Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe says foreign companies that comply with his indigenization law are guaranteed security. His comment is a deviation from his earlier promise that he would revise the policy, which analysts repeatedly have said scares away investors.

At the official launch Thursday of an $82-million cement manufacturing plant by a South African company, PPC Zimbabwe, a frail looking 93-year-old Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe said he was happy the company had not resisted the indigenization law, as other foreign companies have done.

“By so doing, PPC Zimbabwe has demonstrated what so many companies are struggling to put in place,” said Mugabe. ” And it has demonstrated also that the indigenization policy and philosophy is no hindrance to foreign investment. But instead the policy guarantees security of such investment.”

The southern African nation passed the controversial indigenization law in 2008, which forces foreign companies to cede 51 percent of their stake to black Zimbabweans. Mugabe argues that indigenization policy is meant to correct colonial imbalances that marginalized blacks in Zimbabwe.

On Thursday, PPC Zimbabwe managing director Kelibone Masiyane did not want to be drawn into the politics of the controversial law while speaking to reporters after Mugabe’s speech.

“I always say the cement business is a 30-year business,” said Masiyane . “So whatever we might be encountering at the moment is only short-term. We are looking into the future, so we are here in Zimbabwe for the long run.”

Last year, indigenization minister Patrick Zhuwawo gave a 90-day ultimatum to foreign companies that had not submitted plans for how they would comply with the indigenization law. He did not implement his threat of revoking their licenses when the deadline passed, which made investors jittery.

Before that, Zimbabwe had nationalized all diamond mining, but some took the matter to court and the cases are still pending.
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Міністр фінансів Олександр Данилюк сподівається, що Україна отримає черговий транш від Міжнародного валютного фонду наступного тижня.

«Наступного понеділка відбудеться зустріч директорів МВФ. Я думаю, наступного тижня ми вже отримаємо транш МВФ», – сказав він.

«Отримання цього траншу буде рекордом для України, оскільки раніше наша країна ніколи не доходила так далеко в програмі співпраці з МВФ», – додав міністр.

На початку березня Міжнародний валютний фонд повідомив, що досяг домовленості з урядом України, що відкриває шлях до надання пізніше цього місяця нового траншу позики, сума якого складе 1 мільярд доларів. Надання цього траншу залежало від ухвалення в Україні підтриманого МВФ бюджету на 2017 рік і реформ у банківській сфері.

Загальна сума нинішньої позики Україні від МВФ має скласти 17,5 мільярдів доларів, але чергові її транші вже не раз затримувалися через недостатній поступ Києва з реформами.
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Блокада переміщення вантажів через лінію розмежування в зоні проведення АТО загрожує економічному зростанню України, уряд шукає шляхи стабілізації ситуації. Про це прем’єр-міністр Володимир Гройсман заявив 16 березня на бізнес-форумі в Києві.

«Сьогодні виникли загрози стримування економічного зростання у зв’язку з блокадою, яка сталася на сході країни. Я вже говорив, і зараз скажу – ця блокада відбувається виключно в інтересах Російської Федерації. Ті, хто розуміють економічні процеси, також розуміють, що це так і є. Зараз ми дивимося на те, що потрібно зробити, щоб утримати ситуацію і забезпечити відповідне зростання», – відзначив голова уряду.

Раніше 16 березня президент України Петро Порошенко вказав, що підприємства з окупованих районів Донбасу, які були зареєстровані на вільній частині України, могли стати «базовими плацдармами при поверненні України на Донбас і поверненні Донбасу в Україну». «Політикани ж своїми безвідповідальними діями знищили «острівки України» на окупованому Донбасі», – вважає Петро Порошенко.

Рада національної безпеки й оборони України 15 березня ухвалила рішення тимчасово припинити переміщення вантажів через лінію розмежування в зоні збройного конфлікту на сході України.

Від січня активісти, серед яких депутати Верховної Ради та люди, що називають себе ветеранами АТО, блокують деякі ділянки залізниці з вимогою припинити, за їхніми словами, торгівлю з окупованими районами Донбасу. Після критики щодо вибірковості такого блокування вони стали розширювати свою акцію, зокрема, й на інші залізничні ділянки та автошляхи, і також блокувати торгівлю з Росією.
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The remaining members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) are seeking a way forward on the trade pact, they said on Wednesday, as some emphasized the need for deals to address concerns about workers’ rights and other issues.

The TPP, which originally covered some 40 percent of global gross domestic product, was effectively torpedoed in its current form when President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement in January.

