Search Results for: united nations⊂mit=Search

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut

THE COSMETICS and toiletries market in the Middle East is booming with 12% growth expected this year in a US$2.1 billion sector. Market trends differ from country to country, but the general trend is rising demand for European cosmetics over local products in the wealthier Arab countries, largely due to aggressive marketing campaigns by the major brands, and high demand for unregistered, fake brand name perfumes in countries with sizeable low-income populaces, such as Egypt, Lebanon and Syria.…

BY MARK ROWE

NANOTECHNOLOGY, though in its infancy, is already having an influential bearing on the international drinks market. According to a study by consultant Helmut Kaiser, latest available figures indicate that worldwide sales of nanotechnology products to the food and beverage packaging sector jumped to US$860 million (Euro 687.5 million) in 2004 from US$150 million (Euro 120 million) in 2002.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

RUSSIA has sent another threat to Europe over gas supplies, undermining its reputation as a potential reliable energy partner for its western neighbours. Semyon Vainshtok, the president of Russia pipeline monopoly Transneft has told the daily newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta that Russia has "overfed Europe with crude".…

BY MATTHEW BRACE

INDONESIA’S paint and coatings industry continues to develop, with growth in sectors being led by increases in exports of furniture, and the introduction of new coatings products and systems.

Overall increased domestic demand for paints and coatings in Indonesia has led some companies to expand.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut

OVER the last five years the Middle East and North Africa region has firmly joined the global effort to fight money laundering and terrorist financing by setting up national financial intelligence units and a regional watchdog, the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENA-FATF).…

BY DEIRDRE MASON

FROM the scorching heat of Kenya’s northern border with the Sudan to the unforgiving conditions of Afghanistan, International Red Cross nurse Jenny Hayward-Karlsson has seen it all during a varied and challenging 20-year career working in the world’s war zones.…

BY JULIAN RYALL, in Tokyo

THE HEADLINES in the Japanese press in recent months are likely to have

piqued the interest of anyone looking for a destination where ill-gotten

gains can be made to appear legitimate, let alone the concern of global

money-laundering authorities.…

BY JULIAN RYALL, in Tokyo

OSAKA, Japan-based Sumitomo Electrical Industries Ltd has got a foot in the door of the German automobile wiring harness market with its purchase of Volkswagen Bordnetze GmbH.

Approved by the European Commission, using its authority over international mergers affecting Europe, the cost of the deal is not being announced, but the Japanese company believes the acquisition will allow it to broaden its business throughout Europe.…

BY MONICA DOBIE

HARLEQUIN Books in the United States has launched a serialised version of its steamy romantic novels that can be read on a mobile phone.

Harlequin On the Go, is an e-book that can be read on mobiles in 5-10 minute snippets, intended to be read daily while waiting in between appointments or while travelling.…

STORIES BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is pressing for the continuation of existing international noise regulations governing whether a new car model is approved by industry regulators, while data is amassed on a proposed replacement rule. The move represents an unusual spat between rule makers for the auto industry, with the Commission publicly criticising the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s (UNECE) section on world-wide auto technical standards.…