that a small city
has taken on, especially at a moment when a long-awaited amendment
on the country's Budget Law is finally before lawmakers this week,
after long delays. It is of equal significance, if not more, to make
Jiaozuo's experience relevant to other places. The financial reform
in Jiaozuo dates back to 2000, stemming from a simple but pragmatic
reason: saving money. As its name indicates in Chinese, "coking",
the city thrives on mining. Over the past century after coal was
discovered, rail lines were laid, thermal power plants were built
and money was drawn to the city, leaving behind a gloomy sky with a
sun always blocked by haze.
During the 1990s, when the country decided to close highly polluting
coal plants over environmental concerns, the mining machines in
Jiaozuo ground to a stop and the economy plunged. Recalling the days
of recession, Li Xinlong, an officer from the local finance bureau,
said there were times when the government couldn't even pay its
employees' wages. The government once borrowed 300 yuan (US$47)
"from each government employee, including me, and used the money to
repair a road", Li said.
Shen Xiangchen, director of the finance bureau who has masterminded
the city's decade-long reform, said his initial motive in opening up
the books, which in some places are still deemed confidential, was a
"showdown" to let the public know that the government was short of
money. "You can only make full use of the money after you really
know how much you have," he said. Wei Jigang, deputy director of the
bureau's accounting center, describes the initial reform as "rainstorming".
After six months of preparation, the city government published a
notice on a Friday in March 2000. Over the weekend, it froze the
bank accounts of government agencies and took control of the
accounting process through the finance bureau. A thorough
investigation into off-books accounting and arbitrary spending found
about 200 million yuan in off-the-record income, accounting for
one-third of the city's revenues of that year. The retrieved money
was used to pay government employees' delayed wages, subsidize free
toilets and gardens and compensate older, unemployed residents.
Following the investigation, the finance bureau established an
accounting center to handle all the financial affairs of city
government bodies. The government didn't punish any officials or
accountants found to have appropriated public funds to their
off-books accounts, said Shen. The decision suggests the move was
aimed at securing stability and winning their support of the reform.
He said the campaign laid the basis of valid financial information.
Without accurate data, subsequent reforms in budgeting and
procurement would all be based on inaccurate figures.
Following the accounting reshuffle, Shen's next modification was
aimed at the finance bureau itself. The linear administrative
structure that is widely applied in all levels of Chinese government
was reorganized into a checks-and-balances system. Four sections -
budget planning, execution, supervision and evaluation - were
established to restrict one another. In addition, internal
supervision of the development and use of the budget was accompanied
by social monitoring, such as public hearings.
Wang Tushan is an expert frequently invited to take part in public
hearings by the finance bureau. During a hearing about whether to
install a global positioning system on buses this January, Wang's
opposing opinion was adopted. "I suggested slashing the budget for
the system to 1 million yuan, instead of the proposed 5 million, and
using the rest of the money to refurnish the buses," the former
accountant said. But progress can be hard.
Recalling the first public hearing in Jiaozuo, Shen said the event
ended up a total embarrassment. "The only person who applied to take
part didn't show up on that day." However, Shen said he retained
confidence in the reform. "It is true that some Western countries do
a much better job than we do on this issue," he said. "But they have
been fostering civic mindedness for more than 200 years, while we
are just getting started," he said.
Legislation in process
In a city with 3 million residents, and an economy still struggling
to emerge from a post-mining downturn, reform that could have been
impossible even in coastal cities was carried out against all odds.
The man who dominated the finance reform in Jiaozuo, Shen Xiangchen,
is an early bird. He goes to the office at 6:30 am, and his holidays
are almost indistinguishable from work.
Speaking of the future, Shen said he doesn't think the reform will
stop after his retirement. The most urgent support at the moment, he
said, is legal protection. Since he started to draw up a government
debt schedule in 2004, Jiaozuo's effort to get "a full picture of
the government accounts" has taken place outside a legal framework.
Local governments' debt in China officially topped 10.7 trillion
yuan in June, according to the country's top auditing body, even
though the Budget Law forbids local governments to raise loans.
"Since local government loans have become a public secret, we have
to do our best to make (the situation) as transparent as possible,
so as to control the risks," Shen said.
Shen's expectations are likely to be met during the next bimonthly
session of the country's top lawmakers, which begins on Monday. A
previous announcement from the National People's Congress Standing
Committee said a draft amendment to the Budget Law is to be reviewed
at the meeting. The long-awaited revision may usher in an
opportunity to ensure that the isolated reform program in Jiaozuo
becomes a model for others. Transparency could be one of the best
anti-corruption medicines, but a reform powered by an official's
vision and determination can hardly last forever, said Ren Lihong,
director of the budget-making department of the Jiaozuo finance
bureau.
From China Daily 12/28/2011
TOP↑
Lawmakers Review Government
Reports
The National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, China's
top legislature, heard Wednesday government reports on education
reform, tourism industry and rural land contracts. Zhang Ping, head
of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said the
government will focus on raising people's incomes and improving
their economic expectations in a bid to expand domestic demand,
especially household consumption.
Zhang reported the progress of accelerating the shift of the
economic growth mode to the legislative session attended by 144
members of the NPC Standing Committee, including Chairman Wu Bangguo.
Contributions of domestic consumption to economic growth remained
limited. Although retail sales jumped by 15.5 percent and 18.3
percent in 2009 and 2010 respectively, compared to the previous
years, the final consumption expenditure as a percentage of gross
domestic product was in decline, Zhang said.
He called for enhanced environmental protection and further energy
saving and emissions cuts, saying that the eco-system remains
fragile and energy consumption high despite the positive
achievements were made in the 11th Five-Year Plan period from 2006
to 2010. While commenting on tourism industry, Shao Qiwei, head of
the National Tourism Administration, said that China has 23,315
travel agencies, among which 1,387 are able to operate outbound
tours to overseas. The number of star-rated hotels has reached
13,908, including 607 five-star hotels, bolstering the tourism
infrastructure, according to the report. Shao said that the country
will focus on maintaining market order, promoting service quality
and developing tourism resources in the future.
In a report on the implementation of the law on rural land
contracts, Uyunqimg, vice chairperson of the NPC Standing Committee,
said that the country is facing a stern challenge of farmland
protection, as many construction projects are encroaching on arable
land and exceeding the scale envisaged in the country's
land-exploration plan. The most outstanding problem is the illegal
occupation of farmland in road and railway construction, Uyunqimg
said. Among some local governments, illegal land-grab conduct, such
as exploration against relevant regulations and non-transparent
distribution of compensation, has violated the rights of farmers,
she said, urging greater transparency and supervision in this area.
A report submitted by the Ministry of Education stated it would
continue working with the General Administration of Press and
Publication to strengthen regulations on editing, printing and
distributing reference books for students. Education Minister Yuan
Guiren asked education departments at all levels not to force
students or schools to purchase reference books, and schools not to
force students to buy those books. It is common for Chinese students
in primary and middle schools to do a large amount of after-class
study and tests to get better exam scores, which has resulted in a
booming market for reference books and test books.
From Xinhua News Agency 12/29/2011
TOP↑
China Cuts Administrative Fees
China will scrap 253 types of administrative fees on enterprises
charged by provincial-level governments from February 1, 2012. The
cancellation was announced by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the
National Development and Reform Commission in a joint circular on
the MOF website. The move is expected to reduce enterprises'
financial burdens by 10 billion yuan ($1.59 billion) annually, and
will further improve the nation's business environment, the circular
said. China has abolished 182 types of administrative fees charged
by central government departments since 2008, and enterprises have
been exempted from fees totaling 178 billion yuan.
From Xinhua News Agency 12/31/2011
TOP↑
Macao Swears in First Top
Female Judge
Macao's new judge of the Court of Final Appeal (TUI) Song Min Li
was sworn in at the headquarters of TUI Wednesday, becoming first
female judge in top court of Macao Special Administrative Region.
Song was appointed by Macao's Chief Executive Chui Sai On based on
recommendations by the independent committee for the nomination of
judges to replace Chu Kin, who passed away last November after three
months in an intensive care unit because of injuries sustained in a
car accident in Guangdong province last August.
Song was born in 1966 and obtained a master degree in Law from the
Beijing University. She attended Portuguese language courses at the
University of Coimbra in Portugal and introduction to law at the
University of Macao, according to a statement provided by the SAR
government. Song was part of the group of first local magistrates to
be nominated in Macao. She started work as a delegate of the Public
Prosecutions Office (MP) in 1996 and has served as deputy attorney-
general since March 2000. The statement said that Song was the first
female public prosecutor in Macao and one of the most experienced in
any local court.
From Xinhua News Agency 01/04/2012
TOP↑
73 CPC Officials Punished for
Disciplinary Violations
During the 2011 reshuffling of leading officials in local Party
committees, 73 Communist Party of China (CPC) officials were
penalized for discipline violations, said the Party's top
disciplinary watchdog in a statement on January 4, 2012. According
to the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), 52
cases regarding "irregularities" were investigated during the
reshuffling, resulting in the punishment of 73 officials. Last year,
leading officials in CPC committees at the provincial, municipal,
county and township levels were reshuffled. The CCDI vowed to boost
disciplinary measures to ensure that only ethically sound officials
would be promoted.
From China.org.cn 01/05/2012
TOP↑
1,480 Cases of Illegal Land
Grab, Demolition Handled in 2011
Almost 1,500 cases of illegal land appropriation and demolition
were handled in the year 2011, and 509 people involved were held
accountable, a senior official said on Friday. Qu Wanxiang, Vice
Minister of the Ministry of Supervision under the Central Commission
for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China, put the
number of such cases at 1,480.
From Xinhua News Agency 01/06/2012
TOP↑
Former Taiwan Leader Given
Prison Leave
Former leader of Taiwan Chen Shui-bian, who is currently serving
a prison sentence for graft, attended the funeral of his recently
deceased mother-in-law on Friday, after being granted a special
release from prison for about eight hours. Chen arrived Friday
morning at a funeral home in the city of Tainan to pay his respects
to Wu Wang Hsia, who died on Dec. 31 at the age of 85. Friday, which
marks the seventh day after her death, was the traditional family
mourning day.
Chen was not shackled or handcuffed, as was authorized by the
island's legal department due to his former leadership position. But
Chen was escorted by prison officers and local police. At the
funeral, Chen went down on his knees, performed traditional rites
and gave a eulogy. Chen also saw his wife Wu Shu-chen, his mother,
and his son and daughter at the mourning ceremony. He was escorted
back to the Taipei Prison after staying in Tainan for two hours.
Chen and his wife were each sentenced to 17.5 years in prison for
corruption and money laundering during Chen's tenure as the leader
of Taiwan from 2000 to 2008. Chen began serving his sentence in
December 2010. It is the first time that a former leader of Taiwan
has been jailed. Confined to a wheelchair and in poor health, Wu was
also fined 154 million New Taiwan dollars (5 million U.S. dollars),
but her prison term was temporarily suspended by local prosecutors,
as a prison hospital said she was physically unfit to serve her jail
term and refused to admit her last February.
From Xinhua News Agency 01/06/2012
TOP↑
CPC Vows to Score New
Anti-Corruption Achievements in 2012
The discipline watchdog of the Communist Party of China (CPC)
Tuesday said "the task of anti-corruption remains arduous," and new
anti-graft achievements should be scored ahead of the Party's 18th
National Congress. A communique released Tuesday at the end of a
three-day plenary session of the CPC's Central Commission for
Discipline Inspection (CCDI) pointed out that "the anti-graft
situation is still severe and the anti-corruption task is still
arduous."
The communique said China's current fight against corruption comes
while the international environment is severe and complicated, and
the domestic economic system and social structure are undergoing
significant changes. The war on corruption has scored evident
achievements, but prominent problems still exist, and although
anti-corruption efforts have been intensified, corruption still
occurs, it said.
The general situation also features people's higher expectations for
anti-corruption achievements coexisting with the fact that
corruption cannot be eradicated in the short term, it said. The
plenary session of the CPC's discipline watchdog stressed that to
better do the anti-corruption work is of great significance in 2012,
in which the 18th National Congress of the CPC will be held. The
plenary session held that the long-term and fundamental works in the
fight against corruption should be carried out this year, and the
problems relating to anti-corruption should be resolved.
ENFORCE DISCIPLINE & IMPROVE WORK STYLE
The Party will enforce strict discipline, said the communique.
Education about political discipline shall be enhanced, to ensure
that members and cadres of the CPC keep highly consistent with the
CPC Central Committee, of which Hu Jintao serves as the general
secretary. Organizational discipline shall be highlighted amid the
elections of Party committees at various levels, and the whole
process of election and promotion of officials shall be put under
scrutiny.
The communique also vowed strict inspection on the implementation of
key policies introduced from the central level, especially on the
transformation of economic development pattern. Meanwhile, bad
practices of infringing upon the people's interests must be
corrected, the communique said, urging efforts to improve the work
style of the CPC and forge closer relations between Party officials
and the masses. "The harmful trends in a few Party officials, of
divorcing themselves from the masses, being overbearing and having a
very serious 'special privilege' mentality, must be rectified," the
communique said.
IMPROVED SYSTEM FOR CORRUPTION CONTROL
Greater efforts will be made to build a system of corruption
prevention and control in a bid to further the anti-corruption fight
and promote cleanness and honesty among Party officials, said the
communique. Cases arising from construction projects, property
development, land management and ore mining, and those concerning
insider trade, connected transactions and tunneling will be handled
in a serious manner, it said.
It vowed strict investigation of cases involving violations of
political and personnel disciplines, perversion of justice for
bribes, and providing protection for criminal gangs. China will step
up a crackdown on commercial bribery and toughen penalties for
offering bribes, according to the communique. Efforts will also be
made to tap the positive role of new media, including the Internet,
in facilitating China's anti-corruption drive.
Besides efforts to improve the anti-corruption system, China will
upgrade its campaigns against corruption in key areas that have been
the subject of complaints from the public, the communique said.
China will wage a resolute war on soaring corruption in
construction-related sectors, and strive to stem the abuse and
overuse of ceremonies, seminars and forums.
Problems regarding public-funded vehicles will be targeted, the
document said, adding that China is determined to decrease the total
of such vehicles and improve regular inspection. Furthermore, China
will continue the fight on irregularities concerning officials
taking cash gifts, securities, pre-paid commercial cards and seizing
undue benefits from housing units allocation and trade.
KEEPING PURITY OF PARTY SPIRIT
Addressing the session Monday, Hu Jintao, general secretary of the
CPC Central Committee and also Chinese president, called for strict
implementation of Party disciplines and for the purity of the party
spirit to be maintained. "Only by continuously maintaining its
purity, can the ruling communist party increase its prestige among
the people, and win the people's support and trust, so as to
solidify its base of governance and the prosperity of the country,"
Hu said.
Hu said that the CPC will tighten supervision on the whole procedure
of selecting and promoting officials and improve transparency. "We
should be fully aware that the battle against corruption is
time-consuming, complicated and difficult," he said. "We should have
firm confidence and step up efforts."
The communique, adopted by the seventh plenary session of the 17th
CCDI upon its conclusion Tuesday, hailed Hu's speech as one with
major and profound significance for directing China's
anti-corruption war. "All party members, especially the discipline
inspection and supervision cadres, must deeply understand and
implement it," the communique noted.
According to the CCDI, a total of 4,843 Chinese officials above
county head level were punished for discipline violations in 2011,
among whom 777 have been handed over for prosecution. Several senior
officials have been sacked in corruption cases. Former Railways
Minister Liu Zhijun; Tian Xueren, former vice governor of northeast
China's Jilin province; and Huang Sheng, former vice governor of the
eastern Shandong province, are under investigation for graft charges
From Xinhua News Agency 01/10/2012
TOP↑
CSRC Founds Investor
Protection Bureau
China has established a protection bureau to better protect the
rights and interests of Chinese investors in the capital market, the
country's securities regulator said in a press release Tuesday. The
bureau, which has already been put into operation, will be
responsible for drafting and reviewing laws and regulations that
protect investors and help establish an education and service system
for investors, according to the release. Despite a rising number of
institutional investors, China's capital market is still dominated
by individual investors, who often lack professional knowledge and
are at the same time "insensitive but vulnerable to risks," said the
China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).
China has more than 72 million individual investors, accounting for
11 percent of the country's urban population, 80 percent of which
only own stocks of market value less than 100,000 yuan (US$15,748),
according to the CSRC. But they have contributed more than 80
percent of the total market turnover in 2011, it said. They have
natural disadvantages in obtaining market information and
professional ability, which lead to easy infringements of their
rights and interests, said the commission.
The bureau will also assist the establishment of a remedial system
to make up for the violated interests of investors, monitor the
management and operation of the country's investor protection funds,
and promote communication and cooperation with other investor
protection organizations. China's mainland had become the
third-largest equity market after the United States and Japan by the
end of 2011, according to the CSRC. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao
pledged at the national financial work conference over the weekend
to enhance regulation of the the equity markets to better protect
investors' legal rights and interests.
From http://www.china.org.cn/ 01/10/2012
TOP↑
112 Charities Urge
Improving Transparency, Public Trust
A total of 112 Chinese charitable organizations called for
promoting transparency and public trust after a spate of scandals
discredited the country's philanthropic groups last year. The
charities made the pledge on Sunday at an annual meeting on Chinese
philanthropy, vowing to make further efforts to improve
self-discipline within the sector. In 2011, the Red Cross Society of
China (RCSC), China's largest charity, was the focus of a major
scandal involving a young woman calling herself "Guo Meimei." The
woman claimed to be a general manager for "Red Cross Commerce," an
organization that the RCSC claimed did not exist.
Guo Meimei posted photos detailing her lavish lifestyle online,
leading netizens to speculate that she might have funded her
extravagant purchases by embezzling money from the RCSC. The
charities said they will make dedicated efforts to make more
information available to the public and provide professional
personnel training services, as well as develop a set of standards
for evaluating transparency within the sector.
From Xinhua News Agency 01/09/2012
TOP↑
Survey Slates Online
Petition Process
A poll by China Youth Daily showed that almost 71 percent of
respondents have participated in online petitioning, with 88.4
percent being dissatisfied with the official responses they
received. The main reasons for dissatisfaction include: unresolved
problems and bureaucratic jargon, receiving no response at all or
receiving a delayed response. China has the world's largest online
population, with the number of Internet users reaching 485 million
by the end of June last year. (By Fan Junmei)
From China.org.cn 01/11/2012
TOP↑
Taiwan's President Wins
Second Term in Boost to China Ties
(By Michael Forsythe, Yu-Huay Sun and Andrea Wong. Updates with
son of former president losing bid for seat in parliament in 21st
paragraph. For further Taiwan election coverage, see EXT5 <GO>)
Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) - President Ma Ying-jeou was elected to a
second four-year term as Taiwan's president, giving him a renewed
mandate to press for closer ties with China that have eased
decades-old tensions across the Taiwan Strait.
Ma, the 61-year-old leader of the ruling Kuomintang Party, defeated
challenger Tsai Ing-wen, the Democratic Progressive Party
chairwoman, by 51.6 percent to 45.6 percent, with all the votes
tallied, the Central Election Commission reported on its website.
The commission said 74.4 percent of Taiwan's 18 million eligible
voters cast ballots.
"This isn't a personal victory, this is a victory for the Taiwan
people," Ma said at a rain-soaked victory rally in Taipei late
yesterday. "The people have approved our efforts to shelve disputes
and strive for peace across the Taiwan Strait."
Ma's victory is an affirmation of his effort to improve Taiwan's
relationship with China after decades of strained ties under his DPP
predecessor and previous Kuomintang governments. A stable
cross-strait relationship may also benefit U.S.-China ties as
Washington seeks help from the leadership in Beijing to contain the
nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea.
'Profound Importance'
"Cross-Strait peace, stability and improved relations, in an
environment free from intimidation, are of profound importance to
the United States," the White House said in a statement
congratulating Ma on his victory.
Ma's victory removes a potential irritant in the U.S.-China
relationship, said Bryce Wakefield, a program associate at the
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a Washington
policy group.
A second term for the incumbent means "there will be continued
cross-Straits stability, which mean that Taiwan will not be a major
destabilizing factor going forward," Wakefield said.
China's Taiwan Affairs Office said in a statement issued through the Xinhua News Agency that Ma's victory shows that the "peaceful
development of cross-straits ties" in the last four years was "the
correct path that has won the support of the majority of the
Taiwanese compatriots."
Ma was backed by executives of Taiwan's biggest companies, who said
his policies, including a 2010 trade agreement with China, have
boosted investment and helped the island's economy grow.
"The stock market will rally on Monday," Terry Gou, chairman of
Apple Inc. supplier Foxconn Technology Group, said in an interview
with local television station TVBS in predicting a Ma victory
yesterday.
'Very Sorry'
Markets may have assumed a Ma victory. Option traders placed
increasingly bullish bets earlier this month on an exchange-traded
fund tracking Taiwan stocks. The ratio of calls to buy the iShares
MSCI Taiwan Index Fund versus puts to sell rose on Jan. 6 to the
highest level since March 2008, two months before Ma was sworn in
for his first term.
"We're very sorry that we let the public down," Tsai, 55, said in a
concession speech in Taipei yesterday evening, in which she also
offered to resign as head of the DPP. "The cross-strait relations is
a complicated matter and cannot be treated in the naive way that the
KMT is doing now or it will become a source of conflict for Taiwan
people later."
Direct Links
In his first term, Ma ended a six-decade ban on direct air, sea and
postal links and signed 16 trade agreements with China, arguing that
better ties with the mainland would create stability attractive to
investors who feared the political risk was too high to put their
money into Taiwan.
Chinese tourist numbers jumped 68 percent to 1.63 million in 2010,
overtaking Japan as the island's biggest source of visitors.
"Cross-strait relations and economic growth will be even better than
before," Taipei City Mayor Hau Lung-bin said at an annual party held
by Foxconn Technology Group today. "'We'll definitely see a lot more
mainland tourists coming to the city."
Ma, who has law degrees from New York University and Harvard
University, soothed Chinese leaders when he came into office in 2008
with his vow of "no unification, no independence, and no use of
force." China had criticized a push by the DPP's Chen Shui-bian to
seek sovereignty during his 2000-08 tenure as president. Chinese
officials had warned that relations would suffer if Tsai won.
'Challenging Global Conditions'
"You can argue Ma overlooked some of the domestic issues, but it's
easy to criticize others," said graphic designer Eric Wang, 27, who
voted for Ma in 2008 and this year. "I don't think Tsai can do a
better job than Ma given such challenging global conditions."
The Chinese government, which itself will undergo a leadership
change later this year, has never ruled out the use of force to
reunite with the island. Taiwan has been governed separately since
1949 after KMT forces were defeated on the mainland by the
Communists in a civil war. China had as many as 1,200 short-range
missiles deployed opposite Taiwan as of December 2010, according to
an annual review by the U.S. Defense Department.
"I will devote my life to protect the Republic of China's
sovereignty and dignity," Ma said, using the formal name for Taiwan.
"This is my solemn vow."
Parliamentary Election
Taiwan's voters also elected members of the Legislative Yuan, the
island's parliament. The Kuomintang Party retained its majority,
winning 64 of 113 seats, the Central Election Commission said, down
from 81 seats in 2008. The DPP won 40 seats and the People First
Party won 3 seats. The PFP presidential candidate, James Soong, won
2.8 percent of the vote.
Chen, the former president, is serving a 17-year prison sentence for
corruption and bribery. His son, Chen Chih-chung, lost his bid for a
parliamentary seat yesterday. Chen Chih-chung was convicted of
perjury in his father's corruption case last year.
Taiwan's economy will slow to 4.05 percent this year from 4.5
percent in 2011 and 10.7 percent in 2010, according to economists'
estimates compiled by Bloomberg. China's economy grew at a 9.2
percent rate in 2011 and its expansion will slow to 8.5 percent this
year, the data show.
Ma vowed to learn from the criticism leveled at him during the
campaign by Tsai, who said Taiwan was losing jobs to China and that
the gap between rich and poor was increasing.
"I hope in the next four years the wealth gap will narrow and we
will take care of the underprivileged," Ma said. "I want Taiwan to
continue to have a stable environment for growth."
- With assistance from Janet Ong, Adela Lin, Chinmei Sung and Tim
Culpan in Taipei. Editors: Nicholas Wadhams, Paul Tighe
From http://www.businessweek.com/ 01/15/2012
TOP↑
JAPAN: Experts Ponder
Reasons for Rash of Short-Term Prime Ministers
Divided Diet, frequent party elections, voter mind-sets, lack of
political capabilities, rise of new media cited as possible causes.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda took office in September, becoming
Japan's sixth prime minister in five years. One thing that people
will pay attention to is whether he can stay in power for more than
12 months - something four out his five immediate predecessors
failed to do.
Whether he succeeds depends in part on whether he can win the next
presidential election of his Democratic Party of Japan, set for the
fall of 2012, and whether he can lead the ruling party to victory in
a general election that may take place this year. Since Noda is
already struggling with falling approval ratings, these are by no
means certain, and Japan may yet see a seventh prime minister in six
years.
Short-lived administrations are not a recent phenomenon, said
political analyst and writer Ushio Shiota. In fact, the average term
of Japan's past 62 prime ministers is just two years. Experts
caution, however, that frequent changes in prime ministers are a
major reason for Japan's prolonged economic stagnation and the
decline in its international influence. Shiota and many other
political analysts attribute short-lived leadership in Japan to the
country's divided Diet, in which the opposition bloc holds sway in
the House of Councilors, the upper chamber, and can obstruct the
passage of legislation by the ruling bloc.
In fact, a change of prime minister has become an annual event ever
since the DPJ won the largest number of seats in the Upper House in
the July 2007 election. Shinzo Abe of the Liberal Democratic Party
resigned two months later amid a stalemate in the Diet over a bill
to extend Japan's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean in support
of U.S.-led operations in and around Afghanistan. Abe's charismatic
predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, stayed in office for five years and
five months - the third longest term as prime minister in the
post-World War II period. But Abe and his two successors - Yasuo
Fukuda and Taro Aso - all from the LDP, were unable to stay in power
for even a year.
A short-lived government continued after the DPJ seized power in the
House of Representatives, the lower chamber, as well in 2009, ending
half a century of almost uninterrupted rule by the LDP. Yukio
Hatoyama stepped down about nine months after taking office, though
Naoto Kan managed to hang on for about 14 months. "Opposition
parties have used the divided Diet only to drive the administration
into a corner," said Jun Iio, a professor at the National Graduate
Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo.
"I don't see any point in our country having a bicameral system at
the moment," he added, saying that the power of the Upper House must
be diminished. Specifically, Iio proposes that the number of seats
required for the Lower House to override an Upper House decision,
currently set at a two-thirds vote or more, should be reduced to a
majority. He also proposes that the Diet enact budget-related bills
once they have been approved by the Lower House.
Under the Constitution, a budget or treaty, if passed by the Lower
House, can clear the Diet even if the Upper House votes it down or
refuses to act on it within 30 days, as the lower chamber's decision
prevails. In the case of other bills, however, the two-thirds rule
applies. Iio also said that a prime minister should continue to stay
on until his or her term as a Diet member expires and that the
ruling party should not hold its leadership election until the term
ends.
Since the Constitution has no provision for the prime minister's
term, a Diet member, logically, can continue to serve as prime
minister as long as he or she is appointed prime minister by the
Diet. But Japan's two major parties, the DPJ and the LDP, elect
their president every two and three years, respectively. This means
that the prime minister's job is affected each time a presidential
election for the party controlling the Lower House is held.
Some analysts say that Japan holds too many national elections in a
short time, preventing the prime minister from serving for an
extended period. In Japan, Lower House members have four-year terms,
but the prime minister can dissolve the chamber for a snap election
before the terms expire. Upper House members have six-year terms,
with elections held every three years for half the 242 seats. Based
on the system, Japan has had three national elections in four years
since 2007.
Other analysts point out that the advent of the Internet age has
changed voters' perceptions of politics. Psychiatrist Rika Kayama
said that the spread of various kinds of information reported by the
media have made people "sensitive to even minor mistakes by
politicians" and that as a result voters "take extreme actions."
Japanese voters have also come to want quick results from politics,
and lawmakers could easily disappoint voters if they fail to live up
to expectations, Kayama said. Iio said that voters' reactions to a
certain policy are directly reflected in public opinion polls, and a
decline in popularity ratings quickly undermines the prime minister
and his administration.
Shusei Tanaka, a former director general of the now-defunct Economic
Planning Agency, said that prime ministers do not survive because of
the problems in their capability as politicians. He is calling for a
system that brings people from diverse backgrounds into politics.
"If the quality of politicians improves, we can expect a more
competent prime minister," said Tanaka, a former Lower House member
who served as special adviser to Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa in
the early 1990s. A capable prime minister, Shiota said, is someone
who can grasp people's needs and the reality of Japan and the world,
and has the guts to implement necessary policies without
flip-flopping. "It's important to respond to the needs of the
public, but a true leader doesn't compromise," he said.
Izuru Makihara, a professor at Tohoku University's Graduate School
of Law, has a different view. "Politicians are dispensable. If one
doesn't work out, we just have to get another one," he said. "That's
proof we have a healthy democracy." Among all Japanese prime
ministers since the end of World War II, Eisaku Sato is the
longest-serving leader, spending 2,798 days in office from 1964
through 1972. The prime minister who served the shortest term was
Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni, who filled the position for just 54
days after World War II ended in August 1945.
From Kyodo 01/01/2012
TOP↑
Officials Decry Lack of
Cyberweapons Authority
Defense Ministry officials say they have no authorization to use
cyberweapons, which are under development at the ministry, to
counter cyber-attacks from abroad unless such threats are properly
defined in defense laws. Many countries around the world consider
cyber-attacks a new form of security threat and are preparing to
counter them as they are becoming increasingly sophisticated and
destructive. Japan will be left behind other countries unless it
tackles this legal problem, the officials said.
One senior official of the ministry, who was involved in the
planning of the cyberweapon development, said it is meaningless for
development to proceed without addressing the legal issue. "Japan
will be the only nation with no effective cyber-attack
countermeasures unless the legal problem [concerning cyberdefense]
is settled as soon as possible," the official said.
Last year, the United States unveiled a policy to use all necessary
means, including military options, to fight against cyber-attacks.
It also announced it will regard cyberspace as within the range of
military operations. Washington also established Cyber Command under
the U.S. Defense Department to control cyber-operations, and it went
into full operation in November 2010. The North Atlantic Treaty
Organization also is expected to release new policies on cyberwar in
the near future. "There was a time the ministry seriously studied
how it should cope with cyber-attacks," said Minoru Terada, 53, a
former parliamentary defense secretary and former House of
Representatives member.
In 2008, when the development of anti-cyber-attack measures started,
the ministry set up a panel studying defense-related legislation.
The panel, whose members included an administrative vice defense
minister and the chief of staff of the Self Defense Forces' Joint
Staff, was tasked with discussing legislative problems related to
cyber-attacks and other new threats. Terada, who then headed the
panel, said members discussed the pros and cons of the SDF's
fighting back against foreign hackers with cyberweapons.
Terada was told by an official of the ministry's Technical Research
and Development Institute on the development of cyberweapons the
weapon is aimed at disabling hacker's computers after identifying
the source of attacks. Terada said they often discussed required
legislation. The panel, however, was unable to function as the
August 2009 general election approached, which lead to changes in
the government. Terada now regrets they failed to continue the
discussions and sort out legislative issues. "It's regrettable, even
if cyberweapon development continues, there will be no way to fully
take advantage of it."
In its 2011 white paper, the ministry said cybersecurity is an
important issue for any country. But a senior SDF official said the
country's awareness, including the SDF's, of cybersecurity is too
low. "Talking with people connected to the U.S. forces makes me
realize how seriously they take the threat of cyber-attacks," he
said. "It'll be too late if nothing is done about the legislation in
conjunction with the development of cybertechnology. Or it may
already be too late," the official said.
From The Yomiuri Shimbun 01/04/2012
TOP↑
Govt, DPJ OK Integrated
Reform Draft
The government and ruling Democratic Party of Japan officially
approved a draft plan Friday for integrated social security and tax
system reform, which includes raising the consumption tax rate to 8
percent in April 2014 and 10 percent in October 2015. Prime Minister
Yoshihiko Noda reiterated his intention to submit consumption
tax-related bills to the Diet in hopes they will be passed by March.
The DPJ plans to ask opposition parties to join talks on the
consumption tax hike on Tuesday at the earliest. However, the
Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito are expected to reject the
DPJ's proposal, making it uncertain whether the bills will pass.
"It's meaningless if it [the reform drive] just ends with this draft
plan," Noda said during a meeting of the Headquarters of the
Government and Ruling Parties for Social Security Reform at the
Prime Minister's Office on Friday. "I'll sincerely invite the
opposition parties [to join talks]. Since this topic is unavoidable
for whichever administration is in power, I'll make every effort to
discuss it [with the opposition parties], reach consensus, compile
an outline,and submit the bills [to the Diet] by the end of this
fiscal year." Noda also said: "It [integrated reform of the social
security and tax systems] is significant reform that we should
tackle together with political and administrative reforms, as well
as economic revitalization. We are now entering a crucial stage."
Later Friday, Noda led a meeting of a six-member council comprising
the prime minister and the chief cabinet secretary as well as the
DPJ's secretary general, acting secretary general, Policy Research
Committee chairman and Diet Affairs Committee chairman. During the
meeting, it was decided that DPJ Policy Research Committee Chairman
Seiji Maehara would act as a liaison between the ruling and
opposition parties. The council members also agreed that DPJ
Secretary General Azuma Koshiishi will lead discussions with the
opposition bloc regarding the reduction of central government
employee salaries, postal reform and electoral reform for the House
of Representatives.
If Noda obtains the cooperation of the LDP, Komeito and other
opposition parties, he will seek Cabinet approval and submit the
consumption tax hike-related bills to the Diet. However, the LDP and
Komeito are adopting an increasingly confrontational stance toward
the DPJ. Should the DPJ fail to obtain support from the opposition,
the party is considering submitting the bills on its own. But some
members within the DPJ are still hesitant about the consumption tax
hike.
The draft plan basically follows a rough outline decided on by the
government and the DPJ last year. The People's New Party, the DPJ's
junior partner, which has been cautious of the consumption tax hike,
also approved the draft plan. In regards to tax system reform, the
draft plan stipulates the central government's share of consumption
tax revenues will be used solely for social security spending.
Starting in 2015, it will also raise the top income tax rate to 45
percent for earners whose taxable income exceeds 50 million yen.
To accommodate those still wary of the consumption tax hike, the
plan also stipulated the government will work on political and
administrative reforms, such as the Diet passage of bills to cut 80
seats from the lower house and lower central government employee
payrolls, before raising the consumption tax rate. The draft plan
also includes a provision that says the actual hike will be decided
based on various indicators such as the economic growth rate.
As for social security reform, the draft plan said measures
strengthening minimum guarantees will start during the same fiscal
year as the consumption tax hike. The measures include providing
additional pension benefits to low-income earners and shortening the
enrollment period required for people to become eligible for pension
payments.
From The Yomiuri Shimbun 01/07/2012
TOP↑
PM Noda Shows Real
Leadership in Cabinet Reshuffle
December was not a good month for Prime Minister Noda, punctuated
as it was by the humiliating trip to Beijing I described in a
previous post, and occupied increasingly loud (but pointless)
carping and posturing by increasingly unserious opposition Liberal
Democrats. But this month, and particularly with last week's cabinet
reshuffle, Noda has regained the initiative and is coming back
strong.
Decisive was the appointment of Okada Katsuya as Deputy Prime
Minister. Okada is as heavy and heavyweight - by which I mean solid on
the issues and effective - as there is in the Democratic Party of
Japan (DPJ). He was DPJ's president and served as the first foreign
minister during the first cabinet after the DPJ took power in 2009.
Noda gave to Okada, and Okada accepted, responsibility for getting
through the Diet during next six months the comprehensive
consumption tax increase and welfare reform package (of which only
the tax increase to 10 percent by 2012 has specifics) worked out
during last year.
It is not too much to say that the fate of Noda's government, if not
the DPJ as a party, now rests on Okada's shoulders. But not on
Okada's shoulders alone. Also on Noda's and also on those of Seiji
Maehara, chairman of the DPJ Policy Research Committee. When Noda
stood before TV cabinet to explain the cabinet reshuffle, Okada
stood on his one side, and Maehara on the other. Both Okada and
Maehara lead highly loyal factions within the DPJ, and are
themselves among the most credible and capable leaders in the party.
With the appointment of Okada, Noda has - as is his wont - skillfully
marshaled internal support for getting his agenda through the Diet.
And to this end he has been willing to share power. This is real
leadership.
From http://www.forbes.com/ 01/15/2012
TOP↑
Noda Cabinet Approval
Rating Falls to 37%
The approval rating for the reshuffled Cabinet led by Prime
Minister Yoshihiko Noda stood at only 37 percent, down from 42
percent in a December survey, a Yomiuri Shimbun survey has found. In
the nationwide telephone survey conducted from Friday through
Saturday, 51 percent disapproved of Noda's reshuffled Cabinet, up
seven percentage points from the previous survey conducted Dec.
10-11.
It is the first time the disapproval rating for Noda's Cabinet has
exceeded 50 percent, and the second month in a row in which the
negative rating has exceeded the approval rating, indicating a
possibly irreversible slide. Forty-nine percent of the respondents
said they were not in favor of last week's reshuffle, while 35
percent were in favor of it.
Asked about Noda's Cabinet choices, 52 percent approved of the
appointment of Katsuya Okada as deputy prime minister, and state
minister for integrated reform of tax and social security, and
administrative reform, while 35 percent did not. Only 19 percent of
the respondents favorably evaluated the appointment of Naoki Tanaka
as defense minister.
Asked about the government and the ruling parties' plan to increase
the consumption tax rate to 8 percent in April 2014 and to 10
percent in October 2015 to help finance the social security system,
including the pension scheme, 39 percent approved of the plan, while
55 percent disapproved it.
Of those who answered in favor of the tax increase, 31 percent said
the burden should be spread widely and thinly among the public.
Among respondents who disapproved of the plan, 46 percent said the
government has not implemented enough measures to reduce wasteful
budget spending. Eighty-five percent said Noda had not thoroughly
explained his policies and ideas to the public - the same figure as
the previous survey. Seventy-three percent of the respondents said
the Liberal Democratic Party should join a debate between the ruling
and opposition parties on increasing the consumption tax rate.
Asked which party they supported, 25 percent said the DPJ, up three
percentage points from the December survey; while 17 percent said
they supported the LDP, down two percentage points. Forty-five
percent said they did not support any party, down two points. The
survey covered 1,732 households with eligible voters using a random
digit dialing method. A total of 1,056 participants, or 61 percent,
gave valid responses.
From http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/ 01/16/2012
TOP↑
Noda to DPJ: Focus Diet
on Reforms
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda called for support from his
Democratic Party of Japan colleagues Monday to back his planned
reform of the social security and tax systems and urged unity to
weather what looks to be a stormy Diet session starting in a week.
"Without (reforms), there's no future for Japan," Noda said at the
DPJ's annual convention in Tokyo, held in the wake of his Friday
Cabinet reshuffle to pursue the reforms and replace two ministers
who were censured by the Liberal Democratic Party-led opposition,
which controls the Upper House.
Noda hinted that if his reform goals are reached, he may dissolve
the Lower House and call an election, but ruled out an early poll
just because the opposition camp wants one. "I'll tackle the reforms
at any cost after carrying out political (downsizing) to sacrifice
ourselves, and administrative reforms, including pay cuts, for
national civil servants," he said.
The DPJ plans to submit a bill to trim the number of Lower House
seats by 80 from the current 480 as part of the party's 2009
campaign pledge. Noda's emphasis on reducing government and Diet
costs came after top officials at the DPJ's prefectural chapters
expressed concern at a gathering Sunday in Tokyo about Noda's social
security and tax reforms. They said they won't be able to gain
public approval unless the DPJ promotes administrative reforms and
shrinks the Diet before hiking taxes.
Katsuya Okada, newly appointed deputy prime minister and minister in
charge of the health and tax reforms, echoed the same view. "I think
we should" reduce the number of lawmakers, he said on an NHK talk
show Sunday, adding he plans to ask the opposition to join talks on
the issue. Okada also said lawmakers' salaries should be slashed
along with that of the civil servants. To bolster the reforms, Noda
chose Okada, a party heavyweight who served as foreign minister and
DPJ secretary general under former Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
Okada is considered influential as he used to chair the party's
administrative reform panel and negotiate with the secretaries
general of the LDP and New Komeito. He was one of the executives who
suspended indicted kingpin Ichiro Ozawa's party membership. On Jan.
6, Noda's government approved DPJ-proposed social welfare and tax
reforms, including raising the 5 percent consumption tax to 8
percent in April 2014 and to 10 percent in October 2015 to help fund
the swelling expenses for social security services such as welfare
and medical care.
The DPJ hopes to start discussing the plan with the opposition camp
as soon as possible so a broad reform outline can be crafted and a
related bill submitted to the Diet by March. Although former DPJ
Diet affairs chief Hirofumi Hirano asked his LDP and New Komeito
counterparts to start discussing the reform plan last Thursday, they
refused to comply, saying the Cabinet reshuffle must come first.
At the convention, Noda again urged the opposition parties to join
the discussions, saying they can't evade their responsibility to
cooperate on reforms just because they are in the opposition.
Gaining their support, however, will be difficult as they want Noda
to dissolve the Lower House and call an election. The LDP, New
Komeito and other opposition parties claim the proposed tax hikes
contradict the DPJ's 2009 campaign pledge, which offered sweet
promises based on rosy scenarios but no bitter medicine to cure the
nation's economic ills. The LDP, however, had actually backed hiking
the sales levy and was the first to propose it. (By Natsuko Fukue)
From http://www.japantimes.co.jp/ 01/17/2012
TOP↑
NORTH KOREA: Kim Jong-un
to Embrace Chinese-Style Reform, Says Former Chef
Kenji Fujimoto, Kim Jong-il's former sushi chef, talks to TV
Chosun in Seoul on Saturday. Dead North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's
former chef Kenji Fujimoto says Kim's son and heir Jong-un will
embrace Chinese-style reforms for the Stalinist country. Fujimoto,
who was Kim's chef for 13 years from 1988, was speaking to the
Chosun Ilbo on Saturday before appearing on a TV Chosun talk show.
"Kim Jong-un grew up watching the living conditions of North
Koreans. He will embrace [Chinese-style] reforms," Fujimoto said. He
recalled a conversation he had with Kim Jong-un at a summer villa in
Wonsan, a port city in southeastern North Korea, when the heir was
just 17. Over a glass of vodka, Kim junior said, "We can jet ski, go
horseback riding and enjoy ourselves every day, but what about
ordinary people?" according to the former chef.
"When I go to Europe or Japan, I see overflowing products and food,
but when I return to the North, there is nothing," he quoted Kim
Jong-un as saying. "Do we need to study China's policies?" Fujimoto
said only the children of Ko Yong-hui, Kim Jong-il's favorite wife,
were chosen for higher office. "Kim Jong-chol [Jong-un's older
brother] always followed his younger brother and Kim Jong-un always
played the leader. Kim Jong-il probably took note of this," Fujimoto
said.
Jong-un's aunt Kim Kyong-hui and his uncle Jang Song-taek will
probably make the important policy decisions for the time being,
Fujimoto said. "Although Kim Jong-un was chosen as the successor,
only one out of every 10 policies he presents will probably be
implemented," he said. Jong-un's aunt, uncle and a small cabal of
top officials will act as patrons and handle key policy decisions,
he speculated. He said Workers Party secretary Choe Ryong-hae is a
key confidant of Jang's. "Choe Ryong-hae sits on Jang Song-taek's
right hand," Fujimoto said. He added Jang is a charismatic and
intelligent man and his No. 2 status makes his orders impossible to
ignore, but he is unlikely to eliminate Jong-un and grab power for
himself.
Fujimoto said Kim Jong-nam, Kim Jong-il's eldest son by his first
wife Song Hye-rim, was never considered as a successor. "He was the
son of a woman [Song Hye-rim] Kim had banished to Russia and was
eliminated from the list of successors from the outset," he said.
Kim Jong-nam "was never invited to banquets and was not mentioned
during high-level meetings," according to Fujimoto. Kim Jong-nam,
who lives in virtual exile overseas, will not be allowed to pay his
respects to his father and could even be killed if he returns to
Pyongyang, the former chef said. Jong-nam has openly spoken out
against the hereditary succession. "He was imprudent," Fujimoto
said.
Kim Ok (47), a director of the National Defense Commission who was
Kim Jong-il's de facto fourth wife, is expected to remain in Kim
Jong-un's favor. "Kim Ok has been at Kim Jong-un's side since he was
young," Fujimoto said. "When Ko Yong-hui would travel overseas, he
would ask her to take care of his father. I never saw the two on bad
terms."
Fujimoto was accused of being a Japanese spy and placed under house
arrest for more than a year. In 2001 he claimed he was going to buy
sea urchin eggs, a delicacy, in Japan and fled, leaving his wife and
son behind. He always wears a bandanna and dark sunglasses in
interviews. "The North Korean regime probably knows where I live.
But I've exposed myself to the media, which made it difficult for
Kim Jong-il to get rid of me, so I'm not afraid of threats. But if
people find out what I look like, I may end up becoming a nuisance
to my neighbors since people will come round and say, 'That's where
Kim Jong-il's chef lives,'" Fujimoto said.
From http://english.chosun.com/ 12/27/2011
TOP↑
SOUTH KOREA: Civil
Service to Ramp Up Recruitment in 2012
A total of 3,108 civil servants will be recruited next year, up
32 percent, or 761, from this year, according to a government
official on Thursday. This includes 651 civil servants in
lower-ranked positions. Meanwhile, the number of jobs for people
with disabilities will be raised by 29 percent, or an additional 31
employees, to 139, while positions available for those from
low-income families will jump 175 percent from 28 this year to 44 in
2012.
From http://english.chosun.com/ 12/30/2011
TOP↑
Public-Sector Salaries
to Rise 3.5% This Year
The salaries of public servants will rise 3.5 percent on average
this year after the Cabinet approved revised regulations on their
salaries and expenses on Tuesday. Since the start of the Lee
Myung-bak administration in 2008, public-sector salaries rose 2.5
percent the same year but were frozen for the next two years, only
to rise 5.1 percent last year. The Ministry of Public Administration
and Security said the wage increase reflected "differences in
increases between the salaries of private-sector workers and the
public sector" as well as this year's projected inflation rate of 3
percent.
Lee's annual salary will rise from W179.1 million to W186.4 million
(US$1=W1,151). When an additional W3.2 million in monthly
supplementary payments and W130,000 a month in food subsidies are
included, his yearly paycheck will increase from W219.1 million to
W226.4 million. Lee has donated his entire salary to charitable
organizations.
The prime minister's annual salary will amount to W144.5 million,
and government ministers will earn W106.3 million a year. The mayor
of Seoul will make W106.3 million. Army privates will earn W81,500 a
month and sergeants W108,000. With the wage hike, total personnel
expenses will require a budget of W26.48 trillion this year, up
around W1 trillion from 2011.
From http://english.chosun.com/ 01/04/2012
TOP↑
Seoul Proves Value of
Advanced e-Government
SEOUL, KOREA - "Seoul City is pushing for 'Smart Seoul 2015' for
the qualitative happiness of its citizens from 2011 to 2015," says
Dr. Hwang Jong-sung, Assistant Mayor for Information Technology
(CIO) of Seoul Metropolitan government. "Seoul's budget for
informatization in 2011 stood at 129,501 million won, accounting for
0.63% of Seoul's total budget. The Seoul e-government consists of a
front office, a back office and additional infrastructure.
The e-Seoul Net is an exclusive high-speed information and
telecommunication network which links the Main Building of Seoul
City Hall, its branch offices, affiliated organizations and Gu
(district) offices with an aim toward realizing an e-government.
u-Seoul Net is a telecommunication network that offers audio-visual
and Internet (data) services such as traffic and CCTV information.
The core of Seoul's informatization project in the future is to
carry out the Smart Seoul 2015 project.
