Indonesia sees mining investment go up by 39%.

JAKARTA, Dec 31 (Reuters) – Indonesian mining investment is expected to hit $2.5 billion next year, up from $1.81 billion in 2009, supported by greater certainty after the introduction of new mining regulations, a senior government mining official said on Thursday. Southeast Asia’s largest economy has struggled to lure foreign investment into mining in recent years, compounded by some politicians taking a nationalist line on resource exploitation and also because of uncertainty over regulations tied to a new mining law passed in 2008. “We expect investments to reach $2.5 billion next year as we hope to see more new investors if the new mining rules are going well,” said Bambang Setiawan, Director General of Mineral, Coal and Geothermal at the Energy and Mining Ministry. Major global resource firms operating in Indonesia include Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc (FCX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Newmont Mining Corp (NEM.N: Quote, Profile, Research), but much of the investment was made decades ago. Some foreign firms have already shelved investment plans since last year, partly due to uncertainties over the new mining law, which also includes contentious items such as shorter-term mining permits rather than longer-term contracts of work. Miners will also have to process minerals in Indonesia and to set aside some of their coal for the domestic market. Setiawan said registered investment should also rise because more small and individual miners were required to report their mining and investment activities to the government under the new law. Previously, only big mining companies which had signed contracts of work with the government reported, so that investments from small miners were not included in the official records. The government had said it plans to issue 4 new regulations attached to the new mining and coal law in January, 2010.

Source: Reuters.

Swedish company to increase investment in Bangladesh.

Swedish Hedge Fund Brummer to Set Up New Bangladesh Stocks Fund

By Netty Ismail

Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) — Brummer & Partners, the largest Scandinavian hedge-fund manager, plans to set up a fund to buy Bangladeshi stocks, betting the south Asian nation will attract investors seeking the world’s next low-cost labor hub.

The fund “should not be larger than $100 million” as only about a third of Bangladeshi companies’ outstanding shares are publicly traded, said Patrik Brummer, founder of the Stockholm- based firm, whose assets are at their peak of about $7 billion. The fund will be formed within the next three months, he said.

The nation of 162 million people, equivalent to about half of the population of the U.S., may join the ranks of the fastest-growing economies in the region as it benefits from its geographical proximity to India and China and low labor costs. The economy, which expanded 5.9 percent in the year to June, was shielded from the financial crisis because of its “limited integration” in the global economy, according to the World Bank.

“If you believe in labor arbitrage as a true trend, that will benefit Bangladesh,” Brummer, 60, said in an interview at the three-year-old Westin Dhaka hotel. “The predictability for this country is much higher than most countries that I know of; it is largely uncorrelated to the world economy.”

Bangladesh’s ready-made garment exports have shown resilience because of the so-called Wal-Mart effect, where consumers substitute more expensive products for cheaper ones such as those from the South Asian nation, the World Bank said in a September report. Buyers are also shifting production to Bangladesh, which may have become the world’s lowest-cost producer, from China, the Washington-based bank said.

Stock-Market Rally

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in December 2005 included Bangladesh in a list of 11 developing countries that, according to its analysts, have the greatest potential to emulate the long-term economic success expected from China, India, Brazil and Russia. JPMorgan Chase & Co. named Bangladesh one of the “Frontier Five” markets worth investigating in an April 2007 note, along with Kazakhstan, Kenya, Nigeria and Vietnam.

“Bangladesh has a lot of raw potential and is full of opportunities for those ready to dig in,” said Douglas Clayton, Phnom Penh-based founder of Leopard Capital LP, which manages a Cambodia private-equity fund and is raising money to invest in Sri Lanka. “In time, we’ll probably launch a fund here.”

The Dhaka Stock Exchange General Index, which gained 21 percent this year, eclipsed its previous high reached in 1996 as shares of GrameenPhone Ltd., Bangladesh’s largest mobile-phone company, almost tripled on debut on Nov. 16. GrameenPhone, controlled by Norway’s Telenor ASA, raised 4.9 billion taka ($71 million) in Bangladesh’s biggest initial public offering.

The stock market’s daily turnover has grown to about $100 million over the last few months, from an average of $20 million a day in 2007, according to Brummer.

Bubble Danger

“One danger in this kind of an environment is that you get a bubble at one stage,” Brummer said. “If a lot of foreign investors take an interest in this market, being such a small market, then it can explode.”

