#Ireland: #Irishfirms with #international links are more likely to innovate

ESRI-backed research finds correlation between internationalisation and productivity

Research was based on data from Community Innovation Survey data over the period between 2004 and 2008. Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA Wire

Irish firms with international trade links are more likely to invest in innovation; have a higher probability of adopting new technologies; and are, in general, more productive than firms serving only the domestic market, according to new research... (read more)

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#Ireland: #Chemicals account for 58% of value of #Irishexports in 2014

Latest CSO figures underscore role of big pharma in Irish economy

Eoin Burke-Kennedy

Chemicals and related products accounted for 58 per cent of the value of Irish exports in 2014, underscoring the role played by big pharma in the Irish economy.

Figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show the value of Irish exports rose 2 per cent to €89 billion last year, while imports increased by 7 per cent to €53.6 billion - the highest level since 2008... (Read more)

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#Germany raises its #economic forecast

Move come amid rising confidence over oil prices and quantitative easing

A shopping centre in Berlin. German consumer prices are forecast to increase by an average 0.8 per cent this year, with gross wages rising an average 3.2 per cent,

Germany lifted its economic growth forecast for this year amid rising confidence in the benefits of low oil prices and the European Central Bank’s stimulus plans.

Germany’s economy will grow by about 1.5 per cent this year, compared with 1.3 per cent forecast in October, as growth in consumer spending and wages accelerates, the economy ministry said in its outlook published on Wednesday... (Read more)

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The #UnitedStates Needs a #FreeTradeDeal with #China

by Maurice R. Greenberg, C.V. Starr and Co., Inc. and C. Fred Bergsten, Peterson Institute for International Economics


Op-ed in the Wall Street Journal
December 18, 2014
© Wall Street Journal

China has intensified its efforts recently to deepen diplomatic and trade relationships with international partners and secure its rapidly expanding interests globally. This new dynamic presents both challenges and opportunities for the United States. Regrettably, Beijing sees the US strategy of "pivoting" or "rebalancing" its Asia policy in a negative light, as an effort to contain China. Moreover, in the important areas of trade, investment, and regional security, China and the United States seem to be moving apart. Both countries need to refocus on ways to strengthen mutual ties and work to resolve the issues that divide them... (Read more).

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#InternationalFoodPrices Hit Four-Year Low

New World Bank Group tool focuses on preparedness for potential future crises

WASHINGTON, September 30, 2014 – International prices of food decreased by 6 percent between April and August 2014, reaching a four-year low, according to the latest edition of Food Price Watch. This sharp decrease was driven mainly by international wheat prices, which went down 19 percent and maize prices, which plummeted 21% between April and August 2014. Rice prices actually increased 13 percent during the same period. Prospects for next year’s harvests and food stocks are strong... (Read more)

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#Ireland: #Foodproducers urged to take ‘bigger slice’ of #exportmarket

Fingal Enterprise Week to help small food producers and start-ups connect with buyers

From left: Martin Kennedy, CEO, National Athlete Development Academy, Oisín Geoghegan, head of Fingal Local Enterprise Office and Paul Reid, chief executive Fingal County Council. photograph: mark stedman, photocall ireland

Small Irish food producers should take a “bigger slice” of the growing export market for Irish-made food and drink, said to be worth an estimated €10 billion, according to the organisers of the Dublin Food Chain event... (Read more)

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#Russia: #Russianeconomy falters in face of #westernsanctions

Kremlin flags tit-for-tat food import restrictions as boost for domestic agriculture and chance for Russians to eat home-grown produce

The lives of many Russians are beginning to change, as a combination of western sanctions over Ukraine, a ban on some food imports and falling oil prices weigh on an already weakened economy. More Russians are putting off expensive purchases, adapting travel plans and changing grocery stores. Photograph: Maxim Shemetov/Reuters

Trade is not usually brisk at Ala Smirnova’s corner shop sitting among apartment blocks in a suburb of north Moscow. It is mainly seen as a late-night, last resort for locals who have run out of essentials such as soap, beer or bread. That changed this week as word went round that the thinly stocked little store contained a trove of some of the last affordable grechka, or buckwheat, left in town... 

(Read more)

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#Russia: #ForeignMinister Voices Bleak Forecast for Russia-U.S. Relations

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  Lavrov, left, pictured here with then Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski in 2010, spoke at length on Monday about Russia’s relations with the U.S., which have been blighted by a series of unresolved issues between the two nations.
  Photo: Polishmfa / flickr

The prospect of assuaging the rift in U.S.-Russia relations appeared dimmer Monday after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov predicted that the dire state of bilateral ties would persist for a long time... (Read more)

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#Russia: One-Fifth of Russia's #OilProduction Is at Risk Due to #Sanctions

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  Gazprom Neft's Prirazhlomnaya oil rig last year became the first to begin pumping oil from Russia's Arctic shelf.
  Photo: Gazprom

Some 100 million tons of annual oil production — or about 20 percent Russia's total oil output — is at risk because of sanctions related to the supply of Western technology and expertise to Russia, Vagit Alekperov, the head of Russia's No. 2 oil company, said Friday... (Read more)

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#Internationaltaxrule updates to be agreed by #G20countries

Some of the largest multinational companies to be forced to contribute towards government budgets

Google is likely to be affected by the reform programme. Photograph: Paul Sakuma/AP

Bold updates to international tax rules designed to force some of the world's biggest multinationals – including Google, Apple, Amazon, Vodafone and GlaxoSmithKline – to contribute their fair share towards government budgets are to be agreed by G20 countries this weekend... (Read more)

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#USA: #China Fines @Volkswagen and @Chrysler for #AntitrustViolations

A production line of Golf sedans manufactured at a Volkswagen plant jointly operated with China FAW in Guangdong Province. Credit Chinafotopress, via Getty Images

HONG KONG — Chinese regulators fined Volkswagen and Chrysler for violating antitrust laws, announcing on Thursday the first monetary penalties against large multinational carmakers swept up in a broad investigation... (Read more)

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Palm Oil Shipments From Indonesia Climb to Seven-Month High

Palm oil exports from Indonesia, the world’s biggest producer, probably advanced in July to the highest level this year after India boosted purchases, helping to reduce stockpiles as output fell... (Read more)

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Issues of international trade and its relevance. Artículos de comercio internacional y su actualidad.

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Stronger EU sanctions against Russia unlikely, Flanagan says

Minister for Foreign Affairs says supply of arms by Moscow ‘undermines democracy’

German minister for foreign affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier (L) speaks to media as he arrives for a Foreign Affairs Council meeting at the EU Council headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Photograph: Julein Warnand/EPA

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France urges bigger euro role in international trade

PARIS: The euro zone must work to bolster the role of the euro in international business transactions, France's finance minister said on Wednesday.
THE ECONOMIC TIMES. Reuters Jul 9, 2014, 05.48PM IST. (Click here to complete new)