The 12 members kicked off a two-day meeting on Tuesday, assembled by Chile alongside China, South Korea, and Colombia, to try to thrash out a way forward on Asia-Pacific trade.

With the retreat of the United States, China appears to be the natural successor to lead those discussions, but an emphasis on getting a progressive deal that wins buy-in from skeptical citizens could see nations in the Americas forging a different path.

“We are talking about free trade of a very high quality, with protection for investors, the environment, and labor rights,” Mexican foreign minister Luis Videgaray told reporters after the meeting. “That is the primary criteria with which any negotiation that takes place will comply.”

Scope must expand

Consensus was growing that trade deals need to consider issues like the environment and labor rights, Canada’s trade minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said on the sidelines.

“Around the table, the word ‘progressive’ appears more and more… it is becoming part of what people would consider as a base in order to progress,” he said.

Critics of the TPP have said it does not do enough to protect jobs, and U.S. presidential candidates across the political spectrum promised to scrap it if elected.

But the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), promoted by China, contains far less than the TPP in terms of provisions for protecting workers and the environment.

China reiterated its wish to promote regional economic integration, but did not comment on the differences between the pacts.

Another way forward may be via Latin America’s Pacific Alliance trade bloc. Its four nations said on Tuesday they would seek to expand by allowing associate membership as a precursor to trade talks.

New Zealand said in a statement on Wednesday that it expected to be one of the first to begin negotiations.

Trade officials from ex-TPP countries are now set to come up with a menu of options for ministers before they meet in May at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gathering in Vietnam.

Ministers wanted to continue with the “substance of the accord,” Chile’s foreign minister Heraldo Munoz said.
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President Donald Trump plans to re-examine federal fuel economy requirements for new cars and trucks.

The requirements were a centerpiece of president Barack Obama’s strategy to combat global warming. But Trump appears to be making good on a pledge to car company CEOs to reduce “unnecessary regulations.”

Here’s what’s happening:

What are CAFE and GHG standards?

CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards are mile-per-gallon targets for cars and trucks set by the U.S. government. The standards are based on size and are weighted by sales. Each manufacturer has a different requirement based on the models it sells.

Congress required the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to develop CAFE standards in 1975 after gasoline shortages during the Arab oil embargo. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency began regulating greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles in 2007. The agencies work together to produce CAFE standards.

The standard for passenger cars stayed at 27.5 mpg from 1990 until 2007. In 2009, the government set a fuel economy standard of 34.1 mpg for cars and light trucks by 2016. In 2012, it set a new target of 54.5 mpg by 2025. The number can change depending on the mix of vehicles customers buy. Right now, it stands at 51.4 mpg because people are buying more SUVs and trucks.

Under the current standard, would my car get 54.5 mpg in 2025?

No. Manufacturers can apply credits for various fuel-saving technologies to arrive at that figure. Real-world mileage would be closer to 36 mpg.

What’s happening now?

In the last days of the Obama administration, the EPA completed a review of the standards for model years 2022-2025 and left them unchanged, saying the car companies have many affordable options to help them comply. The industry protested, saying the review was too hasty and didn’t consider the fact that gas prices have fallen and few consumers want the smallest, most fuel-efficient vehicles.

Trump is reopening the evaluation process, which could lead to weaker standards.

Why would the government consider changing the standards?

Trump wants automakers to expand production in the U.S. and hire more workers. In exchange, he has promised to cut regulations and taxes. Gasoline is more than $1 per gallon cheaper than it was in 2012, when the standards were issued. The low prices hurt demand for more fuel-efficient cars. If those cars don’t sell, their high mileage can’t be counted toward an automaker’s corporate average fuel economy.

But environmental groups say weakening the standards would increase pollution and require consumers to spend more on gas.

How are automakers improving their fuel economy?

Manufacturers have introduced all-electric cars like the Chevrolet Bolt and increased the use of lightweight materials like aluminum. Engine technologies, such as direct fuel injection, and more efficient transmissions are also contributing. The standards give manufacturers extra credit for new technologies, such as hybrid engines for pickup trucks and stop-start systems, which automatically shut off the engine when the vehicle stops in traffic.

Do those added technologies make my vehicle more expensive?

Yes. In its final ruling in January, the EPA estimated the fuel economy standards will cost $875 per vehicle. A study commissioned by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers estimates the cost of compliance at $1,249 per vehicle. However, the EPA says the standards would save consumers up to $1,620 in gas over the life of their vehicle.

If the standards are weakened, will that affect what kinds of cars are available?

