Search Results for: Caribbean

THERE was much fanfare in Managua in June when Nicaraguan officials granted a concession to build a USD40 billion canal, which would challenge the great Panama Canal. The unlikely builder: a Chinese businessman, Wang Jing, chairman of China-based Xinwei Telecom Enterprise Group and president of the newly established Hong Kong Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Co.…

Venezuela’s tobacco growers and manufacturers are looking to newly elected president Nicolás Maduro to offer them an olive branch after his predecessor Hugo Chávez levied costly taxes and imposed punishing legislation on the industry.

“We’re hoping for change,” said Enrique Moreno, President of the Venezuelan Tobacco Growers Association (AVENCULTA).”We…

The privatisation and expansion of the Brazilian airport sector has proved to be a significant opportunity for the American civil aviation sector, which has been vying for opportunities in Brazil’s air navigation, airport and airport-related services. These opportunities are set to increase with the United States Trade and Development Agency’s (USTDA) having brokered a US-Brazil Aviation Partnership, signed last April and now being rolled out in earnest.…

Diageo is accelerating its expansion into the Russian rum market with a launch in May of a Russia version of its low-cost Shark Tooth brand. The spirit is being manufactured for Diageo by Russia’s Ladoga Group with a 40% alcohol content.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) heads of states and governments have urged their ministers to agree important pieces of draft EU legislation that could potentially curb tax evasion in the bloc.

Meeting during a European Council meeting in Brussels last week (May 22), leaders were under pressure to act from media reports revealing how much untaxed incomes politicians, companies and rich business owners have stashed in tax havens.…

CUBA turned tobacco enthusiasts’ and international observers’ heads earlier this month when it filed its first ever complaint with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) against Australia’s tough tobacco plain-paper packaging restrictions.

The communist Caribbean island joined the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Ukraine in challenging Australia’s 2012 law which requires all tobacco products be placed in generic packages featuring graphic health warnings, but not brand logos.…

DESPITE the presence of anti-fraud legislation, fraud and corruption are an everyday part of life throughout South America, where fraudsters are unlikely to be convicted, let alone penalised.

“Penalties don’t really have an effect on fraudsters,” said Fernando Gamiz, an analyst at the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), with over 20 years of experience working on South American fraud.…

The Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), a technical agency of the Organisation of American States (OAS), is playing an increasingly influential role in the Americas in terms of fighting drug-trade linked money laundering. Specifically, CICAD has a central role in the unfolding of the Hemispheric Plan of Action on Drugs 2011-2015 which was adopted by the OAS in 2011, and includes key anti-money launderingAML components.…

IT is a long way from China, east Asia and south Asia to the key developed world markets or Europe and America. And with fashion being so dynamic, demand for a line could have dampened in the months between placing an order and receiving delivery.…

THE COLOMBIA government has launched a crackdown on illegal mining in its country, with agencies temporarily suspending the export licence of American coal giant Drummond and then permanently revoking the permits of 32 mine operators.

While the National Mining Agency (ANM) refused to tell the Mining Journal the names of the companies concerned while legal procedures were outstanding, it has said that 70% of the mines are for coal, and others were for gold and construction materials.…