Category: Key Issues

BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 29. The EU’s embargo on Russian oil will trigger demand spike for Azerbaijani crude from the European countries, Philipp Lausberg, Policy Analyst in the Europe’s Political Economy program at the European Policy Centre (EPC) told Trend.

“The EU’s embargo on Russian oil will increase European demand for oil from other countries. Virtually all other oil producing countries apart from Russia are likely to benefit from rising European demand for their crude and possibly from higher prices. This includes Middle Eastern, African and Latin American oil exporters, as well as Azerbaijan,” he said.

According to the expert, demand for Russian oil will decrease, as Russia will not be able to replace the EU as its formerly largest export destination with other importers immediately. This could lead to less oil on the global energy markets and an increase in the oil price.

On the other hand, lower global demand due to the slowing down of the global economy and China’s lockdown policy might balance out the effect of lower Russian exports, he noted.

Lausberg said the oil price cap will likely lead to a decrease of Russian oil exports – at least temporarily, because Russia has announced that it will not sell oil to countries that insist on the price cap. Since most countries depend on Western insurance companies for their shipping of oil imports, and those companies will likely abide by the price cap, this could lead to a shortage of shipping capacity to transport Russian oil to oil refining countries.

“This could lead to lower global oil supply which would push up the oil price. This could also increase the price for other petroleum products such as diesel. Furthermore, the oil price cap could decrease the export of Russian oil to oil refining countries, such as India and Singapore, which could necessitate those countries to import more expensive oil from elsewhere,” the expert noted.

Thus, as Russian oil supply will likely diminish due to the oil price cap and the EU’s oil embargo, Azerbaijan will experience a rise of demand for its oil. This could also push up the price Baku is able to demand for its crude, Lausberg said.

 

Source: TREND News Agency

BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 25. Another Airbus 380 of Qantas Airways, a plane of which had made an emergency landing at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport, arrived for the passengers of the Singapore-London flight, Trend reports citing the Airport.

The passengers will fly from Baku to the destination on this aircraft early this morning.

Meanwhile, on December 23, the captain of the A380 two-deck airliner requested landing at the Baku airport from the airspace over the territory of Georgia.

The cause for the emergency landing was the triggered smoke sensor in the cargo compartment of the aircraft.

Baku airport is one of the few in the world equipped with the necessary equipment for maintenance this type of aircraft and a runway that is ready to receive such a large airliner.

Notably, this is not the first time A380 crews have requested an emergency landing at Heydar Aliyev International Airport.

 

 

Source: TREND News Agency

BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 29. Azerbaijan has studied the experience of such countries as Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Germany and others to create the concept of ‘smart cities’ in the liberated territories, the Azerbaijani Minister of Digital Development and Transport Rashad Nabiyev told reporters, Trend reports on November 29.

According to Nabiyev, the concept of ‘smart cities’ is being prepared in accordance with local requirements and conditions.

“Our approach proceeds from the fact that the same concept cannot be applied to cities located in various districts. Besides, the matter of sustainability and expediency of investing public funds in a particular case is also being studied,” the minister said.

“When developing these concepts, we analyze to what extent the introduction of ‘smart’ solutions in a particular city or village will create an incentive for even greater development of a district,” he added.

 

Source: TREND News Agency

 

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris convened an emergency meeting of key regional powers Friday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Bangkok to discuss North Korea’s latest missile launch, that fell 200 kilometers off Japan’s coast.

“This conduct by North Korea most recently is a brazen violation of multiple U.N. Security resolutions. It destabilizes the security in the region, and unnecessarily raises tensions,” Harris said in brief remarks to press prior to meeting with leaders of Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

The launch is the latest of the barrage of missiles that North Korea has test-fired in recent weeks. Pyongyang said they were a “corresponding military operation” aimed at conducting simulated strikes on South Korea and the United States in response to large-scale allied air drills.

North Korea’s provocation occurs amid already heightened geopolitical tensions over the war in Ukraine that has exacerbated supply chain issues and inflationary pressures globally.

Harris is in Bangkok as the head of the U.S. delegation in the meetings of members of APEC, a grouping of 21 economies in the Asia-Pacific, whose mandate is to promote regional economic cooperation and integration.