The Smart Seoul 2015 project is a pre-emptive and active
informatization plan as 80% of Seoul citizens are expected to use
smartphones or smart devices and 30% are expected to purchase smart
TVs by 2015. "We are planning to make Seoul the "best smart
technology city" in the world by 2015," Dr. Hwang continues.
The Smart Seoul 2015 project will expand Seoul's smart
infrastructure, help more people enjoy advanced IT services, provide
Seoul City services through smart devices, create jobs, enhance the
level of information security and realizing the finest e-government
in the world. "We expect that advanced IT technologies will be
applied to all sectors in citizens' life and even senior citizens
will make use of smart devices and applications after receiving
education in 2015," Dr. Hwang adds.
The city is also planning to reduce its crime rate by expanding CCTV
monitoring. "We are also planning to promote a Seoul-friendly
application business industry and establish an incubator center in
the Sangam-dong IT complex," Dr. Hwang reveals. The Seoul
Metropolitan government is providing various information and online
services through the Internet and smartphones and is steadily
upgrading services by collecting opinions of citizens. The
e-government service of Seoul City is divided into three major parts
- strong communication with citizens, convenient services for
citizens and addressing negative impacts of informatization.
A main communication channel between Seoul and citizens is the
official web site of Seoul City. The web site offers comprehensive
services for citizens including electronic civil petitions, news of
the Seoul government and the participation of citizens. The web site
is also connected to web sites of the central government and
relevant organizations. Of late, the site has been renewed for three
kinds of visitors (general citizens, business people, and tourists).
In addition to the regular web site of Seoul City, the city is
offering mobile portal services in eight sectors. Furthermore,
advanced smartphone applications of Seoul City provides citizens
with information on restaurants, TBS broadcasting, travel, location
of public rest rooms and taxi-call service.
Moreover, the city is distributing PCs for marginalized people who
do not have PCs so that they can use information services at home.
For visually challenged people and the disabled, the city
distributes magnifying devices and Braille terminals. Other
activities include repairing PCs, implementing projects to prevent
people from Internet addiction, Internet counseling and free
ubiquitous study programs.
The excellence of Seoul e-government was duly recognized in the
evaluation of e-governments by reliable organizations. For example,
Seoul e-government came in first for four years running in the
evaluation of the Evaluation of the World's 100 Cities." "The Seoul
e-government became a benchmarking object for countries and cities
around the world," Dr. Hwang adds. "Foreign public officials,
businessmen and scholars have visited Seoul City to observe its
e-government system and facilities."
"We are planning to publicize the excellence of Seoul's e-government
system and contribute to the development of other e-governments by
exchanging and cooperating with cities around the world," Dr. Hwang
explains. "At the same, the plan is aimed at addressing a digital
divide problem among people and helping Korean ICT companies make a
foray into overseas markets."
Seoul becomes chair of World e-Government Organization (WeGo)
Accordingly, the Seoul government has laid the foundation by holding
its World e-Government Market Forum in 2008. Finally in September
2010, the World e-Government Organization (WeGO) was established
with Seoul as chair city. Since then, the Seoul government is
playing the role of the leader for e-governments in the world. The
number of the member cities of the WeGO is 50, including big cities
of the U.S., Canada, France and developing countries in Africa. The
members cooperate with one another via the WeGO. Of late, the WeGO
has surged in popularity internationally. For example, three cities
have recently applied for membership.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government suggests distributing its
e-government standard framework to member cities of the WeGO in a
meeting of the Managing Committee of the WeGO held in Barcelona of
Spain in last October. The suggestion was adopted. The Seoul
e-government has become an excellent e-government benchmarking
target for countries around the world. Over the past three years,
893 people from 155 countries came to Seoul to observe and learn
about the Seoul e-government.
The Seoul government signed MOUs on exchange and cooperation on
e-government with 11 overseas cities with the purpose of promoting
friendship and enhancing the value of its global brand through
communication marketing for the Seoul e-government and laying the
foundation for Korean IT companies' making a foray into overseas
markets on the foundation of its world-class information
infrastructure and experiences in various informatization projects.
"In particular, we carried out feasibility studies on e-government
with leading Korean IT companies in Hanoi of Vietnam, Nairobi of
Kenya and Katmandu of Nepal, which helped the cities map out
informatization master plans," Dr. Hwang adds. "These efforts have
paid off. The Tanzanian government is building its own system by
applying the e-government model of Seoul to it. We have also
contributed to the informatization of developing countries and
helped Korean IT companies make inroads into overseas markets. This
means Seoul's position is rising as an advanced IT city."
"We will steadily publicize the excellence of the Seoul e-government
internationally and contribute to the development of e-governments
around the world through MOUs and to addressing the digital divide
problem. At the same time, we will help Korean companies tap into
overseas markets," Dr. Hwang detailed. Of late, the inauguration
ceremony for the new Seoul mayor Park Won-soon attracted eyes of
people and mass media as it was done online. The online ceremony was
broadcast live through the Internet from 11:00 to 11:40 am on
November 16 of 2011. During the broadcast, Mayor Park opened his
office room, pledge allegiance to the nation, delivered his
inauguration speech and took questions from citizens through SNS.
About 75,000 people watched the Internet broadcasting live and 5,000
questions or opinions were sent to the mayor through SMS. In
addition, about 8,000 people watched the ceremony on their mobile
devices. "The online inauguration ceremony was successfully held
with a smaller budget compared to previous authoritarian and formal
ceremonies, suggesting a new model of inauguration ceremonies for
government organizations, companies and groups," Dr. Hwang says.
(Kim Sung-mi)
From http://www.koreaittimes.com/ 01/09/2012
TOP↑
MONGOLIA: Draft Law on
Aids/Hiv Prevention Submitted
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia /MONTSAME/ A parliamentarian D.Ochirbat
submitted on Tuesday a draft law on AIDS/HIV prevention to the
Speaker D.Demberel. According to the MP, by his draft he wants to
draw an attention to the AIDS/HIV spread among youths - a majority of
the population. Mongolia is much less than other countries affected
by this disease, but the MP has worked out the bill in respect of a
recommendation given by the UN Human Rights Council on refining upon
a legal environment for combating the disease. By December 14 of
2011, a number of AIDS/HIV infected reached 100. Adhering to a
related Convention, the draft annuls other laws' clauses that state
about issuing of the list of jobs forbidden for the infected and
deporting the infected foreigners from Mongolia. (By B. Khuder)
From http://www.montsame.mn/ 01/04/2012
TOP↑
|
|
MALAYSIA: Revamps Public
Service Remuneration Scheme
"The performance of the civil service will be judged by the
stakeholders, namely the public," says Tan Sri Abu Bakar
Abdullah, Director General of Malaysia's Public Service
Department. Malaysia will introduce Public Service New
Remuneration Scheme (SBPA) this month, replacing the current
Malaysian Remuneration System (SSM), according to the country's
Public Service Department (PSD). PSD Director General Tan Sri
Abu Bakar Abdullah said the switch was necessary because the
current scheme had not been reviewed for a long time. Among the
changes brought by the new scheme was the lowering of the weight
of the Annual Performance Appraisal Report (LPNT) from 75 per
cent to 65 per cent for salary increases. Although the measure
caused some concerns among public servants, Tan Sri Abu Bakar
Abdullah said it was not a problem as merely 0.4 per cent of all
civil servant failed to pass the score in 2010. "So the question
of the PSD lowering the LPNT standard does not arise as the
performance of the civil service will be judged by the
stakeholders, namely the public," he said Urging the civil
servants to accept the new scheme, Tan Sri Abu Bakar Abdullah
said if they accept SBPA by 15 Jan, the salary increase would be
made effective from 1 Jan.
From http://www.futuregov.asia/ 01/03/2012
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Civil Servants Can Pin
Hope on Receiving New Award from This Year Instead of 2013
Outstanding civil servants will receive a prestigious excellent
service medal from this year and not from 2013 as initially planned.
"The award is based on the annual performance evaluation report and
outstanding achievements in activities and contributions beyond the
scope of their official duties," Public Service Department
director-general Tan Sri Abu Bakar Abdullah said, in a recent
circular. The new medal, known as the PPC, was introduced in line
with the new remuneration scheme for public servants (SBPA), which
is to take effect from this year. "We agreed to award the PPC
beginning this year to give due recognition and deliver a more
meaningful impact to civil servants with the implementation of the
SBPA," Abu Bakar said. The report, he added, would be used as a
basis to evaluate the civil servants, taking into account their
level of involvement in other activities. Activities beyond the
scope of official duties include membership in organisations such as
clubs, community and volunteer work; innovative and creative
contributions or talents; sports and other programmes. Outstanding
civil servants will receive a specially designed medal, a PPC
certificate and a trust or premium savings certificate or cash worth
RM1,000. They would also be given priority and opportunity to
develop their careers by attending seminars and conferences to boost
their performances as well as possible nomination for state awards,
the circular stated. First-time nominees will have to serve for at
least five years and be free from corruption, crime and disciplinary
action. The requirements are more stringent compared with the
existing excellent service award, which is open to all, including
temporary and contract staff who have served for at least one year.
From http://thestar.com.my/ 01/07/2012
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January Salary for Civil
Servants Still Based on SSM
The January 2012 salary for civil servants, to be paid out on Jan
16 in conjunction with the Chinese New Year, will be based on the
Malaysian Remuneration System (SSM). In a statement, the Finance
Ministry said the difference in salary for those who had opted for
the Public Service New Remuneration Scheme (SBPA) will be paid on
Jan 31. "The SBPA cannot be fully implemented on Jan 16 following
the government's decision to extend the option deadline from Dec 31
to Jan 15," it said. The statement added that beginning February
this year, salary under the SBPA would be paid out as usual
according to the schedule.
From http://thestar.com.my/ 01/09/2012
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SINGAPORE: Top Ministers
Face Pay Cuts of Up to 51%
The prime minister's salary is to be slashed by 36% and the
president's by 51%. The salary committee was set up after
parliamentary elections last year that saw the ruling party secure
its lowest overall vote since 1965. The government intends to accept
the recommendations, local media said. Even with the 36% pay cut,
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will still be one of the highest-paid
political leaders in the world with S$2.2m ($1.7m, £1.08m) a year.
In comparison, US President Barack Obama earns about $400,000.
President Tony Tan, with a cut of 51%, will still earn S$1.5
million. Members of parliament and political appointees are also
included in the salary cuts. Entry-level ministers will get a pay
cut of 37%, with an annual salary starting from S$1,100,000. The
recommendations are based on "a salary formula that features fixed
and variable pay components which are linked to individual
performance and national outcomes", according to the report released
by the committee. The recommendations will be debated in parliament
this month.
From http://www.unpan.org/ 01/04/2012
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VIETNAM: Modernising Land
Administration
The World Bank and the Embassy of New Zealand are collaborating
with Vietnam's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to
develop a complete and modern land management system, in an effort
to increase access to land information services by all stakeholders.
The Land Administration Project (LAP), which is estimated to cost at
around USD 47.2 million, has three components and will be
implemented in selected provinces in Vietnam. The first component is
the modernisation of the land registration system. This component
will support the development of an accurate, current and complete
information system to support land registration through: completing
and updating all cadastral mapping showing all land parcels,
updating of all land records, further developing and implementing
the computerised land record system, and selected policy studies in
support of the land administration system. The second component is
the improvement of land registration service delivery. This
component will provide support for three main areas:
•The modernisation and improvement of Land Registration Offices (LROs)
to implement the government's policy for one door single service
centres for land registration;
•Access to land registration data through all LROs and the Internet;
and
•The comprehensive program to support public awareness raising and
better communications of land registration and participation in the
processes to complete and update land records, surveying and
mapping.
Lastly, the third component will support the overall implementation
of the project through project management monitoring and evaluation.
According to Nguyen Manh Hien, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources,
the LAP is the country's "golden chance" to improve its land
administration sector. He added that the project should focus on
finalising a land database as an important foundation for the
building of a modern land administration model. To date, the project
has completed surveying and mapping on nearly 400,000 ha of land,
and has been implemented in nine localities including Hanoi and Hung
Yen, Thai Binh, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa, Vinh Long, Tien
Giang and Ben Tre provinces since it started in 2008.
From http://www.futuregov.asia/ 01/13/2012
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BANGLADESH: Committees
Formed to Digitalise Home Ministry
Dhaka (UNB) - The Ministry of Home Affairs has formed two
committees to digitalise the ministry and its related
departments as part of efforts to build 'Digital Bangladesh'.
The decision was taken at a meeting held in the ministry with
Shahara Khatun in the chair on Sunday. Briefing reporters after
the meeting, Shahara said one steering committee was formed led
by herself to work out a plan to degitalise the ministry and the
departments under it, while another committee was constituted
with Joint Secretary (Political) Kamal Uddin with its head to
implement the activities. Shahara said implementation of the
activities will start after six months of planning and the
programme will fully be implemented within the next four years.
Joint Secretary Kamal Uddin said the Home Minister will be able
to know everything about the ministry's and its department's
activities through pushing a button. The Home Secretary and
senior officials concerned attended the meeting.
From http://www.unbconnect.com/ 01/08/2012
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INDIA: C-DIT Will Offer
Services to Excise Department
The Excise Minister, K Babu has said that in a bid to enhance its
functioning, the Excise Department is keen on availing services
provided by the Centre for Development of Imaging Technology (C-DIT).
The Minister was speaking at the inaugural function of the C-DIT
regional centre at Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi.
"The expertise of C-DIT will prove useful to the department while
implementing the proposed Right to Service Act," the minister added.
The Minister noted that C-DIT has a major role to play in spreading
the knowledge as well as in ensuring transparency in governance. "I
hope C-DIT will fully utilise the possibilities that a fast-emerging
IT hub like Kochi has to offer," he said. Starting February 23, the
C-DIT Regional Centre will offer an Advanced Diploma Course,
certified by embedded and mobile software giant Wind River, in
Systems Modelling for three separate streams - Assembly Language,
Embedded C on Red Hat Linux and C on Windows. Pranab Jyothinath,
Registrar of C-DIT, has stated that the centre will feature Red
Hat's first educational lab for employability enhancement. On March
26, an Advanced Diploma course in Quality Management and Test
Automation on IBM Tools will be launched at the centre. According to
sources, the centre will have the country's first IBM software
engineering lab for academic training, disclosed the officials.
From http://egov.eletsonline.com/ 01/09/2012
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India's Anti-corruption
Movement Loses Steam
NEW DELHI: India's anti corruption movement seems to be
faltering. With its leader Anna Hazare still recovering from an
illness, the team is searching for a way forward. Political
campaigning for state elections has begun, but the team which had
promised aggressive rallies against corruption during this time is
yet to make a start. Support for team Anna, which numbers tens of
thousands last summer, has faded in recent months. Leader Anna
Hazare was forced to cut short his third hunger strike against
corruption in December due to failing health. But many feel the main
reason for ending the fast could be due to the lack of popular
support. Very few people came to join his movement the third time
around. Social activist Rajendra Singh said: "The movement started
by Anna Hazare has lost its aim and is now focusing on pressurizing
the government and often misbehaving with the lawmakers. This is
pressure politics and broker policy. They have now come to a level
where their main aim is to intimidate the government and this is not
a correct way." Team Anna has decided to change its course. It says
the movement is at "crossroads" and has invited suggestions from the
public over which direction it should take. It has drawn flak for
campaigning against the Congress party, thereby automatically
promoting the opposition. Team Anna says the stance taken by all
political parties against corruption is doubtful.
Now, in this campaign, it will not tell people who to vote for but
will ask various political parties to clarify their stand. Arvind
Kejriwal, who is a member of of Team Anna, said: "Every party is
corrupt. We are not supporting any party but we will only talk of
administrative reforms. We have decided not to speak for or against
any party. We will only speak of reforms and campaign against any
party." Its charismatic leader, Anna Hazare, has been advised to
rest for a month and will not campaign during the upcoming state
elections. This could be a big setback for the movement, which is
struggling to become relevant again. The spontaneity and novelty
factor of India's anti-corruption movement seems to be wearing off.
Candlelight marches and hunger strikes could not deal a strong blow
to break the back of corruption. The fight is actually more
complicated than it appears to be as it is trying to change a social
behaviour - giving and accepting bribes. It remains to be seen how
many of Hazare's supporters are willing to take this fight to the
end.
From http://www.channelnewsasia.com/
01/12/2012
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NEPAL: Parliamentary
System Best for the Country
Nepali Congress president Sushil Koirala has claimed that
parliamentary system advocated by his party is most suitable for the
country. Inaugurating the B.P Memorial Cooperative Hospital in
Kathmandu on Saturday, Koirala said that only the parliamentary
system bodes well with the principles of 'inclusiveness' and the
republic order. The NC president also dismissed reports of an
understanding between the leaders of the parties in Switzerland
months earlier to adopt mixed system that would divide the executive
powers between the Prime Minister and the President. He revealed
that Padma Ratna Tuladhar and former Speaker Daman Nath Dhungana had
approached him with a proposal to reach an understanding outside the
country, but he had rejected it. With the NC and the Maoists
maintaining opposite positions, the Constitutional Committee of the
parliament has not been able to decide on the form of governance for
the country after the promulgation of the new constitution. The
Maoists are in favour of directly elected executive President with
parliament-elected Prime Minister.
From http://www.nepalnews.com/ 01/14/2012
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KAZAKHSTAN: Citizens
Living Abroad to Be Able to Vote in Elections
Kazakh citizens living abroad will be able to vote in elections
to the Majilis (lower house) of Kazakhstan, which will be held
on January 15, 2012, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of the Altai Abibullaev said in a briefing on Monday.
Abibullaev noted that there will be 56 polling stations outside
of the country. "Kazakhstan Foreign Ministry initiated the
opening of 21 new polling stations in addition to 35 existing,
under the diplomatic and consular missions abroad in order to
provide the possibility to vote for citizens of Kazakhstan
abroad. Thus, the total number of polling stations abroad is 56,
Abibullaev said. Abibullayev noted that the polls will be open
at all Kazakh embassies, under 5 general consulates and three
consular offices. A complete list of polling stations outside of
Kazakhstan is available on the MFA website.
From http://en.trend.az/ 01/09/2012
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TAJIKISTAN: New Justice
Minister Appointed
Former Deputy Head of the Tajik President's Executive Office
Rustam Mengliyev was appointed as Tajik Minister of Justice,
Asia-Plus reported. Former Justice Minister Bakhtiyor Khudoerov
became the head of the Tajik President's Executive Office. Tajik
President Emomali Rahmon made a number of reshuffles in the
country's government including the appointment of new Interior
Minister and the first vice prime-minister on Wednesday.
From http://en.trend.az/ 01/05/2012
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Tajik President Appoints
Education Minister
Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon has appointed Nuriddin
Saidov the Minister of Education, CA-News reported on Tuesday.
Saidov, the Tajikistan National University's chancellor, replaced in
this position Abdujjabor Rahmonov, who was appointed as the
chancellor of Tajikistan State Pedagogical University. Tajik
President appointed Khayriddin Abdurahimov as the head of state
committee on emergency situations and civil defense. Former
Tajikistan's ambassador to Uzbekistan Bobokhon Makhmadov was
appointed the head of the Tajik Centre for strategic studies.
From http://en.trend.az/ 01/10/2012
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TURKMENISTAN: President
Sets Tasks for Ministry of Foreign Affairs for 2012
At a government meeting held yesterday, President of Turkmenistan
Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov set the tasks before the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs for 2012. In accordance with the Programme of
Action, in the second half of 2012 Turkmenistan will host a
conference on security in Central Asia and the Caspian region with
broad participation of relevant delegations. "Establishing an
Advisory Council on Peaceful Development in Central Asia and the
Caspian region could become one of the political outcomes of the
forthcoming conference," the head of state said. Another
international meeting on sharing Turkmenistan's experience in
granting citizenship to refugees and stateless persons will be held
under the UN auspices in Ashgabat in May 2012. In addition,
Turkmenistan in its capacity as President of the CIS for 2012 will
host a meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of Government in May this
year. In September, Turkmenistan will hold a meeting of the CIS
Economic Council. In November, Ashgabat will host a meeting of Heads
of CIS member states and a meeting of the CIS Council of Foreign
Ministers. In addition, the capital of Turkmenistan will host
various meetings and conferences of the CIS. "I consider it
important that our country will take part in the World Summit "Rio
+20", which will be conducted by the United Nations in July 2012. We
regard this forum as an important event for further progress towards
realization of goals of sustainable development. At this forum, we
intend to make a number of specific initiatives," the President of
Turkmenistan said. According to him, the country also attaches
importance to participation in the regular meeting of Shanghai
Cooperation Organization to be held in China in early June 2012.
"Turkmenistan considers it essential to ensure strategic stability
and peace and to fully adhere to the Charter of the United Nations.
Our country will continue to rigorously and consistently pursuing a
policy of good neighborliness and peace-making, actively promoting
the work to achieve harmony and sustainable development. We totally
reject the use of military force as an instrument of foreign policy
and international relations," Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said.
From http://www.turkmenistan.ru/ 01/07/2012
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Turkmenistan to Introduce
National Defined Contribution Pension System in 2012
In accordance with the Code of Turkmenistan "On Social
Insurance", Turkmenistan will introduce the Notional Defined
Contribution pension system and establish the Pension Fund in 2012.
This was announced by Deputy Prime Minister Annamuhammet Gochyev at
a government meeting. He also submitted the draft resolutions "On
Establishment of the Pension Fund of Turkmenistan" and "On
Improvement of Work of the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare of
Turkmenistan" to President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov for
consideration. Having agreed in general on the draft resolutions,
the President signed relevant documents and demanded that necessary
control should be exercised over implementation of these documents.
The President appointed Minister of Labour and Social Welfare of
Turkmenistan Bekmyrat Shamyradov Chairman of the Pension Fund.
From http://www.turkmenistan.ru/ 01/09/2012
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Turkmen President Supports
Setting Up New Parties, Independent Media
Incumbent Turkmen president said Monday in his program statement
as a presidential candidate that he supports establishment of new
parties and independent media in the country, State Information
Service of Turkmenistan reported. "It should be noted that we need
parties which would unite the people and inspire them to
constructive work for the further prosperity of our country",
Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said. Berdimuhamedov named the
transformation of Turkmenistan from predominantly agrarian country
into an industrial power among his top priorities. The president
also refused free television air time he has a right to as a
candidate and asked the Central Election Commission to redistribute
it between the other candidates. Presidential election in
Turkmenistan is scheduled for February 12.
From http://en.trend.az/ 01/10/2012
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Turkmenistan Appoints New
Deputy Chairman of Parliament
President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhammadov appointed
Kurbangul Bayramov as deputy chairman of the Majlis (parliament),
the State News Agency of Turkmenistan reported. "In accordance with
Article 70 of the Turkmen Constitution and according to the results
of open vote, which took place on Jan. 10, 2012 during the 13th
session of the Mejlis of the fourth convocation Kurbangul Bayramov
is elected as deputy chairman of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan,"
President Berdimuhammadov's decree says. Prior to his new
appointment, Bayramov served as the Chairman of the Parliamentary
Committee on Bodies of Local Representative Government and
Self-government. The former deputy chairman of the Turkmen
parliament Kasymkuli Babayev was dismissed as a result of the open
vote at the parliament.
From http://en.trend.az/ 01/11/2012
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UZBEKISTAN: President
Makes Reshuffle in Foreign Ministry
President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov signed a decree to dismiss
Deputy Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Islamov, a source in the Uzbek
government told Trend on Wednesday. According to the source, head of
the Legal Department at the Foreign Ministry Kamil Rashidov has been
appointed to this post by another presidential decree.
From http://en.trend.az/ 01/11/2012
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Arab Countries Prefer
Turkish Model of Public Governance System
Arab countries prefer Turkish model formation of public
governance system, Deputy Executive Secretary of the ruling New
Azerbaijan Party (NAP), MP Mubariz Gurbanli said in an interview
with the website of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party on Tuesday.
"Islamist parties won the elections held recently in several Arabic
states - Morocco and Egypt," Gurbanli said. "The Party of Justice
and Development has been reported to win the elections in Morocco.
The name of this party is similar to the name of Turkish ruling
party. The leader of this party said he supports the Turkish model
of public administration." Islamists are expected to come to power
and to establish a coalition government in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya,
Gurbanli noted. According to Gurbanli, the results of primary
elections held in Egypt show that Islamists hold advantages here.
"Changes in foreign and domestic policies of these countries by
force of the so-called 'Islamist powers' coming to power and
influence which could impact on the model of public administration
will become the topic of broad discussions. Is there a probability
to establish theocratic states again with the Islamist powers'
coming to power in mentioned countries? This is seriously discussed,
and forecasts are different. The probability of creating theocratic
method of public governance in these countries is low. And coming to
power Islamist powers will not return to the method of religious
control. These states may have the policy which is similar with the
one held by the Islamist powers in Turkey. Of course, these
processes are domestic matter of these countries, and this matter is
solved by nation," Deputy Executive Secretary of NAP noted.
More transparent and open processes in these countries are in these
nations' interests, Gurbanli said. He stressed unless there is
interference outward, or a policy of forcing domestic tension in
these countries is held for geopolitical interests, the situation
can gradually stabilize. "For a long time Western countries
conducted policy which meets their interests on these territories,
what we are observing now," MP stressed. "But if there is no
interference into the processes, the creation by Islamist powers of
public governance system which meets the Turkish model m-ay be
forecasted in these countries. A course of events shows that these
states prefer the Turkish model."
From http://en.trend.az/ 12/28/2011
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AUSTRALIA: Commends PM on
Reform Process
MELBOURNE: Australia has commended Prime Minister Datuk Seri
Najib Tun Razak on his political reforms taking effect in the
wake of the acquittal of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on the sodomy
charge. Speaking in Jakarta on Monday, an "absolutely delighted"
Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said the verdict demonstrated the
evolution of the Malaysian justice system. "I have met Anwar
Ibrahim before and this is a good result for him and the process
of political liberalisation that Prime Minister Najib has been
leading for some years now," Rudd told a media conference. "As
the Prime Minister of Malaysia, I commend him (Najib) and his
government for that process of liberalisation open discussion,
open engagement on difficult and sensitive questions. "This a
good decision by the Malaysian courts." At the same conference,
Indonesia's Foreign Minister Dr Marty Natalegawa said: "Yes,
this (the Anwar verdict) is simply an important result that we
always see as an issue that the international community has been
following very closely." "It is of course in essence a legal
process and therefore should be treated and approached in that
manner, but no doubt it is an important decision, an important
result and we have every confidence that the Malaysian body
politic will be able to move forward following this important
decision."
From http://thestar.com.my/ 01/10/2012
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COOK ISLANDS: Government
Rationalises Agencies
The Cook Islands Financial Supervisory Commission and its
Financial Intelligence Unit will merge in the next financial year
under government plans to streamline the public sector. The two
regulatory bodies will share office space and combine their staffs
at the Commission site and officially become a joint entity by July
the 1st. The Commission regulates financial institutions, while the
Financial Intelligence Unit works to combat money laundering, the
financing of terrorism and similar offences. The Ministry of
Education and the Department of National Human Resources Development
are also merging.
From http://www.rnzi.com/ 12/30/2011
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KIRIBATI: Going to the
Polls to Elect New President
The people of Kiribati go to the polls today to elect a new
president after the vote was deferred for two weeks to avoid
Christmas and New Year festivities. The country's parliament,
elected in November, nominated three candidates for President. The
current President Anote Tong is standing for a third term and is
opposed by two opposition MPs Dr Tetaua Taitai and Rimeta Beniamina.
From http://www.rnzi.com/ 01/12/2012
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MARSHALL ISLANDS:
President Announces Cabinet
The newly elected Marshall Islands President Christopher Loeak
has announced his Cabinet, naming 10 senators including three who
are in their first week in elective office. Veteran politicians Tony
deBrum and Phillip Muller were named Minister in Assistance to the
President and Foreign Minister, respectively. DeBrum has been a
foreign, finance, and health minister in earlier governments, while
most recently Muller was the country's United Nations ambassador.
The deal that brought together the opposition group led by President
Loeak and a smaller group led by former President Kessai Note
provided Note's group with the two top posts in parliament, which
went to Speaker Donald Capelle and Vice Speaker Tomaki Juda, and two
Cabinet positions. Hilda Heine, the only person in the Marshall
Islands who holds a PhD - and the only woman in the 33-seat
parliament - is the new Minister of Education.
From http://www.rnzi.com/ 01/09/2012
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PNG: Corruption Task Force
Gets More Money to Continue Its Work
Papua New Guinea's O'Neill government has allocated an additional
1 point four million US dollars to the Task Force Sweep team which
is investigating allegedly corrupt public spending. The team was set
up soon after the O'Neill government took power in August. It was
initially given funding of two point eight million US dollars. The
task force has targeted members of the former Somare administration,
senior government officials and prominent business people. The Post
Courier reports that its chairman, Sam Koim says in the New Year
they may look into the Taiwan diplomatic scandal.
From http://www.rnzi.com/ 12/27/2011
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TONGA: Public Servants
Threaten Industrial Action Over Retirement Fund
Public servants in Tonga say they will go on strike if they can't
get a resolution to grievances over retirement fund money. The body
which represents Tonga's 2,800 public servants says the rising cost
of living means many are suffering financially and they want to be
able to access half the money they have put into the government-run
pension scheme. The Retirement Fund Board has instead offered
short-term loans which most members have taken up. The
Secretary-General of the Public Service Association, Mele Amanaki,
says the Retirement Fund Board has turned down the PSA's request for
a final time, and public servants now plan to go to the Public
Service Commission and petition the King. But she says the PSA has
pledged to do its best to prevent action like the six-week public
servants strike of 2005.
From http://www.rnzi.com/ 01/13/2012
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APEC Promotes Green Growth
to Meet Region's Challenges
Six hundred million more people will be living in cities in the
Asia-Pacific region in 2035 than now. That's a 38 percent jump
in 25 years.1 It's not just a question of overcrowding as people
increasingly migrate from the countryside to urban areas. It
raises concerns about traffic congestion, air pollution, green
house gas emissions and overwhelming demands for energy. "This
scale of city growth is unprecedented in history," says Kenji
Kobayashi, President of the Asia-Pacific Energy Research Centre
(APERC).
"Without effective policies in place, the rapidly growing urban
areas of the APEC region are likely to follow the pattern
already established in many economies of automobile-oriented
development and urban sprawl," Mr Kobayashi says. APEC is
tackling these types of economic and environmental challenges
through its green growth agenda, which was a key focus in 2011.
At their annual meeting in Honolulu in November, APEC Leaders
committed to a series of initiatives that aim to assist the
region speed the transition toward a low-carbon economy, in a
way that promotes the development and spread of green
technologies, and thus helps grow our economies, increases
energy efficiency and enhances energy security.
Energy efficiency
Leaders singled out the need for increased energy efficiency,
which would cut demand for energy including for fossil fuels,
reduce emissions and save money. They also directed APEC
economies to further encourage development of energy-smart,
low-carbon communities. The APEC-related Energy Smart
Communities Initiative has some 30 projects up and running on
four pillars - smart transport, smart buildings, smart
communities and smart-job education and training. A wealth of
information about these technologies and methods is being
collected online so that economies can share knowledge and learn
best practice.
One such project profiles new low-energy buildings in the region
that have cut energy use at least by half, compared with
buildings of similar types in similar climates. Existing
buildings are also showcased that have been retrofitted - including with energy-efficient roofs, windows and ventilation
systems - to reduce energy use by at least a quarter. In a
separate initiative, APEC is supporting development of smart
electricity grids that enable sources of clean power to be
seamlessly connected to existing structures. Supplying cheap and
reliable power to residents, businesses and communities will be
a major challenge, particularly for developing economies facing
growing energy demand.
"To move forward, we need a new kind of electric grid that is
capable of delivering new and renewable energy sources such as
wind and solar power," says Tom Lee, Chair of the APEC Expert
Group on New and Renewable Energy Technologies. "We also need a
grid that can automatically manage the increasing complexities
and electrical needs of the 21st century," says Dr Lee who is
with the Industrial Technology Research Institute in Chinese
Taipei. "Therefore a power grid must become smarter to maximize
the use of renewable energy and improve energy efficiency."
To underline the importance of saving energy, Leaders agreed to
a goal to reduce energy intensity by 45 percent by 2035 using
2005 as a base year. The target is a regional or aggregate one,
meaning individual economies could vary above or below the exact
mark.
Energy intensity, energy consumption per unit of gross domestic
product, is already falling thanks in part to previous pledges,
including UN-sponsored commitments to reduce climate change.
Indeed APEC decided this new target after evidence showed it was
already set to surpass its previous reduction goal of 25 percent
by 2030. But Dr Ralph Samuelson, Vice-President of the APERC,
which worked with APEC to develop the new goal, argues this
improvement is "no cause for complacency."
With the region set to grow rapidly, so will the demand for
energy. An APERC report shows the region's carbon dioxide
emissions from fuel combustion are expected to increase by about
40 percent by 2030 compared to 2005 and oil imports from outside
the APEC region are likely to rise some 70 percent.2 As part of
efforts to slow this down, Leaders also committed to phasing out
inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful
consumption. Economies will reform their policies at their own
pace, and in their own way, recognizing that the poorest
populations who rely on them need to be protected.
APEC is also building a reporting mechanism to assist economies
to detail and analyse their current subsidies. In this way,
economies can share lessons learnt on subsidy reform, and build
on best practices. A report that tracks progress of these
reforms will be presented to Leaders annually. "The reform of
inefficient fossil fuel subsidies would free significant
resources in the region that could be used to enhance economic
growth, strengthen energy security and help address climate,"
says Phyllis Yoshida, Lead Shepherd of the APEC Energy Working
Group.
Peer reviews are another tool to help economies undertake policy
reforms to achieve their green goals. Economies can volunteer
for a peer review of their energy efficiency efforts, which
allows a team of experts to analyse in detail their policies and
provide objective feedback and constructive criticism. The
resulting report is circulated among economies so they can
identify and share best practice, and ultimately improve energy
efficiency. Eight economies have volunteered for assessment with
more to come.
Green goods
Current estimates suggest that tens of trillions of dollars of
investment will be required in the coming years to meet our
clean energy, clean air, sanitation and other environmental
goals, Leaders said in their Honolulu declaration. One of the
best ways to meet these goals is to increase the flow of green
goods, they said. APEC therefore is working to reduce tariff and
non-tariff barriers to trade in environmental goods and
services. Leaders committed, for example, to eliminating
existing policies that require businesses to source some or all
of their inputs locally. While these "local content
requirements" are designed to foster local green industries,
they can also discriminate against foreign companies.
On tariffs, APEC will work to develop a list of environmental
goods next year, on which member economies are resolved to
reduce tariff rates to 5% or less by 2015.
"Lowering tariffs on green goods will decrease the costs of
these technologies and increase their deployment, benefitting
consumers, exporters, and the environment," says Dr Yoshida, a
Deputy Assistant Secretary at the US Department of Energy. "The
greater deployment of these technologies will support the
region's sustainable economic growth by creating jobs,
addressing climate change, and increasing energy security."
Looking ahead
Many other important initiatives are underway in APEC, ranging
from harmonizing standards of the energy efficiency of
appliances to promoting development and trade of alternative
fuels such as biofuels. As the United States hands over the APEC
chair to Russia in 2012, APEC's commitment to green growth is
strong, with a long list of goals, initiatives and projects to
produce concrete results going forward.
From http://www.apec.org/ 01/03/2012
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Stepping Up Regulatory
Cooperation for Sustainable Economic Growth
Advancing regulatory cooperation and convergence is an APEC
priority in 2011 along with further expanding trade, deepening
economic integration, and promoting green growth. Stepping up
regulatory cooperation and reform, including eliminating outdated
regulations and improving existing rules, boosts productivity and
creates jobs, while also protecting public health, safety and the
environment. Overhauling rules and procedures also mean that goods,
services and investments flow more efficiently across borders
helping small businesses grow.
"Regulatory reform [however] doesn't mean you let loose on
everything," said Ambassador Laura Del Rosario, senior official of
the Philippines for APEC, in an interview on PBS Hawaii during the
Honolulu meetings. "It just means making things less complicated or
removing overlapping rules." A good example is the Ease of Doing
Business Action Plan. APEC is targeting a 25 percent improvement
region-wide by 2015 in five key areas of doing business: starting a
business; getting credit; enforcing contracts; trading across
borders; and dealing with permits. An interim target of a five
percent improvement has been set for the end of this year. To help
achieve this, APEC has carried out projects to transfer skills,
knowledge, technical expertise and best practice between officials
on these priority areas.
Economies in the APEC region have reported successes since this
initiative was introduced and APEC is well on target to meet the
deadline. Meanwhile, more work is still being done. As part of the
Honolulu Declaration, APEC Leaders announced during their meeting in
November their commitment to "eliminating unjustifiably burdensome
and outdated regulations" and to fostering "greater alignment in
regulatory approaches." One of the ways to do this is by
implementing Good Regulatory Practices (GRPs), which seek to improve
both the effectiveness and efficiency of regulations in realizing
their protective objectives, while maintaining a business-friendly
environment.
Bolstering the internal coordination of rule-making across
government agencies and conducting impact assessments of regulations
are two components of GRP. What bolstering coordination internally
means is improving communication among multiple agencies across
sectors within an economy. This ensures that trade and business
issues are considered through increased transparency and
accountability in the rulemaking process. In effect, regulations
become mutually supportive and legitimate objectives are met.
Conducting impact assessments of regulations, on the other hand, is
a structured process for collecting and evaluating information about
the economic and social impacts of proposed rules to find good
solutions. In other words, regulators ask themselves if a particular
rule or requirement is efficient and effective.
The third component of GRP is facilitating routine public
consultations with a wide variety of stakeholders - including civil
society, consumer groups, industry and trading partners - to ensure
an accountable and transparent regulatory system. Another big step
towards creating a good regulatory environment is applying the new,
results-oriented APEC Regulatory Cooperation Plan, which APEC
Ministers put forward at their meeting in Honolulu.
The plan provides APEC economies with core principles - such as
supporting the multilateral trading system, engaging key
stakeholders, and promoting alignment to international standards and
conformance systems - to put into action to achieve effective and
efficient regulatory cooperation. As part of the plan, APEC is also
strengthening the implementation of the APEC-OECD Checklist in APEC
economies. This serves as a voluntary tool that economies can use to
assess their respective regulatory reform efforts - for example:
regulatory quality, competition policy, and market openness.
In effect, the checklist will help eliminate or minimize unnecessary
divergences in regulatory measures and promote regulatory approaches
that are transparent, consistent, comprehensible and accessible to
users in both the public and private sectors. Better alignment of
standards across all economies in the Asia-Pacific region would help
businesses "make inroads into new markets and for citizens to find
jobs" said US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton in her address to
APEC officials earlier this year. Indeed the importance of
regulatory issues to governments, businesses and everyday citizens
in the region cannot be overstated. Importantly, too, such
cooperative activities among regulators, industry and consumers can
lead to great benefits for all.
Energy efficiency can be improved when smart grid interoperability
standards are better aligned. Patient-care quality can get better
when the medical devices industry follows a code of ethics. And
foods can be made safer when regulators and producers better
harmonize domestic inspection standards with international ones. The
goal therefore is to build high quality regulatory environments in
APEC economies where businesses thrive and consumers are also
protected. As APEC works towards its regulatory goals, individual
consumers, businesses and whole economies will benefit - because
reducing regulatory barriers to trade and investment will help build
sustainable economic growth in the region and prosperity for its
people.
From http://www.apec.org/ 01/03/2012
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Former U.S. Defence
Secretary of State, Dr. William Cohen Gave Public Lecture on
ASEAN-US Relations
A public lecture on ASEAN-US Dialogue Relations, was an active
discussion between former US Defense Secretary, Dr William S. Cohen,
and the audience. Dr Cohen is also Co-Chair of the US-ASEAN Strategy
Commission. Tracing their long friendship, the Secretary-General of
ASEAN, Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, said the talk provided rare insights into
the US "thinking and strategies to ASEAN, including highlights of
the ASEAN-US Dialogue Relations, the US's thinking towards the
emerging regional architecture, potential hotspots in the region as
well as the US non-proliferation policy."
Dr Cohen also spoke on ASEAN's standing position in the regional and
international context, and the potential for ASEAN to build on that
position. The talk and discussion was well received by the audience,
which included members of the diplomatic corps, the think-tanks,
CSOs, as well as students. Dr Surin said the talk is a good start to
the ASEC lecture this year. He is looking forward to hosting more of
these discussions, at the ASEAN Secretariat - which is fondly known
as ASEC to staff and friends.
ASEAN and the U.S. have maintained good momentum in dialogue
relations since 1977. Last year's East Asia Summit is the
culmination of many years of cooperation and partnership between the
leaders of ASEAN and the U.S. The two sides have met regularly and
consecutively for three years in a row. This interaction at the
highest level is a testimony of the maturity and confidence in the
partnership between ASEAN and the US.
From http://www.asean.org/ 01/10/2012
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CHINA: Public Gets Direct
Line to Senior Officials
BEIJING - Deng Ningxi, the owner of a massage center in Meishan,
Sichuan province, that employs blind people, mustered up his
courage and called the cell phone of Zeng Lebin, chairman of
Meishan's Disabled Persons' Federation. The massage center has
been doing poorly since 2010. Deng, 41, who is also blind,
cannot make ends meet, but he doesn't want to close the
business. Working at the center is the sunshine in the lives of
his employees.
Zeng listened to Deng's worries and later contacted
blind-massage training centers to get Deng's staff lessons, and
he also promoted Deng's center to employees of other government
departments. "Zeng is friendly and approachable. I'm grateful
he's willing to take pains to help me," Deng said. Deng got the
cell phone number from Meishan Daily, which last week updated a
list of the cell phone numbers of 283 senior officials of the
Meishan government and associated officials in districts and
counties, including the mayor and the Party leader. The
telephone numbers are also available on mshw.net, the
newspaper's Web portal.
According to Li Zhuo, director of the Meishan publicity
department, the initiative was undertaken to increase and deepen
the communication between the senior officials and the general
public they work for. Meishan is not the only city with such an
initiative. In 2008, Kunming, in Yunnan province, published the
office phone numbers of its government officials, and it updated
the list of contacts in 2011. Both Shanxi province and Changsha,
Hunan province, published the cell phone numbers of their
government officials in 2011, with Shanxi attaching e-mail
addresses as well.
Yu Zisheng, the chief of Meishan bureau of civil affairs, takes
on average five phone calls a week. Most of the callers are poor
and want information on applying for government financial aid.
Yu conceded that these people could easily have found that
information on the bureau's website. "But people living in
poverty usually don't have access to the Internet. Besides, it's
common among the general public to think that a senior official
is more credible and helpful," Yu said.
Li is confident that the measure has been helping. "Residents
have been given more channels to report their problems and
supervise government performance," he said. However, Jia Xijin,
an associate professor at the school of public policy and
management at Tsinghua University, wonders whether those numbers
are for work only, and believes that the numbers that should be
made public are those of the deputies to the people's congress,
whose duties are mainly to serve as a bridge between people and
functionaries.
Li Zhuo said that the senior officials are required to keep
their phone on around the clock. "But the residents are
considerate and call me during office hours only," Li added. But
Yu Zisheng believes the benefits of the service outweigh the
possible inconvenience. After helping an ex-soldier get his
house repaired, "we're helping a group of people after talking
with a member of the group", he said. "This is the real purpose
of enabling a person from the general public to talk to
officials." (By Guo Nei)
From http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/ 01/12/2012
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JAPAN: 2012: Rebuilding
Disaster-Hit Areas - Mayors, Town Officials Stress Working Together
to Recover From March 11
People clap to celebrate the first sale of the year at the
Kesennuma fish market in Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture, on
Wednesday.Areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake kicked
off the first working day of the year Wednesday. The year's first
catch delighted fisheries cooperative association members, while
mayors of municipal governments called on officials for concerted
efforts to rebuild their hometowns.
At the Kesennuma fish market in Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture,
more than 1,000 fish, including tuna, were on sale. A 61-kilogram
bigeye tuna was priced at 305,610 yen, more than 10 percent higher
than the first sale last year. Ryosuke Sato, president of the
Kesennuma fishery cooperative association, said, "We'd like to show
the power of our town, without slowing the reconstruction pace."
Municipalities' first working day started with ceremonies in which
mayors addressed city officials. The atmosphere was like an "opening
ceremony" toward full-fledged reconstruction of their hometowns. In
Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture, where about 4,000 were killed by
the disaster, Mayor Hiroshi Kameyama encouraged the officials. "I
hope you will work with the awareness you are making history
[through reconstruction]," Kameyama said.
In Kesennuma, Mayor Shigeru Sugawara told officials: "Let's work
under the slogan of 'We'll never say we can't do it.'" Minami-Sanriku
Town Mayor Jin Sato told town officials, "To show our gratitude to
people who supported us, we have to show them how quickly we can
rebuild our town." In Fukushima Prefecture, the governments of Okuma
Town and Iitate Village - both located near the Fukushima No. 1
nuclear power plant - kicked off the first working day of the year in
Aizu-Wakamatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture, and Fukushima City,
respectively, as the municipalities' offices were relocated to these
cities.
Okuma is currently dealing with the problem of construction of a
proposed interim storage facility for contaminated soil. During the
ceremony on Wednesday, Mayor Toshitsuna Watanabe referred to Ryuji
Kashiwabara, a Toyo University runner whose team won the
Tokyo-Hakone collegiate ekiden held on Monday and Tuesday.
Kashiwabara is from Iwaki City in the prefecture. "We'll have to
move forward step by step even though we may not be able to run as
well as Mr. Kashiwabara," Watanabe said.
Residents of Iitate Village are still banned from the village. Mayor
Norio Kanno said, "I believe we can overcome difficulties through
everyone's efforts as leaders of the 'team Iitate government.'" On
Wednesday, both municipalities resumed the central government's
model decontamination project suspended since Dec. 29 because of
year-end and New Year holidays. Meanwhile, in Kamaishi Port in
Kamaishi City, Iwate Prefecture, the Kamaishi Coast Guard Office
held a ceremony for members in charge of searching for missing
people. After the ceremony, 25 members headed out to sea on patrol
boats.
From The Yomiuri Shimbun 01/05/2012
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Police Emergency Call
Statistics Reveal Increase in Disaster-Related Cases
Police forces across Japan have collated data on emergency calls
made in 2011 and have made the information available to the public
to coincide with "110 Emergency Call Day," which took place on
Tuesday (Jan 10). Between January and November of last year, the
number of emergency calls made nationally was 8,558,988, which was
an increase of 67,703 on the previous year, the National Police
Agency said in a report.
Police said that most of the calls were related to traffic
accidents, accounting for 29.9% of the total. There was also a sharp
increase in the number of calls concerning natural disasters to
12,831, which accounted for 23.3% of the total. Police also added
that the number of calls which were not emergency-related, but
instead involved questions such as, "How do I update my driver's
license?" stayed largely unchanged at 26.3%.
From http://www.japantoday.com/ 01/11/2012
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SOUTH KOREA: Academy to
Recruit Diplomats in 2013
A new recruitment system for diplomats will be used beginning in
2013, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said yesterday. The
new system will better prepare recruits and more efficiently weed
out those who lack the necessary skills, the ministry said. The new
system, to be managed by the National Foreign Service Academy, will
begin operating after the final sitting of the current High
Diplomatic Service Examination scheduled for the first half of 2013.
The academy will be an affiliate of the ministry.
Beginning in the second half of 2013, the ministry will assemble an
academy class of up to 1.5 times the number of junior diplomats
needed for the following year. The class will have been evaluated
through a three-stage process involving foreign language tests,
aptitude tests, essay writing and interviews.
The class will enroll in a one-year, three semester program at the
academy in December 2013. The ones who perform the best there will
be appointed as fifth-level foreign affairs officials. The current
recruitment system, heavily dependent on the rote-based High
Diplomatic Service Examination, has long been criticized for
producing unqualified diplomats who lack language skills and other
traits such as negotiation ability and quick judgment.
