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business newsIndonesia Bans Most Forest Cutting
By
Carol Kopp
May 31, 2011 10:50 am
Hoping for a $1 billion gift for good behavior, the world's third-worst producer of greenhouse emissions imposes a moratorium.
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The moratorium was made effective from the beginning of this year, although its details were just announced by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
According to MongaBay, an environmental science and conservation news site, the delay was caused by intense business lobbying. Palm oil developers, pulp and paper companies, logging firms, agricultural industries, mining and energy sectors all have interests in Indonesia’s forest lands.
Nonetheless, environmentalists are disappointed, saying the moratorium is too limited to substantially reduce the deforestation of Indonesia, or its effects on greenhouse emissions. It leaves about 90 million more acres of Indonesian forest unprotected because they are “secondary,” not “primary” forests -- that is, they’ve already been damaged by logging. The unprotected land includes the habitat for endangered species including orangutans, rhinos, tigers and elephants.
A key exemption to the moratorium is one for mining and agriculture projects deemed of vital national interest. Also, it is not clear whether existing permits will be extended if they expire during the moratorium.
According to The Associated Press, Indonesia is the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, behind the US and China, mainly because of the clearing of its forests to produce pulp, paper and palm oil.
Norway, the world’s sixth biggest oil exporter, is flush with cash. So, it is donating up to $1 billion to countries that impose policies that reduce carbon emissions. The United Nations-backed program is intended to promote the reduction of greenhouse gases. Worldwide, deforestation alone is believed to contribute 20% of greenhouse gas emissions.
In Brief:
A Choco-Holics’ Nightmare: Colombia’s best news headline of the week has to be this one: “Frosty Pod Rot in Cocoa Is Worse Than Witches’ Broom, ICCO Says.” It’s not so funny when you realize that what we’re talking about here is your next hunk of Hershey Special Dark. According to Colombia Reports, frosty pod rot poses a “potentially enormous threat” to the next crop of cocoa beans in Colombia and most of Latin America, source of the world’s first and finest chocolate products. To date, it hasn’t hit Brazil, the region’s largest cocoa producer.
According to the International Cocoa Organization, frosty pod rot is more damaging than witches’ broom, a fungus that cut cocoa production by 70% for a period of 10 years after it emerged in the Bahia region in the 1980s.
According to HispanicallySpeakingNews, frosty pod rot, so called because it covers the plant in a fine white powder, is an invasive disease caused by a fungus identified in 1917. There is no disease-resistant variety of cocoa, though several disease-tolerant varieties, which suffer less damage from the rot, have been identified.
Cocoa futures prices are already hovering around $3,000 a metric ton, more than double the five-year average, due to political turmoil in Ivory Coast, which now produces one-third of the world’s cocoa. Prices recently reached as high as $3,826 a metric ton.
Ironically, the cocoa bean is native to Latin America, but healthy plants were transported from there to Ivory Coast only after the first outbreak of frost pod rot in 1917. Latin American cocoa is still considered the source for the finest chocolate products.
Burgers For Vietnam: Despite its growing reputation as a hotbed for new business, Vietnam remains sadly devoid of McDonalds (MCD), Burger King and Starbucks (SBUX) products. It was left to Philippines company Jollibee to step into the fast food void. The Financial Times reports that Jollibee is expanding its burger business in Vietnam through a joint venture with Viet Thai, the owner of homegrown Vietnamese coffee shop chain Highlands Coffee.
Jollibee already has 22 stores in Vietnam. Through the joint venture, a newly-created company will buy another, unidentified restaurant chain, adding another 96 Jollibee restaurants there.
The rather convoluted business arrangement may have been designed as a way to navigate Vietnam’s red-tape jungle, which is a reason the nation still lacks some other fast-food choices.
Not that the Vietnamese are entirely deprived of American fast food. Yum! Brands (YUM) has Pizza Hut and KFC signs up there. Highlands Coffee operates a Hard Rock Cafe in Ho Chi Minh City. Subway hopes to have 25 shops there by 2015. Carl’s Jr. (CKE) opened the first of a planned 25 restaurants there last year.
Jollibee serves burgers at more than 600 stores, most of them in the Philippines, and also owns Asian fast-food name Chowking.
Aid For Egypt: The World Bank has pledged $4.5 billion in loans to Egypt to help the country through its post-revolution reconstruction, according to the BBC.
The World Bank said the money signals its intention to support “Arab Spring” democracies in Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa. The money is conditional on Egypt’s progress in modernizing its economy and reforming its government.
With the collapse of its economy, Egypt faces a financing gap of $10 to $12 billion through the end of 2012. The Egypt ETF is (EGPT).
The nation of Qatar is expected to announce a $10 billion investment in Egypt as early as this weekend. The U.S. government is expected to cancel $1 billion in debts and lend an additional $1 billion in loan guarantees to support infrastructure financing. Saudi Arabia has offered a $4 billion aid package.
Renault Is Turkey’s Top Exporter: Auto manufacturer Oyak Renault, a partner of French auto company Renault, was Turkey’s largest exporter in 2010, the HurriyetDailyNews reports. Its exports totaled $3.2 billion. Tupras, the country’s only oil refiner, was second at $2.8 billion. In third place was Ford Otosan, a joint venture of Ford Motors (F). The American automaker owns 41% of the Turkish commercial vehicle manufacturer.
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Copyright 2011 Minyanville Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2011 Minyanville Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
