Farmers claim UK, Jordan boycotting Israeli fruit

Farmers claim UK, Jordan boycotting Israeli fruit

Fruit growers disappointed by canceled orders from abroad, leaving produce to rot in warehouses

Yair Hason
Published: 01.16.09, 07:37 / Israel Money

Fruit growers in Israel have reported delays and reductions in orders from abroad since the military operation in Gaza was launched, due to various boycotts against Israeli produce.

Farmers say much of their produce is being held in warehouses due to canceled orders, and fear a sharp decrease in fruit exports to countries such as Jordan, Britain, and the Scandinavian countries.

"We export persimmons, and because of the fighting a number of countries and distributors are canceling orders," Giora Almagor, of the southern town of Bitzaron, told Ynet. He said some of the produce had already been shipped while some was awaiting shipment in warehouses.

Almagor said a large number of cancellations came from Jordan. "The produce stays packed in warehouses, and this is causing us massive losses," he said.

"The longer the fruit waits in storage after sorting, the more its quality decreases. We also have to pay for cooling the merchandise that should have already left, and the cost in considerable," he added.

Ilan Eshel, director of the Organization of Fruit Growers in Israel, said Scandinavian countries have also been canceling orders. "It's mostly Sweden, Norway, and Denmark," he said. "In Scandinavia the tendency is general, and it may come to include all of the chains."

Eshel says the boycott did not exist before the Gaza offensive was launched. "It's getting worse, and more voices can be heard calling to boycott Israeli merchandise," he said. "Until the operation began we had excellent business, though the economic recession in Europe was causing a slight fall in the market."

He added that winter was an especially difficult season to be unable to export fruit, because the avocado, persimmon, and citrus markets are at their height.

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チェルシー売却か　オーナー、金融危機で多額損失

　【ロンドン18日共同】サッカーのイングランド・プレミアリーグ、チェルシーのオーナーであるロシアの富豪アブラモビッチ氏が、同クラブの売却先を探していることが18日、分かった。英紙タイムズなどが報じた。

　同氏は、金融危機の影響で多額の損失を被ったといわれており、2003年に約6000万ポンド（約80億円）で買い取った名門クラブの売却検討を迫られたとみられる。売却額は８億ポンドになるとの観測もある。

　チェルシー側は「事実無根」と否定しているが、報道によると、アブラモビッチ氏は、アラブ首長国連邦（ＵＡＥ）のドバイなどで「サウジアラビアの王族」と会合を持った。ＵＡＥの投資開発会社が昨年、マンチェスター・シティーを買収しており、中東産油国で有力な売却先を物色したもようだ。

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Singapore may tap reserves amid recession

By John Burton in Singapore

Published: January 19 2009 06:36 | Last updated: January 19 2009 06:36

Singapore has signalled that it will adopt a carrot-and-stick approach in dealing with possible public unrest as the city-state enters would could be its worst post-war recession by increasing spending and tightening laws against political protests.

Goh Chok Tong, Singapore’s senior minister, suggested that the government will tap government reserves for the first time to increase spending in this year’s budget in an effort to save jobs.

Singapore normally uses its multi-billion-dollar reserves for investments, but a recent constitutional change would allow the government to dip into the funds for emergency spending.

”We’ve always said, ’the reserves are for a rainy day.’ If this is not a rainy day, I don’t know what is,” said Mr Goh, who served as prime minister for 14 years until 2004. He called the economic situation ”very bad.” Economists predict the economy could contract by nearly 3 per cent this year.

The government also unveiled plans to crack down on acts of civil disobedience, with a new law expected to be in place before Singapore hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November, said Wong Kan Seng, the home minister. Police would be given pre-emptive powers to prevent people gathering at important government buildings, he said.

Although Singapore is known for imposing strict limits on public assembly, banning those of five people or more, Mr Wong claimed that current laws were inadequate in dealing with civil disobedience actions. ”This cannot go on,” he said.

The move appears aimed at curbing the Singapore Democratic party, the most outspoken of the opposition groups, which has focused on the issues of growing income inequality and restrictions on civil liberties by staging civil disobedience acts.

Chee Soon Juan, the SDP leader, embarrassed the government by staging a sit-in that drew international media attention during Singapore’s hosting of the International Monetary Fund annual meeting in 2006.

Two SDP supporters were arrested last week for holding a protest over the deportation of two Burmese activists working in the city-state who demonstrated during the Asean summit in Singapore in 2007.

The SDP is in danger of being wound up after Dr Chee was convicted last year of defaming senior government leaders, but said he was unable to pay the damages.

The court case provoked controversy after SDP supporters wore T-shirts showing a kangaroo dressed in a judge’s robe during the defamation trial. They were later jailed after refusing to apologise.

The defamation case caused the Asian Wall Street Journal to publish an editorial that questioned the independence of the Singapore judicial system. It was fined S$25,000 for contempt of court.

Winston Woon, the Singapore attorney-general, warned at the opening of the supreme court’s annual session this month that the government would not tolerate criticism ”casting aspirations on the integrity of judges” because it threatens to undermine their authority.

Such attacks are ”part of a broader campaign to force a change in laws by extra-legal means,” said Mr Woon, referring to civil disobedience acts.

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BAE to retain focus on US

By Sylvia Pfeifer, Defence Industries Correspondent

Published: January 17 2009 02:00 | Last updated: January 17 2009 02:00

Ian King, chief executive of BAE Systems, Europe's largest defence contractor, said he will continue his predecessor's strategy of expanding in the lucrative US defence market, highlighting the security sector as one area of particular interest.

In his first public comments since taking over from Mike Turner last summer, Mr King told the Financial Times the company's strategy would continue to be "a mix of organic growth and acquisitions" and that BAE would "continue to buy in the US".

He highlighted security as a likely area of expansion, noting that BAE last year bought Detica, a UK-based specialist provider of security technology. The acquisition marked the company's first significant foray into homeland security.

BAE is in a strong position to hit the acquisition trail. The company, which generates about 50 per cent of its revenues in the US, is in robust financial health with estimated net cash of several hundred million pounds. Analysts expect this to increase to about £1bn during the course of the coming year because of its strong operating performance.

Mr King said he also saw opportunities to expand BAE's land business, which has benefited from strong orders in the US for mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles in countries such as Saudi Arabia and Australia.

He said his main concern is the medium-term impact of financial bail-outs. Governments in the US and the UK have spent billions rescuing financial services groups that have been hit by the credit crunch.

Defence was a "successful sector" and could be "a great stimulant for the economy", he said.

"We are the people who can contract and place work with suppliers," he added.

In the UK BAE continued to talk with the government about the need to protect the existing defence budget.

The Ministry of Defence has been in a state of budgetary turmoil as the cost to Britain of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken their toll. Industry experts have estimated the MoD faces a budget deficit of about £2bn at the end of this financial year and even cutbacks to key procurement programmes have failed to balance its books.

The Society of British Aerospace Companies last year criticised the government's failure to include the UK defence industry in its pre-Budget report detailing investment in infrastructure projects.

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Port in a storm

By Kerin Hope

Published: January 17 2009 02:00 | Last updated: January 17 2009 02:00

Archaeologist Teo Rokov watches intently as a mechanical digger raises a bucket of soil from a building site in Varna's Grtska Mahala, or Greek Quarter. Mixed in with the earth he spots fragments of medieval pottery. "This is plain old household stuff but you never know," he says. "We track every construction project in this neighbourhood. If something important comes up the developer covers the cost of a full-scale excavation."

The scene is indicative of life in Bulgaria's largest Black Sea port, which was settled two-and-a-half millennia ago by colonists from Miletus, a Greek city on the Asia Minor coast and is now, as the country's second fastest growing city, coping with a big influx of new residents.

Originally, and for centuries under Greek, Roman and Turkish rule, Varna was a hub for traders shipping salted fish, grain, furs and gold to the Mediterranean and beyond. By the early 1900s Armenians, Jews and Bulgarians had joined Greek merchants and many took part in a grand urban revival of the city, launched by King Ferdinand. New mansions designed by Italian architects were painted in pastel colours appropriate to a fashionable European resort with a pier, wooden bathing huts and a Sea Garden (a stretch of parkland planted with rare trees under the supervision of a renowned Czech botanist and landscaper).

Communism followed and, after that, a gritty transition period, including shootings of local mobsters in crowded seaside cafés. But, according to residents, a group of ex-Bulgarian marines nicknamed the "Varna Seals" eventually managed to expel members of the Russian, Chechen, Ukrainian and Georgian mafias vying for control of the port and the city's underground economy. And today "you can stroll around the centre late at night without problems," says Agap Agapov, a restaurant owner in Grtska Mahala.

Varna now draws about 30,000 new residents a year and it was recently rated Bulgaria's "best city to live in" for the second year running in a poll carried out by Darik Radio, a private station, and 24 Chasa, a national newspaper. Students from three local universities support a lively bar and music scene and in summer the city's seafront promenade fills up with visitors from the capital, Sofia, western European tourists bussed in from nearby resorts for a day's sightseeing and increasing numbers of Russians, Ukrainians and Romanians, whose own Black Sea coastlines are less hospitable than Bulgaria's.