A senior official of the ministry said the one-year education
program at the service would make a significant difference. "It
would run three semesters without vacation and require many
assignments on various subjects, all of which are oriented toward
evaluating capacity and potential rather than knowledge," the
official said. Some question the efficiency of the new recruitment
system saying that dropping only one-third of the entering class is
not much different from the current recruiting process.
Currently, the ministry selects 1.3 times the number of people it
needs as new junior diplomats and cuts some through interviews. Some
in the government think the academy should offer an academic degree
and make the incoming classes even larger. "It appears the
government has compromised because the service would not provide an
academic degree," said an official of the ministry, speaking on the
condition of anonymity. There is no government policy yet to arrange
jobs for those who enroll at the academy but fail to become
diplomats, although ministry officials said they could get jobs with
relative ease using the skills they acquire at the academy. (By Moon
Gwang-lip)
From http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/
12/30/2011
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Korea's Government
Integrated Data Center Sets a New Benchmark on e-Government IT
SEOUL, KOREA - - "The National Computing & Information Agency (NCIA)
began from an idea that the government put all its IT resources of
the central government agencies together in one place and manage
them in an integrated manner," says Kim Kyung-sup, president of NCIA.
The start of NCIA was just the world's first GIDC (Government
Integrated Data Center). At the moment, NCIA is referred to as "the
benchmark of the GIDC" and recognized as one of the best
e-government solutions in the world, says Dr. Kim. His claims are
backed by the UN e-government survey of 2010, where it ranked first
out of 192 countries surveyed. It was 5th in 2005 and 15th in 2002.
"No other government in the world has ever tried this work. At
first, a number of people were skeptical about the success of this
project due to potential conflicts of interests among ministries and
its scale," says Kim.
Go for Smart E-Government through G Cloud Computing Service
The number of smartphone users in Korea has now surpassed 20
million. It means 4 out of 10 Koreans are using smartphones.
Interactive communication has become a crucial feature of the smart
era. At the heart of the trend, there is the cloud computing
service. The government judged that it is important for them to keep
pace with the public and the current trends in services, and so it
decided to introduce a new paradigm, ICT (Information and
Communications Technology) based government service. The idea is to
present smart e-government services through the Government Cloud
Computing Service (G Cloud).
The Korean government mapped out a plan to provide a cloud and
mobile based environment. NCIA set up three goals - transferring 50%
of businesses of central government agencies from current systems to
a cloud based one, raising open source software adaption rate up to
40% and cutting down operational costs by more than 30% - to offer
the world's best G Cloud Computing Service. "To this end, the
government is in the process of building a G Cloud platform focusing
on putting forth credible services, operational efficiency,
introducing more of open source-based standards, to successfully
migrate the businesses into new environment.
Accomplishments and Challenges of Smart E-Government
Over the past six years since its establishment, NCIA has made the
e-Government more stable, secure and efficient. It has also
propelled the growth of small and medium-sized IT companies and
supports the export activities of the GIDC model. The Korean G Cloud
will be remembered as one of the most successful endeavors of
e-government challenges once it is completed.
The security of the e-government system has been tightened. "Simply,
the number of rule-sets automatically block cyber-attacks which show
that security has been dramatically enhanced," Dr. Kim continues.
"The number of rule-sets registered was about 8,000 in the early
days of NCIA. However, in 2011, this figure has been doubled. NCIA
has developed a comprehensive defense system called e-ANSI (Advanced
National Security Infrastructure) which covers physical and cyber
security. Thanks to e-ANSI, NCIA has successfully defended all
systems even though the number of cyber-threats continue to
increase.
Security issues of cloud computing remains a major concern for the
initiative. People often think that risks may increase since all the
data is concentrated in one place. NCIA has eased the worries by
providing a systematic defense mechanism and keeping it in optimized
conditions 24/7.
"We succeeded in reducing not only equipment costs but also
operational costs such as salaries, utilities and maintenance.
Therefore, we were able to enhance efficiency in managing IT
resources of the government," Dr. Kim explains. NCIA purchases
equipment and software on behalf of all the ministries and offers
these tools through virtualization and automation technology. All of
these efforts have finally paid off. The cost of maintenance and
operations has been decreased by 30%. At the same time, redundant
spending of government funds has been considerably reduced. The
government has also saved about KRW 63.4 billion (USD 54.8 million)
since NCIA has been in operation.
"We are implementing various policies in order to shape a market
environment to support the growth of small and medium-sized
enterprises," says Dr. Kim. "NCIA has not only strengthened its
capabilities by going into partnership with local companies but also
in actively introducing new trends and technologies and spreading
them across all sectors of the government." Small and medium-sized
companies are participating in about 50% of all the projects of NCIA
each year.
Developing Countries Emulate NCIA
With world-wide recognition of NCIA's GIDC model, the Korean GDIC is
emerging as a benchmark for developing countries who are in the
process of introducing or spreading e-government systems. More than
a thousand public officials from over a hundred countries have
visited the NCIA since 2007. They want to learn more about the
Korean e-government's innovative services and its sophisticated
operational know-how.
They are mostly high-ranking officials of ministries taking charge
of developing policies on e-governments or executing them across
government bodies. Some of the officials include the Minister of
Energy from Brunei, the Minister of Information and Communication of
Mongolia and the General Secretary of the UAE Cabinet. They are
considering building an e-government system in their own country by
taking the Korean GIDC model and study NCIA's know-how in data
center management. They want to know more about how NCIA enhanced
the stability and efficiency of the system and bring economical
benefits through the integration. A number of Korean IT companies
have mentioned NCIA (GIDC) as one of the promising exports of Korean
e-government solutions in a recently conducted survey by a
government agency.
Exporting the GIDC Model
Increasing interest from other countries in the Korean e-government
system is a positive sign for Korean IT companies who want to enter
overseas markets. NCIA tries its best to share its experiences with
other countries who want to build a mature e-government system with
local companies. The Korean government has succeeded to export USD
235M of e-government solutions in the areas of tax, public
procurement and customs clearance systems in 2011. The Vietnamese
government has applied for an EDCF loan from the Korean government
in order to construct its own GIDC at Hanoi. Indonesia, Philippines
and Kenya are also considering introducing a GIDC based on the
Korean model in their own countries. The Korean GIDC model is
expected to arouse wide interest to other countries.
NCIA plans to offer consultations on operations and security aspects
of its own development. Much of the demand currently comes from
countries that are currently operating data centers or are planning
to launch related projects. NCIA plans to transfer technology and
know-how by signing MOUs and carry out joint projects such as
inviting foreign engineers into Korea and providing on-the-job
training programs, and conducting collaborative seminars to share
the knowledge.
Efforts Underway to Promote Korean E-Government Solutions
NCIA opened the Korean e-Government showcase on November 30, 2011.
This showcase will facilitate the introduction to the Korean
e-government system to overseas visitors. "Korean dramas, K-pop and
movies have become popular overseas. People call it the 'Korean
Wave'. Recently the Korean e-government system has also become a
prospective export of Korean Wave. The number of foreign visitors
who want to learn the Korean e-government system is surging. That is
why we decided to make the showcase".
The exhibit presents ten best practices out of more than 1,000
e-government services such as tax, customs clearance and
procurement. Visitors have a chance to experience Korean
e-government solutions. The showcase is operated through a
partnership with the NCIA, related government agencies, and private
companies involved with developing GDIC. (By Kim Sung-mi)
From http://www.koreaittimes.com/ 12/30/2011
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Lee Orders Introduction of
'Real-Name Price Management System'
SEOUL (Yonhap) - In a bid to help stabilize prices, President
Lee Myung-bak on Tuesday ordered the introduction this year of a
system in which public officials in charge of the price of major
daily goods are named. Lee gave the instruction during a weekly
Cabinet meeting he presided over, according to his spokesman Park
Jeong-ha.
From http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/
01/03/2012
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Korea Needs to Improve
Competitiveness in Social Integration: Report
South Korea has been faring relatively well economically, but it
still lags behind in terms of social integration, infrastructure and
other non-economic areas, a government report showed Wednesday. "Our
country is faring well in the economic sector, but we remain weak in
terms of social integration, social capital and natural resources,"
the finance ministry said in the report that analyzed the nation's
competitiveness in comparison with other advanced countries.
"Economic indicators have improved as we coped with the global
economic crisis more effectively than other advanced countries. But
improvement is still needed for non-economic factors in such areas
as social integration and social capital." The report is based on
259 indicators in four different areas - economy, social
integration, environment and infrastructure. The report, the second
of its kind, does not provide the overall competitiveness ranking
but each indicator was compared with 34 members of the Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development.
In the economy area, South Korea's growth rate ranked second as of
2010, up from fifth in the previous report. Its per-capita gross
domestic product improved from 25th to 22nd. The nation's labor
productivity grew at the fastest pace in 2010, compared with ranking
12th globally in 2009. In the social integration and other
non-economic areas, however, many indicators showed that South Korea
has a long way to go before competing with other advanced countries.
The gap between the haves and have-nots, in particular, appears to
be widening. In terms of income inequality based on the Gini
coefficient, South Korea ranked 20th in 2008, down from 17th in the
previous report. In terms of the ratio of income paid to female
workers, the nation ranked the lowest among 19 countries surveyed.
South Korea also came in 28th out of 31 countries surveyed in terms
of the level of media freedom.
In infrastructure, South Korea lagged behind especially in terms of
road construction. It ranked 17th in the field, down from the
previous 15th. Its ranking for public education spending per student
to GDP also slipped to 9th from 6th. Among indicators related to the
environment, South Korea's ranking dropped in per-capita carbon
emissions from 24th to 28th. The ratio of fossil fuel consumption
also increased here, with its ranking in the field dropping from
18th to 21st, the report showed.
From http://www.koreaherald.com/ 01/04/2012
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INDONESIA: Use GIS for
Forestry Management
The Forest Utilisation Monitoring Centre (FUMC) located in West
Papua, Indonesia, has unveiled plans to develop a forest and
ecological GIS solution for its long-term ecological research
for sustainable forestry management. For years, The FUMC has
continually aligned its efforts to the development of technical
and professional manpower in the field of forest production, and
as well as the promotion of the sustainable use of forest
resources to meet market demands. SuperGIS Desktop 3, the GIS
solution selected for this endeavour, will help the centre in
its efforts to improve forest productivity. It will be applied
to the forest and ecological GIS system to process the massive
amounts of GIS data and to accomplish complex GIS tasks. With
its powerful analysis functions, efficient editing capability,
enhanced data processing performance, and customised GIS tools,
local authorities and researchers at the centre will be able to
arrive at well-informed decisions that are crucial for their
efforts in fostering a sustainable ecology and forest
development.
From http://www.futuregov.asia/ 01/06/2012
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Indonesia Tsunami Warning
Lifted
Indonesia has lifted a tsunami warning issued on Wednesday after
a powerful earthquake struck off northern Sumatra. The US Geological
Survey said Tuesday's quake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.3 and
struck 420km off the coast of Aceh province. It was centred 30km
beneath the ocean floor. Arief Akhir, an official with Indonesia's
geological agency, said a tsunami warning has been issued. Local
people in Banda Aceh ran away in panic from buildings after news of
the tsunami warning and the quake. No major damage in the provincial
capital was seen, witnesses said. Another witness at the beach in
Aceh said the sea level had decreased following the quake. Indonesia
is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific Ring
of Fire, an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific
Basin. A giant quake off the country on December 26, 2004, triggered
a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed 230,000 people, half of
them in Aceh.
From http://www.aljazeera.com/ 01/10/2012
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MALAYSIA: MAS Unveils New
Management Structure
MAS has unveiled a management structure effective Jan 1, 2012 to
rally its staff and steer the national carrier into a new era.
Customer Experience, Operations, Human Capital, Network, Alliance,
Strategy and Planning will now report directly to Group Chief
Executive Officer (CEO), Ahmad Jauhari, who also takes on the role
as CEO of Long-Haul. Deputy Group CEO and CEO of Short-Haul,
Mohammed Rashdan, will lead the charge for the operations of
Short-Haul, Group Finance, Aircraft Finance and Management, and in
the interim, helm Commercial. "The organisation structure signals a
new era for the Malaysia Airlines group that will further build
pride among our employees and confidence for our customers and
stakeholders. "It involves the setting up of several new business
units and the re-naming of existing functions as well as the
introduction of new leaders to take over from familiar faces who
have decided to pursue other career opportunities," Ahmad Jauhari
said in a statement Friday. He added that this will ensure both the
smooth transfer of responsibilities and the successful execution of
the business plan to enhance the Group's reputation and significance
for its eventual entry into the one-world alliance by the end of
2012. Among the new and re-named business units are: Network,
Alliance, Strategy and Planning, Programme Management Office,
Communications, renamed Strategic Communications, Corporate Finance,
renamed Aircraft Finance and Management; and Audit and Business
Advisory which has been renamed Internal Audit.
MAS said the new organisation structure proceeds with the departure
of several leaders of the MAS team, including Datuk Dr Amin Khan
(from Commercial Strategy), Mohd Roslan Ismail (from MAS Aerospace
Engineering), Shahari Tan Sri Sulaiman (from MASkargo) and Datin
Sharifah Salwa Syed Kamaruddin (from Revenue Management). "Moving
forward, the group's leadership team will be strengthened with the
entry of highly experienced talent, namely Hugh Dunleavy, to lead
Network, Alliance, Strategy and Planning and Shihaj Kutty to lead
Revenue Management," Ahmad Jauhari said. Hugh Dunleavy, with more
than 30 years experience in the aviation industry, joins MAS with a
solid reputation to deliver results in his assigned areas, including
strategy and planning, revenue/yield management, airline alliances,
decision support systems, operations research and regulatory
affairs. Meanwhile, Shihaj Kutty has over 15 years experience in
aviation, specifically in sales and revenue management, as well as
managing reservations and ticketing offices for major European and
Gulf carriers while based in the Gulf region. Both Hugh and Shihaj
will report for duty at Malaysia Airlines by mid-January 2012.
From http://thestar.com.my/ 12/30/2011
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Southeast Asia's Largest
Commercial Green Data Centre Opens in Malaysia
The largest commercial green data centre in Southeast Asia,
called CSF Computer Exchange 5 (CX5), has opened in Malaysia,
according to data centre services provider CSF Group. CX5 is also
the first data centre in the country to receive the Green Building
Index (GBI) Certified rating, said the company. Located in Cyberjaya,
CX5 generated first half results of 96.8 percent revenue growth,
said CSF Group president and chief executive officer, Adrian Yong,
speaking on 9 January 2011. "We started our first data centre, CX1,
10 years ago in 2002," said Yong. "It has been a decade of
achievements and innovation and with the launch of CX5 today, we now
operate the largest commercial GBI Certified Rating data centre in
Southeast Asia. CX5 is part of our growth strategy to provide
world-class data centre facilities to our customers." He said CX5
was a carrier-neutral high end purpose built data centre which
consists of three blocks of four-storey buildings and a Class A
office block. It offers 201,000 sq ft of net data centre floor space
and a gross floor area of approximately 580,000 sq ft. The facility
is one of three data centres developed and operated by CSF Group in
Cyberjaya.
"CX5 has been awarded the provisional Green Building Index (GBI)
Certified Rating, which recognises the facility as a green,
sustainable building that has satisfied certain requirements as
determined by the GBI accreditation panel," said Yong. "These
requirements include, among others factors such as the ability to
provide energy savings, water savings, a healthier indoor
environment, better connectivity to public transport, the adoption
of recycling and greenery for their projects, and reducing impact on
the environment." He said CX5 was classified as a Tier 3 data
centre, designed to host mission critical servers and computer
systems. "The data centre is TIA-942 compliant and is equipped with
fully redundant subsystems including cooling, power, network links,
storage and stringent physical security features." CSF Group is one
of the project owners of the Entry Point Project 3 (EPP 3) under the
Business Services NKEA (National Key Economic Area) of the country's
Economic Transformation Programme (ETP). The Malaysian government
has identified data centre business as a significant contributor to
the country's economic growth, with a projection that this sector
will contribute RM2.4 billion (US$761 million) to Gross National
Income (GNI) and create about 13,000 jobs by 2020.
From http://www.computerworld.com.sg/
01/10/2012
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SINGAPORE: Govt Looking to
Improve Public Transport Sector
Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew said the government is studying
how it can help bus operators SBS and SMRT grow their fleet and
drivers in a sustainable manner. He said the issues are complex, and
details will be announced early this year. He said the government
will do this even as it expands the rail network. Mr Lui was
speaking at the opening ceremony of two new MRT stations on the
Circle Line, namely the Marina Bay and Bayfront stations. "LTA will
be putting in place a programme to partner the bus operators in
ramping up bus capacity significantly over the next few years. This
will allow us to reduce crowding and waiting time for commuters, and
provide some relief until the ongoing works to significantly
increase rail capacity are completed," said Mr Lui. Mr Lui had
previously said that to boost bus capacity in a timely fashion, it
cannot be left to the operators alone. LTA's review is expected to
look into common complaints of commuters - such as congestion and
bus frequency. Turning to the rail network, Mr Lui said the two new
Circle Line stations will significantly enhance connectivity to the
Marina Bay area. With the new Bayfront station, commuters no longer
need to take a 10- to 15-minute walk to get to the Marina Bay Sands
integrated resort. The average daily ridership on the Circle Line is
expected to reach some 500,000 with the new extension, compared to
the current ridership of about 300,000. Other attractions within
reach are the Helix Bridge and the Gardens by the Bay, which will
open later this year.
From http://www.channelnewsasia.com/ 01/13/2012
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Name Change for Primary
Care Partnership Scheme
More Singaporeans will enjoy subsidised general practitioner care
under the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS), which kicked in on
Sunday. It was previously known as the Primary Care Partnership
Scheme (PCPS). The scheme enables low-income Singaporeans to enjoy
subsidised general practitioner (GP) care. But several Members of
Parliament and the public gave feedback that its previous name,
Primary Care Partnership Scheme, did not fully capture the essence
of its work - of giving financial help for community healthcare.
After seeking input from doctors and nurses, the health ministry
decided to call it CHAS to better reflect the scheme's objective.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a community event on
Sunday, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said: "After the Parliament
session, some MPs came up to me and said actually it's quite
difficult to understand what Primary Care Partnership Scheme is
about. "While PCPS was a name that describes the partnership between
the government and GPs, to the residents, it's not very meaningful.
So they've asked whether we could think of a name that residents
will find easier to understand, to identify with. So we've decided
to describe what it does rather than what it is." Mr Gan also gave
an update on the response to the scheme. Since last December, some
5,300 applications were received. Of these, 4,900 were approved. The
other 400 did not meet the criteria.
Interested applicants of the CHAS have to fill in a form. Those who
meet the criteria only have to wait for about two to three weeks
before they receive their Health Assist card for use at
participating GPs and dental clinics for subsidised treatment. The
qualifying income for the scheme is set at S$1,500 per capita
monthly household income, higher than the previous S$800. Anyone who
is 40 years old and above is eligible, instead of 60 years old and
above previously. Patients will pay subsidised rates at specialist
outpatient clinics when referred by GPs under the scheme. Both the
PCPS and national medical savings scheme, Medisave, were enhanced in
2011 to cover more chronic illnesses, such as dementia and bipolar
disorder. This brings the total number of chronic diseases covered
under the two schemes to 10. The other conditions are diabetes, high
blood pressure, stroke, lipid disorders, chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease, asthma, schizophrenia and major depression.
Getting Singaporeans to apply remains a challenge, said Mr Gan. He
said: "Not all residents will take the initiative to apply for this
scheme until they see a need to. So that's why we are also taking
advantage of the natural touch-points to reach out to residents."
These contact points include polyclinics and GP clinics. Currently,
more than 38,000 Singaporeans are on the scheme, along with 450 GP
and 210 dental clinics. In addition, there are 48 GP clinics and 25
dental clinics whose applications are being processed.
From http://www.channelnewsasia.com/ 01/15/2012
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INDIA: TERI Report
Envisions a Green e-India
ICT can play a crucial role in reducing India's energy
requirements by encouraging environment-friendly practices for
rapid growth, says a recent report by TERI and NASSCOM. New
Delhi: Can we achieve high economic growth while promoting a
healthier environment? Yes we can. A recent report emphasises
how Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) play a
transformational role by enabling firms to efficiently run green
business and significantly contribute towards reduced carbon
footprint. ICT can check power consumptions in the economy by
expanding their outreach to more and more sectors and make them
greener. (L to R) Annapurna Vanchesvaran, Som Mittal, Dr. RK
Pachauri, Nitin Desai and Rama Vedashree at the report launch/
Photo credit: TERI The report attempts to connect IT users and
providers of e-products and services to help meet the goals of
climate change and environment sustainability.
This report, Sustainable Tomorrow: Harnessing ICT potential was
launched by The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI) Business
Council for sustainable development and National Association of
Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) in New Delhi on Dec
22. Sachin Pilot, MoS, Communications and Information
Technology, Govt of India, applauded the report in his
email-message for the occasion. "I have no doubt in my mind that
ICT can play a transformational role by partnering with both
government and enterprises in India to go green." He urged the
ICT industry members and research organisations like TERI to
take the lead in making India an innovation hub for green
technologies and practices. Dr R.K. Pachauri, Director-General,
TERI, speaking at the launch, emphasised on a symbiotic
relationship between ICT and sustainable development. "The rapid
growth of the ICT sector in India makes it imperative that
future activities in this field fully meet the objectives of
sustainability and social responsibility," he said, urging the
government and private players to take up the issue with
urgency. Dr Pachauri articulated his plans to introduce solar
based mobile charging stations in 200 Indian villages deprived
of electricity and connect them to mobile information centres to
boost their livelihoods. He expressed his belief that ICT could
help build a more equitable system.
As India moves towards becoming a knowledge-based society, ICT
solutions can aid development in different ways. In the last
decade, ICT has helped India improve its efficiency and
contributed to better governance, thereby, changing India's
image globally. "The IT industry is playing a transformational
role in the way businesses, customers and citizens are serviced,
and also leading the way in establishing a new paradigm for
knowledge and services-led economy," said Som Mittal, President,
NASSCOM. The Indian IT-BPO sector is actively participating in
the 'green' movement, increasingly focusing on issues such as
energy conservation and on utilising IT to reduce the carbon
footprint, enhance efficiency and business capabilities, improve
productivity and preserve the environment. Customers are
demanding more environment friendly products and solutions to
help them to setup Green Data Centres and drive energy
efficiency in their facilities and core processes. The report
encompasses case studies on green buildings, energy efficient
cooling and renewable/non-conventional sources of energy
employed by different IT-BPO players that can go far in fuelling
a low-carbon , high growth economy.
From http://southasia.oneworld.net/ 12/22/2011
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NISG to Digitise Delhi's
Archival Records
Under the deal, National Institute for Smart governance will
digitise Delhi's archival records like gazettes, maps, manuscripts
and photographs. The Delhi government on Tuesday inked an agreement
with the National Institute for Smart Government (NISG), Hyderabad,
for digitisation of its archival records like gazettes, maps,
manuscripts and photographs. The deal will include transfer of the
digital contents on micro film for long-term preservation, an
official statement said. The agreement was signed by Keshav Chandra,
secretary to Delhi Chief Minister, and the CEO of NISG Sanjeev
Mittal. The digitised records can be accessed by the general public
and government agencies.
From http://egov.eletsonline.com/ 12/28/2011
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Indian Railway Starts
Revolutionary 'M-Ticketing'
In what could be called as another feather in the cap of Indian
Railways, the booking of e-Ticket has been initiated over the mobile
phone. To bring further convenience to the rail users, the Indian
Railway has started the service of booking e-Ticket over the mobile
phone. According to an official release issued in New Delhi on
Tuesday, passengers can book a ticket through their mobile phone
after initial registration and downloading of suitable software. The
passenger will receive a reservation message with full details of
the ticket including PNR, Train No, date of journey and class after
booking. This virtual message will be treated at par with the
print-out of the e-Ticket which at present is taken out by the
passengers.
From http://egov.eletsonline.com/ 01/04/2012
TOP↑
Delhi Police Launches
E-crime Initiative
India's National Capital police force has recently launched an
e-crime initiative on its website that will allow residents to have
better involvement in policing and public safety. Dubbed as the
"Know Your Police Station" programme, the web platform, which was
developed in collaboration with Microsoft, will help residents find
out the jurisdiction of a particular police station on a GIS map. In
addition, users will also be able to access a particular Station
House Officer's (SHO) profile containing his photograph and contact
details. A feedback provision is also provided in the platform so as
to engage citizens to provide information to their SHO about crime
prone areas, any organised crimes, and accident prone areas. "This
is part of our progressive, innovative, and responsive policing
policy and will soon be available as an application on smart
phones," said Delhi Police Commissioner BK Gupta.
From http://www.futuregov.asia/ 01/06/2012
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Designing and Augmenting
'Common Service Centres'
The national e-Governance plan has proposed setting up of
2,50,000 Common Service Centres (CSCs), or tele-centres in rural
areas, for public access to computers and the online delivery of
services. But sustaining the programme requires lot of work on the
policy front. Recently the IIM Bangalore has produced a paper that
focuses on the designing and augmenting of the CSCs, while keeping
the myriad ground realities in mind. The IIM Bangalore paper notes
that the initial experience of 23 states in implementing the plan
for e-governance with 90,000 CSCs has not been encouraging. Many of
the CSCs have been forced to close down due to financial problems.
Many of the tele-centres are being sub-optimally used for music
downloads, mobile phone recharge, etc. The paper has criticised the
mostly B2C (Business to Consumer) model of the services being
provided by the CSCs that it has held to be the reason behind the
below-par results.
The paper states that if the tele-centres are allowed to provide G2C
(Government to Citizen) services, they could become financially
sustainable. Along with G2C services, the CSCs could also make
provisions for providing B2C services in order to become financially
viable. The paper has emphasised the fact that in the current
scenario, businesses have started recognising the potential of rural
markets. Another factor that could prove positive for the CSCs is
that the government has started relying on tele-centres to provide
G2C services such as ration card issuance and e-pay. The paper has
taken cognisance of the pilot project in Tumkur district, Karnataka
and the Akshaya project in Kerala. Using these projects as an
example, the paper makes the point that the tele-centres can be
financially sustainable if they are providing cluster of services.
In case of the Karnataka pilot project, 97 percent of the revenue of
the tele-centres comes from government services, G2C or G2B. In the
Kerala project, the revenue figures from government services stands
at 85 percent.
From http://egov.eletsonline.com/ 01/07/2012
TOP↑
Govt Sanctions Prosecution
of Google, Facebook
Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo India are in the list of 21
social networking sites whose prosecution has been cleared by the
government of India. This prosecution is a result of the ongoing
spat between the companies and the Government of India over content
regulation. On Friday, the Delhi Court was told by Centre that there
was sufficient material to proceed against the 21 social networking
sites for offences of promoting enmity between classes and causing
prejudice to national integration. The Communications and IT
Ministry, which is overseen by Kapil Sibal, informed the court in a
report that it has given its nod to proceed against the companies
under Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on
grounds of religion, race), 153B (imputations, assertions
prejudicial to national-integration) and 295A (deliberate and
malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings or any class
by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the IPC. "The
sanctioning authority has personally gone through the entire records
and materials produced before him and after considering and
examining the same, he is satisfied that there is sufficient
material to proceed against the accused persons under section 153-A,
153-B and 295-A of the IPC," the report, placed before Metropolitan
Magistrate Sudesh Kumar, said. Last month, Kapil Sibal had objected
to the written content and the pictorial depiction of certain
entities on social networks. He had demanded prior screening of
posts before uploading them on the websites. He had termed certain
content as "unacceptable". The companies face prosecution for
promoting enmity between groups on grounds of religion, race,
language, etc., acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony and
national integration, deliberate acts intended to outrage religious
feelings - all of which carry a maximum three-year jail sentence.
Monitoring content on the net, especially that which is
user-generated, has been a controversial issue.
From http://egov.eletsonline.com/ 01/14/2012
TOP↑
Tamil Nadu Announces CM's
Award on e-Governance
In order to encourage departments to streamline their operations
through e-Governance, the Tamil Nadu government has announced the
"Chief Minister's Award for Excellence in e-Governance for
Government departments". According to an official press release, the
award would carry a trophy of Rs 30,000. The State Government has
also announced three other awards - "Excellence in Government Process
Re-engineering", "Outstanding performance in citizen centric service
delivery through innovative use of technology" and also the
"District Level e-Governance initiative". A panel comprising of
experts, including those from industry body National Association of
Software and Service Companies and Indian Institute of Technology,
will be set-up for selecting the recipients of the awards. The
panel's recommendations will be given to another committee chaired
by the State Chief Secretary.
From http://egov.eletsonline.com/ 01/16/2012
TOP↑
Exchange of ICT Knowledge
Among Saarc Countries Stressed
Dhaka (UNB) - Engineers at a seminar here on Sunday stressed the
importance of exchanging ICT knowledge among Saarc countries with a
view to developing the ICT sector and facing emerging global
challenges. Not only Bangladesh, but also all the Saarc countries
should extend their cooperation in keeping up the pace of
development in the region, they said. Institute of Engineers,
Bangladesh (IEB) organised the national seminar titled 'The Role of
Engineers in Regional Cooperation' at its auditorium in the city.
Chaired by IEB president Engr M Nurul Huda, the seminar was
addressed, among others, by PM's economic advisor Dr Mashiur Rahman,
Janata Bank chairman Dr Abul Barakat, IEB secretary M Abdus Sabur
and IEB vice-president Engr M Kabir Ahmed. Speaking as the chief
guest, Dr Mashiur Rahman said many countries in the world are making
good progress due to enhanced regional cooperation. "At present, all
the countries depend on regional communication. It's imposable to
develop South Asian countries without the development of ICT and
engineering," he said. Abul Barakat said many countries of the world
are marching forward forming regional forums. "Saarc has to be made
as an effective organisation for the greater development of the
region."
From http://www.unbconnect.com/ 01/15/2012
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UAE: Looking at Open Data
to Promote E-government
Dubai: The federal government has urged its ministries and
departments to publish more open data on their websites to
enhance e-readiness and help promote the concept of open
government, one of the pillars of a knowledge-based economy.
Publishing open data is also one of the United Nations' criteria
for measuring online presence and e-government readiness. The UN
is expected to issue its 2012 e-government survey later this
month. Open data involve the idea that certain data should be
freely available to everyone to use and republish as they wish,
without restrictions by copyright, patents or other mechanisms
of control. Emirates e-government has allocated a special
section on the UAE federal government portal (government.ae) for
open data. The section includes data from all federal government
entities. Dubai is the first emirate to implement e-government
by bringing all services online. It is currently moving towards
mobile-enabled services by issuing apps for various mobile
platforms. Ahmad Bin Humaidan, director general of Dubai
E-government, told Gulf News that although most of the required
data are available on the websites of the government bodies, the
government plans to publish more data to add to the existing
online information and services through a centralised portal to
increase awareness and access.
Key service for citizens
"Open data on the government websites accelerates the
transformation of an administration-centred government to a
service-centred government and significantly improves the
efficiency of the government," Bin Humaidan said. "It is a key
service for citizens and businesses." Therefore the government
agencies are sparing no efforts to optimise their e-government
platforms and increase the flow of information. "Developing a
code of practices for data gathering and its use for statistical
purposes helps the government facilitate improved use of data
for decision-making, planning and service delivery," he said.
Bin Humaidan added that developing consistent identification
data across a central government system is critical, subject to
compliance with data protection laws and principles. He added
that e-suggestion and e-complaint options are available on all
government websites within Dubai E-government to help
communicate and engage with the public in order to improve
service delivery. Salem Khamis Al Shair Al Suwaidi, Emirates
E-government Director-General, said: "Since we publish open data
on the official portal of the UAE government, we urge government
entities to make more documents available as open data so that
we may publish them on the open data section on the portal." He
said Emirates E-Government intends to dedicate a special portal
for the government's open data but this depends on the volume of
open data available on government websites.
From http://gulfnews.com/ 01/09/2012
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AZERBAIJAN: Intellectual
Transport Management System to Fully Work in Baku by Mid. 2012
The intellectual transport management system of Baku will fully
work by mid. 2012, spokesman for the Azerbaijani Transport Ministry
Namik Hasanov told Trend today. The intellectual transport
management system costs more than $ 95 million. It was launched in
December last year. Hasanov said the system is working normally. But
it will fully work by mid. 2012. "The system is new," he said. "It
will fully work by mid. 2012." The launching of the system in Baku
is the first step. The system will cover the Absheron peninsula, as
well as all major highways and roads of the country at the second
and third stages. After all three phases are launched, the system
will be controlled from the center of Baku.The creation of the
system involves the installation of 664 units of information
terminals and 48 units of the information boards which were posted
on the streets of Baku. It was planned to create about 639 sites for
bus stops and about 140 sites for taxi.
From http://en.trend.az/ 01/11/2012
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New Mechanisms Developed
for Targeted Social Assistance
The Azerbaijani Labour and Social Protection Ministry has begun
to adopt alternative mechanisms to apply for targeted social
assistance in Baku and 14 more cities and regions of the country,
Deputy Minister Ilgar Rahimov said during a seminar. "The main goal
today is to expand the geography of these mechanisms. We use them in
11 districts of Baku and 14 regions of the country since the
beginning of 2012 and there's a plan to cover whole the country to
the end of 2012," Rahimov said. Rahimov noted that the testing of
new mechanisms began in pilot regions of Balakan and Jalilabad, in
August 2011. he aim of introducing these mechanisms is to improve
program performance of TSA, minimizing contacts between officials
and citizens on the appointment of social assistance and removal of
subjective factors in the decision making process. According to
Rahimov, the positive experience gained from pilot projects,
provides a basis for further work in this area and other regions of
the country. The main feature of new mechanisms is to apply for TSA
both online and through post offices. Information about the process
of application review will be sent by e-mail to the citizens after
the documents are received. The work on introducing of SMS warning,
which notify not only about the consideration of the application,
but each time when calculating the TSA is being implemented. The
Ministry is already in talks with mobile operators in the country.
"As not all the population has the possibility to contact us online,
we also began to accept application by usual mail. Pilot projects
have shown that this practice produces positive results," Rahimov
said. A seminar on the use of alternative mechanisms for the
treatment of TSA with the participation of representatives of the
Ministry of Labor and Ltd Azerpocht was held on Wednesday.
From http://www.today.az/ 01/11/2012
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BAHRAIN: E-government
Authority Organises Workshop
The e-Government Authority has organized, in partnership with the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and in cooperation with
the Bahrain Institute of Public Administration (BIPA), British
Public Administration International (PAI) and the Arab Centre for
e-Content, a training workshop. The workshop aims to train senior
public IT officials on ways of dealing with the latest
administrative and technological requirements in order to be able to
implement the strategic plans of their institutions. According to
the e-Government Authority's Executive Officer Mohammed Al Qaed, the
workshop provided an opportunity for the 30 participants to be
updated on the needs of internal and foreign clients with which they
deal, in light of the fast changes taking place recently in this
regard. The workshop was also praised by BIPA's Director-General Dr.
Raed Mohammed bin Shams and Deputy UNDP Resident Representative
Firas Gharaibeh.
From http://www.bna.bh/ 01/11/2012
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AUSTRALIA: Ranking Top on
Nuclear Safety
Australia has the tightest security controls among nations with
nuclear material while North Korea poses the world's greatest
risks, according to a new index released overnight. The Nuclear
Threat Initiative, in a project led by former US senator Sam
Nunn and the Economist Intelligence Unit, aims to draw attention
to steps that nations can take to ensure the safety of the
world's most destructive weapons. Among 32 nations that possess
at least one kilogram of weapons-usable nuclear materials,
Australia was ranked as the most secure. It was followed by
European nations led by Hungary, the Czech Republic and
Switzerland.
North Korea, Vietnam and India
On the bottom of the list, North Korea was ranked as the least
secure of its nuclear material, edging out Pakistan. The index,
which gave rankings on a scale of 100, also listed Iran, Vietnam
and India below the 50-point threshold. "This is not about
congratulating some countries and chastising others. We are
highlighting the universal responsibility of states to secure
the world's most dangerous materials," said Mr Nunn, who has
long been active on nuclear safety. A Democrat who represented
Georgia in the Senate from 1972 until early 1997, he voiced
concern that the world had a "perfect storm" - an ample supply
of weapons-usable nuclear materials and terrorists who want
them. "We know that to get the materials they need, terrorists
will go where the material is most vulnerable. Global nuclear
security is only as strong as the weakest link in the chain," he
said. The index, timed ahead of the March summit on nuclear
security in South Korea, called for the world to set benchmarks
and to hold nations accountable for nuclear safety. It also
urged nations to stop increasing stocks of weapons-usable
material and to make their security regulations public.
From http://www.radioaustralianews.net.au/
01/12/2012
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Australia Near Top Ranking
in Economic Freedom
The federal government says Australia's strong ranking on a
global economic index shows the nation is punching above its weight.
But acting Treasurer Bill Shorten said the country can't afford to
be complacent. "We can't be complacent - the world does not owe
Australia a living," Mr. Shorten told reporters in Melbourne. "What
we need to do is not rest on our laurels." The US-based think tank
Heritage Foundation's 2012 index of economic freedom shows Australia
in the third spot, after Singapore (2) and Hong Kong (1), and ahead
of New Zealand and Switzerland. Australia's overall score was 83.1
index points, up 0.6 points since 2011, reflecting better scores in
trade freedom, government spending and fiscal freedom. The US was
ranked tenth. The index, which is prepared in partnership with The
Wall Street Journal, has been published each year since 1995. It
measures the economic success of 184 countries around the world
against 10 benchmarks, including property rights and
entrepreneurship.
From http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/
01/13/2012
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Australia Announces
Location-based Emergency Management System
Australia's Federal Minister for Emergency Management, Robert
McClelland, and Acting Victorian Premier Peter Ryan have unveiled an
ambitious new revamp of the country's national Emergency Alert
telephone warning system. This revamp incorporates a "world-first"
mobile emergency alert service, to be fully operational by November
2012, while tapping into carrier-class mobile communications
networks. The location-based mobile emergency alert service will
send warnings to mobile phones that are physically in an emergency
zone when a disaster strikes. Australia's emergency warnings are
currently limited to using a residential address associated with
individual subscribers, as a result relying on outdated emergency
notifications like radio warnings. The upgraded mobile emergency
alert will use location-based mobile communications services to send
anywhere, anytime warnings directly to mobile phones using SMS.
Minister McClelland says Victoria will lead the way by developing
technology for a national location-based telephone emergency warning
system. Acting Victorian Premier Peter Ryan says this new technology
has no national or international precedent. The mobile emergency
alert service, when fully operational, will subscribe to mobile
communications networks through carrier arrangements.
This emergency alert upgrade adds another layer of safety to
existing warnings across cities, towns and regional areas. This
location-based warning system will use SMS as one feature of
Australia's emergency management services, enabling affected
communities to get alerts in real-time, regardless of their
location. The new service will be complemented by traditional radio
and emergency services website updates. In December last year,
McClelland canvassed community feedback on its emergency messaging
systems, including a Common Alerting Protocol. This protocol would
enable emergency messages to be sent out simultaneously over
different warning systems including radio, television, smartphones,
email and social media. Minister McClelland also launched a
DisasterWatch app for iPhone and Android smartphones last year.
DisasterWatch offers communities up-to-the-minute public information
about disaster via direct feeds from official state, territory and
national sources. This week's Commonwealth and Victorian Government
mobile communications initiative comes in the wake of the Victorian
bushfires in late 2009. More than 173 people died during these
bushfires, leading to a Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission inquiry.
This inquiry recommended streamlining Australia's emergency alert
capabilities, while reaching out more quickly to widely dispersed
communities. Telstra has been awarded a contract for the latest
Commonwealth and Victorian government emergency alert upgrade - with
negotiations underway with other carriers.
From http://www.futuregov.asia/ 01/16/2012
TOP↑
NEW ZEALAND: Government
Must Step Up on Insurance
Labour's Earthquake Recovery spokesperson Lianne Dalziel has
asked for insurance issues to be placed on the agenda of the first
Cross Party Forum this year. Reacting to Earthquake Recovery
Minister Gerry Brownlee's statement today that the Government has no
plans to help Ansvar Insurance customers caught short by their
provider's exit from the New Zealand market, Lianne Dalziel said: "I
have been trying to help some of the Ansvar clients up to and in one
case beyond the New Year's Eve deadline. "Most Christchurch Ansvar
customers have been left with limited insurance cover that excludes
earthquake cover (which means they still have EQC cover but no top
up from their insurance). The people who went through a broker have
been offered that deal by Ansvar Australia, but only until their
current policy expires at any time in the next 12 months, for some
as early as January. "I believe that the Government should have done
more to require Ansvar to make transitional arrangements for all
clients, whether they were broker referred or direct clients,"
Lianne Dalziel said. "Ansvar offered a discount under the Super Gold
Card, which again begs the question why the Government would not do
more to ensure that cover was in place from 1 January 2012. "The
Government talks about moral hazard when it says there will be no
immediate offer to uninsured residential property owners in the red
zone," Lianne Dalziel said. "These are people who were fully insured
and are now exposed. There are a small number who remain in this
difficult situation and there was no reason why they couldn't have
been included with the AMI deal that was struck with AIG. "For Mr
Brownlee to say that this is different from the AMI situation,
because that insurer covered such a large part of the market, is an
inadequate explanation." Lianne Dalziel said she is also seeking a
briefing on the AMI situation and the Western Pacific collapse,
which has left a number of small businesses without any cover at all
for the damage they suffered. "Labour wants to work constructively
with the government on these issues."
From http://www.scoop.co.nz/ 01/12/2012
TOP↑
Govt Should Tackle Ports
Union 'Problem' - Report
Union activity is undermining competition and productivity at New
Zealand's ports and the Government should review legislation to
tackle the problem, the Productivity Commission said in a report
released today. As the Ports of Auckland industrial dispute drags
on, the Productivity Commission, a body set up as part of National's
confidence and supply agreement with ACT last term, released its
draft report into New Zealand's International Freight Services
sector. The report, which covered air and sea transport systems,
focused on their accessibility and efficiency and the degree of
competition within them. See commission chairman Murray Sherwin
discuss the report here. In its section on employment relations at
ports, the commission said it had heard that "the risk of labour-related
disputes can, in itself introduce significant costs by blocking,
discouraging or delaying productivity enhancing investments or other
operational changes". It went on to say that "impediments to
competition in the provision of port services can reduce the
efficiency and long term viability of New Zealand ports, and
undermine broader competition policies and legislation". "The
Commission recommends the Government reviews whether existing
legislation is sufficient to effectively regulate barriers to
competition that arise as a result of union activity."
The Commission also said the governance of both ports themselves and
unions were likely to be factors in why the relationships between
ports' management and their workforce, "persistently fall short of
those required for effective and efficient operation of port
services". It recommended improvements to the governance framework
for council-controlled ports and airports by applying the same
statutory objectives currently in place for for state-owned
enterprises, and by disallowing councillors and council staff from
serving as directors on their boards. Sherwin said the governance
arrangements for publicly owned companies, which dominated parts of
the transport sector, needed to be particularly strong "because such
companies are, in effect, spending the public's money and face fewer
performance disciplines than comparable privately-owned firms".
Sherwin said trade mattered a great deal for New Zealand's standard
of living and freight costs were built into the prices New
Zealanders pay for everyday imported goods and the returns exporters
receive for their goods. In total, New Zealand paid about $5 billion
a year for freight costs or about 2.7 per cent of GDP. While freight
costs as a percentage of the value of the goods transported had
fallen in the 20 years to 2009, they were beginning to rise again.
"New Zealand's international freight services have scope for
improvement which would help lift New Zealand's living standards,"
Sherwin said.
From http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ 01/12/2012
TOP↑
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Digital Divide: From
Computer Access to Online Activities - A Micro Data Analysis
This study addresses issues of digital divide among households
and individuals by using micro-data analysis of ICT usage
patterns. The analysis includes data from 18 European countries,
Korea and Canada. Inequalities in computer and Internet use are
analysed in a two-step approach. First, the paper tries to
better quantify and understand the factors that separate the
'haves' and the 'have-nots'. Second, it tries to explain
observed differences in the frequency and type of Internet use
as a result of the socio-economic characteristics of households
and individuals.
By Pierre Montagnier and Albrecht Wirthmann, Publication Date 20
Dec 2011, Bibliographic information No.:189, Pages73,
DOI10.1787/5kg0lk60rr30-en Hide / Show, http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/science-and-technology/digital-divide-from-computer-access-to-online-activities-a-micro-data-analysis_5kg0lk60rr30-en
From http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/ 12/20/2011
TOP↑
Social Networking-Related
Terms Dominated Search in 2011
An analysis of top 1,000 search terms for 2011 has listed
Facebook as the top-searched term overall in the US. According to
Experian Hitwise's study, not only this is the third year that the
social networking website has been the top search term overall, but
Facebook was also the top-visited website for the second year and
accounted for 10.29 percent of all U.S. visits between January and
November 2011 - a 15 percent increase from 2010. Facebook accounted
for 3.10 percent of all searches, a 46 percent increase from 2010.
Overall, social networking-related terms dominated the results,
accounting for 4.18 percent of the top 50 searches. This is an
increase of 12 percent compared with 2010. When combined, common
search terms for Facebook - e.g., facebook and facebook.com -
accounted for 3.48 percent of all searches in the US among the top
50 terms, which represents a 33 percent increase compared with 2010.
YouTube terms accounted for 1.36 percent, representing a 21 percent
increase compared with 2010. Google terms (including YouTube)
accounted for 1.59 percent - an increase of 27 percent compared with
2010. Yahoo terms accounted for 0.59 percent - an increase of 15
percent compared with 2010.
Compared with 2010
Simon Bradstock, general manager of Experian Hitwise said that the
company saw 11 percent growth of single-word searches in 2011 as
terms like 'face' and 'you' made the top 50 searches. According to
Bradstock, marketers need to be particularly brand-savvy when
managing their search optimisation campaigns because of this
behaviour, which is a result of predictive search functionality
across major search engines.
Top Websites
As far as the list of websites is concerned, after Facebook,
Google.com ranked second, with 7.70 percent of visits - a seven
percent increase - followed by YouTube (3.17 percent), Yahoo! Mail
(2.95 percent) and Yahoo! (2.47 percent). The combination of Google
properties accounted for 11.98 percent of all U.S. visits - a 22
percent increase compared with 2010. Facebook properties accounted
for 8.93 percent, and Yahoo! properties accounted for 6.81 percent.
The top 10 websites accounted for 32 percent of all U.S. visits
between January and November 2011, which was flat compared with
2010.
From http://www.eyefortravel.com/ 12/23/2011
TOP↑
Asia B2C E-Commerce Report
2011
The "Asia B2C E-Commerce Report 2011" by Hamburg-based market
research firm yStats.com provides a detailed overview of B2C
E-Commerce in Asia. In addition to the major players dominating this
market, the report also presents figures relating to internet users
and online shoppers. The report covers the most important markets in
Japan, South Korea, China and India along with eleven further Asian
countries.
Overall, Asia shows a very heterogeneous development in terms of
internet and B2C E-Commerce. In Japan and South Korea, internet use
is widely available, which spurs increased B2C E-Commerce revenue.
In China, internet penetration is rather low, resulting in much
growth potential for E-Commerce. The range of popular product
categories varies widely, ranging from books to consumer
electronics.
E-Commerce in Japan shows signs of recovery after the earthquake. In
2010, the number of internet users reached approximately 100 million
in Japan, which corresponds to 80 % of the population. Following the
earthquake in Japan, the major Japanese B2C E-Commerce players
experienced a decline in revenue. However, now consumers are again
buying more online. According to the "Asia B2C E-Commerce Report
2011" by yStats.com, in 2010 "Books" was the most popular B2C
E-Commerce category, followed by "Fashion", "Music" and "Travel".
Based on unique visitor numbers, Rakuten was the most successful
Japanese B2C E-Commerce player in September 2011, followed by Amazon
and Nissen.
Internet penetration in South Korea very high
In 2010, the number of internet users in South Korea rose to more
than 35 million. Growth rates were very low in the last few years,
given that almost the whole population between 10 and 40 has already
been using the internet for a while. South Koreans seem to be very
open toward new technologies. As a result, B2C E-Commerce is very
well established. Revenue in this area is expected to increase
significantly until 2015. Credit card payments are very popular in
this segment. In 2010, the most popular product categories based on
market volume were "Fashion and fashion related products",
"Household appliances" and "Travel arrangements".
