Search Results for: South Africa

BY MARK ROWE
THE CHAIRMAN of General Motors China has warned that neighbouring south-east Asia’s home grown car industry will in future find itself squeezed by stiff competition from the emerging giant next door. China’s expanding middle class, robust economic growth and low rates of vehicle ownership means that car makers in south-east Asian countries such as Thailand will be hard pressed to compete in the growing Chinese market, according to Phil Murtaugh, chairman of General Motors China.…

MARK ROWE
MALAYSIA is calling for a review of plans to cut tariffs across south-east Asia, claiming that lower tariffs will affect its car production, particular the Proton series. The south-east Asian country has been given until 2005 to bring tariffs on imported cars down to between zero and five per cent, two years later than other key members of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA).…

BY SWINEETHA DIAS WICKRAMANAYAKA
AN INDIAN cobbler wants a place in the Guinness Book of Records, after creating what he claims is the world’s largest pair of shoes. At 3.71 metres and 1.13 metres wide, James Syiemiong is unlikely to find a customer, unless a yeti moves from the Himalayas to his home-district Shillong, in Meghalaya, south of Assam.…

BY MARK ROWE
JAPANESE companies Tomen and Toyota Tsusho are to supply four million tons annually of high quality low-sulphur from the Australian company Oakbridge Ltd to fuel a controversial coal-fired power plant in Thailand. The coal has been chosen because it contains significantly less sulphur than domestic coal used in Thailand and should minimise sulphur oxide emissions.…

BY MATTHEW BRACE
MCDONALD’S has begun testing Australian beef in the previously all-American burgers it has supplied in its homeland. A shortage of cheap, lean beef has forced the company to mix Australian beef with US meat. The new multinational patties will trial in 400 outlets across the south-west US.…

BY MATTHEW BRACE
AUSTRALIAN scientists have produced a virtual 3-D tour of a stretch of ocean floor, which they claim could help geologists discover oil and gas deposits. The data, which will soon be available via the Internet, reveals canyons 1,000m deep and submarine mountain ranges to the south east of Australia.…

BY SWINEETHA DIAS WICKRAMANAYAKA
A SPECIALITY Sri Lankan brewer has dug into the colonial heritage of his south Asian island by launching a heavily hopped dark beer that he is marketing as 3C Irish Dark. The CEO of the Three Coins Beer Company Lasath Suriyapperuma says that the brew is smooth on the palate and has a reddish tinge.…

BY SWINEETHA DIAS WICKRAMANAYAKA
A MEMORANDUM of Understanding has been signed by nine south Asian electricity utilities regarding the promotion of regional cooperation in energy development. As a result, utilities from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives and Nepal will share information on best practice regarding energy generation and management.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
PRINTING equipment and supplies imported from the United States are to be a focus of retaliatory tariffs imposed by the European Union following the erection of controversial ‘safeguard’ duties by Washington to protect its steel industry.

The European Commission has announced that it is asking EU ministers to approve a selected range of products, where the levying of duty will cause the most pain to US exporters, in a bid to try and force the Bush administration to lift its tariffs.…

BY MONICA DOBIE, in Montreal
CANADIAN casual clothing retailer Au Coton Inc has announced that it is insolvent and will be restructured under bankruptcy legislation, owing creditors more than CAN$23 million.

It is not yet confirmed how many of the 140 stores across the country will be affected.…