European Union farm ministers have agreed to reform agricultural policy by shifting more subsidies away from production and liberalising the dairy market. The deal on reforming the Common Agricultural Policy came on Thursday after marathon all-night talks.
A world economic confidence index released Thursday dropped to its lowest level in 20 years amid further news of heavy losses on global markets and an ongoing crisis among the world's carmakers.
The United States opened Wednesday a Food and Drug Administration office in Beijing, as the first step in an FDA strategy to try to improve food and drug safety standards around the world.
Santiago de Chile's international air terminal Pudahuel will be expanded to receive 20 million passengers annually from its current 9 million. The original plan was for the reform to become operational in 2018/19 but given the rapid growth of air traffic plans were advanced to 2013/14.
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For the first time a global economic crisis will not hit Latinamerica and in 2009 the region's economy will experience positive growth in the range of 2%, according to the president of one of Spain's leading banks.
In spite of the global recession and the international gloomy atmosphere, Magallanes region in the extreme south of Chile has been forecasted ten years of 6.3% annual average growth speared by investments in energy related projects.
The Argentina's Agriculture Secretariat announced that it expects a record 18 million hectares of soybean for the coming 2008/09 soybean area, up from 16.6 million hectares a year ago.
Japan and Australia say they will pursue diplomatic channels to resolve their long running dispute over whaling. Foreign Minister Stephen Smith met his Japanese counterpart, Hirofumi Nakasone in Peru, in anticipation of this weekend's APEC leaders meeting.
A free trade agreement to be signed by China and Peru in March will go into effect in the second half of 2009, if everything goes as planned, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced.