Category: Economy

On Feb 27, Saudi oil giant Aramco found new gas fields in four regions within the nation.

According to Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Samna and Umm Khansar are “non-conventional” or shale fields.

The gas field was found in the central area of the country in the desert Empty Quater which is near the northern border and in the eastern region.

Shadun, located in the Central Region, was discovered after Shadun-1 well produced 27 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, with 3,300 barrels of condensate. Gas was discovered in the Shehab natural gas field in the Empty Quarter after 31 million standard cubic feet of gas per day flowed from the Shehab-1 well. In the same area, the field of Al-Shorfa was found.

In the eastern region, the unconventional natural gas Samna field was found where gas flowed from the Samn2-2 well of 5.8 million standard cubic feet per day along with 24 barrels of condensate.

To increase the gas production and boost the share of natural gas in its energy mix, Saudi Arabia replaced crude and fuel oil to meet the growing electricity consumption. It also aims to increase the crude available for export.

India and France have signed a roadmap to enhance the nation’s bilateral exchanges on the blue economy. Through the deal, the parties share a common vision of ocean governance and collaborate on building resilient coastal and waterways infrastructure.

The deal was signed during the three-day visit of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to France. The trip began on Sunday which included the bilateral talks with his counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian.

Mr. Jaishankar said in a statement, “Indian and Frane intend to make the blue economy a driver of the progress of their respective societies while respecting the environment and coastal and marine biodiversity. Both countries aim to contribute to scientific knowledge and ocean conservation and ensure that the ocean remains a global common, a space of freedom and trade, based on the rule of law”.

The roadmap scope is said to encompass the naval industry, maritime trade, fisheries, ocean observation, marine technology, and scientific research, marine biodiversity, marine eco-tourism, marine ecosystem-based management, and integrated coastal management, cooperation between competent administration on civil maritime issues, inland waterways, and related multilateral negotiations.

In their joint statement, the two sides called for a sustainable approach that would ensure decent living conditions for the sector’s professionals, while conserving the resource in the medium and long term.

The head of the Dubai Multi Commodities Center (DMCC) which is home to the Dubai Diamond Exchange said on Monday that the United Arab Emirates became the top trading hub for the rough diamonds in 2021, overtaking Belgium.

Rough diamonds were traded for more than $22.8 billion through the Gulf state in 2021. DMCC CEO and executive chairman, Ahmed Bin Sulayem said that the polished diamonds sector continues to grow.

Ahmed Bin Sulayem’s office announced that the diamond trade in UAE has grown up to 76% since 2015. Between 2020 and 2021, the total diamond trade for UAE has grown by 83%.

The DMCC now has a Tel Aviv office at the Israeli Diamond Exchange (IDE), and the IDE has a Dubai office at the Dubai Diamond Exchange.

The diamond industry in Dubai, home to the world’s busiest airport, has grown because of its proximity to Africa, where many diamonds are mined, and India, where 90% of the world’s diamonds are polished.

Dubai has added to trade through its opening up of diplomatic ties with Israel, the Middle East’s second-largest diamond market since relations were normalized in 2020.

Thailand’s economy bounced back more quickly than expected in the fourth quarter. The economy retired to growth on robust and recover its domestic activity post relaxing the restriction on borders and opening it for foreign visitors.

After a 6.1 percent contraction in 2020, Thailand’s economy grew 1.6 percent in 2021, one of the slowest in Southeast Asia.

In addition to the 1.8 percent growth in the December quarter, data from NESDC showed the economy expanded 0.9 percent in the third quarter after it contracted 0.9 percent in the third quarter. A year before the GDP grew 1.9 percent in October-December, leaving behind the forecast of 0.7% rise.

Despite a limited impact from the Omicron-driven coronavirus outbreak, stronger domestic demand, a recovery in tourism, and continued government support for exports and public investment, the government maintained its economic growth outlook of 3.5-4.5 percent.

On the basis of indicators so far, Danucha Pichayanan, NESDC’s chief, said there is some inflationary pressure in the first quarter of the year.

He said, “The main driver will be exports and fiscal disbursement, with tourism and domestic consumption adding to the support”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Asia’s biggest Bio-CNG plant in Indore. The plant has been set up on a 15-acre ground that was initially used as a dumping zone.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was highly appreciated for setting up the bio-CNG plant in a very short span of time at Devguradia. Mr. Modi added that the project will serve as an inspiration to other cities in the country.

Mr. Modi said that the efforts were made under the Swachh Bharat-2 campaign. The initiative was taken to remove piles of garbage from vast chunks of land that are present in several cities of the country and turn them in the green zone.

Mr. Modi said, “The project site was once a dumping ground with a mountain of garbage. The state governments are being provided with all possible help to achieve the goal. In the coming years, the government is working towards setting up 75 such bio-CNG plants in big municipalities of the country”.

According to the Centre’s wealth-to-waste initiative, the plant is being built by the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) through a public-private partnership (PPP) model. It is expected to generate 19,000 kg of bio-CNG gas annually. Nearly 400 of the IMC’s buses will be fueled by bio-CNG purchased at Rs 5 per kg.

Janet Yellen, U.S. Treasury Secretary, will urge her counterparts at the G20 this week to advance efforts to end the COVID-19 pandemic in developing countries and ensure they have the resources they need for an equitable recovery.

According to the U.S. Treasury official, Yellen is scheduled to attend the meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors, on Thursday and Friday, which will be hosted by Indonesia.

Initially, the finance meeting of G20 was planned in person in Bali. However, the venue was changed to Jakarta in January due to a hybrid gathering with many officials participating virtually.

As per the officials, Yellen will urge the G20 that their policies must be tailored to the particular circumstances of each country in order to ensure an inclusive recovery and to close gaps in vaccine access for poorer countries.

The officials further added that these policies will include supporting efforts by the World Bank, the World Health Organization, The World Trade Organization, and the International Monetary Fund to address global bottlenecks in the deployment of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics.

Issues like intensive climate action to meet carbon emission reduction goals, mobilizing more private capital will also be discussed.

The India-UAE Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is likely to be signed soon between the nation. This agreement is expected to increase the exports of gems and jewelry to the United Arab of Emirates.

Due to the pandemic, the export of gems and jewelry was badly hit. From April 2021- to January 2022, UAE witnessed the highest fall of 41.50% among the top 10 gem and jewelry export destinations. This list was followed by Belgium with a 15.81% fall and Hong Kong with a 3.06% fall as compared to April 2019-January 2020.

The Gem & Jewels Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has recommended the government for the FTA with UAE to seek abolition of import duty of 5% in UAE for the export of silver, platinum, and silver jewelry from India.

GJEPC’s chairman Colin Shah said, “UAE accounts for 80% of India’s plain gold jewelry exports and 20% of studded jewelry export. UAE is a gateway to the entire Middle East region and the proposed abolition of 5% import duty in UAE would lead to increased prosperity on both sides of Arabian Sea.”

Studded gold jewelry is one of the major export destinations for India to UAE.

Singapore and Cambodia will strengthen their cooperation particularly in new areas of mutual interest like agri-trade, infrastructure development, connectivity, digital economy, and fintech.

Dr. Balakrishnan said, “We both urged the Myanmar military authorities to swiftly and fully implement the FIve-Point Consensus, including by facilitating the Special Envoy’s visit to Myanmar to meet with all parties concerned”.

Dr. Balakrishnan expressed regret that there had been no significant progress in implementing the Consensus. According to the ASEAN “five-point consensus” reached in April of last year, the particular envoy is tasked with gathering and facilitating constructive dialogue amongst all parties involved in Myanmar’s political disaster. The blueprint also calls for the cessation of violence and the facilitation of humanitarian assistance.

On Tuesday and Wednesday (Feb 15-16), Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan will be in Phnom Penh for the official trip. Starting on Wednesday, Dr. Balakrishnan will be present in the two-day ASEAN Foreign Minister’s Retreat. The ASEAN retreat is the first in a series of events that will be hosted by Cambodia as ASEAN chair this year. It will host under the theme “ASEAN A.C.T.: Addressing Challenges Together”.

On Thursday, India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and his Australian counterpart Dan Tehan discussed the proposed free trade agreement (FTA). the meeting was aimed to promote the economic ties between the two nations.

Mr. Goyal tweeted, “Had comprehensive talks over lunch with my good friend and Australian Trade Minister Dan Tehan in New Delhi. We had an engaging discussion on easy to further deepen India-Australia economic and trade ties”.

The Australian Minister is in India to advance negotiation on the proposed FTA that is officially dubbed the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA). Both nations have agreed to conclude the long-pending CECA by the year-end.

Mr. Tehan said,” The 30 days of hard work could lead to something that is truly historic”. He further pointed out that 75% of Australia’s trade is covered by the FTA’s.

In 2020-2021 the bilateral trade between the countries stood at $12.3 billion against $12.63 in 2019-2020.

Petroleum, medicaments, trains, pearls and gems, jewelry, made-up textiles, and railway vehicles are among India’s main exports to Australia, while its top imports are coal, copper ores and concentrate, gold, vegetables, wool, and other animal hair, fruits and nuts, lentils, and education-related services.

From January to December 2021, the US Census Bureau reported that bilateral trade between India and the US amounted to $113.391 billion. Over $73 billion worth of goods were exported by India, and about 40 billion worth were imported.

US-India bilateral trade has been on an upward trajectory for 20 years and has shrunk year on year only three times since 2002, according to Richard M. Rossow, the Wadhwani Chair in US-India Policy Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Trade fell from $92.1 billion in 2019 to a little over 78.2 billion in 2020, which was an unusual year caused by a coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and economic restrictions. When this occurred, India exported goods worth $57.8 billion and imported goods worth $34.2 billion.

Richard M. Rossow said, “While we should certainly pause to celebrate the milestone of crossing the $100 billion in bilateral trade, it is not far off the overall trajectory of the trade relationship in this period”. According to him the 45% jump was because of the “deep trough” in 2020 as India and the US dealt with the initial onslaught of the coronavirus.