Category: Archive – 2011

Fertilizers – Belarus is one of the world's biggest producers of potash fertilizers. Annual production of potash is over 9 million tons. Belarusian potash is exported to cover 70 countries of the world including EU.

 

The principal exporter of Belarusian potash fertilizers is Belarusian Potash Company which controls over 30% of the world potash market (http://www.belpc.by/).

Nitrogen fertilizers are also produced in Belarus by Grodno Azot JSC (http://www.azot.by/) situated in Grodno city near Belarus-Poland border. The company producing liquid ammonia for technical use (976,8 thousand tons a year), nitrogen based fertilizers (urea – 785 thousand tons a year, urea-ammonium nitrate mixture – UAN – 720 thousand tons year, ammonium sulphate – 319 thousand tons a year), methanol for technical use (80 thousand tons a year), caprolactam (111,2 thousand tons a year).

All Belarusian fertilizers match EU and international standards.

 

2.       Tractors

Production Association Minsk Tractor Works was founded 29 May, 1946. For more than 60 years of its history it has become one of the biggest world manufacturer of agricultural machinery with more than 30,000 people working here.

At present, there are more than 100 tractor plants in the world. But only 8 of them supply with their production 96% of the total volume of the product market. Minsk Tractor Works is among them.

Minsk Tractor Works on the license basis develops, produces, and exports wheeled tractors, spare parts, renders setting services.

At present Minsk Tractor Works takes leading positions on the markets of more than 60 countries worldwide. Over several years the factory possesses 8-10% of the world wheeled tractors market, remaining in the ten of the world biggest manufacturers.

Minsk Tractor Works web-site is http://www.belarus-tractor.com/

 

3. Tourism

Belarus might be also interesting for Maltese as a tourist destination. http://www.belarustourism.by/
http://www.belarus.by/

 

4. Investments.

The national web-site for investors is http://www.invest.belarus.by/.

 

Anyone interested can check the websites and contact Abigail Mamo to have contacts facilitated.

The European Business and Technology Centre (EBTC) and the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) invite interested companies and researchers to join the pan-European business & research delegation to India, surrounding the ‘Environment and Energy Conclave', 2011.

 

Event – where & when?

Kolkata, India, 25-27 August 2011

Should you participate?

Participation in this mission is open to EU companies, researchers, cluster representatives, and Universities, operating in the following sectors:

Renewable Energy

Energy Efficiency

Clean Coal Technology

Smart Grids

Support Services

The purpose of the delegation is to understand the Indian market scenario and explore concrete business & research opportunities in the aforementioned areas.

Mission Benefits

A customized schedule of one-on-one business meetings with pre-screened Indian partners, agents, distributors and licensees

Showcase your technology solution at the ‘European Clean Energy Pavilion' in the exhibition area of the conclave

Conduct meetings with State Government representatives, regulatory authorities and municipal bodies to identify specific project opportunities

Participate in high-level networking and information sessions with central Government officials and top players of Indian industry

Company/industry site visits

 

Market Drivers

The energy supply deficit is 10.1%. and peak demand deficit is 12.7% for India.

The renewable energy generation forms around 9% of the total generation of the country. The rising fuel cost and issues of energy security coupled with low usage of renewable energy provides enough opportunity for the development of renewable energy.

The eastern and north eastern region is well poised for investment in energy sector. The eastern region has abundant resources in coal, biomass, sunlight, water and waste. There is a huge business opportunity in the area of solar power as well as other alternative sources of energy, specially in biomass, waste to energy and hydro. The eastern and north eastern region offers ample scope for development of mini and micro hydro power.

The regulatory framework provides for the usage of renewable energy by certain quantum of the total energy consumption of the distribution utility.

The National Solar Mission has given big impetus to solar energy in India, leading to an installed capacity of 20,000 MW by the end of 2022. The National Tariff Policy has been recently amended with the solar power purchase obligation of 0.25% for States by 2013 and further upto 3% by 2020 to align with the objectives of the National Solar Mission. West Bengal has taken a pioneering step in Solar power development. West Bengal Renewable Development Agency (WBREDA) has received the Green Oscar award, 2003 from Ashden Trust, UK.

The National Action Plan on Climate Change encourages clean technology implementation to fight climate change. It also welcomes international cooperation for research and development, sharing and transfer of technologies as well as a global IPR regime that supports technology transfer to the developing countries under the UNFCC.

India's energy challenge can be met by lowering the energy intensity by using energy efficient appliances. The National Mission for enhanced energy efficiency encourages the usage of energy efficient appliances and demand side management.

