Downturn drives expat exodus from Shanghai
By Patti Waldmeir in Shanghai and Kathrin Hille in Beijing
Published: February 24 2009 17:36 | Last updated: February 24 2009 17:36
Until recently, half the 100,000 Koreans who had made Shanghai their home lived clustered together on the outskirts of the city in “Little Korea”, a neighbourhood where the street signs are in Korean and the shops are full of LG products and kimchi food.
But with the economic crisis hitting the South Korean economy and currency hard, Little Korea is being rapidly vacated.
Korean companies are shipping workers home, cutting off school fees and repatriating wives and children without their menfolk to cut costs. They are the first large wave of expatriates to have begun leaving China’s financial capital as a result of the global economic crisis but their departure raises the prospect of a broader exodus of foreigners who may take investment, skills and job creation opportunities with them.
The press officer of the Korean consulate in Shanghai could not answer questions about the exodus of her countrymen – because her post had just been abolished and she was being sent back to Korea.
Kim Heewon, president of Seoul Plaza, Little Korea’s central shopping complex, estimates that 20 per cent of the Korean population has returned home, many of them in the past few weeks.
“Almost no one comes in any more,” says a clerk in Seoul Plaza’s golf boutique. Throughout Ms Kim’s 4,000-squ-m department store, Korean-speaking staff loiter next to Korean-branded toys, clothing and furniture, with no customers in sight.
Japanese relocation companies, meanwhile, say there has been a marked rise in Japanese families returning home from Shanghai compared with last year and they expect the pace to pick up further during the traditional peak relocation months of March and April.
Each of the Japanese housewives minding toddlers at the vast Mandarin City housing complex, where an estimated 70 per cent of residents are Korean or Japanese, say they know at least one family that has been sent home while the breadwinner remains in China.
The Japanese consulate estimates there were 48,000 nationals in Shanghai 18 months ago, but says it has no figures for the number that might have left since.
The pain has not been limited to Shanghai. A parent with children enrolled in an expensive Beijing international school says most of her daughters’ Korean classmates have left the school almost overnight.
A labour activist in the northern province of Shandong, where Korean investment has totalled $23.4bn (€18.4bn, £16.2bn) since 1988 and has accounted for 40 per cent of total foreign inflows, says the owner of a Korean-invested furniture factory left before the Chinese lunar new year in January and it has yet to reopen.
Local authorities that previously published regular data on absconding factory owners halted such reporting after thousands were left jobless when the entire Korean management of Yantai Shigang Fibre vanished last year.
“I would guess that even more have been closing since then given the worsening macroeconomic environment,” says Yuan Xiaoli, a professor at Qingdao University of Science and Technology.
Back in Little Korea, Ms Kim says the flow of Koreans is not one way. “Workers are going home, but entrepreneurs are coming here from Korea,” she says. “Our Korean people think [since] China is bigger than Korea, there must be more opportunities here than in Korea. There is no dream in Korea, but our Korean people think there is still a dream in China.”
Ms Kim is putting her money where her mouth is. She is planning to open a large golf goods store in Seoul Plaza early next month.
-------------------------
Estonian jailed over Nato spy scandal
By James Blitz in London and Tony Barber in Brussels
Published: February 26 2009 02:05 | Last updated: February 26 2009 02:05
An Estonian official who passed Nato and other defence and diplomatic secrets to Russia was jailed for more than 12 years on Wednesday, ending what investigators called “the biggest ever spy scandal in Nato history”.
Herman Simm, 61, handed over more than 2,000 pages of information to his handlers in Russia’s SVR Foreign Intelligence Service, according to documents linked to the investigation.
EU diplomats said the Estonian spy had also seriously compromised the EU’s internal security procedures. “He had total access to Nato and EU stuff and was handing everything he could find to his Russian handlers,” one EU diplomat said.
Mr Simm worked at the Estonian defence ministry from 1995 to 2006 and had access to top secret documents, including those related to Nato, which Estonia joined in 2004.
An Estonian district court said it had convicted Mr Simm of state treason and passing on classified information and jailed him for 12 years and six months.
Nato officials in Brussels said they never commented on intelligence matters. But sources in Brussels conceded that Mr Simm’s activities had caused serious damage to the 26-member alliance.
“As Simm had access to classified Nato documents, it is the biggest ever spy scandal in Nato history,” Raivo Aeg, chief of Estonia’s security police said.
“The activities of Herman Simm were a risk not just to Estonia but to our partners,” said Mati Raidma, head of parliament’s defence committee, after the verdict.
“But on the positive side, it was a good sign that our security services and our processes worked well to find him and bring him to justice,” he said. Mr Simm’s wife was arrested with him in September, but was later released without charge.
-----------------------
Tokyo Grain Exchange Rejects Merger Push, Plans New Products
Email | Print | A A A
By Nobuyuki Akama
Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The Tokyo Grain Exchange, which forecasts a net loss this year, is rejecting proposals to merge with other bourses and will boost product offerings to revive profit, Chairman Yoshiaki Watanabe said.
“We can share trading systems, but we won’t combine our organizations,” Watanabe said in an interview, referring to suggestions that the TGE merge with the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, known as Tocom. “A dedicated exchange for agricultural products is necessary,” he said.
Trading volumes at Japan’s four raw material bourses fell 28 percent in 2008, as prices fell from records amid the global recession, after a 21 percent drop the previous year, according to industry data. The country’s Financial Services Agency in December 2007 proposed steps to create a single venue for trading stocks, bonds and commodity derivatives to win a larger share of global investments.
“The TGE should delist futures for coffee, raw silk and other products that have low liquidity and list futures for attractive goods such as rice,” Kazuhiko Saito, chief analyst at Fujitomi Co. in Tokyo, said. The start of new contracts should be delayed because of the recession, he said.
The member-owned TGE which also trades soybeans, corn, coffee, sugar, non-genetically modified soybeans and azuki beans, is forecast to post a net loss of more than 1 billion yen ($10.3 million) for the year ending March 31 and could take two years to become profitable, Watanabe said on Feb. 23.
Rice, Wheat
The TGE may try to list rice, wheat and livestock futures and will focus on gaining business from individual investors, who account for more than 90 percent of trading at the exchange, to boost volumes, Watanabe said. The bourse will cut personnel and operating costs and is completing a draft business plan, he said.
The exchange in October cut margin requirements for trading soybeans. Next month it will revert to the itayose trading system for raw sugar, where prices are determined at several sessions during the day, after in 2008 starting continuous trading.
The Commodity Futures Industry Association this month said the TGE and the Tocom, which trades contracts including platinum, gold and crude oil, should combine as part of a wider overhaul of the exchanges. A merger was favored by 80 percent of brokers surveyed by the association.
Trading Volumes
Trading volumes at the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, TGE, Kansai Commodities Exchange and Central Japan Commodity Exchange dropped to 52.9 million contracts last year, according to the Japan Commodity Exchanges Committee. Volumes at the TGE, the second-largest, fell 57 percent to 8.4 million contracts.
China’s three commodity exchanges traded record volumes in 2008, according to the China Futures Association.
Volumes in Japan were reduced last year because of commodity market volatility amid wider global financial turmoil, Watanabe said. Laws introduced in 2005 to curb aggressive soliciting of retail investors also cut trading, Watanabe said.
“People say that the economy will pick up at the end of the year or next year,” he said. “Given the characteristics of the futures market, we expect to see bright signs this autumn.”
Japan’s economy shrank at an annual rate of 12.7 percent last quarter, the most since 1974, the government said.
The TGE would look at listing rice futures, which had the potential to lead global markets, after a request was rejected by the agriculture ministry in 2006, he said.
Japan, which started futures trading at the Dojima Rice Market in Osaka in 1730, “mustn’t fail to pass on the torch” and should preserve its heritage, he said.
-------------------------
11:22 GMT, Wednesday, 25 February 2009
UBS in $31bn bond order mistake
UBS branch
As costly errors go, mistakenly placing a order for 3 trillion yen ($31bn; £21bn) of company bonds is likely to rank as one of the worst.
Yet that is just what has happened at a Japanese unit of Swiss bank UBS, which blamed a computer glitch for the error.
Thankfully for UBS Securities Japan, the Tokyo Stock Exchange is said to have been able to cancel the order.
However, it is far from the first time that UBS or other firms have made similar errors in Japan.
'Fat finger' denial
According to reports, a UBS Securities Japan employee had been trying to buy 30 million yen of bonds in computer games firm Capcom, but because of a computer error, 3 trillion yen's worth was ordered instead.
UBS has insisted that the mistake was not human error - sometimes described as a "fat finger" mistake where a worker types in the wrong number.
