Trade Mission TCI-Haiti
“Trade Mission TCI-Haiti” organised by the Haitian Consulate in conjunction with the Providenciales and Grand Turk Chambers of Commerce, took from the 9th – 13th August 2013.
Supported by the Turks and Caicos Islands Government Investment Unit, the main objectives of this mission were: a) to highlight Haiti assets as an international trade hub; b) to identify commercial and business opportunities ideally suited for the TCI private sector participants; c) to engage in dialogue with Government officials on ways to develop and enhance trade between TCI and Haiti; and d) to explore avenues for trade agreements and further strengthen bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
The delegation departed Providenciales for Haiti on Friday, August 9th arriving in Cap-Haitian where they were welcomed at the airport by the Minister of Tourism, Mrs Stephanie B. Villedrouin, who accompanied the delegates on tours of the Citadel Laferrière in Milot and the Museum of Money in Cap-Haitian. Mrs Villedrouin in expressing her happiness about the visit stated that she is looking forward to “leading a reverse trade mission to the Turks & Caicos Islands to discuss further a partnership between the two countries on tourism related initiatives.”
On Friday afternoon the delegates were treated to lunch by the members of the Chambers of Commerce of the Northern region of Haiti and the Tourism Association, and that evening they attended the “Celebration of the Festival of the Sea” hosted the Minister of Tourism.
Saturday morning saw the delegation touring the Industrial Park of the North, where they witnessed among other thing paint being manufactured. Next, the team visited a number of farms, including a multipurpose farm that grows Sisal, Egg Plant, Thyme, and other plant products; while raising bees – for use in the production of honey and wax – and livestock.
The delegates flew to Port-au-Prince late Saturday afternoon where they stayed at the newly completed Best Western Premier in Pétion-Ville. On Sunday morning the delegation visited the Museum of Haitian National Pantheon and the Boutiliers Observatory. Monday morning saw the delegates attending a Press Conference and a presentation on “Doing Business in Haiti” by Andy Rene, General Director of Center For Facilitation of Investment (CFI), whereby in the afternoon the delegates attended a lunch meeting with the Minister of Finance and Commerce, Wilson Laleau. That evening business meetings were arranged for the delegates by the Haitian Chamber of Commerce (CCIH), who matched the delegates with Haitian business of suitable commercial interests. The trip ended on Tuesday with the delegates attending a lunch meeting with the Ministry of Agriculture.
After a packed 5 days the delegation arrived back in the Turks & Caicos at 7 p.m. on Tuesday evening. The members of the included:
Mrs. Margarette Lemaire, Consul/Commercial and Cultural Affairs
Hon. Akierra D.M. Missick, Deputy Premier - Minister of Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, and Library Services
Mr. E. Jay Saunders, CEO Digicel TCI /President Providenciales Chamber of Commerce
Mr. Arthur Been, Deputy Secretary of Ministry of Finance, Trade and Investment
Mr. Kingsley Russel Been, Chairman Tourism Board
Mrs. Rebecca Astwood, Director of Investment Unit
Mr. Peter Keriggan , Director EDS Ltd
Mr. Andrew Tolleson, PE, D.GE Owner & CEO Tolleson Limited Company
Mrs. Deborah Manos, Owner of Tradewinds
Dr. Simon Anthony Slattery, MB.BS. MAS., Inter Island Medical Services
Mrs. Hazel Hegewald, Regent Palms Hotel
Mr. Philip Mcrae Robinson, Inter Islands Builders
Mr. John Spencer Missick, Green Acres Farm
Mr. Darrel Emmanuel Missick, Green Acres Farm
Mrs. Deandra Hamilton, Journalist Magnetic Media Corp
Mr. Donald Metellus, PDG Radio VHTC
The delegates flew on Sunrise Airways, a new start-up airline based in Port-au-Prince. Sunrise a co-sponsor of the Trade Mission has just entered the final stages of securing the necessary approvals to begin scheduled flights between Haiti and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Telecoms company Cable & Wireless to quit UK after 140 years
Cable & Wireless Communications, the last remnant of a telecoms empire that once employed 54,000 people around the world, is to leave the UK.
After 140 years as a British company, CWC is relocating its headquarters from Holborn in central London to southern Florida, transferring about 100 jobs to the United States.
CWC will keep its London listing, but the remaining UK ties of a company that was built to connect the far-flung regions of the British empire have been gradually severed.
