Japan's unemployment problem

Japan's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate last month was 5.1 percent, down from 5.3 percent in September, according to government figures released Friday. That translates to 3.44 million unemployed people in October -- but still an increase of 890 ,000 , or 34.9 percent, above what it was in October 2008 , Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on its Web site. Prices for consumer goods excluding fresh food were down 2.2 percent in October from what they had been a year prior, it said.

Dudai debt problem creat european share fall

Worries over Dubai's debt problems drove down Europe's share markets for the second day running. The main share indexes in London, Paris and Frankfurt all opened more than 1 % lower before easing back slightly. The falls follow news from the state-owned Dubai World that it would delay repaying some of its debt. Earlier, Asia's markets were down sharply. Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei fell 3.2 % to 9 , 081.52. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index ended down 4.84 % at 21 ,134.5. Oil prices also fell. US crude dropped 4.5 % to $74. 51 a barrel and London Brent Crude was down $1.26 to $75.73. The biggest underlying fear is that Dubai's problems could reignite the financial turmoil of the credit crisis. That would lower global demand for a whole range of commodities, including oil. WHAT IS DUBAI WORLD? Dubai World is the emirate's flag bearer in global investments. It has a central role in the direction of the emirate's economy and has four main areas of operations: Transport & Logistics, Drydocks & Maritime, Urban Development, and Investment & Financial Services. Its assets include DP World, one of the largest marine terminal operators in the world, which sparked a national security debate in the US when it moved to take over six of the country's ports. Back home, its own maritime ambitions are driven by Dubai Maritime City which is aiming to turn Dubai into a major ship-building hub. Perhaps the most easily visualised area of operation is Nakheel, the property developer behind projects such as The Palm Islands and The World. Its fourth main business area is Istithmar World, which is the group's investment arm. It said on Wednesday it would ask creditors of the state-owned Dubai World and Nakheel to agree to a standstill on billions of dollars of debt as a first step towards restructuring. David Buik, senior partner at BGC Partners, said: "You can't just say to the world: 'I don't want to pay my debts'. There is no income coming in from any of these properties. I think this is shocking PR." The Gulf state, which has less oil money than many of its neighbours, became a trading and tourism hub with global ambitions. Dubai World, the conglomerate that led the emirate's expansion, had $59 bn (£36 bn) of liabilities as of August, a large proportion of Dubai's total debt of $80 bn. Nakheel was the builder of the landmark palm tree-shaped island developments off Dubai. The news shook markets that are recovering from the collapse of the US housing market and contagion that threatened to rupture the global financial system last year. Banks and builders were hit hardest as they are the most likely to be exposed to firms with property at the sharp end of the slump.

High yen rate is harmful for Japan's economy

Japan's finance minister has said the strength of the yen is harmful to the country's economy. In trading the currency has touched 84 to the dollar, the US currency's lowest level since the mid-1990 s. A high yen damages the competitiveness of Japanese exports, which have been the engine of the country's growth. Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii said the government was watching closely, but did not signal immediate intervention. Unemployment falls Everyone in Japan knows that the flimsy one yen coin is so light it can be made to float on water, but now the currency is sinking to the bottom of the glass as the dollar weakens. Mr Fujii said the strength of Japan's currency was "one sided" and harmful to the economy. With much of the relative strength caused by dollar selling rather than yen buying, there may be little the government can do alone. Japan is emerging from its worst recession since the end of World War II. Figures out on Friday showed unemployment had fallen. But the strong yen eats into the competitiveness of exporters like Sony, Toyota and Honda. Japan's recovery is threatened by deflation, or falling prices. And the strength of the currency threatens to make that worse too because imports and raw materials become cheaper.

