THE annual International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) conference was held in Punta Del Este, Uruguay this year.
The Kirchners' administrations policy of heavily taxing Argentine farmers is having a very positive effect for neighboring Uruguay where a growing number of the most efficient farmers are now established, but some locals are not so convinced.
Uruguay's exports increased 59.6% last April compared to the same month a year ago, with the whole expansion for the first four months reaching 44%, according to the latest statistics released by the government funded institution Uruguay XXI.
Uruguay, South America's leading exporter of rice and among the world's top eight, traditionally has been forced to sell overseas 95% of its high quality grain given the country's scarce population and low consumption.
Uruguay's consumer price index, CPI, increased 0.33% in April the best performance so far in 2008 and the lowest since April 1962. This means that CPI in the first four months of the year reached 3.2%, (annualized 9.92%) and below the same period in 2007 (4.98%), according to the latest release from the national Statistics Institute.
Public utilities rates subsidies which have been applied since September 2007 to help contain inflation have cost the Uruguayan treasury 185 million US dollars, equivalent to 0.8% of the country's GDP. Prices are estimated to have moderated 1.5% on an annual basis.
A European Union sanitary mission is scheduled to begin this week the auditing of Uruguay's fishing industry, --processing plants and vessels--, announced Monday Daniel Montiel, head of the country's Aquatic Resources Department, DINARA.
United States and Uruguay signed on Tuesday a bilateral agreement to promote and increase cooperation in Science and Technology. The agreement was signed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Uruguay's Foreign Affairs minister Gonzalo Fernandez during a ceremony at the State Department.
Uruguay's Economy minister Danilo Astori said there's no indication forecasting the fall of Uruguayan exports international prices in the framework of the current global surge of commodity prices.
Uruguay announced a package of measures to contain the effects of a collapsing US dollar in the local money market and to combat inflation. The local currency, Uruguayan peso, has appreciated almost 7% against the US dollar in the first four months of 2008 and has dropped to June 2002 levels which has caused concern among the country's exporters.