In 2010 the firm was demerged from its UK network, which was placed in a separately listed company, Cable & Wireless Worldwide. That business was bought by Vodafone last year.
More recently CWC has sold its networks in the Channel Islands, the Falklands and the Isle of Man so that it can focus on operations in Panama and its Caribbean stronghold.
The Bahraini national carrier Batelco has bought the British isles operations, as well as those in the Maldives and Seychelles, and is in talks to acquire CWC's Monaco business.
As part of its retrenchment to the pan-American region, CWC has also disposed of its Macau network, selling it to Citic Telecom for $750m (£490m).
Chief executive Tony Rice, who has overseen the transformation, will make the move to Florida, where the preferred locations are currently Miami or Fort Lauderdale.
"The group is now focused on a single region with low penetration for data services and strong growth potential where we have scale and market leadership," said Rice. "This focus will create a more unified, effective and cost-efficient group."
Assembled from a number of British telegraph companies founded in the 1860s, Cable & Wireless was merged with the Marconi operations in the 1930s and nationalised shortly after the second world war as the government sought to exercise closer control of key strategic assets.
In 1981 it became the first company to be privatised under Margaret Thatcher, and was later the first UK operator to offer an alternative telephone service to British Telecom, via its subsidiary Mercury Communications.
Poor investments slowly whittled away the group's scale. During the dotcom boom chunks of the family silver were sold, including the One2One mobile phone business (now T-Mobile).
Some £5bn of the proceeds were put into creating a web-traffic carrier by buying internet companies, mainly in the US.
The idea was ahead of its time. Without traffic to fill the brand new fibre networks, price-cutting became ferocious.
In 2003 the firm rang up a loss of £6.4bn, from revenues of £4.4bn. The Caribbean, where Cable & Wireless was on many islands a monopoly provider, was the only part of the business still making a significant profit.
CWC now makes $586m in revenues in Panama and $1.12bn a year from the Caribbean. Its Monaco business generates $236m a year in revenues.
Announcing full-year results on Wednesday, Rice said further job cuts over the coming two years would help create $100m a year of savings.
Snowden case: Brazil 'concerned' after UK detention
Brazil says the detention under British terror laws of one of its citizens at London's Heathrow airport caused "grave concern" and was "unjustified".
David Miranda, the partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald who published documents leaked by Edward Snowden, was held at Heathrow for nine hours on his way to Rio de Janeiro.
He reportedly had his mobile phone, laptop, DVDs and other items seized.
Mr Miranda was later released by British authorities.
Mr Greenwald called his partner's detention an "intimidation" and a "profound attack on press freedoms".
Under the Terrorism Act 2000, UK police can hold someone at an airport for up to nine hours - but the power must be used appropriately and proportionately and is subject to independent scrutiny.
Amnesty International says the incident shows the law can be abused for what it described as "petty and vindictive reasons". "At 08:05 on Sunday 18 August 2013 a 28-year-old man was detained at Heathrow Airport under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000. He was not arrested. He was subsequently released at 17:00," said a statement issued by the Metropolitan Police.
Mr Greenwald said the British authorities' actions in holding Mr Miranda amounted to "intimidation and bullying".
"They never asked him about a single question at all about terrorism or anything relating to a terrorist organisation," he told the BBC World Service's Newsday programme.
"They spent the entire day asking about the reporting I was doing and other Guardian journalists were doing on the NSA stories.
"The principal point, since they kept him for the full nine hours, is to try and send a message of intimation and bullying.
"I don't understand why they don't realise that all it's going to accomplish is the exact opposite effect - I'm going to report more aggressively and with a more emboldened mind," Mr Greenwald told the BBC.
The Brazilian government issued an official statement soon after the release of Mr Miranda. The foreign ministry document says there was no justification for detaining an "individual against whom there are no charges that can legitimate the use of that [anti-terror] legislation".
It also says Brazil expects incidents "such as the one that happened to the Brazilian citizen today" not to be repeated.
Mr Miranda was flying back from the German capital, Berlin, to Rio de Janeiro, where he lives with Mr Greenwald, when he was detained in transit through Heathrow.
In Germany, he had met US film-maker Laura Poitras, who has also been working on the Snowden files with Mr Greenwald and The Guardian. according to the newspaper.
