Friday, 02 January 2015 21:03
FPCCI's plan will include lobbying for political synchronisation
among statesmen and politicians on economic policies-- trade policy linked to
monetary and fiscal policy-- formation of compliance and implementation
committee to materialise GSP-plus benefits-- launching a campaign to compliance
of EU standards-- active participation in WTO related issues particularly to
activate trade diplomacy to remove the impacts of Indian agriculture policy on
Pakistani rice exports-- realising the importance of Economic Cooperation
Organization (ECO) and identify the root causes of low trade among ECO
countries-- early signing of preferential trade agreement (PTA) between
Pakistan and Turkey-- proposal for Pakistan-Afghanistan Customs Union-- and
developing a domestic shipping line; it is the weakest aspect of logistic
infrastructure for exports.
He also pledged to make sincere efforts for the unity among the
entire business community of the country for the good of the community and the
country.President FPCCI also called for due representation on the board of
directors of the public sector organisations including all sea ports.Chief
patron of and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Trade Development Authority S.M.
Muneer said that after victory of UBG in the FPCCI's annual elections FPCCI
will be given new and better role in trade development and industrial growth in
the country.He praised the policies of government headed by Prime Minister
Muhammad Nawaz Sharif. When journalists sought a reply Munir said "We
support the proposal to set up military courts for the trial of
terrorists."
Source with thanks:http://www.brecorder.com/pakistan/business-a-economy/214641.html
Rice importation should be banned – Dealers
Jan 3, 2015
It said the ban on inland rice importation is
not only having negative impact on the traders but also discriminatory and in
favour of the major players in the industry.A statement issued by Yaw Korang,
National Coordinator of SSRIDA-GH said given monopoly of large scale
importation of the commodity to foreigners is unfair, and so if government
finds it untenable for small scale rice dealers to be in business then an
outright ban would be necessary .
“The ban as it stands now is pushing poor
Ghanaians out of business and helping foreign traders to thrive,” the
statement.The statement said the ministry on October 14, 2013 served a notice
of ban on inland importation of rice stating that with effect from November 1,
2013, all imports of rice shall be done through only the Kotoka International
Airport, Tema and Takoradi Ports.“This directive gave SSRIDA-GH only two weeks
ultimatum to fold up our trading business through the border. As petty traders
our capital base would not allow us to do our business through the air or by
the sea. The directive also came at a time when we had made orders with loans
for goods for the Christmas festivity.
“We humbly wish to state that our business is
only a threat to the monopoly being practiced by foreign rice importers, whose
activities are a threat to the nation`s economy because they do the importation
under the cover of warehousing and sell their products for high prices in
dollar equivalence before paying their revenue and sometimes run-off without
paying.“We do our business in the CFA-FRANC and pay our duty into the
consolidated fund at the borders before we are allowed to bring our goods into
the country to sell.The statement asked Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, the sector
Minister to review the ban on inland importation of rice or prohibit the trade
in Ghana.
Source with thanks:http://www.spyghana.com/rice-importation-banned-dealers/
Business Honors for Jan. 4, 2015
ADVOCATE STORY
Jan. 04, 2015
The Louisiana Bar Foundation has
named as Fellows from the local area Sylvia
S. Lowe, an attorney with the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Lafayette,
and Francisca
M. M. Comeaux, an attorney with Phelps Dunbar LLP in Baton
Rouge.The Louisiana Bar Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to
improving the justice system and equal justice.Fred Zaunbrecher, a rice farmer
in Acadia Parish and a member of the Louisiana Rice Research Board, was honored
as Farmer of the Year by the USA Rice Federation.Zaunbrecher, a
fifth-generation farmer, was recognized for his farming career and leadership
in the rice industry.
He graduated from LSU with a
master’s degree in agronomy.He farms rice, crawfish and soybeans on 4,600 acres
with his brothers.Also, Hayes rice farmer Paul
Johnson and Dustin Harrell, LSU AgCenter
agronomist and the next LSU AgCenter rice specialist, were among seven
individuals chosen for the Rice Leadership Development Program.Kent
McKenzie, a former LSU AgCenter rice breeder at the Rice
Research Station, was honored with the Rice Industry Award. He became the
director the California Cooperative Rice Research Foundation in 2000.
The American Society of Landscape
Architects awarded Jeffrey
Carbo Landscape Architects of
Alexandria and Baton Rouge a national Award of Excellence for the firm’s design
of Woodland Rain Gardens in Shreveport from among more than 200 national and
international entries in the residential design category.Lane
Regional Medical Center received
the Champions for Quality Care Award from the Louisiana Hospital Association
for its statewide Hospital Engagement Network.The award recognizes hospitals
for achieving goals established as part of the federal Partnership for Patients
Campaign that emphasizes improving patient care and reducing health care costs.
