LABOUR-INDIA: Getting 'Bangalored' Back

The term 'getting Bangalored' , or having jobs outsourced from the West to this international IT hub, looks set to acquire another connotation - this time of professionals being fired right here.

EUROPE: ‘Double Standards on Trade’

Double standards are being applied in the way that the European Union awards trade preferences to poor countries, an African exporters grouping has alleged.

INDIA: China Swamps Handloom Silk Industry

Legend has it that India’s famed handloom silk industry began around 300 A.D. after a Chinese princess smuggled out the eggs of the silkworm moth and the seeds of the mulberry tree in her headdress.

EUROPE: Colombia Given a Trade Lease

Less than a week after the European Commission promised to study whether trade preferences granted to Colombia should be revoked because of the country's human rights record, Brussels officials have decided to extend the preferences for a further two years.

ECONOMY-CHINA: Yuan’s Slide No Power Game

Recent downward movements of the Chinese yuan have been interpreted here as political statements aimed at the incoming administration of United States president-elect Barack Obama to respect China’s sovereignty rights on the currency issue.

EUROPE: What Trade Can Have To Do With Trade Unions

The European Union has decided to push ahead with plans to secure a free trade agreement with Colombia despite the widespread abuse of labour rights in that country.

DEVELOPMENT: ‘No Bailout Plan for the Vulnerable’

"Good but not enough!" "Missed opportunity!" "Talks fail to deliver!" These were some of the reactions from civil society as the U.N. Financing for Development (FfD) talks drew to a close in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday.

DEVELOPMENT: 'G192' Urged to Put People in Doha Talks

The demand is seemingly simple. ‘Vote for democratic, people-centred development’, advise civil society at the ongoing inter-governmental review of the Monterrey Consensus in Doha, Qatar.

TRADE: Cote d’Ivoire Succumbs to EU

Cote d'Ivoire became the first country in Africa to sign an economic partnership agreement (EPA) with the European Union this week, prompting fears that the accord will prevent the country from developing closer ties with its neighbours.

SRI LANKA: Oil Futures Gamble Burns 300 Million Dollar Hole

The Sri Lankan government is grappling with a costly 300 million dollar payout to Citibank and Standard Chartered Bank (SCB), following a disastrous oil futures contract between the banks and the state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC).

TRADE: Sailors At Sea Over Violence

The oil tanker Sirius Star may be the largest ship to have been hijacked so far, but piracy is far from rare. In all 251 such incidents worldwide have been reported this year to the Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) of the International Maritime Bureau.

COLOMBIA-US: Will Democrats Bury Free Trade Deal?

Ratification by the United States Congress of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Colombia appears to be further away than ever, due to the victory of president-elect Barack Obama, who has declared his opposition to the treaty, and to the effects of the financial crisis.

ECONOMY: China May Decide That Charity Begins at Home

Internal concerns are beginning to supersede China’s ambition to play the role of responsible international stakeholder and spearhead demands for the establishment of a new global financial order.

VIETNAM: Good Harvests Don’t Bring Good Sales

Farmers in the Mekong Delta, who produce most of the rice responsible for making this country a top exporter of the staple, are unable to negotiate good prices for their produce.

TRADE: A Democratised WTO in Pause Mode

The breakdown of the July talks on a trade agreement, for the third time in a row, is testimony that the World Trade Organisation(WTO) has changed.

EUROPE: Commission Shows its Corporate Hand

The intimate relationship between policymakers and multinational companies was illustrated Oct. 28 when the European Commission virtually handed over the headquarters of its trade department to the umbrella group for Europe's employers.

DEVELOPMENT: Poor Hit by Recession and Tax Havens

With signs of a recession preoccupying policy-makers in industrialised countries, prospects for the success of an international conference on providing finance to the world's poor do not appear high.

ECONOMY: Asia-EU Summit to Address ‘Financial Tsunami’

Cast in the role of global saviour in the unfolding financial turmoil, China is playing host to a meeting of Asian and European leaders in Beijing this week that is expected to castigate the Anglo-Saxon model of capitalism and press for a reshaped global economic order.

SRI LANKA: War May Cost Trade Benefits From EU

By refusing to allow the European Union to probe implementation of international labour and human rights covenants, on the grounds of sovereignty infringement, the Sri Lankan government may be jeopardising trade concessions and risking jobs in this country.

ECONOMY-JAPAN: Hurting From Global Recession

Japan’s economy, on an upward trend for several years, has been hit badly by the global credit crisis. As Tokyo stock prices posted its second largest drop on record, anxiety spread of a global recession.

EUROPE: The Appetite Is for Money

Faced with the prospect that a number of banks could collapse, European Union governments have this week approved a rescue plan worth more than 1,800 billion euros (2,460 billion dollars). Faced with a food crisis which has seen a major leap in the numbers of people suffering from hunger, the EU's policy makers are mulling over a proposal to give 1 billion euros to farmers in poor countries.