CBK net profit KD20.5m for nine months
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Sunday, November 14, 2010
www.kuwaittimes.net
US-China row rumbles on at APEC summit YOKOHAMA: US President Barack Obama yesterday used a Pacific Rim summit to press China on its flood of exports aided by a cheap yuan, but President Hu Jintao said Beijing would make reforms at its own pace. The competing visions of the two economic giants were laid out a day after the Group of 20 knocked back US proposals for binding targets to address global trade imbalances and curbs on currency manipulation-proposals effectively aimed at China. Obama also made an appeal to tear down trade barriers as the 21 members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum kicked off a summit in Japan, clouded by tensions between its biggest economies. Voicing support for an emerging treaty that would group countries on both sides of the Pacific, Obama said that “the security and prosperity of the American people is inextricably linked to the security and prosperity of Asia”. But in comments directed at the world’s top exporter China, he also said that “countries with large surpluses must shift away from an unhealthy dependence on exports and take steps to boost domestic demand”. “No nation should assume that their path to prosperity is simply paved with exports to America,” said Obama, who just suffered heavy losses in mid-term elections dominated by claims that Chinese imports destroy American jobs. Washington has urged Beijing to allow its yuan to rise, claiming it is undervalued to create an unfair trade advantage-although the United States has been accused of doing the same by diluting the value of the greenback with a 600-billion-dollar cash injection announced this month. China’s Hu, speaking at the same APEC business forum as Obama, insisted he would pursue gradual currency reform and efforts to promote free and balanced trade, and that other countries should not ask for too much too fast. “We will continue to steadily move forward the reform of the renminbi exchange rate regime in a selfinitiated, controllable and gradual manner,” Hu said. “To ask (emerging markets) to take on responsibilities and obligations beyond their capabilities and development stage will do no good to international cooperation and world economic development.” On the tit-for-tat currency allegations between the United States and China, IMF chief Dominique StraussKahn noted dryly that “everyone thinks that others should make more effort than oneself”. China’s efforts to switch its economy towards domestic demand “will not happen in five minutes but it must be done as soon as possible,” he told AFP. “On the other hand, it is also necessary for the developed countries to make efforts to modify their own deficits. Everyone has their job to do at home.” Hu also reiterated China’s commitment to “peaceful development” at a time when Beijing and Tokyo have been engaged in a bitter territorial dispute sparked by Japan’s arrest of a Chinese fishing captain in September. In a diplomatic breakthrough yesterday, Hu and Kan held formal talks, their first since the row started, and emerged with warm comments that represented a major thaw. Hu said the two countries should “follow a road of peace, friendship and cooperation,” China’s foreign ministry said on its website. He noted that the two nations are each other’s main trading partner, and that they should deepen cooperation “to jointly contribute to Asia’s revitalization and address global challenges”. Kan spoke of Japan’s “firm stance” on the disputed islands, a Japanese official said, but both leaders “agreed that a long-term stable, mutually beneficial relationship should benefit the two countries and is important for the peaceful development of the region”. Japan’s premier also met President Dmitry Medvedev to discuss a separate row that started when the Russian leader on November 1 visited an island chain disputed between Moscow and Tokyo since World War II. Kan made a protest when the two leaders met in Japan for their first talks since Medvedev’s visit, a Japanese official said. But Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said both leaders agreed to focus on economic ties. Kan also met Obama and thanked him for US backing in the twin disputes. “I told him that the Japanese people as well as our neighbors recognized that the US military presence is all the more important for the peace and security of this region,” the Japanese premier said. Many Asian nations have viewed with alarm China’s newly assertive posture on territorial issues this year, and welcomed Washington’s efforts to reengage with a region where it is seen as an important counterbalance. — AFP