Thankfully for UBS, the order was made in electronic out-of-hours trading, which analysts said made it easier to cancel.
A spokesman for Capcom, best known for its Resident Evil game, said the firm had received an apology from the Tokyo Stock Exchange for the inconvenience.
Past errors
This is the second time in eight years that a UBS unit or other company has given the Tokyo Stock Exchange an incorrect order.
In 2001, a UBS business mistakenly issued an order to sell shares in Japanese advertising firm Dentsu.
UBS subsequently had to buy more stock in Dentsu in order to honour the order.
Other firms have also had similar mishaps, such as brokerage Mizuho.
In 2005 a Mizuho trader mistakenly agreed to sell 610,000 shares for as little as 1 yen each, rather than one share for 610,000 yen.
As a result of an error on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's computer systems, it would not respond to Mizuho's repeated attempts to cancel the deal.
As a result, Mizuho was left 40.5bn yen out of pocket.
The then boss of the stock exchange, Takuo Tsurushima, was forced to resign as a result of the error.
These incidents resulted in the exchange introducing new rules in 2007 to allow erroneous orders to be cancelled more promptly.
---------------------------
08:44 GMT, Thursday, 26 February 2009
UK has 'uphill struggle to 2Mbps'
Lord Carter
The government faces a "massive challenge" in its pledge to bring UK broadband up to a minimum of 2Mbps (megabits per second) say experts.
Broadband thinktank PointTopic has produced a regional breakdown of areas that currently do not have much net speed.
It shows that Northern Ireland is most poorly placed, with more than 30% of households out of reach of 2Mbps.
In Wales, 26.9% of homes are unable to get speeds of 2Mbps or above.
While London only has 1.2% of its population out of range of 2Mbps, places relatively near to the capital are not so lucky.
"Towns such as Basingstoke and Milton Keynes which people might expect to be well connected have notspots," said Tim Johnson, chief analyst with Point Topic.
"The scale of the task is massive and in order to achieve it there needs to be co-operation between government, the regulator and operators such as BT," he said.
PERCENTAGE OF UK OUT OF RANGE OF 2MBPS
* East Midlands - 15.2%
* East of England - 15%
* London - 1.2%
* North East - 15.8%
* North West - 10.8%
* South East - 13.5%
* South West - 19.9%
* West Midlands - 10.4%
* Yorkshire/Humber - 16.1%
* Northern Ireland - 32.2%
* Scotland - 15.6%
* Wales - 26.9%
Broadband anniversary
Ten years on from the first broadband connections being made, the UK is at a crossroads, thinks Mr Johnson.
If the issue is addressed, it could mean that things in the decade ahead look much brighter.
"We forecast that over 90% of UK homes could have broadband access in 10 years time, almost all with speeds of 32Mbps," he predicted.
But, in order to achieve this, the government needs to back the right technology and make sure conditions are favourable, he added.
"We think that fibre is the right way to go. That will provide the UK with a future-proofed network," said Mr Johnson.
BT has pledged to provide fibre to around 40% of the UK but with the caveat that "market conditions must be right".
Mr Johnson believes this may mean that the regulator has to allow BT to "make profit via some level of monopoly agreement".
Not allowing anyone else to use its newly-created fibre network would boost profits for the telco but many believe it would be a backward step, after years of opening up its copper network to other players.
The government's decision to provide at least 2Mbps to all UK homes by 2012 was the most headline-grabbing idea of the recently published Digital Britain report.
The report, the full version of which is due in May, laid out the government's commitment to broadband and suggested that some of the gaps in coverage could be filled with mobile broadband.
Refuseniks
Mobile broadband logo, GSMA
Not everyone is convinced that mobile broadband is up to the job.
"Mobile broadband is not the replacement for fixed line broadband that everyone once thought," said Alex Salter, co-founder of broadband measurement site SamKnows.
"There are issues with the network and services drop off the more people who use it," he said.
There are a couple of firms offering satellite broadband which has been touted as a solution for rural areas. It is not cheap though. Avanti offers a 2Mb service for £45 a month.
Whatever technology is used to fill in the gaps in broadband coverage there will always be a core of users who do not want it even if it is available.
"We estimate that 15 to 20% say that they will never get it and frankly you can live without broadband, although it might make life more expensive and less convenient," said Mr Johnson.
------------------------
Panasonic loads into white goods
By Robin Harding in Tokyo
Published: February 25 2009 02:00 | Last updated: February 25 2009 02:00
To enter a mature and notoriously competitive market during a recession might seem foolhardy, especially when that market loads its washing machines from the front, not the top.
Yet Panasonic's launch of large white goods such as washing machines and refrigerators on the European market yesterday reflects the Japanese electronics group's rediscovered aggression and willingness to take risks.
The products had to be completely redesigned to meet European tastes.
The arrival of such a deep-pocketed competitor will shake up a market dominated by European brands such as Electrolux and Bosch, and is set to be the first of many new areas that Panasonic invades.
That Panasonic is able to make such moves reflects the transformation that the company, which sells almost every electrical and electronic product imaginable in Japan, has undergone over the past 10 years.
"In the past we had a strict division system, but we were not good at coordinating divisions," said Hitoshi Otsuki, the director of Panasonic's overseas operations.
Overseas sales companies were fed products, not always suitable, from a jumble of divisions in Japan.
After 2000, Panasonic radically changed its structure to cut overlap and focus on profitability - it now closes any business that has not made money for the past three years - and the company is on the offensive abroad again.
The sale of white goods in Europe is on the direct instructions of Fumio Ohtsubo, Panasonic's president.
In the revamped company, the project has gone from conception to launch in only 18 months.
The move to sell white goods in Europe is backed by Panasonic's belief that it has an edge in green technologies, such as low power consumption, that will appeal to Europeans.
"We don't just introduce ordinary products. In this case, we have environmental technologies," said Mr Otsuki.
In the context of Panasonic's expected turnover of Y7,750bn ($80bn) this financial year - and its forecast net loss of Y380bn - European appliance sales are unlikely to make much difference.
The company's goal is to double current sales of €260m ($331m) over the next five years.
However, Panasonic sees Europe as a stepping stone towards selling white goods in Russia and the Middle East, on top of its markets in Asia.
Mr Otsuki said the company was also considering the launch of more products abroad, such as hearing aids in China and other Asian markets, while there was interest from buyers, including in the UK, for its new fuel cell-based systems that generate heat and power at home.
European rivals say that, amid the recession, consumers are trading down to cheaper models, and Mr Otsuki accepts the chance that Panasonic's launch may flop.
---------------------------
Anxious China turns charm on Europe
By Geoff Dyer in Beijing
Published: February 26 2009 01:29 | Last updated: February 26 2009 01:29
The delegation of Chinese businessmen that arrived on Wednesday in Europe on a government-organised buying trip is part of a broad diplomatic charm offensive launched by Beijing in recent weeks to try to stave off protectionist pressures and smooth the way for Chinese investment.
Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, German economy minister, left, talks to Chen Deming, China’s trade minister
The four-day procurement drive in Europe follows a series of high-profile trips by senior leaders, including President Hu Jintao’s visit two weeks ago to Africa and the Middle East and that of Xi Jinping, vice-president, to Latin America, as well as Premier Wen Jiabao’s European tour late last month.
With the G20 summit in London in April, the diplomatic initiatives reflect mounting anxiety in Beijing that the steep recession in western countries will lead to new barriers against Chinese exports and that political tensions will make it harder for Chinese companies to take advantage of low commodity prices to buy natural resources assets.
Lurking in the background are the record trade surpluses China has witnessed during the past four months that officials fear will eventually attract criticism about its currency policy and exports. During the past three months China has run a surplus with every major region in the world, including the rest of Asia, Africa and Latin America.
“Their biggest nightmare is that in a year’s time the US and Europe will tell them ‘raise your currency by 30 per cent or we will impose 30 per cent tariffs’,” said a European diplomat in Beijing. During Mr Xi’s trip to Latin America he used unusually strong language to attack perceived critics of China. “Some foreigners have nothing better to do after filling their stomachs. They keep picking on things Chinese,” said Mr Xi, who is expected to be China’s next president, at a dinner in Mexico.
The trip to Europe, which started in Germany and will take in Switzerland, Spain and the UK, involves 140 executives and is expected to see $15bn (€11.8m, £10.5m) of deals signed, Xinhua reported. Chinese officials said $10bn-worth of contracts with German companies were signed on Wednesday.
The diplomatic drive comes amid signs that China sees the slump in commodity markets as a golden opportunity to tie up natural resources assets. As well as Chinalco’s planned $19.5bn investment in Rio Tinto, Beijing in recent weeks agreed two large loan deals – $25bn with Russian groups Rosneft and Transneft and $10bn with Brazil’s Petrobras – in exchange for long-term oil supply deals.