Although the transmission and distribution performance are in an improving trajectory as compared to the yester years, there remains ample scope for further improvement. Smart technology application can help boost such improvement. Also, smart technologies can be important for renewable energy integration and end consumer applications.

Coal is an important and abundant fossil fuel in India. It accounts for around 55% of the country's energy need. The eastern region houses a major portion of the coal reserves of the country. There is a need of clean coal technology for the environmental sustainability.

 

How to participate?

EU companies and researchers interested in joining the mission are invited to submit their ‘Expression of Interest' and send it to or fax to +91- (0)33 40172599 by 15 June, 2011.

Participation fee for the Clean Energy Business & Research Delegation to India is € 200. Please note that delegates will be required to book and pay for their own costs for flights, airport transfers and hotels. Delegates will be able to take advantage of discounted hotel rates.

Il-Gvern accetta t-talba tal-GRTU illi z-zmien stipulat (sal-ahhar ta' Mejju) biex is-sidien tan-negozji li ghandhom licenzja ta' confectionery u ukoll licenzja li tippermettilhom li jbieghu prodotti alkoholici (imbejjed, spirti u birra) jkollhom iwaqqghu wahda minn dawn iz-zewg licenzji sal-15 ta' Gunju 2011.

 

Il-GRTU izda isostni bil-qawwi li l-Gvern aktar milli jestendi kellu jkun gust u jbiddel mill-ewwel l-Avviz.Legali anomalu u ghal kollox ingust li qed jipprova b'sahha tal-Ligi jimponi fuq is-sidien ta' dawn in-negozji u naqsilhom id-drittijiet naxxenti mill-licenzji taghhom. Ghas-sid tan-negozju l-licenzja hija valur importanti tan-negozju tieghu. M'ghandu l-ebda dritt il-Gvern jekk mhux b'decizjoni ta' Qorti li jaqbad u jillegizla b'sepliciment Avviz Legali li sid ta' negozju ghandu jarmi bicca min negozju tieghu. Ghalhekk il-GRTU issostni li dan l-Avviz Legali hu zbaljat u ghandu jigi emendat bla hafna tidwir aktar.

Il-bicca ‘l kbira tal-confectioners mifruxa ma Malta u Ghawdex kollu lill-Gvern ma holqulu l-ebda inkonvenjent bil-licenzja li ghandhom. Ghalhekk kellu jhallihom bi kwiethon. Dawk li holqu l-problema kienu ftit illi jbieghu primarjament xorb alkoholiku u l-aktar f'zoni maghrufa bhala postijiet ta' divertiment frekwentati miz-zaghzagh u li ukoll inghataw licenzja ta' confectionery barra l-licenzja li kellhom li tippermettilhom li jbieghu xorb alkoholiku. Bis-sahha ta' din l-licenzja ta' confectionery huma setghu jgawdu mill-vantagg li illum ghandu confectioner illi jibqa' miftuh is-sieghat kollha.

Gvern tal-affari tieghu jillegizla biex isolvi problema u mhux jillegizla biex johloq diversi problemi. Il-GRTU ghalhekk issostni li fl-iqsar zmien possibli l-Gvern ghandu jaqbat u jemenda jew jirrevoka minnufih l-Avviz Legali 96/2011 u floku jintroduci Avviz Legali iehor li jindirizza l-problema li tezizti u mhux jibqa' jsostni li ghandu jsallab lill-confectioners kollha.

Il-GRTU  diga infurmat lill-Prim Ministru, lill-Onorevoli Mario de Marco u lill-Onorevoli Jason Azzopardi li l-GRTU f'isem il-confectioners lesta biex tikkopera bis-shih sabiex il-confectioners li jbieghu primarjament prodotti ta' dolcerija u ikel, filwaqt li jibqghu jzommu l-licenzja li tippermetilhom li jbieghu ix-xorb, jikkommettu ruhhom  taht struttura legizlattiva adegwata, li ma jhallux l-hwienet taghhom ikunu lok ta' abbuz ta' bejgh ta' alkohol liz-zaghzagh specjalment fil-hinijiet ta' wara d-disgha ta' filghaxija.

GRTU was very pleased to meet Prof Grace Grima, DG Directorate for Quality and Standards in Education, who together with a group of professional individuals within a period of three years drafted this comprehensive and highly commendable framework.

 

GRTU believes this is a horizontally important topic and if there is a subject which is of interest to everyone it is the education of our children. GRTU's members are families and parents. The children and youths are tomorrow's entrepreneurs so GRTU gives this topic great importance.