“Our message is clear; the United States has an enduring economic commitment to the Indo Pacific, one that is measured not in years but in decades and generations,” she said during remarks at the APEC CEO Summit.

Harris argued that there is “no better economic partner for the Indo-Pacific than the United States of America” as she pushed for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework that Washington launched in May.

Indo-Pacific Economic Framework

The framework is a trade facilitation, standards-setting, and capacity-building mechanism designed to provide a counterweight against Chinese economic clout in the region. It is the Biden administration’s effort to reengage Indo-Pacific nations on trade after former President Donald Trump’s administration withdrew in 2017 from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The previous U.S. administration, that of President Barack Obama, had promoted and launched that regional comprehensive trade pact in 2015.

Thirteen countries in the region have signed on to the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, or IPEF, which includes provisions divided into categories that countries can choose from – fair and resilient trade; supply chain resiliency; clean energy, decarbonization and infrastructure; and taxation and anti-corruption.

While there are signals the region wants the U.S. to increase its economic engagement to counterbalance China’s, it has given lukewarm reception to IPEF, which does not include market access or tariff-reduction provisions.

Beijing meanwhile boasts the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a free trade agreement it promoted and has been signed onto by Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. It is also accelerating negotiations on the ASEAN -China Free Trade Area “Version 3.0” with Southeast Asian nations.

It is a big challenge for U.S. policymakers to match China’s latest geoeconomic maneuver, said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute for Science and International Security at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University.

Nevertheless, the U.S. is still a major investor in the region, Pongsudhirak told VOA.

“The stock of U.S. investments is immense, very close to China. They take turns going back and forth,” he said.

Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment

Harris highlighted the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, the West’s counter to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

“At the G-7 we intend to mobilize $600 billion in infrastructure investment in the developing world that will be high standard, transparent, climate-friendly,” Harris said.

In a veiled criticism of Beijing, she added the partnership, “does not leave countries with insurmountable debt.”

Harris noted the Just Energy Transition Partnership developed with Indonesia during its G-20 presidency that aims to mobilize $20 billion over the next three to five years to help the country’s energy transition and implementation of its climate agenda.

“That effort shows Washington recognizes that it has work to do to compete with China,” said Susannah Patton, director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Lowy Institute, said.

“However, until tangible projects are delivered, skepticism about U.S. efforts will remain,” she told VOA.

Like many other countries in the region who look to China to bankroll its infrastructure, Indonesia in 2023 is set to launch its Beijing-funded $8 billion high-speed rail project connecting Jakarta and Bandung.

Biden absence

The APEC summit caps off a series of international meetings in Southeast Asia this week, following the G-20 summit in Bali, Indonesia and the ASEAN meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Harris is standing in for President Joe Biden who attended the G-20 and ASEAN meetings but returned to Washington Wednesday to host his granddaughter’s upcoming wedding at the White House.

Biden’s absence will feed into some of the concerns and anxieties the region has on U.S. commitment to the region, said Andreyka Natalegawa, associate fellow for the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, to VOA.

Natalegawa noted that the U.S. is taking over as APEC chair next year.

“That’s sort of a strong signal that Washington remains engaged and committed to economic integration in the Indo-Pacific,” he said.

Following his meeting with Biden on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Bali Monday, from Bangkok Chinese President Xi Jinping warned against Cold War tensions, saying that the Asia-Pacific is no one’s backyard and should not become an arena of big power rivalry.

Capping off her day in Bangkok, Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff will meet with King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua and Queen Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana.

 

 

 

Source: Voice of America

President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jormart Tokayev appointed new ambassadors to Switzerland, Austria and Singapore, the Akorda press service said on October 21, Trend reports citing Kazinform.

President of Kazakhstan decreed to appoint Alibek Bakayev as the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Austria, Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the international organizations in Vienna and relieved him of his duties as the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the Swiss Confederation, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the Principality of Liechtenstein, State of the City of Vatican, the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta concurrently.

Kassym-Jormart Tokayev decreed to appoint Kairat Sarzhanov as the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the Swiss Confederation, to appoint Askar Kuttykadam as the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Singapore.

