Li Peng meets East Java businesspeople
Li Peng meets East Java businesspeople
SURABAYA: China's parliamentary speaker Li Peng met on Thursday
with some 200 East Java businesspeople and leaders of the local
Chinese community in Surabaya before ending his two-day stay
here.
During the meeting, the Chinese number two said that East Java
had the potential to attract more Chinese investors.
He said that China was currently taking steps to improve
economic and trade cooperation with Southeast Asian countries.
Li arrived in Jakarta earlier this week and was scheduled to
fly to Manila from Surabaya. -- JP
Japan grants Jordan US$24.7 million in assistance
TOKYO: Japan signed over to Jordan US$24.7 million in grant
assistance on Thursday to help the kingdom implement a socio-
economic reform scheme aimed mainly at fighting unemployment.
The Japanese embassy said in a statement the new contribution
"consists in non-project grant aid worth two billion yens and a
project grant aid worth 968 million yens to improve the water
system in the eastern Zarqa district".
The embassy underlined "Japan's strong commitment to assist
the kingdom's national strategy aimed at alleviating poverty and
unemployment and upgrading living standards in Jordan".
The "non-project" grant aid portion of the contribution will
be used to import "supplies critically needed" to carry out
Jordan's reforms program in cooperation with the World Bank and
the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Jordan is plagued by a foreign debt which reached $7.4 billion
in late July, up from $6.9 billion at the end of 2001,
representing 78.7 percent of its gross domestic product. -- AFP
Australian job numbers surge but unemployment rate holds steady
SYDNEY: Australia's unemployment rate held steady at 6.2 percent
in August, even though the overall number of jobs in the economy
surged 88,500, according to figures released Thursday.
The number of new jobs, all but 800 of them full-time
positions, almost trebled analyst forecasts of a 30,000 rise.
The figures follow a 28,000 drop in job numbers in July, which
was interpreted by many economists as a sign Australia's strong
economic growth was slowing down.
They were expecting only a moderate bounce in the job figures
after an ANZ survey of job advertisements this week showed
advertised vacancies were up just 0.2 percent in August, pointing
to sluggish job growth ahead.
The participation rate -- the percentage of people over 15
working or looking for work -- jumped to 63.8 percent in August
from 63.2 percent in July. -- AFP
IMF sees fragile growth in Sri Lanka
WASHINGTON: The IMF said Tuesday it expected Sri Lanka's economy
to grow between 3.5 percent and 4.0 percent this year, but it
warned the outlook was fragile.
A ceasefire in the 19-year conflict between the government and
Tamil Tiger rebels had produced results, the International
Monetary Fund said in a review of the economy.
Modest growth of 3.5 percent to 4.0 percent was expected this
year, reflecting in part a gradual recovery in demand, the IMF
said. Farm output was forecast to recover with better rainfall in
the second half of 2002, it said.
"Executive directors noted that Sri Lanka is at a critical
juncture," the report said. -- AFP