Xiao Yaqing, Chinalco’s former boss, has moved to a senior position in the government amid suggestions his new role will be to co-ordinate China’s natural resources investments.
“I would not be surprised if China regards loans-for-oil deals as less politically sensitive than the acquisition of foreign energy and mining companies,” said Erica Downs, an expert on Chinese energy at Brookings Institution in Washington DC.
------------------------
Reactor tests bolster programme
By Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran and Daniel Dombey in,Washington
Published: February 26 2009 02:00 | Last updated: February 26 2009 02:00
Iran yesterday said it had carried out successful tests at its Bushehr nuclear reactor in the latest sign that its nuclear programme is gaining speed.
The announcement came in the wake of a report last week by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, that drew attention to Iran's advances in enriching uranium - a process that can provide either fuel for plants such as -Bushehr or weapons grade material.
Gholam-Reza Aghazadeh, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, and Sergei Kiriyenko, his visiting Russian counterpart, yesterday visited the Russian-built light water reactor for what was described as a "pre-commission" test that injected "virtual" fuel into rods.
In a press conference broadcast live on state television the two sides refused to say when the $1bn plant would eventually come on stream after frequent delays. "More important than the test is to remove the political concern of the [Iranian] people about the launch of Bushehr," Mr Aghazadeh said.
In recent years, US and European officials have privately commended Russia for apparently slowing down its work on Bushehr, which they saw as a means to exert pressure on Iran. But yesterday Mr Kiriyenko said 97 per cent of the equipment had been installed at the plant. Speaking through an Iranian translator, he also stressed that the construction process was under IAEA supervision and maintained that Bushehr could never be used for a weapons programme.
While the US and the European Union are suspicious of Iran's nuclear programme as a whole, they are less worried about Bushehr itself than about an enrichment facility at Natanz and a separate heavy water -reactor that could produce plutonium for a weapon more easily than could the Bushehr plant. Indeed, George W. Bush, the former US president, praised Iranian-Russian co-operation at Bushehr.
Mr Aghazadeh said yesterday that 6,000 centrifuges were installed at the underground facility at Natanz and were enriching uranium, and that the country was determined to increase to 50,000 centrifuges during the next five years.
That compares with last week's IAEA report, which said that as of February 1, Iran was using slightly fewer than 4,000 centrifuges to enrich uranium. About another 1500 centrifuges had been installed. The IAEA added Iran had built up a stockpile of 1,010kg of low-enriched uranium, which, if further processed, could provide enough fissile material for a bomb.
Many analysts and diplomats warn Iran's nuclear programme could increase risks of a military confrontation with Israel which has not ruled out using force against Tehran.
---------------------------
EU trio targets tougher list of Iran sanctions
By Guy Dinmore in Rome, Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran and,Alex Barker in London
Published: February 26 2009 02:00 | Last updated: February 26 2009 02:00
France, Germany and the UK - the so-called EU3 - are proposing a tough list of additional sanctions to be imposed against Iran in order to give the Obama administration more muscle in its expected engagement of the Islamic republic.
A confidential document seen by the Financial Times and Il Riformista, an Italian newspaper, lists 34 Iranian entities and 10 individuals allegedly linked to Iran's covert nuclear or biological weapons programmes.
European diplomats confirmed the existence of the list but differed over the reasoning behind it. Some said it was intended to provide Washington with a "bigger stick" option in continuation of the existing carrot-and-stick approach. Others said the EU3 wanted to influence a more hardline outcome of Washington's current review of its Iran policy, expected to be completed next month.
Internal debate has already reopened European divisions. Diplomats said five countries - Greece, Cyprus, Spain, Austria and Sweden - were opposed.
Bernard Kouchner, French foreign minister, is said to have argued for a strong common European front regardless of Washington's next tack. The UK views it as a post-review option.
The six-page list includes some entities already listed by the US and the United Nations for sanctions. But all the individuals on the new EU-wide sanctions proposal face penalties for the first time, including the commander and deputy of the paramilitary Basij force.
Some state-run organisations are named for the first time, including the prestigious Sharif University of Technology, Iran Insurance Company, Iran Air Cargo, which is affiliated to the state-owned airliner, Khatam ol-Anbia, a construction contractor affiliated to the elite Revolutionary Guards, Iran Space Agency and Razi Institute for Serum and Vaccine Production.
Six banks and their Tehran headquarters are named, including Bank Tejarat, one of Iran's largest commercial banks, for the first time. Previous EU sanctions were directed mostly at foreign affiliates.
Critics argue that the policy of coercion has failed so far, leading to an impasse over the nuclear issue and negative repercussions for efforts to influence Iranian behaviour in other crucial areas, such as Iraq, Afghanistan and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Trita Parsi, Washington-based head of the National Iranian American Council, which urges direct dialogue between Iran and the US, is concerned that the US will stick to "the mentality of threats and coercion".
He also sees a danger of losing a comprehensive approach. "It would be alarming if on the one hand Iran is invited to the [G8] Afghan conference in June and at the same time sanctions are slapped on Sharif University," he said.
Dennis Ross, a veteran Mideast negotiator, was appointed on Tuesday as the US state department's special adviser for the Gulf and south-west Asia. Mr Ross has championed a more forceful carrot-and-stick policy and helped shape Mr Obama's stance on Iran during the election campaign.
Franco Frattini, Italy's foreign minister, is expected to meet Richard Holbrooke, US envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, in Washington today to discuss Iran's possible participation in the regional conference proposed by Italy as holder of the G8 presidency.
In Tehran, a regime insider said he doubted further sanctions could make Iran change its nuclear policy. Iran continues to enrich uranium to a low level in defiance of UN resolutions. UN experts said last week that Iran had produced enough for a nuclear bomb but only if it undertook the highly visible and protracted step of enrichment to weapon grade levels.
----------------------
Santander revives Cepsa stake sale talks
By Mark Mulligan in Madrid
Published: February 25 2009 12:07 | Last updated: February 25 2009 19:26
Santander has rekindled talks on selling its 32 per cent stake in oil group Cepsa in what could lead to the divestment of the Spanish bank’s last remaining equity holding of importance.
The bank, the eurozone’s biggest by market capitalisation, told the Spanish stock market regulator on Wednesday that it was “in negotiations” over its holding in Cepsa, in which Total, the French oil major, controls nearly 49 per cent. However, it said no agreement had been reached.
It is understood that the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), of Abu Dhabi, which already holds 9.5 per cent of Cepsa, heads the list of potential buyers.
Santander has been in and out of talks with the state-owned energy company for about year, and was close to signing a deal in September, before the current bout of stock and oil market turbulence.
Unión Fenosa, the Spanish electricity group, is also selling its 5 per cent stake in Cepsa as part of the same deal.
It said on Wednesday that it had awarded a sale mandate to Santander on September 5 last year.
Analysts say Santander’s failure to sell the Cepsa stake last year was one of the reasons it was forced to raise €7.2bn ($9.2bn) of equity via a rights issue completed in November. The bank has also had problems finding a buyer for its fund management and insurance operations, and is now under pressure to sell residential and commercial property to pay back investors in a troubled real estate fund.
Its admission on Wednesday, in response to media speculation, that it had resumed talks with IPIC, suggests it needs fresh capital.
Santander said on Wednesday that the price being discussed for its Cepsa stake was between “€30 and €35 a share”, which would value the holding at between €2.5bn and €2.9bn. Cepsa’s thinly traded shares closed down 25 per cent, at €39, on the news, after a similar fall on Tuesday.
The price compares with the €28 a share Santander paid to build its 20 per cent Cepsa holding to 36 per cent in 2003, in a partial takeover that sparked a legal battle with Total. This was finally resolved in 2006, when an arbitrator ordered the two to unwind a joint investment vehicle.
Santander was also forced to sell part of its stake to the French group at a deep discount. It began casting around for buyers for its remaining holding soon after, helping fuel a speculative rally that, added to climbing oil prices, pushed Cepsa’s shares beyond €72.
Shares in Santander bucked the market trend on Wednesday, closing up 2.8 per cent at €4.83.
------------------------
Dubai takes another dive into pearls
By Simeon Kerr in Dubai
Published: February 25 2009 16:48 | Last updated: February 25 2009 16:48
One of the toughest moments in Dubai’s history came when Japanese scientists discovered how to culture pearls. The process devastated the economies of the Gulf region in the 1930s as the primary industry, diving for natural pearls, collapsed and depression in the US punctured demand.
So the symmetry of Dubai seeking once again to become a pearl trading hub is apt just as the global credit crunch curbs the city-state’s financial and real estate sectors.
“Maybe there is some sentimentality here, but we do believe Dubai can once again become a pearl trading centre, even if it does not turn into a multibillion-dollar industry here,” says Ahmed Sulayem, chairman of the Dubai Metals and Commodities Centre (DMCC).
The government-owned free zone, which promotes the emirate as a destination for the trade of commodities including precious stones and diamonds, wants to turn Dubai into a fulcrum for the trade. It is offering a trading exchange and storage facilities to grab a piece of the $3bn a year industry, which still only makes up 2 per cent of the world’s jewellery market.
Falling under the Dubai World umbrella, the DMCC’s proposal harks back to the growth of the city as a trading hub, before the discovery of oil, when pearls became a commodity that helped turn the creek from a sleepy fishing village into a busy trading post.
This month international producers were lured to the World Pearl Forum, a conference held in Dubai, as the DMCC explores ways to recapture the city’s place in the global pearling industry.
Nicholas Paspaley, executive chairman of Paspaley Pearling, says Dubai has prospects to become a regional hub and more, as long as it offers something extra for the industry and maintains an open borders policy.
For now, the industry revolves around Hong Kong, but Mr Paspaley said Dubai was an ideal launch pad into the European market, as well as the Middle East.
Gulf shoppers have long held a fascination with jewellery, and Dubai, a retail heaven, has carved out a niche as the City of Gold, acting as a wholesale hub feeding the lucrative Indian and Gulf markets.
Gaiti Rabbani, the DMCC’s executive director for coloured stones and pearls, says the centre is looking to capitalise on a tentative upsurge of interest in pearls by helping standardisation so that consumers feel more confident about what they are buying.
The DMCC is also looking to unite what has traditionally been a fragmented industry by proposing a unified marketing campaign for pearls. An absence of agreed standards has undermined confidence in the industry and lowered demand, according to industry specialists.
The producers say such a unified message could help lift all their businesses, which are operating on slim margins, forging consensus among the disparate group of pearl producers.
“It’s a great idea,” says Robert Wan, chairman of Robert Wan Tahiti. “But it’s a big job.”
Ms Rabbani concedes that forging consensus will be tough. The producers’ output is varied in terms of quality and even product – from white to black pearls, natural to cultured.
The world’s top producers are limiting production and having to make difficult decisions on supply and demand five years into the future, given the long production process.
Mr Wan says his large production site has halved its output in response to the financial crisis.
There is a glimmer of light for the industry though, according to Chris Figee, partner with McKinsey & Co, the management consultancy. Luxury goods, such as pearls, are usually the first consumer segment to fall away as a recession begins, but also the first to revive ahead of broader economic recovery, he says.
An index of US luxury items shows that demand tailed off ahead of the current slowdown, but that demand recovered in the third quarter of last year, which could even signal a broader return to growth.
“The worst may be behind us,” says Mr Figee.
----------------------
Dubai says loan sufficient for next year
By Simeon Kerr in Dubai
Published: February 25 2009 15:16 | Last updated: February 25 2009 15:16
Dubai’s $10bn bail-out loan from the central bank of the United Arab Emirates is sufficient to refinance debt and meet operational costs at government-related companies for the next year, an official said on Wednesday.
Nasser al-Shaikh, director-general of the department of finance, said Dubai would reveal details of the next $10bn tranche of its medium-term bond programme if it were launched at a later date, but he said the full $20bn would cover ”the worst case scenario” of Dubai’s ongoing requirements.
The federal cash, lent to Dubai on Sunday, will be used to retire debt and fund operational costs, primarily in the hard-hit real estate sector. Under an as-yet-to-be-defined mechanism, government-owned or related companies will borrow money priced more dearly than the 4 per cent at which the bonds were issued.
”We are working on the mechanism that will assist entities needing support through 2009 and into 2010, depending on when we hit the bottom and start to recover,” Mr Shaikh told reporters as the Dubai government gave its first response to Sunday’s announcement of federal support.
He declined to outline a debt repayment schedule for government related companies in 2009, but ratings agencies and banks have estimated the remaining repayments amount to $11bn-$15bn.
The $10bn (€7.8bn, £7bn) cash pool will form some much-needed ballast as the government goes into refinance talks with international banks, while also leaving money left over to open lines of credit to cash-strapped companies.
Mr Shaikh said the Dubai government would ensure that companies that take on debts were held accountable and implemented measures that would allow them to repay their loans.
The federal bail-out will soon be followed by a raft of recommendations from the department of economic development aiming to help the Dubai economy recover from the global financial crisis.
Proposals under consideration, which should be announced within three weeks, include reducing government fees and a stimulus package for small- and medium-sized enterprises.
Mr Shaikh said the budget, which had been expected to run a deficit after a planned spending increase of 42 per cent, could end up balanced as government departments have already trimmed AED2.5bn-3bn ($680m-$820m, €530m-€640m, £480m - £570m) through greater efficiencies.
The government had chosen a medium-term bond programme, which he reiterated is not underwritten by any assets, to ride through the current global slowdown.
The Dubai government is still hoping to launch a ratings process in the second half of this year, he said.
---------------------
Hariri murder suspects released
By Ferry Biedermann in Beirut
Published: February 26 2009 03:10 | Last updated: February 26 2009 03:10
Lebanon on Wednesday released three men who had been detained for more than three years in connection with the murder of Rafiq Hariri, former prime minister, in 2005. But the authorities kept four senior pro-Syrian generals, heads of the police and security services at the time, in jail.
The release on bail of the three – two Lebanese and one Syrian – comes just days before the official start of the United Nations-mandated international tribunal that is to try the case. The special tribunal, based in The Hague, will open on Sunday.
In a series of interviews in the Lebanese media tribunal officials have hinted that indictments will not be issued immediately but that the four generals will be transferred to The Hague before the Lebanese elections in June.
Many Lebanese blame Syria for the assassination, although Damascus denies responsibility. Syria, which had maintained a military presence in the country for some three decades, withdrew its troops from Lebanon after widespread protests in the aftermath of the killing.
The tribunal proceedings may affect the political landscape in Lebanon, which is divided roughly in pro-Syrian and anti-Syrian factions. It may also affect the position of Syria itself as it is making a push to end several years of political isolation under the previous American administration. Senior US Democratic politicians have said that the Obama administration is open to improved relations with Syria but that Damascus does have to change its behaviour.
Imad Mustafa, Syria’s envoy to the US, is scheduled to hold talks at the State Department on Thursday.
Syria’s role in Lebanon, along with its support for militants in Iraq and the Palestinian territories, was one of the reasons for the international isolation of the country. But it is seen as having played a more constructive role during peace talks in the aftermath of clashes in Lebanon last May and many European countries have started opening up to Damascus.
Nobody has been charged yet over the Hariri murder, including the four generals still in custody. It is not known why the three others were released on bail. They can still be charged in the case.
----------------------
Total eyes role in trans-Saharan gas pipeline
By Matthew Green in Abuja
Published: February 26 2009 02:00 | Last updated: February 26 2009 02:00
Total, the French oil group, yesterday said it was ready to participate in a planned trans-Saharan gas pipeline, seen by European governments as a potential route to reduce their dependence on Russian energy supplies.
Gazprom, the Russian gas monopoly, has already expressed interest in the €15bn ($19bn, £13.4bn) scheme as part of a wider strategy to gain access to Nigeria's vast gas reserves, seen as crucial to future energy security in Europe and the US.
Total's announcement suggests western energy companies are also starting to look seriously at the pipeline in spite of the huge technical and commercial challenges of pumping gas from Nigeria's restive Niger Delta to export terminals on Algeria's Mediterranean coast.
Guy Maurice, managing director of Total Exploration and Production in Nigeria, told an oil and gas conference in Abuja, Nigeria's capital, that the pipeline would be a long-term strategic investment for the country. "Total is ready to be involved in this project."
Mr Maurice gave no further details of intended participation. Total said discussions were preliminary.
Disruptions to Russian supplies to Europe have heightened European Union anxiety. The EU depends on Russia for a quarter of its annual gas consumption of 300bn cubic metres. The planned trans-Saharan pipeline could provide 20-30bn cubic metres.
The project is likely to face great hurdles, including the security threat posed by militants on the planned route through Nigeria, Niger and Algeria, and complications about revenue-sharing between the hosts.
Experts say investment in Nigeria's liquefied natural gas capacity could prove more cost effective to deliver energy to Europe than a lengthy pipeline.
Gazprom seemed to steal a march on rivals interested in the project by signing in September a memorandum of understanding with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the state oil company, to co-operate on gas exploration, production and transportation. The company has said it will invest at least $2.5bn to build a network of pipelines and processing plants to harness gas for local use.
"We're continuing [to say] that though we are very interested in the trans-Saharan pipeline, trans-Saharan starts after the Nigerian gas grid is completed," Vladimir Ilyanin, managing director of Gazprom's subsidiary in Nigeria, told the conference.
-----------------------
Europe needs a stronger France inside Nato
By Karl Kaiser and Dominique Moïsi
Published: February 25 2009 19:40 | Last updated: February 25 2009 19:40
The debate on whether to return to Nato’s permanent command structure that has recently been unleashed in France – 43 years after Charles de Gaulle pulled his country out – has impassioned its political class much more than the wider public.
The opposition has seized the opportunity to attack President Nicolas Sarkozy on an issue where his governing centre-right party happens to be divided. But if one goes beyond the political calculations and ideological reflexes of this debate and considers the long-term strategic implications, what is at stake?
In the first place common sense requires that an anachronism be eliminated and that the appropriate lessons be drawn from the fundamental changes happening in today’s world, in the US as well as in Europe. By remaining a member of Nato without taking part in its integrated military structure France has first and foremost penalised itself.
Precisely because the future of Nato’s strategy is at stake and legitimate questions must be raised about the choices to be made regarding Afghanistan, France should assume its responsibilities inside Nato and thereby increase Europe’s weight in redefining western strategy. Only from inside will France be able to assert its own interests.
But the developments in the international environment make a change of France’s status inside Nato seem even more advisable, indeed necessary. The world has changed profoundly; the west is no longer as dominant as it has been for two centuries, either economically or in terms of strategic importance. The economic crisis, though global in nature, is accelerating the historic shift from the west to Asia.
Moreover, Europe’s primary problem is no longer to define itself as distinct from, if not at times in opposition to, the US. That is an obsolete mindset. Today’s challenge is to form a common front by asserting our values, not against others but in co-operation with them and in recognition of an emerging multi-polarity.
Since the election of Barack Obama as president of the US these changes have been accompanied by a revolution: not only has there been a big change in the image of America in the world but the behaviour of the US vis a vis its allies has changed even more radically. Though it is too early to know whether President Obama will succeed in reinvigorating the US economy, it is not too early to support his measures and efforts to relaunch multilateralism with strong action taken by our two countries.
The French population as well as the Germans – we remember the enthusiastic crowds that cheered him in Berlin – strongly support Mr Obama. France should seize the hand extended by America. Its return as a full member of Nato would constitute a strong symbolic and political act, sealing a historic reconciliation of two allies that are willing to put their common challenges above the quarrels and prejudices of the past.
Europe itself is changing before our eyes. There is no contradiction between the desire to advance European defence and to “normalise” France’s status inside Nato; on the contrary, France’s position thereby would come closer to that of Britain and Germany. A stronger France inside the alliance would strengthen the European defence effort. The return of France to Nato is not a guarantee of a successful European defence, but it certainly is a necessary precondition.
This becomes all the more true considering the new challenges facing Europe such as the return of Russia, now seeking a more powerful role in the international system. We should not allow Russia to exploit potential differences between Europe and Nato. But at the same time we must seek to open a dialogue with Russia on the necessary reopening of arms control negotiations in Europe, hopefully building a new partnership. These negotiations require strong and harmonised positions within Nato.
The authors of this article have devoted an important part of their lives to Franco-German rapprochement, which they consider to be a key to European unification. They regard the complete return of France to Nato as a logical step towards the European goal.
They are convinced that General de Gaulle, with his pragmatic and realist vision of the world and of a Europe based on the Franco-German relationship, would be shocked to hear that his name is evoked today to oppose an adjustment that he himself would have considered natural, given the profound changes that are happening in the world.
Karl Kaiser is a former director of the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin and now an adjunct professor at Harvard University. Dominique Moisi is special adviser to France’s Institute for International Relations and visiting professor at Harvard University
-----------------------
UBS under fire over Madoff
By Stanley Pignal in Brussels and Brooke Masters in,London
Published: February 26 2009 02:00 | Last updated: February 26 2009 02:00
UBS, the Swiss bank, was accused yesterday of "serious failure" by Luxembourg's financial regulator over its custodianship of a $1.4bn fund that funnelled money into Bernard Madoff's alleged $50bn "Ponzi" scheme.
The regulator ordered the bank to pay compensation and said the "poor execution of its due diligence obligations constitute a serious failure of its surveillance role as a depositary bank".
The Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier gave the Swiss bank's Luxembourg arm three months to pay the compensation and improve its procedures and structures.
The CSSF has moved to shut down the Luxalpha fund, but yesterday's public denouncement of UBS was highly unusual, legal experts said. Its action comes as Luxembourg fights charges, particularly from France, that investors in the grand duchy are less protected than those in other EU countries. Many of Luxalpha's investors were French.
UBS said it was "unfair" to blame the bank. "The investors in Luxalpha were sophisticated and explicitly agreed that the safekeeping of the securities was Madoff's responsibility and not UBS's," it said.
But UBS remained "keen to continue to co-operate with the authorities".
People familiar with the negotiations said the CSSF had pushed hard for the bank to offer compensation to Luxalpha investors.
UBS has sought to minimise the bank's role in Luxalpha, saying it never marketed or recommended the feeder fund.
Luxalpha was set up in 2004 at the request of investors who had money with Mr Madoff and wanted to hold their investments through a Luxembourg fund. As custodian, UBS earned fees of less than a hundredth of 1 per cent, said officials.
Direct investors were required to sign a subscription form that said "the risk of loss of the assets following a default [even if unlikely] of the US registered broker-dealer is borne entirely by the shareholders".
Since Mr Madoff's arrest in December, Luxembourg has been forced to rebuff suggestions that lax regulation underpinned the success of its financial centre.
Christine Lagarde, France's finance minister, pointed the finger at Luxembourg last month for its application of EU rules to protect investors, which she said "varies from one country to another". Luxembourg was quick to rebut the suggestion.
------------------------
Washington also needs to change the way it engages
Published: February 26 2009 02:00 | Last updated: February 26 2009 02:00
From Dr Susan Allen Nan.
Sir, Strobe Talbott (“A Russian ‘reset button’ based on inclusion”, February 24) neglects the activities that must be excluded for that inclusion to have a chance of success. An era of inclusion does not allow for unilaterally placing an anti-missile defence system in Poland with no regard for the fears of others in that neighbourhood. Nor can an era of inclusion be based on surrounding Russia with a Nato that excludes it, while maintaining military bases and overflight rights in central Asia.
The difficult radical shifts required to forge a new relationship with Russia are clear in the south Caucasus. In the aftermath of the August war, the US is aiding the Georgian-controlled areas of Georgia, Russia is aiding South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and previous spheres of influence are now set firmly along ceasefire lines. Unless the “reset button” reaches the south Caucasus, the region will continue to suffer from major power tensions that exacerbate the very real local conflicts.
The Georgian government could seize this opportunity for change by excluding the use of force in settling its conflicts, demilitarising Georgia, and calling on the Abkhaz and South Ossetians to simultaneously demilitarise. This “reset” would require both Russia and the US to exclude their militaries from the region. As a result, the Abkhaz and South Ossetians would see that their lives are valued more than the particular shape of political settlements; all would be included as people whose lives matter. An era of inclusion requires shifts not only in how the US encourages Russia to engage; it also relies on shifts in how the US engages.
Susan Allen Nan,
Assistant Professor,
Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution,
George Mason University,
Arlington, VA, US
-----------------------
Don’t reject Chinalco’s bid for bogus reasons
By David Pilling
Published: February 25 2009 19:43 | Last updated: February 25 2009 19:43
Rio Tinto, the mining company with almost as many holes in its balance sheet as holes in the ground, upset some Australians when it established its headquarters in London following the 1995 union of RTZ and CRA. Now, rumblings Down Under suggest the Anglo-Australian mining giant is about to make an even more humiliating move: to Zhongnanhai, home of China’s Communist party.
The swashbuckling decision by Chinalco, China’s state-owned metals group, to lavish $19.5bn (€15.3bn, £13.5bn) on debt-burdened Rio has not provoked quite the nationalistic backlash set off by CNOOC’s aborted takeover of US oil company Unocal. That is partly because Chinalco would end up with just 18 per cent of Rio, and partly because – in these straitened times – it is impolite to question the kindness of strangers bearing billions of dollars in cash.
Still, Chinalco’s offer to buy $7.2bn worth of convertible bonds and to spend a further $12.3bn on minority stakes in Rio treasure – including iron ore, copper and bauxite mines – has been greeted by what one Chinalco advocate describes as “parochialism and low-level xenophobia”. Senator Barnaby Joyce of the opposition National party said: “The Chinese government involvement, via their vehicle Chinalco, is not a one-off.” Suggesting Chinalco’s intentions were less than honourable, he added: “If they own the resources, they will just dig them up and cart them away.”