The country has been hit by energy shortages this month following Russia's cut-off of gas supplies to Europe. But the Bulgarian government has now asked the European Union for €400m to build a link with an alternative Turkish-Greek pipeline and Varna itself plans to consider the possibility of building a liquefied natural gas terminal.

Transport links to the city have already been improving, with gradual upgrades to the highway to Sofia, a five-hour drive away, and more freqent air connections via Bulgaria Air, which runs three flights daily to the capital in winter and four in summer. Fraport, a German company, is now running the city airport under a 35-year concession, investing in a runway refurbishment and expanded terminal facilities, and several international airlines, including low-cost operators, now fly to Varna from European hubs.

A new city masterplan, due to be launched this year, will be a 21st-century take on King Ferdinand's grand scheme. Among other projects, the commercial port will be moved to a new site on an inland lagoon to the west of the city, opening up space for what would become the Black Sea's largest and best-equipped marina. "The new masterplan will allow for a major redevelopment of the port site," says Delyan Dimitrov, of Address, a Bulgarian estate agency. "There'll be luxury homes, hotels, restaurants - in effect a whole new neighbourhood within a stone's throw of the Grtska Mahala."

For now, the Greek Quarter remains one of the most attractive areas to live, with some of the city's highest property prices, ranging from €2,200 per sq metre for an apartment in a communist-era four-storey block (the maximum height permitted) to €3,000 per sq metre for one in a renovated mansion or a new building with a view of the sea.

Living spaces tend to be compact, with studios running to 50-60 sq metres including the balcony, and 100-120 sq metre apartments deemed a comfortable size for four-member families. Many dilapidated buildings still await refurbishment but the quarter is beloved both by old-timers, such as Agapov, who serves fresh fish from the ground floor of his family home in a space once occupied by his grandfather's tailoring workshop, as well as new arrivals, such as diving instructor Iasen Ivanchev, who will soon move into an attic apartment one block from the seafront.

"The neighbourhood is changing; a lot of newcomers to Varna have bought homes here. But I wouldn't live anywhere else," Agapov says.

"There's a real sense of community," Ivanchev adds. "You can walk everywhere and you wake up in the morning to the sound of seagulls calling."

But there are downsides to living in the Grtska Mahala, including increased traffic, more street noise than in the suburbs and a shortage of parking spaces, with only a handful of new, high-end buildings having underground garages. "When I was growing up here we played street games all the time. It wasn't quite the same for my daughter," says Darina Ivanova, a colleague of Ivanchev, who moved to the neighbourhood as a child.

As a result, some Varna residents opt for less historic neighbourhoods outside the city. The brand-new suburb of Briz has, for example, sprung up across a wooded hillside 5km north of the centre. It boasts panoramic views of the sea and attractive apartment buildings close to the Sea Garden.

The area has developed so fast that it will be another year before access roads and street lighting are completed. But prices for a top-floor apartment with a sea view have doubled in the past two years to about €1,600-2,200 per sq metre and are expected to rise marginally this year in spite of the global economic crisis. "We expect some homeowners in Briz will want to cash in their profits this year, so there'll be opportunities to buy on the secondary market," says Evgeni Zlatev, Varna office manager for estate agency Bulgarian Properties.

Jon White, a British software developer who has created a global property portal, and his Estonian wife, Maarika, moved to Varna from the UK four years ago. Last year they sold a property in the city centre and moved to a top-floor apartment in Briz, a five-minute walk from the beach. "It's nice and quiet but we have amenities like a good restaurant across the way and a first-rate supermarket just down the road. You can walk or bicycle into town through the Sea Garden," he says.

Their neighbour is Boryana Shikova, a Varna native who came back to the city after working as a corporate lawyer in New York and London. She used her savings to buy off-plan in Briz. "It's turned out [to be] a better investment than I could ever have hoped for," she says. "I feel privileged to live in a place where I can sit on the balcony at night and the only lights are of the ships in the bay."

Newly developed suburbs to the south of Varna include Asparuhovo, overlooking a sandy beach that curves east to the wooded cliffs of Cape Galata. Once a dormitory district for workers at the city shipyard complete with Soviet-style tower blocks and the site of undeveloped military property, it is now rapidly moving upmarket.

Vladimir Berov, a builder who works on short-term contracts in France and Holland, and his wife, Dobromira, are among the area's newest residents, having bought an apartment ready for renovation in a block close to the municipality's seaside park. "We moved here because we thought it a good place to live and it's going to get better," Berov says.

Just south of Asparuhovo local developer Bord, has launched a three-building luxury complex called Varna South Bay that is designed for full-time residents - although second-home buyers are likely to be interested too. Yuri Pavlov, a Bord executive, says the aim is to create a dynamic community with easy access to schools and the city via public transport. The 830 apartments range from large studios to duplex penthouses, all with terraces, and prices range from €1,700-€2,500 per sq metre. There will be swimming pools, shops and mini-markets, a 1,000 sq metre fitness centre, a medical facility and underground parking, with a marina and ferry service planned for the development's second phase.

"We expect that most buyers will be foreigners but some will certainly rent to Bulgarians," Pavlov says.

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UBS buys AIG’s commodity index business

By Haig Simonian in Zurich

Published: January 19 2009 08:12 | Last updated: January 19 2009 08:12

UBS on Monday announced that it would buy the commodity index business of AIG, the struggling US insurer, after it spent the past two months divesting non-core commodities activities.

The Swiss banking group said it would pay $15m to AIG Financial Products for its commodity index businesses, including rights to the DJ-AIG commodity index. The latter is one of the two leading commodity indices of its kind, alongside Rogers International.

AIG’s commodity index business is composed of a platform of commodity index swap products and funded notes, based on the benchmark Dow Jones AIG commodity Index. UBS said the acquired products were highly complementary to its own UBS-Bloomberg Constant Maturity commodity indices.

The purchase comes just after last week’s sale by UBS of its remaining energy trading activities to Barclays Capital and the disposal in December to JP Morgan of its Canadian energy business, as well as its London-based agricultural commodities trading activities.

However, UBS said at the time that it would retain all its precious metals trading activities, as well as its substantial interests in trading commodity indices, which are being expanded by Monday’s deal.

The purchase involves AIG’s trading book and its information technology platform, but no staff, although some individuals may choose to move to UBS at a later stage. The deal is expected to close by May.

Although the initial sum is modest, UBS said it could make additional payments of up to $135m on the purchase over the following 18 months, based on future profits of the activities being acquired.

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Moscow and Kiev strike gas supply deal

By Isabel Gorst in Moscow, Roman Olearchyk in Kiev and,Joshua Chaffin in Brussels

Published: January 19 2009 02:00 | Last updated: January 19 2009 02:00

Russia and Ukraine yesterday said that a resumption of gas supplies to Europe was imminent after they agreed the outline of a gas supply deal for this year.

The agreement, struck by Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, and Yulia Tymoshenko, his Ukrainian counterpart, calls for both sides to compromise on gas prices and transit tariffs, ending a dispute that has severely disrupted gas supply in Europe for 12 days.

The European Commission gave the deal a wary reception, underscoring the damage inflicted by the dispute on Russia's reputation as an energy supplier and Ukraine's reliability as a transit route.

"We are not going to welcome anything until the gas flows," the Commission said.

Russia will, for the first time, charge Ukraine European gas prices in 2009 but will offer a 20 per cent discount if Ukraine maintains last year's favourable gas transit fees.

Ms Tymoshenko said Russian gas supplies across Ukraine to Europe could begin immediately after commercial contracts formalising the agreement were signed today.

Both sides agreed to eliminate the intermediary companies they had accused of funnelling profits from their multibillion-dollar a year gas trade to political parties. Rosukrenergo, a trading company, has denied such claims, saying its operations were transparent.

Details of the deal were sketchy as Gazprom and Naftogaz, the Ukrainian state gas company, raced to draft contracts.

Russian television reports that Ukraine would pay double last year's price of $179.5 per 1,000 cubic metres of gas were contradicted by Ukrainian estimates, which put the new price at less than the $250 per 1,000 cu metres proposed by Gazprom in an attempt at a settlement on December 31. Gazprom said the new price would be pegged to a European formula and would fluctuate throughout the year.

Other contentious issues, including Naftogaz's alleged gas debt to Gazprom, and the question of which side would pay for the so-called fuel gas that powers turbines on transit pipelines, appeared to be unresolved.

Speaking at an emergency European Union gas summit in Moscow, Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, recommended that a consortium of foreign gas companies should be formed to purchase fuel gas for Ukraine.

Jonathan Stern, the head of gas research at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, said Mr Putin and Ms Tymoshenko had "agreed to agree" but warned that further disputes might erupt if Ukraine were charged an unaffordable gas price.