Iran to raise Abadan gasoline output in Feb TEHRAN: Iran will increase gasoline production capacity of the Abadan refinery to 16 million litres per day from February, an Oil Ministry official said yesterday, state television reported. “By inaugurating the gasoline producing scheme, the gasoline production capacity of the refinery will be increased by 6.5 million barrel per day and reach 16 million litres,” said Alireza Mehraban, managing director of the Abadan refinery. Mehraban said the production capacity of the refinery was currently 10 million litres per day. Iran is the world’s fourth-largest oil exporter, but lacks refining capacity because foreign sanctions hinder the Islamic state to have access to foreign know-how and investment. Iran in September announced it had become self-sufficient in gasoline production. However, analysts argue it is technically impossible to raise output of one petroleum product in a short period of time by tweaking existing units at refiners. Iran says it has started exporting gasoline it produces. The West suspects Iran’s atomic activities are aimed at making nuclear weapons. Tehran denies the charge, saying it needs nuclear technology to generate electricity to meet its booming domestic demand. Sanctions have reduced the number of countries willing to sell gasoline to the OPEC member. Iranian officials have repeatedly said the country faces no problems in securing its needed gasoline. — Reuters
Pacific Rim looks to open markets to fuel growth
YOKOHAMA: APEC leaders take part in a group photo at the APEC summit in Yokohama yesterday. — AP
Abu Dhabi Ports to allow 100% foreign ownership ABU DHABI: State-backed Abu Dhabi Ports Company (ADPC) will invest $7.2 billion in the first phase of an industrial zone and will offer 100 percent foreign ownership to companies that contribute to the emirate’s GDP, government officials said yesterday. The Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (KIZAD), located between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, also includes a sea port that would be operational by fourth quarter 2012, ending the first phase development. Currently foreign companies must have a local partner to start an industry in the United Arab Emirates. “There will be a dual operating mode, a mix of 100 per-
Industrial zone’s port to be operational by Q4 2012 cent foreign ownership and joint ventures. It will be based on the strategic importance to Abu Dhabi’s GDP,” Khaled Salmeen, executive vice president of Industrial Zones at ADPC told reporters. The entire financing for the industrial zone and port is by the Abu Dhabi government, ADPC’s chief executive said. ADPC is the master developer and regulator of the ports and industrial zones. Oil-rich Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab
Emirates, is investing billions of dollars in industry, tourism, infrastructure and real estate to diversify its economy away from oil. KIZAD is expected to contribute some 15 percent of Abu Dhabi’s non-oil GDP by 2030, said Salmeen, adding that about 60 to 80 percent of goods manufactured in the zone will be exported. Strategic industries that are likely to be part of the zone are those in sectors such as aluminum, steel, petrochemicals, food, pharmaceuticals and others, said
Obama defends US economic policy YOKOHAMA: President Barack Obama defended his economic recovery policies yesterday after top powers rebuffed US plans for binding trade targets and curbs on currency manipulation at the G20 summit. Top administration officials pushed back against the notion that the G20 meeting, which ended in Seoul Friday, had turned into a global display of opposition to US policy, saying important core principles had been agreed. Ahead of a Pacific Rim summit in Japan, Obama said he had never been more confident in what the United States had to offer, despite criticism that its slow rebound is a sign of waning US might as regional giants rise. “Yes, the challenges that remain are great. There will be setbacks and disagreements and we won’t solve every issue in one meeting or one trip or even in one term,” Obama said at a business conference in Yokohama, Japan. He was speaking a day after G20 nations agreed to avoid currency manipulation and protectionism, but failed to fulfill US hopes for binding restrictions on issues at the core of deep global economic disputes. International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strass-Kahn told AFP that Washington had tried to be too ambitious at the summit. “In my opinion, the United States tried to push an idea too fast, at a time when the foundation for cooperation is not as strong as it was during the crisis,” he said. “We must learn to work together. So there was a reaction, not so much against what the United States was proposing, but it’s more the case that things will now be more complicated, until two, three, four G20s have been held, and that will allow a cooperative atmosphere to reemerge.” Obama’s top aides however, insisted that important progress had been made in Seoul, and argued that the issues in play were so complex and fundamental to each nation’s economy, that it was not surprising they were so contentious. “What is remarkable about the outcome — the extraordinary thing is the degree of consensus that has been established that was on display in Seoul, where you had an agreement on the balanced growth framework,” said National Security Advisor Tom Donilon.