Help plan taking for travelers

Travellers who book holidays on the internet could receive more financial protection if things go wrong, under plans in a European review. Consumers who make up their own packages of flights, hotels and car rentals on one website or partner sites could get more protection. Currently, only those who have booked specific package deals have rights to cancel or refunds if operators go bust. A review will consider help for passengers if airlines collapse. "We need tough protection that gives all consumers booking a package holiday the peace of mind they deserve, and we need a level playing field so businesses compete on equal terms," said EU Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva. The consumers' association Which? welcomed the review. "The Package Travel Directive was drawn up almost 20 years ago, and while useful at the time, it doesn't go far enough to protect today's holidaymaker," said Rochelle Turner, of Which? Holiday. "A significant number of people book hotels from a direct link on an airline's website, or use online travel agents to book their own package, and are left without the peace of mind that they are protected should something go wrong. Changes The current rules, which came into force in 1990 , offer protection for people who book packages through a travel agent. They give these travellers various rights including the right to a refund if elements of the holiday are changed or if the organiser cancels the package. Most importantly, provision must be made to refund travellers and return them home if the operator goes bust. The European Commission wants to consult on the possibility that - after a recent spate of airlines going bust - basic insolvency protection should be extended to cover independent travellers buying standalone airline tickets which are not part of any package. However, the review is unlikely to start until the second half of 2010.

Carphone makes profit

The mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse has raised its full-year earnings forecast after recording better-than-expected sales. Its comments came as it reported an 88 % rise in pre-tax profit for the six months to 30 September to £75 m. The firm's revenues rose 13 % to £789 m. Chief executive Charles Dunstone said: "Each business has delivered a significant year-on-year improvement." Carphone also said its planned demerger of the TalkTalk business was on track. The group will split into two companies by March 2010 with both Carphone Warehouse and TalkTalk trading separately on the London Stock Exchange. The firm's broadband customer base was up 48 % year-on-year to 4.12 million. Strong demand for smartphones - such as Apple's iPhone - also boosted sales. Mr Dunstone also said that the integration of Tiscali UK, which it bought in May, had cemented its position as a leading player in UK telecoms and was enhancing earnings. He added that Carphone's joint venture with the US's Best Buy had also "delivered strong growth" . One aspect of the joint venture will see the opening of "Big Box" megastores in spring of next year.

Chinese share hits

Leading Chinese shares have slid ahead of a key government economic meeting with investors wary of the outcome. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 119.2 points, or 3.6 %, to 3 , 170.98 , the market's biggest daily fall in almost three months. There are concerns that the government may introduce measures to clamp down on rising asset prices, including shares and property, analysts said. On Tuesday, shares fell 3.5 % on fears banks would need to raise more capital. This followed an order by regulators at the start of the week that banks needed to control lending and manage risks better. These fears also contributed to the latest share slump, analysts said. "Worries about fund raising in the banking sector dragged down the index while rumours of a possible shift in economic policy spread ahead of China's central economic meeting, so investors locked in profits due to uncertainties," said Li Wenhui at Huatai Securities.

Tata steel see $584.7m loss

Tata Steel Ltd, the world's No 8 steelmaker by output, reported a consolidated quarterly net loss on Thursday, hurt by the weak performance of its European unit Corus. Tata Steel, which bought No 2 European steelmaker Corus in 2007, said its consolidated July-September net loss was 27.07 billion rupees ($584.7m), after minority interest and share of profit of associates, compared with a profit of 47.72 billion rupees a year earlier. Consolidated net sales fell to 252.70 billion rupees from 441.99 billion rupees a year earlier. Last month, the firm said its Indian operations' net profit fell 49.5 per cent. Shares in Tata Steel, valued at $10.7 billion, extended losses to 5.2 per cent at 533.10 rupees after the results, while the main index was down 1.8 per cent. The firm's shares have leapt 150 per cent this year, better than a 77 per cent jump in the main index.

Nepal connected with international resturant chain

Nepal's first international fast-food restaurants opened in the capital Kathmandu on Wednesday, reflecting the country's cautious attempts to attract more investment from Western companies. Long queues formed outside Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) and Pizza Hut, with KFC serving more than 500 people in the first two hours of business. 'It has been an exciting day after a long period of planning and preparation,' Vishnu Reddy, country manager for the two brands said. 'We are happy and satisfied with the overwhelming response from customers.' KFC and Pizza Hut arrived in Nepal as the country recovers from a decade-long civil war that claimed more than 16,000 lives before a peace deal was reached between rebel Maoists and the government in 2006. During the violence, rebels targeted foreign ventures including Coke, Pepsi and Unilever but more recently Kathmandu has seen rapid growth in restaurants, malls and supermarkets. Many of the ingredients for KFC and Pizza Hut are imported from abroad, including the chicken from Brazil and potatoes from Australia. 'We have to maintain our products and original taste,' Reddy told AFP. The Nagarik newspaper welcomed the restaurants, saying they gave 'an opportunity for Nepalese customers for cheaper and better food and an alternative.'