Speaking at the summit, Mr Putin's spokesman said the Kremlin was "disappointed" that the EU had not been "more proactive".

Gazprom last week declared force majeure on its European gas contracts and said it would pass to Ukraine any claims for damages.

Mr Medvedev called for a "new international mechanism" to govern Russia's gas trade with Europe and said Moscow would never ratify the European energy charter, which aims to encourage competition and enforce the rule of law in energy trade.

Mr Stern said: "This is not a time to be discussing academic and legal issues. We are in uncharted territory. We urgently need to get supplies started because people are cold."

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UAE and US sign nuclear deal

By Robin Wigglesworth in Abu Dhabi

Published: January 18 2009 14:06 | Last updated: January 18 2009 14:06

The United Arab Emirates has signed a nuclear energy co-operation agreement with the US, putting it on the path to become the first Arab state to develop nuclear power.

Despite international concern over Iran’s controversial nuclear power programme and uranium enrichment, many Arab states – particularly in the hydrocarbon-rich Gulf – have expressed a desire to develop nuclear power for civilian purposes.

In an important statement of US approval of the UAE’s atomic power ambitions, Condoleezza Rice, the outgoing secretary of state, and Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the UAE foreign minister, on Friday signed a bilateral agreement for peaceful nuclear co-operation

“Under the terms of this agreement, the UAE will gain access to significant capabilities and experience in the peaceful use of nuclear energy,” Sheikh Abdullah said in a statement. “This will allow the UAE to develop its civilian nuclear program to the highest standards of safety, security and non-proliferation.”

Ms Rice said the key to the deal is the UAE’s willingness to import, rather than produce, fuel that would be used in its proposed reactors. The UAE would also return all spent nuclear fuel rather than attain the technical capability to reprocess it.

“That really does minimise – matter of fact, almost eliminates – the proliferation risks,” Ms Rice said, according to Associated Press.

The deal could still run into difficulties. Barack Obama, the incoming president, will have to decide whether to ratify the deal, and some members of the US House of Representatives oppose the deal over concern it would lead to a nuclear energy race in the region.

“In the Middle East, a nuclear energy race could be as perilous as a nuclear arms race,” Ed Markey, a Democrat congressman, said on Thurday. ”I hope that President-elect Obama will seize the opportunity to put the brakes on the Bush administration’s policy of placing nuclear commerce above common sense.”

Despite an abundance of oil and gas in the region, many Gulf states are plagued by power shortages after the break-neck speed of economic growth in recent years. Electricity demand has soared in the UAE in particular due to energy-intensive water desalination and air-conditioning needed for much of the year.

Several emirates of the seven that make up the UAE suffer from periodic black-outs, as gas imported from neighbouring Qatar is mostly used for power generation in Abu Dhabi, the capital, and the commercial hub of Dubai.

The Opec member estimates that peak demand for electricity will double to 40,000 megawatts by 2020, but current capacity is only roughly half of this. The country also hopes that nuclear power will lessen its “environmental footprint”, among the worst in the world.

In 2007 six Arab Gulf states, including the UAE, asked the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, to study the feasibility of a joint nuclear programme.

The six states have even called on Iran to co-operate in a joint development plan to defuse tensions over the Islamic republic’s continuing nuclear programme, which many fear could lead to Tehran developing nuclear weapons.

The US and the UAE first signed a memorandum of understanding on nuclear power cooperation in April 2008, which led to Friday’s so-called “123 Agreement”, known after Section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act, which establishes a legal framework for commerce in civilian nuclear energy technology and material.

The UAE signed a nuclear co-operation agreement with France last year, and several French firms have submitted proposals to the authorities in Abu Dhabi to develop two reactors. The UAE’s Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation last year awarded US engineering and construction company CH2M Hill a contract to manage its atomic investment programme.

“The agreement will also open opportunities for US firms to be active participants in the UAE nuclear energy program,” Sheikh Abdullah added in the statement.

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TAV to sell stake in Havas to fund new bids

By Delphine Strauss in Istanbul

Published: January 19 2009 01:55 | Last updated: January 19 2009 01:55

TAV Airports, the Turkish airport operator, aims to sell a 30 per cent stake in its profitable ground-handling business to pay debts that fall due in 2009 and fund new bids for regional infrastructure projects.

Formed in 1997 to build Istanbul’s new international terminal, TAV now runs six airports in Turkey, Tunisia, Georgia and Macedonia; holds rights to operate five more, and is bidding for new projects in countries such as Latvia, Kazakhstan and Abu Dhabi.

But the aggressive expansion has left TAV highly leveraged in a year when Turkish companies could struggle to raise funds from international markets.

The group’s market capitalisation has fallen from about $2.2bn to $550m in the past year, posing a potential problem for one of TAV’s two founding parent companies, Akfen. Akfen wants the firepower to bid as Turkey’s government is about to launch major road and energy projects.

Sani Sener, TAV chief executive, told the Financial Times that TAV would sell a minority stake in Havas, its fully owned ground-handling subsidiary, allowing it “easily” to meet debts of €144m ($192.1m) falling due in 2009. Total net debt stood at €758m. TAV would also prepare to relaunch a delayed flotation of Havas in 2010, Mr Sener said.

Havas could be valued at around €275m to €350m, with TAV aiming to sell a 30 per cent stake to a strategic partner, according to a banking insider who added that TAV could also seek a partner for its recent airport investment in Tunisia.

TAV had already announced a rights issue to inject €57m of capital, prompting analysts at HSBC to cut their rating on the shares, citing worries over passenger numbers and short-term debt TAV took on when it acquired the final 40 per cent of Havas in 2007. Mr Sener said the rights issue would be completed in February.

Passenger numbers in Istanbul were flat year-on-year in the first half of January, Mr Sener said – better than in many European airports, although his forecast that they will grow by 4 per cent this year depends on a bullish forecast of 2 per cent growth in the wider Turkish economy.

Mr Sener insists that, in spite of the difficult short-term outlook, TAV needs to be ready for a new wave of airport tenders in a region where infrastructure development has lagged behind growth in air traffic.

He wants to convince Latvian authorities that TAV can turn Riga’s new airport into a transit hub between Europe and Asia, following Istanbul’s model. “We have to position ourselves for 2010,” he says.

Cenk Orcan, an analyst at HSBC, wrote in a note that if short-term funding problems were resolved, the business offered “solid long-term growth and sustainable margin expansion”.

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New class for Islamic finance

By Shyamantha Asokan

Published: January 19 2009 00:03 | Last updated: January 19 2009 00:03

It is a far cry from the glass skyscrapers, oil wealth and searing heat of Dubai. But the University of Reading, on a campus complete with rugby pitches and redbrick buildings in southern England, is hoping to establish itself as a teaching centre for Islamic finance.

Last year the university launched a master’s degree in investment banking and Islamic finance, making it one of a growing number of universities in the west to offer a postgraduate course in a sector that has boomed in the Muslim world in recent years. One of the sector’s greatest challenges is finding enough specialist bankers to meet that growth.

“We think Islamic finance is enormously short of people and is now prominent enough to be considered a semi-permanent part of the banking scene. So we need to address it,” says John Board, director of Reading’s International Capital Markets Association centre, which offers the programme.

Different values: Islamic finance “We started to get prospective students asking us if we knew about it [Islamic finance], while current students going to job interviews, even for non-Islamic posts, said it came up as a conversation piece,” he adds.

Reading is not alone in spotting this gap in the postgraduate market – Bangor University in Wales also recently started offering a master’s degree in Islamic banking and finance. With 23 students in the first intake, lecturers say the course attracted more applications than other recently launched programmes.

In the north of England, Durham University plans later this year to relaunch its master’s degree in Islamic finance, which ran from 2002 to 2005. France’s Université Robert Schuman, in Strasbourg, last month also launched a master’s degree in Islamic finance.

“I’ve seen a growing interest from students during the last two or three years as the Middle East has grown in importance,” says Michel Storck, head of the business law centre at Université Robert Schuman and course director for the Islamic finance programme.

“And now, after what happened in the US, Islamic finance is even more attractive as it seems ‘safer’.”

Islamic finance has grown rapidly over the past decade, as the region’s Muslim investors sought to invest profits from soaring oil prices in accordance with their faith.

Sharia law forbids interest, or riba, on the grounds that money should measure rather than create value. The sector has thus avoided many of the debt-backed instruments that have recently caused trouble in conventional banking.

Islamic banking assets were worth $600bn at the end of 2008 and the industry has been growing at just under 20 per cent a year since 2000, according to Moody’s, the ratings agency. Others suggest the assets are worth closer to $700bn.

The new master’s degrees explore topics such as the Islamic concept of money, so that students will learn the reasoning behind sharia laws, as well as the technical skills to construct sharia-compliant products.

Graduates should then be able to work alongside an Islamic bank’s sharia board – a panel of scholars who ultimately decide if products obey religious tenets.