The manager set up in July 2008 a Bangladesh hybrid fund to invest in stocks and private equity. About half of that fund’s $53 million will go into a private-equity fund, which the firm started this year. The International Finance Corp., part of the World Bank, has committed $10 million to the private-equity fund, which is set to attract more money from other investors, he said.

The private-equity fund, targeting returns of at least 20 percent, plans to hold minority stakes in “successful companies that have a bright future,” Brummer said. It has invested in the export business of Bangladesh’s largest automotive battery maker and a supermarket chain operator, both part of Dhaka-based Rahimafrooz Group.

Stockholm to Dhaka

“There has been a lot of change in the city of Dhaka, a lot of construction activity,” said Brummer, who first visited the capital city in 2005 and travels there four times a year.

The Stockholm-based manager is an investor in bracNet, a wireless broadband company in Bangladesh that Khalid Quadir, who runs Brummer & Partners’ unit in Dhaka, started in 2005. KDDI Corp., Japan’s second-largest mobile-phone operator, agreed to buy 50 percent of bracNet on Nov. 12.

Brummer started his hedge-fund business in 1996 after spending 22 years at Alfred Berg, the largest brokerage in the Nordic region. Alfred Berg was acquired by ABN Amro Holding NV in 1995.

Brummer & Partners attracted net inflows of $1.7 billion this year, he said.

The firm’s multistrategy fund, which invests in Brummer & Partners’ own strategies and accounts for more than a third of its total assets, “has become a very popular vehicle,” he said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=abOlqUUVJMtM&pos=7#

Turkey-Syria to sign 42 new deals during Erdogan’s visit.

Turkey-Syria to sign 42 new deals during Erdogan’s visit

 

Turkey-Syria to sign 42 new deals during Erdogan’s visit

Erdogan would visit Syria on December 22 and a meeting between prime ministers of Turkey and Syria would take place, Kabalan said.

Wednesday, 02 December 2009 16:23

Syrian ambassador to Turkey said on Wednesday that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan would visit Syria on December 22, and the two countries would sign 42 new agreements on education, health, transportation and politics.

Syrian Ambassador Nidal Kabalan told the A.A correspondent that Syria would never leave alone Turkey in regard to indirect peace talks between Israel and Syria.

“Israel clearly said that it does not want Turkey as a mediator. But Syria will continue to its path with Turkey,” Kabalan said.

Erdogan would visit Syria on December 22 and a meeting between prime ministers of Turkey and Syria would take place, Kabalan said.

“Prime Minister Erdogan’s visit will be a turning point,” Kabalan said.
Source: World Bulletin

 

Turkey and Jordan to work on water project.

(MENAFN – Jordan Times) Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Nader Dahabi on Wednesday officially inaugurated construction of the vital Disi Water Conveyance Project.

Projected to supply the capital with 100 million cubic metres of water annually, Al Disi project will be implemented by the Turkish company GAMA.

In his remarks at the inauguration ceremony, held in Al Qastal area south of Amman, Gul highlighted the importance of the multimillion-dollar project, saying that he is confident that the company will execute the project within the set time frame.

He added that implementing and securing over $1 billion in funding for the Disi project was not an easy task in light of the global financial crisis, adding that Turkey is ready to increase cooperation with countries in the region in the field of water.

Stating that water will be the most important issue in the future, particularly as this issue is now the focal point of climate change talks, Gul stressed the importance of investments in the field.

He reiterated his country’s keenness to bolster relations with Jordan in all fields including political, economic, agricultural, cultural and defence matters, and called on businesspeople and companies in both countries to take the initiative and explore investment and cooperation opportunities.

Last month, the government said that GAMA had given instructions for the purchase of 30,000 tonnes of pipelines at a cost of $32 million in preparation for the execution of the megaproject.

More than 70 per cent of construction work on the project’s main offices in Mudawara, built over a 5,000-cubic-metre area, is now finished, while 95 per cent of the pipeline warehouse is complete, the project’s director Othman Kurdi said last month.

The project went into effect as of June 30 after the financial closure was signed. The government’s equity in the project totals $400 million, $100 million of which is allocated as “standby” funding to be used if international prices of construction materials, including steel, increase.

The European Investment Bank and the French Development Agency extended two $100 million soft loans to the government.

To be carried out on a build-operate-transfer basis, the project entails constructing a 325-kilometre pipeline that will convey water from the ancient Disi aquifer in the south of Jordan to Amman.

