Search Results for: japan

BY ROB GILHOOLY, IN TOKYO

When New Kansai International Airport Co. took over the operation of Japan’s partly state-run Kansai International Airport facility this April through a plan by the government to jump-start Japan’s air travel market, it also took on an estimated Japanese Yen JPY1.3 trillion (USD16.5 billion) in interest-bearing debt.…

BY JULIAN RYALL, IN KATO CITY, HYOGO PREFECTURE, JAPAN

JAPAN this week engaged with China at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over its restrictions on Chinese rare earth exports, but a Japanese electronics giant is taking matters into its own hands, with a major urban mining project.…

BY ALAN OSBORN, IN LONDON; AND JONATHAN DYSON, IN LIMA

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) executive the European Commission is hoping that the negotiation of new free trade agreements (FTAs) between the EU and Colombia and Peru will be the springboard for penetration by European auto-manufacturers into markets that have been pretty well off limits to them in the past.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

The World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) disputes settlement body today voted to establish a panel to assess whether China’s export restrictions on tungsten, molybdenum (and rare earths) are illegal under global trade law. The panel has been created in record time after the USA, European Union (EU) and Japan called for a special meeting of the disputes settlement body earlier this month to speed up its establishment – it would have been created in September otherwise.…

BY ALAN OSBORN, IN LONDON, AND JULIAN RYALL, IN TOKYO

EUROPE’S carmakers are setting out tough pre-conditions to anticipated negotiations between the European Union (EU) and Japan over a free trade agreement (FTA). The two sides have just finalised a "scoping exercise" setting out goals for an FTA and the EU auto sector is laying down some red lines, worried about unfair competition if European tariffs on Japanese autos are lowered or scrapped in a free trade deal.…

BY MARK GODFREY, IN BEIJING

Participating in the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) will help state-owned food distribution conglomerate the China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation (COFCO) grow sustainably and internationally said quality assurance manager Chen Zhigang.

He told a GFSI conference, in Beijing, the firm wants to grow its food exports, and this will be assisted by GFSI certification.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

INTERNATIONAL travel in the last decade has become exponentially more secure, with countries all around the globe having reformed their systems to cope with transnational crime in a post-9/11 world – largely, through the increased collection, processing and legislation of passenger information.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE CHINESE government used diplomatic manoeuvres today to postpone the establishment of a World Trade Organisation (WTO) disputes panel on claims its restrictions on rare earth, tungsten and molybdenum exports break global trade laws. It opposed its creation at a special meeting of the WTO’s disputes settlement body.…

BY BILL CORCORAN, IN CAPE TOWN

SOUTH Africa has deposits of rare earth elements (REEs) to rival that of Australia, and the country is poised to take advantage of this increasingly strategic resource, according to Mintek, the government’s mineral technology organisation.…

BY MARK GAO

A MIX of R&D, new capacity and government relations are helping international coatings companies stay on top in China’s booming coatings market, especially in the key niche market of specialist high-tech product. Promoting innovation in the Chinese market clearly helps and majors such as Dow Coating Materials (DCM) have the marketing clout to achieve this.…