“A master’s allows you to reflect on the rules, not just learn how to do it,” says Mr Board. “It doesn’t work to have conventional financiers just following the instructions of sharia scholars – they are often clerics who don’t have a deep knowledge of finance.”

It is perhaps not surprising that UK universities are leading the charge – London has in recent years strived to promote itself as a hub for Islamic finance.

Paris has more recently shown an interest. The French senate – the upper house of parliament – last summer held its first meeting with politicians, bankers and sharia scholars to discuss how to support Islamic finance by raising awareness and changing certain tax laws.

There are already professional courses on offer to those in the west, such as the Islamic Finance Qualification, provided by the UK’s Securities and Investment Institute and Lebanon’s Ecole Supérieure des Affaires. But both academics and professionals say a university degree is likely to provide a better grasp of ethical issues, which are central to Islamic finance.

“They [the masters graduates] should have a deeper understanding of sharia, as they will have studied it for nine months, or even a year and not just a few weekends,” says Mohammed Amin, UK head of Islamic finance at PwC.

European universities say most applicants have come from Muslim countries. This appears to be due to a lack of comparable courses in their domestic countries.

But this trend could change. London’s Cass Business School in 2007 launched an Executive MBA in Dubai, which offers a specialism in energy – with a focus on managing oil wealth – or Islamic finance.

In March, the Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance is set to launch an Islamic finance masters programme. A small number of universities in Malaysia, considered a world leader in Islamic finance, already offer postgraduate courses.

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派遣切り救済、パチンコ業界大量雇用…寮完備の店多く

　列島各地で「派遣切り」が問題となるなか、全国にあるパチンコ店やパチスロ専門店の過半数が“救いの手”を差し伸べる。ホールの店員などが不足するパチンコ業界が、住まいをなくした元派遣労働者たちを受け入れることを決定。寮を完備した店も多く、業界関係者は「厳しい雇用の現状を打開する手助けになるのでは」とジャンジャンバリバリ採用する方針だ。

　パチンコ店の“派遣切り”労働者受け入れは、在日韓国人で組織する大韓民国民団（民団）が主導して行う。全国に４８カ所ある地方本部や傘下団体の在日韓国商工会議所（韓商）に協力を呼びかけて求人票を取りまとめる。

　民団は相談を寄せた失業者に求人票を閲覧させるなどして働き口を紹介。採用された場合、試用で３－６カ月勤務した後、正社員登用の道も用意している。協力するパチンコ店には採用年齢の上限をできるだけ上げることも要請している。相談は１９日から民団中央本部の専用ダイヤルや支部窓口で順次受け付ける。

　民団によると、すでに北海道、岩手、福島、長野のパチンコ店から計１４０人の求人情報が集まっているという。岡山県でパチンコ店を経営する金圭出・韓商副会長は「全国にある約１万３５００の遊技店のうち、６割程度が呼びかけに応じる見込み。単純計算で１店が１人雇うだけでも大きな数となるはず」と語る。たしかに、１万３５００店の６割が１人ずつ採用しただけで８１００人の雇用が生まれる。

　厚生労働省は、派遣切りや期間満了で職を失う労働者は今年３月までに約３万人と予想している。仮に、協力店のすべてが１店当たり４人採用すれば、路頭に迷う派遣労働者はゼロになる計算だ。

　金副会長は「パチンコは日曜や祭日がかき入れ時。交代制だが、営業時間は夜遅くまで及ぶので、余暇を優先する求職者から敬遠される」と人手不足の理由を説明する。このため、福利厚生対策として寮を完備しているパチンコ店が多く、工場などの寮から退去を迫られた労働者にとっては渡りに船。ただ、「製造業などとサービス業では仕事内容が違うので違和感を覚える人もいるかもしれない」（金副会長）と、懸念がないわけではない。

　民団の呂健二副団長は「『日本人』、『韓国人』という意識はない。協力し合うことができれば一番いい。派遣村を見ても、緊急を要する人がたくさんいる。ぜひ相談を活用していただきたい」と話す。

　民団は派遣村をはじめ派遣労働者が大量に解雇された自治体にも相談制度をアピールすることを検討しているという。

　相談は１９日から民団中央本部事業局ＴＥＬ０３・４５４０・０５０１（平日午前９時～午後５時半）で受け付け。

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優秀行員は失望＆転職…みずほ“人材流出”危機

旧３行で分け合い「数の運営」
３首脳を旧３行で分け合ったみずほ。左から塚本隆史みずほＦＧ次期社長、西堀利みずほ銀行次期頭取、佐藤康博みずほコーポレート銀行次期頭取（クリックで拡大）
３首脳を旧３行で分け合ったみずほ。左から塚本隆史みずほＦＧ次期社長、西堀利みずほ銀行次期頭取、佐藤康博みずほコーポレート銀行次期頭取（クリックで拡大）

　３首脳がこの４月に交代するみずほグループ。新首脳は今回も旧富士銀行、旧第一勧銀、旧日本興業銀行の旧３行から１人ずつ出て、きれいにポストを分け合うかたちになった。みずほお得意の「数の運営」人事が機能した格好だが、こうした人事システムは弊害も多く、失望してみずほを去る人間も少なくない。

　みずほは、力が拮抗した３つの銀行（旧第一勧銀、旧富士銀、旧興銀）が統合して誕生した。そのみずほでは役員になる手前から昇進の方式が変わるのが特徴だ。

　「部店長クラス」までは旧３行の行員数に比例した昇格が行われる。この仕組みでは、旧第一勧銀や旧富士銀の出身者が旧興銀出身者より多いため、昇進レースの途中までは旧第一勧銀や旧富士銀の出身者のほうが多く昇進することになる。

　ちなみに、２００１年３月期時点の旧３行の行員数は次の通り。旧第一勧銀がもっとも多く１万４７１４人、次いで旧富士銀が１万２９４０人、もっとも少ない旧興銀が４４１４人。

　一方、役員の手前の参与からは、旧３行の昇進人数を同じにする「数の運営」に変わっていく。現在、みずほフィナンシャルグループ（ＦＧ）、みずほ銀行、みずほコーポレート銀行の全役員を出身行別にみると、旧３行がそれぞれ約３０人で分け合っている。

　旧３行で役員数を分け合うなら、行員数が少ない旧興銀出身者のほうが高い確率で役員に選ばれることになる。逆に、旧第一勧銀と旧富士銀の出身者は旧行のなかで厳しい出世競争を勝ち抜かなければいけない。

【優秀行員は失望、転職…】

　旧３行のしがらみがない、経営統合後に入行した行員が役員への昇進レースを本格化させるのはまだ先のこと。「数の運営」が続くかぎり、出身行ごとの熾烈な出世レースがしばらく続くことになる。

　みずほグループのある幹部は「役員の『数の運営』は今後１０年くらいは続く」とみている。そして、旧３行のバランスを保つことの弊害は「人事は適材適所」（前田晃伸みずほＦＧ社長）との方針に逆行しかねないことだ。

　たとえば、旧興銀出身で現在は米投資会社コールバーグ・クラビス・ロバーツ（ＫＫＲ）の日本法人で共同最高経営責任者（ＣＥＯ）を務める蓑田秀策氏はかつて、みずほコーポレート銀でシンジケートローン（協調融資）事業の拡大に貢献した実績を持つ。しかし、「３行のバランス人事の結果、畑違いのみずほ信託銀行副社長職の打診を受けたため、蓑田氏は固辞してＫＫＲに移った」（みずほ関係者）とされる。

【「いずれ破綻する」の声】

　みずほグループが優秀な人材を多く抱えているのは定評のあるところだが、最近では蓑田氏のように旧興銀出身者が外資系金融機関に転職する例が少なくない。また、旧第一勧銀や旧富士銀の出身者もリテール（個人向けサービス）強化を掲げるほかの金融機関に引き抜かれるケースがままある。

　みずほは４月１日付の人事で、みずほＦＧの前田晃伸社長（６４）、みずほ銀の杉山清次頭取（６１）、みずほコーポレート銀の斎藤宏頭取（６４）がそれぞれ会長に就任。

　みずほＦＧの新社長に旧第一勧銀出身の塚本隆史副社長（５８）、みずほ銀の新頭取に旧富士銀出身の西堀利副頭取（５５）、みずほコーポレート銀の新頭取に旧興銀出身の佐藤康博副頭取（５６）が昇格する。

　３行統合で誕生したみずほグループにとって、人事運営は残された大きな課題の１つ。国内外で競争が激化する金融業界で、みずほが旧３行でポストや役員数を分け合う「数の運営」を続けながら勝ち残ることが果たしてできるのか。関係者は「みずほの『数の運営』はいずれ破綻する」とみている。

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オリジン弁当ピンチ…店舗ビルに“アスベスト”警告

ビルオーナー“凶行”設置
一見なんでもない弁当店だが、見上げると思わずギョッとする「警告」が（クリックで拡大）
一見なんでもない弁当店だが、見上げると思わずギョッとする「警告」が（クリックで拡大）