 

Source: TREND News Agency

 

Oil prices climbed on Wednesday, paring losses from the previous session, as investors jumped into more risky assets such as commodities amid gains in broader equity markets and on signs of renewed demand from top oil importer China, Trend reports with reference to Reuters.

Brent crude futures for December settlement rose 46 cents, or 0.5%, to $90.49 a barrel by 0455 GMT.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was at $83.69 a barrel, up 87 cents, or 1.1%. WTI’s front-month contract expires on Thursday and the more active December contract was at $82.89, up 82 cents, or 1.0%.

In the previous session, Brent fell by 1.7% and WTI fell by 3.1% to their lowest in two weeks on reports of U.S. President Joe Biden’s plans to release more barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).

Oil prices were also buoyed by better risk sentiment which was lifted by upbeat U.S. corporate earnings and rising equity markets.

“The small rebound in oil prices is more likely due to more positive sentiment on the equity bourses and return of risk on trades than industry fundamentals,” said Suvro Sarkar, lead energy analyst at DBS Bank in Singapore.

Prices were also supported on signs of resurgent Chinese demand. Private mega refiner Zhejiang Petrochemical Corp (ZPC) won additional crude oil import quota for 2022 of 10 million tonnes and state-run ChemChina received a further quota of 4.28 million tonnes. That is equal to about 104 million barrels.

The pending European Union ban on Russian crude and oil products and the output cut from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers including Russia, a group known as OPEC+, of 2 million barrels per day also kept prices strong.

The OPEC+ cut and EU embargo will squeeze supply in an already tight market. The EU’s sanctions on Russian crude and oil products will take effect in December and February, respectively.

“With EU ban on Russian crude looming in early December, we would still be overall bullish than bearish on oil at current levels,” DBS’ Sarkar said.

To plug the gap, President Biden will announce a plan later on Wednesday to sell off the remainder of his release from the SPR and detail a strategy to refill the stockpile when prices drop, a senior administration official said.

In December, the administration plans to sell 15 million barrels of oil from its reserves, the final tranche of the 180 million barrels release announced earlier this year, a senior U.S. official said.

U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell by about 1.3 million barrels for the week ended Oct. 14, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday. Gasoline inventories declined by about 2.2 million barrels while distillate stockpiles dropped by 1.1 million, the sources said.

U.S. crude inventories were expected to have increased for a second consecutive week, rising by 1.4 million barrels in the week to Oct. 14, an extended Reuters poll showed on Tuesday.

Inventory data from the Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Energy, is due at 10:30 a.m. (1430 GMT) on Wednesday.

 

 

Source: TREND News Agency

According to the memorandum recently signed between the Eurasian Regional Center of the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum (ICYF-ERC) and the Youth Affairs Agency of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the next round of the ICYF-ERC International Debate Championship was held in Tashkent with the organization of both institutions and the support of the Youth Union of Uzbekistan, Youth Entrepreneurship Support Center of Uzbekistan and Westminster International University in Tashkent. It should be noted that this is the last event held under the program of the International Debate Championship held by ICYF-ERC this year.

Teams, selected for their special talent and activity, representing 8 universities, operating in Tashkent, such as the Singapore Management Development Institute in Tashkent, University of World Economy and Diplomacy, TMC Institute in Tashkent, Westminster International University in Tashkent, Webster University in Tashkent, Amity University in Tashkent, Tashkent State University of Law participated in this debate championship. At the event, debates were mainly held on the topics of “the development of artificial intelligence will help humanity”, “bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies should be encouraged”, “modern technology creates unemployment” and “technological progress has a positive impact on human life”.

Tashkent State Law University was selected as the winning team of the debate championship and was awarded with prizes, including the right to participate in the International Debate Championship, which is planned to be held very soon. The “best” speaker of the championship was awarded with a special gift.

At the end of the event, Aydan Baghirli, a representative of ICYF-ERC, read a congratulatory letter on behalf of Vusal Gurbanov, the acting Director General of the organization, addressed to the winners and young participants who showed special activity.

It should be noted that this international project, which aims to increase the intellectual level and leadership skills of young people in the OIC space, was initially held at the national stage for each country, followed by the international competition that is going to be held with the participation of the winning teams from each country. With the initiative of ICYF-ERC, this project was held for the first time in February of this year at the national level in Azerbaijan. Based on the experience gained in Azerbaijan, it was decided to organize these competitions in other countries in the next months by the ICYF-ERC.