Broadly, there are two possible objections to Rio accepting Chinalco’s largesse. The first, that it has fallen for Beijing’s plot to get low-cost minerals, is largely spurious. The second, that Rio is compounding previous managerial errors by betraying its own shareholders, deserves a hearing. The danger is that the two are conflated.
At first glance, the hand of Beijing in Chinalco’s Australian adventure is not hard to detect. Chinalco got its shopping money from the China Development Bank . Its offer is part of a pattern of grabbing raw materials around the world. This month alone, Beijing-based Minmetals launched a A$2.6bn recommended bid for Oz Minerals, another down-on-its-luck Australian miner. Beijing agreed to provide Petrobras, Brazil’s state oil company, with some $10bn in loans in return for up to 160,000 barrels of crude a day. China Development Bank signed a $25bn financing deal with Rosneft, Russia’s state-controlled oil company, in return for two decades’ supply of east Siberian crude. As if more evidence were needed that Chinalco was answering to a higher cause, days after it announced the Rio deal, its chairman, Xiao Yaqing, landed a top government job.
But to say there is state involvement is not the same as imagining a monolithic apparatus planning world domination. In any case, the west, whose banks, carmakers and god-knows-what else are underwritten by the state, is not in an ideal position to lecture others. If China wants to use its trade surplus to secure mineral resources, one response might be: so what? But Chinese companies, even state-owned ones, are as likely to be engaged in cut-throat competition as in cosy cartels or state-sponsored carve-ups.
That undermines the idea that Chinalco, an aluminium maker with no need of iron ore, would seek to persuade Rio to sell cheaply to China Inc. Even if Chinalco were in a position to influence price negotiations – and with just two board members that seems doubtful – it is more likely to try to maximise prices for its own sake than to minimise them for China’s good.
Evidence that China’s forays abroad have been led by companies, and not orchestrated by an all-knowing state, is plentiful. Chinese companies often compete for the same asset. Both Shanghai Automotive and Nanjing Auto bid for Rover when the UK carmaker went chassis-up. Fears that Beijing is making a huge asset grab while the world reels from financial crisis also ignore the fact that foreign adventures are out of vogue in China. State institutions that invested in sinking foreign banks have faced public outrage for squandering national resources.
A more plausible reason for opposing Chinalco’s offer is that Rio’s shareholders deserve better. UK institutional investors are furious they were not offered the chance to participate in a rights issue. They have lost faith in a management that rejected a hostile approach by BHP Billiton shortly after splashing out $44bn – in cash – for Alcan. That particular rush of blood to the brain leaves Rio owing two tranches of debt totalling $20bn, a sum conveniently provided by Chinalco. Even then, the board was divided; Jim Leng, chairman-designate, quit in protest.
Rio says it could have raised $10bn from a rights issue. But that would have left it needing more, forcing it to sell prized assets at firesale prices. Chinalco’s bid, it argues, is generously priced and offers access to Chinese cash and minerals, claims the deal’s opponents dispute. Angry Rio shareholders see little in it for them, save dilution. The Association of British Insurers, which represents institutional investors owning roughly a fifth of Rio, says Chinalco should instead offer to underwrite a rights issue. That would prove its good faith, it says.
Investors have every right to be wary. If Rio’s accident-prone board is recommending the deal, there must be a prima facie case for doing something else. But if shareholders reject Chinalco’s offer, they should make clear they mistrust the judgment of Rio’s management, not the motives of China.
------------------------
Argentine farmers win aid
By Jude Webber in Buenos Aires
Published: February 26 2009 02:00 | Last updated: February 26 2009 02:00
Argentina's government has offered an olive branch to the country's powerful farming sector in an effort to head off a fresh conflict after a four-month dispute last year. Farmers are expecting their worst harvest in 40 years.
At a meeting on Tuesday, the government waived export tariffs on milk and granted subsidies to small producers. It also offered a subsidy to boost domestic wheat prices and promised to reopen the wheat export registry, which it keeps under close control to protect the internal market. Tax breaks were offered to meat producers along with aid to ranchers hit by drought.
