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  • Renewable energy need of the hour

    July 21, 2014

    HCM CITY — Viet Nam’s ever increasing demand is driving the development of renewable energy to help ensure the nation’s energy security, while protecting the environment.

    This was revealed during a recent workshop held in HCM City to discuss measures to develop renewable energy in the nation’s southern provinces and cities.

    Viet Nam is expected to consume seven times more energy next year than in 2010, and is likely to become a coal importer for energy generation after 2015, according to Ly Ngoc Thang, Deputy Director of the Centre for Renewable Energy and Clean Development Mechanisms under the Energy Institute.
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  • South Korea, China end free-trade talks

    July 19, 2014

    SEOUL – South Korea and China yesterday agreed “in principle” on a way of liberalizing mutual service and investment during the negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), Seoul’s trade ministry said.

    Negotiators from both sides held the 12th round of talks from Monday to yesterday in South Korea’s southeastern city of Daegu, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

    During the talks, the two sides reached an agreement “in principle” on how to liberalize service and investment
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  • Public Stockholding Programmes for Food Security Face Uphill Struggle

    July 17, 2014

    GENEVA – Framing rules at the World Trade Organization for maintaining public stockholding programmes for food security in developing countries is not an easy task, and for Ambassador Jayant Dasgupta, former Indian trade envoy to the WTO, “this is even more so when countries refuse to acknowledge the real problem and hide behind legal texts and interpretations in a slanted way to suit their interests.”

    “The major problem is that the WTO’s Agreement on Agriculture (AOA) was negotiated in early 1990s and there are many issues which were not taken into account then,” says Ambassador Dasgupta, who played a prominent role in articulating the developing countries’ position on food security in the run-up to the WTO’s ninth ministerial meeting in Bali, Indonesia, last year.
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  • Active Stock: EU Begins Questioning Facebook (NASDAQ FB) Rivals Over WhatsApp Deal

    July 14, 2014

    European Union antitrust officials have started questioning rival firms about Facebook Inc (NASDAQ FB)’s proposed $19 billion acquisition of messaging service WhatsApp, ahead of a formal review that could be a test case for how to apply EU competition law to social media.

    Officials at the European Commission, the EU’s central competition authority, have in recent weeks sent detailed questionnaires to several technology and online-messaging companies, asking about the merger’s effect on competition in their markets, according to people familiar with the matter.

    The questionnaires also drill down into a relatively new area for merger reviews: how the companies control and use personal datawhen they offer services, some of the people said.
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  • Armenia’s antitrust commission fines Tsaritsino meat factory for unfair competition

    July 10, 2014

    Armenia’s State Commission for protection of Economic Competition has imposed a fine of 1% of the revenue on Tsaritsino meat processing factory for unfair competition, the press office of the commission reported.

    During its studies, the antitrust commission found out a case of unfair competition in the market. In particular, Tsaritsino meat processing factory disseminated an add saying the factory’s products are made only from fresh local meat and natural ingredients.

    Based on customer complaints, the commission requested the factory to provide information about ingredients involved in pricing and the respective procurement documentation. After having studied the information, the commission found out the ad is not true as no justification was provided on local raw meat procurements, says the report.
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  • Sasol’s R534m penalty puts excessive pricing in spotlight

    July 10 2014

    THE Competition Tribunal’s finding that Sasol Chemical Industries had charged excessive prices to domestic customers has brought the issue of excessive pricing into focus for corporations struggling with competitiveness and compliance.

    The tribunal found Sasol had charged domestic customers excessive prices for purified propylene and polypropylene between 2004 and 2007 in contravention of the Competition Act. Such a contravention attracts a penalty of up to 10% of annual turnover for a first-time offence.

    The tribunal imposed a R534m penalty on Sasol. It also imposed other remedies aimed at determining Sasol’s future domestic pricing for these products.
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  • ASEAN on verge of borderless economy

    July 10, 2014

    HCM CITY — The ASEAN Economic Community to be established next year is expected to enable free movement of goods, capital, and skilled labour, a seminar heard in HCM City yesterday.

    Le Trieu Dung, deputy general director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Multilateral Trade Policy Department, said trade between Viet Nam and ASEAN member countries has expanded rapidly in recent years to top US$40.1 billion last year.

    The establishment of the AEC would bring more choices of goods and services to Vietnamese consumers and enable Vietnamese companies to expand exports to ASEAN countries because their goods would have zero duty, he said.
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  • TPP agreement good for footwear industry

    July 5, 2014

    HA NOI — Viet Nam footwear exporters are racing against time to complete the large number of orders they have received from traditional importers.

    The growing orders have shown that the Viet Nam footwear industry has already started enjoying the numerous benefits that could accrue after the signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement.

    However, the Viet Nam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso) has warned that if footwear exporters want to take full advantage of this opportunity they need to state what are the advantages in terms of the market and products. Not many local footwear makers can provide high-quality products with good designs as per the demands of TPP signatory nations.
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