The GRTU identified certain short comings in the current educational system. The link between education and the labour market is by far not strong enough. The supply has to be linked to the demand. In addition to this, entrepreneurship must seriously feature in the curriculum. Both Malta and the EU need more entrepreneurs and we have to almost inbuild an entrepreneurial culture into our children and youths. Our youths are not leaving schools with enough entrepreneurial knowledge, this is something that needs to be addressed with urgency.

Also, in order for our country to have security of supply within our workforce and not have to resort to foreign resources our workforce has to be trained with the most skills possible and has to, most importantly be trained to be flexible. The smallness of our country makes it possible to draft a national curriculum, however we still fail on flexibility.

GRTU gives its full support to the framework and we will support the Directorate in the consultation process and encourage our members to take part.

Prof Grima welcomed GRTU's comments mostly since she thinks the issues outlined by the GRTU have been addressed in the new strategy. Prof Grima stated that there was never before a framework but a national minimum curriculum, which was not a minimum at all as it left no time to do anything else.

The framework gives a breath of fresh air to the education system in Malta. Schools called for their flexibility and the need to move away from compartmentalisation. The framework places responsibility on everyone. The bottom-up is given importance as much as the top-down approach.

This framework gives way to different levels and in a class tutors are given the possibility of focusing not only on one level according to the age group but tutors will be equipped with the level of the age group together with two higher levels and two lower levels to cater for the different students. The curriculum is no longer syllabus driven because of the Junior Lyceum where the blame was placed on the students if they failed to make the cut. In addition the aims and principles are very limited so that the schools can find them reachable and manageable. Schools will be given all the necessary support from the directorate to reach these goals.

A reform will be carried out on religious studies.  The need for a reform has been for long felt for students of other religions which had to stay for the religion lesson however were able to not participate. A lesson on ethics will be introduced for these students. Religion books will also be changed and rather than religious knowledge, it will be more based on the teaching on values.

A number of books were issued for consultation, on the framework, a guidebook or practitioners, the way forward and a book with the focus on science.

Arriva takes over the bus service in Malta and Gozo on July 3. GRTU represents the majority of retailers and traders with establishments in commercial centres. Most of these businesses depend on the traffic of consumers and that they reach these destinations by public transport means.

 

Unfortunately many Maltese had for years given up on public transport so they become increasingly reliant on private cars. The cost per household of purchase, use, maintenance and parking fees is absorbing too high a proportion of household's disposable income so an efficient public transport is not only essential to make commercial centres more popular but is also important for its income effect and the impact on the households` funds disposable for consumption.

GRTU agreed with Arriva to help in the smoothing out and finding solutions in issues that arise. Vince Farrugia acknowledged this should be a positive step. "We have no choice. This has a direct impact on Household income and connectivity, two aspects which have for years been neglected. Arriva has a tremendous marketing task as they come at a time where public transport is looked at adversely by public opinion". Concluded Vince Farrugia.

During a meeting held for the Valletta business owners on Thursday 2nd June 2011 Mr Keith Bastow, Managing Director of  Arriva Malta informed that the company has now embarked on an information campaign since it will be working on completely new routes and times.

Mr Bastow said that although there may be similarities to the current routes, Malta will have a completely different network with three main bus stations – in Valletta, Bugibba and Victoria. The system will have 27 interchanges, which are bus stops serving more than one route.

Mr Bastow said that the Valletta main line routes will be numbered under 100 and those linking other towns and villages above. New services include four airport express routes, night buses between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday all year round in some areas with extra days and additional routes in summer. Mr Thomas Dimech, Commercial Director, informed that the company is currently sending out to all households a comprehensive guide of the new services, including bus routes, their frequency and a network map showing all the routes.  He also informed that a website has been launched  with timetables and route maps, http://www.arriva.com.mt/. A journey planner will also be launched in the coming days providing more information about the destination, times and action plan.

Roadshows are  being held in towns and villages and a  customer care call centre will be available seven days a week from 7 am. to 9 p.m. 21222 000.

The system will have a wide range of tickets, including the Arriva Saver Card for frequent users. Holders of Maltese ID cards will benefit from discounted travel – a two-hour ticket will cost €1.30, a day ticket €1.50, and a seven day ticket €6.50.

The day service will be offered between 5.30 a.m.-11 p.m. and there will be summer and winter timetables with peak and off-peak hours. As a first for Malta, timetables will be published in line with internationally recognised standards. These will be available at bus stops and on the website and they will be easy to use.