Following his detention at Heathrow, Brazilian government officials and Guardian lawyers were called to the airport, The Guardian says.
The NSA has broken privacy rules and overstepped its legal authority thousands of times in the past two years, according to documents leaked by Edward Snowden.
The incidents resulted in the unauthorised electronic surveillance of US citizens, it is alleged.
Mr Snowden, a former NSA contractor, has leaked top secret documents to the US and British media.
He has been given asylum in Russia.
Source-BBC
Government,private sector representatives meet CAL’s executives -air fares, customer services among key concerns addressed
Chairman of the Board of Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL), Mr Philip Marshall has assured that the people “ are important to the heartbeat of Caribbean Airlines,”
He gave this assurance yesterday during a meeting with representatives from the government including Acting Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Irfaan Ali, Minister of Public Works and Transport Robeson Benn to address several concerns including air fares and customer services, the in-transit process and security checks of Guyanese passengers at Piarco International Airport, Caribbean Airlines’ capacity and CAL’s flag carrier status among other issues.
According to Mr Marshall, the fact that the delegation is meeting with the government and private sector representatives points to its willingness to forge new partnerships that will address the issues affecting their customers.
The CAL included Airport Manager Mr Carl Stuart, Chairman of the Board of CAL Mr Philip Marshall, CEO (ag) Mr Jagmohan Singh and Corporate Secretary Ms Nalini Lalla.
Meanwhile, according to Ali, this engagement is critical to combating the negative perceptions perpetrated against CAL. Given this fact, Ali assured that the government, and by extension the people of Guyana, recognise the role that CAL has played in attempting to fill the gap in Guyana’s airlift capacity.
Ali impressed the need for both CAL and the Government of Guyana to improve the partnership and to formulate a strategy that would define the way forward in the best interest of all stakeholders involved.
“The relationship that the Government of Guyana, the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce have with CAL is one that is positive, collaborative, and one that seeks to bring the best services and products to CAL customers, especially Guyanese and tourist utilizing the services” Ali stated.
One of the critical means of accomplishing this, he added, was to establish a formal communication structure through which important concerns can be quickly directed to the senior management of Caribbean Airlines.
The acting Tourism, Industry and Commerce Minister elaborated further that in the upcoming two weeks customers of CAL can expect better services and airfares. He also mentioned that for the upcoming Christmas season, Caribbean Airlines will be adding 30% increase seating capacity to accommodate the heavy travelling during that period of the year.
The CAL Chairman stated that although there are constraints Caribbean Airlines will continue to build improved partnerships with Guyanese travellers.
On the issue of pricing, the chairman said that the next step is for CAL to review the current price structure so that all customers could benefit.
Paraguay 'EPP leftist rebels' kill five in San Pedro
Paraguay has declared a "maximum alert" following the kidnapping and killing of five security guards at a cattle ranch.
Authorities blamed Saturday's attacks in San Pedro region north of the capital, Asuncion, on leftist rebels the Paraguayan People's Army (EPP).
Correspondents say this is the first major challenge faced by conservative President Horacio Cartes, who took office on Thursday.
So far, the government has ruled out the militarisation of the area.
However, Defence Minister Bernardino Soto Etigarribia said that President Cartes could deploy the armed forces.
"We will not say when or where the troops will be used. That remains to be seen," Mr Soto told reporters.
The government says it is ready to act with "maximum rigour".
The attack involving the kidnapping of security guards took place on a cattle ranch owned by a Brazilian national.
Four bodies were found by policemen who attended the scene. The body of a fifth guard was found later.
Police officers were then ambushed, and one was reportedly injured, allegedly by the EPP.
The group is a Marxist-inspired rebel group which has been active in the impoverished northern region for more than five years.
It is thought to have killed dozens of people, but says it only targets the country's oligarchy.
Multi-millionaire businessman Horacio Cartes was sworn in as the president of Paraguay on Thursday, in a ceremony in the capital, Asuncion.
In his inaugural speech, Mr Cartes, of the centre-right Colorado Party, promised to wage war on poverty.
Paraguay is one of the poorest countries in South America.
Peru drug arrests case to go to prosecutor
The Peruvian police investigation into drug trafficking claims against two UK women is expected to be passed to the state prosecutor's office later so formal charges can be made.
Melissa Reid, from Lenzie near Glasgow, and Michaella McCollum, from Dungannon, both 20, are accused of trying to smuggle £1.5m worth of cocaine.