But Florencio Randazzo, interior minister, and Débora Giorgi, production minister, told the leaders of Argentina's four main producers' groups that there could be no cut in export tariffs for Argentina's top cash crop, soya - currently 35 per cent. Farming is the backbone of the national economy, and Argentina is the world's second largest corn exporter and third largest soya exporter.
Last year's farm conflict flared over government plans to introduce variable export tariffs for agricultural crops which - at the time, with commodities prices high - would have meant a rise in their tax bill. Farmers won widespread popular support and the conflict sparked a political revolt, forcing President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner eventually to backtrack on the tariff plan.
Tensions have remained high, and farmers halted production again for five days this month to call attention to their demands.
The farm issue has again exposed political divisions. Four senators and two deputies have recently left the government ranks, weakening the ruling alliance in Congress.
Fresh talks between farmers' leaders and government officials have been arranged for next Tuesday.
------------------------
解放同盟に移転補償 築上町が３２００万円 無料入居の町施設解体
2009年2月25日 06:07 カテゴリー：社会 九州・山口 > 福岡
福岡県築上町で、県道拡幅に伴って町集会所が解体された際、県が町に支払う補償費約６０００万円のうち約３２００万円を、集会所に無料で入居していた「部落解放同盟豊前築上地区協議会」が受け取ることが２４日、分かった。この配分は町議会も承認したが、公共施設の入居者に行政が移転補償するのは極めてまれで、県や識者から疑問の声が出ている。
■「長年使用、高くない」解放同盟
集会所は国の同和対策事業の一環で１９７１年に建設された。鉄筋コンクリート２階建て、延べ床面積は約２６０平方メートル。協議会が１階に入居し、２階を地域の集会所として同和教育などを行ってきた。１月に解体され、協議会は約５キロ離れた別の町所有の集会所に移転した。
県や町によると、解体に先立って県豊前土木事務所が土地や建物の買い取り価格として５４００万円の補償費を町に提示。その後、町と協議会が２００６年９月から計６回にわたり補償費の配分を話し合った。町によると、協議会から補償費増額を求める要望書が町に２回出される一方、県も補償費を３回に分けて計約６００万円上積みした。
その結果、県から町に約６０００万円が支払われることになり、うち協議会が約３２００万円を受け取ることを町議会も承認した。町は約２８００万円のうち、１０００万円で集会所を解体し、１８００万円で木造の集会所を建設する予定。
補償費の配分について新川久三町長は「協議会との話し合いで決定された。議会も承認しており金額は適正と認識している」と説明。
協議会の吉元秀成書記長は「われわれの先輩が国から勝ち取った集会所で、長年協議会の施設として使用してきた。補償費が高いとは思えない」と話している。
これに対し、県市町村支援課は「集会所は行政の財産であり、通常は賃借人に権利はない。県内で行政が借地人に金銭を支払ったケースは聞かない」としている。
解放運動を長年研究している藤田敬一元岐阜大教授は「大阪市が市施設からの退去を解放同盟側に求めたケースでは移転費は支払われていない。同和対策事業としての歴史があるにせよ、無料で使用しており、補償の対象になるのか疑問だ」と指摘している。
＝2009/02/25付 西日本新聞朝刊＝
-------------------------------
定額給付金、家族の口座もＯＫ 総務省、代理人の基準通知
総務省は定額給付金を代理人が申請したり受け取ったりする場合の対応策をまとめ、地方自治体に通知した。同じ世帯に住む家族なら申請や受給ができる。同一世帯外の代理人が受け取れるのは単身で寝たきりの高齢者や施設に入所している人の場合に限定。なりすましによる受給を防ぐ。
定額給付金は世帯主が申請し、本人の銀行口座に世帯全員分が振り込まれるのが基本的な形。世帯主が仕事や長期出張などで受け取りが難しい場合もあるため、申請や受給は世帯の構成者まで原則認めることにした。例えば夫、妻、子ども1人の3人所帯の場合、妻が給付金の申請書を記入し、自分の名義の口座を振込先に指定してもよい。(07:00)
------------------------
花畑牧場、生キャラメルで夕張支援 市内に工場、300人雇用
タレントの田中義剛氏が経営する花畑牧場は25日、夕張市内に生キャラメル工場を建設すると発表した。夕張メロン味の開発をめざし、1日あたり1万個を製造する。4月20日に開業を予定し、販売店やレストランも併設する。50人の正社員を採用し、300人の雇用を生み出す考え。
夕張市役所で同日記者会見した田中氏は「『花咲く夕張』にして、夕張を活性化させたい」と話した。花畑牧場が3400万円で落札した市所有の休館中の宿泊施設「サイクリングターミナル黄色いリボン」を改装し、工場に転用する。収益金の一部は市に寄付する考えだ。
花畑牧場は2007年4月に生キャラメルを発売。新千歳空港やＪＲ札幌駅の地下街に直営店を構えるほか、カフェや豚丼店なども展開している。2009年3月期の売上高は60億円を見込む。
----------------------
君が代巡る処分、教諭の請求棄却 広島地裁判決
卒業式や入学式で君が代を起立斉唱しないのを理由に戒告処分したのは懲戒権の逸脱・乱用として、広島県の県立高校などの教諭と遺族ら男女計45人が、県教育委員会の処分取り消しを求めた訴訟の判決で、広島地裁（橋本良成裁判長）は26日、請求を棄却した。
公立学校での君が代斉唱をめぐっては、最高裁が2007年、東京都日野市の小学校入学式でピアノ伴奏を拒んで戒告された女性教諭への職務命令を合憲と判断した。
訴えなどによると、教諭らは01―04年、校長の職務命令に反し、君が代斉唱時に起立しなかったとして、戒告の懲戒処分を受けた。〔共同〕(13:33)
--------------------------
リニア中央新幹線：駅を我が町に 山梨の４地域が綱引き
東京－名古屋をわずか４０分で結ぶ予定のリニア中央新幹線。その途中駅の設置をめぐって今、山梨県が熱い。「各県１駅」が有力視されるなか、今年に入って４地域の綱引きが急加速。「支線を」との声まで出ている。予定ルート上にある他県（神奈川、長野、岐阜）にはまだ、そこまでの盛り上がりはない。なぜ、山梨だけ？【沢田勇】
その理由は山梨リニア実験線にある。財団法人「鉄道総合技術研究所」とＪＲ東海が運営し、９７年に大月市－都留市（１８．４キロ）で走行実験を始めた。元自民党副総裁の故金丸信氏が誘致したと言われている。県リニア交通課は「素通りさせるために実験線を誘致したのではない」と断言する。「リニア交通課」なる部署があるのも、全国で山梨県だけだ。
県は鉄道総研に技術開発費１３４億円を無利子で貸し付け、実験線工事のための残土捨て場まで用意した。総額２００億円もの県税を投じており、見返りとして駅の設置は当然というわけだ。
ＪＲ東海はリニア中央新幹線の２０２５年開業を目指す。３ルートが想定されるが、山梨を通ることは確実だ。昨年１２月、国土交通省がＪＲ東海に対し、整備計画策定に必要な最後の調査を指示したことで、駅誘致の動きが急に熱を帯びた。
富士山周辺の１２市町村からなる「リニア中央新幹線富士北麓（ほくろく）・東部建設促進協議会」（図（１））は「世界遺産登録を目指す富士山と首都・中京圏を結ぶ架け橋に」（会長＝小林義光都留市長）と、県東部への駅設置と富士山周辺までの支線の新設を要求。実験線をまっすぐ西へ延伸した付近の６町も「リニア中央新幹線建設・新山梨駅誘致促進峡南地域協議会」（図（４））を結成。ＪＲ身延線との接続を求める。
甲府盆地東部の３市（図（２））、そして「本命」とささやかれる県都・甲府市を中心とした４市町（図（３））も誘致団体を組織して活動している。
４地域は山や川など主に地形的な要因で隔てられ、歴史的に地域内の結び付きが強い。現在も広域行政事務組合などで結束が維持されているため、それぞれが別個に駅誘致に取り組んでいるようだ。
ＪＲ東海の葛西敬之会長は昨年１２月２６日、日本記者クラブでの講演で、中間駅は各県に１駅ずつが「常識的な話だと思う」と語っている。ノンストップと各駅停車の「２系統を考えることも可能」とも述べた。
山梨県民でもある鉄道アナリストの川島令三（りょうぞう）さん（５８）によると、時速５００キロで走るリニアを駅に停車させると所要時間が５分増える。仮に４県に１駅ずつ設置すれば、東京－名古屋の所要時間はノンストップの１．５倍の１時間かかる計算だ。現在、最速の「のぞみ」は同区間を１時間半余りで走っており、東海道新幹線とさほど違わなくなってくる。
川島さんは「第２東海道新幹線と位置づけるなら、ノンストップが理想。地域活性化の点では各県１駅もいいが、ダイヤ編成が混乱するかもしれない」と話す。仮に中間駅の場所が決まったとしても、ＪＲ東海は建設費用の全額地元負担を求めており、全額ＪＲ負担を求める県との隔たりは大きい。
-------------------------
財務省：外為特会から国際協力銀への融資検討－外貨準備の有効活用
２月25日（ブルームバーグ）：財務省が１兆ドル超の外貨準備の有効活用を促すため、国際協力銀行（ＪＢＩＣ）に融資する方向で検討していることが25日分かった。世界的な金融危機受けて融資業務を拡大している国際協力銀の財務基盤をサポートする狙いもある。
世界第２位の規模を持つ外貨準備は約1兆110億ドル（１月末）に上る。これを受け、民主党金融対策チーム（座長・大塚耕平政調副会長）が外貨準備の有効活用のための手段を検討するよう同省に要請。同日夕、同省内で記者会見した大久保勉参院議員が「5000億円相当を国際協力銀に貸し出すことで財務省と合意した」ことを明らかにした。
同省は国際協力銀が米ドル建て融資をする際の資金調達を効率化するため、昨年５月から外国為替資金特別会計（外為特会）のドル資金と円資金の交換を実施している。大久保氏は「政府保証債の発行による資金調達はコストが高く、円ドルのスワップコストも上がっている」と述べ、追加的なスキームの必要性を指摘。同省は国際協力銀と協議を進めており、融資の申し入れがあれば対応を検討するとしている。