Source with thanks:http://www.theneworleansadvocate.com/news/business/11158955-123/business-honors-for-jan-4
Why do Vietnamese scientists leave state’s
research institutes?
VietNamNet Bridge – Analysts have been talking a lot lately about
the so-called “domestic brain drain”, the movement of scientists leaving
state-owned institutes for private companies.
Chin said he was the specialist who brought
Vietnamese rice varieties to Africa. He made many trips to the continent,
either at the invitation of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), or
foreign groups, or per the request by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development (MARD).
“I did this as assigned by the State, because I
was a state employee. But now I only work on research projects which are
believed to bring benefit in reality,” he said.“We conduct research now not to
put our works in mothballs,” he added, explaining the difference between his
two jobs.According to Chin, there are two kinds of employees in society – civil
servants and employees at private businesses.In Vietnam, civil servants account
for 10 percent of the population, while the proportion is just one percent in
South Korea.“The number of workers receiving salaries from the state budget is
too high. As a result, the pay for every worker is modest,” he said.
“Therefore, don’t criticize the scientists who
leave state-owned agencies,” he said when asked about the “domestic brain
drain”.A human resource development expert, who asked to be anonymous,
commented that the state should not try to retain experienced specialists if it
cannot treat them well.“Let them (the specialists) go. I share the same view
with Chin,” he said. “They will still serve the country’s development, no matter
where they work, for state-owned institutes, or private companies. Private
businesses should be encouraged, because they also create assets and pay taxes
to the state.”What does “treating scientists well” mean?
Chin described how scientists are rewarded for
their scientific works. His company, when using rice varieties created by the
Mekong River Delta for commercial development, has to pay VND200 per kilo of
seeds as a royalty.However, the money is nothing if compared with the efforts
the scientists had to make to create new varieties.Meanwhile, the majority of
seed trading companies do not have the habit of paying royalties to scientists.
Tags:vietnamese scientists, vietnam's science
and technology, vietnamese researchers,
Source with thanks:http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/science-it/119632/why-do-vietnamese-scientists-leave-state-s-research-institutes-.html
Traders call
for total ban of rice importation
The Small Scale Rice Dealers Association of
Ghana (SSRIDA-GH), at the weekend, asked the Ministry of Trade and Industry to
ensure an outright ban of rice importation.It said the ban on inland rice
importation is not only having negative impact on the traders but also
discriminatory and in favour of the major players in the industry.A statement
issued by Yaw Korang, National Coordinator of SSRIDA-GH said given monopoly of
large scale importation of the commodity to foreigners is unfair, and so if
government finds it untenable for small-scale rice dealers to be in business
then an outright ban would be necessary .
“The ban as it stands now is pushing poor
Ghanaians out of business and helping foreign traders to thrive,” the
statement.The statement said the ministry on October 14, 2013 served a notice
of ban on inland importation of rice stating that with effect from November 1,
2013, all imports of rice shall be done through only the Kotoka International
Airport, Tema and Takoradi Ports.
“This directive gave SSRIDA-GH only two weeks
ultimatum to fold up our trading business through the border. As petty traders,
our capital base would not allow us to do our business through the air or by
the sea. The directive also came at a time when we had made orders with loans
for goods for the Christmas festivity.
“We humbly wish to state that our business is
only a threat to the monopoly being practiced by foreign rice importers, whose
activities are a threat to the nation`s economy because they do the importation
under the cover of warehousing and sell their products for high prices in
dollar equivalence before paying their revenue and sometimes run-off without
paying.
“We do our business in the CFA-FRANC and pay
our duty into the consolidated fund at the borders before we are allowed to
bring our goods into the country to sell.The statement asked Dr Ekwow
Spio-Garbrah, the sector Minister to review the ban on inland importation of
rice or prohibit the trade in Ghana.
Source with thanks:http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=341211
Nigeria
imports rice worth $500m from Vietnam
Posted by: APA Posted date : January 2, 2015 at
10:53 am
The Nigerian-Vietnam Chambers of Commerce and
Industry says that the Nigerian
government’s yearly rice import bill from
Vietnam has hit about $500 million. The President of the chamber, Prince Oye
Akinsemoyin, said in an interview that Vietnam was also spending about $100
million to import agricultural products such as raw cashew nuts, cassava and
oil palm from Nigeria.Indeed, Nigeria imports 1 million metric tonnes of milled
rice yearly from different countries, such as India, Thailand and Vietnam.