The price of one cubic metre of water generated from the Disi project went down from JD0.87 to JD0.74 after the government raised its stake in the project and steel prices fell on international markets.

http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?storyid=1093285950

Turkey and Bangladesh agree to work towards $1 billion trade.

Bangladesh-Turkey direct air, banking links at earliest

Dhaka, Nov 20 (UNB) – Bangladesh and Turkey have agreed to introduce direct air and banking links between the two countries at the earliest possible time to promote bilateral trade and economic cooperation.

The two sides also underscored the need for direct shipping link, as a protocol was signed between the two countries in Ankara, Turkey on Thursday.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith and Turkish Minister of State Mehmet Aydin signed the protocol on the concluding day of the third session of Bangladesh-Turkey Joint Commission for Trade, Economic and Technical Cooperation (JEC) held November 18-19.

According to the protocol received here Thursday night, the two sides agreed to cooperate with each other so they could raise the bilateral trade to US$ 1 billion in the shortest possible time.

To achieve the target, they agreed to encourage their designated airlines to start direct flight between Bangladesh and Turkey at the earliest possible time under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 1997.

The two countries would also consider establishing direct banking links through state-owned banks, suitable private banks or other financial institutions on a priority basis.

Other major areas the two sides have agreed to cooperate are agriculture and irrigation systems, contracting services, tourism, telecommunications, infrastructure projects, SMEs sector development, and standards and testing institutions.

The two sides agreed to explore the possibilities of joint venture in the fields of shipbuilding, heavy machinery industries, electronic appliances, textiles, pharmaceuticals, RMG, jute and jute products,
and petrochemical products.

Both sides stressed the need for reciprocal visits of business delegations to promote bilateral trade, economic and technical cooperation, and also the need for holding trade fairs in each other’s country.

Bangladesh expressed interest to export medicines and pharmaceutical products. The country invited Turkish investors to relocate their labour-intensive industries like textile and construction to Bangladesh to utilize cheapest labour and other fiscal incentives.

Both sides agreed to examine the investment possibilities from Turkey in the oil, gas, refinery and power plant sectors in Bangladesh.

The two countries decided to hold the next meeting of the JEC in Bangladesh at a time to be mutually agreed upon.

Source: http://www.unbconnect.com/component/news/task-show/id-9090

Comment: Malaysia is seen as one of the most influential countries in the Muslim bloc. Outside of the Arab world, alongside Turkey, Iran and Pakistan it is seen as one of the big 4 Muslim countries. However the Malaysian economic miracle has been a recent phenomenon and Bangladesh is accelerating its pace of economic growth. Bangladesh is also working with Gulf Arab states who have increased their business acumen and improved their investment strategies. Within a few years Bangladesh may join Malaysia as one of the key players in the Muslim bloc.

 

Turkey removes visas for Albanians.

Turkey lifted visa requirement for Albanian citizens with an agreement signed on Friday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.
The agreement exempts Albanian citizens from visa requirement for their stay in Turkey for up to 90 days in a six months period.

Albania removed visa requirement for Turkish citizens since as early as in 1992.

http://www.turkishny.com/english-news/5-english-news/19531-turkey-removes-visa-requirement-for-albania

What would have happened if England had become Muslim? Part 1.

In the first of a series of articles Assiyasah asks the question what would have happened if England became Muslim.

During the reign of King John, the brother of the famous Richard the Lionheart who was known for his battles with the legendary Islamic hero Salah-udeen, the King sent delegates to Morocco. It is said that in 1213 John’s envoys asked the Almowahid (also known as the “Almohads”) ruler, Muhammad An-Nasir for military support including the dispatch of a Moroccan army to England to defeat John’s enemies, in return John would become Muslim and make England a Muslim country with Islamic law. The Almowahid Caliph dismissed John’s offer obviously seeing his insincerity and an opportunistic nature which could not be trusted. If Muhammad Nasir had sent around 50,000 Moroccans which might have been the number required then they would have been isolated in England without any direct access to other Muslims who could provide them support in case John turned on them.

We will ask the following questions:

i: How true this claim was?

ii: What would have happened if John’s offer had been accepted?

iii: Would England have become Muslim during John’s reign and stayed Muslim after it?

The source of this claim.

This claim, which certain quarters refuse to accept. emanates from the Chronica Majora, a work written by Matthew Paris, a Benedictine monk.

Who was Matthew Paris?