Mobile online shopping and group shopping soar in popularity in
ChinaThe number of internet users in China is predicted to grow to
more than 600 million by 2015 and the number of online shoppers is
expected to increase to more than 300 million. Mobile shopping
continues to gain ground in China. This trend can be attributed to
the growing number of smartphone sales and the increased use of 3G
networks. According to the yStats.com "Asia B2C E-Commerce Report
2011" in 2010, the most successful Chinese B2C E-Commerce players
were Tmall.com, 360buy.com, Amazon.cn and Dangdang.com. Group
shopping is another trend in this market; based on daily unique
visitor numbers in June 2011 ju.taobao.com took the lead.
Consumer electronics very popular in India
The number of internet users in India is expected to reach more than
200 million by 2015, which corresponds to almost 20 % of the
population. One of the main challenges that online shops have been
confronted with for a long time is the desire of Indian consumers to
see and touch products before buying them. As a result, many
retailers offer Cash-on-Delivery payment and convenient return and
refund options. As shown in the "Asia B2C E-Commerce Report 2011" by
yStats.com, the leading product categories include "Mobile phones
and accessories", followed by "Computer hardware" and "Consumer
electronics". In October 2011, the leading B2C E-Commerce player
gauged by unique visitor numbers was Homeshop18.com.
Internet penetration rate varies widely in East AsiaIn Indonesia,
the number of internet users is expected to grow from 60 million in
2010 to almost 170 million by 2015. Encouraged by this trend,
Japanese online department store Rakuten has founded a joint venture
online department store in Indonesia. The "Asia B2C E-Commerce
Report 2011" by yStats.com shows furthermore that in 2010, the most
popular product categories in Malaysia included "Travel", "Payment
services" and "Entertainment". Overall, almost half of the
population made online purchases. In the Philippines, almost 30
million people used the internet in 2010, which translates to
approximately 30 % of the population. In Singapore, this share
amounted to as much as 80 %. More than one million people shopped
online, with B2C E-Commerce revenue expected to increase by more
than 30 % over the next few years. As highlighted in the "Asia B2C
E-Commerce Report 2011" by yStats.com, B2C E-Commerce is also
gaining ground in Thailand due to safe and convenient payment
options. In early 2011, "Fashion", "Entertainment" and "IT products"
were the leading categories in this segment. In Vietnam, the number
of internet users reached almost 27 million in 2010, which is more
than 30 % of the population. Enbac.com, 123mua.vn and 5giay.vn were
among the most important competitors. In Hong Kong, E-Commerce still
has much potential for growth. However, almost half of the
population has shopped online at least once. The most popular
product categories are "Tickets" and "Hotel stays". In Taiwan, in
2010 more than 16 million people used the internet. B2C E-Commerce
is becoming increasingly important there too, with Books.com.tw and
PCHome being the biggest players in this segment.
Development potential in the rest of Asia
In the United Arab Emirates, in 2010 almost half of all respondents
had already made at least one purchase. Additionally, approximately
25 % of all respondents planned to make one purchase using their
mobile phones in 2010. In Saudi Arabia, almost 40 % of all internet
users purchased products online or paid online for services. In
Pakistan, B2C E-Commerce is still largely underdeveloped. The number
of online shops and online transactions continues to increase
steadily and the number of internet users has already surpassed the
20 million threshold.
From http://www.prnewswire.com/ 12/27/2011
TOP↑
A Year of Blogging,
Threats and Silence
In 2009, Iranian blogger Omidreza Mirsayafi became the first
blogger ever to die in prison. That year alone, a year referred to
by a senior US State Department official as "the worst year in the
history of the internet as it related to internet freedom", no fewer
than 35 bloggers around the world languished in prison. While by no
means a new phenomenon - Tunisia arrested its first blogger back in
2000 - the events of 2009 escalated risk for netizens across the
world, as governments quickly awakened to the "threat" posed by
bloggers and social media users. This year, as an increasing number
of citizens have taken up cyber-arms, protesting online as well as
on the street, governments have broadened their attacks on netizens.
No longer content to simply censor content, countries like Syria and
Bahrain have upped the ante, employing online propagandists and
intimidating those who dare speak out online.
Still others - such as Thailand -utilise draconian laws to hold
online publishers responsible for comments, a practice which has
chilling effects for all internet users. There is no single
organisation that tracks every blogger arrest around the world;
indeed, doing so would be a full-time job. Nevertheless, statistics
compiled by tireless groups such as Global Voices, Reporters Without
Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists suggest 2011 to be
among the worst years yet for online free expression, marred by the
persecution of bloggers and social media users in a number of
states. Below are five of the worst.
Egypt
Egypt's vast blogosphere has always felt comfortable wielding a
certain level of criticism, but its members have also been acutely
aware of red lines ever since the country arrested its first blogger
in 2005. In November 2010, blogger Kareem Amer was released after
spending more than four years behind bars, solely for insulting
Islam on his blog. Given the events that shortly followed, many
Egyptian bloggers started the year off hopeful for greater freedoms,
but were quickly disappointed: In March, outspoken blogger Maikel
Nabil was arrested for accusing the military of conducting virginity
tests on female protesters, a charge that later proved to be true.
He was charged with "insulting the military institution and
publishing false news about it" and "disturbing public security",
and after a long ordeal, sentenced to two years in prison.
Lest Nabil's case be considered an anomaly, Asmaa Mahfouz's arrest
in August for insulting Egypt's Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF)
exposed the military regime's intentions. Though charges against
Mahfouz were later dropped, Ayman Youssef Mansour - charged under
the same statute as Kareem Amer before him - wasn't so lucky,
receiving a sentence of three years for a comment he made on
Facebook in October.
Bahrain
The tiny Gulf country's blogosphere has always been lively, with a
sense of openness and national pride. But in early 2011, as
government crackdowns left protesters reeling and national monuments
tumbling down, bloggers were amid the government's targets. On March
30 and April 5, respectively, authorities briefly detained two of
the country's most prominent bloggers, Mahmood Al-Yousif and Mohamed
El-Maskati. And tragically, blogger Zakariya Rashid Hassan Al-Ashiri
became the second blogger to die in prison, just weeks after his
initial arrest. Authorities claimed his death to be a result of
complications of a pre-existing condition, but photographs released
by his family show evidence of serious recent abuse.
Throughout the year, the social media landscape in the country has
become increasingly polarised, with some bloggers reporting the
practice of self-censorship, rather than risking arrest. In July,
many bloggers' fears were reflected in the sentencing of prominent
bloggers Ali Abdulemam (who was previously jailed in 2005 for
insulting the regime on his site, BahrainOnline.org) and Abduljalil
Alsingace to 15 years in prison. Abdulemam, who was sentenced in
absentia, remains in hiding. More recently, blogger Zainab Al-Khawaja,
who tweets prolifically as @angryarabiya, was beaten and arrested
after taking part in a protest. Al-Khawaja's father, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja,
is a prominent opposition figure sentenced in June to life
imprisonment.
Vietnam
The Southeast Asian country, one of just a few where Facebook is
blocked by the government, currently jails at least half a dozen
bloggers for their online writing, typically under the auspices of
other crimes, such as tax fraud. On August 2, a seven-year sentence
was upheld in the appeal of blogger Cu Huy Ha Vu, who was initially
charged with disseminating anti-government propaganda. Just eight
days later, blogger and university lecturer Pham Minh Hoang was
sentenced to three years in prison, plus an additional three years
under house arrest for "activities aimed at overthrowing the
people's government"; namely, blogging his criticism of the bauxite
mining industry and of the government.
Syria
As protests have raged throughout the country for the better part of
a year, Syria - where at least a dozen bloggers languish in jail,
some for more than five years - has increased its restrictions on
speech, unleashing a torrent of pro-government hackers and social
media accounts and arresting and threatening bloggers. While several
have fled the country, others have not been so lucky: In February,
the regime kicked off 2011 by sentencing teenage blogger Tal Al-Mallouhi
to five years in prison. In July, Anas Maarawi, a prominent tech
blogger who attended Al Jazeera's 2011 blogger forum, was arrested
and put in prison for 59 days.
Most bloggers arrested in Syria have been met with loud
international campaigns, which some have reported earn them better
treatment in prison. Rarely, however, do they result in ultimate
freedom. Hussein Ghrer and Razan Ghazzawi, imprisoned in October and
December respectively, and released recently on bail, currently face
trial. Ghazzawi, who also works as a media officer for the Syrian
Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression, faces up to 15 years in
prison.
Iran
Iran continues to live up to its reputation as one of the most
restrictive nations in the world in terms of free expression. In
addition to its proposition this year of a 'halal internet'
(essentially a Cuba-style intranet, barring citizens from outside
websites), Iran - a country which has been known to dole out 15-year
sentences for 'crimes' such as acting against the interest of the
state -jailed several bloggers this year. That list includes Rojin
Mohammedi, a medical student in the Philippines and blogger who,
upon returning to her native Iran, was arrested at the airport and
remains in detention without charge.
No more silence
Though the five aforementioned states have lead the pack in blogger
persecution this year, some 20 countries - among them Azerbaijan,
China, Pakistan, Turkey and Thailand - arrested or sentenced
bloggers this year. Though the motivation of each country differs,
all have something in common: the desire to silence those they find
threatening. It's no coincidence that, in China, Syria, and
everywhere in between, the most common charge is some variation of
"disturbing national sentiment."
In this, the year of the protester, the world has become
increasingly aware of the value of citizen reporting. From Tahrir to
Wall Street, news has been sustained by tweets and amateur video,
and creators of that media held in regard by both producers and
consumers of mainstream media. The "who is a journalist?"
conversations of five years ago seem suddenly quaint in light of the
brave citizen reporting, emerging from Syria and Egypt.
Nevertheless, governments have wizened to this newfound
appreciation, cracking down on bloggers with a vengeance. What five
years ago was an anomaly has now become commonplace, with new
blogger arrests regularly making headlines and often scaring other
bloggers into silence or self-censorship.
Though some countries, such as Vietnam, have gotten away with
levying irrelevant charges at netizens, as the lines between
journalist and blogger continue to blur, such games will cease to be
possible, and authorities will be exposed for what they are: Scared.
(Jillian C York is director for International Freedom of Expression
at the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco. She writes a
regular column for Al Jazeera focusing on free expression and
Internet freedom. She also writes for and is on the Board of
Directors of Global Voices Online.)
From http://www.aljazeera.com/ 12/30/2011
TOP↑
2011: Piracy Wars and
Internet Censorship
Looking back at the past 12 months it's fair to conclude that
2011 was the year that the entertainment industries focused on
piracy-fueled Internet censorship. Domain seizures, DNS blockades,
raids and arrests dominated the news, and the threat of the SOPA and
PIPA bills in the US left millions of Internet users worried. Let's
see how events unfolded.
At the end of the year when new developments draw to a close, it's
time to take a look back and take stock. Below is our overview of
some of the most interesting events we reported during the first
half of 2011.
January
After pressure from the entertainment industries, Google started to
censor piracy-related keywords from its instant and autocomplete
services. Keywords such as 'torrent,' 'BitTorrent' and 'RapidShare'
were excluded from the start, and later in the year Google added a
wide range of new terms including 'The Pirate Bay.' Despite these
efforts the RIAA remained dissatisfied, patronizing the search
engine with a could-do-much-better "Report Card" in December.
The mass-BitTorrent lawsuits that entered the US during 2010 reached
a new milestone in 2011 with the 100,000th person being sued for
alleged copyright infringement. In January alone several prominent
lawsuits were added. Anime distributor Funimation announced a
lawsuit against 1337 alleged BitTorrent downloaders, and the rights
holders of "The Expendables" and Paris Hilton sex tape did the same.
One alleged BitTorrent user paid a mysterious settlement of
$250,000.
There was also positive news from the UK, when so-called Speculative
Invoicing schemes there came to an end, at least for a few months.
ACS:Law, the law firm that had terrorized untold thousands of
alleged file-sharers in the UK, quit the anti-piracy business and
went into bankruptcy a while later. ACS:Law's Andrew Crossley was
honored with the title of "Internet Villain" of the year and will
now face the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in early 2012.
Two lawyers who were responsible for introducing Speculative
Invoicing to the UK were fined and banned from practicing for 3
months. David Gore and former partner Brian Miller of the law firm
Davenport Lyons were each told to pay a £20,000 fine and interim
costs of £150,000 for their professional misconduct. Meanwhile,
RapidShare and Megaupload fought back against entertainment industry
propaganda.
February
Early February, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Homeland
Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) seized several
domains belonging to major sports streaming sites. One of the
websites was Rojadirecta, an unusual target because two courts in
Spain previously ruled that the site operates legally. Rojadirecta
appealed the seizure but thus far without result.
In response to domain seizures many people voiced concern that they
may be unconstitutional. US Senator Ron Wyden feared that the
seizures could stifle free speech, and this indeed turned out to be
the case as the US government shut down 84,000 websites by mistake
late February.
In Australia, the Federal Court dismissed the movie industry's
appeal against a 2010 ruling which found that Internet service
provider iiNet is not responsible for copyright infringements
carried out by its file-sharing customers. This decision was
appealed once more and is now with the High Court. Oh, and despite
rampant piracy Hollywood box office grosses worldwide surpassed the
magic $30 billion mark for the first time in history.
March
Following the February seizure of several domains belonging to major
sports streaming sites, the feds arrested the operator of
Channelsurfing.net in March. The 32-year-old Texan Bryan McCarthy
was taken into custody on suspicion of criminal copyright
infringement. In November, McCarthy was indicted on several
copyright related charges. Awaiting his trial, the
psychologically-troubled operator pleaded not guilty on all counts.
In the same month President Obama's "IP Czar" Victoria Espinel laid
the foundations for PIPA and SOPA, calling on Congress to make
changes in order to make it easier to clamp down on copyright
infringement. Among the recommendations were calls to turn streaming
into a felony alongside authority to wiretap in copyright cases.
Music industry expert, book author and Grammy winner Moses Avalon
welcomed the plans, which he declared would signal the end of
TorrentFreak.
In the ongoing mass BitTorrent lawsuits, U.S. District Court Judge
Beryl Howell laid down a landmark verdict that would make it easy
for copyright holders - the makers of The Hurt Locker in particular
- to send cash demands to people they suspect of copyright
infringement. The fact that Howell previously worked as an RIAA
lobbyist and as the Managing Director of a pirate-chasing outfit led
to suggestions of a conflict of interest. Meanwhile in Belarus, a
pirated copy of The Hurt Locker aired on national TV.
April
In April, worries about the US domain seizures prompted another
major torrent site to move to a new domain as a precaution.
KickassTorrents, one of the most visited torrent sites on the
Internet, replaced its .com domain name with the Philippine
extension .ph.
At the same time a group called MAFIAAFire coded a browser plugin to
make these type of domain transitions go more smoothly by
automatically redirecting users to these new homes. The release went
viral and in the following months more than 200,000 people installed
the add-on. ICE wasn't happy with this and asked Mozilla to pull the
add-on from their site. However, Mozilla denied the request, arguing
that this type of censorship may threaten the open Internet.
An Italian court ordered all ISPs to block subscriber access to
BTjunkie, leaving hundreds of thousands of Italians with the task of
finding a new torrent site. At least, that was the plan. Just hours
after the news was made public, a brand new and ad-free proxy site
was launched. The site allowed Italians to browse an uncensored web
and access BTjunkie, as well as another popular blocked site, The
Pirate Bay.
May
In May, US lawmakers introduced the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA), a bill
that delivers a wide range of censorship tools authorities and
copyright holders can use to quash websites they claim are
facilitating copyright infringement. It is basically a revamped and
worsened version of the controversial COICA proposal which had to be
resubmitted after its enaction failed last year. Two weeks after its
introduction, the Senate's Judicial Committee unanimously approved
the bill and it now awaits the senate vote.
In the same week as PIPA was introduced, three U.S. Senators
presented the Commercial Felony Streaming Act, a bill that would
make streaming unauthorized music, movies and TV-shows a felony. The
bill is said to address a gap in current legislation where streaming
is not considered a criminal offense.
The popular video streaming site "Fast Pass TV" was shut down
following the arrest of one of the site's alleged operators. The
site itself didn't host any copyrighted content but indexed videos
hosted on third-party sites.
In the US the controversial mass-BitTorrent lawsuits continued.
Early May the makers of the Expendables set a record when they sued
23,322 people at once, but this record was broken a few weeks later
when The Hurt Locker lawsuit was updated to include 24,583 alleged
BitTorrent users. Both cases were dismissed a few months later.
In another mass-BitTorrent lawsuit - VPR Internationale v. Does
1-1017- Judge Harold Baker denied a Canadian adult film company
permission to subpoena ISPs for the personal information connected
to the IP-addresses of their subscribers. The reason? IP-addresses
are not people, and especially in 'adult entertainment' cases this
could obstruct a 'fair' legal process.
US authorities resumed "Operation In Our Sites" and seized several
domain names associated with copyright infringement or counterfeit
related crimes. Among the new targets were two sites that linked to
copyrighted films hosted on third-party streaming sites such as
megavideo.com and veoh.com. Oh, and in the midst of all the
censorship talk The Pirate Bay moved their severs to a secret
mountain complex after Comcast offered help to fix a network issue.
June
A report from the UN's Human Rights Council labeled Internet access
a human right, arguing that laws which allow for the disconnection
of Internet users are disproportionate and should be repealed.
Richard O'Dwyer, the 23-year-old UK-based administrator of a TV show
and movie links site was arrested by police. Following his detention
in the UK's largest prison, the admin continued fighting his
extradition to the U.S.
On June 11th 2011, Europe witnessed one of the largest
piracy-related busts in history. The popular movie streaming portal
Kino.to was shut down and a dozen people connected to the site were
arrested.
As collateral damage, several file-hosting services connected to
Kino.to also went down. Several people went on trial for their part
in the site's operation and the main admin was sentenced to three
years in prison. Interestingly, a report published after the raids
revealed that Kino.to's users were actually the movie industry's
best customers.
The year of Internet censorship wouldn't be complete without the
SOPA soap, the row between Megaupload and Universal, three-strikes
plans and the countless other censorship attempts and anti-piracy
actions that were carried out in the second half of the year.
Luckily, there were also a few positive things to report on.
During the second half of the year SOPA dominated much of the news,
but of course there were plenty of other interesting things going on
too. Below is a selection of some of the most remarkable topics
covered here on TorrentFreak in the latter part of 2011. Part 1
(covering the first 6 months of the year) can be found here. Feel
free to add your assessment of the last year in the comments section
below.
July
BitTorrent had its 10th birthday at the start of July, and inventor
Bram Cohen was kind enough to share his thoughts on the past decade
with us. In the same month the MPAA, RIAA and all major ISPs in the
US announced a deal to curb piracy with a six-strikes warning
system. Under the agreement the ISPs agreed to send "copyright
alerts" to subscribers whose Internet connections are used for
copyright infringement. Repeated offenders will not be disconnected
from the Internet, but could be slowed down instead.
Around the same time, the French authorities provided some details
on the scope of their three-strikes law, Hadopi. During the first 9
months of operation, a total of 18 Million file-sharers were
tracked. This mass discovery process resulted in 470,000 first
warning emails, which equals a little over 50,000 per month. The
number of people who received a second warning is currently stuck at
20,000 and only 10 Internet subscribers received a third warning.
Yet another ruling (final this time) confirmed that 'pirate' sites
operate lawfully in Spain. In India things started working
differently, with copyright holders obtaining the power to order
ISPs to block sites deemed to be infringing.
Following a hearing in London's High Court, leading UK ISP BT was
forced to block subscriber access to Usenet indexing site Newzbin2.
After an attempt to stop the blockade the order went into effect in
November. The blocking decision was the first of its kind in the UK
on copyright grounds and increased the pressure on other ISPs to
follow suit, which Sky did later in the year. Oh, and sadly enough
file-sharers were denied official religion status in Sweden.
August
The mass-BitTorrent lawsuits in the US continued at a rapid pace and
by August 200,000 people had been sued for allegedly sharing
copyrighted material online.
The UK communications regulator OFCOM published a report which came
to the conclusion that blocking 'pirate' websites would not be
effective. Ironically enough the document wasn't redacted properly,
revealing a comprehensive guide on how to bypass all possible
blocking attempts.
The US domain name seizures resulted in another arrest. US
Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) apprehended a
19-year-old man who allegedly ran HQ-Streams.com and HQ-Streams.net,
domains that were previously seized by ICE in February.
Two of the original Pirate Bay founders launched a one-click
file-hosting service called Bayfiles. The new service is dedicated
to respecting copyrights while offering its users a great platform
to store and share files. Meanwhile, anti-piracy lawyers sue a dead
person and a blind man.
September
Early September five people connected to the video streaming and
download site NinjaVideo were indicted by a grand jury on copyright
infringement and conspiracy charges. NinjaVideo was one of the sites
first targeted by Operation in Our Sites mid-2010. The authorities
hold the defendants responsible for providing access to unauthorized
movies and TV-shows between 2008 and 2010, which allegedly earned
the site more than $500,000. In the same month the site's founder
Hana Beshara and co-defendant Matthew Smith plead guilty, and two
others followed in October.
Throughout 2011, the Florida-based file-hosting service Hotfile has
battled in court with five major movie studios. In September,
Hotfile turned the tables on Warner Bros., suing the movie studio
for fraud and abuse. Hotfile accused the movie studio of
systematically abusing its anti-piracy tool by taking down hundreds
of titles they don't hold the copyrights to, including open source
software. Among other things, Hotfile is looking for damages to
compensate the company for the losses they suffered.
After blocking The Pirate Bay and BTjunkie, Italian lawmakers
proposed several new measures that will put Internet users at risk
of losing their connection after one alleged infringement. These
copyright complaints can be sent by anyone, not just the copyright
holder in question.
The German Pirate Party scored an unprecedented win in the elections
for the Berlin state parliament. The Pirates got 9 percent of the
vote, which translated into 15 parliament seats. A few weeks later
the party polled double digits across the country. With 10 percent
of the total vote, the Pirates would become the third largest party
in the country if federal elections were held. Oh, and girls are not
into the Pirate Bay at all, but those who are fancy porn just as
much as men.
October
In Belgium the Antwerp Court of Appeal ordered Belgian ISPs Belgacom
and Telenet to initiate DNS blockades of 11 domains connected to The
Pirate Bay. A few days after the verdict The Pirate Bay registered
depiraatbaai.be, a new domain not covered by the court order. By the
end of the month this domain was already on its way into the top 100
most-visited domains in Belgium.
The Stockholm District Court sentence against Pirate Bay founder
Gottfrid Svartholm was finalized after he failed to appear at the
Court of Appeal. Svartholm, also known as Anakata online, did not
appear at the appeal trial last year because he was hospitalized in
Cambodia. He later went missing. The Court of Appeal decided to
finalize the initial verdict of one year jail time and a fine of
$1.1 million. The other defendants await a decision on their request
for a Supreme Court appeal.
A report showed that the majority of users on The Pirate Bay value
their anonymity online, but how anonymous can they really be if VPN-providers
don't value the privacy of their customers?
On October 26, Representative Lamar Smith introduced the Stop Online
Piracy Act (SOPA), which is the House version of the Senate's
PROTECT IP (PIPA) bill. This marked the start of a months-long
Internet battle that was still ongoing at the end of the year.
Aside from making streaming of copyrighted content a felony, the
pending bill aims to make it easier to put sites that facilitate
copyright infringement out of business. Should SOPA become law,
authorities and copyright holders will have a broad range of tools
to censor sites they deem to be facilitating copyright infringement.
Aside from domain seizures, they can demand that search engines
remove 'rogue sites' from their results, order ISPs to block these
domains, and cut off their payments providers. Meanwhile, Justin
Bieber face the prospect of jail for pirating.
November
The SOPA soap continued. Mid-November leading civil liberties and
tech policy organizations called for an Internet-wide day of protest
against censorship. Every hour more than 23,000 emails were sent to
Congress via the American Censorship campaign and Tumblr users alone
made 3.6 calls per second.
US authorities carried out the largest round of domain name seizures
yet as part of their continued crackdown on counterfeit and
piracy-related websites. Right before "Cyber Monday" more than 130
domain names were taken over by the feds to protect the commercial
interests of US companies. The new round came exactly a year after
82 domains, including Torrent-Finder, were taken over in 2010.
Across the pond, the European Parliament adopted a resolution which
criticized domain name seizures of "infringing" websites by US
authorities. According to the resolution these measures need to be
countered as they endanger "the integrity of the global internet and
freedom of communication." With this stance the European Parliament
joins an ever-growing list of SOPA opponents.
Universal Music filed a lawsuit against the popular music streaming
service Grooveshark. The music label claimed that bosses and other
workers at Grooveshark personally uploaded many thousands of
infringing tracks to the service, and could demand hundreds of
millions of dollars in damages. Grooveshark denied the claims and is
determined to fight back. At the end of November, Rick Falkvinge,
founder of the first Pirate Party in Sweden and TorrentFreak
columnist, earned a spot in Foreign Policy's prestigious list of Top
100 Global Thinkers.
December
More than a year after Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) seized the domain of music blog Dajaz1, they
finally gave it back. It turned out that the seizure was a mistake.
SOPA continued to dominate the news all over the Internet. Wikipedia
aired a plan to censor itself to protest the pending bill, and the
General Manager of the largest online community Reddit said that the
bill would "almost certainly mean the end" of the popular site.
Reddit's users also played a key role in convincing domain registrar
GoDaddy to drop their support for SOPA.
A new service called YouHaveDownloaded exposed what people behind an
IP-address are downloading on BitTorrent. Using this data, we were
able to show that unauthorized downloads occur even in the most
unexpected of places, from the palace of the French President, via
the Church of God, to the RIAA and the US House of Representatives.
Ironically, the RIAA blames another company for pirating though
their IP-addresses.
Early December, cyberlocker service Megaupload pulled off one of the
biggest file-sharing marketing coups in recent memory. Their Mega
Song, a production by Printz Board and Kim Dotcom, featured some of
the biggest names in pop and show business including P Diddy,
Will.i.am, Alicia Keys, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, Chris Brown, The
Game, Mary J Blige , Kim Kardashian, and even boxer Floyd Mayweather.
Within hours, Universal had vented their fury by having the Mega
Song removed from YouTube, even though they had no legal right to do
so. Megaupload and its founder Kim Dotcom responded by filing a
lawsuit against Universal. The label responded with a "so what?"
attitude but Megaupload made it clear that Universal won't get away
so easily - questions must be answered. Finally, downloading
copyrighted content for personal use will stay legal in Switzerland
and The Netherlands.
From http://torrentfreak.com/ 12/31/2011
TOP↑
10 Economies to Rule World
Trade
Bangalore: The economy is suffering through a tough phase, and
there is no definite picture how the global economy will look in the
next year. In a report by Citigroup titled as Trade Transformed: The
Emerging New Corridors of Trade Power, the economists' project that
the world trade in real terms is set to jump from $37 trillion in
2010 to $287 trillion in 2050. Chief Economist, Willem Buiter
recently published forecasts for global trade in 2050, where Europe
is predicted to face turmoil, China is expected to overtake U.S. as
the world's leader in trade as early as 2015. Asia is expected to
turn into world's largest regional trade corridor in the coming
time. Listed below are 10 countries by Business Insider that are
expected to rule world economy by 2050.
China
China's economy will not break; instead, it will continue its
vigorous energy and stay as a blaze of optimism for the still
fragile world economy in 2012. China is expected to overtake the
U.S. to become the world's largest trader by 2015 and to remain in
the top spot for the rest of our forecast horizon. It has already
occupied the spot of the top exporter of goods and services. China
is set to maintain its economic overhaul, and pull out its economy
from the deep dependence on exports and set free for more domestic
demand. China is expected to trade for around $52.2 trillion by
2050, with around 18.2 percent of world trade. China currently
accounts for 9.5 percent of world trade, which is $ 3.6 trillion and
it will soon overtake U.S. by 2015. Chinese leaders have also
expressed a rigid assurance to reduce trade barriers and encourage
regional integration in the Asia-Pacific region.
India
The Economy of India is the ninth largest in the world by nominal
GDP and the fourth largest by Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). It is
one of the G-20 major economies and a member of BRICS. The economic
growth, as calculated by the Gross Domestic Product, improved to 8.5
percent in 2010-11 from 8 percent in 2009-10 due to better farm
output and construction activities and financial services
performance. India is ranked at second position in the report.
Though the country was not included in the list of top 10 countries
by trade in 2010, it is expected to set an account for 2.8 percent
of world trade in 2015 and 5.6 percent by 2030. The country is
expected to trade $25.7 trillion by 2050 including 9 percent of
world trade.
U.S.A
The top global leader in trade, U.S. ranks third in the list.
Accounting for a massive 10.7 percent of world trade, it will only
account 8.2 percent of world trade in 2030. The slowdown in the
growth of real GDP in the first quarter of 2011 showed that the
economy is not gaining momentum, dampening prospects for a
meaningful reduction in unemployment in the near future. The U.S. is
expected to lose ground to India and China with $19.1 trillion by
2050 with 6.6 percent of world trade.
Germany
German economy has shown resilience in 2011. Being the largest
economy in the European Union its manufacturing industry contributed
25 percent of GDP more than twice the value added from manufacturing
in the UK. In 2010 Germany accounted for 7.6 percent of world trade
at $2.86 trillion. Though trade is projected to increase to $5.8
trillion in 2030, it will account for just 4.7 percent of world
trade.
Korea, Republic of
South Korea has a market economy which ranks 15th in the world by
nominal GDP and 12th by Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), identifying
it as one of the G-20 major economies. Despite the global financial
crisis, the South Korean economy was able to avoid a recession
unlike most industrialized economies. In 2010, South Korea made a
strong economic rebound with a growth rate of 6.1 percent, signaling
a return of the economy to pre-crisis levels. South Korea's export
has recorded $424 billion in the first eleven months of the year
2010. The South Korean economy of the 21st century is expected to
grow from 3.9 percent to 4.2 percent annually between 2011 and 2030,
similar to growth rates of developing countries such as Brazil or
Russia. At $1.05 trillion Korea accounted for 2.8 percent of world
trade in 2010. This figure is set to rise to $4.7 trillion and
account for 3.8 percent of world trade by 2030.
Indonesia
Indonesia makes to the list for the first time motivated by trade
with China, Japan and the European Union. Although the country's
economy slowed to 4.5 percent growth in 2009 from the 6 percent-plus
growth rate recorded in 2007 and 2008, by 2010 growth returned back
to a 6 percent rate. Indonesia outperformed most of its regional
neighbors during the recession. The government in 2011 faces the
challenge of improving Indonesia's infrastructure to eliminate
hindrances to growth, addressing the climate change concerns,
predominantly with regard to conserving Indonesia's forests and peat
lands. The figure for Indonesia is set to rise to $8.8 trillion and
account for 3.1 percent of world trade by 2050
Hong Kong
Though Hong Kong did not make into the list in 2010, it is expected
to jump to seventh position with $3.8 trillion in trade in 2030.
Going by country's strong economic performance in the first half of
the year the GDP growth in Hong Kong in 2011 was up to 5.8 percent.
But the economic expansion is expected to slow down to 4.6 percent
in this year. By 2050 the figure will rise to $8.5 trillion and
account for 2.3 percent of world trade.
Japan
Japan's GDP Growth in the final three months of 2010 was 2.9 percent
but total GDP Growth for 2010 was 4.0 percent, one of the highest
growth rates for about 20 years. But Japan's economy was disrupted
in March 2011 due to the earthquake and the effect of the tsunami.
Japan at $1.78 trillion accounted for 4.8 percent of world trade in
2010 is predicted to trip in the rankings. By 2030, it will account
for only 3.5 percent of world trade.
Singapore
Singapore's economy grew 3.6 percent in the final three months which
lifted the growth for the whole year to 4.8 percent. Manufacturing
continued to grow in the last quarter expanding 6.9 percent on a
yearly basis. Services also rose by 4.6 percent while construction
grew just 1.5 percent. Singapore will account for 2.7 percent of
world trade in 2030 and its trade will total $3.2 trillion in 2030.
UK
Higher inflation in UK lead to a period of higher interest rates.
Huge level of household debt were left to be repaid and probability
of asset price deflation. UK's trade is set to rise from $1.77
trillion in 2015, to $3.2 trillion in 2030 and account of 2.6
percent of world trade. (By SiliconIndia)
From http://www.siliconindia.com/ 01/03/2012
TOP↑
BLOG: 10 Virtualisation
and Cloud Predictions for 2012
The more things change, the more they stay the same. In the
following virtualization and cloud predictions for 2012, Andi Mann,
enterprise software expert, picks which concepts will continue to
survive, and which are due to fade away. Some of them may surprise,
while others seem to be more of a no-brainer.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. In the
following virtualization and cloud predictions for 2012, Andi Mann,
enterprise software expert, picks which concepts will continue to
survive, and which are due to fade away. Some of them may surprise,
while others seem to be more of a no-brainer.
1. Brands may come and go, but no technology will die
Cloud will not kill data centres, virtual will not kill physical,
tablets will not kill PCs, Mac will not kill Windows, Android will
not kill iOS. The technology pie is growing, and almost every slice
is getting bigger. So be prepared to manage an ever-increasing
selection of technologies across public and private boundaries.
2. Hybrid IT is 'the next big thing'
In this new world of choices, business expects hybrid IT: a
combination of on-site and off-site; cloud and legacy; private and
public; physical and virtual; social and secure; enterprise and
consumer; desktop and server; mobile and static. Business will also
expect IT to make them work together, whether IT owns the service or
not. IT must act as a trusted advisor, as a service broker, and as
quality assurance for this brave new world.
3. Service quality will be IT's responsibility... again
As hybrid IT proliferates, business owners will (again) realise they
do not want to manage technology; they just want it to work. In
2012, end-users will increasingly expect IT to take responsibility
for service quality, regardless of who is buying, selling, or
delivering that service. IT will need to support an explosion of
devices, deal with complex cross-boundary services, and find a way
to deliver a 360-degree service assurance across all facets of the
end-user experience.
4. Public cloud adoption will slow down...
Given the results of this year's Longhaus research from Australia -
an early adopter market and a bellwether for business technology - I
suspect the rest of the world is in for a slowdown of public cloud
adoption. Issues (perceived or real) with security, compliance,
service quality, skills, staffing, complexity, and good old politics
will all put the brakes on.
5. ...Even as public cloud 'gets' security
Sad but true - many (most?) enterprise decision-makers still do not
trust public cloud. In 2012, IT must do a better job of deploying
and explaining cloud security - and I believe we will! In 2012, CIOs
will see security as less of a barrier to cloud adoption as
organisations adopt more and better cloud-oriented security
solutions, including solutions designed for complex hybrid cloud
services, as well as solutions that are delivered through the cloud
with easily-consumed Security SaaS options.
6. Big iron is back - Part I
No, mainframe is still not dead. On the contrary, 2012 will see the
rise of the mainframe as a cloud platform. Massively scalable,
hosting critical (and under-utilised) 'big data', capable of running
complex cloud workloads on a variety of architectures (z/OS, Linux,
UNIX, Windows), mainframe is really an obvious cloud platform. It
will not replace commodity clouds, but large enterprises and
governments especially will leverage their investments and bring
"big iron" into their cloud mix.
7. Cloud goes heterogeneous
Not only will mainframe become part of the cloud landscape, but
public cloud providers will also start to offer UNIX and maybe even
other non-x86 platforms. I have recently seen this in action (CA did
it internally years ago), and most large enterprises are heavily
dependent on heterogeneous systems for their mission-critical
applications. Despite the common myth that cloud equals commodity
servers, heterogeneous servers will start to become more available
for large enterprise deployments.
8. Not your grandfather's mainframe
Big iron concepts of integrated computing, networking, and storage
are resurgent, but this is not your grandfather's mainframe.
Deployment of integrated fabrics like Cisco UCS and VCE Vblock will
accelerate rapidly in 2012 as IT changes the way it thinks about
integrated infrastructure for virtualisation and cloud, and realises
how amazing these integrated boxes are for diverse, dynamic,
high-volume workloads like desktop virtualisation, pop-up data
centres, and cloud bursting.
9. Cloud service management comes to the fore
In 2011, the NIST Cloud Reference Architecture devoted a whole
section to 'Cloud Service Management', and IT started to talk about
"grown-up" disciplines - planning, budgeting, performance, asset,
inventory, service levels, audit, etc. In 2012, even 'commodity'
cloud vendors will finally take cloud management seriously, as
enterprises and governments demand these disciplines - and smaller
providers differentiate on service and security, not just price.
10. Virtualisation management becomes irrelevant
In January 2009 I predicted, "in three to five years ... niche
[Virtual System Management] vendors will no longer survive, as
virtualisation becomes a core part of the enterprise compute
fabric." This trend has definitely started, and will accelerate in
2012 as IT recognises that silos of standalone virtualisation
management are a costly and inefficient burden and turns instead to
hybrid IT management. 2012 may not be the end of virtualisation
management, but it is going to be the start of the demise. (By Andi
Mann, vice president of strategic solutions at CA Technologies.)
From http://www.computerworld.com.sg/
01/06/2012
TOP↑
Southeast Asia: What to
Expect in 2012
The year 2011 saw some of the biggest political developments in
Southeast Asia in decades. Burma finally seemed poised for real
change, while Thailand continued to move closer to the brink of
self-immolation, as political in-fighting worsened. The United
States, China, and ASEAN nations continued to raise the stakes in
the South China Sea, to a point where, now, it seems unlikely anyone
can back off their claims and truly sit down at the table to
negotiate some kind of agreement. Singapore had its most competitive
election in generations, while in Malaysia massive street protests
clearly have rattled the government. Even smaller states faced
political turmoil: Papua New Guinea went for weeks with two prime
ministers and the potential for civil strife, before the situation
was resolved.
What, then, should we expect for an encore? Here are several
trends to watch:
1. China will bring back the charm. Over the past two years, Beijing
has cost itself much of the gains it made in Southeast Asia in the
late 1990s and early 2000s, when it appeared to be a good neighbor,
trading partner, and investor. Through its belligerent approach to
the South China Sea and, to some extent, the Mekong River, Beijing
has scared many Southeast Asian nations enough that they have
welcomed back a greater role for the United States in the region,
even though their populations have not exactly become pro-American.
The reasons for China's shift are numerous and sometimes opaque (I
explored them in a January The New Republic article). But China has
already begun to back away from its belligerent approach: After the
Burmese government halted the construction of the Myitsone Dam,
Beijing bluntly criticized Naypyidaw, and warned of repercussions,
but then, according to both Burmese and Chinese sources, took pains
to make sure that the relationship with Myanmar was back on track,
and solid once again. Similarly, despite tensions over the South
China Sea, China has aggressively wooed the administration of
Philippine President Aquino, and has worked hard to soothe Thai,
Lao, Burmese, and Cambodian concerns about new Chinese patrols on
the Mekong River. And after all, Beijing knows that, in the long
run, all of Southeast Asia will become increasingly economically
linked to China - China has a good, strong hand to play over time.
2. Indonesia will regress. The most impressive democratic success
story in Southeast Asia over the past decade (and one of the most
impressive in the world), Indonesia is already beginning to
backslide - one reason why polls earlier this year showed a high
degree of nostalgia for Suharto's time. In the run-up to the next
presidential election, horse-trading will continue, while
allegations of graft seeping out of the Nazaruddin trial have and
will continue to poison public opinion of the government and
politics in general. Worse, none of the potential candidates for the
presidential election look likely to keep the country on a path of
real reform.
3. Myanmar will progress. With one surprise piled on top of the
next, the administration of Thein Sein now faces a crucial year in
2012. If Aung San Suu Kyi truly does compete in and win a
by-election, there will be a real, vocal opposition in parliament
for the first time, scrutinizing the government in a way that does
not happen right now. Is Thein Sein's administration ready for this?
I think so.
4. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will not go to jail for an extended
period. Although the corruption charges against her continue to pile
up, and she has none of the reservoir of support among the poor that
former President Joseph Estrada enjoyed, former President Macapagal-Arroyo
likely will not go to jail - or, at least not for a significant
period of time. Aquino's campaign against Arroyo and the Supreme
Court packed with her allies, has much substance, but he is
increasingly risking looking like a man obsessed, and potentially on
a vendetta. And while the former president may not be as unwell as
she claims, the longer the campaign against her goes on, the more
sympathy she may arouse.
5. Anwar Ibrahim will go to jail. Bet on it.
6. The United Sates will make little headway on trade leadership in
the region. Despite the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which has value,
all Asian leaders know that Washington isn't going to pass more
trade legislation in 2012, or probably not again in my lifetime. (By
Joshua Kurlantzick )
From http://blog.limkitsiang.com/ 01/06/2012
TOP↑
Worldwide IT Spending to
Grow 3.7% in 2012
Worldwide IT spending is forecast to total USD 3.8 trillion this
year, a 3.7 percent increase from 2011, according to a study by
Gartner. In 2011, worldwide IT spending totalled USD 3.7 trillion,
up 6.9 percent from 2010 levels. Telecommunication equipment
spending is projected to show the strongest growth, with revenue
increasing 6.9 percent this year, followed by the enterprise
software market, which will grow 6.4 percent. IT spending in Western
Europe is expected to decline 0.7 percent in 2012 this year.
From http://www.telecompaper.com/ 01/06/2012
TOP↑
Asia Becomes New World
Economic Centre
With speedy changes in global economics scenario, particularly
Europe where economics development has achieved its optimum level
and growth becomes stagnate that demanding reforms in prevailing
political economics system as in past they had significant economics
prosperity especially the region of South Asia.
This was stated by President of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of
Commerce and Industry, Senator Haji Ghulam Ali during interaction
with media here at Federation House on Saturday. He said that
European Union after having the highest rate of economic growth and
becoming strong economic base is showing downward tendency.
Asia especially SAARC member countries would have a very important
role in future. SAARC states must respond very seriously to the
on-going global changes. These countries need to develop better and
more active ties / cooperation with each other for the good of their
people. The world has realized the importance of regional trade.
We also should do the same, he said. "World Economic experts are
unanimous that closer and active working relations with the
neighboring countries are essential for economic prosperity of a
country," he added. He emphasized that SAARC and ASIAN blocks should
do trade in one currency and should have one visa. "If Germany,
France and European Union can use one visa and one currency, why not
SAARC and ASIAN," Senator Ali questioned.
FPCCI President said that Pakistan can be very attractive for
international investors as the work-force is very much available
here and its cost is comparatively lower. Highlighting the
achievements of FPCCI during his president-ship for last one year,
Senator Hajji Ghulam Ali said it increased interaction with the
Federal, Provincial and Local Governments and other concerned
authorities for resolution of business community's problems. FPCCI
also focused on Central Asian Republics which have a big potential
for trade and investment in future.
"If environment is good in Torkham area, we can reach CARs within 7
to 8 hours. We can also touch Russia through these states," he
explained. Earlier, he gave ' Certificates of Recognition' to
economic reporters for their contribution towards promotion of trade
and industry in the country.
From http://www.brecorder.com/ 01/07/2012
TOP↑
Asia Major Economies
Sweat over Oil Supplies
CHINA, the biggest buyer of Iran's oil, has publicly rejected US
sanctions aimed at Tehran's energy industry while American allies
Japan and South Korea are scrambling to find a compromise to keep
critical supplies flowing. Beijing is buying less Iranian crude this
month, but analysts say China is unlikely to support an oil embargo.
Instead, they say, the smaller purchases might be a tactic aimed at
obtaining lower prices as the West squeezes Teheran.
The sanctions approved by President Barack Obama on New Year's Eve
have highlighted the importance of Iranian oil supplies to East
Asia's energy-hungry economies. They have led to a clash of
interests between Washington and key commercial and strategic
partners over efforts to stop Iran's nuclear programme. "We are
considering our response and are closely discussing the matter with
the US," a Japanese Foreign Ministry official, Kazuhiro Kawase, said
yesterday.
A South Korean foreign ministry spokesman said this week Seoul is in
talks with Washington, aimed at "minimising the negative impacts" of
sanctions. South Korea imports 97 per cent of its oil and depends on
Iran for up to 10 per cent of its supplies. China's foreign ministry
rejected the sanctions this week and called for negotiations,
leaving unclear whether Beijing might defy Washington, straining
relations between the world's biggest and second-biggest economies.
"Sanctioning is not the correct approach to easing tensions," said a
ministry spokesman, Hong Lei. "China opposes the placing of one's
domestic law above international law and imposing unilateral
sanctions on other countries." US Treasury Secretary Timothy
Geithner is due to visit Beijing and Tokyo next week for talks that
officials say will include the sanctions. China could be the
toughest part of Washington's thorny diplomatic challenge as it
tries to enforce the sanctions. The fast-growing Chinese economy is
the world's biggest energy consumer and imports half its oil.
The sanctions, approved by President Barack Obama on New Year's Eve,
target financial institutions that do business with Iran's central
bank by barring them from opening or maintaining correspondent
operations in the United States. It would apply to foreign central
banks only for transactions that involve the sale or purchase of
petroleum or petroleum products.
Japanese and South Korean institutions, with a bigger US presence,
would be more exposed to such penalties. But Chinese institutions
also do business in the US and Beijing might see such restrictions
as interference in its foreign affairs. About 11 per cent of China's
oil imports in 2011 came from Iran, or about 560,000 barrels per
day, a flow that increased in the latter half of the year, according
to oil industry analysts Argus Media.
China buys nearly one-third of Iran's 2.2 million barrels a day in
exports. Analysts say China would have a tough time replacing that
supply. "China is the biggest buyer of the Iranian oil. How could
China stop buying just because of the sanctions?" said Zhu Feng, a
Peking University specialist in international relations.
This month, Chinese buyers have reduced daily purchases of Iranian
crude, though that apparently stems from price negotiations and a
payment dispute that began last year, according to a Singapore-based
trader. The two Chinese state-owned companies that buy Iranian oil
reduced purchases by about 5,000 to 15,000 barrels per day, the
trader said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not
authorised to speak publicly for his company. It is "within the
realm of possibility" that a small reduction in Chinese purchases
might be "a shrewd attempt to squeeze the Iranians on pricing," said
Victor Shum, an energy analyst for Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. AP
From http://www.btimes.com.my/ 01/07/2012
TOP↑
East Asian Economies
Slump
Singapore's economy contracted last quarter, falling 4.9%. Not
all analysts predict the current period will also be down, but don't
expect a robust expansion anytime soon. Prime Minister Lee Hsien
Loong, in his New Year message, repeated the government's forecast
of 1% to 3% growth for this year. Singapore expanded at a sizzling
14.5% rate in 2010, a record.
There's no mystery why Singapore's economy, a regional bellwether,
is in trouble. The country's trade is about three times its gross
domestic product, and the external outlook is not favorable. Prime
Minster Lee, not surprisingly, blamed the deteriorating global
environment in general and Europe in particular. "As a small, open
country," he noted in his message, "Singapore will inevitably be
affected."
And so will tiny Hong Kong's trading economy. Analysts are talking
about 2% growth this year, down from a forecasted 5% for 2011. The
slowdown has already started. Growth estimates for last quarter
range from a relatively optimistic 3.3%, from HSBC, to a gloomy
1.5%, issued by JP Morgan.
It's not only the small open economies that are having problems.
India, which is certainly large and not considered especially
trade-dependent, is also seeing the economy stumble. There, the
retreat from reform is having a negative effect. Growth could drop
below 6%, from 6.9% last quarter.
Japan may have actually contracted in Q4. The Tokyo-based Japan
Center for Economic Research estimates that the economy shrank in
both October and November, in large measure due to weak exports with
Europe as the primary culprit. The weak fourth quarter is especially
disheartening as it ends the recovery evident in Q3, when the
economy soared 5.6% due to rebuilding from the March 11
earthquake-tsunami.
South Korea, a pillar of strength in East Asia, is also experiencing
difficulties. The Bank of Korea, the central bank, is lowering
forecasts for both this year and last. Nomura International sees
South Korean growth slowing to 3% in 2012, due to softness in
exports, off from an estimated 3.5% for 2011. If there is a risk to
the Nomura estimates, it is to the downside.