　有名弁当チェーン「オリジン弁当」の、ある店舗が入るビルに、昨年から不気味な看板が掲げられている。弁当店が営業中にもかかわらず、≪アスベストが空中飛散の恐れ≫などといった≪警告≫がデカデカと書かれているのだ。一体、誰が誰に向けた警告なのか…。

　看板が設置されているのは、１階に「オリジン弁当」が入っている東京都内の某ビル。同ビルは最寄り駅と隣接した国道沿いにある。弁当店を営むには最高の立地だ。

　オリジン弁当は「すべてはお客様の健康のために！」を理念に関東・関西で６００店（系列店も含む）を展開する人気弁当チェーン。だが、店舗入り口の真上に掲げられた≪警告≫看板の内容は、理念とは真逆の過激な内容だ。

【建て替えめぐりトラブル】

　≪この建物は中・小規模の地震で倒壊する恐れがあります≫≪建物内部にアスベストを使用してあります。地震の際アスベストが空中飛散の恐れがあります≫

　これは一体どういうことか。

　早速、同店を管理運営するイオングループ傘下の「オリジン東秀」（調布市）に聞くと、「ビルの建て替えをめぐってオーナーとの間で賃貸トラブルが発生。話し合いが物別れに終わった昨年９月末、オーナーが突然、この看板設置を強行した」。

　このビルは１９７８年に建てられたという。同社は「古い建物だけに多かれ少なかれ問題はあるかもしれないが、建物を壊さないかぎり（アスベストは）出ない。営業妨害以外の何者でもありません」と迷惑顔。一方のオーナー側は「話すことはない」とノーコメントだった。

　大家と店子のトラブルが原因だったわけだが、看板は周囲に不安をまき散らしている。近くのビルに入居する男性（６０）は「ビルを解体した時が心配。もし問題が起きたら、どう対処してくれるのか…」と困惑。２週間に１回は弁当を買いに来るという男性（５９）も「言われるまで気づかなかったが、食べ物を扱っている店だけに、あまり気持ちいいものではないですね」と話す。

　実際、危険性はあるのか。厚生労働省安全衛生部化学物質対策課は「劣化状態にもよるが、７５年以降に作られた建物の含有アスベストに関しては、すぐに健康被害を及ぼすレベルではない」という。

　とはいえ、のどかな駅前通りに突然出現した怪看板は、いまも異様な雰囲気で真下のオリジン弁当を威圧し続けている。

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火葬の灰に六価クロム、最大で基準の１２００倍…厚労省調査

　火葬場の焼却灰に国の環境基準値を大幅に上回る有害物質の六価クロムが含まれていることがわかった。

　厚生労働省研究班（主任研究者＝武田信生立命館大教授）によると、調査した４火葬場すべての灰から高濃度の六価クロムが検出され、基準の１２００倍という灰もあった。大半の火葬場で使用されている、ひつぎを載せるステンレス製台が発生源とみられる。

　火葬による灰は、工場のばい煙などと比べ少量のため、直ちに周辺住民の健康に影響する恐れは少ないが、埋め立て処分が続くと地下水が汚染される懸念がある。

　調査は２００６年に行った。国内４か所の火葬場の火葬炉内に残った灰と、煙に含まれる集じん灰を回収し、灰を溶かした溶液１リットル中にどんな有害物質が含まれるか分析した。

　六価クロムは、環境基準（１リットル中０・０５ミリ・グラム）の１８０～１２００倍にあたる９～６０ミリ・グラムを検出。炉内の灰よりも、集じん灰に多く含まれていた。

　大半の火葬場では、１０００度超の高温に耐え、比較的安価なステンレス製ひつぎ台が、少なくとも２０～３０年間使われている。鉄とクロムの合金であるステンレスの一部が、繰り返し高温にさらされ、六価クロムに変化した可能性が高い。

　ダイオキシン類を除き、火葬場から出る煙や灰の処理を規制する法律はない。

　調査した京大大学院工学研究科の高岡昌輝准教授によると、対策として、ステンレス台をれんが台などに変更したり、化学処理で六価クロム量を基準以下に減らしてから排出したりする措置が必要という。

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Jim Rogers Says Worried About Dollar, Favors China (Update1)
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By Chua Kong Ho and Nipa Piboontanasawat

Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Jim Rogers, chairman of Singapore-based Rogers Holdings, said investors should be “worried” about the U.S. dollar, and recommended selling government bonds and buying raw materials, China stocks and the yen.

“If I were you, I would be worried about the U.S. dollar,” said Rogers, 66, in a speech at the Asia Financial Forum in Hong Kong today. “The Americans are printing U.S. dollars. The Americans are going to do whatever they can to revive their economy, even if it means destroying the U.S. dollar.”

The Dollar Index on ICE Futures, which tracks the greenback versus six major U.S. trading partners, fell 11 percent since Nov. 21, when it reached 88.46, the highest in 19 months. The Japanese yen climbed 12 percent against the dollar over the past three months as investors reduced holdings of higher-yielding assets.

Holding government bonds is a “big mistake” and is going to “end badly,” he said. Investors should favor agriculture, power generation and China shares if they want to make money, said Rogers, who correctly predicted the start of the commodities rally in 1999 and has written books including ‘A Bull in China: Investing Profitably in the World’s Greatest Market.’

The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index, which tracks 19 commodities, has declined 3.7 percent this month after dropping 36 percent in 2008, its worst annual performance on record.

China Slowdown

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, which tracks 43 stocks of Chinese companies traded in Hong Kong, has declined 8.2 percent this year.

China, the world’s third-largest economy, may have expanded at the slowest pace in seven years in the fourth quarter, with gross domestic product rising 6.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News before a government report due this week.

China’s government unveiled a 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) stimulus package in November, which included spending on roads and bridges.

Rogers said in a Dec. 17 Bloomberg Television interview that he planned to sell the dollar. In a Dec. 31 interview, Rogers said he had been buying Chinese agricultural stocks to benefit from state efforts to bolster economic growth.

Stephen Roach, chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia Ltd., recommended investors buy “anything to do with the Asian consumer, infrastructure, alternative energy and technology.” He made the comments at the same forum.

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Ukraine Bonds Flag Default as Russia Has ‘Upper Hand’ (Update1)
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By Laura Cochrane

Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Four years after Ukraine embraced the West with the election of President Viktor Yushchenko in the Orange Revolution, the former Soviet nation’s economy is collapsing and investors expect the country to default.

Even with the International Monetary Fund’s $16.5 billion bailout, Ukraine’s finances are deteriorating as the country battles with Russia over natural gas prices and the cost of steel, its biggest export, sinks.

Yields on Ukraine’s $105 billion of government and company debt are the highest of any country with dollar-denominated bonds except Ecuador, which defaulted in December. The currency, the hryvnia, weakened 40 percent in the past 12 months against the dollar. The benchmark stock index lost 85 percent, the biggest drop in the world after Iceland, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

“The market is telling us there is a high probability of a default,” said Tom Fallon, head of emerging-markets at La Francaise des Placements in Paris, which manages $11 billion and sold its Ukrainian holdings six months ago. “It’s an advantage that the country is committed to policy measures that the IMF is prepared to back, but that is no guarantee it won’t default.”

The gap in yields between Ukraine’s bonds and Treasuries tripled in the past four months to 25 percentage points. The country’s bonds yield 9.5 percentage points more than debt sold by Argentina, which defaulted in 2001 and has yet to compensate all holders, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. data.

Gas Dispute

Ukraine is getting battered after European steel prices plummeted 56 percent since August, according to data from Metal Bulletin. Industrial production fell 48 percent in November, the steepest decline in Europe, as the global economic slowdown cut international demand.

The country’s dispute with Russia over natural gas prices disrupted supplies across Europe and will probably increase fuel costs for Ukraine, slowing industry, analysts led by Vienna- based Martin Blum at UniCredit SpA wrote in a research note this month.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Yulia Timoshenko, are scheduled to sign the terms of an agreement today in Moscow in which Ukraine will pay higher European prices for Russian gas from 2010, after a 20 percent discount this year. In return, 2009 transit fees for Russia will remain at last year’s level. The European Union said it will reserve judgment on the deal until the resumption of flows to the 27-nation bloc after a halt of almost two weeks.

“Russia does have a bit of an upper hand, but an excessively weak Ukraine would not be a benefit to Moscow either,” said Ivailo Vesselinov, a senior economist at Dresdner Kleinwort in London. “The Kremlin has to balance keeping Ukraine stable so that does not spill over into a chaotic break-up, and preventing a move away from Russia politically.”

Divided Nation

The nation’s 46 million people are 45 percent Russian speakers and 55 percent Ukrainian, according to Dresdner. Ethnic Russians make up 17.3 percent of the population, compared with 77.8 percent ethnic Ukrainians, according to the Central Intelligence Agency Web Site.