Matthew Paris was born sometime around 1200 and became a monk in St Albans. He became a historian, chronicling the events of the era and said “if you speak or write truth about powerful men, they become your enemies.” A later monk who came 2 centuries later, Thomas Walshingham speaks highly of him as a source of reliable history. John’s bad reputation seems to come mainly from two historians, Roger Wendover and Paris himself.

Matthew Paris, self potrait

We cannot say for certain either way whether Paris’ account of John offering to convert to Islam is true or false, what we can say is:

1. There is no Islamic source including from the Almowahids stating the same.

2. If John did in fact offer to convert to Islam it would not seem to have been a genuine conversion due to belief in Islam but a way to gain military support, since he did not seek to become Muslim after his offer was turned down.

3. John however did have the audacity to rebel against the pope and therefore placing England under an interdict as well as being excommunicated. Whether he would have gone one far greater step further and become Muslim remains to be answered.

What would have happened if John’s offer had been accepted?

Almowahid’s military capability

Even if the story is true, what would have happened if John’s offer had been accepted? The Almowahid’s ruled a huge territory of land including Morocco and Spain. However they were constantly on the defence against Catholic kingdoms in Spain seeking to “regain” what they felt was traditional Spanish land from the Muslims. 4 Spanish Kings set aside their differences to fight Muhammad Al Nasir’s army in the famous battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1215. Nasir had Al-Mowahid troops from through out his vast state including Libya, Algeria, Senegal and other parts of north and west Africa. Despite this he was however defeated. This calls into question how successful an Almowahid army would have been if they had ever gone to the cold and rainy island of England isolated from their country of origin.

If Nasir’s soldiers had gone to England due to John’s offer become Muslim then many of the Christian English barons’ hatred of John would have intensified and those not opposed to him would have turned against him. The Barons forced John to sign Magna Carta in 1215, and this was to a Catholic English King. In the light of this the idea of Barons accepting John converting England to a completely different religion ,which the whole of Christian Europe was against and which manifested in people like Richard the Lionheart travelling for thousands of miles to fight the detested Muslim enemy, is very unlikely.

Almowahid empire which covered Spain, North Africa and West Africa.

Almowahid tower. The Almowahids were a powerful and advanced European, Mediterranean and African state.

However history is not just about proabilities,  otherwise it would be removed of its mysterious quality of unpredictability. Many times in history the most unlikely events have come to pass, so in our next article we will look at what would have happened if John did actually succeed in making England, Muslim.

Bangladeshi students best in the world in Cambridge exams.

Bangladeshi students on top of world in Cambridge exams BSS, Dhaka Three students from Oxford International School (OIS) in Dhaka obtained the highest marks in the world (in 157 countries) in Cambridge GCE O & A Level Examinations in 2008-09 sessions. Anik Islam Badhan came out on top in the world in Additional Mathematics and Human & Social Biology in May-June 2009 session, while Minhazul Islam and Sidratul Montaha secured top position in the world for Mathematics and Additional Mathematics respectively in October-November 2008 session. The students of OIS have been identified as the best performing students in Bangladesh by the University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) for their outstanding performances in the recent GCE O & A Level Examinations held in October-November 2008 and May-June 2009 sessions. The school secured 75 Cambridge Outstanding Awards for the extraordinary performances of its students. Six students achieved Cambridge High Achiever Awards for their brilliant performances. Minhazul Islam secured first position in the country in the combined merit list in the A (Subsidiary) Levels, while Shajia Meraj and Nabil Tarique Hossain became second and third in the A Levels respectively. Anik Islam Badhan stood third in the country in O Levels. A total of 15 OIS students scored the highest marks in Bangladesh in various subjects. Tazrian Haider Rafi made the incredible achievement of a maximum 10 A-grades in a single sitting while Anik Islam Badhan and Tarek Bin Zahid achieved 9 A- grades in their O Levels. Jahan E Alam and Jyotirmoy Hore achieved 5 A-grades in their A (Subsidiary) Levels. The University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) will award these students along with many other students who achieved 7 or more A-grades in O Level and 3 or more A grades in the AS/A Level Examinations through a special award function. Principal of OIS G M Nizam Uddin said, this outstanding achievement is not only for the school it is also the achievement for the whole nation.

Source: Daily Star, Dhaka.

UAE to increase fleet of Airbuses.