The story is much the same in flood-ravaged Thailand, where there
was a contraction in Q4 due to export problems; the steady
Philippines, hurt by export prospects for the electronics sector;
and impressive Vietnam, where analysts think that growth last year
was off the 2010 pace. If you're looking for exceptions to the
downward trend, try Indonesia, where growth remained steady at 6.5%
last quarter, and Malaysia, which was helped because exports held up
last year. In Kuala Lumpur, however, the government is now worried
about Europe.
The eurozone's worsening problems are affecting the export-dominated
economies of East Asia hard. The 17-nation zone contracted in Q4,
and it will probably shrink this quarter as well. "We expect a fall
in GDP of about 1.0 per cent this year and an even sharper decline
in 2013," said Jennifer McKeown at Capital Economics. Unemployment
is at a record high, retail sales are falling, and consumer and
business confidence is headed in the wrong direction.
The zone's performance will continue to fail to meet consensus
estimates because there is an unreal quality to expert predictions
about Europe. The eurozone's problems, despite the serial
announcements of interim solutions, remain intractable. European
leaders need growth, and they are not going to get it until they
either fundamentally restructure their currency or implement some
sort of fiscal union. And on top of that, they need to eliminate
growth-destroying regulation.
We are talking years, if not a decade, before Europe again
contributes to East Asia's economies. Until then, Asians need to
rely on indefatigable American consumers and hungry purchasers from
the remaining markets in Africa and Latin America. And East Asian
countries need one more thing: a successful China. It would help if
China's export sector does well so they can export more raw
materials, components, and semi-processed items to Chinese
factories, yet it's unlikely that China's producers will do
substantially better than those in neighboring countries. After all,
all Asian exporters face the same weak European and American
markets.
Therefore, East Asia's economies need China to develop its own
internal market. Chinese consumption is growing in absolute terms,
but it has continued to fall as a percentage of the Chinese economy.
Consumption in China accounted for only 33.8% of GDP in 2010, and it
does not appear there was any significant movement in that number
last year.
And just as Europe needs to make structural changes to engineer a
recovery, China must fundamentally transform its economy if it wants
to increase consumption. Beijing's economic model, unfortunately,
takes money out of the hands of individuals and transfers it to
producers. The state banking system, for instance, keeps deposit
rates low so that it can provide cheap credit to over-leveraged
state enterprises and cash-strapped local governments.
At the moment, China's exports are faltering - despite
too-good-to-be-true numbers from the Ministry of Commerce. So if
East Asian economies are ever to break their dependence on North
American and European markets, they must be able to sell to China's
1.3 billion consumers.
Unfortunately, Beijing has yet to change its investment-led,
export-heavy model. Even when Chinese leaders make the decision to
implement the structural changes to increase consumption - as opposed
to providing temporary incentives for appliance purchases - it will
take at least a decade to get consumers into the shops in sufficient
numbers. Considering everything, the East Asian export economies are
in for a rough 2012.
From http://www.forbes.com/ 01/08/2012
TOP↑
S&P: Global Risks
Threaten Asia's Economic Growth
Debt watcher Standard & Poor's Rating Services warned Monday that
global risks will weigh on the growth outlook of Asia-Pacific
markets, including the Philippines, this year. "Undeniably, global
risks and the threat of contagion are hurting the outlook for
Asia-Pacific economies and the creditworthiness of issuers. We're
now predicting slower economic growth for the majority of countries
across Asia-Pacific in 2012," the credit rater said in its 64-page
report titled Asia-Pacific Markets Outlook 2012. "Our view partly
reflects slowing exports in the region, weaker financial markets and
currencies, and the prospect of another recession in the US and
Europe," it said.
S&P said a severe deterioration in the global economy could sharply
lower growth in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and
Vietnam this year because of their dependence on exports for growth.
"Economic growth in Asia-Pacific could fall sharply in 2012, in line
with lower growth forecasts for the US and a mild recession in the
eurozone," it said.
It said strong domestic demand, particularly investment, had helped
mitigate the slowdown in exports growth so far. "The Philippines and
Malaysia have already announced stimulus packages in the past few
months as a pre-emptive measure to shield growth," it said. With
slower economic growth, S&P noted inflation in Indonesia, Malaysia,
and the Philippines declined, albeit marginally in the third
quarter, primarily due to a slowdown in food and non-food inflation.
It expects the GDP of the Philippines to grow within a range of 4.0
to 4.5 percent in 2012, faster than the expected growth in Thailand
(3.5 to 4.0 percent) but slower than in Malaysia (4.4 to 4.9
percent), Vietnam (5.0 to 5.5 percent) and Indonesia (6.0 to 6.5
percent). Inflation in the Philippines is seen to average 4.2
percent to 4.7 percent this year, which is slower than the
projection for Indonesia (5.2 to 5.7 percent) and Vietnam (9.9 to
10.4 percent) but faster than that of Thailand (3.5 to 4.0 percent)
and Malaysia (2.8 to 3.3 percent).
S&P currently has a positive outlook on Philippine sovereign debt.
"Of the 22 sovereigns that we rate in Asia-Pacific, 16 have stable
outlooks on their ratings. Indonesia, Mongolia, the Philippines, and
Sri Lanka have a positive outlook, and only two sovereign ratings
are on negative outlooks: Japan and Vietnam. "However, should the
extreme eurozone-related risks materialize, ratings on a number of
highly-indebted sovereigns and sovereigns vulnerable to weaker
external funding conditions will come under pressure," it said. (by
Roderick T. dela Cruz)
From http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/
01/10/2012
TOP↑
Study: Poor Need Better
Protection During Economic Crises
WASHINGTON - During economic recessions, policymakers and
economists tend to focus on how the crisis affects growth,
employment, overall household incomes and tax revenues. The local,
individual story is often missed in such big-picture analysis.
The lack of "micro" data is especially acute in developing countries
where household surveys are often sporadic and out of date. That
makes it difficult for governments to retool existing poverty
programs, much less predict who is likely to be pushed into poverty
during an economic shock.
A new book published by the World Bank outlines a comprehensive
approach for estimating data at the individual and household level
to help policymakers target their responses in a more timely and
effective manner. It also offers suggestions for how they can better
plan for future crises.
The book, Knowing, When You Do Not Know, came in response to demands
from World Bank staff who worked in countries and national
governments following the 2008 - 2009 global financial crisis. Many
of them felt that existing analysis lacked critical information on
employment, poverty, and social impacts needed to design responses
to the crisis.
It allows users...to identify affected groups and individuals and to
evaluate the effectiveness of existing poverty and safety-net
programs.
The model outlined in the new book focuses on predicting impacts on
individuals and household, as well as on identifying who was most
likely to be affected by the economic recession - and in what way.
It was conceptualized, refined and tested in Bangladesh, Mexico,
Mongolia, the Philippines and Poland over the last couple of years.
The results were then fed into country policy dialogues and Bank
lending operations to promote systems that better protect the poor
going forward.
Policy makers need to know how crises affect people at the household
level. "Although this is not the first time that microsimulation
techniques are used by World Bank staff to predict the impact of
macroeconomic shocks, the proposed model produces a more complete
set of predictions," said Carolina Sanchez-Paramo, a lead economist
and co-editor of Knowing, When You Do Not Know. It allows users to
identify affected groups and individuals and to evaluate the
effectiveness of existing poverty and safety-net programs."
From http://web.worldbank.org/ 01/10/2012
TOP↑
UNICEF Launches Schools
for Asia to Improve Education for Millions
New York, USA - UNICEF is launching Schools for Asia today, an
international fundraising initiative to improve the access and
quality of education for disadvantaged children living across Asia
and the Pacific. UNICEF reports on a new fundraising initiative
called Schools for Asia, to transform children's lives through
education. Education has always been close to Williams's heart.
"When I was a little girl, my parents taught me the importance of
school, and I came to value education. Yet millions of children
around the world don't have that chance," says Ms. Williams.
The Schools for Asia campaign will help the most marginalized,
excluded or otherwise vulnerable children, including girls and
children from poor families and of ethnic minorities. The model is
simple: Ensuring schools operate in the best interest of each and
every child by providing young students with trained teachers and a
safe, protective and inclusive learning environment. These
child-friendly schools also strive to offer better resources and
facilities, including safe drinking water and separate latrines for
boys and girls.
Millions out of school
The initiative will operate in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, the
Lao People's Democratic Republic, Mongolia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea,
Philippines, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam. The goal is not only to
provide children with better and more accessible schools, but also,
to keep them there. Among the 67 million children who are currently
not enrolled in school worldwide, 26 million of them live in the
Asia-Pacific Region.
"Getting a child into school is only the first step, and many
countries are struggling to keep children in school until they
finish a full education cycle," explains UNICEF Regional Director
for the East-Asia and Pacific Region Dan Toole. "High rates of
repetition and drop-out are often linked to poor quality education
and lack of school preparedness. We hope that Schools for Asia will
help bring further attention to the challenges faced by millions of
children in South and East Asia," adds Mr. Toole. UNICEF Goodwill
Ambassador Serena Williams introduces Schools for Asia, an
international fundraising initiative aimed at providing quality
education to the most vulnerable children. Watch in RealPlayer
Time is of the essence
Schools for Asia follows the successful Schools for Africa campaign,
which was launched in 2004 as an international fundraising
partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Peter Krämer
Stiftung (foundation). By December 2010, over 5.5 million children
had received an improved education thanks to Schools for Africa and
the international support of donors and partners. "This progress
would not have been possible without the support of the many
individuals, corporations and foundations with whom we are
privileged to be working," says UNICEF Director of Private
Fundraising and Partnerships Leila Pakkala. "Donors worldwide will
have a unique opportunity to replicate the success for Asia and help
give millions of children the chance for a better future." (By
Sabine Dolan)
From http://www.unicef.org/ 01/10/2012
TOP↑
Top 1% of Mobile Users
Consume Half of World's Bandwidth, and Gap Is Growing
The world's congested mobile airwaves are being divided in a
lopsided manner, with 1 percent of consumers generating half of all
traffic. The top 10 percent of users, meanwhile, are consuming 90
percent of wireless bandwidth. Arieso, a company in Newbury,
England, that advises mobile operators in Europe, the United States
and Africa, documented the statistical gap when it tracked 1.1
million customers of a European mobile operator during a 24-hour
period in November.
The gap between extreme users and the rest of the population is
widening, according to Arieso. In 2009, the top 3 percent of heavy
users generated 40 percent of network traffic. Now, Arieso said,
these users pump out 70 percent of the traffic. Michael Flanagan,
the chief technology officer at Arieso, said the study did not
produce a more precise profile of extreme users. But the group, he
said, was probably diverse, with a mix of business users gaining
access to the Internet over a 3G network while traveling, and
individuals with generous or unlimited mobile data packages watching
videos, the main cause of the excess traffic.
"Some people may draw the parallel to Occupy Wall Street, and I've
already heard comments about 'Occupy the Downlink,' " Mr. Flanagan
said. "But the situations are very different, and the mobile
situation doesn't break down along socioeconomic lines." The Arieso
survey found that 64 percent of extreme users were using a laptop, a
third were using a smartphone and 3 percent had an iPad.
The imbalance in mobile phone consumption is another example of a
relatively small group of individuals dominating the consumption of
a particular resource. The United States, with less than 5 percent
of the world's population, consumes about 23 percent of the world's
daily oil production, according to American government figures.
Japan, Germany and Italy, whose populations together make up less
than 4 percent of the world's total, accounted for 31 percent of
global natural gas imports in 2010, according to the International
Energy Agency.
Pal Zarandy, an analyst at Rewheel, a research firm in Helsinki,
Finland, that advises operators on data packages and pricing
strategies, said the disparity in bandwidth use was not surprising
because most mobile phone users globally used a 2G telephone for
calls and texts only. Just 13.2 percent of the world's 6.1 billion
cellphones are smartphones, according to Ericsson, the leading maker
of mobile network equipment, but the rate exceeds 30 percent in
larger markets like the United States, Germany and Britain.
The more powerful phones are rapidly replacing the simpler, less
voracious devices in many countries, raising traffic levels and
pressure on operators to keep pace. In countries like Sweden and
Finland, smartphones now account for more than half of all mobile
phones, Mr. Zarandy said. About 35 percent of Finns also use mobile
laptop modems and dongles, or modems in a USB stick; one operator,
Elisa, offers unlimited data plans for as little as 5 euros, or
$6.40, a month.
As a result, Finns consume on average 1 gigabyte of wireless data a
month over an operator's network, almost 10 times the European
average. As more consumers buy smartphones, the level of mobile data
consumption and congestion will rise in other countries. "This of
course is bad news for operators because it means that more traffic
is coming and they need to invest to stay ahead of the curve," Mr.
Zarandy said.
Mr. Flanagan at Arieso said one European operator, which he declined
to identify, last year installed 250 miniature base stations, called
microcells, to handle the traffic of extreme users. The operator, he
said, did not wish to publicize the work because it did not want to
draw attention to the strains that its network was experiencing.
Patrik Cerwall, the head of strategic marketing and intelligence at
Ericsson, which is based in Stockholm, Sweden, said most operators
were beginning to look for ways to make their networks more
efficient, whether by dumping data quickly into a fixed-line
network, imposing volume limits on customers or installing miniature
base stations at congestion points.
Ericsson expects the volume of global mobile data to rise tenfold
from 2011 to 2016. The rate is likely to accelerate as more
consumers integrate the mobile Web into their daily lives. Last
year, for example, 40 percent of smartphone owners in an Ericsson
survey used their devices to gain access to mobile broadband
connections even before getting out of bed. The heaviest users of
mobile data, according to Ericsson, watched videos 40 percent of the
time, surfed the Web an additional 20 percent, and used up the rest
of their online time in e-mails, social networking, file sharing and
software downloads.
Advances in smartphones and applications technology are also driving
up use. Arieso researchers, in their latest survey, found that users
of Apple's iPhone 4S downloaded 276 percent more data from an
operator's network than did people with the Apple 3G, which has been
on the market since June 2008.
Part of the reason for the increase in download volumes may be
Apple's Siri voice feature on the iPhone 4S, Mr. Flanagan said. Siri
allows consumers to dictate to the phone and enter more text and
data into the network in an easier way. The growth of cloud
computing-based applications like iTunes and other cloud services,
which use the mobile network to connect consumers with remote
computers, may also be a factor, he said. In uploaded data volumes
and the total number of calls to the network, two Google Android
handsets made by HTC, the Taiwanese manufacturer, topped the list.
People using the HTC Desire S uploaded 323 percent more data than
those with the iPhone 3G, and those with an HTC Google Nexus One
phone made 221 percent more calls to the network. Calls to the
network include the voice and data calls started by the user, as
well as the automatic communication between the device and the
network to update its applications or transmit its location. (By
KEVIN J. O'BRIEN)
From http://www.nytimes.com/ 01/15/2012
TOP↑
|
|
CHINA: Next-Generation
Internet System to Be Developed
The State Council, or China's Cabinet, said Friday the
government will accelerate the development of the
next-generation Internet industry in the next few years and
boost the sector's role in stimulating the economy. China aims
to put the Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6)-based network into
small-scale commercial pilot use and form a mature business
model by the end of 2013, according to a statement released
after an executive meeting of the State Council presided over by
Premier Wen Jiabao.
From 2014 to 2015, the country will deploy and commercialize the
IPv6-based network on a large scale and achieve the
interconnection between IPv4 and IPv6-based operations, the
statement said. During that period, a group of international
competitive research institutions and enterprises in the
next-generation Internet sector will be established, it said.
"The Internet industry's effect on boosting consumption,
investment, exports and employment will be fully strengthened,"
according to the statement.
China launched the construction of the next-generation Internet
in 2003, featuring the IPv6 network as a key technology. The
IPv6 network, first developed in the 1990s, allows a much higher
theoretical limit on the number of IP addresses than the current
IPv4 system. The IPv4 system provided only about four billion
addresses, and they had all been used by February this year.
China's IPv6 addresses only account for 0.29 percent of the
global total, lagging far behind other countries, Wu Hequan, a
member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said at a seminar
in June.
It is important to build a next-generation Internet with
abundant addresses, advanced and energy-saving technologies,
high security and a mature business model, Friday's statement
said. The government will focus on improving infrastructure,
research, commercialization and information safety, it said,
noting that the Internet of Things, cloud computing and mobile
Internet will also be supported. Both fiscal and private
investment in the industry will be encouraged, said the
statement. China has the world's largest Internet population,
with the number of Internet users reaching 485 million by the
end of June this year, figures from the China Internet Network
Information Center show.
From Xinhua News Agency 12/24/2011
TOP↑
Top 10 China News of 2011
The following are the top 10 China news of 2011 selected by
China.org.cn.
1 China's housing purchase restriction policies
The purchase limits came after the State Council, China's Cabinet,
ordered late January that cities where home prices are skyrocketing
must implement strict measures to restrict home purchases over a
period of time. On February 16, the nation's capital Beijing took
the lead in promulgating a series of new purchase limit policies to
help cap the soaring home prices, which prohibit new home purchases
by Beijing families who own two or more apartments and non-Beijing
registered families who own at least one apartment.
Non-Beijing registered families are also banned from buying
apartments if they have no residence permit or documents certifying
that members of the family have been paying social security or
income tax for five straight years. In the following, Shanghai and
several other Chinese cities have moved to restrict home purchases
in a bid to deflate bubbles in the real estate market. With the
tightening policies and rises in unsold housing supplies, the
property market in China is experiencing apparent price reductions.
But Premier Wen Jiabao said in November that the government will not
waver on tightening measures and pledged to bring house prices down
to a "reasonable level."
2 The high-speed train collision in Wenzhou
On July 23, a high-speed train rammed into a stalled train near the
city of Wenzhou in the eastern province of Zhejiang, leaving 40 dead
and 191 injured. The accident occurred at 8:27 p.m. Saturday in
Shuangyu Town of Wenzhou when a high-speed train (D301) heading from
Beijing to Fuzhou rear-ended another bullet train (D3115) that had
lost power and stopped after being struck by lightning, according to
a Xinhua report. The impact caused four carriages to derail and fall
off a bridge.
A series of flaws in train operation control system and inadequate
emergency response of railway authorities are the major causes for
the deadly accident, a final investigation report released on
December 28. Liu Zhijun, former railway minister, and Zhang Shuguang,
the railway ministry's deputy chief engineer, are among 54 people
who were found responsible for the crash, and will be punished,
according to the State Council on December 28.
3 Oil spills in the N. China Sea
Three oil spill accidents were reported in north China's Bohai Sea
in less than two month from June 2011, and US company ConocoPhillips
should be held accountable for two of the incidents. Coastal
pollution is back in the public eye.
4 China raises poverty line
Nearly 100 million more people in China were deemed poor as the
country announced a new standard for defining poverty in November.
The central government have decided to raise the poverty threshold
to 2,300 yuan (US$362), which brings China's poverty line more in
line with international standards of 1.25 dollars a day. The move
will also make 128 million people eligible for government
anti-poverty subsidies. The poverty line applies only to rural
areas.
5 Tougher penalties for drivers who drink
Under Chinese law, a driver with 20 mg of alcohol for 100 ml of
blood is considered to be drunk. That has not changed. But as of May
1, the penalties became much harsher. Now, for the first time, a
driver who registers more than 80 mg for 100 ml is subject to
criminal punishment. According to the newly amended Road Traffic
Safety Law, a drunken driver's license will be revoked and the
driver must wait five years before applying for a new license. The
penalty applies to any driver with 20 mg alcohol or above.
Drivers with more than 80 mg of alcohol will be held in detention
for one to six months. Anyone whose drunken driving leads to a death
or the injury of at least two people will be banned from driving for
life. Drivers found to have committed severe violations will go to
prison. The previous regulation stipulated fines of up to 500 yuan
and the suspension of the driver's license for three to six months.
On May 17, China's Got Talent judge Gao Xiaosong was jailed for six
months and fined 4,000 yuan (US$615) for dangerous driving after
crashing his car while drunk causing a four-vehicle pile-up.
6 The successful launch of Tiangong-1 and Shenzhou 8
Shenzhou-8, an unmanned spacecraft launched on Nov. 1 and safely
returned to earth on Nov. 17, marked the full success of China's
first space docking mission joining the unmanned spacecraft with the
target module Tiangong-1, which was launched on Sept. 29. Tiangong-1
entered into long-term operation management in space on Nov. 18, and
is preparing for two more docking missions planned for 2012. China
plans to establish its own space lab around 2016 and a manned space
station around 2020.
7 Guo Meimei flaunting her wealth online
Baby Guo Meimei, whose real name is Guo Meiling, is a 20 year old
woman, who stirred national outrage by flaunting her extravagant
lifestyle - posting photos of villas, luxury sports cars, horses,
and designer handbags to Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like social
networking site - and claiming to be a general manager at a branch
of the Red Cross Society.
Her showing off sparked wide suspicion as people questioned how a
young woman working for a charitable organization could be so
wealthy. According to Guo's weibo, she lived in a big villa in
Beijing, drove Maserati and possessed a number of Hermes handbags.
Her flamboyance affected the credibility of Red Cross Society of
China, to which Guo had claimed her company affiliated.
8 NPC adopts 12th Five-Year Plan
The National People's Congress (NPC), China's parliament, on March
14 endorsed the country's 12th Five-Year Plan for National Economic
and Social Development at the closing meeting of the Fourth Session
of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC). For China, the 12th
Five-Year Plan period is crucial to building a moderately prosperous
society in all respects, and critical to deepening the reform and
opening up and accelerating the transformation of the economic
growth pattern.
In the coming five years and ahead, the country is believed by the
leadership to be still in an important period of strategic
opportunities for development. The theme of scientific development
and the transformation of the economic growth pattern are evident in
the freshly approved government work report and the 12th Five-Year
Plan.
9 China adopts cultural development guideline
The 17th Central Committee of the CPC closed its sixth plenary
session on October 18 and approved a decision on deepening the
reform of China's cultural system and promoting the development of
the cultural industry. China will work to improve Chinese citizens'
sense of identity and confidence in Chinese culture, according to a
communique issued after the session.
10 New Marriage Law
A new judicial interpretation of the Marriage Law by the Supreme
People's Court came into effect on Aug 13. The Supreme People's
Court of China made public the latest interpretation on applying the
Marriage Law, which is meant to provide a judicial basis for courts.
The interpretation consists of 19 new items and is valid from August
13 this year.
As soon as the interpretation was released, it triggered heated
discussion in society. People who approve it say they think married
couples should be equal partners. The new interpretation shows the
law pays greater attention to individual rights than previously. On
the other hand, opponents say they think the law is unfair to women,
who are already in a more disadvantaged position in marriage. Also,
a family shouldn't be all about money, it should also be about love.
Business rules are therefore not suitable.
From http://www.china.org.cn/ 12/28/2011
TOP↑
Census Reveals Loss of
44,000 Heritage Sites
Around 44,000 of China's 766,722 registered heritage sites have
disappeared, according to the press conference of the third session
census of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) on
China's fixed cultural heritage on Dec 29. The third national
heritage sites census is the largest such census since the founding
of the People's Republic of China in 1949, and has recorded the
registration of 766,722 fixed cultural relics. Among them, 536,001
are newly registered. In addition, around 17.7 percent of the
country's cultural relics are relatively poorly preserved and 8.43
percent are in a state of disrepair, according to Shan Jixiang,
director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.
Commenting on the reasons for the damage to and disrepair of the
country's heritage sites, Liu Xiaohe, deputy director of the survey
of State Administration of Cultural Heritage said: "The reasons for
the damage [to cultural heritage sites] can be divided into six
categories, one of the most important of which is economic
construction." He added that many heritage sites are demolished due
to economic construction. Furthermore, most of the demolished sites
are unprotected and were denoted as fixed heritage sites by counties
and regions. By contrast, protection units overseeing national and
provincial key cultural relics were rarely disbanded. In addition,
some heritage sites were demolished without explanation.
The census recorded basic information about these sites, including
the total number, distribution, age, natural environment, the level
of protection and damage factors. Workers compiled detailed files
for each site in order to address existing problems. The information
recorded included basic information about the sites, drawings and
photos. (By Lu Na)
From http://www.china.org.cn/ 12/30/2011
TOP↑
Top 20 Promising Public
Companies in China 2012
Shenzhen Inovance Technology, an industrial automatic control
product manufacturer, claimed the top spot among the top 100
publicly-traded Chinese companies with the highest business growth
potential, according to a list of China's best up-and-coming
companies released by the ForbesChina.com Wednesday. Innovance is
followed by Xueersi Education Group, a Beijing-based educational
training site, and Guangdong By-health Biotechnology, a
Guangdong-based health products group.
This is the eighth year for ForbesChina to compile the list of its
kind, but for the first time, the publicly listed and unlisted
companies are ranked respectively. ForbesChina surveyed more than
10,000 small and medium-sized Chinese enterprises with sales between
5 million yuan (US$ 793,651) and 1 billion yuan (US$ 0.16 billion)
in 2010. All the businesses have their main business operations on
the Chinese mainland. The rankings are based on these companies'
financial statistics from 2008 to 2010 in the following categories:
growth index (sales growth rate and profit growth rate), return on
investment (return on total assets ratio and return on net assets
ratio), net profit margin, sales revenue, net profit, and 2011
operation status.
In 2010, the publicly traded companies, on average, reported 0.95
billion yuan (US$ 0.15 billion) in total assets, 0.48 billion yuan
(US$ 0.08 billion) in sales revenue, and 0.1 billion yuan(US$ 0.02
billion) in net profits, winning over their unlisted peers who only
raked in 0.24 billion yuan(US$ 0.04 billion), 0.21 bilion yuan(US$
0.03 billion), and 36,900,000 yuan(US$5,860,000), respectively.
However, the unlisted companies did a better performance in terms of
growth capabilities. From 2008 to 2010, the average compound annual
growth rate of sales and net profits (median growth rate) is 55.42
percent and 97.85 percent, respectively, higher than the listed ones
by 12.08 points and 36.82 points.
More than half of the top 100 listed companies come from Guangdong,
Jiangsu and Beijing, while 70 percent of the top 100 unlisted elites
are located in Guangdong, Beijing and Shanghai. Guangdong, Beijing
and Shanghai have been home to the greatest number of the best
up-and-coming companies for three consecutive years, pointing to the
current layout of regional economic development.
The Technology, Media and Telecoms (TMT) sector cemented its
dominance on the list again, generating about 20 percent of either
the publicly listed or the unlisted elites. It's followed by sectors
including biomedicine, new materials, energy conservation and
environmental protection, electrical equipment, and culture and
education. Together, these sectors occupy nearly half spots on the
lists.
About 10 enterprises engaged in digital TV businesses edged into
this year's list, as China is beefing up its support for cultural
industry and promoting tri-networks integration (integration of
telecom, radio and TV, and the Internet). Innovation is the driving
force for businesses' growth. Compared with their foreign
counterparts who excel in technological innovation, Chinese
enterprises are skilled at landing on success through application
innovation. (By Zhang Junmian)
From http://www.china.org.cn/
01/07/2012
TOP↑
Hong Kong:
Newly-Registered Companies Hit Record High
The number of local companies newly registered with the Companies
Registry in 2011 hit a record high of 148,329, an increase of 6.31%
from 2010, according to figures released today. The total number of
live local companies registered was 956,392 by the end of 2011, up
92,630 from 2010.
The number of companies incorporated in July reached a record of
24,957. Registrar of Companies Ada Chung said the figure doubled the
average monthly incorporations of around 11,000 for 2010 and may be
attributable to the local economic environment and expiration of the
waiver of business registration fees for new companies in August.
There were 798 non-Hong Kong companies that established a place of
business in Hong Kong and were newly registered under Part XI of the
Companies Ordinance, up 8.28% from the corresponding period in 2010.
The total number of non-Hong Kong companies registered stood at
8,554 at the end of last year.
Ms Chung said with the introduction of the one-stop electronic
company incorporation and business registration service at the new
e-Registry platform in March, 15,248 companies had been incorporated
online at the end of last year. In 2011, the number of charges on
assets of companies received for registration was 37,673, down 8.86%
from 2010. The number of memoranda of satisfaction and releases
received for registration down 6.02% to 27,851. A total of 185
prospectuses were registered in 2011, down from 195 in 2010. The
total number of documents received for filing up 14.83% to
2,163,743.
From http://www.news.gov.hk/
01/08/2012
TOP↑
Disasters Leave over 1,000
Dead or Missing in China in 2011
A total of 1,126 people died or went missing in various natural
disasters in China last year, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the
National Disaster Reduction Committee said Wednesday. Disasters in
2011 affected 430 million people and resulted in direct economic
losses of 309.64 billion yuan (49.15 billion U.S. dollars),
according to the report on China's natural disasters in 2011
published by the two government bodies. About 32.47 million hectares
of crops were affected by disasters, of which 2.89 million hectares
of crops had been completely destroyed, the report said, adding that
more than 4.2 million homes collapsed or sustained damage.
The report said that compared to other years, natural disasters in
2011 were generally mild, despite some severe disasters in Sichuan,
Shaanxi, Hunan, Yunnan, Guizhou and Hubei provinces. Last year saw a
series of disasters, mainly in southern China, such as freezing
weather at the beginning of the year, a 5.8-magnitude earthquake in
southwest Yunnan province, and drought in winter and summer in the
middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, among others.
From http://english.cri.cn/ 01/11/2012
TOP↑
Massive Leak of Online
Personal Data Faked
The police found the rumor about a massive leak of online
personal data fabricated. The police has detained four people and
punished eight others for fabricating rumors about a massive leak of
online personal data, the country's Internet watchdog said Tuesday.
According to the National Internet Information Office, in late
December, Beijing-based Qihoo 360, China's leading anti-virus
software provider, claimed that the personal information of more
than 6 million users of the China Software Developer Network (CSDN),
the country's largest programmers' website, had been leaked by
hackers.
The hacking case later escalated after the personal details of
subscribers to more websites, including popular online shopping,
gaming, social networking and even financial institution sites, were
said to have been leaked. However, a police investigation found that
over the past month, most of the websites had not been attacked, and
for those attacked, there was no leak of subscribers' information.
In the CSDN case, a 19-year-old jobless man surnamed Xu was found to
have faked the story just to "show-off." As for the leak of some
users' passwords on a few well-known social networking websites,
such as Sina Weibo and www.kaixin001.com, police found that hackers
decoded the passwords through guesswork. The personal data banks of
these websites had not actually been attacked.
The identities of the hackers were confirmed and the police are
hunting them, said a spokesman of the National Internet Information
Office. China has the world's largest online population, with the
number of Internet users reaching 485 million by the end of June
last year. In the first half of 2011, 217 million Chinese Internet
users, or 44.7 percent of the country's total online population,
were attacked by malware, including viruses or Trojan horses, and
121 million had the experience of having their accounts or passwords
stolen.
Last month, authorities in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen launched
an Internet supervision measure requiring local microblog operators
to implement real-name registration requirements for users, a move
designed to curb online rumors and enhance social credibility. The
National Internet Information Office, the Ministry of Industry and
Information and the Ministry of Public Security have vowed to
severely punish those who attack websites and leak personal
information or fabricate and spread rumors in this regard. They have
also vowed to take effective measures to protect the security of
online personal information.
From Xinhua News Agency 01/11/2012
TOP↑
JAPAN: 2011 TOP 10
Domestic & International News Stories - Disasters Loom Large
The Great East Japan Earthquake, which left nearly 20,000 people
dead or missing, was chosen by readers of The Yomiuri Shimbun as
this year's top domestic news event. In contrast, the cheerful news
of Nadeshiko Japan's winning the FIFA Women's World Cup ranked
second. Additional domestic news stories picked for the top 10
included other March 11 disaster-related events, such as the nuclear
crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, while the launch
of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's Cabinet ranked highest among
political news stories.
Natural disasters also left a strong impression on readers in the
international news rankings - the massive floods in Thailand were
chosen as the top international story and the powerful earthquake in
New Zealand ranked fourth. The killing of Osama bin Laden, leader of
the Al-Qaida terrorist group, and the Arab Spring antigovernment
uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and other Arab countries were
among other major overseas news. A total of 11,211 valid votes were
submitted for the domestic news rankings, and 7,405 valid votes were
cast for the international news rankings.
DOMESTIC NEWS
1. 20,000 killed, missing in March 11 disaster
The magnitude-9 Great East Japan Earthquake struck off the Sanriku
coast on March 11, the largest quake ever recorded in Japan. The
coastal areas of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures suffered
particularly severe damage, due to devastating tsunami more than 10
meters high. The number of people killed and missing reached nearly
20,000 in Japan's worst natural disaster since World War II. As of
Dec. 15, more than nine months after the disaster, nearly 335,000
people were still living as evacuees.
The Self-Defense Forces mobilized 100,000 personnel for rescue and
restoration operations in the disaster-hit areas, the largest-ever
deployment of its kind. U.S. forces also extended assistance under
Operation Tomodachi, mobilizing about 24,500 personnel for rescue
and other missions.
A great number of volunteers rushed to the disaster-hit areas from
all over the country. Reflecting the bonds of human relations, which
came under the spotlight in various ways after the great disaster,
the kanji character "kizuna" (meaning bond or tie) was chosen as the
kanji that best expressed this year's social situation in an annual
ceremony at Kiyomizudera temple in Kyoto. The government has decided
on a basic policy for reconstruction, under which at least 19
trillion yen will be spent over five years from the current fiscal
year.
2. Nadeshiko conquer the world
The Japan women's soccer team defeated the United States to win the
Sixth FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany on July 17. Nicknamed "Nadeshiko
Japan," they triumphed in a penalty shootout to claim their first
world title. Many Japanese people were moved and encouraged by their
win amid the national crisis triggered by the Great East Japan
Earthquake.
The government gave the Nadeshiko players the People's Honor Award,
the first time the accolade was bestowed on a group. Nadeshiko Japan
also successfully cleared the preliminaries for the London Olympics
in 2012, and expectations are high they will repeat their World Cup
success. The popularity of women's soccer soared after the World Cup
victory. The Nadeshiko League, the top division of women's soccer in
Japan, saw a remarkable rise in spectators at its games, and many
companies inked new sponsor agreements with the league or specific
teams. "Nadeshiko" was also chosen as the grand prize winner in the
2011 U-can Shingo Ryukogo Taisho (new words/buzzwords) grand prix.
3. 110,000 people evacuated in N-plant crisis
Between March 12 and 15, explosions occurred one after another at
the Nos. 1, 3 and 4 reactor buildings at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear
power plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co. Cooling functions
were lost at the reactor buildings due to the failure of all power
sources as a result of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
Massive amounts of radioactive substances were dispersed into the
atmosphere outside the plant. On April 12, the Nuclear and
Industrial Safety Agency of the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry
proclaimed the crisis to be "Level 7" in terms of severity, equal to
the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the former Soviet Union. The
provisional evaluation of the accident was based on the
International Nuclear Event Scale.
Level 7 is the highest level, classified as a "major accident."
Subsequent analyses found that core meltdowns took place at the Nos.
1 to 3 reactors. According to surveys taken by 11 municipalities
around the power plant from Oct. 1 to Nov. 24, about 110,000 people
evacuated. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda announced Dec. 16 that the
reactors were in cold shutdown and thus the crisis itself had been
brought under control. Decommissioning the reactors is expected to
take 30 years to 40 years.
4. Scandal rocks sumo world
On Feb. 6, the Japan Sumo Association decided to cancel its Spring
Grand Sumo Tournament over revelations of match-rigging, marking the
first time a grand sumo tourney had been canceled because of a
scandal. The association effectively expelled 25 sumo elders and
wrestlers, and also canceled the summer grand tourney. Instead, the
association held a "technical examination tournament" and removed
any commercial element by allowing spectators in for free.
Over the three grand sumo tourneys since July, there were only eight
days total in which seats were sold out, even fewer than the 12 days
in the three corresponding tourneys last year, which were
overshadowed by another scandal involving sumo wrestlers gambling on
professional baseball games. This year did see some bright
news - such as the promotion to ozeki of two Japanese wrestlers,
Kotoshogiku and Kisenosato - but the sumo world will likely need to
make steady efforts to regain the sport's popularity.
5. Noda takes reins
On Sept. 2, Yoshihiko Noda, a former finance minister and a member
of the Democratic Party of Japan, was sworn in as the nation's 95th
prime minister - the 62nd person to take the post - and launched his
Cabinet. In a Yomiuri Shimbun survey just after Noda's inauguration,
the approval rating for his Cabinet was 65 percent. However, Noda
was later criticized for such things as insufficiently explaining
his own ideals and policies, and the approval rating has been
falling.
6. World's highest tower reaches peak
On March 18, the Tokyo Sky Tree being built in Sumida Ward, Tokyo,
reached its planned peak height of 634 meters, two years and eight
months after the start of its construction. Work was temporarily
halted just after the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11. No
one was injured at the construction site during the quake, and the
main structure of the tower was not damaged. On Nov. 17, Britain's
Guinness World Records certified Tokyo Sky Tree as the world's
highest tower. The freestanding tower will be open to visitors from
May 22. Work is now under way on the interiors of the tower and on
neighboring commercial facilities.
7. Typhoons wreck western Japan
On Sept. 3, Typhoon No. 12 raged northward from Shikoku to the
Chugoku region, while Typhoon No. 15 landed in Shizuoka Prefecture
on Sept. 21. The two storms ultimately left 112 people dead or
missing amid record rainfall and damage. In the case of Typhoon No.
15, evacuation advisories and orders were issued for about 1.4
million people, mainly in the Tokai region.
8. Double elections held in Osaka
On Nov. 27, the Osaka mayoral and gubernatorial elections were held.
Former Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto and Ichiro Matsui, a former member
of the Osaka Prefectural Assembly, won their first terms as mayor
and governor, respectively, in landslide victories for Hashimoto's
party, Osaka Ishin no Kai (Osaka restoration group). Hashimoto's
exchanges with established political parties have attracted
attention, as he has hinted at fielding Osaka Ishin no Kai
candidates in a national election to realize his plan to make Osaka
Prefecture a metropolitan administrative region similar to Tokyo.
9. TV goes digital
On July 24, terrestrial TV broadcasting became completely
digitalized, except in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures,
which were hit hard by the Great East Japan Earthquake. The
government postponed the start of land-based digital TV broadcasting
in the three prefectures until the end of March. Sales of
flat-screen televisions increased as people rushed to buy them in
time for digitalization.
10. Electricity use curbed
On July 1, the government ordered large-lot electricity users in the
service areas of Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Tohoku Electric Power
Co. to cut their consumption by 15 percent to cope with possible
summer power shortages due to the crisis at the crippled Fukushima
No. 1 nuclear power plant. It was the first time since the 1974 oil
crisis that such a restriction had been imposed. Power outages and
other potential crises were averted thanks to cooperation from not
only large-lot users, but also small and midsize businesses and
households.
OVERSEAS NEWS
1. Thailand hit by floods
Massive flooding in and after September inundated large areas of
central Thailand, killing nearly 700 people and causing property
damage that affected more than 2 million others. The floods swept
into seven industrial complexes in Ayutthaya and other cities,
dealing a heavy blow to about 450 Japanese factories located there.
As a result, the supply chains of parts for industrial products were
disrupted, forcing factories in Thailand and neighboring countries
to suspend production. Even automobile factories in Japan and North
America were affected. The flooding was due primarily to torrential
rain during Thailand's rainy season from June to August. The
precipitation was 1.4 to 1.8 times greater than normal years.
The floods in September first inundated Ayutthaya and then advanced
southward several kilometers a day, eventually reaching the northern
and western parts of Bangkok. Many family members of Japanese
workers at the industrial complexes returned home temporarily.
Although the flooding began to subside in December, a few areas,
including parts of Bangkok, are still under water. Japanese
factories are unlikely to fully recover from the flood damage until
the middle of next year, indicating that the calamity will linger
for some time.
2. Bin Laden killed
In a special operation, U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden, leader
of the Al-Qaida terrorist group and mastermind of the Sept. 11,
2001, attacks on the United States, at his hideout on the outskirts
of Islamabad on May 2. After the Sept. 11 attacks, bin Laden
survived bombings by U.S. and British forces and frustrated the
pursuit led by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. His whereabouts
remained a mystery for a long time and it was presumed he had fled
Afghanistan, where he had established his foothold, to Pakistan.
Killing or apprehending bin Laden was one of the top tasks President
Barack Obama's administration took over from the previous
administration of George W. Bush. The U.S. war on terrorism, which
has lasted more than 10 years, was given a huge boost with the death
of bin Laden. However, Al-Qaida-linked armed forces have gained the
upper hand in such countries as Yemen and Somalia, confronting the
United States with new terrorist threats.
3. 'Arab Spring' uprisings demand democracy
In Tunisia, the administration of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
collapsed on Jan. 14 in the face of a nationwide antigovernment
uprising. Popular protests subsequently spread to Egypt, toppling
the regime of President Hosni Mubarak in February. Public
demonstrations aimed at ousting dictators also rocked Libya, Syria
and Yemen.
In their initial stage, the uprisings were mostly peaceful
demonstrations staged primarily by young people making full use of
the Internet. In Libya, however, the protests against Moammar
Gaddafi developed into a civil war, and resulted in Gaddafi's death.
In Syria, where the government of President Bashar Assad has cracked
down on antigovernment demonstrators, the death toll has been rising
steadily. Clashes between the government's security forces and army
deserters are increasing in many parts of the country. There are
fears the situation may escalate into a civil war.
4. Massive N.Z. quake kills 180, including 28 Japanese
A magnitude-6.3 earthquake struck near Christchurch, New Zealand, on
Feb. 22, killing more than 180 people, including 28 Japanese. The 28
were students from the Toyama College of Foreign Languages who were
attending the King's Education language school in the six-story CTV
Building in Christchurch. They died after the building collapsed.
There is a possibility the CTV Building had low earthquake
resistance. New Zealand's Royal Commission of Inquiry, a panel
independent from the New Zealand government and Parliament, has been
investigating the cause of the accident.
5. Eurozone hit by debt crisis
The financial crisis stemming from Greece's staggering debt has
spread to Italy and other European nations since October, and
triggered credit insecurity throughout the eurozone. Germany, France
and the other 15 eurozone nations agreed on Oct. 26 that private
banks would voluntarily accept a 50 percent loss on their Greek
government bonds, in a key move to solve the debt crisis. Even after
the agreement, however, European authorities failed to take swift
action, prolonging the turmoil in the European financial market. The
yields of Italian and Spanish government bonds rose, and there were
violent fluctuations in the value of the euro. The leaders of the
European Union, which includes the 17 eurozone nations, agreed in a
summit meeting Dec. 9 on a new accord that imposes tough financial
disciplines. But they put off taking drastic measures, and there is
no prospect the crisis will be settled in the near future.
6. Bullet train disaster in China
Forty passengers died after a Chinese bullet train crashed into
another high-speed train in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, on July 23,
causing several carriages to derail and fall from the elevated
track. The Railways Ministry used heavy machinery to destroy part of
the crushed carriages and buried the wreckage. Railway operation
resumed 1-1/2 days later. Chinese authorities dug up the buried
wreckage following accusations that authorities intended to destroy
evidence and had disregarded human life. On July 28, the Chinese
government's accident investigation team announced there was a
serious design flaw in the train's signaling equipment.
7. Apple cofounder Steve Jobs dies
Apple Inc.'s cofounder Steve Jobs died Oct. 5 at the age of 56. Jobs
created such groundbreaking products as the Macintosh computer and
the iPod portable media player. The Mac was the first personal
computer to feature a mouse. Jobs' death caused deep sorrow around
the world.
8. World population climbs to 7 billion
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon announced on Oct. 31 that the
world population had reached 7 billion, nearly tripling from 2.5
billion in 1950. To keep pace with the enormous increase, it is
critical to use the world's limited food and energy resources more
effectively and alleviate famine and poverty in developing nations.
9. China's economy the world's 2nd largest
China's economy has grown to be the second-largest in the world,
surpassing that of Japan. Its nominal gross domestic product in 2010
was 5.88 trillion dollars, which is 404.4 billion dollars more than
the nominal GDP Japan announced on Feb. 14. Japan had been the
world's second-largest economy for 42 years since 1968.
10. Britain's Prince William weds
Prince William, the second in line to the British throne, married
Kate Middleton on April 29 at Westminster Abbey in London. After the
ceremony, the couple traveled to Buckingham Palace by horse-drawn
carriage, cheered by more than a million people along the way.
EXTRA / Kim Jong Il dead*
Kim Jong Il, general secretary of North Korea's ruling Workers'
Party of Korea, died on Dec. 17. He was 69. The official Korean
Central News Agency announced on Dec. 19 that Kim had died of a
heart attack on a train while on his way to give field guidance to
workers. The agency also announced that his third son, Kim Jong Un,
would succeed his father. The late Kim had maintained a dictatorship
in North Korea for 17 years following the death of his father, Kim
Il Sung, in 1994.
Kim Jong Un was elected as successor to his father at a meeting of
the Workers' Party of Korea and a general meeting of the party's
Central Committee in September last year. There are concerns the
North Korean regime may become unstable as Kim Jong Un has had
insufficient time to consolidate his power. (*Kim Jong Il's death
was reported after voting for this year's top news stories
concluded.)
From The Yomiuri Shimbun 12/28/2011
TOP↑
10 Months on, Japan
Disaster Toll Reaches 19,300
Ten months after a massive tsunami crashed into Japan following a
huge undersea earthquake, police figures show a total of 19,294
people are believed to have died. Across the disaster zone, 15,844
people have been confirmed dead since the March 11 disaster, the
national police agency said in a tally released Tuesday. In
addition, the whereabouts of 3,450 people are yet to be confirmed,
the police said, as the hunt for bodies - many of which are
believed to have been washed out to sea - continues.
From http://newsonjapan.com/ 01/12/2012
TOP↑
Suicides Top 30,000 for
14th Straight Year - 2011 Figure Lowest Since Annual Tally Hit Mark
in 1998
2011 appears to be the 14th straight year for the annual suicide
count to exceed 30,000, according to tentative statistics recently
released by the National Police Agency. The latest 2011 figure - 30,513
- however, was the lowest number since the annual suicide
count topped the 30,000 mark in 1998, declining from 31,690 in 2010.
Males accounted for 20,867 of the 2011 suicides, or 68 percent, the
data show. By prefecture, Tokyo had the most suicides, at 3,100,
followed by Osaka with 1,899 and Kanagawa with 1,824.
An NPA official said a further statistical breakdown, including
ages, occupations and other details of the victims, will be released
sometime later this year. "Although the total number declined, it is
still a very serious situation to have over 30,000 people a year
committing suicide," Yasuyuki Shimizu, director of the Tokyo-based
nonprofit suicide prevention group Lifelink, told The Japan Times
Wednesday.
The statistics show declines in annual suicide counts in Miyagi,
Iwate and Fukushima prefectures, which were devastated in the March
11 disasters. But Shimizu said optimism about the results may be
short-lived, because suicides tend to increase in devastated areas
after a year or so, as was the case in the wake of the Great Hanshin
Earthquake of 1995. As reality sets in, people are forced to
confront their losses, and some may suffer greatly to the extent
that they commit suicide, Shimizu said.
According to a different survey by the Cabinet Office, as of
November 49 people in the three prefectures committed suicide for
reasons related to the March 11 disaster. Considering past studies,
continuous support is crucial, Shimizu stressed. The data also show
that unlike the past three years in which the highest monthly
suicide count was marked in March - which is the end of the business
year for many corporations - last year saw the level peak in May.
Shimizu, who analyzed the unusual spike in May, said the jump may be
related to the media's sensationalized reporting on the May 12
suicide of TV celebrity Miyu Uehara. Daily suicide tallies increased
sharply for 10 days starting May 13, Shimizu said. "Those who
committed suicide in this period were mostly women in their 20s and
30s... The media's excessive reporting may have triggered" this
phenomenon, Shimizu said.
To prevent suicides, Shimizu said consultations to help people meet
multiple needs, including debts and employment, are necessary. "From
our survey, we know that, on average, there are four reasons why
people commit suicide," he said. "So by providing consultations to
meet such multiple needs, I believe (we can) help people who feel
cornered choose a path to live." (By Mizuho Aoki)
From Kyodo 01/12/2012
TOP↑
NORTH KOREA: Likely to
Conduct Third Nuclear Test in 2012 - Think Tank
SEOUL (Yonhap) - North Korea's new leader Kim Jong-un will
likely order a third nuclear test or another missile launch this
year to consolidate his military credentials, South Korea's state
think tank warned Wednesday. Kim Jong-un, believed to be in his late
20s, has taken the helm of North Korea since his father, Kim Jong-il,
died of a heart attack last month, representing the third generation
of a dynastic dictatorship that has ruled Pyongyang since 1948.
From http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/
01/11/2012
TOP↑
N. Korean Imports of
Mobile Phones Jumped 6 Times from 2009-2010: RFA
SEOUL (Yonhap) - North Korea imported six times more mobile
phones in 2010 than in 2009, a media report said Wednesday,
indicating growing mobile penetration in the reclusive country.
North Korea bought 430,000 mobile phones from China in 2010, up from
68,000 phones the previous year, according to Washington-based Radio
Free Asia (RFA). In 2010, the country spent US$35 million on
importing mobile phones, seven times more than the $5 million outlay
in 2009, the report said, citing recent data from the United
Nations.
From http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/
01/11/2012
TOP↑
SOUTH KOREA: Top News of
2011
Freak weather and upheavals in Korea's political landscape
punctuated a year of uncertainties that ended with the death of
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il just before Christmas. But Koreans
also took pride in their burgeoning exports, not only of electronics
and cars that are increasingly prized around the world but also of
the pop music generated by leading talent factories, which cheered
up listeners worldwide in gloomy times.
◆ Kim Jong-il Dies
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il died on a cold December day,
according to the state media suffering a heart attack on his armored
train while on his way to one of his on-the-spot guidance tours.
Where that account is true or not, the fact remains that his
undeniably dead body lies in state in Pyongyang, and his son Kim
Jong-un (29) has been officially declared the new leader. North
Korea's regional neighbors are anxiously watching to see if he can
establish his hold on power and wondering what it will mean for
peace on the region and the fate of 24 million North Koreans.
◆ Software Tycoon Blows Korean Politics Wide Open
When software tycoon Ahn Cheol-soo said he was considering running
for Seoul mayor in the Oct. 26 by-elections, he triggered a seismic
shift in the political landscape as a solid majority expressed their
support before he had even declared his candidacy. That revealed a
widespread disaffection with the political establishment and a
yearning for a fresh approach. Ahn ceded his mayoral bid to
lawyer-turned-civic-activist Park Won-soon, whose victory many
attribute to Ahn's support. Ahn is now being touted as a possible
presidential contender. Both ruling and opposition lawmakers
admitted they were stymied by voter distrust. The results of the
general and presidential elections next year are expected to lead to
the biggest changes in Korean politics since the introduction of
direct elections for president back in 1987.
◆ Korea Ratifies FTAs with EU and U.S.
The ruling Grand National Party railroaded through the Korea-U.S.
free trade agreement at the National Assembly on Nov. 22 despite
strong protests from opposition parties, four years and five months
after it was signed by both sides. The U.S. Senate and House of
Representatives passed the FTA in late October. As a result, Korea
became the first Asian country to forge FTA deals with both the EU
and U.S., while paving the way for tariff-free trade with countries
that account for 60 percent of the world's GDP. The FTA with
Washington will go into effect early next year, but opposition
parties are still calling for it to be renegotiated.
◆ Korea Becomes World's No. 7 Exporter
Korea's annual trade volume surpassed US$1 trillion on Dec. 5.
Exports totaled $515.6 billion, while imports amounted to $486
billion. Korea became the ninth country in the world to achieve that
feat. Korea's exports totaled just $19 million back in 1948, half
the level of Kenya and Cameroon and ranked 100th in the world. But
in six decades on, Korea became the world's seventh-largest
exporter.
◆ Pyeongchang Finally Wins Bid to Host Winter Olympics
Millions of Koreans sat in front of their TV sets at midnight on
July 7 when International Olympic Committee Chairman Jacques Rogge
declared Pyeongchang the winner to host the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Pyeongchang had tasted defeat twice before in its bids for the 2010
and 2014 games, when it lost to Vancouver and Sochi. But this time,
Pyeongchang comfortably beat Munich and Annecy, garnering 63 out of
95 votes.
Korea becomes the fifth country in the world to host both the summer
and winter Olympics, the football World Cup, the World Championships
in Athletics and the Formula 1 race. The others are France, Italy,
Germany and Japan.
◆ World Falls in Love with K-Pop
K-pop was the top Korean entertainment product to sweep the world
this year. Manufactured bands are continuing the Korean Wave
triggered by the popularity of soap operas such as "Winter Sonata"
and "Jewel in the Palace," and drew legions of fans not only in
Japan, China and other parts of Asia, but also in Europe, the Middle
East, the U.S. and Latin America. Girls' Generation, Kara, 2PM,
SHINee, 2NE1, Big Bang, Super Junior, TVXQ and JYJ held concert
tours around the world and swept through their album chart rankings.
Fans in the U.S., Europe and Latin America even took to the streets
demanding K-pop concerts in their countries.
◆ Record Rainfall in Seoul
Korea was drenched with record precipitation in July with many
regions experiencing between 100 to 200 mm of rainfall that lasted
for days, triggering mudslides and other damage. It was the largest
amount of rain in Korea in a century. Heavy rains on July 27 in
particular submerged many parts of Seoul and triggered a mudslide on
a mountain in an affluent southern suburb of the capital. The
downpours left 71 people dead across the country.
From http://english.chosun.com/ 12/30/2011
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IT Exports Top Record
$156 Billion in 2011
Korea's information technology exports reached a record high of
$156.97 billion in 2011 mainly due to strong overseas demand for
smartphones and system semiconductors, a government report showed
Thursday. The figure is a 2 percent gain from the $153.94 billion
tallied in 2010 and marks the second year in a row that outbound
shipments of IT products set new records, the report by the Ministry
of Knowledge Economy said.
Imports grew 7.8 percent to $81.52 billion with the country posting
a trade surplus of $75.45 billion last year. This is a slight
decrease from the record $78.32 billion surplus reached in 2010.
"The export growth and surplus figure is noteworthy because the
fiscal crisis in some European countries, the flood in Thailand and
other developments all exerted negative influence on global trade
last year," the ministry said.
IT exports were buoyed by a surge in global demand for smartphones,
system semiconductors and new hardware-software convergence
products, it said. Exports of smartphones alone surged 53.5 percent
to $11.88 billion, which contributed to Korea becoming the No.1
producer of mobile phones last year. The global market share of
Korean smartphones reached 27.1 percent in the third quarter making
it the world leader in the field.
Overall semiconductor exports dipped 1.1 percent to $50.15 billion,
although overseas shipment of system chips jumped 24.0 percent
on-year to $20.0 billion. Exports of TV sets gained 4.8 percent to
$7.81 billion, with numbers for display panels as well as computers
and related appliances falling 7.1 percent and 0.8 percent,
respectively. The dip in computer sales was offset to some extent by
a 180 percent increase in the export of tablet PCs last year.
China, which imported $73.86 billion worth of Korean IT products,
was the largest overseas market, with exports to Japan and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations all rising 6.8 percent and
10.1 percent each last year. However, shipments to the United States
and the European Union contracted. The report also showed smartphone
imports rose 38.2 percent to $5.28 billion last year. Local demand
for electronic parts jumped 15.2 percent to $46.59 billion or
roughly 55 percent of all IT imports.
From Yonhap News 01/05/2012
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CAMBODIA: Setting to
Become Asean IT Hub
Cambodia looks set to become a key IT hub connecting countries
across Asean by the year 2015, according to one of the country's
leading suppliers of communications services. According to
Ezecom, Cambodia's geographic position at the heart of Asean
puts it in an ideal position to benefit from the organisation's
ICT (Information and Communications Technology) Masterplan 2015.
The plan includes provisions for an Asean-wide 'broadband
corridor' as well as initiatives to develop ICT infrastructure
and resources among Asean member states. "Cambodia already has
connectivity to its neighbours Thailand, Vietnam and Laos," said
Ezecom CEO Paul Blanche-Horgan. "In addition Cambodia is
connected to the world through the Asian American Gateway."
"With all this in place Cambodia will play a big part in helping
Asean to achieve its 2015 ICT aims," Blanche-Horgan added. The
10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean)
unveiled its ICT Masterplan 2015 (AIM2015) at the 10th Asean
Telecommunications and IT Ministers Meeting (10th TELMIN) in
Kuala Lumpur last year. The plan maps out Asean's approach to
ICT with a view to using information and communications
technology to help establish the Asean Economic Community.
According to Blanche-Horgan the creation of a 'broadband
corridor' across the Asean region could create tens of thousands
of jobs in Cambodia. It could also mean a significant increase
in international investment as companies offering IT services
look to 'set up shop' in Cambodia. "With connectivity comes
cross-border dialogues and agreements that will almost certainly
evolve into businesses and jobs," said Blanche-Horgan. "Small
and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) will definitely stand to
benefit as regional connectivity starts to open up regional
markets and opportunities." "In particular we would expect to
see call centres and business processing operations centres
being created," added Blanche-Horgan. Ezecom, which already has
fibre optic covering 99 per cent of Cambodia, recently acquired
fibre optic company Telcotech. The company is already providing
fibre optic connectivity around the world. Ezecom was launched
in 2007 and has since become one of the country's leading
suppliers of communication services. Ezecom offers fibre optic,
WIMAX, ADSL and internet-based solutions to companies and
consumers across Cambodia. The company's aim is to provide
high-speed data services to every province in Cambodia by the
year 2015.
From http://www.asianewsnet.net/ 01/12/2012
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MALAYSIA: Launching
Electricity Supply Application E-service
Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), Malaysia's state grid, has
introduced an e-service called 'e-Application' for residents and
businesses to apply for electricity supply online. The application
also helps customers monitor the status of their applications and
verify documents. "It will quickly allow customers to decide on any
follow-up action, if necessary, to speed up the application
process," according to TNB chief operating officer and chief
executive Datuk Azman Mohd. Datuk Azman Mohd also said that the
system would not only assist developers in managing their request
for electricity supply but also help TNB in planning for the future.
E-Application will also facilitate the sharing of information with
registered TNB contractors registered with the Energy Commission.
Customers, by selecting contractors through the online service, will
not run the risk of engaging unauthorized contractors.
From http://www.futuregov.asia/ 01/04/2012
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SINGAPORE: Introducing
E-service for Conveyancing
Singapore has introduced a new electronic service to enhance the
conveyancing workflow, according to its Ministry of Law. Singapore
Land Authority's 'Electronic Payment Instruction' or 'ePI' service
will enable lawyers to notify banks of the details of conveyancing
money paid through electronic means instead of hard copy forms. The
Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, the state's tax office, will
also accept electronic stamp duty payments through ePI, streamlining
the conveyancing transaction workflow and reducing processing time.
In August last year (2011), the country introduced measures to
regulate how lawyer can receive and hold conveyancing money, in an
attempt to protect such funds. The measures required lawyers to hold
conveyancing money in conveyancing accounts with one of the seven
specially appointed banks.
From http://www.futuregov.asia/ 01/03/2012
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Basic Wage Increases
Expected to Drop in 2012
Basic wage increases this year is expected to drop to 3.6 per
cent compared to the 4.1 per cent growth seen in 2011. And total
wage increase in expected to be only 1.3% if inflation hits at about
2.5 to 3.5 per cent. This is according to a survey of 151 companies
in October by consultancy firm Remuneration Data Specialists. The
study showed that employers are somewhat cautious about wage
increases, bonuses and recruitment. This comes as economic growth is
expected to "slow or even stall" this year. Variable bonus
(excluding AWS) for 2012 is expected to drop slightly to between 1.8
and 2.1 months, compared to the average 2.2 months workers got last
year. Employment is also expected to ease. 54 per cent of
respondents said they are likely to hire in the first half of 2012 -
that's down from the 77 per cent of companies which said they hired
staff in 2011. In a separate survey on women in leadership by the
Singapore Human Resources Institute, statistics show that women
still face challenges in the workforce. Common complaints include -
not being given challenging assignments or leadership positions and
not being as equally rewarded as their male colleagues in similar
jobs.
From http://www.channelnewsasia.com/ 01/12/2012
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S'pore Economy Already
Starting to See Slowdown: PM Lee
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Singapore's economy is
already starting to see a slowdown, particularly in the electronics
sector. But he sounded a note of confidence, saying that Singapore
is prepared for the uncertainties ahead. "The economy... probably
will grow slower than last year. We're projecting one to three per
cent growth. We have to take that in our stride, and accept that.
But within Singapore, we should continue to build, we should
continue to develop, we should continue to prepare ourselves and our
next generation for the future," said Mr Lee. Mr Lee said what the
government can do is to improve the education and public transport
systems, and build more homes so that young couples can start their
families. He made these points at a Lunar New Year event on Sunday
morning in his constituency of Teck Ghee, which is part of Ang Mo
Kio GRC. He also officiated the re-opening of a wet market and food
centre at Block 409, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10, which had recently been
renovated. He said more of such markets will be built over the next
few years, with the aim of keeping food prices affordable. The prime
minister also distributed red packets, each with S$150 in cash and
supermarket vouchers to low-income residents. The small gesture
brought a smile to housewife Haslinah Mahmood, who said she was
concerned her Malaysian husband will be affected by the downturn.
"I'm more worried because he has a work permit. Who knows... if one
day he can't carry on working with the work permit, what will happen
to us?" Madam Haslinah has two young children, and she plans to use
the money for school fees and transport fares.
From http://www.channelnewsasia.com/ 01/15/2012
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Consumers Urged to Boost
Online Security
Consumers have been urged to activate the two-factor
authentication (2FA) for their email accounts and social networking
sites ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays. This will prevent their
accounts from being hacked and reduce the risk of email scams, said
Assurity Trusted Solutions, a subsidiary of the Infocomm Development
Authority of Singapore which operates the national two-factor
authentication system. Currently, Gmail and Facebook offer
two-factor authentication in Singapore. Assurity's chief operating
officer Chai Chin Loon said it takes less than five minutes to
activate the authentication feature. He said the Lunar New Year
holidays are a popular period for Singaporeans to travel overseas
for holidays. If they do not activate the two-factor authentication
for their email accounts and social networking sites, they may
become vulnerable to attacks by hackers who may exploit their
accounts to send out "Lost in Spain/Algeria"-type emails to their
unsuspecting friends and relatives. These scams usually ask email
recipients to send money to the sender to help them get home.
Assurity also advised Singaporeans to change their passwords for
online banking every 90 days, and create strong passwords that are
at least eight characters long and have four levels of complexity,
i.e., an uppercase character, a lowercase character, a number and a
special character. This, it said, will reduce the risk of cyber
criminals hacking into their personal accounts. The public can log
on to Assurity's websites at www.assurity.sg and www.onekey.sg to
find out how to activate two-factor authentication for their email
platforms and social networking sites.
From http://www.channelnewsasia.com/ 01/16/2012
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VIETNAM: Women Fill 48% of
New Jobs: Gov't
HANOI - Job creation had to be combined with other poverty
reduction measures, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien
Nhan said on Monday. Nhan added that 48 percent of new jobs were
filled by women. The Deputy PM praised the achievements by the
labour and social-affairs sector last year when a five-year project
started on sustainable poverty reduction. This was reflected in
better employment-related communications, forecasting, job training
and job creation. Last year, 1.5 million jobs were created, more
than 88,000 people went to work overseas, including 3,500 from poor
districts, 1.15 percent higher than initial target. A total of 13
colleges, 12 vocational schools and 57 job-training centers were
added to the training network. There were 1.9 million new students,
6.41 percent higher than that of 2010. Moreover, more than 400,000
rural people attended job-training courses under a project for rural
workers. Now, poor households accounted for only 12.2 percent of the
nation's total, a reduction of 2 percent.
From http://www.chinapost.com.tw/ 01/11/2012
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BANGLADESH: How the Poor
Use Cell-phones
Policy advocates complete another survey of mobile mobility at
'the bottom of the pyramid' Poorer people in Asia have wide and
increasing access to mobile phones, but only for voice calls,
according to recent research. Some use the phones for short
messaging service (SMS), radio listening and games, but
otherwise make little use of them for more productive purposes.
Rohan Samarajiva of LIRNEasia gave the overview on "Teleuse at
the Bottom of the Pyramid" at a recent Communication Policy
Research South conference in Bangkok. For the region's needy,
Rohan say, cell-phones are still chiefly for emergencies and
"maintaining relationships". Communication Policy Research South
aims to shape policy on information and communications
technology. LIRNEasia is a think tank addressing ICT policy and
regulations.
LIRNEasia last year surveyed people ages 15 to 60 whose daily
income was less than the equivalent of US$2 (Bt63). Rohan said
33 per cent of the Thai population was in that category in 2011,
up from 25 per cent in 2002. The polling was conducted in
Thailand, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Java,
Indonesia, upgrading results from a series of surveys taken
since 2005. Eight hundred Thais were among the 10,154 people
polled last year. The survey found that Thai users spent more
than any other nationality on mobile phones, $93 on average
compared to $50 or less elsewhere. Most of the phones they
bought had radio connections, while 14 per cent had a Web
browser and 5 per cent had touch-screens. Ninety-one per cent of
the Thais said they'd used a mobile phone in the previous three
months, up from 77 per cent in 2008. More than 90 per cent of
the urban users made regular calls, compared to 80 per cent in
the rural areas. Interestingly, 90 per cent of Thai females had
a mobile phone but only 80 per cent of the males, a proportion
reversed in the other countries.
Pre-paid phone accounts predominated across the region, except
for 4 per cent of Thais and 5 per cent of Sri Lankas who
post-paid. The phones were being primarily used for
conversation, but 37 per cent of the Thais surveyed said they
used the SMS service and 55 per cent of the Sri Lankans. Eight
per cent of the Thais used the MMS function, 5 per cent browsed
the Internet, and 2 per cent handled e-mail on the phone. Nearly
a quarter relied on "missed calls" - they would place a call and
hang up before it was answered so the recipient would call back,
saving them money. In Sri Lanka the figure was 65 per cent, in
Pakistan 71, in India 78 and in Bangladesh 86 per cent. Half the
Thais said they didn't use SMS because they knew no one who
could receive the message, while fewer said the messages were
too difficult to type. More than half the respondents in
Bangladesh and India didn't know what SMS was. Half of those in
Pakistan and Sri Lanka said it was too confusing. More Thais -
13 per cent here - also objected to the high cost of SMS. About
one third of Thais used their phones to listen to music,
compared to one-fourth in Bangladesh and 15 per cent or less
elsewhere. Almost one-fifth of the Thais also listened to radio
broadcasts on the phone. Two per cent of Thais used their phones
to access Facebook and 1 per cent browsed to other social
networks or blogging applications.
From http://www.nationmultimedia.com/
01/14/2012
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INDIA: Online G2C Services
to Be Doubled
As many as 1,000 government services are likely to go online by
the end of the current fiscal year. The department of information
technology (DIT), under the national e-governance plan (NeGP), is
likely to deliver services such as registering births and deaths and
accessing land records electronically. The plan will help the
government achieve goals that were set as part of a $150 million
long-term World Bank loan approved in March to support the national
e-governance plan. The targeted number of services is double of what
was provided up till now by the DIT. Services that are likely to be
offered online include farm updates, commercial taxes, registering
on employment exchanges and municipal services, among others. There
is also a Rs 50 crore fund that is likely to be created which will
serve as a revolving fund for development of the new projects, as
the amount spent in development of the project will gradually be
recouped once the project gets approved for implementation. An
additional Rs. 50 crore will be spent on building an authentication
platform for users, cloud services and an application store.
From http://egov.eletsonline.com/ 12/28/2011
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2012 to Be Observed as
E-governance Year
At the two day state Finance Ministers meet in Bhopal it has been
decided that all the states in the country will observe 2012 as
e-governance year and computerise all tax related activities. This
is being done with the objective of enhancing revenues and
preventing tax evasion. "The empowered committee of the state
finance ministers has decided to computerise its operations to
prevent tax evasion, enhance tax collection and evading corruption
involved in the system by observing 2012 as the e-governance year,"
the panel chairman and Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi
told reporters after the two-day meeting. The employment of
e-Governance practises and minimising of human element has led to
good results for states such as Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat and
Maharashtra. Corruption has been reduced and people have benefitted
due to more efficient services. The states have agreed to implement
initiatives like e-return, e-registration and e-payment among others
as done by these states in their commercial taxes department to
enhance their revenue.
From http://egov.eletsonline.com/ 01/11/2012
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Tamil Nadu's Districts
Will Have E-governance Societies
Every district in Tamil Nadu will soon have access to online
services from the government. The State government has decided to
form e-Governance societies in all districts to roll out the
e-District Project aimed at delivering more than 75 percent of the
services of collectorates electronically. In six districts of
Krishnagiri, Ariyalur, Coimbatore, Perambalur, Tiruvarur and the
Nilgris, the e-District Project has already been implemented as a
pilot initiative. Now it will be extended to the rest of the 26
districts, including Chennai. As per the guidelines of the Centre, a
district e-Governance Society (DeGS), headed by the Collector, would
be established in each district and registered under the Societies
Act. The DeGS will be responsible for the implementation of the
project at the district level. In the post-implementation operation
and maintenance phase of the scheme, the DeGS is expected to play a
key role.
From http://egov.eletsonline.com/ 01/14/2012
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SRI LANKA: On Track to
Achieve MDGs
Text of the speech made in Parliament on budget 2012, second
reading debate by Finance and Planning Deputy Minister Gitanjana
Gunawardena. First and foremost, on behalf of the people of
Seethawaka and the Kelani Valley, I would like to extend to the
President, our deep gratitude and respectful appreciation for
granting benefits to the people of our country through this budget,
which as planned and directed is, to strengthen and establish the
Mahinda Chinthana National Development Programme. Seventy five years
ago the anti-imperialist agitation was initiated with the pioneering
of the Left movement in 1936, by Philip Gunawardena, Dr N M Perera
and Dr S A Wickremesinghe, together with D M Rajapaksa and the
people of the Ruhunu-Walawe and the Kelani Valleys. D A Rajapaksa
also joined them subsequently in the struggle for independence.
Though, the independence that was bestowed upon our country in 1948
was national, it was the government of the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna
established in 1956, that ushered in the political and social
independence consolidating the independence, by expelling foreign
troops stationed in the country and nationalization of the harbour
and airports, and in protecting the island's economic hubs. Along
with S W R D Bandaranaike, progressive leaders of the SLFP such as D
A Rajapaksa, T B Ilangaratne and the Viplavakari Sama Samaja Leaders
Philip Gunawardena, P H William De Silva and Lakshman Rajapaksa with
other patriotic Left leaders ushered in this transformation to
further establish and advance the country's independence and
freedom. In this way victorious achievements had been bestowed upon
the Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim people of our country, especially upon
the population of the rural areas led by the Pancha Maha Balavegaya
of the Sangha, Veda, Guru, Govi and Kamkaru (the clergy, physicians,
teachers, farmers and workers).
From http://www.dailynews.lk/ 12/30/2011
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Sri Lanka to Assess
Internet, IT Use in Post-war Census
(LBO) - Sri Lanka will collect information about areas like
internet access in the first nation-wide household and population
census to be conducted in over 30 years, an official said. The
census which is to conducted from February 27 to March 21 will have
80,000 'enumerators' visiting every house in the country to count
the population and also questions about amenities in the house. The
head of Sri Lanka's statistics office Suranjana Vidyaratne asked
people to give correct information. "We are not giving this personal
information to anyone," she said. "This time we are also asking
questions like internet access." The census will cost about 1.7
billion rupees, she said. Sri Lanka ha a population of about 20
million people, but no census had been conducted for decades. A
30-year war ended in 2009 allowing the statistics office to conduct
a nation-wide census.
From http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/
01/04/2012
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Sri Lankan Hospitals to Go
Paperless
For the very first time in Sri Lanka, doctors in government
hospitals will be able view a patient's comprehensive medical
records on their computer screen, all thanks to the newly developed
Hospital Health Information Management System (HHIMS). The HHIMS is
a joint collaborative effort between the ICT agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA)
and the Ministry of Health. The initiative stemmed from the
Government's thrust to significantly improve service delivery to the
citizens by using ICT. According to Wasantha Deshapriya, ICTA
Re-engineering Government Programme Director, the software has been
tested in five hospitals - Karavanella, Mawanella, Endegoda,
Kitugala, and Deriyanagala - in the Kegalle District for over six
months. At present, it is now ready to be installed in other
Government hospitals island-wide. The Hospital Health Information
Management System, is a free open source software that will enable
doctors make accurate and well-informed diagnosis on their patients.
By simply having a registration number, the hospital staff will
dispense medication and carry out tests as per the doctor's 'prescription' which is documented on the electronic patient record
available to them on their computer screens. "This user-friendly
software enables accurate diagnosis and will be crucial in helping
government hospitals go paperless. In addition, it also facilitates
the production of many routine but essential hospital reports thus
saving time and much paperwork. A positive indirect effect of the
system is that the medical staff has more time to attend to their
patients," Deshapriya said.
From http://www.futuregov.asia/ 01/04/2012
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PAKISTAN: Impacts of
Globalisation on Rural Development
ISLAMABAD: A five day collaborative workshop on "Impacts of
globatisation on rural development in Afro-Asian countries was
inaugurated here on Monday by Minister for Professional and
Technical Training, Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada. The workshop is being
held in collaboration with Akhtar Hameed Khan National Centre for
Rural Development (AHKNCRD) and Afro-Asian Rural Development
Organistaion (AARDO), a New Delhi based organization. The workshop
is being attended by 32 National/ international delegates from 13
South Asian, African and Gulf region countries, and representatives
of the foreign missions. The five days collaborative workshop will
be concluded on Friday. The workshop is aimed to provide an
opportunity to policy makers, planners and implementers in the AARDO
member countries to deliberate and formulate an action plan for
ensuring sustainable rural development in member countries.
Speaking on the occasion, the minister for Professional and
Technical Training said his ministry was devising a strategy to
train across the country young boys and girls to enable them to earn
their livelihood on their own. He urged the AARDO to continue
support for improving the system of training and infrastructure of
country's rural development institutions. Such workshops will also
help improving the system of training and infrastructure of rural
institutions engaged in capacity building of Rural Pakistan. "The
exchange of information and communication can emerge as a tool for
providing access to the rural people for improving their
livelihoods, capacities, infrastructure, connectivity, health,
education and for management of the living environment," the
minister said.
The workshop will provide an opportunity for sharing rich
experiences and best practices in the field of rural development, he
said. He congratulated the secretary general and member countries on
AARDO's golden jubilee celebrations being held in New Delhi in March
this year. Director General National Centre for Rural Development (NCRD)
Brig (r) Amanullah said the NCRD was established in 1979 to meet the
needs for capacity building of the stakeholders engaged in rural
development in the country. He said NCRD has so far trained over
18,000 persons. NCRD became a linked institution of AARDO on May 21,
1997. AARDO had provided a grant of $28,000 in the year 1999-2002 to
undertake Action Research Pilot Project on 'Provision of Micro
Credit Facility and Enhancement of Local level savings for Poverty
Alleviation in Pakistan' in Chakwal. The programme was successfully
launched and completed. He said NCRD looks forward to a great
interaction with AARDO during years ahead particularly for the
capacity building of Local Government and Rural Development
Institutions at the Centre and in the Provinces.
From http://www.brecorder.com/ 01/09/2012
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AZERBAIJAN: GSM-operators
Strive for 4G
The current frequency spectrum of the Azerbaijani mobile phone
operators used by the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
(UMTS) standard may also be used to expand the Long Term
Evolution (LTE) network, the State department for radio
frequencies under the Azerbaijani ministry of communications and
IT reported. Mobile phone operators view the LTE network as a
logical continuation of 3G network. Before operators receive
frequencies for building a 4G LTE network they should decide on
which technologies will be used, study their influence on the
human body, conduct work on coordination with neighbouring
countries and decide on the capacity of base stations.
Assignment of 790 and 860 MHz frequencies for the needs of the
mobile network will make it possible to remove the problem of
lack of frequency resources and accelerate the process of
rolling out advanced standards of the network. Currently the
frequency range of 790 MHz and 860 MHz is used in analogue
television and may be freed while transferring from analogue
broadcast to digital. After this frequencies may be used by GSM-operators.
From http://www.today.az/ 01/11/2012
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Azerbaijani Insurance
Market: Less Does Not Mean Worse
The situation on the Azerbaijani insurance market is that small
insurance companies are likely to be driven by larger ones. The
established bureau for compulsory insurance poses a threat to the
existence of relatively weak insurance companies in the country
which is a consequence of a new law on compulsory types of insurance
adopted in Azerbaijan. This involves each company joining the
bureau. The law regulates four of the current nine types of
compulsory insurance - real estate, liability of owners of vehicles,
passenger insurance and liability insurance while exploiting the
real estate. Companies have started using the law since December 16,
2011. The number of insurance companies capable of rendering these
services is gradually increasing. It is clear that those collecting
20,000-25,000 manat on mandatory types during the year will fail to
pay the fee set at 200,000 manat for being a member of the bureau
and 200,000 manat for permission to stay for a year.
Moreover, the fees on deposit for the four kinds regulated by the
new law were set at 200,000 manat for the compulsory insurance of
civil liability of vehicles, 200,000 manat - insurance of
passengers, 100,000 manat - property insurance and 100,000 manat -
liability insurance while exploiting the real estate. Moreover it is
time to accelerate the capital. According to the minimum requirement
of the Azerbaijani Finance Ministry, the capital of insurance
companies was to reach three million manat as of January 1, 2011 but
not all companies fulfilled this. As of early 2012, they must bring
the capital up to four million manat. About 29 insurance companies
operate in Azerbaijan today. Up to 15 are expected to be represented
at the Bureau. At present seven companies joined the bureau and more
than five insurers appealed to the Finance Ministry to get the
permission to render services on compulsory insurance, regulated by
the new law.
The difficulty is that besides the fees, requirements for the
insurers dealing with mandatory types of insurance are likely to
toughen. This will increase the competition in this market segment.
Additional requirements will come into force from July 1, 2012 for
insurance companies to work for compulsory insurance. According to
these requirements, the insurer must have a branch or a
representative office with all the opportunities necessary to
indemnify damage at least in one of the regions or towns of the 10
economic regions of the country, except for the occupied
territories. International experience shows that the reducing the
number of companies does not mean the deterioration of the market.
The large companies, remaining in a competitive mode begin to
improve and propose new products. Thus, by the example of Russia,
the number of insurance companies registered in the Unified State
Register reduced by 13 per cent (83 companies) in the first half of
2010 compared to the same period of 2009 and hit 660 organisations.
While the total volume of insurance premiums increased by 5.6 per
cent in annual terms and reaching 521.1 billion rubles in the first
half of 2010, the volume of insurance payments increased by 4.3 per
cent to 367.2 billion rubles compared to the previous year. The
official exchange rate is 0,7863 AZN/USD on Jan. 10.
From http://en.trend.az/ 01/11/2012
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IRAN: Clamping Down on
Internet Use
Iran is clamping down on web users before parliamentary elections
in March with draconian rules on cybercafes and preparations to
launch a national internet. Tests for a countrywide network aimed at
substituting services run through the world wide web have been
carried out by Iran's ministry of information and communication
technology, according to a newspaper report. The move has prompted
fears among its online community that Iran intends to withdraw from
the global internet. The police this week imposed tighter
regulations on internet cafes. Cafe owners have been given a
two-week ultimatum to adopt rules requiring them to check the
identity cards of their customers before providing services.
"Internet cafes are required to write down the forename, surname,
name of the father, national identification number, postcode and
telephone number of each customer," said an Iranian police
statement, according to the news website Tabnak. "Besides the
personal information, they must maintain other information of the
customer such as the date and the time of using the internet and the
IP address, and the addresses of the websites visited. They should
keep these informations for each individuals for at least six
months."
In recent weeks, users in Iran have complained of a significant
reduction in internet speed, reported the reformist newspaper,
Roozegar, which recently resumed publication after months of
closure. The newspaper said it appeared to be the result of testing
the national internet. "According to some of the people in charge of
the communication industry, attempts to launch a national internet
network are the cause of disruption in internet and its speed
reduction in recent weeks," Roozegar reported. Some government
websites, however, cited other reasons for the drop in speed. "If
the national internet comes into effect, the internet in the country
will act like an internal network and therefore visiting the
websites needs permission from the people in charge. Users outside
Iran also need permission to visit websites running from inside the
country," Roozegar's report said. Speaking to the Guardian on
condition of anonymity, an Iranian IT expert with close knowledge of
the national internet project, which he described as a
corporate-style intranet, said: "Despite what others think, intranet
is not primarily aimed at curbing the global internet but Iran is
creating it to secure its own military, banking and sensitive data
from the outside world. "Iran has fears of an outside cyber attack
like that of the Stuxnet, and is trying to protect its sensitive
data from being accessible on the world wide web."
Stuxnet, a computer worm designed to sabotage Iran's uranium
enrichment project, hit the country's nuclear facilities in 2010.
Iranian authorities initially played down the impact of the Stuxnet
but eventually admitted the nuclear programme had been damaged by
the malware. "At the same time, Iran is working on software robots
to analyse exchanging emails and chats, attempting to find more
effective ways of controlling user's online activities," said the
expert. A blogger in Tehran said recent news concerns the country's
online community. "I'm addicted to internet and can't imagine a day
without the global internet," said the blogger. "But Iranians have
always found ways to bypass the regime's censorship, for example by
using illegal satellite dishes to watch banned TV channels, and I'm
sure in the 21st century we should be able to find alternatives
should they opt to pull out of the world wide web." The
authoritieshave said for some years that Iran should have a parallel
network which would conform to Islamic values and provide
"appropriate" services. In April, a senior official, Ali
Agha-Mohammadi announced government plans to launch "halal
internet". For Iranian officials, the need for such a network became
more evident after the disputed presidential elections in 2009, when
many protesters used social networks.
Less than two months before the parliamentary elections, Iran's
first national election since 2009, the regime said any online
efforts to organise a boycott of the vote would be considered a
crime. Iran's bloggers are prohibited from publishing any satirical
materials about the elections or encouraging others to participate
in a boycott. In June, the US was reported to be funding plans to
facilitate internet access and mobile phone communications in
countries with tight controls on freedom of speech, such as Iran,
through a project called "shadow internet" or "internet in a
suitcase". Iran responded to the move by stepping up its online
censorship by upgrading its filtering system. Iran is suspected to
have sought the support of China for its online censorship campaign
but Huawei, a leading Chinese telecoms company, which has been
accused of supplying Iran with equipment to enable censorship,
denied any wrongdoing. More than 5m websites are filtered in Iran,
but many Iranians access blocked addresses with help from proxy
websites or virtual private network services. An Iranian official
said last year that more than 17 million Iranians have Facebook
accounts, although the site remains blocked in Iran.
From http://www.guardian.co.uk/ 01/05/2012
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TURKMENISTAN: Active
Promoter of Regional Cooperation
Turkmenistan is an active promoter of regional cooperation in
Central Asia, the Executive Secretary of Economic Commission for
Europe, UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Kubis said in a letter
addressed to the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.
"Turkmenistan is an active promoter of regional cooperation in
Central Asia, and it greatly contributes to regional stability and
security," the letter added. Kubis noted Presidency of Turkmenistan
in the UN Special Program for Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) in
2011-2012, played an important role in further strengthening of the
SPECA role as a key basis for the technical assistance mobilization
for economic cooperation and development in Central Asia.
"Turkmenistan under your leadership is a strong supporter of world
peace and development," Kubis noted. He voiced a hope for continuing
cooperation in his new role as Secretary-General's Special
Representative for Afghanistan and head of the UN Assistance Mission
in Afghanistan. Kubis will take these offices in early 2012.
From http://en.trend.az/ 12/28/2011
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Over 7000 New Jobs to Be
Created in Western Region of Turkmenistan
Implementation of the programme on development of industrial
infrastructure of Balkan province for 2012-2015 should result in
establishing 80 new plants and industrial units as well as radical
modernization of 10 existing industrial units in the western region
of Turkmenistan, leading to creation of 7192 new jobs. As the
Turkmenistan.ru correspondent reports, Governor of Balkan province
Satlyk Satlykov reported this to President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov,
who yesterday paid a working visit to the western region of the
country. The Governor also reported on the work carried out in the
western region as part of the "National Programme on Changing Social
and Living Conditions in Villages, Towns, Cities, Districts and
District Centers until 2020" and the "General Programme on Providing
Clean Drinking Water to Settlements of Turkmenistan". When reporting
on the fulfillment of presidential instructions, the Governor of
Balkan province presented projects for improvement of energy supply
to the village of Gyzylsuw, as well as projects on construction of a
number of socio-economic facilities in the city of Turkmenbashi and
a park complex in the national tourism zone "Avaza". Having reviewed
and approved the projects in general, the Turkmen leader made
several comments and recommendations.
From http://www.turkmenistan.ru/ 01/05/2012
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President - Turkmen GDP
Growth Rate Amounts to 114.7 Percent in 2011
According to the preliminary calculation of the economists growth
rate of Turkmen GDP will amount to 114.7 percent as of 2011, growth
rate of industrial production will amount to 124.2 percent, Turkmen
President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov said at a meeting of the cabinet
of ministers dealing with summarizing 2011, the official Turkmen
mass media reported. "High growth rates are kept in all sectors. All
social programs are being successfully implemented in the country,"
Berdymuhamedov said. He said revenues of the State budget retain a
significant excess over its expenditures. Compared to the previous
period growth of investment and wages amounted to 123.2 and 113.7
per cent respectively, the president said. He said all industrial
buildings, residential houses, kindergartens, schools, shops and
other objects envisaged by the plan were built and commissioned on
time in 2011. In 2011 Turkmenistan actively continued policy of
increasing supply of energy resources to the world markets by the
diversification of export flows, Berdymuhamedov added.
"Turkmenistan's strategic task is to ensure that our country will
become one of the countries with high life quality standards,
high-developing economies, maintaining stable and fruitful relations
with foreign countries," he said. He said in 2012 Turkmenistan faces
a task of increasing GDP growth rate up to 110.8 per cent due to
intensive development of the national economy's sectors.
From http://en.trend.az/ 01/07/2012
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UZBEKISTAN: 2011 Was
Fruitful and Successful - Islam Karimov
President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov in his New Year's
congratulation to the people described 2011 as a successful and
fruitful. "We have every reason to believe that the past year, no
matter what difficulties and trials he gave neither, as a whole was
for our country and our people productive and successful," said in
congratulation. "As noted International Monetary Fund, despite the
still ongoing global financial and economic crisis and its negative
impact, Uzbekistan is among the few states in 2011 has achieved GDP
growth of 8.3 per cent, thus further reiterated that a stable high
rate of growth of the economy over the last 5-6 years are
sustained," said Islam Karimov. The President noted that during the
past year there has been continued the huge scale of work for the
renewal and modernization, the deepening of democratic reforms,
liberalization of all spheres of our life, the development of civil
society. "Progress in the last period, which we previously could
only dream of - a validation of our chosen model of development, the
effectiveness of created new industries and production facilities,
today became the engines of our economy.
Put into service tens of modern enterprises, accelerated development
were such major areas as the fuel and energy, mining and metallurgy,
chemical industry, light industry, automobile industry, capital
construction, transport and communication," said Islam Karimov. The
President highlighted the work achievements of rural workers, who
have collected 6.8 million tons of grain, almost 3.5 million tons of
cotton, and raised over 8.2 million tons of vegetables and melons,
about three million tonnes of horticultural products. "The most
important step in solving social problems and employment creation in
the country was in 2011 about one million jobs by modernizing and
diversifying the economy, provide new tangible benefits and
preferences for small businesses, private entrepreneurship and
farming, which today are truly the driving the strength and backbone
of our society," said Islam Karimov. According to the President,
through the results achieved in the real economy, it became possible
to increase in 2011 wages, stipends and social allowances by 20.2
percent, pensions - by 26.2 per cent, on the whole population's real
income increased by 23 1 percent.
In 2012, the planned increase in wages, pensions, stipends and
social allowances by more than 20 percent, real incomes - by 22-24
per cent. The President said that a lot of attention in the new year
will be placed on the pursuit started two years ago, a program aimed
at creating favorable conditions of life for our people, especially
in rural areas. And if in 2011 the owners of comfortable
accommodation with a total area of 1.1 million square meters were
7.4 thousand families in the 2012 move into these new homes on the
right 8.51 a thousand families. President Islam Karimov stressed
that only the implementation of the goals in the social sphere and
in the first place, the development of health and education, science
and culture, in 2012, provides direct 60 percent of budget
expenditures.
From http://en.trend.az/ 01/01/2012
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|
|
AUSTRALIA: South
Australia Enables Vehicle Registration via Smartphones
The government of South Australia (SA) has launched a
smartphone app for its vehicle registration portal, EzyReg, to
enable users to register and look up vehicle registration on the
Apple and Android platforms. "The EzyReg iPhone application is
the first of its type for an Australian government agency,
providing real-time vehicle registrations and registration
lookups from a purpose built mobile application," said Michael
O'Brien, South Australia's Minister for Finance. The app is
equipped with a bar-code recognition capability that can be
activated using the users' on-phone camera. On being sent a
renewal notice, users can scan the code provided on the notice
to load their information and transact immediately using the
app. They can also check their registration at any time. The app
is projected to save the South Australian government AU$5.7
million (US$5.9 million) over the coming four years - primarily
because of the cost savings involved in stopping the printing of
physical registration labels, mailing of labels, and envelope
costs. The reduction in staff costs will also present a
significant portion of the savings. The app was developed by
Service SA in collaboration with Deloitte Online (iPhone
version) and Department of Planning, Transport and
Infrastructure (Android version). The app, according to the SA
government, is a response to the increasing proliferation of
internet services expected by the citizenry. South Australia
experienced a 14 per cent surge in online car registrations in
March 2011 through EzyReg, with online vehicle registration
projected to become the principal mode of vehicle registration
in 2012. Its online shop has also experienced an increase in
traffic.
From http://www.futuregov.asia/ 01/13/2012
TOP↑
Australia at Risk of
White-collar Recession
There are warnings that Australia is on the verge of a
white-collar recession, with thousands of jobs at risk in the
finance sector. Employment in the banking industry had rebounded
after the steep job cuts during the global financial crisis, but
that trend has now reversed. The ANZ Bank is planning to slash
hundred of jobs and the Royal Bank of Scotland is putting its
Australian division up for sale. The managing director of
recruitment firm Carmichael Fisher, Michael Markiewicz, says a bad
year for finance workers last year followed a boom in jobs in 2010.
"If I look at the year before last, it was as big a year as I've
seen in my 30 years in the business," he said. "But then it was
followed by another drop. And I think, I mean, it's obviously too
early to tell what 2012 going to bring, but nobody's talking very
optimistically." And 2012 has certainly started badly for finance
sector workers.
The ANZ is planning hundreds of lay-offs over the first half of the
year, while Westpac last year told investors that it would probably
end this financial year with less staff than it started it. Other
banks have instituted pay or promotions freezes. And the futures of
around 400 Royal Bank of Scotland staff in Australia hang in the
balance as the bank looks for a buyer for most of its local
investment banking arm. The bank's local division is confident of a
sale, but some banking analysts say that confidence is misplaced
given the large number of investment banking assets currently on
sale around the world. Mr Markiewicz says there is not much demand
for staff, but an increase in the number of people on the look-out
for jobs. "Demand is obviously down, significantly down in
investment banking. On the other side, there are a lot of nervous
people who are either out of work or worried they may be out of
work," he said.
Hunting for jobs The Finance Sector Union's secretary Leon Carter
says bank workers who get retrenched are finding it hard to get
another job. "It is not an industry that is employing in large
numbers at the moment," he said. "It is hard for a worker that gets
sacked from one institution to just walk into another job." It is
not surprising that it is hard to find work. Bureau of Statistics
figures show that employment in the finance sector peaked in August,
before falling in the November quarter. At 427,600, finance sector
employment is still higher than a 3.5 year low of 388,000 set in May
2010, but several thousand lower than the previous quarter. But Mr
Markiewicz says it is not all doom and gloom. "Some of the stronger
areas are probably legal, risk, compliance, collections, processes,"
he said. "Business improvement really; areas to drive costs down and
drive efficiency and lessen the amount of risk." But he also says
local workers are facing increased competition from overseas bankers
attracted by salaries that now look much more attractive due to the
rising Australian dollar.
From http://au.finance.yahoo.com/ 01/14/2012
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Australia Fast-tracks
Broadband for Teleworkers
Senator Stephen Conroy, Australian minister for broadband,
communications and the digital economy, has unveiled plans offering
teleworkers access to Australia's AUD $36 billion (US $37.13
billion) national broadband network (NBN). This new service will be
part of "National Telework Week" to kick off in November 2012.
National Telework Week is spearheaded by the Australian Government,
together with wide-ranging organisations, opening up access to
broadband services when staff work from home, or are on the road.
Senator Conroy says this latest initiative, when fully operational,
offers exciting opportunities for employers and employees. "An
increase in telework can lead to benefits across the economy and
community, from big business through to individual workers and
families as well as the environment." Australia currently lags
behind leading nations for telework rates, Senator Conroy says. "For
our next generation of employers and workers, IT connectivity will
need to be seamless to allow work from any location, be it at home,
in the office or at their local café."
The Australian Government plans to double Australia's teleworking
rates by 2010, while offering cost-savings to employers, as well as
productivity gains, increased workforce flexibility, and an expanded
supply of skilled labour. Initial partners in National Telework Week
include the Australian Human Resources Institute, Australian
Industry Group (AIG), Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA),
the Australian Network for Disability and the Local Government
Managers Australia, the Australian Sustainable Built Environment
Council, Infrastructure Australia and the Green Building Council of
Australia. Global information technology and networking companies
will also participate in the National Teleweek Program. Australia's
NBN project seeks to deliver affordable broadband to consumers,
governments and businesses, while supporting federal, state and loca
government agencies' foray into a "digital economy." Key government
services to benefit from this high-speed, fast-access network
include health, education and energy. Australia's broadband reforms
will offer high-speed broadband capabilities to 93% of premises - with connectivity to metropolitan regional, rural and remote areas.
From http://www.futuregov.asia/ 01/16/2012
TOP↑
Australia Should Not Turn
Blind Eye to Growing Divide Between Rich and Poor
Outrage about the widening gap between rich and poor is gripping
much of the developed world, forcing politicians into action. But if
you're one of the highest-earning Australians, there's no need to
fear a policy backlash here. The global tide of fury has largely
passed us by. In the United States, the difference between the haves
and the have-nots is at record highs, with Barack Obama calling
inequality "the defining issue of our time". The British are also
up in arms over how unequal things have become, especially the
soaring pay of top executives, despite a weak economy. Prime
Minister David Cameron is promising measures on executive pay that
go further than the steps taken here, vowing to address "crony
capitalism". Advertisement: Story continues below In Australia,
however, the backlash over inequality has been relatively muted.
Sure, shareholders last year revolted over executive pay at Bonds'
owner Pacific Brands and James Packer's Crown Casino. More than 100
people also "occupied" Martin Place until the New South Wales
police broke it up.
And yet, rising inequality is hardly a political hot potato - our
politicians seem much more worried about refugee arrivals or
interest rates. There are clear reasons for the lack of mainstream
debate in Australia about inequality - especially the fact that our
society is far more equal than the US. However, that doesn't mean
the issue should be ignored and the gap allowed to expand
indefinitely. As US politicians are finding out, countries that turn
a blind eye to rising inequality do so at their peril. Australia has
always thought of itself as egalitarian, but this hasn't stopped
things becoming more unequal in recent decades. A report last month
from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said
the recent rise in Australia's income inequality was among the
fastest in the rich world. The top 10 per cent of income earners
here made nearly 10 times as much as the bottom 10 per cent in 2008,
compared with an eight-to-one ratio in the mid-1990s, the OECD said.