World's largest tractor maker faces loss

Deere & Co, the world's largest maker of tractors and harvesters, reported a quarterly net loss on Wednesday on weak equipment sales and a series of one-time charges. The company also provided a disappointing first glimpse of 2010, saying it expected farmers in North America and Europe to remain cautious because of the unsettled economic situation. The farm sector, which had been largely insulated from the economic downturn last year, suffered in 2009 as commodity prices retreated from historic highs. Since sales of tractors, harvesters and other agricultural equipment rise and fall along with farm income, Deere and competitors CNH Global NV and Agco Corp have seen demand deteriorate and have been scaling back production and cutting workers. Deere expects a huge jump in pension costs next year, which analysts believe could shave 60 cents off its earnings. The Moline, Illinois-based company reported a net loss of $222.8 million, or 53 cents a share, for the fourth quarter that ended on October 31, compared with a year-earlier profit of $345 million, or 81 cents a share. Stripping out one-time items, including a goodwill impairment charge related to its turf unit and employee severance costs, the company would have reported a profit of 23 cents a share. Sales fell 28 per cent to $5.33 billion. Deere expects 2010 net income of about $900 million, up from $873.5 million, or $2.06 per share, this year, but well below analyst estimates of $1.1 billion. But any sales gains will have to come later in the year because Deere warned first-quarter sales could be down 10 per cent from 2009 levels. It expects farmers in North America and Europe 'to be cautious in their purchasing decisions as a result of sluggish overall economic conditions and near-term profitability issues in the livestock and dairy sectors.' The one bright spot is South America, where Deere said it expected industry sales would increase 10 per cent to 15 per cent in 2010. The company's shares were flat $52.29 in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Bangladeshi government has taken a project of tea faming in Pancha garh

The government has taken a massive Tk100 crore special package programme to boost the growing small-scale tea farming that has already become very popular bringing fortunes to many in Panchagarh villages. Under the programme being implemented by Bangladesh Tea Board, the small and marginal farmers are being provided with training on the latest technologies for tea farming, loans, tea saplings and necessary inputs, officials concerned said. The government initiatives will further prompt economic advancements of the common people, farmers as well as working women, as the small and marginal farmers have been showing more interest in farming the cash crop in the areas. Side by side with the latest assistance, local farmers and experts suggested setting up more tea processing industries, competitive markets for tealeaves and resolving some problems like power crisis for accelerating further growth of the sector. The prospective tea sector has created opportunities for hundreds of working women to change their fate by achieving self- reliance through earning wages as plucking workers in tea gardens of the officially recognized third tea zone in the country. Presently, nearly 7 ,500 skilled and unskilled workers, mostly women, have been working in about 260 tea gardens, including 18 big estates, 13 medium-size and 229 small-scale gardens set up on about 2 ,200 acres in Panchagarh alone. Small-scale tea growers are now happier as the tea processing factories of Tentulia Tea Company Ltd and Karotoa Tea Garden started purchasing green tealeaves at Tk 11 per kg though the rate was only Tk 9.50 in the past. As per a survey conducted by BTB, there is over 16 ,000 hectares land suitable for tea farming in Panchagarh alone and nearly 2 ,200 acres have so far been brought under tea farming in the area since 2002. The tea board has taken the special steps, including finding newer areas for tea farming, with a view to further expanding tea farming areas and increasing tea production in the country to meet its growing local demand and increase exports. There are tremendous prospects of the expanding tea sector and creating job opportunities to enhance economic activities further in the region, President of Panchagarh Chamber of Commerce and Industry Iqbal Kaiser Mintu said. Tea is being cultivated mostly in Panchagarh on a 'small- scale gardening basis', the green tealeaves are being sold to the processing factories and companies and this concept has been attracting the small, medium and marginal farmers more and more. Small-scale tea farmer Mozahedul Hassan while talking to the news agency recently said he has been farming tea in seven bighas (20 kathas) of land after selecting 20 bighas for the purpose and lifting 90 to 100 kg tea leaves every week from the garden. BTB's Development Officer in Panchagarh Amir Hossain said there is tremendous scope for expansion of the tea farming area in Panchagarh and the BTB has been providing all necessary facilities including training to the farmers and per hectare subsidies. About 5.37 lakh kg tea was produced during the last season and a total of about seven lakh kg tea is expected to be produced in Panchagarh alone this season, BTB officials said. Female labourer Sabina Yasmin of Tentulia upazila said they are getting only Tk 60 to 70 per day and male labourers are getting Taka 80 to 90 per day as wages by plucking tea-leaves. "We are hopeful that the concerned authorities will take necessary further steps regarding our just wages and benefits as the tea sector has been expanding faster following huge interests among the small-scale and marginal farmers," she said. "Increased tea farming will bring further economic solvency to the people, especially empowering the distressed women in the district, with a positive change in their life and living ushering in a new hope for their future generations," an official said.

