Stories for August 11th 2012
Uruguay will continue with Mercosur but is also interested in the Pacific alliance
Uruguay will continue “to look after” Mercosur in spite of the strong diplomatic discrepancies with Argentina, but will also continue with an interest in participating in other trade blocks of the region, said President Jose Mujica.
Peru will host leaders’ summit of Arab and South America countries in October
Peru will be hosting next October the III Summit of heads of state and government from South America and Arab nations which is expected to bring together 32 countries, according to Deputy Foreign Affairs minister Jose Beraún.
“Two tough years” ahead for Uruguayan construction and real estate
The Uruguayan construction industry faces tough years ahead because of the international crisis and its effects on neighbouring Argentina, forecasted economist Jorge Caumont who is also an advisor of several real estate agents.
US consumers face dearer pork, chicken and beef because of the drought
Pork and chicken will join beef on the menu of expensive meats as drought and US ethanol policy combine in a corn “disaster”, the head of the world’s largest pork producer has said.
UK minister swims in tank of sharks to highlight campaign against ‘finning’
UK Fisheries minister Richard Benyon has been swimming with sharks to highlight his desire to tighten the European ban on “finning”. Mr Benyon took the plunge into a tank of sharks at Sealife London Aquarium to launch a Shark Trust initiative calling for support to close loopholes in the EU ban on slicing off shark fins and discarding the bodies at sea.
China only interested in commodities, not in products that reach supermarkets
Trade with China for Argentina has great opportunities but also great threats because the Asian giant is only interested in produce with no added value, warned the head of Argentina’s Industrial Union, Ignacio De Mendiguren.
Bill Gates finances research project to improve corn yields
Billionaire computer magnate Bill Gates is to fund a €8m research project into whether cereal crops can be genetically engineered with nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
Argentina applies tax hike on bio-diesel exports and lowers price for local market
Argentina tightened its grip on the country's energy sector on Friday by ordering a tax hike on bio-diesel exports, a move it said was needed to make domestic fuel prices more affordable, but denied market rumours that it will increase a soybean export tax.
Official (fantasy) inflation in Argentina 0.8% in July and 9.9% last 12 months
Official consumer inflation in Argentina reached 0.8% in July accumulating 9.9% in the last twelve months and 5.9% in the first seven months of the year, according to the Indec statistics bureau.
Bad day for vulture fund that was after 100 million dollars from Congo
Britain’s Privy Council has ruled that a “vulture fund” cannot collect 100 million dollars from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Newsnight revealed last year that old Congo debts had been illegally sold to FG Hemisphere for 3 million and the fund had then sued in Jersey where they were awarded 100 million.
