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3/30/2013
Honda's new Odyssey minivan (audio)
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3/28/2013
3/24/2013
3/22/2013
3/15/2013
US budget cuts (video)
WASHINGTON — Early this month $85 billion
in U.S. government spending cuts went into effect. The automatic budget
reductions, known as the sequester, are hitting nearly every federal
government agency.
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3/11/2013
US delegation to visit Myanmar
Fifty U.S. business executives will visit Myanmar - also known as Burma - next week to explore trade and investment opportunities in the resource-rich nation now that the United States has eased sanctions, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said on Friday.
"This delegation trip is an important milestone," Tami Overby, the chamber's vice president for Asia said in a statement. "We have made tremendous progress in normalizing economic relations between our countries. It is now time to take the relationship to the next level."
It will be the first major U.S. business delegation to go to Myanmar since President Barack Obama's historic visit to the country last November.
It will include representatives of companies from agribusiness and the automotive, electronics, energy, retailing, telecommunications, and other sectors.
Among the two dozen companies going to Myanmar are MetLife, Cargill, Fedex, Chevron, General Motors, General Electric, Target, Honeywell, and eBay.
The group will take part in a trade and investment symposium in Yangon that will bring together senior business executives and government officials from both countries.
The United States has softened sanctions on Myanmar and removed a ban on most imports from the Southeast Asian nation in response to the country's democratic reforms.
Washington relaxed sanctions on four large banks in Myanmar on Friday, allowing them access to the U.S. financial system.
The Treasury Department issued a general license to the Myanma Economic Bank, Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank, Asia Green Development Bank and Ayeyarwady Bank. This general license will ease restrictions and let the banks deal with U.S. citizens and companies.
Obama was the first American president to visit the country.
The country's name has long had two forms in the Burmese language: Myanmar is the formal name, recognized by the United Nations and the whole international community , while Burma has traditionally been used in informal conversation.
source: Reuters
3/10/2013
India's trade with Latin America
NEW DELHI — Hoping to double trade with Latin America over the next five years, India will expand air and sea links with the region and negotiate more free-trade agreements.From $2 billion in 2000, trade between India and countries such as Brazil, Mexico and Colombia has jumped to nearly $30 billion. The growth is huge, but trade analysts say it still far below potential.
R. Vishwanathan (photo), who is India’s former ambassador to Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, says India wants to get food and energy from the resource rich Latin American region. “Latin America has what we need. The three largest items of our imports are crude oil, edible oil and minerals. And in India the need for these will go on increasing because of growing population."
"The region will also offer great investment opportunities to Indian companies. The 2014 World Cup, 2016 Olympics and the 270 billion dollars investment in hydrocarbons by Brazil are the big ticket projects offering unmissable opportunities for Indian companies“, said Vishwanathan.
At a conference in Hyderabad this week, Indian officials said India will address several negative factors, such as high tariffs and poor transport links, as it tries to double trade with the region over the next five years.
India is diversifying its product basket and foreign trade market to shield its economy from uncertainties in Europe and the US. It is also increasing its economic engagement with Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. As part of its market diversification program, the Indian government is offering various incentives to boost exports to Latin America and the Caribbean.
Additionally, India plans to ease visa rules with countries in the region and is negotiating free trade agreements with Mexico and Peru.
India wants to establish a direct shipping route to cut down shipment time from 45 days to 30 days with countries such as Brazil and Argentina. There is also a proposal for India’s national carrier to establish a direct air link to Panama. Trade analysts say improving connectivity will boost business ties. They point out that China’s trade with Latin America is 10 times higher than India’s, helped partly by better transport links.
"Distance plays an important role. China has good shipping links with those countries through the Panama Canal. We don’t. Our shipping sector is not so strong and the costs of transportation are very high," said Rupa Chanda, an economics professor at the Indian Institute of Management at Bangalore.
Indian companies have already gained a foothold in Latin America. In recent years they have invested $16 billion in sectors such as information technology, energy and pharmaceuticals.
Some companies in the agriculture sector are also attracted by the ample land and water resources in Latin American countries. An Indian company is now among the five top sugar producers in Brazil.
At a time when growth in Europe and the United States is slowing, the growing economies of Latin American countries are emerging as a new frontier.
edited from MercoPress and VOA
3/08/2013
Navigation Technology & traffic conditions (video)
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3/07/2013
Venezuelans mourn Chavez (video)
Several close Chavez allies, including the presidents of Argentina, Bolivia and Uruguay, already are in Venezuela for Friday's funeral.
The United Nations Security Council held a moment of silence Wednesday for Chavez. Cuba, home of Chavez's mentor Fidel Castro, is observing two days of official mourning. Chinese and Iranian leaders also expressed their sorrow.
The U.S. Embassy in Caracas is closed until after the funeral. The U.S. delegation to the funeral has not yet been announced. President Barack Obama said he reaffirms his support for the Venezuelan people and is committed to policies promoting democracy and human rights.
Chavez, a staunch socialist, was elected president in 1998. He earned the enmity of the United States and others for such policies as nationalizing major companies and courting world leaders such as Fidel Castro, Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Libya's Moammar Gadhafi.
The country's opposition accused him of being a dictator. But millions of poor Venezuelans revered him for using the country's vast oil wealth to give them access to low-cost food, free medical care and other social programs. However, experts say Chavez failed to control crime or use oil wealth to enrich the overall economy.
Latin America analyst Sean Burges, Australian Center for Latin American Studies: "It’s definitely going to be the economy. Nobody knows what’s going on with the oil company and how much it’s producing," he said. "There are balance payments problems. There are production problems. There are supply problems. And these are all things that even if Chavez had stayed in power, he was going to have to deal with in the next four years. So it’s going to be a really titanic exercise in economic management and rationalization."
"Regardless of what happens, I think some of the social policies and the political, dynamic changes Chavez brought in, those are going to be around forever."
AP and VOA
1. To attend Friday's funeral
2. Wednesday
3. 2 days
4. After the funeral
5. Policies promoting democracy and human rights
6. In 1998
7. Major companies
8. Being a dictator
9. Yes, he did
10. No, he didn't
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