GEORGE TOWN: A PROPOSAL has been mooted to restore the free port status of Penang to boost international tourism investments.

It is learnt that the proposal has been forwarded to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop and chairman of Tourism Malaysia Datuk Dr Victor Wee Eng Lye.

“Discussions are ongoing to make Penang a tourist haven and complement Langkawi’s free port status,” a source told the New Straits Times.

The source said the free port status for Penang is part of a move to improve the tourism appeal of both Penang and Langkawi and attract high-net investors to both islands.

via Proposal to restore Penang free port status – Top News – New Straits Times.

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He also called for achieving reconciliation and matching by African various African blocs in order to achieve African free trade zone.

Minister Eissa urged African countries to support all efforts to facilitate African inter-trade.

Eissa called as well for strengthening African business organization and the involvement of the private sector in carrying out the trade exchange programs. The world economic forum started Thursday in Addis Ababa with 700 African dignitaries taking part.

Egypt‘s delegation was headed by Dr. Mohamed Eissa, Industry and Foreign Trade Minister deputizing for Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).

Eissa gave a speech on means to give a push to the African trade Agenda. He met after the inaugural session with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi who expressed his country’s keenness to cement strategic relations between Egypt and Ethiopia.

Eissa held several meetings with officials of a number of Egyptian companies operating in the Ethiopian market. He also met, on the sidelines of his participation in the World Economic Forum, with Egyptian members of the Egyptian-Ethiopian Business Council.

During his talks with the companies’ officials, Eissa discussed ways of boosting economic cooperation between Egypt and Ethiopia within the upcoming phase.

The two sides also tackled the obstacles which hinder the increase of investments either in Egypt or Ethiopia.

via Egypt State Information Service.

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The storm clouds are gathering once again. After a brief reprieve, the global picture is again starting to look nervous reminding us that the ghost of the 2008 financial crisis is still with us. Crucial elections this past weekend in Greece and France have pushed Europe back into uncertain times. A highly fractured mandate in Greece has thrown the nation into turmoil and a shift of power in France has raised questions over the fate of the European fiscal austerity pact.

The result has been a sharp rise in risk aversion across global markets this week. On Tuesday, the benchmark equity index in Greece tumbled to the lowest levels in 20 years. Greece was not the only market to tumble. France, Germany, Italy all saw a sell-off in equities reflecting the nervousness that has once again gripped equity investors who seem to be shunning risk assets. For India, this does not bode well. Global investors, rightly or wrongly, tend to bunch risk assets together. And so a risk-averse environment is unlikely to leave India untouched.

The return of risk aversion is evident in the bond markets as well. As investors sought safety, money returned to US treasuries and German bunds which are now seen among the safest assets available. German bund yields, which move inversely to prices, have dipped this week. At the same time, US managed to sell 3-year treasuries at the lowest yield in 3 months – a reflection of strong demand for these “safe assets”. This is bad news for capital flows coming into India through portfolio investment. Investors may not pullout money from Indian equity markets but they may not bring in any fresh money either.

The currency markets are seeing a ripple effect as well. As talk of a possible Greece exit picked up once again, the Euro tumbled. The Euro fell below 1.30/$ – a level that the single currency has held on to since January. The fall in the Euro has a direct bearing on all emerging market currencies including the Rupee. As the Dollar strengthens, all currencies adjust to the strength in the Dollar. And so the Rupee has fallen back towards 53.50/$ despite strong intervention from the Reserve Bank of India just last Friday. In the light of the Euro fall, it seems futile for the Reserve Bank of India to try and defend the currency especially at a time when forex reserves are anything but abundant. Yet the markets do expect the RBI to continue supporting the Rupee to some extent.

In all of this, the silver lining may lie in the decline in commodity prices. As concerns around the global economy rise, commodity prices have fallen as well. So crude oil prices have slipped to their lowest levels in 6 months. This comes as a relief to a country like India which is grappling with a wide current account deficit. A large chunk of our import bill is on account of oil imports and even a marginal decrease in oil prices is positive for India. Unfortunately some of the benefits of lower oil prices are taken away by the weaker currency. Still lower commodity prices are perhaps the only silver lining in an otherwise worrying global scenario.

All eyes are now on Europe but also on economic data from the US. Will the political turmoil is Greece die down? How well will France’s new leadership work with the German leadership? And will economic data suggest a moderation in the US economy? Will the appetite for risk assets among global investors return? All questions that will remain crucial for India and indian investors in the days ahead.

via Global economy: What gloom means for India, Sensex, rupee.

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HONG KONG/JAKARTA May 4 Reuters – New Indonesian taxes on metals and curbs on shipment of raw minerals are likely to hit exports of nickel and bauxite to China, an industry source said on Friday, highlighting concerns over the impact of the policy on Southeast Asias biggest economy.Jakarta aims to boost investment in domestic ore processing to lift exports of higher-value finished metals by the G20 economy through the new rules which come into force on Sunday.

The resource-rich nation is imposing a 20 percent tax on some m etal ore exports and will prohibit shipments of raw minerals unless miners submit plans to build smelters.

The rules are likely to affect less than a third of Indonesias metal exports but are a precursor to a total ban on raw material exports by 2014.

Around 10,000 holders of mining business permits , mostly small-scale miners in the worlds top nickel miner and tin producer, will be required to produce plans of how they will process and smelt ores within Indonesia ahead of 2014, or face a ban on exporting from Sunday.

“Chinas imports of nickel laterite ores from Indonesia may fall sharply after May, which would force Chinese nickel-pig-iron producers to cut production as ore prices rise,” said a trade manager at a nickel pig iron producer in China, which has two ships at an Indonesian port trying to leave by Sunday.Indonesia supplied around 80 percent of Chinas nickel and 53 percent of its bauxite last year, according to PwC data.

via Indonesia tax on metals risks China shipments | Agricultural Commodities | Reuters.

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European Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht and Trade Undersecretary Adrian S. Cristobal, Jr. met earlier this month on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEAN 20th summit in Phnom Penh to discuss the general contents of the upcoming bilateral deal.

“We discussed the chapters in the EPA economic partnership agreement. They wanted additional chapters to the agreement such as government procurement, environment, labor, intellectual property rights, competition, and human rights,” Mr. Cristobal said on the sidelines of a press briefing with the Trade department.

“On our part, we said we were looking at greater market access, development cooperation, trade in service, and more trade facilitation activities,” he added.

The informal meeting with Mr. De Gucht came ahead of an upcoming scoping exercise for the EU-Philippines free trade agreement FTA. Scoping exercises, as a prelude to formal FTA negotiations, are conducted to determine which industry sectors, regulatory policies, economic and business laws, and government procedures can and will be covered by the terms of the FTA.

In a related development, the Trade department has commissioned from the Philippine Institute of Development Studies an impact study on the upcoming bilateral agreement.

Results of the study are expected to come out in June, Mr. Cristobal said. The study is intended to guide the Trade department’s initiatives to pursue another round of private sector and government consultations on the FTA.Meanwhile, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority PEZA is eyeing more European investments in the business process outsourcing BPO, according to a statement released yesterday.

“We hope that even more EU investors will make use of the PEZA’s business-friendly environment in the future,” the statement quoted PEZA Director-General Lilia B. de Lima as saying during a meeting with EU ambassadors yesterday.

The EU diplomats visited Vestas Services Philippines, Inc., a European BPO company specializing in renewable energy located in the PEZA zone in Makati City.

via Free trade deal talks pressed | BusinessWorld Online Edition.