The Occupy Wall Street movement's slogan "We are the 99 per cent"
is designed to highlight the massive income gains among the richest
1 per cent in America. But Australia's own "1 per cent" has also
done very nicely indeed. "The richest 1 per cent of Australians saw
their share of total national income almost double, from 4.8 per
cent in 1980 to 8.8 per cent in 2008. Moreover, that of the richest
0.1 per cent rose from 1 per cent to 3 per cent," the OECD said.
Different rates of wage growth were the biggest reason for the
expanding gap - ballooning executive salaries no doubt played a role
- while our government redistributes less income from rich to poor
than the OECD average. Lower top tax rates, which have fallen from
60¢ in the dollar in 1981 to 45¢ today, also allow the well-off to
keep more of their pay. Overall, the increase has put Australia at
the sharp end of a global trend of rising inequality. Among 22 OECD
members surveyed, we are the seventh most unequal country. We're
still well behind the US and a tad more equal than Britain, but more
unequal than most of Europe and New Zealand.
So if inequality is getting worse around the world, should we be
worried? Most economists agree some inequality is necessary in
capitalism, because it reflects the different market value of people
doing different types of work. So the debate is over whether it
should be allowed to rise constantly. Until recently, many
mainstream economists were unconcerned about expanding inequality,
because poorer people's incomes were still rising, even if not as
fast as the rich. This is especially true of Australia, where
incomes in the bottom 10 per cent rose by about 3 per cent a year
from the early 1980s, compared with 4.6 per cent for the top 10 per
cent. This kind of growth is much healthier than income gains among
the lowest-paid 10 per cent in the US, who eked out annual pay rises
of just 0.5 per cent over the period. Instead of worrying about
incomes becoming more uneven, most economists said what mattered was
equality of opportunity. This is the idea that government should
focus on making sure everyone had a chance of climbing the economic
ladder, regardless of background.
Recently, however, this meritocracy argument has been looking
increasingly hollow - especially in the US. Despite its reputation
as the great land of opportunity, a swag of studies have shown
people have far less chance of moving from poor to rich in the US
than in most other countries. The causes are complex, but basically
come back to the fact that America has become so uneven that
privilege, or disadvantage, are passed on from one generation to the
next. Australia, it must be said, doesn't suffer from these problems
nearly as much as America. A 2010 academic study by Andrew Leigh,
now a Labor MP, found Australian society had more "mobility" than
the US, Britain and Germany. Even so, there are plenty of other
reasons to be concerned about the rich getting an ever-growing share
of the spoils. There's a lively debate, for instance, over whether
extreme inequality sowed the seeds for the US sub-prime crisis
through the incentives rich and poor faced.
At the top end of the scale, it's argued the growing wealth and
influence of the wealthiest prompted bankers and their ilk to
promote now-discredited policies from which they stood to gain, such
as excessive deregulation. Poorer people, on the other hand, may
have taken on more debt than was sensible in a bid to "catch up"
with the rest. On a more global level, a survey for this year's
World Economic Forum said inequality was the world's top economic
risk as it could result in risky, populist policies. These concerns
may seem far-fetched in Australia, where we've been sheltered by 20
years of near-uninterrupted economic growth and high employment. But
the turmoil overseas underlines the risks of turning a blind eye to
inequality.
From http://www.businessday.com.au/ 01/16/2012
TOP↑
Australia's Unemployment
Rate Forecast to Rise in 2012
Australia is expected to have a higher jobless rate in 2012, the
country's major bank ANZ Bank said Monday. The total number of job
advertisements in Australia on the Internet and in newspapers
dropped 0.9 percent in December compared with the previous month,
contributing to a 2.6 percent annual fall, ANZ said. ANZ head of
Australian economics Katie Dean said the figures point to modest
employment gains for the Australian economy over the coming months,
reported Xinhua. "Indeed, the current trend rate of employment
growth is unlikely to be fast enough to absorb the forecast growth
in the labour force in the short term," Dean said. "As a result, ANZ
forecasts the unemployment rate to rise to 5.5 percent by mid-2012."
Dean predicted that the unemployment rate would remain at this
elevated level in 2012, before declining modestly in 2013 as
economic activity starts to rise, in response to strong mining and
infrastructure investment and a possible prolonged period of low
interest rates. The Australian Bureau of Statistics is due to
release official employment figures for the month of December
Thursday.
From http://www.newkerala.com/ 01/16/2012
TOP↑
Global Slowdown to Hit IT
Jobs
Employers can take some cold comfort from the worsening global
financial situation, as recruiters believe it is likely to alleviate
the problem of a crippling IT skills shortage as organisations rein
in some technology projects to keep a lid on expenditure. Recruiters
said it would be a tough 2012 for information technology job seekers
and their salaries as budgets are slashed and workforces trimmed.
According to HRO2 Research director Robert Olivier, the number of
jobs and remuneration rates in IT would struggle to rise in the year
ahead because the sectors that employ them are increasingly under
pressure. "It's not going to be a great market," he said. "The
general tide is that employers are lacking confidence in hiring
across the board and IT gets lost in that crowd. "There's nothing
out there taking the lead in generating significant job creation in
IT."
He conceded the fall in recruitment would help level out the IT
skills shortage and give the power back to employers. "I do think
it's going to rebalance the skills shortage, but in the short term I
think it's going to create a lot of movement and volatility," he
said. "As demand eases, the skills shortage will definitely be
lessened, so it will soften wages and other factors." Robertson
Executive Search partner Paul Rush agreed it was going to be a tough
year for IT workers and that the number of job seekers would rise as
highly qualified candidates were laid off. "It's going to be a tough
year because companies are already beginning to look at cost
controls," Mr Rush said. "The main change in the candidate landscape
will come from the big banks particularly. "We saw Commonwealth Bank
at the back end of last year get rid of all their contractors and
Westpac go through a transformation program."
His comments came as the Finance Sector Union said ANZ had told it
hundreds of jobs were set to go at the bank. The Royal Bank of
Scotland is also set to make hundreds of staff redundant unless a
buyer for its local division can be found. "It's not just going to
be the end customers that are going to be affected," Mr Rush said.
"That will have a knock on effect on system integrators, software
houses and the consulting firms. "So essentially you'll find more
people on the market or sitting on the bench, which will drive rates
of contractors down and take us from a candidate-short market to a
candidate-rich market." Mr Rush also said many employers would be
taking the opportunity to "clean house" at senior levels and
rationalise jobs. But he added that high quality executives with
salaries over $200,000, such as chief information officers and their
directly reporting staff could find themselves in high demand if
they are able to manage the change.
"From a jobs perspective, at the top end of town there'll be some
good opportunities," he said. "The bad news is there'll be more
people fighting for those opportunities and the international
situation hasn't changed, because if you're working at the senior
end of town your ability to capture global talent particularly in
the UK is as good as it's going to be. "But at the senior levels,
salaries will either stay put or go up because you need the best
leaders to go through the process and spending an extra $100,000 on
a CIO and they might save you $2 million." Randstad operations
director for Western Australia Todd Allen painted a more optimistic
picture for IT workers in that state, saying early indications were
that the number of positions available would continue to grow.
"We expect demand for technical IT staff to continue to grow," he
said. "It is due to the resource boom in general and even though
there's a slight dip in base commodity prices, it's counteracted by
what's happening in the oil and gas sector. "So while there's always
well-publicised demand for those with technical resources skill
sets, that also flows through to the back office and IT becomes an
integral part of these organisations." He said the resources sector
often outsourced its IT services at a higher rate than other sectors
in an effort to control costs. "The percentage of their white-collar
workforce that is IT is smaller," he said. "But demand still exists
... and we would expect through the entirety of 2012 for there to be
strong growth in the IT recruitment sector."
From http://afr.com/ 01/16/2012
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Job Ads Fall for First
Time Since 2010
Job advertisements are contracting for the first time in almost
two years despite strong growth in demand for workers in
resource-rich regions, fuelling speculation the unemployment rate is
set to rise. An Australia and New Zealand Banking Group survey shows
the number of positions advertised fell 0.9 per cent in December to
be down 2.6 per cent from a year earlier - the first annual decline
since February 2010. The result comes ahead of the release of
official figures on Thursday expected to show the economy added
10,000 jobs last month, enough to hold the unemployment rate steady
at 5.3 per cent. But ANZ head of Australian economics Katie Dean
predicts the Australian Bureau of Statistics data will show a net
2000 jobs were lost in December, pushing the unemployment rate up to
5.4 per cent. Ms Dean said the fall in job ads was driven by a sharp
1.1 per cent drop in positions advertised on the internet, while the
number of employment ads in newspapers rose 3.5 per cent,
underpinned by a big leap in vacancies in the Northern Territory. Ms
Dean said the rise in newspaper job ads, the second consecutive
monthly increase, "needs to be watched closely, as newspaper job
advertising often leads developments in overall job advertising, and
therefore employment growth". But the ANZ economist cautioned that
there was usually a high degree of volatility in job ads data during
the Christmas period, and results for January and February would be
needed to determine what trends were developing in the labour
market.
From http://afr.com/ 01/16/2012
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IMF: Asia Should Prepare
to Activate Regional Emergency Bailout Fund
WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- Asia should prepare to activate its
regional emergency bailout fund and central bank swap line
agreements in case Europe's debt crisis worsens, the
International Monetary Fund warned Thursday. "Central bank swap
lines and regional reserve pooling arrangements could be further
strengthened and activated to address shortages in particular
currencies," IMF staff economists wrote in a fund blog.
The IMF has been campaigning to strengthen the global financial
safety nets as Europe's sovereign debt crisis threatens to
spiral out of control, potentially engulfing the world in
another financial crisis and recession. Besides seeking to boost
its own war chests, the IMF has sought to strengthen cooperation
with regional financing facilities such as the European
Financial Stability Facility or Asia's Chiang Mai Initiative, a
$120 billion agreement of pooled emergency resources.
The fund said Asia's trade and finance could take a big hit from
a worsening euro crisis, but said regional economies have the
ability to respond aggressively. "Asia's heavy reliance on trade
is likely to make 2012 a difficult year," the economists said.
Also, "Further financial turmoil in the euro zone would likely
have a substantial impact on Asia by reducing access to credit,"
they said. "But if the global economic situation
deteriorates - most notably in the troubled economies of the euro
zone - Asia's policymakers still have the room to respond
aggressively," staff said. The fund is forecasting "relatively
soft demand" for Asian exports, even if Europe's sovereign debt
crisis is resolved before it metastasizes.
The euro zone's problems are already hurting countries such as
China and South Korea. Stock markets have fallen, many
currencies in the region have depreciated, and several countries
are facing a shortage of dollar funding. The IMF says the cost
of insuring several regional banks has soared to levels
previously seen in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
Fund staff say many nations in the region have ample policy
space to respond, however, and some economies have already
started monetary easing. "Fiscal policy consolidation could be
appropriately delayed if external demand were to collapse,
especially where low levels of public debt afford space for
measures," the IMF said. Alternative policies could include
ensuring credit flows by guaranteeing liquidity for banks, such
as the European Central Bank is doing for many of its troubled
institutions.
From http://www.nasdaq.com/ 01/05/2012
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ADB Prices $3 Billion
5-Year Global Bond
MANILA, PHILIPPINES - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) returned
to the US dollar bond market yesterday with the pricing of a $3
billion 5-year global benchmark bond issue. The proceeds of the
Bank's first global bond issue of the year will form part of the
Bank's ordinary capital resources and will be used in its non-concessional
operations. The bonds, which carry a coupon rate of 1.125% per
annum payable semiannually and a maturity date of 15 March 2017,
were priced at 99.866% to yield 1.152%, or 31.1 basis points
over the 0.875% US Treasury notes due December 2016.
"We are exceptionally pleased with the transaction and the
strong interest from investors reflected in an oversubscribed
book of more than $4 billion and over 80 investors," said ADB
Deputy Treasurer, Kazuki Fukunaga. The issue achieved broad
primary distribution with about 52% of the bonds placed in Asia,
29% in Europe, Middle East and Africa, and 19% in the Americas.
By investor type, around 63% were bought by central banks and
official institutions, 20% by fund managers, and 14% by banks.
The rest went to a variety of other types of investors.
The transaction was lead-managed by Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan,
Morgan Stanley, and RBC Capital Markets. A syndicate group was
also formed consisting of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, BNP
Paribas, Credit Suisse, Daiwa, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Jefferies,
Mitsubishi UFJ Securities, Nomura, and UBS. ADB, which carries a
AAA credit rating, plans to raise around $14-16 billion from the
capital markets in 2012. In 2011, it raised just over $14
billion from a combination of global benchmark issues,
opportunistic issues in a variety of global currencies, and
private placements.
From http://beta.adb.org/ 01/11/2012
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RMB Becomes New
International Currency
Hong Kong's Financial Secretary John C Tsang said Monday that
Renminbi (the Chinese yuan) has become a new international
currency. "We are now witnessing the birth of the Renminbi as a
new international currency. In 2011, Renminbi deposits in Hong
Kong almost doubled to around 630 billion RMB (about 100 billion
U.S. dollars)," Tsang said at the cocktail reception of the
fifth Asian Financial Forum opened Monday.
"Total Renminbi trade settlement handled by Hong Kong banks
since its inception in 2009 now exceeds 2 trillion RMB. And the
value of Renminbi bond issuance in Hong Kong last year was three
times that of 2010," he continued. Tsang also noted that Hong
Kong still led the world in IPO funds raised for the third year
in a row, with the total IPO funds raised reaching 36 billion
U.S. dollars. The nature and origin of new listed companies
reflected Hong Kong's concerted efforts to diversify and
internationalize the Hong Kong stock market.
The two-day Asian Financial Forum, which brought together some
2,000 influential financial players and business leaders from
around the world, opened Monday to explore the growing
opportunities in Asia. The forum, co-organized by the Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region Government and the Hong Kong Trade
Development Council, focuses on the global economic outlook and
Asia's contribution to sustainable growth. Participants discuss
the issues concerning the European debt crisis and the shift of
economic gravity from the West to the East. (1 U.S. dollars
equals 6.3 RMB).
From http://english.cri.cn/ 01/16/2012
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JAPAN: Gov't Finalizes
Draft Proposal for Tax Reform, But Uphill Battle Looms
TOKYO - The government and ruling Democratic party of Japan (DPJ)
on Friday completed its draft proposal for tax and social
security reform, including the contentious consumption tax hike.
However, the government faces an uphill battle getting the
proposal anywhere near a vote in Diet. All the major opposition
parties have already refused to take part in cross-party talks
on the issue. Furthermore, Noda has run into opposition to the
proposed tax hike from within his own party, including former
DPJ chief Ichiro Ozawa.
The main bone of contention is the government's plan to raise
the consumption tax in two stages - from the current 5% to 8% in
April 2014, and then to 10% in October 2015. The tax hike is
meant to help fund Tohoku reconstruction efforts and pay for
spiraling social security costs. Noda on Friday once again
called on the opposition parties to come to the negotiating
table. He said he would like talks to start preferably next week
with the aim of submitting a bill to the Diet in March. "There
is always room to reach a consensus," he said. But opposition
Liberal Democratic Party leader Sadakazu Tanigaki said his party
cannot approve any hike in the consumption tax and repeated his
call for the prime minister to dissolve the lower house and seek
mandate from the people.
From Japan Today 01/16/2012
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Pension Cuts Coming
The government plans to reduce public pensions over three years
starting in fiscal 2012, saying that it has overpaid by 2.5 percent.
The overpayment has resulted from the Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito
government's decision.
Public pensions are supposed to decrease in accordance with falls in
the price index. Although the index fell from fiscal 2000 to fiscal
2002, the LDP-Komeito government enacted a special law to stop the
public pension reductions, insisting that the reductions would
greatly affect people's lives. The special law was aimed at currying
voters' favor.
The Democratic Party of Japan government says that because current
pensions are paid out of premiums paid by the current working
population, overpayment is unfair to them. Legalistically this
argument is correct. But the DPJ has to be careful because pension
reductions will not only cause difficulties to low-income pensioners
but also reduce overall consumer spending, thus negatively impacting
the economy.
According to the health and welfare ministry, the LDP-Komeito
government's decision has resulted in overpayment of ¥7 trillion.
The DPJ government plans to submit a bill to the Diet to stop the
special measure introduced by the LDP-Komeito government. To
eliminate the 2.5 percent overpayment, the government plans to
decrease public pensions 0.9 percent in the last half of fiscal 2012
(from October 2012 to March 2013) and 0.8 percent, respectively, in
fiscal 2013 and 2014. But the story does not stop here.
Because the price index fell in 2011, public pensions will start to
be cut about 0.3 percent in April 2012. Thus the reduction margin
for public pensions will amount to about 1.2 percent in and after
October 2012. The 1.2 percent reduction translates into a drop of
about ¥800 monthly for a person receiving the full basic pension of
monthly ¥66,000 and a fall of about ¥2,800 for a couple receiving
standard kosei nenkin pension of monthly ¥230,000 for retired
corporate workers.
Since nursing care insurance premiums will be raised in fiscal 2012,
the pension reductions will be a fairly strong financial blow to
low-income pensioners. The reductions will also apply to victims of
the March 11 triple disaster. If the government just goes ahead with
its plan without sufficient explanations and special measures for
low-income pensioners, people's trust in the pension system could
crumble.
From http://www.japantimes.co.jp/ 01/11/2012
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Japan's Current Account
Surplus Down 85.5% in November
Japan's current account surplus fell 85.5% in November as the
nation ran a trade deficit due to higher energy costs, government
data showed Thursday. The surplus in the current account, the
broadest measure of its trade with the rest of the world, was down
year-on-year for the ninth straight month since the March earthquake
and tsunami disasters.
The surplus for November stood at 138.5 billion yen, with the trade
deficit reaching 585.1 billion yen against a surplus of 256.2
billion yen a year earlier, according to data from the finance
ministry. The fall was bigger than the 74% drop expected by
economists surveyed by Dow Jones and the Nikkei.
Japan has fallen into a trade deficit due to higher prices of fuel
as well as a slowdown in global demand and a strong yen, which has
further hampered exports. The current account measures trade in
goods, services, tourism and investment.
From http://www.japantoday.com/ 01/12/2012
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SOUTH KOREA: Parliament
Passes Next Year's Government Budget
SEOUL (Yonhap) - Racing against the deadline that could have
forced the government to run on an emergency spending plan, the
Parliament passed next year's government budget Saturday as the
country's main opposition party refused to attend a voting on a
budget proposal. The one-house National Assembly approved the
government's budget proposal for next year, scaled at 325.4 trillion
won (US$282.6 billion), with 171 votes in favor and two votes
against, out of 178 lawmakers who cast votes. The passage was
railroaded by the ruling Grand National Party as the main opposition
Democratic Unity Party went out of the voting in protest against the
ruling party's refusal to accept calls for a parliamentary probe
into the sale of Korea Exchange Bank by U.S. private fund Lone Star.
From http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/
12/31/2011
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Gov't Spending on
Inter-Korean Projects Lowest Since 2000: Ministry
SEOUL (Yonhap) - South Korea's government last year executed the
smallest amount of its inter-Korean cooperation fund in a decade,
officials said Sunday, in another reflection of frayed relations
with the communist North Korea. The Unification Ministry, in charge
of North Korean affairs, spent 42.6 billion won (US$36.6 million),
or 4.2 percent of the 1.1 trillion won fund designated as
"South-North Cooperation Fund," the ministry officials said.
From http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/
01/08/2012
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Financial Crimes on Rise
in Korea
The number of serious crimes in South Korea's financial sector
increased last year, data showed Monday, raising the need to bolster
countermeasures to prevent investment losses. Of the 209 cases
probed for unfair trade practices in 2011, 72.7 percent were
referred to the state prosecutors' office for criminal
investigation, according to data by the Financial Supervisory
Service. The number represents a gain from 63.3 percent in 2007.
The increase was largely led by sharp gains in unfair trading
involving company executives and major shareholders. A total of 25
cases were due to false information dispersion and inaccurate
regulatory filings made by company executives and large
shareholders, FSS said. Other irregularities involved stock price
manipulation and usage of undisclosed information.
Market watchers attributed the increase to generally lax punishment
policies. "The level of punishment for unfair trade practices is
quite light in South Korea compared with other countries," said a
former FSS executive. "Even if a case is sent to state prosecutors,
punishment is usually limited in social volunteer services or
suspended sentences." An FSS official said the watchdog plans to
tighten supervision as many of the unfair trade practices could lead
to losses for retail investors.
From Yonhap News 01/09/2012
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South Korea Sets W10
Trillion Defense Projects in Motion
The government has set in motion three large defense contract
projects with a combined value of more than 10.6 trillion won ($9.1
billion). On Friday the Defense Acquisition Program Administration,
or DAPA announced the acquisition plans for the AH-X project and the
maritime operations helicopter project. In addition, the DAPA plans
to make the announcement for the third part of the F-X project late
next week.
The deadline for the bids for the two helicopter projects are May
10. All three projects will be concluded in October with the
military making the final selection in that month. The projects are
going ahead on schedule despite worries from various parts of the
government including the National Assembly that there may be
insufficient time. Last year, the National Assembly's National
Defense Committee had expressed concerns for the time frame in which
the projects are being conducted saying that plans to make the
selections by October 2012 "lacked practicality."
The DAPA, however, is of the position that the plans will be carried
out much difficulty as they have been in place for sometime,
allowing the authorities to complete all necessary preparations. Of
the three, the third stage of the F-X project will take up bulk of
the budget. With a budget of about 8.3 trillion won, the project
that will see incorporation of 60 new fighter jets into Korea's Air
Force, is the largest ever single weapons procurement project
conducted by Korea. In this final stage of the F-X project, 60 new
fighter jets will be purchased.
The candidates are Boeing's F-15 Silent Eagle, Lockheed Martin's
F-35 and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co.'s Eurofighter
Typhoon. Through the AH-X program, the Korean military plans to
acquire heavy attack helicopters for the Army, while the maritime
operations helicopter project will see the acquisition of
helicopters for anti-ship and anti-submarine operations. The army
and navy helicopter procurement projects are respectively valued at
1.8 trillion won and 550 billion won.
Possible candidates for the AH-X project include the Boeing AH-64D
Apache Longbow, Eurocopter Tiger, the AH-1 SuperCobra manufactured
by the U.S.' Bell Helicopter and the T-129 produced as a
Italy-Turkey joint projects. The government will acquire 36 of the
selected model. The maritime operations helicopter project will
select helicopters that will be deployed on the Navy's new frigates.
The Navy is currently conducting a frigate-upgrading project in
which 18 new frigates will be incorporated into its fleet by 2018.
The government plans to buy eight maritime operations helicopters
from foreign manufactures and the source of the remaining 10 will be
decided at a later date. (By Choi He-suk)
From http://www.koreaherald.com/ 01/09/2012
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MONGOLIA: Certificates
Given to Most Generous Enterprisers
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia /MONTSAME/ Certificates of honor have been
granted to enterprisers that collected the biggest amount of money
in the Human Development Fund (HDF) through which people receive
benefits derived from the mineral resources. The certificates were
handed on Wednesday by S. Batbold PM and S. Bayartsogt, the Minister
of Finance.
The Premier highlighted this significant contribution of the
companies to the equal distribution of mineral resources' benefits
to people, and thanked them on behalf of the cabinet. The Erdenet
Mining Corporation have collected the largest amount of
capital - 365.3 billion togrogs in the HDF and in the Stability Fund
both, the "Erdenes MGL" and the "Erdenes TT" companies have
collected 338.2 billion togrogs each. (By B.Khuder)
From http://www.montsame.mn/ 01/11/2012
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PHILIPPINES: ADB Provides
$3 Million Grant to Assist Philippines in Storm Relief
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide a $3 million
grant to support emergency relief efforts in the aftermath of
tropical storm Sendong, also known internationally as Washi,
which recently struck the southern Philippines. ADB assistance
will be channeled through the Government of the Philippines to
provide clean water, health services, medical supplies and other
essential emergency items to the affected households. "As a
development partner of the Philippines, we are extending
immediate help to poor families that have borne disproportionate
impact of the disaster during this festive season," said Neeraj
Jain, ADB's Country Director for the Philippines. ADB has also
assured the Government of the Philippines of its continued
support during the subsequent reconstruction and rehabilitation
efforts, including effective early warning systems and measures
that would reduce the risk of future disasters. The $3 million
grant is being provided under ADB's emergency facility, the Asia
Pacific Disaster Response Fund, which provides quick-disbursing
grants to help restore essential life-saving services following
major natural disasters.
From http://beta.adb.org/ 12/22/2011
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SINGAPORE: 2012 Budget
Statement on 17 Feb
February 17, which is a Friday, will be Budget Day. The Ministry
of Finance said on Thursday that the 2012 Budget Statement will be
delivered by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Tharman
Shanmugaratnam in Parliament. It said a live webcast of the delivery
will be available at the Singapore Budget website. This webcast is
also supported on iPhones and iPads. The Budget Statement will be
uploaded progressively on the Singapore Budget website as the speech
is being delivered. To receive the Budget Statement via email after
it has been delivered, the public can visit the Singapore Budget
website to subscribe to the Budget Statement mailing list. This free
service will be available for subscription from 26 January till 16
February. The pre-Budget 2012 Feedback Exercise, launched on 1
December 2011, will close on 5 February. After the 2012 Budget
Statement, the public can submit their views on the Budget
initiatives introduced in the Budget Statement through these
feedback channels:
- REACH Budget micro website
- REACH Singapore Twitter
- MOF Singapore Twitter
- SMS to 9-SPEAK-UP (9-77325-87)
- REACH Singapore Facebook
- MOF Singapore Facebook
- Email (reach@reach.gov.sg)
- Toll-Free Hotline at 1800 3535555
From http://www.channelnewsasia.com/ 01/12/2012
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THAILAND: 2011 Inflation
Rises to 3.81%
The average inflation rate for 2011 has risen to 3.81 per cent,
up from 3.3 per cent the previous year, permanent secretary for
commerce Yanyong Puanmgrat said on Thursday. Consumer price index
(CPI) for December 2011, stood at 112.77, an increase of 3.53 per
cent on the same month in 2010 but down 0.48 per cent from the
previous month. Most analysts projected inflation for last month at
four per cent, said Mr Yanyong. December core CPI, which excludes
food and energy, rose 2.66 per cent on the previous year and up 0.11
per cent from November to 106.98. Average core CPI for 2011 was 2.36
per cent, he added. CPI for food and beverages in December stood at
135.77, up 9.09 per cent year on year, but down 1.20 per cent on
November. CPI of other products, excluding food and beverages, rose
from the same month the previous year by 0.17 per cent to stand at
99.55, said the permanent secretary. Mr Yanyong said inflation in
December declined from November because the floodwaters had receded,
reducing prices of consumer goods, particularly fresh food such as
vegetables and eggs. He projected inflation for 2012 at between 3.3
per cent and 3.8 per cent.
From http://www.bangkokpost.com/ 01/05/2012
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House Passes 2012 Budget
Bill
The House of Representatives has passed the 2.38 trillion baht
2012 Budget Bill in the third reading with a vote of 272 to 3 with
155 abstentions after three days of debate. The meeting was
adjourned at 1.35am on Saturday after the voting. Prime Minister
Yingluck Shinawatra thanked members of the House for their
cooperation and promised to effectiveness and transparency of budget
spending. The bill will now go to the Senate for further
deliberation.
From http://www.bangkokpost.com/ 01/07/2012
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Cabinet Okays B2.27
Trillion in Spending
Infrastructure, flood rehab work is priority
The cabinet yesterday approved a massive 2.27 trillion baht spending
plan, mostly for infrastructure projects over the next five years.
The projects, which would be launched starting this year through to
2016, include new inter-city road links, high-speed train networks,
urban mass transit systems, as well as marine, air transport and
telecommunication development. The cabinet also endorsed four
executive decrees to enable it to borrow 400 billion baht to pay for
water management projects and an insurance fund to restore investors
confidence.
The approved decrees are:
- An executive decree to transfer the interest-payment burden on a
1.14-trillion-baht debt left over from the 1997 crisis from the
Finance Ministry to the Financial Institutions Development Fund (FIDF),
an institution set up under the Bank of Thailand to manage the bank
crises.
- An executive decree to seek 350 billion baht in loans for water
management projects and flood restoration and rehabilitation work.
- An executive decree to set up a 50-billion-baht fund to offer
flood insurance to the business sector.
- An executive decree to amend central bank regulations to extend
300 billion baht in soft loans to financial institutions.
The endorsements are aimed at clearing the way for the government to
borrow funds for water management projects and restore confidence in
the country, said Council of State secretary-general Atchaporn
Jaruchinda. Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong said that
under the debt-transfer decree, the FIDF would be authorised to
collect fees of up to 1% of the deposit base from local banks to
generate cash to make interest payments on the debt. However, Mr
Kittiratt said the fees would not be more than the 0.4% fee
currently collected by Deposit Protection Agency (DPA). Finance
Minister Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala said the new fees would not
affect local banks because they would benefit from a government
policy that will cut the corporate tax rate to 23% from 30%. The
central bank is likely to earn about 20 billion baht from its
currency management activities this year.
Mr Kittiratt said the government expected to sell 400 billion baht
in bonds before June 2013 to raise funds for long term water
management projects - 350 billion baht for water management and 50
billion baht for an insurance fund to help restore confidence among
insurance companies so they will continue selling policies to
industrial firms in flood-prone areas. Of the 350 billion baht
investment, 300 billion baht will be used for water management
projects along the Chao Phraya river basin, 40 billion baht will be
slated for projects on 17 related river basins, and 10 billion baht
will be used for related infrastructure. Details of the long-term
projects will be presented to investors on Jan 14. Mr Kittiratt also
said that of 17 billion baht in short-term flood prevention plans,
about 12.6 billion will be implemented this year and the rest next
year. He reiterated that borrowing 400 billion will not affect to
the country's fiscal discipline. The national debt was 4.27 trillion
baht as of Sept 30, 2011, the end of the last fiscal year,
accounting for 40.2 % of gross domestic product. Adding 400 billion
baht in debt is projected to increase the public debt to 43% of GDP.
Mr Kittiratt said the transfer of the debt to the FIDF would help
ease the government's fiscal burden.
From http://pattayatoday.net/ 01/11/2012
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BANGLADESH: ADB to Provide
$ 300mn Loan for Power Sector, Agreement Signed
Dhaka (UNB) - The Asian Development Bank will provide $ 300
million loan to Bangladesh to help address its critical power
shortages which are affecting the economy and slowing down
poverty reduction efforts. Economic Relations Division (ERD)
Secretary Iqbal Mahmood and ADB country director Thevakumar
Kandiah on Wednesday signed a loan agreement to this effect on
behalf of the government and the ADB respectively at the ERD
conference room. The ADB loan will be available for the 'Power
System Efficiency Improvement Project' which will help meet
Bangladesh's urgent need for more energy-efficient generating
plants and greater use of renewable power sources. Bangladesh
Power Development Board (BPDB) and Ashuganj Power Station
Company Ltd (APSCL) will be the implementing agency of the
project to be completed by December 2017.
The total cost of the project is estimated at $ 581.18 million
where ADB will provide $ 300 million as OCR loan to Bangladesh.
The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) earlier pledged to provide $
200 million while the rest of the amount will be borne by the
government. The rate of interest of the ADB OCR loan is LIBOR
based and a maturity of 25 years with a grace period of five
years. The main objective of the project is to increase access
to reliable and energy efficient supply of electricity through
enhanced electricity generation capacity. Under the project,
there will be replacement of old steam and gas turbine plants
with a total capacity of 260 MW at Ashuganj Power Station with
an efficient combined cycle power plant of 450 MW capacity.
Besides, there will be installation of 5 MW solar photovoltaic
(PV) based grid-connected power generation plant at Kaptai
Hydropower plant site, installation of an off-grid wind solar
hybrid system with a diesel generator in Hatiya Island (1MW
solar PV, 1 MW wind and 5.5 MW diesel), installation (and
retrofitting) 1000 km of street-lighting based on solar PV and
light emitting diode based technology, in six cities across the
country.
The cities are Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi and
Sylhet. After signing the agreement, ERD Secretary Iqbal Mahmood
said once the project is completed, it would harness the
country's ongoing development in the power sector. "Energy
shortage is the most critical infrastructure constraint on
Bangladesh's economic growth," said ADB country director
Thevakumar Kandiah. He said the project initiatives would help
Bangladesh cut carbon dioxide emissions by hundreds of thousands
of tonnes a year making the project eligible for carbon
financing under the clean development mechanism. Besides, it
also incorporates a gender action plan, funded by an ADB
technical assistant grant of $ 350,000 that will ensure women
are able to benefit equally from energy-related employment and
livelihood opportunities.
From http://www.unbconnect.com/ 01/04/2012
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INDIA: IFC Supports
Microfinance
International Finance Corporation is launching microfinance
institution Utkarsh in the low-income states of Uttar Pradesh and
Bihar, to increase access to finance and microfinance services in
relatively under-served areas. New Delhi: IFC, a member of the World
Bank Group, is helping start-up microfinance institution Utkarsh to
grow its operations, primarily in the low-income states of Uttar
Pradesh and Bihar, to increase access to finance and microfinance
services in relatively under-served areas. Indian microfinance
institutions have grown in recent years, but have had limited reach
in the northern and eastern parts of the country. The range of
products also tends to be limited to simple credit offerings. With
IFC's support, Utkarsh is working to diversify its products, develop
sound internal systems and processes, and introduce a system of
social audit. The company aims to reach an estimated 250,000 women
borrowers by June 2013. "We work intensively in the low-income
states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which are high priority areas for
the government of India," said Govind Singh, Managing Director and
CEO, Utkarsh Micro Finance Private Limited. "With IFC's support we
expect to expand significantly into areas where the need for
microfinance is highest."
The project initially will focus on Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, India's
most populous states. IFC supported Utkarsh in its start-up phase by
providing both investment and advisory services. IFC initiated work
in responsible finance to support long-term sustainable growth of
the Indian microfinance sector, and to refocus its efforts towards a
customer-centered approach. "We are helping Utkarsh strengthen
internal systems and develop operational tools that can help them
reach more clients in a sustainable manner," said Jennifer Isern,
who leads IFC's Access to Finance work in South Asia. "This project
also aligns with our strategy of supporting growth and expansion to
provide access to financial services among India's low-income
segment." Utkarsh Micro Finance Private Limited is an Indian non
banking finance company headquartered in Varanasi, in the state of
Uttar Pradesh. It provides financial and non financial services to
unbanked and under-served low income communities in need of
financing. In spite of the difficulty faced by the microfinance
sector in India, Utkarsh has registered constant growth and
attracted new investments.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group is the largest global
development institution focused exclusively on the private sector.
We help developing countries achieve sustainable growth by financing
investment, providing advisory services to businesses and
governments, and mobilising capital in the international financial
markets. In fiscal 2011, amid economic uncertainty across the globe,
we helped our clients create jobs, strengthen environmental
performance, and contribute to their local communities - all while
driving our investments to an all-time high of nearly $19 billion.
From http://southasia.oneworld.net/ 12/28/2011
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Government Notifies Its
Decision to Allow 100% FDI in Single-brand Retail
NEW DELHI: The government has formally notified its decision to
allow 100% foreign direct investment in single-brand retail, but its
decision to stick to a key local sourcing clause has ensured the
reaction the reform has elicited is more cautious than celebratory.
The notification, which signals the government's intent to push
ahead with reforms and brightens hopes it will resurrect plans to
allow 51% foreign ownership in multi-brand retail soon, will finally
allow global brands such as Marks & Spencer, Burberry and Louis
Vuitton to convert their 51%-owned Indian operations into
fully-owned ones. But the guidelines do not have the promised
exemption in the clause that makes 30% local sourcing mandatory and
some firms, especially luxury goods makers, say this could be a
major deterrent in scaling up operations. Commerce and Industry
Minister Anand Sharma had held out hope last year of a likely
exemption in the local sourcing clause.
But the final rules, framed by the Department of Industrial Policy
and Promotion (DIPP) and notified on Tuesday, state that
single-brand retailers setting up ventures with more than 51% stake
will have to source 'at least 30% of the value of products sold from
Indian small industries/village and cottage industries, artisans and
craftsmen'. "Brands will find it difficult to justify sourcing of
30% worth of goods sold from Indian SMEs," said Abhay Gupta,
executive director at Blues Clothing that represents brands such as
Versace, Corneliani, Cadini and John Smedley in India. Small
industries are defined as those with investments of $1 million ( 5.2
crore) in plant and machinery, a limit experts say is too low to
achieve quality levels desired by big brands. Others said the
sourcing clause would dilute their brand appeal and even compromise
intellectual property rights because they would be forced to work
with multiple small vendors. However, government officials said
these concerns were overblown. "No such issues cropped up during our
stakeholder meetings. Let these brands enter the country first, and
if they have some genuine problems, we will tackle them then," said
DIPP Secretary PK Chaudhery. The 51% limit on foreign direct
investment had discouraged many global brands from investing in
India. FDI inflows into single-brand retail during the past
three-and-a-half years stood at a paltry 196 crore.
From http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/
01/11/2012
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Microfinance Institutions
Clamour for More Bank Loans
KOLKATA: Country's leading microfinance players including Bandhan,
Basix and Ujjivan have requested banks to enhance the credit flow to
them as they have streamlined their operation following Reserve Bank
of India guidelines. These microfinance institutions or MFIs under
the banner of their umbrella organisation MFIN held a meeting with
bank officials on Wednesday and sensitised bankers on their improved
activity. ""Although a few banks have opened the loan tap, most MFIs
have not been able to get funding. Small and medium sized ones face
difficulties in getting bank loans,"" Ujjivan Financial Services
chief executive Samit Ghosh told ET over telephone after the meeting
in Mumbai. State Bank of India and Small Industries Development Bank
of India officials were present at the meeting. The private sector
was represented by HDFC Bank, RBS, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra
Bank, an MFI official said. ""Private sector banks need to step up
the size of their priority sector advances and lending to MFIs is an
easy way out for them at this juncture. That's perhaps why they have
all come in droves to attend the meeting,"" a senior official with a
public sector bank said.
From http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/
01/11/2012
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SRI LANKA: To Get More
World Bank Help for ICT
(LBO) - Sri Lanka will get more support from the World Bank to
boost the use of information technology and increase access to state
services online for business and people, a government minister said.
Information minister Keheliya Rambukwelle said the cabinet of
ministers had approved the borrowing of 11 million dollars to extend
the island's E-Sri Lanka development project. An existing 53 million
dollar financing is to end on December 31. The new programme will
end on June 2013 and will be implemented by the state ICT Agency.
Sri Lanka will get additional funds from the World Bank's
concessionary International Development Association window. The
25-year credit will have a 5-year grace period and an interest rate
of 1.25 percent a year. The loan will also have a 0.5 percent
commitment charge on the undisbursed balance and a service charge of
0.75 percent on the disbursed amount.
From http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/
12/22/2011
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NEPAL: Govt Slashes
Revenue Target by Rs. 4 B
The government has revised its revenue target to around Rs. 109
billion, reducing some Rs. 4 billion against the target of Rs.
112.93 billion by the end of the first half of the current fiscal
year. Though the government has targeted to increase the revenue
mobilisation by 20 percent compared to the last fiscal year, the
revenue collection has not seen positive growth as per the
expectation for the first five months of the current fiscal year.
The government has failed to meet the target of Rs. 84.76 billion.
It has collected only Rs. 77.69 billion in the first five months.
However, the Finance Ministry is optimistic to increase the revenue
target by 20 percent, said joint secretary at the Ministry Shanta
Raj Subedi adding that non-tax revenue is affecting the target. The
Ministry also informed that it will receive Rs. 2 billion each from
Nepal Telecom and Nepal Rastra Bank, Rs. 500 million from Nepal
Electricity Authority, Rs. 190 million from Civil Aviation
Authority, Rs. 20 million each from Udayapur Cement and Hetauda
Cement, among others, which would help meet the reduced target. The
government has also directed Nepal Rastra Bank and including other
commercial banks - Rastriya Banijya Bank, Nepal Bank, Everest and
Nepal Bangladesh Bank that who are involved in revenue collection of
the government to remain open even on Saturday to ease the revenue
transactions.
From http://www.nepalnews.com/ 01/10/2012
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PAKISTAN: Govt Allocated
Rs.12m for Tourism Industry
MIRPUR: A master plan has been evolved by the Azad Jammu Kashmir
government for the promotion of tourism industry in the region. The
official sources told APP that the government has allocated the
development funds of about Rs. 12 million for launching various
projects for the uplift of tourism. The plan also includes
construction and renovation of about 42 state-run rest houses meant
for tourists at various places in the liberated territory. The
sources said the state government has started rapid implementation
of the master plan in order to attract maximum local and foreign
investment in the tourism sector where most conducive atmosphere
coupled with huge natural resources and scenic terrain was available
for the purpose. The AJK government, the sources continued, has
decided in principal to give tourism the status of industry for the
speedy development and uplift of the tourism sector besides to
overcome the unemployment through creation of job opportunities in
this sector. At the first phase, the government has decided to
construct tourist resorts at various picturesque top mountainous
areas including at Tatta Pani and Joli Peer areas.
From http://www.brecorder.com/ 01/09/2012
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AZERBAIJAN: European
Commission to Promote Public Finance Policy and Management
The European Commission published a 500,000 euros call for
proposals under the Neighbourhood Civil Society Facility for
actions in the public finance policy and management (PFPM)
sector in Azerbaijan, ENPI Info Center reported. Grants
requested under the call should fall between a minimum of
€50,000 and a maximum of €250,000. The planned duration of an
action may not be lower than 18 months nor exceed 36 months. The
global objective of this Call for Proposals is to strengthen and
promote civil society organizations' role in reforms and
democratic changes taking place in Azerbaijan, through increased
participation in the fulfilment of Neighbourhood Policy
objectives. The specific objectives of the Call for Proposals
include increase of non-state actors' involvement in support of
programming, implementation and monitoring of policies in
Azerbaijan, the promotion of involvement of non-state actors in
policy dialogue, research and evidence-based advocacy, as well
as increase interaction between non-state actors and authorities
at the national level so as to contribute to improving
transparency and quality of public finance policy and
management. Among the objectives is the increase the role of
non-state actors in supporting oversight functions in the area
of public finance policy and management; the improvement of
public understanding and participation in the budget process to
increase public role in decision-making and improve
effectiveness of public expenditures.
From http://en.trend.az/ 01/06/2012
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Azerbaijan Records Cut in
Tax Arrears
Azerbaijan has started to use advanced practices of informing
taxpayers who have tax arrears to ensure their payment, the
Azerbaijani Ministry of Taxes reported today. "As experience of
informing taxpayers, having arrears, of a number of developed
countries such as Australia, Canada, U.S. and Ireland,shows, joint
study of their arrears by tax bodies officers and taxpayers to
encourage volunteer payment without taking measures of compulsion,
i.e. practice of face-to-face meetings, is widely used," the
statement says. According to the information, Azerbaijan started to
introduce this system from August, 2010. It aims at informing
taxpayers on measures which will be taken by the tax bodies in case
of non-payment of arrears. "Meetings were held from August, 2010 and
25,289 tax payers were informed. As a result of these measures 79.9
per cent of them paid off voluntarily their arrears at total amount
of 19 million manat," the statement says. Also as a result of
granting powers to bodies on recovering tax arrears on conducting
operative control, as well as improvement of organization of
inventory, organization of joint work with law enforcement officers,
decrease of the total amount of arrears by 19.7 per cent compared to
Jan., 2011 was ensured.
From http://www.today.az/ 01/11/2012
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GEORGIA: Government to
Issue 10-year Securities in 2012
The Georgian government will issue 10-year securities in 2012,
the country's Finance Minister Dmitry Gvindadze told journalists on
Friday. He said 2011 was successful and efficient for Georgia. Mr
Gvindadze said the main priority in 2012 will be further development
of the securities market. "By 2012, the residue of securities will
have amounted to 520 million lari ($1 = 1.67 lari), and the total
issue based on net issue is about 100 million lari, which is very
important for developing the banking and private sector. It is also
important that if two years ago we began to issue six month
securities, then from of 2012 we will begin issuing 10-year
securities. And that means that the private sector's confidence in
the national currency is increasing," Mr Gvindadze said.
From http://en.trend.az/ 01/02/2012
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TAJIKISTAN: IMF Plans to
Implement New Program on Tajikistan's Support
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will provide Tajikistan
with financial support within the organization's new program, which
will begin in April, 2012, Asia-Plus reported on Wednesday. The IMF
held negotiations with Tajikistan's government on the new program,
during which, the government expressed its interest in getting
further support of the fund. The exact types and terms of the IMF's
support to Tajikistan are expected to be discussed in February. The
IMF is now implementing a program of loan extension for low-income
countries, one of which is Tajikistan. The total amount of money,
including that allocated within the program of loan extension,
granted by IMF to Tajikistan is $140.9 million. The IMF plans to
introduce its new forecast concerning economic situation in
Tajikistan in February.
From http://en.trend.az/ 01/11/2012
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AUSTRALIA: Home-loan
Approvals Gain in November on Interest Rate Reduction
Australian home-loan approvals rose in November for an eighth
straight month as the central bank's first interest-rate
reduction in two years helped attract first- time buyers. The
number of loans granted to build or buy houses and apartments
gained 1.4 percent, the most since May, after a revised 0.8
percent advance in October, the statistics bureau said in Sydney
today. The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 19
economists was for a 1 percent increase in approvals. Reserve
Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens lowered the benchmark
rate by a quarter percentage point on Nov. 1 and Dec. 6 as
Europe's debt crisis dimmed prospects for global growth. The
first rate cuts since 2009 were aimed at buttressing the housing
market, supporting employment and boosting confidence among
consumers who are saving more. "This is a decent set of numbers
overall and shows the rebound in lending that we've seen since
March 2011 continues," said Adam Carr, a senior economist in
Sydney at ICAP Australia Ltd., a unit of the world's biggest
interdealer broker. "The recent cuts made by the RBA should see
this recovery strengthen."
Currency Reaction
The Australian dollar was little changed after the data, trading
at $1.0262 at 12:06 p.m. in Sydney from $1.0267 before the
report. Traders are betting Stevens is likely to lower borrowing
costs again at the central bank's next meeting in February,
interbank cash-rate futures showed. First-home buyers accounted
for 20 percent of dwellings financed in November, up from 19.1
percent in October and higher than 16.7 percent a year earlier,
the report showed today. Stevens lowered the overnight cash rate
target to 4.25 percent from 4.5 percent on Dec. 6, citing
"considerable turbulence" in financial markets and an increased
chance of a "further material slowing in global growth." The
nation's four largest banks - Commonwealth Bank of Australia,
Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., Westpac Banking
Corp. (WBC) and National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB) - reduced
home- loan rates for customers after both RBA moves. The data
showed the total value of loans rose 2.1 percent to A$20.3
billion ($20.8 billion) in November. The value of lending to
owner-occupiers gained 2.2 percent, the report showed. The value
of loans to investors who plan to rent or resell homes advanced
1.8 percent. The RBA said in a quarterly statement on Nov. 4
laying out its economic growth and inflation forecasts that
Australia's housing market "remains weak." "The stock of unsold
homes has not declined significantly and housing construction
activity continues to be at very low levels," the central bank
said in the statement on monetary policy. "Population growth is,
however, gradually reducing the underlying surplus of houses and
there are some signs that house prices have stabilized,
particularly in those areas that were less affected by
overbuilding in the mid-2000s."
From http://www.bloomberg.com/ 01/16/2012
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COOK ISLANDS: Establishing
Fund for Disaster Emergencies
The Cook Islands government has set up a disaster emergency trust
fund. The trust has been set up following the cyclone which
devastated Aitutaki in February last year. Prime Minister Henry Puna
says, at the time of the cyclone, government ministries couldn't
front up with money - partly because of the rules governing the
expenditure of public funds. He says the trust fund gets around that
problem. Finance Minister Mark Brown says the fund is for the
government's initial response to emergency situations. It is to
allow government to make sure essential services such as power are
re-started as soon as possible, and key areas such as airports and
ports are cleared to assist in any recovery.