大久保氏は外為特会から日本の民間金融機関への預託についても触れ、「ドル資金を邦銀に潤沢に貸し出し、海外現地法人に融資する対応策も同省で前向きに検討されていると認識している」と語った。
国際協力銀は政府が昨年12月に決定した「生活防衛のための緊急対策」の一環として、海外進出した日本企業の輸出や海外事業にかかわる資金繰りを支援するため、大企業や先進国向け事業にも対象を拡大して低利融資を実施。このほか、貿易金融の資金繰りが困難になっている開発途上国の民間金融機関を対象にした資金支援なども行う。
------------------------
国際協力銀：外貨準備５０億ドル財源に 日系企業の資金調達支援
政府は２５日、１兆ドルにのぼる外貨準備の一部を、政府系金融機関の国際協力銀行（ＪＢＩＣ）の融資の財源として活用する検討に入った。日系企業のドル資金調達を支援するのが狙い。外貨準備から最大５０億ドル規模のドル資金をＪＢＩＣに融通し、ＪＢＩＣは日系企業が海外で展開する事業に融資する。
海外展開する日系企業は、世界的な金融危機に伴う欧米金融機関の融資抑制や、コマーシャルペーパー（ＣＰ）・社債市場の機能不全などにより現地でドル資金が十分に調達できない状況となっている。メガバンクなど大手邦銀も株安による自己資本が目減りして貸し出し余力が乏しく、日本のグローバル企業の間ではＪＢＩＣの融資拡大を求める声が強まっている。現状ではＪＢＩＣは日系企業の資金ニーズを十分に賄う財源を持っていないため、政府は潤沢な外貨準備を活用してＪＢＩＣのドル資金融資の財源強化を図る方向となった。
-------------------------
「韓国からの資金回収はない」国際金融センター大場理事長（１）
「日本の銀行が韓国に対する融資を減らしたり、資本を回収することはないとみている」
日本の国際金融センターの大場智満理事長はこう述べ、「３月危機説」を一蹴した。３月危機説とは日本の銀行が３月の決算を前に韓国から資金を回収し、韓国が金融危機に陥るという懸念だ。韓日両国の国際金融センターが２５日に共同で主催した「世界の金融危機と韓日金融協力」セミナー（中央日報後援）に出席するため韓国を訪れた大場理事長は、その根拠として両国政府の緊密な協力を挙げた。「日本の銀行が通貨スワップ協定など政府レベルの協力がどれだけ緊密に維持されているか注視している」ということだ。
この日のセミナーでも３月危機説は根拠がないという指摘が相次いだ。基調発議をした同志社大学の鹿野嘉昭教授は、「韓国で３月危機説が出回っているということを最近知り驚いた。１９９７年に同様の経験があり危機説が出たようだが、日本では話題にもなっていない」と述べた。その上で、「当時は日本の銀行が不良債権処理問題で貸しはがしをする事情があったが、今年の決算は黒字になるだろう。韓国に対する融資は維持されるだろう」との見方を示した。企画財政部の許京旭（ホ・ギョンウク）第１次官も祝辞の中で、「竹下亘財務副大臣が日本の金融機関の韓国向け融資引き揚げはないだろうと約束した」と伝えた。以下は大場理事長とのインタビュー要旨。
－－韓国には３月危機説が出回っている。韓国の銀行をなぜ不安に思うのか。
「日本の銀行の一次的な心配は韓国の銀行の健全性だ。また不良化している米国に対しどれだけ投資していたのかも心配だ。幸い韓国の銀行は米国への投資はあまりしていなかったと聞いた」
－－韓国の銀行は他の国より健全だ（昨年末の自己資本比率は概ね１１％を超えた）。なぜ３月危機説がたびたび出てくるのか。
「ウォンが弱く、また韓国の成長率が低調なためのようだ。期待収益が下がるということだ。資本は成長率と金利が低い方から高い方へと流れるものだ。最近のウォン安は成長率低下のためとみられる」
－－ウォンの相場維持のため外為市場に介入しろという話か。
「違う。為替相場は水準よりも安定がより重要だ。韓国も日本も本格的な介入（ｉｎｔｅｒｖｅｎｔｉｏｎ）ではなく微細調整（ｓｍｏｏｔｈｉｎｇ ｏｐｅｒａｔｉｏｎ）だけすべきだ」
－－日本の当局が民間銀行に資本回収をしないようにさせる方法はあるか。
「日本の銀行は監督当局の金融庁を常に意識している。いまは特に中小企業を対象に融資することを奨励しているが、いつ金融政策方向が（貸出をするなと）変わるかわからないと判断する。そうした面から３００億ドル規模のスワップなど韓国政府と日本政府が互いに協力しているという点に注目すべきだ。それを民間銀行が注視しているためだ。いま韓日両国政府の緊密な協力関係から見ると、日本の銀行が韓国に対する融資を減らしたり資本を回収することは考えていないとみられる。日本や米国とそれぞれ３００億ドル規模で結んでいるスワップ協定なら３月危機説は克服できると思う」
－－韓国では通貨スワップの期限を延長し、規模も増やすべきとの主張があるが。
「無制限に増やそうという意見もあるがそれは難しい。韓国と日本が通貨スワップを通じて資金を交換すれば円がまず使われるだろう。無制限に増やせば通貨運用に負担が生じる。しかし両国の経済水準を考慮すると、いまの水準（３００億ドル）より２倍程度に増やすことはできるだろう」
－－日本の資本引き揚げが韓国の通貨危機を悪化させたひとつの要因だったという指摘がある。そのため今回の金融不安を振り払うには両国間の協力がいつになく重要だ。
「竹下財務副大臣が同じ飛行機で日本に帰る予定だ。彼に会ったら日本の銀行に『韓国の銀行から資本を引き揚げるな』と話すように言っておく（笑）」
-------------------------
視力手術で角膜炎 開院３年、滅菌装置の点検なし
2009年2月26日11時56分
東京都中央区の銀座眼科で視力回復のためのレーシック手術を受けた６７人が角膜炎などを発症した問題で、溝口朝雄院長（1989年 産業医科大学卒業）が区保健所の立ち入り調査に対し、３年前の夏の開院以来、手術器具の滅菌装置を「点検していなかった」と話していることが２６日、わかった。開院当初から感染防止体制がずさんだった恐れが高まり、区保健所は発症者が出た昨年９月～今年１月以外の時期に手術を受けた人にも発症者がいないか確認するよう同眼科に指示した。
区保健所によると、銀座眼科は０６年８月の開院。今回の集団発症は角膜を削る手術器具の消毒に使う高温高圧の滅菌装置に不具合があって滅菌が不十分だった疑いがあるが、溝口院長は「メンテナンスをしなければいけないという認識がなかった」と話したという。
また溝口院長は「手術は手袋をせずに行うこともあった」とも話しているという。手洗い場から手術室に向かうには汚れ物を洗うシンクの脇や待合室を通る必要があった。手洗い場に備え付けの消毒薬は規定濃度になっていなかったこともわかった。
----------------------------
ヘロイン原料２トン、横浜港で押収 アフガン向け貨物
2009年2月26日10時21分
麻薬のヘロインの原料となる無水酢酸約２トンが、横浜市の横浜港からアフガニスタン向けに輸出される貨物の中から見つかっていたことが横浜税関への取材でわかった。同税関は関税法違反（無許可輸出）容疑で調べている。
税関によると、無水酢酸はタンクに入れられ、ほかの輸出品と一緒にコンテナに隠されていた。無水酢酸は今月１２日にも、愛知県の名古屋港でアフガニスタン向けの自動車の中から約１トンが見つかり、２４日には約１．４トンが押収された。
無水酢酸は麻薬のヘロインを製造する際、化学反応の過程で使われる。
------------------------
元露鵬の尿検査に立会った友綱理事に出廷を要請
尿検査による大麻の陽性反応で日本相撲協会を解雇された元幕内の露鵬（２８）と白露山（２７）が、解雇は不当として日本相撲協会に地位確認を求めている訴訟の弁論準備手続きが２３日、東京地裁で開かれた。裁判所は４月１６日に行う協議で双方に出廷する証人の申請を要請した。
元露鵬側の塩谷安男弁護士は元露鵬を証人として申請することを明言した上で、ほかに「北の湖親方と大嶽親方にも要請するかもしれない」と話した。一方、裁判所が協会側の証人として尿検査に立ち会った友綱理事（元関脇・魁輝）の出廷を要請していることが判明。証人の出廷で解雇につながった尿検査の真相が法廷で明らかになる。
（2009年2月24日06時01分 スポーツ報知）
--------------------------
裁判所が友綱親方の証人出廷を提案
昨年９月に日本相撲協会を解雇されたロシア出身の元露鵬、元白露山が解雇の無効を求めている訴訟の弁論準備手続きが２３日、東京地裁で行われ、裁判所が友綱親方（元関脇魁輝）を証人とすることを提案した。
同親方が昨年９月の薬物検査で１人欠席者がいたことを陳述書で述べているためで、元露鵬側の代理人は「検証する必要があるから」とした。元露鵬側は、２人の元師匠である北の湖親方（元横綱北の湖）、大嶽親方（元関脇貴闘力）の証人申請を検討している。
両親方が元露鵬側の証人になれば現役年寄が協会と敵対する事態となる。４月１６日の進行協議で証人の採用を話し合う。
---------------------------
世界の漁船、初の一括登録 ＦＡＯが違法操業対策
2009.2.26 17:04
密漁など違法操業を行う漁船の国際的取り締まりを図るため、国連食糧農業機関（ＦＡＯ、本部ローマ）は２６日までに、世界の漁船の個別データを一括して登録、加盟国が随意に照会できるようにする初の「グローバル・レコードシステム」の構築を決めた。来月２日からローマで始まる閣僚級水産委員会で具体化策を協議する。
国際的な船舶登録については、商船は国際海事機関（ＩＭＯ）が行っているが、漁船は所有者の属する国が各自行っており、統一データベースがなかった。
このため、違法操業の疑いのある外国漁船を検査しても、その漁船の違反歴などについて所有者の国に問い合わせる必要があったほか、所有者が代われば登録が更新されることが多く、一貫した追跡や国際的取り締まりに支障が生じていた。
--------------------------
中国の軍需関連企業、国内外から幹部１３人公募
2009.2.26 16:53
中国の国有軍需関連企業、中国航空工業集団は２６日、グループ会社の副社長クラスを中心に経営幹部１３人を国内外から募集すると発表した。同社によると、中国の軍需企業が経営幹部を国内外から公募するのは初めて。
金融危機で世界的に雇用情勢が悪化する中、中国企業は人材確保面でも攻勢を強めている。
中国航空工業集団は戦闘機やヘリコプターなどの製造に加え、民間輸送機なども生産。幹部募集は海外販売の強化や経営、品質管理向上などが狙いだ。高建設副社長は「国際的に一流の人材を集めたい」としている。（共同）
------------------------
中国、クリスティーズの輸出入審査を強化
2009.2.26 13:42
中国政府で文化財保護を担当する国家文物局は２６日、競売会社クリスティーズが文化財の輸出入申請をする際の審査を強化するよう全国の関係部門に通知した。
通知は、同社が輸出入手続きの申請をした際は、文化財についての合法的な証明があるかどうかを厳格に審査し、略奪品や密輸品の疑いがある場合は直ちに文物局や警察、税関に通報するよう指示した。（共同）
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment