Suchergebnisse

This paper discusses Nigerâ??s Second and Third Reviews Under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) Arrangement and Requests for Waivers of Nonobservance of Performance Criteria and for Extension of the Program Period and Arrangement. Fiscal performance was broadly in line with program targets. The medium-term outlook appears favorable, with robust growth benefiting from important natural resource sector investments. However, the outlook is vulnerable to high domestic and external risks, including potential spillovers from the security situation in the region and climatic shocks. The IMF staff re

With so many trouble spots in the world, it can be difficult for Canadian businesses to know where to trade successfully and with some assurance of security. Canadian government organizations affiliated with Global Affairs Canada (GAC) need to take a broader view of international security, rather than assessing states in isolation, if businesses are to have the vital information they need. Multinational firms typically have their own risk-management strategies, but smaller enterprises need outside help to get information on the safety and viability of potential export markets. However, none of these GAC-affiliated organizations examines the security risks inherent in the interactions between countries. While GAC focuses mainly on economics, tariffs, language barriers and other factors, the Crown corporation Export Development Canada (EDC) does risk assessments of various countries to determine what level of political risk insurance it should offer to Canadian companies. The Business Development Bank, best known for its domestic work with Canadian businesses, has branched out into the foreign realm too, but only in terms of industry and market research on export assessments. Based on long-term GDP projections, some interesting forecasts have been made that will affect how and where Canadian businesses trade internationally. They will need accurate information on risk and security in order to do so. By 2030, the four largest world economies will be those of the U.S., China, India and Japan. For now, the best bets for Canadian businesses in the short to medium term include China, India and some Southeast Asian countries, although there are some accompanying dangers in these areas. Pakistan, Nigeria and Egypt have the potential to be good markets for Canadian exports, but the current risk from terrorist activity precludes foreign commercial interests. The unstable relationships between countries in the world's hotspots need continuing assessment and watchfulness. For example, having modernized its navy, China is flexing its military muscles in the South China Sea, building artificial islands there and bullying the Philippines and Vietnam over their competing claims in the region. If the United States were drawn into a larger conflict there, Canadian business interests would be severely compromised. The perennial tensions between the two nuclear powers Pakistan and India pose a threat to commercial activities in that part of the globe, along with terrorist activity within Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan. The terrorism risk is also high domestically in the Philippines, while Canada's NAFTA partner, Mexico, can be a dangerous place to do business, due to organized crime. And while sub-Saharan Africa would appear to offer great potential for trade, those opportunities must be weighed against the spread of Islamic State supporters, other terrorists and corrupt regimes throughout that continent. Canada cannot even count on stability among its traditional trading partners, with Eastern Europe keeping a wary eye on Russia's moves and Japan under threat from missiles launched by the volatile North Korean regime. What all this means is that the Canadian organizations doing business assessments must expand their scope. So far, they have limited themselves to looking at individual states and providing information about what is going on inside those states' borders. However, countries do not exist in bubbles. Canadian entrepreneurs need the bigger picture of risk assessment as seen through a broader international lens. When they understand fully the security dimensions of global commerce, they will be in a much better position to make the right decisions about their business ventures.

Summarizes the main points of divergence between the French EAQF, German VDA 6, and USA QS 9000 standards in the automotive sector and evaluates their possible impact on eligibility for certification under the quality standard of comparison. While particular differences are marked, a converging trend based on QS 9000 requirements is emerging. This indicates that, while at first these developments point at a proliferation of quality standards, international quality standards in the automotive sector are in fact converging.

A corpus of three white papers have been published by three different Quebec governments in regard to its international relations: the first one in 1985 (Parti quebecois) the second one in 1991 (Parti liberal) ; & the third one in 2001 (Parti quebecois). Based on lexical statistics, & considering those documents as language acts contributing to building the international reality, a discourse analysis shows nuances, variations & constants in the behavior of their authors. According to vocabulary frequencies on hey topics, it has been construed that Quebec, as many federated States, non sovereign but autonomous in its jurisdictions, tends to play an active role on the globalized international scene & in a fashion that resembles more & more to a genuine foreign policy. Tables. Adapted from the source document.