(MENAFN – Khaleej Times) Emirates Airline, the Arab world’s largest carrier, will increase its purchase of Airbus A380 aircraft beyond the 58 super-jumbos it has booked so far, in spite of delayed deliveries of planes it has already ordered, the Dubai-based airline’s chairman said on Wednesday. Emirates Chairman and Chief Executive Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said the airline would not cancel any of the A380s it has ordered and hinted that the airline might even take over some A380 orders from other airlines that are seeking to postpone their own scheduled deliveries. “We are always one of the first-movers to take advantage of the market,” Shaikh Ahmed said. He said that some A380 deliveries had been delayed for “just a short period,” without being specific about the extent of the delays or the number of planes affected. Speaking to the media at a Press conference ahead of the Dubai Airshow, Shaikh Ahmed, who is also the President of Dubai Civil Aviation and Chairman of Dubai Airports, declined to disclose the amount of compensation Emirates is seeking from Airbus for the delays.

However, he indicated that the airline would raise the issue of compensation in its discussions with Airbus at the Dubai Airshow, which starts on Sunday. Emirates so far has received five of the 58 super-jumbos it has ordered from the European plane-maker. The airline expects better revenues in the second half of the year, Shaikh Ahmed said, adding that “it should be a very good year for us.” Emirates posted a 165 per cent rise in first-half profits to nearly $205 million earlier this month, thanks to lower operating costs. Revenues, meanwhile, fell by 13.5 per cent during the period. Shaikh Ahmed’s comments follow remarks by Emirates’ President Tim Clark at the World Travel Market in London on Tuesday, in which Clark said that the airline’s route expansion plans would be affected next year due to delayed deliveries of its A380. Clark said the delivery setback would affect “one or two” of the 15 A380s the airline was originally scheduled to receive by June of next year. “We should have had 15 aircraft by June 2010. We are getting two in December and then the remaining eight between January and November next year, so one or two are being pushed back,” he was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

Dubai Airshow organisers, meanwhile, said that 890 companies from 47 countries would exhibit at the five-day event, an increase over the previous event in 2007, when it attracted 850 exhibitors. To date, 150 new-to-market exhibitors from 20 countries will make their debut at the biennial event, and up to 50,000 visitors are expected, said Alison Weller, director of F&E Aerospace, the air show organiser. The growth in exhibitor numbers attests to the confidence the aerospace industry continues to show in the Middle East, and in the UAE in particular, Weller said. About 130 aircraft will be displayed in a static park, including the 14 aircraft types participating in daily flying displays.

 The airshow runs from November 15 to 19. The display will feature the Italian Airforce’s Frecce Tricolori and Patrouille de France aerobatic teams. They will be joined by a US Air Force’s F-22 Raptor, a Eurofighter Typhoon of the UK’s Royal Air Force and ane L-15 Falcon jet trainer from China-based AVIC, the first time a Chinese-manufactured trainer is being sent to an international airshow. By Issac John

Saudi oil forecast to earn $4tr in 10 years.

(MENAFN – Arab News) At the current forecasts of $85 per barrel in 2011 and increasing the oil price by $5 per year over the next 10 years and conservatively assuming a constant production of 10 million barrels a day, the Saudi economy will generate revenues of $4 trillion, according to a report released by Deutsche Bank yesterday. “We expect the Saudi economy to enjoy a V shape recovery and return to trend growth of 4-5 percent during the coming years due to five strong economic indicators,” said the report authored by Pascal Moura, head of research at the bank.

The report, titled ‘Accessing Wealth Transfer: Equity Basket,’ comprehensively discusses each and every aspect of the economy.

“Saudi Arabia is the world’s leading petroleum exporter and holds more than 20 percent of the word’s proven petroleum reserves as well as significant gas reserves. This unique access to natural resources puts the country in an ideal position to dominate several industries and channel considerable oil revenues into infrastructure investment, boosting the non-oil private sector. Using our DB oil price forecasts of $85 in 2011, we estimate the oil price increase will generate an additional $60billion in revenues in 2011. The country demographics are unique with the population growing by about 3 percent per annum and 70 percent of the population below 30 years of age. We expect the economy to enjoy a V shape recovery and return rapidly to a trend growth of 4-5 percent per annum, well ahead of the developed world,” the report said.

“In recent years the authorities have continued to diversify away from the hydrocarbon industry, strengthening the financial sector and implementing structural reforms to boost private-sector-led growth.

“The strong oil price over the next 5-10 years should allow the government to continue its diversification efforts and promote the non-oil economy. Industries such as power generation, telecommunications, natural gas and petrochemicals are all likely to benefit during the coming years, which should also help to increase employment opportunities.

By Mahmood Rafique

Source: MENAFN