Maybe. Automakers might choose to offer fewer electric or hybrid cars in the U.S., since those are less profitable than trucks and SUVs. They also could scrap subcompact cars, which are unpopular with U.S. consumers but help meet fuel economy targets.

There are caveats. Automakers will still have to meet rising fuel economy standards in China and Europe, so they won’t stop making efficient vehicles. If gas prices rise, U.S. consumers might demand more fuel-efficient cars. Finally, California and other blue states have a history of passing stricter standards than the rest of the country. If that continues, automakers would have to keep their most fuel-efficient models in U.S. showrooms, since California is the biggest market in the U.S.
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The United States has the world’s largest stock of robots, and the number is growing fast.

A report published Wednesday by Redwood Software and the Center for Economics and Business Research said investment surged to $86 billion in 2015 as more, better and cheaper robots were deployed.

The authors, whose firms are based in the Netherlands and Britain, said robotics plays an outsized role in boosting worker productivity and economic growth worldwide.

The surge in robot workers in the U.S. follows the loss of millions of American manufacturing jobs, which many experts blame on the rising tide of automation in factories. Discontent over these lost jobs helped upend U.S. politics last year and raised concerns that job losses to robots would spread from manufacturing to the far larger services sector of the U.S. economy.

In a VOA interview, Redwood Software’s Neil Kinson said such fears were misplaced.  He noted that Germany’s economy is highly automated but nevertheless has a shortage of human workers.  

Redwood, which is based in the Netherlands but also operates in other European countries and in the United States, specializes in crafting automation to handle business processes, particularly those that are repetitive, rule-bound and tedious.  

Kinson said that leaves the more complex, rewarding and interesting work for people. He said the jobs least likely to be automated were those that require dealing with people.
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Заступник голови Національного банку України Катерина Рожкова заявляє, що українська «дочка» «Сбербанку Росія» працює у звичайному режимі і по підтримку до НБУ не зверталася. 

«Сбербанк» на сьогодні до нас не звертався по підтримку. Банк працює у звичайному режимі, у них є можливість використовувати такі інструменти, як своп, здійснювати операції репо», –сказала вона.

Національний банк пропонує запровадити санкції до дочірніх компаній російських державних банків у формі заборони виведення капіталу з України. У НБУ запропонували застосувати такі санкції до банків, які працюють в Україні з російським капіталом: «Сбербанк», «Промінвестбанк», ВТБ, VSбанк, БМ Банк.

Сьогодні Рада національної безпеки й оборони України доручила Нацбанку і Службі безпеки визначитися щодо можливого запровадження санкцій проти банків із російським капіталом.

7 березня «Сбербанк Росії» повідомив, що «готовий до обслуговування осіб, які звернулися з «паспортами» «ДНР» і «ЛНР», у всіх філіях банку». У відповідь міністр внутрішніх справ України Арсен Аваков закликав Нацбанк застосувати санкції до цієї фінансової установи. Згодом дочірній банк «Сбербанку Росії» в Україні – ПАТ «Сбербанк» – не обслуговує фізичних і юридичних осіб на підставі документів, виданих на непідконтрольних українській владі територіях.

Деякі активісти в Україні вимагали заборони діяльності російських банків, зокрема і «Сбербанку».
…

У Національному банку заявляють, що санкції, які ініціюють проти деяких банків із російським капіталом, не вплинуть на клієнтів.

«Запропоновані санкції не вплинуть на клієнтів – юридичних, фізичних осіб» , – сказала заступник голови НБУ Катерина Рожкова 

Вона уточнила, що запропоновані санкції не зупинять розрахунки між контрагентами, банки будуть продовжувати працювати в законодавчому полі України.

Рожкова висловила сподівання, що потенційний вихід цих банків з ринку буде здійснено законним шляхом типу продажу або повного розрахунку за зобов’язаннями.

Національний банк пропонує запровадити санкції до дочірніх компаній російських державних банків у формі заборони виведення капіталу з України. У НБУ запропонували застосувати такі санкції до банків, які працюють в Україні з російським капіталом: «Сбербанк», «Промінвестбанк», ВТБ, VSбанк, БМ Банк. 

Сьогодні Рада національної безпеки й оборони України доручила Нацбанку і Службі безпеки визначитися щодо можливого запровадження санкцій проти банків із російським капіталом.

7 березня «Сбербанк Росії» повідомив, що «готовий до обслуговування осіб, які звернулися з «паспортами» «ДНР» і «ЛНР», у всіх філіях банку». У відповідь міністр внутрішніх справ України Арсен Аваков закликав Нацбанк застосувати санкції до цієї фінансової установи. Згодом дочірній банк «Сбербанку Росії» в Україні – ПАТ «Сбербанк» – не обслуговує фізичних і юридичних осіб на підставі документів, виданих на непідконтрольних українській владі територіях.