Nigeria’s Guardian newspaper quotes Akinsemoyin
as saying that Nigeria’s imports covered a wide range of commodities, including
those of Vietnam’s strengths such as rice.
He listed Vietnam’s major exports to Nigeria to
include rubber, electric and electronic products, footwear, plastics,
handicraft and fine art articles and construction materials, while the country
imports from Nigeria raw cashew nuts, fruits, cotton and minerals.
Akinsemoyin stated: “Basically, Nigeria exports
agricultural products. At the moment, Vietnam is the largest importer of
Nigeria’s raw cashew nuts. Vietnam’s cashew import from Nigeria is about a $100
million yearly. Nigeria exports agricultural items like Cassava with which
Vietnam produces starch and the raw materials Vietnam imports sea foods from
Nigeria, like shrimps, fish; also oil palm, which is processed to palm oil,
which goes into local production of creams and cosmetics Vietnam imports food
items like coconut and also beans and fruits from Nigeria.
Ashimolowo, hungry birds fight over
140-acre rice farm
Ashimolowoand his farmland
In 2013, our correspondent had paid a visit to Ofada, prompted
by the strange development that such a community well known for the crop no
longer cultivated it.Farmers had said at the time that pests sometimes left
nothing for them to harvest, which was why they had to abandon such an
‘unprofitable venture.’On Tuesday, not until after a tour and an interview with
the manager of the farm, Mr. Akeem Aremu, did our correspondent learn that the massive
rice plantation was actually owned by Pastor Ashimolowo.
Rice farming in Nigeria seemed to have become a dying sub-sector
until the recent efforts by government in encouraging farmers to resuscitate
it.Even despite this, statistics shows that a lot need to be done as Nigeria
continues to consume more imported polished rice.Nigeria imports 2.1 metric
tonnes of rice annually, coming only second to China as the world’s largest
importer of rice.According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Nigeria spends over
N356bn a year on rice importation. This underscores the frustration Nigerian
rice farmers face as a result of unaffordability of needed technology, low and
poor quality yields.
However, at Ashimolowo’s Meridian Farms, all these do not seem
to be a problem.A harvester rolled into the plantation, swallowing both chaff
and grain, spitting out both from different sides.Aremu told Saturday PUNCH that this year’s harvest was a giant
leap from last year’s.“Last year, we cultivated 28 acres. But this year, we
increased it to 140. Our chairman (Ashimolowo) even wanted 200 acres but the
time was not enough to make that possible,” he said.When there was no sign of
any hi-tech nets or other devices in place that could have kept pests at bay,
our correspondent asked how they successfully cultivated the crop with the
birds around.Aremu explained that rudimentary methods of chasing away or
ensnaring pests were actually used.
He stated, “It was all about planning. But make no mistake,
pests were our major challenge too. But we were strategic about it.“We divided
the plantation into four sections and put at least 10 people in each section
armed with catapults and whistles. We also used drums.“We discovered that the
birds swarmed on the plantation around 6am. So, we got to the farm before them
and ready to scare them away with whistles and catapults when they came for
breakfast. In the evening when we knew that they would come as well, we got
there before them.“Normally, the birds usually come during the most important
stage of the cultivation, the milking stage. That is when the rice is still
very soft and milk-like. Without adequate preparation for this stage, one may
not get a single grain out of the plantation.
“A farmer came to visit us a few days ago and he could not help
expressing his shock that we could successfully produce rice here. The man said
he planted more than five acres of rice and he did not harvest a single grain
out of it because birds destroyed everything.”At Ashimolowo’s rice farm, the
workers said they had to make use of a number of traps as well to ensnare
grass-cutters, which are regarded as the bane of rice plantation.Rice, which
has become a staple in Nigeria, used to be the crop of choice for farmers in a
number of communities in the South-West like Ofada. Over the years, these have
simply vanished.However, some entrepreneurs who have the financial wherewithal
are bringing back the locally produced rice.In August, Africa’s richest man,
Aliko Dangote, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Federal Government
on the establishment of a $1 billion integrated rice-producing company in
Nigeria.
When our correspondent took up Ashimolowo on the motivation behind
his going into farming, he explained that it was the need to create jobs and
encourage Nigerians to get back into agriculture.“I believe we should not just
talk but put our words into action,” he said.He said the company planted about
500 acres of cassava during the administration of former President Olusegun
Obasanjo. He said no encouragement had been given into the earlier plan to make
cassava a major ingredient of bread in the country since Obasanjo left.
