Search Results for: United Nations

A detailed memorandum of understanding has been signed by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the Bangladesh government, aimed at improving safety standards in the south Asian country’s shipbreaking sector.

While scrapping 8.8 million tonnes of materials – mostly steel – annually for re-use, this Bangladeshi industry has been criticised to failing to impose effective safety and environmental standards, with chemicals spilling onto beaches, sometimes harming workers.…

Bangladesh steel makers are anticipating a rush of orders with the country beefing up efforts to implement new generation infrastructure projects involving billions of dollars. Government data indicates that more than USD13 billion will be invested in projects whose construction is planned over the next 10 years, ranging from a metro railway in the capital Dhaka, to elevated expressways, a deep-sea port and an underwater road tunnel in the southeastern port city of Chittagong.…

TURKEY is the Middle East’s largest oilseed producer, but domestic demand outstrips supply despite efforts to boost production. In olive oil, Turkey is increasing production and exports, being the fifth largest producer globally, with the sector valued at USD500 million, according to Tariş Zeytin ve Zeytinyağı – the union of olive and olive oil co-operatives.…

A FREE trade agreement signed between Canada and South Korea could see increased investment by the nuclear fuel hungry Korea in Canada’s abundant uranium resources.

The agreement – inked on March 11, and Canada’s first with an Asian country – lays down rules on how South Korean investments should be made in Canada, with a focus on boosting transparency and predictability, according to a note from the Canadian government Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).…

RUSSIA has today (Monday April 7) effectively extended its African Swine Fever (ASF)-justified ban to include processed pork meat products from Poland and Lithuania, two Polish members of the European Parliament (MEP) have revealed.

Speaking during a meeting of the European Parliament’s committee on agriculture held today in Brussels, the Polish centre-right MEP Czesław Adam Siekierski said that last week the Russian Veterinary Office released an order saying it would ban processed pork meat products coming from Lithuania and Poland as of April 7, extending the existing Russian ban on fresh pigmeat products from the whole European Union (EU).…

Despite being a traditional livestock country, Afghanistan is no longer self-sufficient due to more than three decades of conflict and is now dependent on meat imports. Afghanistan imports of chicken and cattle have exploded between 2002 and 2011, according to the UN’s Food & Agriculture Organisation.…

NEPAL pashmina fibre is “exotically delicate, weightless and the finest natural insulation fibre of the world,” according to the Nepal Pashmina Industries Association’s (NPIA) general secretary Vijoy Kumar Dugar. This reputation has helped Nepal producers carve out a niche markets for pashmina knitwear and traditional shawl exports.…

ONE of the warmest fibres used in knitwear across the world is also – unsurprisingly – one of the rarest and most expensive, making the manufacturing of ‘qiviuk’ garments from musk ox wool a true art. Harvested from the soft underfur of this High Arctic musk ox, qiviuk fibre is long, does not shrink when washed and lacks the scales that makes sheep wool itchy.…

THREE dimensional (3D) technology – while well established in many other industrial sectors like aerospace, architecture and industrial design – is still relatively new to the fashion industry. Analysts are describing it as ‘disruptive’ technology, capable of transforming the way apparel companies do business, from prototyping and pattern making using 3D models to the creation of 3D digital catalogues and a range of customer centric services based on 3D body scanning and sizing.…

SYDNEYSIDERS are proud of Sir Charles Edward Kingsford Smith, the Australian aviator who in 1928 made the first trans-Pacific flight from the United States to his home country, but they are less impressed, though, with the airport that carries the pilot’s name.…