Деякі активісти в Україні вимагали заборони діяльності російських банків, зокрема і «Сбербанку». 
…

Національний банк пропонує запровадити санкції до дочірніх компаній російських державних банків у формі заборони виведення капіталу з України. Про це заявив перший заступник голови Нацбанку Яків Смолій.

«З метою збереження фінансової стабільності в країні, виконання українськими банками з державним російським капіталом зобов’язань перед клієнтами, пропонує застосувати санкції у вигляді попередження виведення капіталу за межі України. Ми пропонуємо застосувати такі санкції до банків, які працюють в Україні з російським капіталом. Це «Сбербанк», «Промінвестбанк», ВТБ, VSбанк, БМ Банк», – сказав він.

Сьогодні Рада національної безпеки й оборони України доручила Нацбанку і Службі безпеки визначитися щодо можливого запровадження санкцій проти банків із російським капіталом.

7 березня «Сбербанк Росії» повідомив, що «готовий до обслуговування осіб, які звернулися з «паспортами» «ДНР» і «ЛНР», у всіх філіях банку». У відповідь міністр внутрішніх справ України Арсен Аваков закликав Нацбанк застосувати санкції до цієї фінансової установи. Згодом дочірній банк «Сбербанку Росії» в Україні – ПАТ «Сбербанк» – не обслуговує фізичних і юридичних осіб на підставі документів, виданих на непідконтрольних українській владі територіях.

Деякі активісти в Україні вимагали заборони діяльності російських банків, зокрема і «Сбербанку».
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Asia needs to make extra efforts to defeat hunger after progress has slowed in the last five years, including promoting so-called “smart crops” as an alternative to rice, the head of the U.N. food agency in the region said.

Kundhavi Kadiresan, representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Asia, said the region needs to focus on reaching the most marginalized people, such as the very poor or those living in mountainous areas.

The Asia-Pacific region halved the number of hungry people from 1990 to 2015 but the rate of progress slowed in many countries – such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Cambodia – in the last five years, according to a December FAO report.

“The last mile is always difficult.. so extra efforts, extra resources and more targeted interventions are needed,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation on the sidelines of a business forum on food security in Jakarta on Tuesday.

She said government and businesses needed to develop policies to help make food more affordable, while changing Asians’ diets that rely heavily on rice.

“We have focused so much on rice that we haven’t really looked at some of those crops like millets, sorghum and beans,” she said.

A campaign is underway to promote these alternatives as “smart crops” to make them more attractive, Kadiresan said.

“We are calling them smart crops to get people not to think about them as poor people’s food but smart people’s food,” she said, adding that they are not only nutritious but also more adaptable to climate change.

Soaring rice prices, slowing economic expansion and poorer growth in agricultural productivity have been blamed for the slowdown in efforts to tackle hunger.

More than 60 percent of the world’s hungry are in Asia-Pacific, while nearly one out of three children in the region suffers from stunting, according to the FAO.

Achieving zero hunger by 2030 is one of the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals adopted by member states in 2015.
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Niagara Falls, whose most famous thrill-seekers have gone over the brink in barrels, wants to be the place the rest of us go for outdoor adventure, too.

A new marketing effort launched Tuesday rebrands the American shore of the falls as a natural playground to be explored on foot, bike, boat or helicopter.

U.S. tourism officials, ever in competition with their counterparts on the heavily developed Canadian side of the binational attraction, say their new focus embraces the American side’s less commercial feel in a way they hope will attract more visitors for longer stays.

“What people are wanting to have on a getaway or a vacation is a time of experience and not just to come and witness or see and hear, but actually experience and touch and feel and do,” said John Percy, president and chief executive of Niagara Tourism & Convention Corp., which has been renamed Destination Niagara USA.

“Niagara Falls is the embodiment of America’s adventurous spirit,” he said.

The refocusing, coming just in time for the busy season, followed interviews, focus groups and visitor surveys that found that those who visit and live in the region most value its scenic, historical and natural attributes and are drawn to outdoor adventure, officials said.

The findings align with support in recent years for the ongoing removal of a highway that was built along the Niagara River, which will increase access to the water’s edge, as well as strong opposition to a proposal to build a lodge on rustic Goat Island inside Niagara Falls State Park. Opponents of the lodge cite renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted’s declaration more than 100 years ago that the area should be off-limits to developers.

