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Costly delay to the opening of Berlin’s new airport

Chris — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:16:07 +0000

Berlin’s new €2.5bn Willy Brandt International Airport was due to open on June 3^rd but has been indefinitely delayed due to fears over safety equipment. Designed to handle 45 million passengers per year, with a new state of the art train station and motorway network, the airport was supposed to provide a world class transport hub for the German capital. It would be a technological marvel to make Berliners proud.

Instead, pride has turned to shock, disbelief and embarrassment. German media were scathing in their criticism of the project with newspaper Die Welt even claiming that Berlin was ‘the laughing stock of the world’. Berlin’s Mayor, Klaus Wowereit praised the airport and was openly mocked by angry crowds just days after the announcement.

However, managers at the airport were quick to point out the necessity of the delay. The disastrous opening of London Heathrow’s terminal 5 in 2008 where 42,000 bags failed to arrive was cited as an incident Berlin was keen to avoid. The safety equipment at Berlin’s new airport was called into question and the authorities feared a repeat of the deadly 1996 fire at Düsseldorf Airport.

Nevertheless, the delay is bound to cause chaos with both airlines and passengers left high and dry. There will also be severe financial repercussions with airlines standing to lose millions when they revert to Berlin’s two smaller older airports. Indeed, most airlines are intending to seek financial compensation as they attempt to overcome this unexpected logistical nightmare.

The short term economic impact on Berlin is expected to be devastating with local newspaper Berliner Kurier reporting that the delay could cost the city up to €15 million per month. It is unclear exactly how long the opening will be postponed but every day will be crucial in stemming the adverse economic effect on the German capital.

Chinese stealth economy, the world and the US in despair

Evan — Tue, 15 May 2012 07:02:46 +0000

The heaviest crisis faced by the Obama administration is due to the lessening of the USexports. The foreign demand of US goods lessened very much due to the slowdown of the Chinese economy. Statistics on China reveals the fact that China is one of the major importer of US goods. The United States of America is however adamant that it will double its US exports within 5 years. The US statistics have revealed figures to show US exports of 2009 were worth 1.57 trillion dollars. By the end of 2014, forecasts predict that theUS exports could reach 3.1 trillion dollars. The growth of theUS exports will currently remain affected because Europe hasn’t still risen from recession andChina andIndia are still just emerging as well. Mr Eswar Prasad, senior professor of trade policy, CornellUniversity, said that when the doubling of exports was revealed it was taken up with great aspiration but now in reality this would seem a very hard task to beat. Half ofAmerica’s economy expansion last year has been thankful to its exports.China is the largest export market of theUS. Exports toChina have seen a dip to as much as 30 percent in 2011. This rate has however grown slightly, but the slowing down of its economy and the inflation rate will be threats which would have to be suffered by theUS. The main affected products of theUS exports to china were technology, computer, agriculture and metal.

For more information: usatoday.com

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A trade war is set to launch in US solar market

Chris — Thu, 03 May 2012 07:21:23 +0000

Drastic hype in the electricity bills have fired up the demands of Solar systems in United States. China had grabbed this opportunity to promote their Solar panels long back in 2005. Recent statistics about China reveals that the country has managed to conquer one-third of the US solar market. Even though, the quality of China’s products is looked upon with furrowed brows, the low-cost of their products have attracted US customers too.

China’s rule on US solar market now seems to be shaking with the new announcement of imposing increased tariffs on Solar panels shipped from China. Commerce department ofUnited Statesclaim that Chinese Government Issue illegal export subsides to Solar panel manufacturers inChina. Such illegal practices are unfair if looked upon from a world trade prospective. As per the recent announcement, the tariff has been raised by 2.9% to 4.73% with plans to increase it further in May. Slight increase on tariff rates would not have any impact on Chinese trade but a drastic raise can put Chinese Solar panel manufacturers in trouble. The Commerce department has scheduled an investigation to find out ifChinais dumping solar panels intoUSmarket at a price lesser than the actual cost. The further raise on tariff would depend on the outcome of the investigation.

Li Junfeng, a Chinese spokesperson says that china welcomes the decisions made by the Commerce department. He also claimed thatChinadoes not provide too much subsides to the solar panel manufactures.

Whatever the case may, China has managed to dominate the US solar market with huge margin and it’s going to be a tough Job for US companies to dislodge the thresholds set by China.