Police say it was found in food packets in their luggage at Lima airport.
Both deny the allegations, saying armed men forced them to carry the bags.
The pair could face lengthy prison sentences if found guilty of drug smuggling.
The BBC's Will Grant, in Lima, said that two weeks after their arrest for attempting to carry 24lb (11kg) of cocaine out of the city's airport, Ms McCollum and Ms Reid would soon find out the exact nature of the charges against them.
Peru anti-drug police's lead investigator, Tito Perez, told the BBC his unit had been checking into the women's version of events by travelling to the hotels they had stayed in.
Officers had also gathered video evidence from the city of Cusco where they claimed the drug gang had taken them.
The report is due to form the basis of the pre-trial hearing which will determine what the two young women will be charged with.
If refused bail, they could face up to three years in jail before trial.
Legal experts in Peru suggest the normal charge in such a case would be for drug smuggling, which carries an average sentence of about eight to nine years in prison.
If they are accused of being members of a criminal organisation, they could face harsher sentences.
The BBC has spoken to a number of Europeans in jail in Lima.
Several said that, despite claiming to have had drugs planted on them, they had eventually pleaded guilty to receive a lesser sentence.
Source-BBC
Bahamas deports Cuban refugees despite protests
The government of the Bahamas has deported back to Cuba 24 refugees who had applied for asylum in the United States and other countries.
Campaigners in the US have accused the Bahamas of putting the lives of the refugees in danger by sending them back to the communist-run island.
The Bahamas has become a transit point for economic and political refugees who arrive by boat from Cuba and Haiti.
The authorities say the archipelago cannot afford to house all refugees.
Dozens of refugees have been deported by Nassau to Cuba in past years.
The overwhelmingly anti-communist Cuban community in Miami has campaigned against the refugees' return to Havana.
Ramon Saul Sanchez, leader of the Democracy Movement pressure group, said some 40 Cubans were being kept in squalid conditions in Bahamian detention centres.
"They treat them badly, they torture them and then they deport them," Mr Sanchez told El Nuevo Herald in Florida.
The government in Nassau denied that the Cuban detainees had been subject to beatings or torture.
Mr Sanchez, 58, and Alexis Gomez, 45, went on hunger strike in central Miami to raise awareness of the deportation problem.
Campaigners were hopeful that the deportation would be halted after reports emerged that 19 of the 24 refugees had been offered "humanitarian asylum" in Panama.
But Bahamian Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell said he had not received a formal communication from the Central American nation.
Egypt unrest: Islamist detainees die in 'escape bid'
At least 36 Islamist prisoners have died in Egypt during an apparent attempt to escape during their transfer to a prison outside Cairo.
The interior ministry gave conflicting accounts of the deaths, initially saying the men died from gunfire during an attack by unidentified gunmen.
The Muslim Brotherhood described the incident as "cold-blooded killing".
European Union ambassadors are due to meet to discuss the crisis, in which at least 830 have died since Wednesday.
On Sunday, the head of Egypt's armed forces said that "there is room for everyone" in Egypt, including supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi. But he said they had to "revise their national position".
But Gen Abdul Fattah al-Sisi also warned the military would not tolerate unrest.
"We will not stand by silently watching the destruction of the country and the people or the torching the nation and terrorising the citizens." The interim government says the Muslim Brotherhood has carried out a campaign of terror since Mr Morsi's overthrow on 3 July - which Morsi supporters call a "coup".
On Wednesday the army moved against two encampments of Morsi supporters in Cairo, unleashing a wave of violence in the deeply divided country. Initially, the interior ministry said the detainees died in an exchange of fire after some of them took a military officer hostage and a convoy of prison vehicles, transporting a total of 612 detainees to Abu Zaabal prison in Qalyubia province, was attacked by unidentified gunmen.
But later the ministry said the prisoners died from the effects of inhaling tear gas, which was fired when the escaping detainees took a police officer hostage. He was freed, but was badly injured, the military's statement added.
A legal source told the Reuters news agency that the detainees had suffocated in the back of a crammed police van. And officials speaking on condition of anonymity to the Associated Press news agency said that not all the detainees belonged to the Brotherhood.
The Muslim Brotherhood said 35 people had died.
"The murder of 35 detained anti-coup protestors affirms the intentional violence aimed at opponents of the coup, and the cold-blooded killing of which they are targets," it said in a statement in English.
More than 1,000 Brotherhood members have been detained in raids since Wednesday, with security sources saying about 300 were held in several cities on Sunday, including Cairo, Alexandria, Assiut and Suez.
The interior ministry says so-called "people's committees", which have been set up by residents of some areas to provide security, would be banned because some had been used for vigilante activities.
Moves to quash resistance by the Muslim Brotherhood have had only limited success, with some marches planned for Sunday cancelled but protests reported in Cairo, Alexandria, Ismailiya and Assiut.
More than 830 people, including 70 police and soldiers, are reported to have been killed since Wednesday. However, there was some return to normality in the capital on Sunday, with streets busier than they have been in recent days, banks reopening and trading resuming on the stock market - where shares fell 3.9%.
A curfew remains in place however, and the streets are once again deserted after 19:00 (17:00 GMT).
The violence has sparked harsh international condemnation - though Saudi Arabia and Jordan have both expressed support for Egypt's "fight against terrorism".
Unrest is continuing in the Sinai Peninsula, the Agence France-Presse news agency reported, with a civilian, two soldiers and a police officer killed overnight on Saturday.
Source-BBC
Madagascar Disqualifies President, 2 Key Rivals from Election
Madagascar's electoral court has disqualified incumbent President Andry Rajoelina and two other high-profile candidates from standing in a presidential election scheduled for Friday.
In a ruling announced Sunday, the Madagascar court said Rajoelina's submission of candidacy papers in May came too late for the election. Rajoelina has served as leader of the impoverished island nation since 2009, when he ousted president Marc Ravalomanana in a military-backed coup.
The court also blocked the presidential candidacies of Ravalomanana's wife Lalao and former president Didier Ratsiraka. It said the two candidates had not lived in Madagascar for the required six month period before their nominations.
Lalao Ravalomanana returned to her country in April to compete in the election, ending a self-imposed exile in South Africa. Ratsiraka also returned to Madagascar earlier this year after 11 years of exile in France.
Madagascar's regional and international partners had criticized the candidacies of the three high-profile figures because of their links to the country's troubled past. The 2009 coup led to Madagascar's regional isolation and suspension from the African Union and a downturn in its vital tourism industry.
The African Union issued a statement Sunday, welcoming the disqualifications as a step toward holding a presidential election that can end Madagascar's crisis. Controversies surrounding the candidacies had forced authorities to delay the vote until August 23. It was not clear if the court's latest move will lead to another delay.
The court also disqualified five other candidates from the vote and gave parties three days to nominate replacements.
Rajoelina initially said he would not to run in the election, making the pledge in January in response to appeals from the Southern African Development Community regional bloc. Marc Ravalomanana, who fled to South Africa after being forced from power, already had made a similar promise.
Rajoelina changed his mind in May, saying the candidacy of Lalao Ravalomanana had broken her husband's pledge.
Egypt's Army Chief: Military Will Confront Violence
The head of Egypt's military says the army will not stand by silently in the face of violence after hundreds of people were killed during the country's recent political unrest.
He spoke as an Islamist alliance opposed to the military's ouster of president Mohamed Morsi called off a planned rally in Cairo due to security concerns.
Army Chief General Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi said the army has no intention to seize power and called on Islamists to join the political process. In his first public comments since last week's crackdown against protest camps, he told military and police officers his message to pro-Morsi supporters is that "there is room for everyone in Egypt."
Earlier, Egyptian security forces raided the homes of Muslim Brotherhood members, detaining mid-level officials and field operatives in several cities in an apparent attempt to cripple the group's protest plans.
The Brotherhood, and the broader Anti-Coup Alliance, had said they would hold mass rallies in front of the Supreme Constitutional Court in Cairo and in other cities across Egypt. But an alliance spokeswoman said the Cairo march was cancelled "for security reasons."
Also Sunday, interim foreign minister Nabil Fahmy dismissed international criticism over the government's violent crackdown on opponents, insisting authorities had not abandoned the path to democracy. Fahmy chided Western allies he said have been silent about the "criminal acts" of the protesters and he said he would review all foreign aid to the country.
A heavy security presence was visible outside Cairo's al-Fath mosque early on Sunday, a day after it was stormed by security forces, but the streets were calm. One man complained that Egypt has become increasingly polarized.