He said, “All the investment we put into the cultivation of
cassava went to waste. Then we decided on rice as a result of the proximity of
the land to Ofada. We realised that it had the potential of creating jobs and
reduce importation.“As far as we know, this is the biggest rice farm in the
South West and we intend to expand to 200 acres next year.” Asked if his
company got incentives from the Federal Government for the venture, Ashimolowo
explained that his consultation with the Minister of Agriculture had not been
finalised.He expressed the hope that the farm would be provided with machinery
under an arrangement that would enable it to produce large quantities of
quality rice seeds which would be distributed to other farmers.
“We noticed that many rice farmers are still using mostly the
subsistent method. If we get more machinery from the government, we can easily
lend them out to other farmers,” he said.Ashimolowo said he was aware that a
lot of rice farmers had been finding it difficult to cultivate the crop in
Ofada.
He said he succeeded as a result of a combination of methods
employed.He said, “Of course, God made this possible first of all. We also put
in place a pot
pourri of methods. We
thought that if we could plant in large quantities, the impact of bird
devastation would not be felt. We also ensured that no trees are within a mile
radius of the farm on which birds can perch.“Our plan is to continue to
increase cultivation to drive down the price so that Ofada rice will no longer
be seen as exotic. We are in discussion with the Seeds Council as well on the
possibility of selling the rice seeds for distribution to other farmers.”
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PUNCH.
Source with thanks:http://www.punchng.com/feature/ashimolowo-hungry-birds-fight-over-140-acre-rice-farm/
Rice imported from Vietnam to Nigeria hit
N84b
ARTICLE | JANUARY 2, 2015 - 11:03AM
President of the chamber, Prince Oye Akinsemoyin made this
disclosure saying Nigeria’s imports cover a wide range of commodities,
including those of Vietnam’s strengths such as rice.He listed Vietnam’s major
exports to Nigeria to include rubber, electric and electronic products,
footwear, plastics, handicraft and fine art articles and construction
materials, while the country imports from Nigeria raw cashew nuts, fruits,
cotton and minerals.Akinsemoyin stated: “Basically, Nigeria exports
Agricultural products. At the moment, Vietnam is the largest importer of
Nigeria’s raw cashew nuts. Vietnam’s cashew import from Nigeria is about a $100
million yearly. Nigeria exports agricultural items like Cassava with which
Vietnam produces starch and the raw materials
Vietnam imports sea foods from Nigeria, like shrimps,
fish; also oil palm, which is processed to palm oil, which goes into local
production of creams and cosmetics Vietnam imports food items like coconut and
also beans and fruits from Nigeria.Vietnam exports rice to Nigeria; Vietnam is
one of Nigeria’s trading partners in rice exportation. Vietnam’s rice export to
Nigeria will be about $500 million per annum. Vietnam exports garments, fabrics
to Nigeria as well as shoes and fashion accessories. Many of the cosmetics
companies in Vietnam are looking for distributors in Nigeria.
Vietnam exports furniture, artifacts and art work for interior
décor”.He disclosed that many companies from Vietnam are willing to invest in
Nigeria.According to him, “the chamber is now looking at setting up
institutions that will further foster the relationship between Nigeria and
Vietnam; we are encouraging investors from Vietnam to make in road to Nigeria
economy, companies like Viettel is willing to invest $7 billion into the
Nigerian Telecommunication sector. Arrangement is already going on to avail
them the opportunity to bid for the relevant spectrum to be able to operate as
one of the telecom operators in the country.
“PetroVina is also interested in investing in the Exploration
and Production (E&P) sub-sector of the country’s Oil and Gas sector,
PetroVina is interested in the upstream and the midstream sectors. We are
trying to attract investments that will be able to provide employment for
Nigerians. The kind of investors that will be able to have multiplier effects
on the Nigerian economy”.
Source with thanks:http://www.dailytimes.com.ng/article/rice-imported-vietnam-nigeria-hit-n84b
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The grain inventory the Chinese
government stockpiled to bolster prices and protect the livelihood of farmers
is now stilling tall and idle without a modern food processing industry to
consume it, reports the Chinese-language China Business News.Mu Yiankuei, owner
of a major food processing firm, said that despite the good intentions, the
government's practice has given rise to some grave side effects, including the
disruption of the normal circulation of grains on the market and hindrance of
the healthy development of the food processing industry.