For more information: www.nytimes.com

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No Tea Party in China

Evan — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 15:09:25 +0000

3000 representatives gathered for China’s National People’s Congress meeting. This event takes place every year. The meeting includes analysis of different reports by different government officials. Different legislations would be passed and a confirmation of senior officials would also take place. The meeting very importantly offers Chinese people an idea about different government policies taken. The most important announcement is the unanimous confirmation of Xi Jinping, becoming the head of the communist party. The communist party of China is expecting a party refit later this year. Xi Jinping and his new army would lead the party and they are known to be well-educated, technocratic and internationally experienced leaders. Stepping into position, they would lead the party and the government for the next decade or so. The new Chinese party would focus on government policies, trade and the growth of the Chinese economy, rather than the class struggle and revolutionary aspirations. In the past the NPC (national people’s congress) were concentrating more towards the “rule of law”. The now reforms have helped China a lot with fitting in into the international markets, which consist very much of the world’s capital and trade markets. The country is however the biggest trade and export nation in the world. The NPC will have to face many serious challenges, with the World Bank insisting that China shift more towards economic market reforms rather than the old administrative control. The Chinese economy must change its economic growth model, towards more domestic consumption and services.

Source: atimes

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Young Global Leaders Announced at WEF

Evan — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 15:07:56 +0000

The world economic forum 2012 took place in Geneva, Switzerland. The forum organizes a special event each year. It recognizes around 200 young leaders form all parts of the globe. These exceptional young leaders have achieved this honor through their work. The young global leaders have showed hard work and commitment to society and have made very potential contributions in shaping the global future. Some of the previous year’s YGL (young global leaders) were Maria Bartiromo (Co-host of the closing bell program/ Anchor and Managing Editor of the Wall Street Journal, CNBC, USA), David Cameroon (Prime Minister of Great Britain), Esther Duflo (Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA), Larry Page (Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Google, USA), Zhang Xin (Chief Executive Officer, People’s Republic of China) etc. The forum selected 192 YGL’s (young global leaders) from 59 countries. The YGL’s were aspirants from different areas, including civil, business, politics and government, opinion and media and arts and culture. The numbers include 46 from Europe, 37 from North America, 18 from sub-Saharan Africa, 15 from the Middle East and North Africa, 19 from South Asia, 19 from Latin America and 38 from East Asia. These selected leaders represent the global future of leadership. A very rigorous selection criteria and nomination process are conducted which would only select the very best who have proved to demonstrate commitment in their respective fields. The nominees must be under 40 years of age.

Source: Broadcastermagazine

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Learn German to Get a Job in Europe

Evan — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 15:05:08 +0000

Having a strong relationship with Germany is becoming very fundamental in the years to come. Germany has always been regarded as the strongest supporter of the EU. The most vital aspect when it comes to the country is that, having strong trade ties with it is essential to almost all the countries in the EU. German companies do create new business opportunities which can be beneficial to lot of European regions. 24 percent of all the residents of the European region speak German and one third of Europeans communicate very well in German. German has 12^th place as one of the most spoken languages in the world. The language influences a lot because of the strong economy it represents and also because of its influence on art, literature, philosophy etc. A quarter of the GDP of the European economy is created in Germany. With many companies opening different branches in different European countries, learning German is vital. The biggest German companies like BASF, Bayer, Hoechst, Volkswagen, Siemens etc are all global players. German companies mainly look for German-speaking employees, which could lead to a higher paying job. One of the three most-used languages on the internet is German. German ecommerce is the fastest growing and the biggest. When it comes to academics, German is the second most used language for writing thesis and scientific papers. 40 percent of scientists advise students to take German language classes.

Source: Boston

Innovated in the U.S.!

Evan — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 15:02:32 +0000

Many Americans claim that outsourcing has been a blessing. Companies profit from the cheap labor and earn huge returns. But outsourcing has made the United States lose the opportunity to manufacture high-tech products. This has caused deterioration for the U.S. high-tech industry. Because of technology jobs being outsourced overseas, high-tech products can no longer be manufactured in the United States. This has resulted in a deep decline in the global competitiveness of the U.S. high-tech industry for many years. The global market shares show a more optimistic assessment. The United States has retained global market shares for high-tech services and products. The reduction attained in costs and prices has helped U.S. companies maintain their competitiveness. Apple almost went bankrupt during the mid 1990s. Steve Jobs made a brilliant move to outsource its manufacturing and industry standards, components which turned out to be a key factor in achieving Apple’s success. While still being a product company, Apple has successfully emerged in fields ranging from retail stores to the ITunes website. HP is another example of one of the most successful computer companies with low cost production in China and Taiwan. The U.S. economy has been moving towards becoming service-oriented. These services will become the core of communications, software and electronics industry. IBM is another example – it started off as a product company and moved into being one of the world’s largest technology services company. Amazon and salesforce.com are moving into cloud computing and Saas service.

