Briefs

Briefs

Archroma honoured 

News Desk

KARACHI: Archroma, a global leader in colour and specialty chemicals, received an award for eco-innovation from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Pakistan at the organisation’s annual green office network meeting, a statement said on Wednesday.

“The eco-innovation award is a recognition of Archroma’s continuous efforts to foster sustainable innovations aimed at preserving dwindling ground water reserves, and developing eco-efficient processes that reduce energy, process time and resource consumption,” the statement said.

Naeem Mughal, director general of Sindh Environmental Protection Agency presented the award to the company. Early this year, the WWF granted green office labeling rights to Archroma’s offices in Karachi.

Inbox awarded

News Desk

ISLAMABAD: Inbox Business Technologies has been awarded the prestigious PSEB IT award, a statement said on Wednesday.

Inbox CEO Mir Nasir received the award for being recognised as the largest technology company in terms of domestic business from the IT minister Anusha Rahman.

Nasir dedicated the award to the 2,000 Inbox employees who deliver digital services and solutions on behalf of Inbox to domestic enterprises and government entities, the statement added.

He stressed Inbox’s commitment to making use of technology to resolve Pakistan’s most pressing problems around sustainability, scarcity and education.

China LNG imports at record high

BEIJING: China´s liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports jumped 47 percent in November from a year earlier to a record 2.66 million tonnes, data showed on Wednesday, as a cold snap spurred demand for gas to use in heating.

China´s buying spree, along with Japanese demand, pushed Asian spot LNG prices to new 2016 highs this week. Analysts said companies bought in anticipation of better demand during the winter months in the world´s top energy market.

However, temperatures in the the nation´s major cities have been milder than expected this month. Gasoline and diesel exports from the world´s No. 2 economy surged more than 60 percent year-on year to 940,000 tonnes and 1.47 million tonnes respectively.

Natural gas exports rose 41 percent to 270,000 tonnes. Kerosene shipments abroad dropped 6.1 percent to 1.28 million tonnes.

Saudis indulge sweet tooth at fair

Riyadh: Crowds are jamming the aisles of a Riyadh coffee and chocolate exhibition this week, as Saudis indulge the country´s sweet tooth and craze for caffeine.

The International Coffee and Chocolate Exhibition, which opened Tuesday and will run to Friday, is billed as the largest of its kind in the Middle East. In its third year, the 2016 exhibition is the biggest yet with 130 exhibitors, despite a slowing economy that has seen Saudis cut back on even routine expenditures. Saudi Arabia has a long history with coffee -- which spread from Ethiopia to Yemen and then to the rest of the Middle East around the 15th century.

It remains an integral part of Saudi culture and now tied with chocolate. "We use a chocolate with a coffee. So usually it´s together" and often within families relaxing between evening prayers, said an exhibitor, Mohammed al-Geasyer.

"It´s one of the traditions when we invite a guest to our house. One of the welcoming ways is to serve the chocolate and dates... with Arabic coffee. So there is a long relationship and also there is a strong relationship with it," said Geasyer, a consultant for the Rollanti chocolate brand manufactured in Riyadh and nearby Qassim.

Ukrainian MPs pass 2017 budget

KIEV: Ukraine´s parliament approved a budget for 2017 on Wednesday, raising its chance of securing more aid from the International Monetary Fund under a $17.5 billion loan package.

The approved document keeps the budget deficit at 3 percent of gross domestic product in line with the IMF programme´s requirements. MPs had intended to pass the budget weeks ago and delays in approving it have already held up the potential disbursement of a further $1.3 billion from the Fund this year, causing foreign exchange reserves to fall below the central bank´s target.

The IMF and other international backers have propped up Ukraine´s economy since the country plunged into turmoil in 2014 following the Maidan street protests and the outbreak of separatist violence in eastern Ukraine.

Ahead of the parliament vote in the small hours of Wednesday morning, Finance Minister Oleksandr Danylyuk called it a "realistic" budget, adding: "please support it and give impetus to reforms. "Ukraine´s record of passing reforms since a Western-backed leadership took over in 2014 has been patchy, which has slowed the disbursement of new aid.

Thailand expects 6pc rise in tourists

BANGKOK: Thailand´s tourist arrivals are forecast to rise between 3.75 percent to 5.8 percent next year, the Tourism Council said on Wednesday, driven largely by Chinese visitors.

Thailand´s tourism industry, which accounts for about 10 percent of gross domestic product, has remained strong despite more than a decade of political turbulence including military coups in 2006 and 2014.A wave of deadly bombings in August in key resort towns that killed four Thai tourists and injured dozens, including foreigners, has had a negligible impact on tourist arrivals.

Budget-friendly Thailand expects up to 34.4 million tourists in 2017, council president Ittirit Kinglek told Reuters. A crackdown earlier this year on cheap tour packages for Chinese tourists - known as "zero dollar tours" - has also failed to dent tourist arrivals, he said.

"Chartered flights from various Chinese cities declined afterwards for a short period but they are now back again. It´s an encouraging sign. We may see a decline in tourist arrivals in the first quarter but by the second quarter things will improve," Ittirit said. The tourism ministry has said it expects a record 32.4 million visitors this year.

‘Protectionism costs S Korea $2.4bln’

SEOUL: South Korea´s central bank said on Wednesday that losses suffered because of protectionism moves by other countries in 2015 amounted to $2.4 billion, equal to 0.5 percent of Korean exports that year.

The Bank of Korea, in a research report on protectionism, said that from January to September this year, losses will be equivalent to 0.7 percent of the country´s exports for that period.

Protectionist measures such as anti-dumping duties have cropped up mostly in advanced economies like the U.S. and Australia, the central bank said, and have been focused on industries such as steel metals and chemical products.

At the pace at which the measures are widening, annual losses are expected to amount to around 0.8 percent of annual Korean exports by 2020, the BOK said. The report advised businesses and the government to make aggressive efforts to minimise the impact of protectionism.

Protectionism in the U.S. is expected to rise during the administration of President Donald Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, but such measures could be weaker than anticipated, the central bank added.