Search Results for: hong Kong

BY SWINEETHA DIAS WICKRAMANAYAKE
HONG Kong airport Chek Lap Kok’s second largest cargo handler Asia Airfreight Terminal (AAT) is to spend HK$1.5 billion (US$192 million) to double its capacity.

The company has appointed architects and engineering consultants to compete detailed expansion plans because the it is nearly using all of its current designated annual handling capacity of 500,000 tons.…

KEITH NUTHALL
CHINESE supermarket chain Wumart has secured the support of the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) in its drive to expand, establishing10 hypermarkets, 32 supermarkets and 152 convenience stores in China over the next two years. The IFC is to invest US$6.5 million in Wumart Stores Inc, supporting its international offering on the Growth Enterprise Market of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.…

BY MARK ROWE
THE MALAYSIAN Textile Manufacturers Association has warned that the country’s branded clothing industry could become extinct within 10 years because of the oncoming removal of the export quota system under the WTO’s Agreement on Textiles and Clothing. It particularly fears that this liberalisation will allow China, with its low labour costs, to dominate global export markets.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL in Paris, ALAN OSBORN in London, MARK ROWE in Singapore, ED PETERS and DON GASPER in Hong Kong, RICHARD HURST in Johannesburg, MONICA DOBIE and PHILIP FINE in Montreal, MATTHEW BRACE in Brisbane and ALEX SMAILES in Port of Spain.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
HONG Kong is free of the chicken flu that devastated its poultry industry last year, say Office International des Epizooties documents. Only five outbreaks of avian influenza virus strain H5N1 were detected in Hong Kong during December 2002 and this January and no further cases have been detected since January 31.…

BY MARK ROWE
IN the days of the Soviet Union, many millions of men and women had a choice of one state-manufactured brand of shampoo, toothpaste or soap. If anything, the authorities managed to limit even further access to such “indulgences” as perfume.…

BY EDWARD PETERS
DESPITE torrential rain in Hong Kong, seven-year-olds of all ages were queuing outside the city’s bookshops well before dawn on 21st June to snap up copies of ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’.

Retailers reported a near total sell-out of the fifth in the series by J.K.…

BY MATTHEW BRACE
THE CLUTCH of much-maligned offshore financial centres (OFCs) on remote Pacific islands have been swamped by so many accusations of impropriety, they are now struggling to stay afloat.

Labelled as palm-fringed, sun-drenched laundries for the world’s dirty money, these tiny island states and dependent territories are trying to fend off attempts by international organisations to excommunicate them from the global financial church.…

Keith Nuthall
WORLD Trade Organisation (WTO) wine and spirits rules of origin register talks chairman Eui-yong Chung, of South Korea, has released his draft proposal designed to end the long running negotiations. It tries to crystallise positions so a deal can be struck at the WTO TRIPs council, July 2-3.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A PHD in rocket science is not required to understand that corruption is a problem worldwide. But such a qualification – and more – would be required to devise an effective plan to fight this financial plague. The United Nations’ (UN) is drafting an international convention on corruption and asked a string of experts to write reports to illuminate some issues.…