Source: The Atlantic

Merkel Defends the Euro

Chris — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:57:41 +0000

Europe would have to face a mountain of tasks when it comes to restoring its credibility. And it would take years before the debt crisis is resolved. Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, has however vowed to defend the euro. She plans to develop a long-term measure to tighten the fiscal integration in the Euro zone, affecting a much tighter budget discipline. The European central bank has to step up its buying of the bonds of various countries in the eurozone. European bonds have continued to show recovery signs, with a hope of Europe inching away from debt crisis. Merkel made a diplomatic speech and tried to frame a political deal which would help restore market confidence. The European Central Bank has to act more to defend the euro. If a new fiscal measure would be adopted, this would prove to be an aggressive force against the debt and banking crisis. Merkel stated that Greece should take its issues very seriously, as should Italy. Greece needs an economic stimulus package to stay afloat. Greece would also have to think again about its debt repayment strategy. Merkel insisted that Europe’s private investors have to become more involved in the debt crisis faced by the continent. European credit rating agencies tend to provide a much deeper dent by the ratings they let out, making things worse. Merkel expressed the need for an independent credit rating agency from the near future onwards.

Source: Businessweek

How French and German Economies differ

Chris — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:53:53 +0000

The French government has increased salary margins. This has caused French workers to become more expensive and much less competitive. The question which arises here is whether reducing the salary of German people is cause of the German economic miracle. Germany is a country which offers a lot of job- oriented schemes for people who are not pursuing an academic career. The social security tax in Germany is very low, compared to the French, and the country’s unemployment benefits are of shorter duration. All these differences were there one decade ago, but didn’t improve things. So what factors contributed to the German change a decade ago? The labor costs in Germany stood larger than its productivity. This resulted in a much discussed attempt in reducing wages. The economic statistics on Germany have confirmed that the GDP have shrinked to 0.2 percent towards the end of 2011. The economy has dipped yet another 0.2 percent in the first quarter of 2012. The unemployment rate in Germany stood at 6.8 percent in February 2012. It was 6.9 percent in December 2011. The French economy unexpectedly showed signs of rising from a moderate 0.2 percent to 0.3 percent. The French unemployment rate rose to 9.4 percent, making it the highest in two years. The slow hiring in the private and public sector have contributed to this. Europe’s crippling debt crisis has fueled discussions between the two nations, while both countries fear that the euro currency would also be under threat.

Source: Forbes

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EU and Namibia Strengthen Partnership

Chris — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:08:32 +0000

Namibia has very strong trade ties with South Africa, China and the United States. The EU (European Union) engages with Namibia, its biggest commercial partner. A one day EU-Namibia political dialogue was conducted and was participated in by the Namibia Foreign Affairs Minister and other senior government officials from the EU. Ever since its independence, EU and its member states have channeled an aid amount of around 70 percent to Namibia. The current development program form the EU would amount to 1.3 billion Namibian dollars, making it the largest in Education, sanitization and water. EU officials have stated that these social relations would go back to times which have deep historical values. Namibia’s key development provider has been the EU, even in times when a lot of countries have pulled out their support. Namibia does export a large amount of its agriculture and horticulture products to the EU. The country’s beef has a widely recognized status in the European market. An agreement has been signed between the countries of EU, Africa and the Caribbean and the Pacific group of states. This agreement does consist of agreed agendas and shared priorities. Namibia does enjoy market access to the EU because of its minimum duty requirement. But this factor would change if Namibia doesn’t sign the EPA agreement by 2015. 30 percent of the EU market consists of the country’s export. The EPA negotiations do focus mainly on strengthening country integration, development priority region wise, helping to build competitiveness for African companies and exporters, enhancing the agricultural sector etc.

Source: Newera

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