Search Results for: hong Kong

BY ALAN OSBORN,ANCA GURZU and KEITH NUTHALL

THE GLOBAL trade in illicit tobacco is huge and growing and a significant source of dirty money worldwide. Tobacco multinational British American Tobacco (BAT) estimates that 6.3% of cigarettes worldwide are illicit products (either counterfeit, smuggled or sold domestically on the black market), which makes 332 billion sticks, and that is a lot of cigarettes.…

By Julian Ryall, in Tokyo  

International aid for emergencies comes in many forms, and necessity really can be the mother of invention amongst donors. Just ask the Japan-based World Instant Noodle Association: when disaster strikes - they send noodles.

And the world’s hungry and sick are happy that they do.

The association – whose acronym is WINA – draws donations from instant noodle producers and a disaster relief fund created by the late inventor of the instant noodle, Momofuku Ando, and former chairman of the International Ramen Manufacturers’ Association.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A YEAR of struggle would be the best way to sum up 2009 as far as the global clothing and textile industry is concerned. The depth and severity of the worldwide recession left many clothing and textile companies reeling, even impacting upon China, which had previously been dominating global markets.…

BY MARK GODFREY

AS CHINA’S stimulus-primed economy rebounds, increased local emphasis on environmental and quality specifications is playing into the hands of foreign brands like PPG Industries and Akzo Nobel.

"The whole industry is facing consolidation, changing needs from customers, and stricter environmental requirements," said Mike Horton, head of architectural coatings and automotive refinish coatings for the Asia Pacific region at PPG.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

ONE of the lynchpins of the European Union’s (EU) single market is its public procurement rules, which try to ensure pubic authorities, and some utilities and transmission operators, openly tender for their major purchases. The aim is that all EU suppliers have a fair crack of the whip in offering them goods and services.…

BY MARK GODFREY

The growth in cigarette sales is slowing slightly in China, which has also seen a shift towards premium product purchases and consolidation of what is the world’s largest tobacco industry. China sold 1.19 trillion cigarettes in the first six months of 2009, a 3.6% climb on the same period last year.…

BY DINAH GARDNER

BURMA is both a dream and a nightmare for energy companies. First, it is undoubtedly resource rich. According to the BP Statistical Review, the country had 0.49 million cubic metres (17.5 trillion cubic feet) of proven natural gas reserves at the end of 2008, roughly the same as Vietnam.…

BY ANDREW SALMON

AFTER passing the fortress-like medieval gate of Namdaemun, visitors enter central Seoul’s traditional shopping quarter: a jumbled maze of stalls and alleyways. A 15-minute walk through the raucous bustle of this 600-year old market, leads to its modern equivalent: The neon-lit, pedestrianised square mile of Myeong Dong.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has warned that the amount of counterfeit medicines being smuggled into the European Union (EU) is increasing sharply. In its latest report on fake products, it warns that when compared to 2007, there were 57% more interventions by EU customs teams to seize counterfeit drugs, and a "remarkable" 118% increase in the number of fake medicines seized – to 8.8 million items.…

BY ANDREW CAVE

WHO regulates money laundering at the stock exchange listings of companies around the world? If this is a beguilingly simplistic question, then the answer is anything but.

The reply depends not only upon which country one is referring to but also on which companies list in which market and in which stock exchange sector.…