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The European Commission this week opened the way for universities, research organisations and businesses to apply for a share of its massive Euro 80 billion Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme but questions have already been raised over whether the proposed selection procedures will be good enough to reduce complaints about awards, as Brussels hopes.…

THE GOVERNMENT of South Korea is expected to announce a new corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standard this coming year, which could increase target performance to 20km/liter, wardsauto has learnt. A senior official at the transportation energy team of the Korea Energy Management Corporation (KEMCO) expects the change to have a positive impact on the industry by encouraging manufacturers to develop more fuel efficient vehicles, including hybrids, electrics, and clean diesels.…

A new on-line service was launched this week by the European Commission together with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), to help universities better understand their place in today’s market-oriented world by measuring how entrepreneurial they are. The initiative, HEInnovate, is a self-assessment tool enabling universities to assess their performance in seven areas: leadership and governance, organisational capacity, teaching and learning, pathways for entrepreneurs, university-business exchange, the internationalised institution, and impact measurement.…

By Paul Cochrane, in Beirut  Going by overall figures of new cars sold, the automotive sector is doing surprisingly well in the current economic environment, up 4.33 percent in the first eight months of the year on 2012, and in comparative terms, above the GDP forecast of 1.6 percent for 2013. Furthermore, the figures are up on last year’s August results, which grew by 7.6 percent on 2011, and the 2.1 percent growth reported in the same period in 2010. But the sector is far from being in good health and bucking the downward trend in much of the rest of the economy.

Lump new car sales with the larger used car market, which accounts for around 60 percent of total sales, and overall sales are down 7 percent on last year, according to the Automobile Importers Association.

Yet while a drop in second-hand car sales is a boon to dealerships – and an environmental plus when it comes to the country’s carbon emissions, with fewer fuel-inefficient clunkers on the roads – the market has gone through a radical change in recent years that can be summed up in one word: downsizing.…

THE LIBERALISATION taking place in Myanmar has been making the global textile and clothing sector excited about the country’s thus far untapped potential to export indigenous and mainstream textiles. Aung Min, research director of the business insight and social insight department at the Myanmar Marketing Research and Development Co.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik today revealed the EU’s long-awaited plan to reduce the 8 billion plastic bags that the European Commission believes are “littering” Europe today.  He has proposed altering the EU’s packaging and packaging waste directive so member states have a commitment to reduce consumption of single-use plastic bags.…

Finnish steel maker Outokumpu has told Steel First that it still hopes to finish its sale of Italian steel subsidiary Acciai Terni Speciali (Terni) by the end of this year, saying talks should take another “six to eight weeks”.

Outokumpu vice president for communications Saara Tahvanainen said: “Discussions continue with a number of interested parties.…

THE RECENTLY concluded Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the European Union (EU) and Canada may bring opportunities for European producers of Oriental tobacco, Antonio Abrunhosa, chief executive of the International Tobacco Growers’ Association (ITGA) has told Tobacco Journal International.…

You’ve only got to read the annual reports of the major oil and gas companies to know that sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are part of the industry’s stock-in-trade these days. No company that values its global reputation or cares about its standing with foreign governments is going to ignore them.…

THE SECRETARY General of the European Livestock and Meat Trading Union (UECBV) has welcomed the proposed reorientation of the European Union’s (EU) food marketing promotional budget towards exports.

Jean-Luc Mériaux was speaking to globalmeatnews.com after the European Commission announced last week (Nov 21) it wanted to revise its food marketing system, increasing its annual budget from Euro EUR61.5 million this year (2013) to EUR200 million in 2020.…