It should be noted that this year Debate championships were held in Azerbaijan, Tatarstan (RF), Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.

 

 

Source: TREND News Agency

 

Chinese companies are continuing to look for investment opportunities on Tulagi, one of the Solomon Islands a Chinese company tried, and failed, to lease in its entirety several years ago, authorities say.

Once the capital of the Solomon Islands before that role was moved to Honiara on the island of Guadalcanal, Tulagi is now home to Central Province’s capital.

The small island drew attention in 2019 when details became public about a long-term deal made by provincial leaders leasing the entire island to a Chinese company. National officials quashed the deal, which had raised fears that the company intended to develop infrastructure that could be used for military purposes.

Polycarp Galaigu, Central Province’s premier who took office in July, told VOA Mandarin last month that Chinese companies remain interested in investing in his province despite the flip-flop.

“We try to contact other businessmen to come and do their investment here in Central Province. But for now, I cannot tell you which company,” Galaigu said.

Galaigu said that some of the inquiries are from Chinese companies. Most are seeking opportunities in the fishing and tourism sectors, he said.

Allan Siale, Central’s provincial secretary, told VOA on Aug. 12 that several Chinese companies are interested in investing in coconut processing, fishing and tourism in the province’s Russell Islands, while others want to build factories on Tulagi. One company is interested in building an oil refinery, he said.

Sam Group, the company that tried to lease Tulagi outright, is still interested in investing, according to government records, he said.

Based in Beijing, Sam Group is a technology, investment and energy conglomerate founded in 1985 that has business relations with Solomon Islands, Brazil, Paraguay, Singapore and other countries, according to its website.

Sam Group did not respond to VOA’s request for comment.

Siale said Sam Group’s 2019 offer to lease Tulagi failed in part because it was not approved by the Solomon Islands Foreign Investment Division.

Stanley Manetiva, the former Central Province premier who made the initial lease deal with Sam Group, told VOA Mandarin on August 12 that he felt deceived by the Chinese company. He said it failed to follow the protocol that required signatures from a representative from the Chinese government, the Solomon Islands government and the company.

Company representatives “just drafted a document agreement, and they wanted you to sign it,” said Manetiva, who stepped down in July after a no-confidence vote.

Siale said that based on the proposal, the Sam Group didn’t intend to install military-related infrastructure on Tulagi. The company wanted to develop the island’s economic infrastructure: the roads, the airstrip and the seaport. “For military strategic infrastructure, as far as we recall, the agreement doesn’t mention anything to that effect,” Siale said.

Michelle Lam, a former employee of state-owned China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) in Solomon Islands, told VOA Mandarin that the suspicion that China’s Sam Group intended to lease Tulagi with military intent was nothing more than an exaggerated speculation.

“The Solomon Islands will be a port (for China) to supplement supplies and will never be a military base,” Lam said.

Citing an unnamed representative of CHEC, Lam said that the Chinese government has banned Chinese state-owned companies from participating in any bidding or development projects on Tulagi and nearby islands after the controversial lease was canceled.

Neither CHEC nor the embassy of China in Solomon Islands responded to a VOA request for comment.

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, who has rejected concerns that a security deal with China will jeopardize regional safety, told The Guardian this July that there will never be a Chinese military base in his country.

Central Province officials signed the “strategic cooperation agreement” with China’s Sam Group on Sept. 22, 2019, one day after Sogavare officially cut ties with self-governing Taiwan and established diplomatic relations with China, which considers Taiwan its territory.

Solomon Islands officials terminated the Central Province deal with Sam Group on Oct. 25, 2019, saying provincial authorities lacked the right to enter a 75-year agreement for Tulagi island, which features the kind of deep-water harbor attractive to naval forces.

“It is settled practice that all agreements involving the Solomon Islands government, which includes the provincial governments, must be vetted by the attorney-general before it is executed,” said a statement issued by Sogavare’s office pointing out the Central Province deal with Sam Group omitted that step.

At the time, then-U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper applauded the veto, calling it “an important decision to reinforce sovereignty, transparency and the rule of law.”

Source: Voice of America