YOKOHAMA: President Barack Obama walks for an event after being welcomed by Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his wife Nobuko at the APEC forum in Yokohama yesterday. — AP “It has been a very important organization and I think quite successful,” he said pointing out that the grouping was established by the United States and was often driven by a US agenda. The president argued in his speech that G20 developed and developing nations had shown an underlying determination to keep focused on global economic expansion despite disagreements on other issues. “As the largest economy in the world, an engine for global growth, that’s particularly important for the United States,” Obama said in a speech ahead of the 21member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) talks.
“That is why we passed an economic plan that has led to five consecutive quarters of economic growth and 10 consecutive months of private sector job growth. “That’s why we passed and are implementing the toughest set of financial reforms since the Great Depressionsomething our G20 partners need to do with the same sense of urgency. “And that’s why we’re cutting back on nonessentials in the face of serious fiscal challenges.” Obama maintained that American human and financial resources had paved the way for the region’s emergence and dynamic economies. His speech was partly a summing up of his eight-day stay in Asia, which he billed as
a mission to pry open export markets and create American jobs. He argued, despite a sheaf of negative headlines about his diminished political clout following a “shellacking” by Republicans in mid-term elections, that his trip had successfully reinvigorated US engagement in a vital region. “Yokohama is my last stop on a journey that has taken me from Mumbai and New Delhi to Jakarta and Seoul,” Obama said. “The security and prosperity of the American people is inextricably linked to the security and prosperity of Asia. That is why this was not my first trip here, and why it will not be my last. “America is leading again in Asia.” — AFP
Tony Douglas, CEO of ADPC. The second phase of the industrial zone will start in 2013, he said, without elaborating. When the Khalifa Port’s first phase becomes operational in 2012, it will have capacity of 2 million containers and 9 million tons of cargo a year, four times higher than existing capacity at Abu Dhabi’s main Mina Zayed port. “There have already been significant expressions of interest from all over. We will be flexible and dynamic to adapt to investors coming into the zone,” said vice president Salmeen. Some 150,000 jobs will be created by 2030 there, he added. — Reuters
Japan strives to set example on AsiaPacific free trade YOKOHAMA: As Japan hosts a summit touting the benefits of Asia-Pacific free trade, Prime Minister Naoto Kan faces acrimonious debate on whether to tear down barriers around Japan’s own faltering economy. Charged with helping the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group-including the United States, China and Russia-carve a trade consensus, Kan is struggling to convince his own government to do the same. Japan has faced criticism for tightly protecting its inefficient farm sector and especially its cherished rice farmers, but now says it is intent on making reforms. “Japan will be opening up,” Kan pledged yesterday. His government is edging towards a USled plan for a regional free trade treaty known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), but has deferred until June a decision on whether to join talks on membership. Heated debate has broken out within the Japanese government on joining the pact, with the trade ministry in favor but the agriculture ministry opposed, fearing the impact of cheap imports on farmers. More than 3,000 demonstrators rallied against the proposal in Tokyo on Wednesday. As he took up his role as host of the APEC summit on Saturday, Kan defiantly embraced the liberal trade concept in the wake of a G20 pledge to “resist protectionism in all its forms” made a day earlier in South Korea. “Many countries in the world, especially in this APEC region, are proactively opening up their countries to establish freetrade areas by sealing economic partnership agreements,” Kan said ahead of yesterday’s summit. “To be honest with you, our country was a little lagging behind in terms of riding the wave towards that movement.” Kan also stressed the importance of making Japan’s highly protected farm sector more competitive in the global marketreferring to domestic opposition to the TPP. The symbolism of the new approach being aired in Yokohama, where 151 years ago Japan made the monumental decision to open itself to commerce with the outside world after two centuries of self-imposed isolation, is clear. —AFP