Gold production are continue to fall

Gold production will continue to fall, despite a brief boost in 2009 and soaring prices, as deposits are exhausted and new discoveries remain elusive, say miners. Meanwhile, the price of gold soared above 1 ,195 dollars an ounce for first time in history in the London bullion market on Thursday, following a purchase of IMF gold by Sri Lanka's central bank. In terms of production, "2009 is the outlier as far as the trend," Omar Jabara, spokesman for US- based Newmont Mining, the second-largest gold producer in the world, told AFP. Overall, "it's a fact that gold production from mines has been in decline since 2001 and has gone roughly from 85 million ounces to about 75 million ounces a year," said Vincent Borg, spokesman for number one producer Barrick Gold. "It sort of goes down about one million ounces every year and our forecast is that it will continue to decline despite the higher price" for gold nowadays, he said. Almost everywhere, mineral deposits are being exhausted and new deposits are not being found fast enough to replace them, these experts explain. South Africa, which was once at the vanguard of world production, saw a 9.3- percent drop in production year-over-year in the second quarter, according to its Chamber of Mines. Globally, "it's just that the assets are not there anymore," Tonya Todd, a spokeswoman for Goldcorp, Canada's second biggest gold mining firm. "Just because gold reached a new high today doesn't mean we can send a message to our 26 mines saying produce as much gold as you can today because they are already," said Borg. "It's not like a water tap you can turn on and it comes right away." Barrick and Newmont expect nevertheless to continue increasing production next year by seven percent and five to 10 percent, respectively. But long-term, it's downhill. Omar Jabara explained that it takes from seven to 10 years to start production of a mine after finding an economically viable gold deposit. And "no significant new discoveries have been found in recent years, despite the higher gold prices and despite higher exploration budgets," said Borg. What is already happening and is likely to continue is that the grade or quality of deposits industry-wide will be "on average lower than deposits discovered in the past," opined Jabara. The global gold mine production is forecast to rise by 3.7 percent in 2009 to about 2 ,500 tonnes, but will satisfy only two-thirds of demand, which soared this year amid the global financial crisis to 3 ,800 tonnes, according to the World Gold Council. Historically, gold recycling or the sale of central bank stockpiles made up for supply shortages. But during the latest financial crisis, banks have been buying up gold in large quantities to protect monetary reserves against weakness in the US dollar. Since the start of November, for example, India's central bank has scooped up 200 tonnes of gold from the International Monetary Fund, at market value for about 6.7 billion dollars. Amid uncertainty in the stock market, small investors and hedge funds are also coveting gold, driving up demand for the precious metal. With mine production sloping downwards, an increasing supply of gold must come from existing supplies -- such as coins, bullion or jewelry -- but it will be very limited. "All the gold ever produced through history amounts to about 165 ,000 tonnes, which would barely fill two Olympic-size swimming pools," said Jabara. The price of gold, after reaching new highs over the past year, on Monday hit 1 ,174 dollars per ounce.