Search Results for: Malaysia

BY WILL ROBERTSON, MARK ROWE and KEITH NUTHALL

THE ROBUST nature of the southeast Asian palm oil industry has been illustrated by the way the market has remained strong despite both the global recession and the arrival of weather phenomenon El Nino this year and its attendant drought conditions.…

BY WILLIAM BARNES

IN the good old days in south-east Asia, a market stallholder might hope to capture the neighbourhood cosmetics market with a simple range of soap, talc, lipstick (usually red) and cheap perfume.

The typical female routine was clean yourself, calm and whiten the face with talc, then add a dash of lipstick.…

BY MUNZA MUSHTAQ

SRI LANKA, which saw an end to its quarter-century-long war recently, is stepping up efforts against money laundering and terrorist financing by introducing technologically savvy software. The initiative is led by the Sri Lankan Banks Association (SLBA), which includes retail, commercial banks and licensed specialised banks.…

BY DEIRDRE MASON

UNDER- and over-invoicing is an effective means of money laundering that is proving to be a complex nut to crack for the agencies charged with tracking down fraud and its proceeds. Money launderers can move large sums between countries by undervaluing exports to a foreign destination or by overvaluing imports.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THERE has been an increase in the proportion of counterfeit shoes seized in Europe made in China – up to 93.4% of all seizures in 2008 – the European Commission has revealed. This was up from 79.6% the previous year.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

IN Chinese herbal medicine it is believed that the quality of the skin reflects the quality of a person’s health. With this in mind caring for the skin – both inside and out – has long been held in high esteem in China.…

By Bill Corcoran

Confirmation that critical portions of the new Seacom 17,000km undersea fibre optic cable linking Africa to Europe and India have been completed marked a momentous occasion for people involved in tertiary education in South Africa.

As universities around the world have become used to fast and affordable internet access that handles large volumes of data, South Africa’s higher education institutions have been left to languish in the connectivity dark ages due to a lack of telecommunications infrastructure.…

BY MARK ROWE

AIRLINES and airports are perfect carriers for infectious diseases and have helped swine flu to spread around the world within a matter of weeks, to the extent that it is now classified as the first pandemic of the 21st century.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE ORGANISATION for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Switzerland have staged a public row over Swiss bank secrecy.

In a highly undiplomatic letter to Hans-Rudolf Merz, the Swiss president, OECD secretary general Angel Gurría complained that "some Swiss officials have characterised the OECD as not having been fair to the Swiss government on…international cooperation on tax matters", and that he wanted to "prove the inaccuracy of such statements".…

BY MARK GODFREY

AUTOMOBILE sales are down slightly this year in Bangladesh, after a decade of dramatic growth in vehicle ownership. Fluctuating orders for the country’s export-dependent garments industry is depressing sales of vehicles, commented Shah Khaled Pavel, assistant manager for sales at Navana Ltd, Bangladesh’s largest dealership for new Toyota cars.…