A 30-day saver ticket is €26 and a 90-day saver is €72. Gozitans can purchase a 30-day Gozo ticket for €10. Moreover, if they have a ticket for Malta they can use it for free travel in Gozo. There are also child fares, KartaAnzjan rates and student discounts.

Mr Bastow said that Arriva is ready to exchange views with GRTU and avaluate its proposals. He also added that despite all achievements, all would fail if the public did not take on their part of the deal and start to plan their future travel needs with the aid of the facilities being made available.

On 13 April 2011, EU Trade Commissioner De Gucht signed a free trade agreement with Peru and Colombia. Once fully implemented, it will eliminate tariffs for almost all industrial products, abolish investment restrictions and further reduce non-tariff barriers. There will also be major improvements on intellectual property rights and competition rules.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This agreement will save European retailers and wholesalers over 500 million euros in customs duties. It will open up markets on both sides and increase the predictability and legal certainty of the trading environment.

The EU-Japan Centre is currently calling for applications for the next WCM training missions in Japan and recruiting European companies willing to host Japanese engineering students for a 8-month internship.

 

World Class Manufacturing

The 5-day training mission in Japan provides with:

In-depth analysis of Japanese manufacturing methodology

Lectures, seminars and panel discussions, presented by experts from Japanese industry

Company and factory floor (Gemba) visits

Preparation and post-visit reviews

Target: EU managers working in manufacturing companies

No tuition fee for SMEs and the European Commission grants 600 EUR scholarships to participants from SMEs.

Training dates: 17 – 21 October 2011

Application deadline: Thursday, 23 June 2011

More information: http://www.eu-japan.eu/global/business-training/world-class-manufacturing.html

Contact: Céline Godart on +32 2 282 3716 -or by e-mail:

Vulcanus in Europe    Host a Trainee

Target: European companies willing to host for 8 months (fom August 2012 to March 2013) a Japanese trainee.

The students are coming from Japan's leading engineering, scientific and technical schools and will be able to work and communicate in EU companies' local language.

EU companies benefits:

valuable addition to R&D workforce

an insight into the Japanese culture, extremely useful for a successful business with Japan.

Host companies application deadline: Thursday, 30 September 2011

More information: http://www.eu-japan.eu/global/host-a-trainee.html

Contact: Margherita Rosada on +32 2 282 3715 or by e-mail:

Canada's election brings delays to trade talks.  A senior Canadian trade negotiator has acknowledged that free-trade talks between Canada and the European Union could drag on into next year.

 

Pierre-Marc Johnson, the chief negotiator for the province of Quebec, said that the Canadian side was still aiming at an agreement in principle "very late in the year", adding that the two sides had already exchanged offers on 90% of the tariff issues at stake.

The European Commission is eager to secure access to Canada's national and provincial public-procurement markets and to gain greater access for dairy products. Canada, for its part, wants barriers to Europe's financial services markets eased, and access to agricultural markets for pork, beef and grain products.

Election delays

The most recent round of talks, held in Ottawa on 11-15 April, made little progress because of Canada's election campaign. An exchange of formal trade offers is now expected in July in Brussels.

Stephen Harper, Canada's prime minister, said in late March that he did not expect a deal until 2012. The European Commission and the Canadian negotiating team, which includes officials from the federal government and from all ten Canadian provinces, had set an end-of-2011 deadline for the completion of talks when they began last year.

On 2 May, Harper's Conservatives won a majority in Canada's federal parliament after five years as a minority government. Provincial involvement in the negotiations makes further delays likely as five provinces – including Ontario, Canada's economic powerhouse – go to the polls later this year. Progress could also be threatened by increasing concerns on the EU side over Canada's tar sands projects in Alberta.

Lead negotiators from the two sides are tentatively scheduled to hold informal talks at the end of May, which could pave the way for negotiations on the most difficult trade issues covered by the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).

On 10 May, the European Commission will adopt its plans for the new Generalised System of Preferences, which will grant lower import tariffs from a large number of developing countries. Being a member of the DG Trade Contact Group, EuroCommerce has successfully requested a Civil Society Dialogue meeting on the new scheme which will offer a first opportunity for discussion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As early as summer 2009, EuroCommerce tabled its views on the incoming GSP, urging a simple, stable and predictable system. Through continuous contact with decision-makers in the Commission and the European Parliament, EuroCommerce achieved the extension of the current system by two more years until end 2013. This will enable importers to plan ahead.