Stories about Economics & Business from April, 2006
Martinique: Tourists Turned Off
Bien Vu worries (FR) that Martinique is turning tourists off. Some have complained to him, he says, about: “a poor welcome, bad company, not feeling safe during their vacations and to top it all off, women being the subject of obscene insults.”
Bolivia, Venezuela, Cuba: Morales’ TCP
Evo Morales has announced a free trade agreement with Venezuela and Cuba. A free trade agreement except that it shall be called a TCP, or “Trade Agreement of the Peoples.” Alvaro Ruiz-Navajas explains the difference, or lack thereof, in a two part series. Chilean blogger Carlos Gustavo Machicado Salas has...
Ukraine: Markets Won't Wait
At Foreign Notes, LEvko writes that Ukrainian president expects the coalition to be formed sometime in June, and Scott W. Clark cautions that this may be a bit too long for the country's economy: “If, as LEvko reports, this mess won't be sorted out until June, will the markets hold...
Belarus: BBC Responds to Blogger
BBC responds to David McDuff of A Step At A Time regarding the possibility of broadcasts in the Belarusian language in Belarus – in addition to broadcasts in Russian, Ukrainian and English: “The problem surrounding delivery of the product into the region remains the key stumbling block. The World Service...
Jordan: Customer Service
Speaking her mind about the ‘customer service’ in the Arab world, Khalidah says: “We see large companies with hundreds of employees and fancy titles, their organization charts can fill a whole wall, each manager has managers and those report yet to more directors, those directors report to boards and boards...
Trinidad & Tobago: Press statement on aluminum smelter
The Rights Action Group T&T blog pulls no punches in the press statement outlining the group's views on the aluminium smelter project proposed for south Trinidad: “What is at stake for Trinidad and Tobago is not only the giving away of our natural gas, which accounts for 20% of our...
Nigeria: China's Scramble for Africa
Chippla has an excellent post on China's scramble for Africa…”In the new scramble for Africa, China appears to be a winner on all fronts—getting lucrative deals while choosing not to interfere in the internal politics of nations. And, if these nations increase their purchasing power with time, China sees a...
China: AOL arrives
In ‘Congratulations and Controversy‘, AngryChineseBlogger chunlin looks at the arduous road AOL has been down in trying to establish a presence in China. “After months of speculation, anticipation, and a few false starts,” chunlin announces, “AOL has this month announced the finalization of a multi-million dollar partnership deal with SMG...
Hong Kong: Japanese retailer leaving
With Hemlock's Diary this week comes reminiscing of times gone by with Hong Kong's last Japanese-owned department store, Mitsukoshi, announcing plans to leave the Special Administrative Region. “The name brings back memories of a bygone era—the time before Causeway Bay collapsed under the weight of vehicle emissions and Mainland tourists,”...
Iran: Contractual Workers Fired!
Jomhour (Persian) writes that there are collective firings of contractual workers in all over country. He adds on the other side of story government appointed employees and workers have benefited a sharp raise in their salaries. Blogger says this raise has nothing to do with productivity of these workers. This...
Barbados: Minister at Dubai tourism conference
On the eve of the Barbados Tourism Minister's participation in a conference in Dubai, Barbados Free Press wishes the minister good luck and offers a few ideas for inclusion in his presentation.
Nigeria: JP Morgan investment
Nigerian blog, CyBlug reports that investment bank JP Morgan has been awared the job of “custodian of the nation's foreign reserves, which currently stands at $35bn.
China: Red but greening
In ‘Is China Going Green, Part VIII?‘, China Law Blog‘s Dan Harris relates a Wall Street Journal story on increasing environmental awareness in the rapidly-developing Asian country to his own experiences there: “We have found the same thing in our China work for foreign companies, particularly in the last few...
China: Intellectual property law
Kevin Fisher at chinablawger takes a legalistic look at the glamorous side of intellectual property law.
Caribbean: CSME provides chance for success
The Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) may not “grab us”, says Francis Wade, but it may be the best shot the region has at a successful future.
Belize: VoIP blocked by local telecom
Melody reports that Belize Telecommunications Limited has been blocking VoIP connections in the country and calls for users’ assistance in surveying the effects of the blocking on their internet usage. “They have gone as far as jamming chat and messenger programs like GoogleTalk, MSN Messenger, Yahoo Voice and other,” Melody...
Marriage, Birthday and identity crisis in the Moroccan blogosphere
I'll start today with some good news. The first one: Morocco is among the four African countries which count the biggest numbers of internet users in a continent where only 22 million people use the net, that is 2.5% of the 900 million people living in Africa. But, this number...
Dominica: New sports stadium
ThandieLand asks whether the Windsor Park Sports Stadium, an international-standard sporting facility, is a gift or a burden.
Russia: Svetlana Bakhmina's Sentence A “Replay” of the 1930s
Alex(ei) of The Russian Dilettante's Weblog writes that the case of the former Yukos lawyer Svetlana Bakhmina might be a “replay” of the 1930s and deserves “international interference or protests.” “The convicted mother of two, who has been in detention since 2005, is not only legally innocent — her standing...
Russia: Klyukva v Sakhare
Konstantin Dlutskiy of Russian Marketing Blog writes about “another nostalgia food product” – klyukva v sakhare (cranberry in sugar).
Romania: Kiosk As A Local Version Of Wal-Mart
An American in Romania writes about “the Romanian version of Wal-Mart”: “The Romanian kiosk looks nothing like a Wal-Mart, that's why it is so deceptive. It's a tiny building with room inside for one or maybe two people tops. You could probably link arms with three of your friends and...