While the U.S. is supporting membership to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Russia has warned the move would break the country into two states and prompt Moscow to aim missiles at Ukraine.

A feud between Yushchenko and Timoshenko has made matters worse as the collapse of their coalition government in September hampered policies to reassure investors. The central bank seized Prominvestbank, Ukraine’s sixth-biggest lender by assets, in October.

IMF Mission

The crisis led the IMF to provide $4.5 billion of emergency loans in November. Conditions for the credit include moving toward a flexible exchange rate, tackling inflation and running a balanced budget even though Ukraine’s parliament approved a 2009 deficit of 2.96 percent of gross national product. The government will partly cover the shortfall by selling bonds, according to the plan reached last month. Ukraine’s inflation rate is the highest in Europe at 22.3 percent.

An IMF mission is scheduled to visit Kiev this month before it provides a second payment in February.

“Without rapid correction, this could undermine the outlook for the second tranche,” said Ali Al-Eyd, an economist at Citigroup Inc. in London.

Ukraine’s economy, which expanded at an average annual rate of 7 percent since 2000, grew 2.1 percent last year. Gross domestic product may shrink 5 percent this year, Oleksandr Shlapak, the president’s deputy chief of staff said in November.

The slump coupled with the hryvnia’s decline increased concern that the government and companies will default after a fourfold jump in foreign debt since January 2004, according to data on the central bank’s Web site.

Maturing Debt

Citigroup, Credit Suisse Group AG and UBS AG arranged more than $8 billion of bond sales for the Ukrainian government since 2004, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The country has to repay $1.4 billion of maturing foreign debt this year, according to Citigroup.

“I doubt Ukraine will default on the public debt, but at these sorts of high bond spreads the market doesn’t see it that way,” said Paul McNamara, who helps manage $1.2 billion of emerging-market debt at Augustus Asset Managers Ltd. in London, including Ukraine government and City of Kiev securities.

Investors demand higher yields from Ukraine than the average 18.1 percent yield on Argentina’s debt in October 2001, just before the Latin American nation defaulted. Ukraine’s yields are more than double the 10.8 percent Russian yields in the month before it defaulted in August 1998.

While a default by Ukraine is “not impossible,” it is not “imminent,” said Dmitry Sentchoukov, an emerging-market strategist at Dresdner in London.

Default Swaps

Ukraine’s yield spread narrowed to 25 percentage points from a record 27.38 percentage points on Dec. 30, JPMorgan data show. Ecuador, which stopped making payments in December on $3.9 billion of debt, has a yield spread of 37.4 percentage points.

AKIB UkrSibbank, the Ukrainian unit of BNP Paribas SA, sold $200 million of bonds in July 2007 at face value to yield 7.375 percent. The securities are now quoted at 57 cents on the dollar with a yield of 51 percent.

The cost to protect bonds sold by Ukraine against default jumped more than 12-fold in the past year to about 3,200 basis points, the third-highest worldwide after Ecuador and Argentina, according to London-based CMA Datavision prices for credit- default swaps.

The contracts, conceived to protect bondholders against default, pay the buyer face value in exchange for the underlying securities or the cash equivalent should a borrower fail to adhere to its debt agreements. A basis point is worth $1,000 on a credit-default swap protecting $10 million of debt.

“There are definitely going to be credit events,” said Dresdner’s Vesselinov. “And we will expect a lot of corporate defaults.”

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情報流出のIPA職員、停職3カ月の処分に

鳴海淳義（編集部）

2009/01/19 14:01

　独立行政法人 情報処理推進機構（IPA）は1月19日、同機構職員がファイル交換ソフトを用いて情報を流出させた件について、調査結果の詳細と当該職員の処分を発表した。当該職員はIPAの信用を傷つけ、名誉を汚したとして、停職3カ月の懲戒処分となった。

　この職員は2008年12月にファイル交換ソフトを使用した結果、コンピューターウィルスに感染し、PC内の情報を流出させた。1月6日時点で、少なくとも1万6208のファイルが流出していることがわかっていた。

　1月19日に発表された調査結果では、IPAに関連する非公開情報は流出が確認されなかったという。流出したのはIPAイベントの私的撮影写真および2007年のIPA職員海外出張伺いの下書きのみだったとしている。

　ただ、当該職員がIPA採用以前に所属していた企業の業務に関する情報は流出したことが確認されている。西武百貨店は同社社員データが流出したことを発表している。IPAはこれらの企業に連絡するとともに、対応をサポートしているところだという。

　当該職員がファイル交換ソフト「Winny」と「Share」を通じて、児童ポルノなどのわいせつ画像とかな漢字変換ソフトを検索し、児童ポルノ画像の一部をダウンロードしていたことがすでにIPAから発表されていた。今回の調査では、かな漢字変換ソフト「ATOK」「ATOK Pocket」「ATOK モバイル」もダウンロードされていたことが明らかとなった。ただし、児童ポルノ画像、かな漢字変換ソフトともにアップロードした事実は確認されていないという。

　IPAは再発防止策として、職員の私物PCにおけるファイル交換ソフトの使用を禁止するとともに、あらためて全職員に対し情報セキュリティ研修会を実施する。1月7日には事長を本部長とする情報流出対策本部を設置した。

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「クローン牛・豚は安全」　食品安全委の作業部会

　内閣府・食品安全委員会の作業部会（座長＝早川尭夫・近畿大学薬学総合研究所所長）は19日、同じ遺伝子を持つ動物を作り出す体細胞クローン技術で生まれた牛や豚について「通常の牛や豚と安全性は変わらない」とする評価書をまとめた。クローン動物が食品として流通を認められる可能性が高まった。消費者の抵抗感も予想され、流通を巡っては議論を呼びそうだ。

　体細胞クローン技術は同じ遺伝子を持った動物をコピーして大量に生み出す技術。肉質の高い家畜などを大量に複製して生産できるとして畜産業への応用が期待されている。2008年9月末の時点で国内では研究機関などで累計で牛が557頭、豚が335頭作られたが、出荷はされていない。

　作業部会では体細胞クローン動物について調べた国内外235件の論文や文献を調べた結果、「食べても危険は特にない」と結論づけた。クローン家畜の子孫も同様と考えられるという。体細胞クローンの安全性は厚生労働省が昨年4月、食品安全委員会に評価を依頼していた。

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Porsche making bid for Swedish truck maker Scania

1 hour 16 mins ago
AFP

Germany's luxury sportscar maker Porsche said on Monday it was making a 2.8-billion-euro (3.7-billion-dollar) bid for Swedish truck firm Scania.

Porsche added, however, that it had "no strategic interest" in Scania and that the takeover bid was a legal requirement following its acquisition of more than 50 percent of Volkswagen earlier this month.

As Volkswagen holds more than 30 percent of Scania, Porsche indirectly became the majority shareholder in Scania.

Swedish takeover law obliges Porsche to bid for the remaining shares not under its direct control through the Volkswagen deal, the statement said.

Porsche -- the maker of the iconic 911 sportscar -- said Scania's shareholders had from January 21 to February 10 to accept their offer for the shares.

It added that it was offering the minimum price required by law

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公立病院、コスト削減急ぐ　全国で医薬品共同購入

　全国の公立病院が経営再建に向け、コスト削減の徹底に動き始めた。地方自治体の垣根を越えて全国規模で協力し医薬品などの共同購入に着手する。また静岡県の掛川市と袋井市は2012年度までに市町村間では全国で初めて市立病院を統合することで合意した。独立行政法人への移行も増え始めた。景気の後退で自治体の税収は大幅に落ち込みかねない状況。地域医療を守るために病院自体の経営効率化は、待ったなしの状況になっている。

　都道府県立や市町村立など約970病院が参加する全国自治体病院協議会（東京・千代田）は1月下旬、医薬品や医療機器などの共同購入の検討を始める。全国規模のスケールメリットを生かし、1病院あたりの購入費を引き下げるのが狙いだ。約1000の病院が協力態勢をとるのは異例。

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不動産取引額８割減　08年10－12月、年間でも６年ぶり減

　金融危機のあおりで上場企業などによる不動産取引が低迷している。市場混乱が増幅して資金調達パイプが急速に細った2008年10―12月の取引額は前年同期に比べて約8割減少。08年の年間でも半分にとどまった。年明け後もこの傾向が続いており、取引停滞がさらなる不動産市況の悪化につながる悪循環を引き起こしている。

　上場企業（ＲＥＩＴ＝不動産投資信託を含む）の開示情報などから、みずほ信託銀行系の都市未来総合研究所（東京・中央）が集計した。一定規模以上の取引は上場企業がかかわるものが大半。統計に表れない中小・零細企業の取引を含めた実績も、同様の傾向があるとみられる。08年の取引額は約2兆8000億円。この10年間で最も取引が膨らんだ07年（約5兆6000億円）から一気に落ち込み、6年ぶりの減少に転じた。

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生活保護世帯の増加傾向続く　08年10月時点、4％増114万超