It’s a marked contrast to Niagara Falls, Ontario, where neon-lit museums, rides and restaurants offer a carnival-like atmosphere at the water’s edge.

Niagara Falls State Park sees about 8 million visitors every year from all over the world, a number that has been steadily rising, Percy said, along with hotel visits and dollars spent.
…

Brazil’s top public prosecutor asked the Supreme Court to open 83 new investigations into senior politicians on Tuesday, reportedly including five ministers and leading lawmakers, in a dramatic escalation of a graft probe threatening the government.

Prosecutor General Rodrigo Janot also requested that the Court send 211 other requests to lower courts based on much-anticipated testimony by dozens of executives of engineering group Odebrecht SA in Brazil’s biggest-ever corruption scandal.

Brazilian newspapers reported that Janot called for an investigation of five members of President Michel Temer’s cabinet, along with his most senior allies in Congress, raising concerns about the stability of his administration and the fate of fiscal reforms cheered by investors.

Temer said last month that he would suspend any cabinet member who is placed under investigation and would dismiss them only if they are indicted for corruption.

Under Brazilian law, cabinet ministers, federal senators and lower house lawmakers can be tried only in the Supreme Court, where cases often take years to come to trial.

Janot could not disclose the names of the politicians and others covered by his request as the Odebrecht testimony and related investigations are still under seal. He asked Supreme Court Justice Edson Fachin to lift the judicial secrecy on the case for the sake of transparency and the public interest.

In a letter to explain the operation, Janot said his actions on Tuesday will remind Brazilians “of the sad reality of a democracy under attack by the corruption and the abuse of political and economical powers.”

President Temer himself has not been directly implicated in illicit party funding and has denied any wrongdoing in the sprawling three-year corruption scandal centered on overpriced contacts at state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA.

Dozens of politicians reportedly named for taking kickbacks in the testimony by Odebrecht executives included senators in Temer’s Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PDMB) and the allied Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), which led the impeachment of leftist Dilma Rousseff last year.

Janot called for lower courts to investigate Rousseff and her predecessor and political mentor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, according to newspapers O Globo, O Estado de S.Paulo and Folha de S.Paulo. Both former presidents have repeatedly denied any involvement or knowledge of alleged corruption.

Test for Temer

The new investigations will be a test for Temer as he strives to pull Latin America’s largest nation out of its worst recession in more than a century.

Temer succeeded Rousseff in May, vowing to eliminate corruption and restore fiscal discipline, but he has already lost several ministers to bribery allegations.

His chief of staff, Eliseu Padilha, a key organizer of political support in Congress for a crucial reform of Brazil’s costly pension system, is on thin ice after an Odebrecht executive was reported to have said he asked for a cash donation for Temer’s 2014 campaign.

Newspapers Globo, Folha and Estado reported that Padilha and four other members of Temer’s cabinet were on Janot’s list: Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes, Science Minister Gilberto Kassab, Cities Minister Bruno Araújo and Wellington Moreira Franco, the head of Temer’s high-profile infrastructure privatization program.

Janot also called for the investigation of key Temer allies in Congress, according to the newspapers, including lower House Speaker Rodrigo Maia and the three most senior PMDB senators: Senate President Eunicio Oliveira and senators Romero Juca and Renan Calheiros.

Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes said he required access to Janot’s accusations and will only comment when he is aware of the content. Cities Minister Araújo said he has asked for campaign donations from Odebrecht in the past, but did so in accordance with the law.

Senator Romero Jucá said he is available to collaborate with investigations and believes facts will be clarified.

Reuters was not able to confirm the media reports. The other politicians cited were not immediately available for comment, but they all have consistently denied wrongdoings.

The PMDB released a statement on Tuesday expressing support for the investigations and calling for “the clarification of the facts of the matter.”

PSDB said it has always defended the Car Wash investigation, believing that it is the only way to separate guilty from innocent.

Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles said news of the investigation should not hurt progress on the government’s pension reform.

Janot first opened investigations of seated politicians implicated in the kickback scandal in March 2015, but only five have been indicted and none convicted.

The new round of investigations fueled by the Odebrecht testimony follows 10 months of negotiations with the family-owned firm, Latin America’s largest engineering group.

In December, Odebrecht signed a leniency accord with prosecutors, agreeing to pay 6.7 billion reais ($1.9 billion), admit guilt and offer details of bribes it paid.

Seventy-seven of its executives, including family patriarch and Chairman Emilio Odebrecht and his jailed son and former Chief Executive Marcelo Odebrecht, made some 950 statements to a team of 116 prosecutors across the country, Janot’s office said.
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