Asian Development Outlook- April 2025
<p>Weak consumption in the People’s Republic of China will partly offset robust domestic demand in South Asia. Disinflation is expected to continue, driven by lower food and energy prices, along
China
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Think tank reveals plan to manage tropical forests
A high-profile group of thinkers has come up with a straightforward way to integrate long-term forest management into an international agreement on halting deforestation. It is not clear whether the proposal
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US agrees to reduce domestic support
DOHA MINISTERIAL: DAY 2 D Ravi Kanth / Geneva July 23, 2008, 0:29 IST As the negotiating chips are slowly unveiled in the make-or-mar Doha trade negotiations, the United States announced today that it will reduce its overall trade-distorting domestic support (OTDS) to $15 billion as compared to a range between $13 billion and $16.4 billion. With OTDS being central issue trade negotiators said the latest move by the US was too little compared to its last year spending level of about $7 billion.
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Met coke prices treble in 6 months on China curb
Dilip Kumar Jha / Mumbai July 23, 2008, 0:01 IST The dragon country has cut output by 72 per cent to control pollution before the Games. With China cutting output to avoid emission of hazardous gases before the Olympics scheduled for next month, prices of metallurgical coke (met coke), an important ingredient for manufacture of steel and pig iron, have trebled in the last six months. GREEN GUARD # Met coke makes up about 60 per cent of the raw material cost of pig iron making and 50 per cent of steel making # It is now quoted at $875 a tonne from $300 about six months ago
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Indian crude steel output lags Asian average in June
Bs Reporter / Kolkata July 22, 2008, 3:30 IST World crude steel production for the 66 countries reporting to the International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI) was 696 million tonnes in the first half of 2008, an increase of 5.7 per cent over the corresponding period last year. The Indian production stood at 27 million tonnes, up 4.2 per cent, while China produced 263.2 million tonnes, an increase of 9.6 per cent, compared with the corresponding period in 2007.
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EU offers to reduce farm tariffs by 60%
Geneva: The European Union (EU) said on Monday that it would slash farm tariffs by 60% as part of a new global trade pact, a deeper cut than it has ever offered. EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson said at the World Trade Organization (WTO) that the offer was meant to kick-start a week of crunch global commerce talks on a new global commerce pact.
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Fortune from a fungus
IMPROBABLE though it may sound, an exotic fungus has triggered a gold rush of sorts in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. Considered a performance enhancer, Yarchagumba is a much-sought-after ingredient in traditional medicine in China. But some trade observers suspect that the Beijing Olympics has pushed prices to a never-before high this year.
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WTO asks China to change auto tax rules
Bloomberg / Washington July 21, 2008, 0:43 IST The decision is the first time China has lost a case since it joined the global trade body in 2001. China violates global trade rules by requiring automakers operating there to buy most components from local suppliers or face higher tariffs, the World Trade Organization ruled. The decision, issued today in Geneva on a complaint brought by the European Union, US and Canada, is the first time China has lost a case since it joined the global trade body in 2001.
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Round the horn
Banning almost all cross-border trade in ivory, as the United Nations did in 1989, doesn
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India opposes tiger farming
By YOJNA GUSAI New Delhi, July 18: Arguing that it has a right to kill its captive tigers and criticising those against tiger farming, China tried to stall India's effort in bringing in more efforts and strengthening global tiger conservation programmes, at the just concluded standing committee meeting of UN's Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
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Surprise WTO draft on services upsets some
AS THE WTO mini-ministerial approaches, the news upsetting many developing countries is that the chairperson of the services negotiations, ambassador Fernando de Mateo of Mexico, has issued a report in the form of a draft services text, on July 17. Apparently, delegations were not informed nor were all members consulted, and some even accuse the Chair of lack of transparency.