　生活保護を受ける世帯の増加が止まらない。このほどまとまった昨年10月時点の受給世帯数は114万7000世帯を超え、2007年度の月平均に比べ 4％ほど増えた。1人暮らしの高齢者の急増など高齢化の進展に、足元の雇用情勢の悪化が追い打ちをかけており、今年度は月平均120万世帯に迫る勢いだ。過去20年で最も少なかった1992年度（58万6000世帯）の2倍の水準となる。

　生活保護の受給世帯数は景気の遅行指標とされるが、05年度から100万世帯を超え、08年度はさらにペースが加速して16年連続の増加となるのは確実。かつてと違って現在の日本では景気回復局面でも一貫して増え続けているのが特徴だ。

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大証、ＦＸ市場の愛称公募

　大阪証券取引所は5月に開設予定の外国為替証拠金取引（ＦＸ）市場の愛称を一般公募する。募集期間は19日から2月1日まで。大証はＦＸで株式取引と同様に価格と各価格に対する注文量を表示するなどの特徴を打ち出す計画だが、東京金融取引所もＦＸ市場「くりっく３６５」を運営するなど競争が激しくなっており、名称公募で投資家の関心を高める。

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政府、ＵＡＥの原発導入支援　資源獲得狙う

　政府はアラブ首長国連邦（ＵＡＥ）の原子力発電の導入を支援する。まず核拡散防止や危機管理を徹底するための人材育成や法制度整備を実施。今後期待される発電所建設に必要な原子炉や関連機器などの受注に備える。電力需要が高まるＵＡＥに原発導入のノウハウを提供する一方、原油など豊富な資源を持つＵＡＥの資源獲得につなげる狙いもある。

　日ＵＡＥ両政府がアブダビで19日、協力文書に署名する予定。日本からは、同日から始まる「ワールド・フューチャー・エナジー・サミット」に参加する吉川貴盛経済産業副大臣が出席する。同分野での協力はベトナム、インドネシア、カザフスタンに次いで4カ国目。

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クローン牛：「一般と同様に安全」食品安全委作業部会

　体細胞クローン技術を使って生まれた牛や豚とその子孫について、食品としての安全性を検討していた国の食品安全委員会の作業部会（座長・早川尭夫近畿大薬学総合研究所長）は１９日、「一般牛や豚と同様に安全」とする評価書案をまとめた。今後、新開発食品専門調査会、食品安全委員会の審議を経て厚生労働省に評価結果を報告。これを受けて農林水産省は、体細胞クローン牛や豚を食用として解禁するかどうか検討する。

　評価書案によると、体細胞クローン牛は死産や誕生直後に死ぬ例が約３１％と、通常の繁殖（人工授精）で生まれた牛の約７％に比べて高い。しかし「おおむね生後６カ月を超えれば一般の牛と死亡率の差はなく、同じように発育する」として、この時期まで成長すれば一般の牛や豚と差異はないと結論づけた。

　その乳や子孫の肉についても一般牛との差は認められず、体細胞クローン牛の肉をラットに食べさせた実験でも異常はみられなかった、とした。

　体細胞クローン技術を使うと、肉質のいい牛や豚、乳量の多い牛などの「コピー」を作り出せる。国内では昨年９月末までに５５７頭の体細胞クローン牛が誕生したが、流通はしていない。厚労省は昨年４月、評価に必要なデータがそろったとして、食品安全委員会に健康影響評価を諮問していた。【下桐実雅子】
　◇解禁まで課題多く

　食品安全委員会の作業部会が「体細胞クローン牛や豚は食べても安全」との結論を出した。国内外で公表された２３５のデータや文献を検討した結果で、米食品医薬品局（ＦＤＡ）と欧州食品安全機関（ＥＦＳＡ）が昨年相次いで出した評価結果に同調するものだ。

　「安全」との評価が出ても、即解禁とはならない。まず高い死亡率が示すように、体細胞クローン技術は発展途上だ。良い品質の肉を効率よく生産し、安く提供するという本来の目標には多くの課題がある。作業部会の早川尭夫座長は「現時点で出せる科学的な結論を出した。体細胞クローン技術は研究段階の繁殖技術で、すぐに食卓に、という話ではない」と語った。

　むしろ、欧米から体細胞クローン由来の牛肉や豚肉が輸入される可能性がある。厚生労働省によると、現時点では欧米とも体細胞クローン牛の出荷を自粛しているが、米農務省はその子孫については禁止していない。またＦＤＡは流通にあたって「体細胞クローンの表示は必要ない」という立場で、厚労省も「食品衛生法上は表示不要」という。

　消費者団体からは、表示を求める声が上がっている。今後、食品安全委の評価結果について、一般向けの説明会や意見募集が予定されているが、解禁の是非に加えて表示をめぐる議論が起きることが予想される。

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０９春闘：企業の内部留保、「雇用に活用」が争点に

　自動車や電機など大手企業が派遣社員などの雇用削減を加速する中、企業の利益の蓄積である「内部留保」を活用し雇用を確保するべきだ、との声が強まっている。大手企業の内部留保は総額２００兆円を超えるとの試算もある。労働組合側は「内部留保を維持したままの雇用カットは経営者のエゴだ」と主張しており、今春闘の争点に浮上してきた。【秋本裕子、森有正】

　内部留保は企業の利益から株主配当や役員賞与、税金などを差し引いて残った分を将来の投資などに備えて社内にとどめておくもの。全国労働組合総連合（全労連）などによると、資本金１０億円以上の大企業約４３０社の内部留保は０７年度末で総額２２８兆円と、０２年度（１６７兆円）の１．３倍になった。

　特に自動車や電機業界は０７年度までの世界的な需要増で内部留保は積み上がっている。毎日新聞の試算では、利益準備金や剰余金などを足した内部留保はトヨタ自動車が０８年９月末で約１２兆３０００億円と０２年３月末（６兆７０００億円）の約２倍。ホンダも約４兆６０００億円で２倍近くに、キヤノンは２兆８０００億円で０１年１２月末の３倍に増えた。

　連合などは「内部留保は雇用維持に使うべきだ」と指摘するが、経営者側には「投資や金融危機など不測の事態に備え、一定の内部留保を確保しておくことは不可欠」との考えが強い。大手電機幹部は「内部留保は国際競争力維持にも必要。取り崩せば、いざという時に投資の機会も逃しかねない」と話す。

　さらに、内部留保は資本などに組み入れられており、取り崩すには株主総会の承認が必要。自由に使える手元資金とは違い、「いくらあっても現金があるわけではない」（福井威夫ホンダ社長）。

　ただ、国内自動車メーカー主要１２社による今年度の非正規従業員の削減はすでに約２万３０００人に上る。大手自動車労組幹部は「従業員はこれまで残業や休日出勤で会社の成長に貢献してきた。不測の事態に直面する今こそ、経営資源をもっと人件費に振り向けるべきだ」と訴える。

　与謝野馨経済財政担当相が「何兆円もの内部留保を持つ企業が時給１０００円足らずの方の職を簡単に奪うことが正しいのか」と述べるなど政界からも援軍が出ており、経営者側は難題を突きつけられた形だ。

　◆主な企業の内部留保◆

トヨタ自動車　１２兆３０００億円

ホンダ　　　　　４兆６０００億円

パナソニック　　２兆８７００億円

キヤノン　　　　２兆８０００億円

※０８年９月末。有価証券報告書より

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ホームレスにも給付金　政府、住民登録の方法検討

2009年1月19日21時20分

　政府は一人あたり１万２千円の定額給付金について、住民登録をしていないホームレスの人たちにも例外的に支給する方針を固めた。鳩山総務相が１９日の参院予算委員会で「いずれの市町村にも住民登録をされていない方がいる。そういう方に支給できる方法がないか、いま検討している」と明らかにした。

　定額給付金の支給対象は、二重取りを防ぐため、住民基本台帳か外国人登録原票に登録されている人に限られる。そのため、ホームレスなど本当に生活支援が必要な人に給付金が行き渡らないとの批判が出ていた。

　住民登録などの基準日は２月１日時点。鳩山氏は「基準日に登録していなければ原則は（給付金は）出せない」としたうえで、「やむを得ない事情で、後から登録した方に給付金を支給するやり方を検討している」と述べた。公園を住所とすることは認められていないため、それに代わる何らかの形で住所の届け出を認め、さかのぼって支給する仕組みを設けたい考えだ。

　鳩山氏はまた、配偶者や恋人などからのドメスティックバイオレンス（ＤＶ）を恐れて別居し、住民票を移せずにいる被害者に対して、「加害者が住民基本台帳を見ることができない仕組みを設けている。新しい転居先で住民登録していただければありがたい」と呼びかけた。ただ、ＤＶ被害者の中には、情報漏洩（ろうえい）を恐れて、住民登録に踏み切れないケースが指摘されている。

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立命館の誘致めぐる岐阜市政の混乱なお　市長選無投票

2009年1月19日1時35分

　岐阜市民に親しまれてきた市立岐阜商業高校を廃止して学校法人「立命館」（本部・京都市）へ移管することの民意を問うため、推進派の前市長・細江茂光氏（６０）が辞職して迎えた出直し市長選は、無投票のまま細江氏が再選される結果となった。市を二分した問題は、有権者に是非を問うことなく、３月の市議会に論争の場が移ることになった。

　細江氏は、無投票について「大変残念。市民の前で計画の是非について議論したかった」とした上で「立命館誘致を必ず実現したい」と意欲を示した。

　自民と民主の一部、公明、共産の各党と無所属クラブの市議計２７人でつくる市岐阜商の存続派は、市出身の元プロ野球選手（６１）の立候補を目指すなどした。しかし、一部の市議が「勝てる候補」にこだわり、最終的には全政党が擁立を断念。「無投票にして細江氏に民意を問わせない」との方針に転換した。

　同市議会の定数は４４。細江氏が立命館を誘致するには、まず市岐阜商の廃止条例案を成立させねばならないが、市議会の存続派は否決できる勢力を保っている。市政の混乱はなお続きそうだ。

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段ボールのレンゴー、派遣約千人を正社員化へ

2009年1月19日20時18分

　段ボール最大手のレンゴーは１９日、グループ工場などの千人近い派遣社員を４月から正社員化する方針を明らかにした。士気向上による生産性の向上が狙い。自動車メーカーなど製造業では「派遣切り」が相次いでいるが、「雇用の確保が最重要」（大坪清社長）との姿勢を打ち出す。

　大坪社長が同日、会長を務める関西生産性本部の記者会見で明らかにした。正社員として採用するのは、子会社の人材派遣会社に雇用され、レンゴーグループの全国の１０８工場などで働いている派遣社員。４月以降、転勤可能な「ナショナル・スタッフ」と、転勤がない「ローカル・スタッフ」の二つの賃金体系を新設し、本人の意向を聞いて採用する。どちらの賃金体系も手当は同じにする。正社員化に伴うコスト増は「年間で数億円程度」という。

　同社は一時、古紙など原料や燃料の価格高騰が経営を圧迫したが、０７年秋の値上げなどで業績が好転。０９年３月期の連結売上高は前年比８％増の４７００億円、純利益は８５．６％増の１０５億円を見込む。

　派遣社員をめぐっては、０６年に偽装請負が問題化したのを機に多くのメーカーが「請負」を「派遣」に切り替えた経緯がある。ただ派遣期間は最長３年で、今年、期限を一斉に迎えるため「０９年問題」と言われる。各社が対応を迫られているが、多くの企業は「雇い止め」にしている。

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キヤノン偽装請負告発の労働者「休業は退職強要」

2009年1月19日12時38分

　キヤノンの工場で行われていた「偽装請負」を内部告発した労働者らでつくるキヤノン非正規労働者組合は１９日、宇都宮市で記者会見した。同社が、景気悪化のなかで宇都宮光機事業所で期間社員らの契約期間の６カ月延長と休業補償の方針を示したことを受け、同組合は宇都宮支部の組合員についても３月以降の休業を通告されたことを明らかにしたうえで、「この欺瞞（ぎまん）的な休業措置＝退職強要に強く抗議する」との声明を発表した。

　キヤノンは今月１５日、同事業所で２月以降に契約満了を迎える期間社員と契約社員約１９０人に対し、契約期間を６カ月延長したうえで月額平均約１５万円の休業補償を行う方針を示した。

　このなかに同労組の組合員も含まれており、組合員らは「実際の手取りは９万円ほどとなり、到底生活できない」「正社員と同じようにやってきて、どうしてこうなるのか？」と訴えている。

　組合員らは長い人で１２年近く同事業所で働いてきた。実態は労働者派遣なのに、形式的には「請負」という契約の下で働かされてきた事実を０６年秋に内部告発。栃木労働局は翌０７年、労働者派遣法に違反するとしてキヤノンに是正を指導した。キヤノンは「事態の早期解決を図るため」という理由で組合員らに直接雇用を申し入れ、組合員らは０７年１０月からキヤノンの「期間社員」となっていた。

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「不採用は裁量権逸脱」都に賠償命令　国歌起立拒否の教員
2009.1.19 21:04
このニュースのトピックス：民事訴訟

　卒業式の国歌斉唱で起立しなかったことを理由に、退職後に嘱託教員として雇用しなかったのは違法として、東京都立高の元教師（６２）が約４８４万円の損害賠償などを求めた訴訟の判決が１９日、東京地裁であった。渡辺弘裁判長は、起立を命じた職務命令は合憲としたが、「不採用は裁量権の逸脱」として２１１万円の賠償を命じた。

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全国に失業者の緊急宿泊施設を　「派遣村」要望
2009.1.19 20:03

　派遣切りにあった失業者らの生活を支援している「年越し派遣村」実行委員会メンバーらが１９日、大村秀章厚生労働副大臣に失業対策を要望した。要望は、国が全国に失業者の緊急宿泊施設を設置▽違法解雇をしないよう企業に周知▽企業側に資金を出させ、失業対策基金を創設－の３点。副大臣は財政面での検討を約束した。年末年始に約５００人が登録した派遣村だが、実行委によると１９日現在で約７０人が滞在。都内の民間施設を拠点に再就職先を探すなどしている。

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投信残高２７兆円減少　過去最大の落ち込み　６年ぶり前年割れ　
2009.1.19 21:18

　投資信託協会が１９日発表した投信概況によると、平成２０年末の投信（私募などを除く）の純資産残高は前年末と比べて２７兆６１２９億円減少し、５２兆１４７６億円だった。前年割れは１４年以来６年ぶり。金融危機に伴う株安で運用が悪化し、減少幅はこれまで最大だった２年（１２兆６５５３億円減少）の２倍以上に膨らんだ。前年末と比べて約３分の１の資産が吹き飛んだ計算となる。個人の金融資産の減少は消費を一段と冷え込ませかねず、景気にも悪影響を及ぼすことが懸念される。

　２０年の運用による減少は過去最大となる２８兆２９９６億円だった。昨年の日経平均株価の下落率は４２％で戦後最大となるなど、運用環境が急速に悪化したためだ。

　急激な円高で外貨建て資産が目減りしたことも響いた。ドルやユーロ、新興国の通貨に対して円高が進んだことで、外国債券や外国株式を組み込んだ投信の運用成績も悪化した。外国株式型投信は個人を中心に資金流入が続いていたが、２０年は８１６８億円の資金流出となった。外貨建ての純資産総額も前年末に比べると１４兆６０２５億円減少し、２２兆２８２０億円となった。

　一方、新規購入から解約・償還を差し引いた年間の資金流入額は、６８６７億円と５年連続で流入超過だった。ただ、運用環境が悪化したことを背景に「個人投資家の解約が相次いだ」（民間エコノミスト）ことなどから、過去最高だった昨年（１４兆３２８３億円の流入）に比べると、資金流入額は大幅に縮小した。

　金融機関の投信窓口販売（銀行窓販）のシェアは２０年１２月末で５３・０％と過去最高だった。「銀行窓販の減少が比較的緩やかで、結果的にシェアが上昇した」（投資信託協会）という。

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百貨店売上高も過去最大減　年末商戦…食品含め“全滅”　
2009.1.19 21:21

　日本百貨店協会が１９日発表した平成２０年１２月の全国百貨店売上高は前年同月比９・４％減（既存店ベース）の７９４７億円で、１２月としては統計を取り始めた昭和４０年以来、最大の落ち込みとなった。雇用など先行きへの不安から消費者に買い控え傾向が強まり、好調だった食料品も含め、ほとんどの商品が前年割れした。年末商戦のピークである１２月の売上高が不振に終わったことで、平成２０年の年間売上高は７兆３８１３億円と１２年連続前年割れとなり、深刻な消費不況を改めて裏付けた。

　１２月は、クリスマスケーキが約１０％増と好調だったが、お歳暮はわずかに前年割れ。コートなどファッション衣料やブランド品の販売も不振で、低迷に拍車をかけた。婦人服は１３・１％減で、１８カ月連続のマイナス。高島屋など一部百貨店でセール前倒しの動きが広がったが、大きな成果は得られなかった。１９年１月からプラスを維持してきた化粧品も１・７％減だった。

　地区別では、大都市圏は同９・６％減で、４カ月連続で地方より下げ幅が大きくなった。中でも名古屋は１３・２％減と落ち込みが激しく、トヨタ自動車など自動車産業の不振の影響が如実に出た格好だ。東京地区は美術・宝飾・貴金属が２１・０％減で、金融危機で中心顧客の富裕層が消費を抑えていることが浮き彫りになっている。

　初売りをはじめ、１月も苦戦しており、同協会では「何もしなければ２１年の年間売上高は７兆円を切る」と危機感を強めている。