From http://www.rnzi.com/ 12/29/2011
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NEW ZEALAND: Government's
Investment Units Shed $2.1 Bln in 3Q During Global Slump in Stock
Markets
(BusinessDesk) - The New Zealand government's funds under
management shrank by $2.1 billion in the third quarter of last year
when slumping international equity markets sapped returns from the
Crown Financial Institutions (CFIs). The government's return from
the investment units was minus 4.7 percent in the three months ended
Sept. 30, short of the 1.5 percent growth objective, though better
than the minus 4.9 percent passive benchmark it targets, according
to the Crown Ownership Monitoring Unit's quarterly report published
on its website today. Total funds under management fell to $41.02
billion from $43.99 billion in a period when stocks around the world
plunged as US policymakers struggled to extend its Federal
government debt ceiling and America's credit rating was downgraded
by Standard & Poor's.
The New Zealand Superannuation Fund and Accident Compensation Corp's
investment unit made up 82 percent of the total portfolio at the end
of the quarter, down from 94 percent at the end of June. That
doesn't include another $1.89 billion of funds managed by the
National Provident Fund which isn't included in the government's
balance sheet. A rebalancing of the Super Fund's assets into growth
investments such as international stocks "helped the Crown to
recapture some of the value lost during the crisis (in 2008)," the
report said. Still, that exposes "the CFI portfolio to short-term
market volatility." ACC bucked the trend, returning 0.8 percent in
the quarter after outperforming in Australian and global equities.
Funds under management closed at $17.2 billion as at Sept. 30 from
$16.6 billion. Since its inception in 2001, the fund has made annual
returns of 9 percent, beating its 7.9 percent target.
The CFIs aggregate return over the past five years was an annual 4
percent, short of the 7.2 percent target, but beating the 3.3
percent passive benchmark it watches. Funds under management have
increased by $7.68 billion over the past five years. The Earthquake
Commission continued to sell assets in the quarter, as "claims
arising from the Christchurch earthquakes are processed." The NZ
Super Fund's valued shed 11 percent in the quarter, and today
reported its funds under management declined 0.5 percent in November
due to "falling equity markets." The fund has lost some 5.7 percent
in value so far in the latest financial year after weaker global
stock markets coincided with an increased exposure to international
equities.
From http://business.scoop.co.nz/ 01/11/2012
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Clean-up Eats into $25
Million Govt Kitty
The cost of cleaning up the mess left by the Rena has exhausted
an emergency oil fund and is now eating into a $25 million
Government kitty - and whether taxpayers will have to pick up the
tab remains uncertain. Last night, Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee
said all reserves from the oil pollution fund had been used and a
$25 million kitty made available by the Government was now being
drawn upon by Maritime New Zealand. Funds recovered from the Rena's
insurers, charterers and owners would be used to offset the
expenses, but ongoing legal negotiations had not yet ascertained
whether the taxpayer would be protected. An estimate made last month
of the clean-up cost - which included scooping oil from Bay of
Plenty beaches and saving oiled wildlife - was put at nearly $20
million since the container ship struck Astrolabe Reef on October 5.
The estimated legal liability to the ship's owner is $12.1 million,
meaning the taxpayer may be left with a bill of at least $7.4
million. Yesterday, Costamare Shipping Limited released a statement
reassuring it was funding the salvage operation and container
recovery. But it failed to clarify whether it would cover the
clean-up.
Environment Minister Nick Smith also could not reveal details of the
talks. "The negotiations are sensitive and I don't want to
compromise them by putting them in the public arena," he told the
Herald. But he reaffirmed the Government's position that Costamare
should pick up the entire bill. He had been advised the Rena's bow
section would soon break up and join the submerged stern section,
sitting between 30m and 35m below the surface on the Astrolabe Reef.
3D images released yesterday showed how the Rena had broken up and
slid down the reef, with one end of the stern jutting above the
water. "Our desire remains to get as many containers off once the
conditions improve, although getting the 300-odd containers out of
the stern section has become more difficult than getting at those
above deck on the bow section." What salvage method would be used
would not be known until it was safe for divers to inspect the ship,
which was last night being lashed by swells of up to 3m.Svitzer
Salvage spokesman Matt Watson said the sinking of the Rena's stern
on Tuesday, which came after a storm ripped the ship in half on
Sunday and sent almost 50 containers into the sea, had made the
operation much more complicated.
Oil booms mean no more swims
The unwelcome return of oil booms to Maketu has locals in the Bay of
Plenty seaside settlement bracing for another bout of heartache.
Twenty-metre lengths of inflatable boom that had been kept at a
marae were placed 100m across the environmentally vulnerable Maketu
estuary, ahead of a fresh but smaller wave of oil leaking from the
Rena. The invading oil was expected to arrive at nearby Little Waihi
and Pukehina this evening, although it is hoped the area's
"high-energy" shoreline will have broken down all but the dregs.
Response team member Bruce Goff said: "The impact of oil is a
significant environmental issue for this area ... and the booms are
all in place just for cautionary measures." Maketu mum Raewyn Hanara
had planned to take her children to the beach for a swim, but it had
to be the playground instead as the bright orange booms went into
the water nearby. "We're all tired of it, it's a big nuisance for
all of us." The near-deserted beach would normally be crowded at
this time of year, she said, "and there's no pipis for tea any
more".
The community pulled together when the first wave of oil hit
Maketu's rocky shores and left a sticky mess for locals, and Shane
Unuwai was among those ready to answer the call for the second time.
"You'll find it's times like this when all the whanau gets together
and there's no mucking around - you become a lot stronger, you
become as one," he said. Booms were also placed in the water between
Little Waihi, just over the hill, and Pukehina, a holiday hotspot.
On Waihi Beach at the opposite reach of the Western Bay of Plenty,
about 100 people had signed up to clean up container debris and
small blobs of oil. Volunteers were being given protective equipment
and trained, while people already registered with the volunteer
programme before Christmas were being contacted. Teams of up to 30
were cleaning oil around the base of the Mount and Matakana Island,
which was left littered with wrecked containers and strewn debris,
everything from timber to DVDs. Container recovery company Braemar
Howells yesterday had 12 vessels helping recover material from the
water north of Astrolabe Reef and Motiti Island, as well as securing
and recovering floating containers and large timber bundles around
Waihi Beach. Maritime New Zealand on-scene commander Alex van
Wijngaarden said the oil spilling from the Rena was "much less" than
in October. One oiled penguin was taken to the recovery centre at Mt
Maunganui.
From http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ 01/12/2012
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World Private Sector
Expansion Hits 9-Month High - PMI
LONDON (Reuters) - The world's private sector economy picked
up speed in December, expanding at its fastest rate in nine
months thanks partly to an upturn among U.S. companies, a
business survey showed on Thursday. JPMorgan's Global
All-Industry Output Index rose to 53.0 in December from 52.0 in
November (Stuttgart: A0Z24E - news) , comfortably above the 50
mark that divides growth from contraction and suggesting steady
global economic growth.
Survey compiler JPMorgan said the United States was the main
factor driving the global economic expansion in December, while
businesses also picked up the pace in the UK, India and Brazil.
The euro zone, however, remained a laggard last month. The
services index also hit a nine-month high in December, rising to
53.2 from 52.7, although employment in services industries fell
slightly for a second successive month.
From http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/ 01/05/2012
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New Global Forum Urges Govts to
Support SMEs
SINGAPORE: A new global forum has called on governments and
regulators around the world to support small and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs). The Global Forum for SMEs of ACCA
(Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) said on
Wednesday in a statement that the role for governments is clear
as they need to understand, champion and support the SME sector.
This is to ensure that policy and regulatory frameworks continue
to take into consideration the needs of small firms which have
been struggling for investment and could be vulnerable even
after the economy recovers.
The new forum, which has representatives from 17 countries
around the world, looks at SME issues from a global perspective.
It has outlined a number of key issues which it will be
considering in 2012, including how businesses will cope with
globalisation and the challenges of succession planning. Forum
chairman Mark Gold, also an immediate past President of ACCA,
said: "This is a critical time for SMEs. While many have shown
great resilience in tough economic times, they do need a great
deal of support from governments and regulators, who may
sometimes overlook their needs and focus on larger listed
companies. "Given that, in the overwhelming number of economies,
SMEs account for more than 95 percent of all enterprises and
create more than half the employment, they are critical to
economic regeneration and must be given priority," said Mr Gold.
GEA Westfalia Separator (SEA) Chief Financial Officer and forum
member from Singapore, Gabriel Low, said: "SMEs play a vital
role contributing to the economy in Singapore." He said
government bodies in Singapore like the Accounting and Corporate
Regulatory Authority (ACRA), Ministry of Manpower, Inland
Revenue Authority of Singapore and Ministry of Trade and
Industry can play critical roles in coordinating and adjusting
their policies to facilitate a more open, collaborative and
business-oriented approach when SMEs need help.
The forum also called on SMEs to apply forward thinking and keep
close attention to market shifts in order to maintain their
share of the market. Due to the weakening bank lending
environment and higher cost of lending, SMEs have reduced their
levels of investment which may make them vulnerable in the
future. The SMEs are also urged to look beyond the current
recession to ensure future competitiveness and sustainability.
(By Venus Hew)
From http://www.channelnewsasia.com/ 01/13/2012
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Ban Asks Private Sector to
Invest In Sustainable Development
New York - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged investors today
to lend their support to sustainable development initiatives to
deal with climate change and provide efficient energy solutions
around the world. In these times of austerity and economic
uncertainty, public sector efforts alone will not be
sufficient," Mr. Ban said in his message to participants at the
Investor Summit in New York. "Limited public sector resources
will need to leverage much larger pools of private sector
financing and know-how."
In his remarks, delivered on his behalf by Assistant
Secretary-General for Strategic Planning Robert Orr, Mr. Ban
stressed that partnerships with the private sector can make a
"crucial difference" in development projects, and encouraged
investors to take part in the UN Sustainable Development
Conference (Rio+20), which will be held in the Brazilian city of
Rio de Janeiro in June. "Rio offers a tremendous chance to
expand economic opportunity, strengthen equity and protect the
environment - the three "E's". But to make the most of this
moment, we need global investors who take the long view and
invest for sustainable prosperity."
Mr. Ban also invited investors to take part in the high-level
group he set up in November for his Sustainable Energy for All
initiative, which seeks to ensure universal access to modern
energy services, double the rate of improvement in energy
efficiency and double the share of renewable energy in the
global energy mix, all by 2030. "We need everyone at the table
- investors, CEOs [Chief Executive Officers], governments, civil
society groups, technical experts and practitioners - working in
common cause," Mr. Ban said. "We need investors who can provide
seed money for clean technologies or invest in other solutions
in untapped new markets. Already, solar power stations are
providing clean, safe and reliable electricity to impoverished
rural communities across Africa and Asia," he added.
Mr. Ban said he was pleased to note that investors are
increasingly evaluating companies on their climate and energy
footprint and are urging corporations to advance energy
efficiency in their operations and supply chains. "Such scrutiny
reflects a growing and very welcome embrace of the UN-backed
Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). The efforts of PRI
and other such projects are helping to sensitize capital markets
to the importance of sustainability, and are becoming a major
force in driving a green economy and carbon reduction," he said.
From http://www.scoop.co.nz/ 01/16/2012
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CHINA: Private Sector
Facing Credit, Cost Challenges amid Expansion
Chinese association representing private enterprises and
individually-owned businesses announced Wednesday that the
number of registered private companies in China had topped 9
million as of the end of September, up 14.9 percent
year-on-year. Chinese association representing private
enterprises and individually-owned businesses announced
Wednesday that the number of registered private companies in
China had topped 9 million as of the end of September, up 14.9
percent year-on-year.
Their total registered capital rose 38.6 percent to nearly 25
trillion yuan, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce
(ACFIC) said in a report released Wednesday. As of the end of
September, the number of individually-owned businesses exceeded
36 million, up 8.5 percent, and their total registered capital
rose 21.9 percent to around 1.5 trillion yuan. The non-public
sector of the economy has become the largest among urban
fixed-asset investors as its investment reached 14.2 trillion
yuan in the first 10 months last year, accounting for 58.9
percent of the nation's total, said ACFIC Party Secretary Quan
Zhezhu.
The private sector is also the major job provider in the world's
second largest economy, creating around 80 percent of jobs in
urban areas. Quan said the sector created more than 8 million
jobs in the first nine months of last year. Individually-owned
businesses also helped create more than 2 million jobs during
the period. "The private economy, especially the rapid growth of
small and medium-sized companies, has become the main source
powering employment, the rise of wage-based income for both
urban and rural residents, and improvement of people's
livelihoods," Quan said in a keynote speech delivered at a
conference on the development trend of the country's private
economy.
The expansion of the sector was also marked by its fast-growing
exports, which surged 33.3 percent year-on-year in the first 11
months of last year to 570 billion U.S. dollars in value,
accounting for one-third of the nation's total, according to
Quan. China's customs authority announced Tuesday that the
country's exports rose 20.3 percent year-on-year to reach 1.9
trillion U.S. dollars in 2011. Export growth had slowed from an
increase of 31.3 percent in 2010.
The ACFIC is a non-governmental chamber of commerce largely
representing enterprises and individuals in the private sector.
However, challenges in credit borrowing, rising production costs
and thin profits, heavy taxes, and worker recruitment remain,
hampering the sector's development, Quan said. "The biggest
problem is the rising production costs. Companies, especially
those small ones in manufacturing, have weak capabilities in
addressing pressure from rising costs stemming from energy, raw
materials, labor, land use, and foreign exchange rates," Quan
said.
He also said taxes for small and micro-sized firms remain too
high and too complex. Unreasonable taxation policies could lead
to "double-taxing," which adds more pressure to their business
operation. Quan added that banks currently still favor large and
medium-sized enterprises, which makes financing more costly as
businesses resort to private lending options that require much
higher interest payments.
From http://english.cri.cn/ 01/17/2012
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JAPAN: To Sell Airport
Management Rights to Private Companies
ANA and JAL planes are seen parked at Haneda Airport. (Mainichi)
TOKYO (Kyodo) - The Japanese government plans to sell airport
management rights to private companies as early as fiscal 2014,
under a bill to be submitted to parliament this year, as a means of
cutting government spending, government sources said Tuesday.
Subject to the bill will be 27 airports under management by the
central government and 67 controlled by local governments. Under the
plan, private companies will be allowed to manage airports for 30 to
50 years, while the government sector will continue to own airport
sites and facilities and remain responsible for air traffic control
services, the sources said.
The government sector now runs airport facilities such as runways
and aircraft parking aprons while private companies manage airport
buildings and car parking lots. Private firms, if allowed to manage
most airport operations, may use profits from airport buildings and
parking lots to reduce landing fees in order to attract budget
airlines to increase passengers to their advantage.
To help reduce its fiscal burden, the central government hopes to
complete the airport management right sales by fiscal 2020. But it
may fail to find buyers for eight deficit-ridden airports among the
27 under its management, according to the sources. But the bill will
allow profitable and unprofitable airports to be combined as a
single deal.
From http://mdn.mainichi.jp/ 01/11/2012
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SOUTH KOREA: Advances
Budget Spending to Support Economy
South Korea said on Tuesday it would allocate more than 40
percent of its annual budget spending on the current quarter, the
most in at least a decade, to cushion the impact from slowing global
demand. The government will allocate 44.1 percent of this year's
budget spending to the January-March period, up from 39.9 percent
last year and the most since at least 2002, the first period for
which comparable data is available, the finance ministry said in a
statement.
"Budget spending will be advanced especially for projects aimed at
stabilising living conditions for low income-earners and
reactivating the economy," the ministry said, adding welfare and job
creation would take priority. President Lee Myung-bak said in a
televised new year address on Monday that the global economy had
entered a new era of prolonged low growth.
From http://www.gulfbase.com/ 01/03/2012
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MALAYSIA: Advise Govt on
Opportunities for Growth, Private Sector Told
The private sector has a responsibility to advise the Government
on areas where there are opportunities for growth, said the Prime
Minister's wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor. She said the private
sector should advise the Government so that it would be able to
facilitate the ease of doing business in the country. Rosmah said
the Government's Economic Transformation Programme had placed much
emphasis on the role of the private sector. "Some 92% of the funding
for growth will need to be generated by the private sector.
"Therefore, the depth and breadth of our private sector is vital
- if not, the key - in ensuring that Malaysia becomes a developed
nation by the year 2020," she said in her speech at the 1Malaysia
Enterprise Award 2012 ceremony here last night. Rosmah said small-
and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) made up almost 99.2% of all
businesses registered in Malaysia. "Undoubtedly, SMEs are pivotal in
attracting local and foreign investments into the country," she
said, adding that the Government was unrelenting in its support for
the growth of SMEs.
From http://thestar.com.my/ 01/11/2012
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SINGAPORE: Govt to Consider
Allowing Private Health Sector to Tap MAF
SINGAPORE: Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said the government will
need to carefully consider further expansion of the scope and the
possibility of access by the private sector to the Medication
Assistance Fund (MAF). He said this in a parliamentary reply on
Monday, in response to questions from Member of Parliament Associate
Professor Fatimah Lateef. She had asked whether the MAF can be
expanded to include medications prescribed by non-hospital clinics,
such as private clinics and general practitioners as some
non-standard/non-generic medications can be costly as the
pharmaceutical industry evolves. Mr Gan said the MAF helps eligible
patients pay for expensive drugs that are not in the Standard Drug
List but have been assessed to be clinically necessary. It covers
conditions such as cancer and heart failure. Mr Gan said the
Ministry of Health (MOH) has been regularly reviewing and adding
more drugs to the MAF list since its launch in Aug 2010. It has also
increased the size of the fund. He said to ensure appropriate use of
the MAF, clinical controls and approvals are put in place to assess
the eligibility of the patients and to ensure that the drugs
prescribed are clinically necessary and appropriate for treatment.
Mr Gan said MOH has already expanded healthcare subsidies beyond the
public sector to means-tested patients in the private sector,
through the Primary Care Partnership Scheme. This subsidy lowers the
total bill for patients, including the cost of drugs used, so that
they can get affordable, subsidised care by the general
practitioners. Mr Gan said as the MAF was further enhanced in
October 2011, the government will need to consider further expansion
of its scope and the possibility of access by the private sector
carefully, after reviewing its experience.
From http://www.channelnewsasia.com/ 01/09/2012
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Singapore Bowling Works with
Private Sector to Groom Champs
The Singapore Bowling Federation (SBF) is working with the
private sector to increase the base of bowlers and groom more
champions. It is working with two partners for a start. On
Wednesday, SBF president Jessie Phua signed an agreement with Agape
Bowling Academy and Strike Academy to launch the Centre of
Excellence Academy Endorsement Programme. The pilot project will be
tried out for a year. As part of the franchise, SBF would assist the
partners to professionalise their training methods to bring them in
line with the federation's syllabus. The federation would also train
the coaches. The operators welcome the move as it would allow them
to provide better service and improve their business. The SBF
currently runs two academies which have 160 students. The federation
is planning to phase out the academies and let the private operators
take over, if the pilot proves successful. SBF feels this is the way
for the future and would greatly increase the number of bowlers and
improve training methods. SBF president Ms Phua said: "They
(operators) choose their own training venues, we are the inspectors.
We go and make sure that it is conducive. If they are training, for
instance, in a bowling facility that does not meet the technical
specifications, we are going to say, 'I'm sorry, you have to change
the venue'. And because they don't own the bowling centres, they
have the flexibility to go and renegotiate with another bowling
centre."
From http://www.channelnewsasia.com/ 01/11/2012
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THAILAND: Govt Sets Up Fund
to Insure Businesses
Local and foreign businesses will be offered support in securing
flood insurance coverage directly from the government, said
Kittiratt Na-Ranong, the deputy prime minister for economic policy.
On Tuesday, the cabinet approved several flood-related measures,
including the establishment of a 50 billion baht fund to help
provide insurance coverage for businesses. Foreign reinsurers have
expressed concerns about extending coverage to Thai companies in the
wake of this year's devastating floods. This in turn has raised
concern among businesses about higher insurance premiums or the
possibility of not being able to secure coverage at all in the
future. "Companies doing business in Thailand need insurance. If
foreign insurers will not provide coverage, then we must do so
ourselves," Mr Kittiratt said. He played down questions about
whether the fund was adequate to cover insurance needs, saying he
was confident that considering the government's commitments to
invest in new water management projects, the risk that the insurance
fund would be needed at all was minimal. "I am confident that it
won't flood again. Why? Because we are investing in the programmes
and that will safeguard the country."
Mr Kittiratt said a 350 billion baht fund would be set up to finance
water management investments. He said funding could come through the
form of government bond issues or project-based infrastructure funds
set up under public-private partnerships. While few details have
been announced about specific water management projects, analysts
say the programmes are likely to include new floodways to help
drainage of the Chao Phraya River basin to the Gulf of Thailand,
expanded catchment areas and possibly a revival of the Kaeng Sua Ten
Dam project to control flooding of the Yom River basin. Cabinet
members on Tuesday approved a plan to create a "single command
authority" with overriding responsibility in setting out and
executing policy with regard to water management. Mr Kittiratt said
the authority would have the Irrigation Department serving as a
secretariat and would also include representatives of other
water-related agencies. Thailand's dams are managed by the
Electricity Authority of Thailand, while the Irrigation Department
is assigned to manage and monitor water flow upcountry. In Bangkok,
canals and sluice gates are the responsibility of the Bangkok
Metropolitan Administration (BMA).
Critics have argued that poor coordination among state agencies
exacerbated the impact of this year's floods, which have claimed 790
lives to date and wreaked havoc on the country's industrial base.
Poor communications between the government's Flood Relief Operations
Command and the BMA also resulted in public confusion about the
flooding threat in Bangkok. Some have also argued that efforts to
protect the city centre from flooding through the use of "big bags"
resulted in worse damage to the capital's suburbs in Nonthaburi, Don
Muang and Pathum Thani. Cabinet members on Tuesday also agreed to
expand the lifespan of the Vayupak Fund to serve as an asset
management vehicle for the state. The closed-ended fund was
established in 2003 with a 10-year term to manage assets previously
held by the Finance Ministry, including shares in listed companies
such as Krung Thai Bank, PTT and Thai Airways. Mr Kittiratt said
expanding the Vayupak fund may help mitigate the need to issue new
debt for infrastructure investments. Authorities are also in talks
with the Bank of Thailand to have the central bank extend 300
billion baht in low-interest loans to mix with local commercial
banks to support reconstruction by households and companies affected
by the floods. The Finance Ministry earlier this week reduced its
2011 growth estimate to just 1.1% as a result of flood damage,
compared with a forecast of 4.5% earlier this year. Growth is
expected to rebound to 5% in 2012 thanks largely to reconstruction
spending and new investment.
From http://www.bangkokpost.com/ 12/30/2011
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BANGLADESH: Govt Loses TK
200cr in Pvt Telecom Business
DHAKA: About six lakh people are currently engaged in small and
medium telecom businesses in the country, but the government is
yet to formulate any regulations for the sector. Such
businesses, including mobile phone balance load, sale of SIM
cards, phone cards and contents such as ring tones, and mobile
phone repairing, have been increasing along with the number of
mobile users during the last 10 years. But, there is no
regulatory and licensing guideline for the sector. In the
absence of regulations for this sector, sale of unregistered SIM
cards couldn't be stopped and, consequently, the government
loses annual revenue to the tune of Tk. 200 crore. Also, the
incidence of cyber crime with the help of unauthorised SIM cards
has gone up alarmingly in recent years. The Independent
interviewed a number of small and medium telecom businessmen and
investigated the reasons behind the absence of regulatory
guidelines for the sector. The market for mobile phone balance
load, SIM cards, phone cards, contents and ring tones and mobile
phone repair is estimated at about Tk. 7,000 crore in
Bangladesh. Six mobile service providers have 30 authorised
dealers - and they are large - to cater to the needs of the
market. Each of these 30 dealers distributes accessories to a
number of sub-dealers. The big dealers keep track of the
sub-dealers. From the sub-dealers, any person can procure
required goods and accessories on payment of a mere Tk. 5,000
and start out as a small dealer.
The sub-dealers, however, don't keep track of the small dealers.
"Here lies the problem," said advocate Mozammel Hossain Mohan,
president of the Bangladesh Mobile Phone Load Business
Association (BMPLBA). Since a small trader doesn't need anything
more than an investment of just Tk. 5,000, even a grocer can
enter the business of selling SIM cards and loading balance, he
noted. "But, this is good business and more than five lakh
people are doing it. Procuring a trade licence should be a must
for opening a small or medium telecom business," he said. Mohan
said mobile companies didn't press the authorities for
regulations for small dealers, as that could increase business
costs including the rate of commission paid to them. Currently,
Citycell and Teletalk give three per cent and the rest 2.7 per
cent sales commission to the small dealers, he said. "If the
sector is regulated and the small dealers do business under a
registered trade licence, the companies have to give at least
five per cent as business commission to them. In neighbouring
India, small and medium telecom dealers get eight per cent as
commission from mobile operators, as they require a trade
licence for their businesses," said Mohan. If this sector is
regulated it would eventually stop the sale of SIM cards without
registration, he said adding: "Because of this underhand
business, the government loses huge revenues," he added.
Meanwhile, the 30 large dealers, who directly deal with the
mobile operators, have other problems. Their problem lies in the
business of mobile contents, including welcome tunes, my tunes
and ring tones. As per the agreement with mobile operators, they
have to share 50 per cent commission with the mobile operators
on sales of welcome tunes or ring tones. And that's not all.
They also have to share a percentage of the rest 50 per cent
with the music studio and the artistes creating the tunes or
tones. "This agreement is not right," said Rana Abul Bashar,
owner of Wintel, one of the large dealers. "We have repeatedly
asked the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC)
about this unfair business arrangement and also asked it to
formulate regulations, but so far no step has been taken," said
Bashar. Mahmud Ur Rahman, executive vice-president of Robi, said
the company was very strict about the sale of new SIM cards. "We
repeatedly ask dealers to ensure a proper registration process
before they sell a new SIM. If we find calls generated from an
unregistered SIM we charge the dealer that has issued it," he
said. Kazi Monirul Kabir, chief communication officer of the
Grameenphone (GP), said his company provided appropriate
registration paper with each SIM card. "We have asked dealers to
ensure sale of SIM cards with registration paper," he said.
About the sharing of commission with the dealers, Kabir said the
operators didn't have any problem giving a five per cent
commission. "If the small dealers do business under a trade
license and do it properly, then they are more than welcome," he
said.
About the unfair agreement between the dealers and mobile
operators on the business of mobile contents and ring tones, Abu
Sayeed Khan, general secretary of Association of Mobile and
Telecom Operators of Bangladesh, said the agreement was fair as
the mobile operators had bought copyrights of the audio songs by
paying huge amounts of money. Meanwhile, The Independent found
that there was a draft guideline named "Mobile SIM Registration
Regulation," which had been formulated way back in 2006. But, it
hasn't been finalized till date. Also, to stop cyber crime, the
ministry of home has issued circulars on registration of new SIM
on several occasions, but most of them have gone unheeded. Maj
Gen Zia Ahmed, chairman of BTRC, told The Independent that the
telecom regulator had asked small and medium telecom businessmen
to come on a common platform so that they could raise their
demands effectively. BTRC has given strict guidelines on new SIM
registrations because revenue from sales of unregistered SIM
does not find its way into government coffers, he said. "We can
formulate guidelines, but the entire exercise would prove futile
if the rules were not enforced. The law enforcers need to come
forward to ensure enforcement," he said.
From http://theindependentbd.com/ 01/10/2012
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INDIA: NE Development
Rests with Private Sector
New Delhi: Private sector will define the future course of
North East's infrastructural development, said Montek Singh
Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, here on
Saturday. Addressing the Valedictory Session of the 7th North
East Business Summit organized by Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC)
in New Delhi as the Chief Guest, Ahluwaliah underlined the
critical importance that Infrastructure and connectivity holds
for the future development of the North East. The North East, he
said, shares borders with the nations of East, South and South
East Asia, incidentally the nations considered to be the most
dynamic and economically active at present. "Connectivity and
infrastructure needs to be developed at a fast pace in the North
East, to make gainful use of its advantageous position. While
the Government both at the Centre and the States have made
tireless efforts towards the same, given the volume of
investments required private intervention is strictly called for
to achieve the targeted capacity," said Ahluwaia. "Courtesy the
efforts while many inroads have been made, innovative PPP models
need to be devised to attract greater private sector
participation," he noted.
Commenting on the prospects of the Tourism Industry in the North
East, Ahluwalia explained that rather than each state trying to
project its own potential, a common consensus between the States
aiming at projecting the entire North East's tourism potential,
must be immediately arrived at. North East as whole can be
better marketed than individual states to the domestic and
international tourist community, he opined. With respect to
Hydro Power, he urged for the formation of close working groups
between Industry and the respective State Government to analyze
the progress of the projects and identify the associated
problems for fast track implementation. Commenting on Skill
Development he opined that while the region boasts of a
comparatively higher literacy rate private intervention is
necessary to generate the requisite employable skills, a
critical requirement for the North East's industrial
development.
In conclusion, Ahluwalia reiterated that contrary to the popular
perception tireless efforts on part of the State Government's
have brought in the much needed peace in the region to give
investors the necessary encouragement to enter the North East.
Congratulating ICC as the Summit Chairman, Paban Singh Ghatowar,
Union Minister of DONER and Mines, said courtesy the relentless
efforts undertaken in projecting the North East's investment
potential, Rs 12,000 crore worth of Investments have been
realized in the region till date, truly a remarkable
achievement. He said the Summit could highlight the critical
issues facing the region through the deliberations and
discourses conducted over the past two days. In addition to
highlighting the potential sectors of Infrastructure, Agro and
Food Processing, Tourism, Hydro Power, Bamboo and Horticulture
among others, Ghatowar didn't forget to point out the peace and
harmony being restored in the region which should provide the
necessary fillip to investor sentiments. Echoing similar views,
BM Langong, Dy. CM of Meghalaya emphasized the State Governments
to take up the onus in solving the problems related to
insurgencies in the region.
From http://www.indiablooms.com/ 01/07/2012
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SRI LANKA: IT Industry
Seeks Tariff Concessions
(LBO) - Sri Lanka's fast-growing information communications
technology (ICT) industry is seeking lower tariffs on high-speed
communications links the cost of which is still too high,
officials said. Accessing reliable and fast Internet links is
one of the key problems facing the industry which could
constrain growth, according to a recent survey by
PricewaterhouseCoopers done for the Export Development Board,
the state export promotion agency. Mano Sekaram, chairman of the
EDB's advisory committee for the ICT and BPO sectors, said the
industry was seeking tariff concessions to reduce costs and
improve the competitiveness of the ICT industry. The island's
ICT and BPO (business process outsourcing) exports shot up 47
percent to 310 million US dollars in 2010-11 from the year
before and will remain strong, the survey said. But the PwC
survey report said ICT and BPO (business process outsourcing)
companies still faced high costs associated with communication
as well as poor service quality of high-speed Internet
facilities. "Although future growth is anticipated by many with
regards to the IT export industry, the industry is confronted
with various concerns that could become a hindrance to its
future progress," the report said. " ... high costs associated
with communications and the poor service quality of Internet and
ADSL ... remains critical," the report said. "For us, the
Internet is like the road," Sekaram, who is also general
secretary of the industry body, SLASSCOM, Sri Lanka Association
of Software and Services Companies, told LBO. "We have proposed
that they have preferential tariffs for export industries."
Export earnings from the sector, which has 175 firms employing
16,000 people, are expected to reach a billion dollars before
2015. The main markets for ICT exports are Europe, USA, and
south Asia while the main markets for BPOs are the US, Europe,
Canada and mature Asian countries.
From http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/
01/09/2012
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NEPAL: Private Sector
Hails Govt Decision of Scrapping Dual Price in Fuel
Private sector welcomed the government's decision to scrap the
dual pricing system in diesel and kerosene that it had imposed
some two weeks back. Issuing a press release, Federation of
Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and
Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) have hailed the
government's move of rolling back dual pricing system in the
fuels imposed in bulk purchase above 3,000 litres. The business
bodies have also expressed confidence that such a move of the
government will control black-marketing of fuels and would also
help the industrial sector which is currently facing all sorts
of difficulties. The industrial entrepreneurs had been demanding
cancellation of the dual pricing system citing that the system
has increased their production cost while the industries have
been already hit hard by increasing load-shedding hours. The
Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) had hiked the price of the diesel
used for the industrial purpose by Rs. 19 per litre to Rs. 94
per litre. However, the price has been rolled back to the
earlier Rs. 76 per litre effective from Wednesday.
From http://www.nepalnews.com/ 12/29/2011
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Govt Appoints NTB's New
Board Members from Private Sector
The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA) on Tuesday
appointed five representatives from the private sectors in the
vacant board of director's of Nepal Tourism Board (NTB). The
ministry has appointed Amar Bahadur Shahi, Tikaram Sapkota,
Pumpha Dhamala, Shyam Sundar Lal Kakshapati and Phur Gyalzen
Sherpa as new board members from the private sector. Shahi is a
tourism entrepreneur from Far-Western Region while Sapkota is
the president of Pokhara Tourism Council. Similarly, Kakshapati
is the general secretary of Hotel Association of Nepal while
Sherpa is the former vice-president of Trekking Agencies'
Association of Nepal. The new board members were selected from
eight name recommended by the board member selection committee.
The post was lying vacant after the term of previous members
ended in November. The board consists of 11-memebrs including
five from the government and five from private sector and a CEO.
However, the CEO of the NTB is yet to be appointed.
From http://www.nepalnews.com/ 01/04/2012
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National Agro Census Kicks
Off; CBS Collecting Data of Agricultural Sector
The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) has kicked off the sixth
National Agriculture Census-2068 with an objective to collect
data required for agriculture sector, which has one-third
contribution to the national income, RSS reports. Having started
from 2018 BS, the agricultural census carried out in every 10
years is meant for the collection, update and distribution of
data in various aspects of agriculture sector. The sixth census
has started from the mid-December of the Year 2011. The census
enumeration works will be conducted in two phases during the
period of a year, informed Chief of CBS, Agriculture Census
Section, Ambika Basyal. In the census, primary information of
the agriculture sector at the district-level are also produced
and documented. ´Information received from the agricultural
census will be very much helpful for planners, policy-makers,
researchers and stakeholders´, section chief Basyal said. The
first phase of the census has come into effect in 59 districts
of Terai and mountainous part, with the plan to complete by
mid-March. Likewise, the second phase will be effective in 16
hilly districts only from mid-April due to chilly weather. The
enumerators will collect data reaching the wards selected at
district level on the basis of comprehensive sampling survey as
per the structured questionnaire.
From http://www.nepalnews.com/ 01/12/2012
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PM Describes Cooperatives
Sector as Country's Economic Pillar
Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai Friday said that the
government was committed to promote and develop cooperatives as
one of the major economic pillars of the country besides public
and private sector. Inaugurating the 19th Annual General Meeting
of the National Cooperative Union (NCU) here in the capital, PM
Bhattarai assured to boost cooperatives by introducing
favourable policies and plans. Saying that cooperatives have
significantly contributed in minimising poverty and creating
employment opportunities, PM Bhattarai urged the cooperatives to
increase investment in the energy sector. Bhattarai also said
that the government is planning to establish a Cooperative
Ministry and Poverty Alleviation to boost the sector. "The
government has also already formed National Committee under the
coordination of Minister for Agriculture and Cooperatives to
celebrate the International Cooperatives Year 2012 hosted by
United Nations (UN)," PM Bhattarai mentioned. On the same
occasion, NCU's chairman Keshav Badal said that though the
government declared cooperatives as one of the economic pillar
it has not been implemented. As per the latest statistics, there
are over 23,000 cooperatives in the country in which more than
three million people are directly involved.
From http://www.nepalnews.com/ 01/13/2012
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TURKMENISTAN: To Improve
Competitiveness of Textile Products
In 2012, the light industry of Turkmenistan plans to increase
production of export goods and products that will replace
imports through introduction of innovative technologies to
improve competitiveness of manufactured goods. Vice Premier
Orazmyrat Gurbannazarov and heads of relevant industries
received corresponding instructions from President of
Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov at an enlarged government
meeting yesterday. According to the President, other tasks
include creating abundance of goods in the markets of the
country, ensuring the availability and quality of goods, price
stability, improved procedures for licensing of foreign trade
operations and commodity exchange operations, organization of
exhibitions to promote the light industry products to foreign
markets. "We should begin construction of the second line of the
Ashgabat textile complex, the Kunya Urgench cotton mill in
Dashoguz province and the Seydi cotton mill in Lebap province,
to ensure timely and quality completion of construction of the
complex of textile and dyeing factories in Rukhabat district of
Akhal province and the second line of the cotton mill in the
city of Abadan," the Turkmen leader said.
From http://www.turkmenistan.ru/ 01/07/2012
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AUSTRALIA: Banks to Cut
7,000 Jobs in Next 2 Years, UBS Says
(Bloomberg) - Australian banks may scrap 7,000 jobs in the
next two years as the nation's lenders cut costs that account
for 58 percent of expenses to offset the weakest credit growth
since World War II, according to UBS AG. Lenders will reduce
total staff numbers by 3.9 percent to 172,000 from 179,000,
Sydney-based UBS analysts Jonathan Mott, Chris Williams and Adam
Lee said in a note to clients dated Jan. 13. Those figures don't
include Australia & New Zealand Group Ltd.'s Asian staff, they
said. The focus on employment costs at banks, which are among
major employers in the biggest cities of Sydney and Melbourne,
mirror the challenge faced around the world by lenders battling
slower revenue growth amid weak household and business
confidence. ANZ Bank, the third biggest in Australia by market
value, is preparing to cut as many as 900 jobs in coming months,
the union that represents bank workers said last week.
"We expect the banks to be heavily focused on their cost bases,"
the UBS analysts said. "Solid reductions in headcount and
discretionary costs are anticipated as banks react to the lower
growth environment." Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the
nation's biggest lender, said in an e-mailed statement to
Bloomberg that it has "no target or short-term plan for major
staff reductions." The bank may make redundancies "from time to
time in some areas, while in other areas more staff may be
needed," it said. Westpac Banking Corp., the No. 2 lender,
"expects there will be a decrease in staff numbers this year,
but we have no specific targets," the bank said in an e-mailed
statement from spokeswoman Supreet Gosal.
Cautious Outlook
National Australia Bank Ltd. expects staff numbers to "fluctuate
in various parts of the business" as it completes and outsources
some projects and continues to "focus on efficiency,"
Melbourne-based spokesman Brian Walsh said in an e-mailed
statement. Kevin Foley, an ANZ Bank spokesman in Sydney, said in
an e- mailed statement on Jan. 13 that "there is some belt
tightening going on in response to difficult market conditions."
An e-mail today wasn't immediately replied. UBS continues "to be
cautious on the outlook for credit growth" and doesn't expect a
"significant pickup in the housing market," the note said. To
help spur borrowing, the central bank lowered the benchmark rate
by a quarter percentage point on Nov. 1 and Dec. 6 as Europe's
debt crisis dimmed prospects for global growth. Zurich-based UBS
estimates housing credit grew from 1977 to 2010 at a 14 percent
annual pace, and is currently expanding at 5.7 percent, the
weakest rate since World War II. "We anticipate housing credit
growth to continue to remain subdued, probably staying in the 4
to 6 percent range for some time," the analysts said.
'More Lax'
Australia's banks in recent years became "more lax" in managing
staff numbers as they invested to meet expanding demand for
lending, after reducing headcount to 141,000 in 2002 from
166,000 in 1996, according to UBS. Among Australia's so-called
big four lenders, ANZ Bank employees individually delivered the
least profit, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and
company reports. ANZ Bank made A$109,424 ($112,389) in net
income from each employee in the year ended September 2011. That
compared with A$138,819 at Commonwealth Bank, A$185,379 at
Westpac, and A$116,900 at National Australia, the data show.
Still, Australia's banks were among the best-performing lenders
in the world last year. While shares of banks in the U.S. fell
13 percent, Japan's lenders lost 23 percent and Europe's slumped
34 percent, Australian banks fell 7 percent, according to UBS.
Only Canadian lenders fared better, limiting their 2011 decline
to 3 percent. Reducing headcount to 172,000 "should help absorb
underlying wage increases keeping total staff expenditure growth
to around 1 percent per annum," the UBS analysts wrote.
From http://www.businessweek.com/ 01/16/2012
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NEW ZEALAND: Port and
Govt Support for Privatisation of Port of Auckland
The admission today on radio by Ports of Auckland CEO Tony
Gibson that he is not opposed to the privatisation of the Port
of Auckland regardless of the views of the Mayor and the people
of Auckland, completes the puzzle on the reasons why settlement
of the Port agreement was not achieved yesterday, CTU President
Helen Kelly said. "When the Port was clear yesterday that the
union position tabled at the negotiations would resolve the
issues of labour utilisation and would be "big" in terms of
costs savings to the Port but that it did not want a settlement
of this dispute, many people would have been left wondering why
given the risk to the Council owned asset of an escalation of
the dispute." "Yesterday the Government commissioned its mates
on the Productivity Commission to promote privatisation and
casualisation of the workforce and now the Government needs a
dispute like this to raise doubts in the public mind about the
current model if it is to put through legislation. Today we have
heard Tony Gibson's support for that agenda despite working for
a Council elected to retain the Port," said Helen Kelly.
"With the Council now looking like it will have to fight to
retain its ownership of the Port, having the Board and CEO
working against it is like having a fox in the chicken coup"
Helen Kelly said. "The Government is also wanting to have a go
at removing workers rights and the Port are co-operating with
that agenda by spreading myths about work practices at the Port
and allowing an unnecessary dispute to occur." "Workers in New
Zealand are already having a hard time getting by week to week.
Increased casualisation and removal of security, pressure on
them to accept any terms and conditions in the name of business
and the scramble by the already wealthy to strip public assets
is the theme of this Government. The CTU will be providing all
the support it can to the Martime union members and the people
of Auckland to retain decent working conditions at the Port and
the right to retain ownership of the Port in the hands of the
citizens," Helen Kelly said.
Background information:
In the interests of transparency, the Maritime Union of NZ and
the CTU are releasing the details of the offer they put to Ports
of Auckland management on 12 January 2012.As can be seen the
offer includes:
1. Significant changes to provide more flexibility in rosters.
2. 12 hour shift option for some workers.
3. Speeding up of changeover times.
4. An ongoing commitment to productivity improvements through a
process known as TRACC which has been used successfully in parts
of Ports of Auckland and also Fonterra.
5. A small wage increase.
6. A willingness to discuss the term (length of time) of the
agreement.
The tabled document today said:MUNZ bargaining position 12
January 2012.MUNZ wishes to make the following points: It is our
desire to see the Port performing well and returning a fair
dividend to the rates payers of Auckland. This has been
demonstrated by the co-operation of MUNZ in the TRACC initiative
at the Port to date and the excellent performance of engineering
where it has been utilised, and by the increase in productivity
at the Port over the year in other areas. It is not our view
that there is any "crisis" of performance at the Port and
consider it unfortunate and misleading that this impression is
being conveyed. The Port is performing as well or better than
other Ports in New Zealand and compares well internationally.
The fact the contracting "bare bones" collective agreement
options now being promoted by the Port have only surfaced in the
last few weeks when prior Port offers included no immediate
changes to rosters and were instead predicated on a productivity
investigation using TRACC, suggests the Port itself was
satisfied with the substance of the current collective agreement
rostering arrangements at least until the TRACC process
identified areas for improvements. It is not tenable for the
Port management to now suggest a crisis has occurred resulting
in the new position of the management to these negotiations.
While the Council may be demanding a higher return for its
investment, it is unclear how much of this can be achieved by
changes to the roster system of the workforce and there are a
number of underlying challenges that the Port would need to
address to meet the Council goal of a 12% return in 5 years. In
fact MUNZ believe achieving this off the current asset base with
the current profile of shipping to and from NZ is unlikely and
is unwilling to let its members be the "fall guy" for this type
of unrealistic expectation. Even if wages were significantly
reduced at the Port these targets would not be achieved and the
issue of return needs a more comprehensive response than simply
attacking working conditions.
The Ports own Annual Report notes that the container and bulk
cargo volumes were up in the 2010/2011 year despite the economic
situation. It brags of the all time best crane rates that were
achieved in the year, up 4.1% on the previous best quarter. It
notes the continued productivity improvements and raises no
challenges to finding more. It is disingenuous to suggest the
Port workforce have not played a role in this and cannot play a
role going forward. A recent investigation by the Ministry of
Transport into container rate productivity of New Zealand ports
said that the rate "appears at least comparable with, and in
some cases better than, Australian and other international
ports." Figures also suggest the returns on equity in relation
to other NZ Ports vary, with Auckland out performing ports like
Tauranga in 2010 but not in 2011. Given Auckland has higher land
values than Tauranga and was impacted by the downturn in imports
to a larger extent than Tauranga, the returns are still arguably
comparable or better. While Tauranga may have greater labour
utilisation rates, this has been at the expense of secure and
safe employment and regardless of this, it is not clear it out
performs Auckland in any substantial way and in fact under
performs in some areas.
In order for this dispute to be settled in a way the preserves a
semblance of optimism about the future relationships on the
Port, productivity on the Port and the overall success of the
Port in the next 2 to 5 years, today is extremely important.
Unless the parties are able to reach a compromise to move them
forward and take advantage of cooperative tools such as TRACC to
move beyond the rhetoric and continue to improve performance at
the Port within a decent work framework then the future of the
Port is bleak for all the parties. If the current trajectory of
the dispute continues and MUNZ "win" this dispute, then the
chances for a cooperative model of change will be hugely
reduced, the workforce is likely to be split because of the
disruption "winning" will cause, and workers are likely to have
lost income and work opportunities in the process and the Port
will have lost considerable opportunity, money and goodwill. If
the Port "win" this dispute on its current trajectory then it is
likely to end up with an inexperienced and unhappy workforce,
little co-operation, poor quality jobs, a reputation amongst
international union members as a bad employer and no guarantee
of any productivity improvements or industrial peace. The
reality is, is that there is not going to be a "winner" unless
the direction that this dispute has taken changes course. MUNZ
believes the time to settle is now, on the basis of compromise
from both sides with a plan that takes a long term view and
continues to build on the success already achieved in terms of
productivity over the last couple of years.
In that light it proposes:
Based on the current collective agreement a two pronged approach
be agreed:
1. Agreement to make some changes now to the utilisation of
labour
2. Agreement to use the TRACC process to further explore the
utilisation issues. Supplementary shuttle operations above the
two remaining shuttle units can become part of the TRACC
methodology.
In terms of the first point. MUNZ wants to hear from the Port
regarding its issues with current utilisation and how it sees
them being addressed within the principles of the current
collective agreement including decent work and a safe workplace.
This discussion has not been had and the Port have not engaged
in a discussion on how within the current framework it is unable
to maximise staff in a safe and sustainable way.The union on the
other hand proposes for discussion:
• The future of the 1,2 roster, 2/3 group and permanent third
rostered group be discussed - this covers a group of workers who
are only able to be rostered on the first and second shifts with
other restrictions. Removing this rostering arrangement would
allow more flexibility in the rostering of these staff
particularly around weekend work.
• The percentage of AA positions be reviewed. These positions
balance security of employment (the guarantee of at least 24
hours work per week) with the flexibility. Allowing for more of
these positions will increase even further the flexibility of
employment within the agreement. These workers to get priority
before casual workers to extra shifts up to 5 shifts per week.
• Consideration of some 12 hour shift positions. Some workers
are interested in a four consecutive days on, four day off
roster for shifts of 12 hours. With some workers within a period
working 8 hours and some doing 12, run on situations could be
covered more easily. Need to design issues regarding long hour
driving.
• Arrangements to speed up the change over times during a shift
from driver to driver - to be discussed.
• Change overtime provisions to allow overtime after the
standard shift subject to 2,4 or 8 hour overtime orders. Orders
below 8 hours to be paid at overtime rate with any 8 hour extra
shift payable at ordinary time.
Other issues: Wage increase 2.5%.
Term - to be discussed.
From http://www.scoop.co.nz/ 01/13/2012
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