Search Results for: Climate change

THE ANCIENT Celts has a saying: “To the brave belong all things.” And in business, this remains true. Companies prepared to take big risks, can reap big spoils. But they can also stumble into disaster. Such calculations are always made when foreign companies consider trading or investing in so-called ‘failed states’ or those at risk of failure.…

THE ASEAN Audit Regulators Group (AARG) and the big-four audit firms have agreed a measurable goal to improve audit quality within south-east Asia. The project involves Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand; along with Malaysia’s Audit Oversight Board, Indonesia’s Finance Professions Supervisory Centre, Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) and Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission.…

THE EUROPEAN Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has added paint and coating ingredient Bisphenol A (BPA) onto its candidate list of substances of very high concern (SVHCs), whose use could be made subject to special European Union (EU) authorisation under the REACH chemical control system.…

SOUTH Africa’s poultry industry is in crisis, according to local producers, who claim thousands of jobs will be lost because European Union (EU) countries are dumping less-in-demand chicken pieces from their markets onto the southern African nation’s market. 

Late last month (January) South Africa’s government subjected bone-in imported chicken to a 13.9% provisional safeguard duty until at least July 3 in a bid to stabilise the local industry and stave off major job losses in an already difficult economic climate.  …

EUROPEAN Union (EU) lawmakers are pushing for national regulators to put 20% of new car models released for driving through laboratory tests to check compliance with emissions standards, a demand that has spooked Europe’s automakers.

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) backed this 20% rule in a vote yesterday (Feb 9) in its key internal market and consumer protection committee on proposals to overhaul the EU’s type approval system.…

DATA released by the US department of agriculture (USDA) indicates that American ethanol releases 43% fewer greenhouse gases, (from production to consumption), than petrol made from fossil fuels. The research was published one week before President Donald Trump assumed office – he is a noted climate change sceptic.…

Enhancing the percentage of oil recovered from existing assets is a no-brainer for countries that want to maximise economic gains from their oil reserves.

In an era of apparently ‘lower for longer’ oil prices, it is high up the agenda for oil companies and governments.…

South Korea’s Deputy Prime Minister Yoo Il-ho has confirmed that his government has begun drafting a talent-based immigration system to serve as a key driver of economic competitiveness in the future. According to Yoo, the Office for Government Policy Coordination (OPC) has created a task force to counter the country’s demographic changes and plans to produce mid and long-term immigration policies in the first half of the year.…

INDONESIAN human resources departments are having to adapt to a growing challenge – an increase in the number of Indonesians returning home to work in the world’s fourth most populous nation and Southeast Asia’s biggest economy by far.

The continued economic rise of this archipelago nation of 250 million people has been accompanied by a wave of returning Indonesians who have received years of university education or job training in faraway places such as the US, the UK, continental Europe and Australia.…

USA coatings manufacturers are innovating hard to maintain their global competitive edge in smart products, with companies developing products that change colour with the seasons, absorb odours and toxins, and respond to humidity, pH and other environmental stimuli.

“Smart coatings are all about stimulus and response,” said Dr Jamil Baghdachi, professor of polymer technology at Eastern Michigan University.…