ASEAN-India Car Rally 2012 will open up NE region to South East Asia: Tarun Gogoi
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said the ASEAN-India Car Rally 2012 would open up the northeast region to South East Asia for people-to-people contact and promotion of trade and commerce.
Addressing reporters at Dispur on Thursday, Gogoi said, “Development can take place through connectivity and economic ties between northeast region and ASEAN countries.
The car rally would demonstrate the ever increasing proximity between India and ASEAN countries and make public aware of India-ASEAN relations, Gogoi said.
The meeting was attended, among others, by HE Pisan Manawapat, Ambassador, Royal Thai Embassy, HE Thongphanh Syackhaphom, Ambassador, Embassy of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, HE Nguyen Thanh Tan, Ambassador, Embassy of Socialist Republic of Vietnam, HE Dato Paduka Sidek Bin Ali, Ambassador, High Commissioner of Brunei Darussalam, HE Dato Tan Seng Sung, High Commissioner, High Commissioner of Malaysia, Jonathan Tow, Deputy High Commissioner, Singapore High Commissioner and Assam Chief Secretary NK Das.
Abhijit Barooah, co-chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), North East, who was also present at the press meet with the Chief Minister, said, “56.3 billion US dollar business has taken place last year between India and the ASEAN countries.”
(Sources: Economic Times, Indiatimes, Hindu Business Line, the Sentinel, the Assam Tribune)
Sweden's Volvo to invest $ 691 million, mostly in buses and trucks
Swedish truck, bus and earth-moving equipment maker Volvo on Tuesday announced it planned to invest $ 691 million in India through the next few years. Of this, $ 327 million would be invested in its joint venture with Eicher Motors, and the remaining amount would go towards enhancing its own operations.
In India, Volvo has strong presence in the bus segment. It supplies low-floor buses to various state government transport departments and private service carriers. Volvo, the world’s second-largest truck maker by revenue, and Eicher Motors have a 50:50 joint venture, VE Commercial Vehicles, which sells the Volvo brand of trucks and Eicher-branded trucks and buses.
(Sources: Economic Times, Indiatimes, i4u, Moneycontrol, Business Standard)
Uttar Pradesh MSMEs clock $ 355 million investment
The micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector in Uttar Pradesh has, so far in the current financial year, clocked investments to the tune of $ 355 million.
About 24,600 units in the sector have been established, which resulted in job opportunities for about 1, 55,000 people.
(Sources: Business Standard, Zeenews, i4u, Moneycontrol, IBNLive)
Shrimp exports to Japan fall on anti-oxidant issue
The stalemate over shrimp exports is taking a toll on India's exports to Japan. This is despite efforts to resolve the issue by the commerce ministry and Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA).
In July, owing to the detection of anti-oxidant ethoxyquin in shrimp consignments to Japan, that country had rejected the consignments. This led to exports from Odisha and West Bengal dropping about 50 per cent in the last four-five months, said Taj Mohammed, regional president of Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI).
In 2011-12, India exported 8, 62,021 tonnes of marine products, valued at $ 3.01 billion. The cumulative import of Europe, Japan and the US stood at 3, 08,375 tonnes, valued at $ 1.62 billion.
(Sources: Business Standard, Times of India, Indiatimes, Hindu Business Line)
Hyderabad IT Investment Region to create 1.5 mn jobs
The IT Investment Region (ITIR) proposed to be developed in Hyderabad in two phases over a period of 25 years, will create an employment potential of 1.5 million, according to state information and communication technology (ICT) minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah.
The ITIR, planned with an investment of $ 418 million, will have external infrastructure with over 50,000 acre of IT and ITeS area.
Andhra Pradesh, which is home to 1,206 IT companies employing about 300,000 professional directly, accounts for about 11 % of the total employment in the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) and the special economic zones (SEZs) in the county.
(Sources: Business Standard, i4u, Zeenews, IBNLive, Hindu Business Line)
Services exports up 6.3 pc at $11.94 billion in September
Services exports in September stood at $ 11.94 billion, up 6.3 % from that in the same month last year. Total export from services in September 2011 was at $ 11.23 billion, according to the Reserve Bank data.
Imports of services during the month fell by 9.6 % to $ 6.14 billion compared with $ 6.79 billion in the year ago period.
The services sector contributes about 55 % to the country's gross domestic product.
During April-September of 2012-13, the cumulative services exports amounted to $ 67.74 billion. Services imports stood at $ 39.74 billion in the first six months of the fiscal.
(Sources: Economic Times, Indiatimes, Financial Express, Zeenews, NDTV, Hindu Business Line)
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