February 11 th , 2008 - IFCCI -

East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta wounded in home attack

DILI, East Timor : Rebel soldiers attacked the house of East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta early Monday, wounding the Nobel Prize-winning leader in the stomach in a clash that also killed the country's top wanted fugitive, an army spokesman said.

Ramos-Horta was in "stable condition" followingthe shooting and would be flown to neighboring Australia for further treatment if necessary, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao told reporters in the capital Dili. Notorious rebel leader Alfredo Reinado, however, was killed in the attack, as was one of Ramos-Horta's guards, said spokesman Maj. Domingos da Camara.

East Timor television reported that the home of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao also came under fire, but that no one was hurt. The unsourced report raised the possibility that the rebels soldiers mayhave been staging a coup attempt.

The events plunge the recently independent nation into fresh uncertainty after a flare-up in violence in 2006 killed 37 people, displaced more than 150,000 others and led to the collapse of the government.

Two cars carrying rebels soldiers passed Ramos-Horta's house on the outskirts of the capital, Dili, at around 7 a.m. local time and began shooting, da Camara said. The guards returned fire, he said.

Ramos-Horta was being operated on at an Australian army hospital in the capital Dili with a stomach wound, presidential adviser Agusto Zunior told The Associated Press. The extent of his injuries was not immediately clear.

Alfredo Reinado was due to go on trial in absentia for his alleged role in several deadly shootings between police and military units during the violence in 2006. He had evaded captured since then and refused repeated pleas by the government to surrender.

Australian-led troops restored calm following the 2006 turmoil and peaceful elections were held in which Ramos-Horta was elected president. Low-level violence had continued in the country of 1 million people since then.

Deposed Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri has maintained Ramos-Horta's government was illegitimate. His political party immediately condemned Monday's attack in a statement released to the media.

East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, gained independence in 2002 after voting to break free from more than two decades of brutal Indonesian occupation in a U.N.-sponsored ballot.

Ramos-Horta and Gusmao, who led the armed struggle against the occupation, have vowed to tackle rampant poverty and restore damaged relations between the country's police and army.

Ramos-Horta shared the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize with countryman Bishop Carlos Belo for leading a nonviolent struggle against the occupation.

Top Russian official proposes new multinational nuclear arms control treaties

MUNICH, Germany : The United States and Russia should set aside Cold War arms control treaties and replace them with new, multilateral agreements to combat nuclear proliferation, a senior Russian official said Sunday.

Sergei Ivanov, Russia's defense minister until promoted to first deputy prime minister last year, said the time has come "to open this framework for all leading states interested in cooperation in order to ensure overall security."

But, he said, "Russia-U.S. ties will certainly retain their significance."

Ivanov also told a gathering of the world's top defense officials that Russia's burgeoning economic power does not represent a threat to other countries, but the West has to get used to Moscow's growing influence in world affairs.

He said Russia expected to be among the world's five biggest economies by 2020 but that "we do not aim to buy the entire Old World with our petrodollars."

"Getting richer, Russia will not pose a threat to the security of other countries. Yet our influence on global processes will continue to grow," he said.

"More than half of Russian foreign trade is with the EU so the Russians have already come -- not with tanks, not with missiles, but with joint trade."

Malaysia's leader keeps nation in suspense over election date

KUALA LUMPUR : Malaysia's leader refused to confirm speculation Sunday that Parliament would be dissolved Feb. 13 to pave the way for general elections, the national news agency reported.

Political observers have said Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi might choose that date because 13 is his favorite number and it would fit with expectations that polls would be held in early March.

Abdullah told a news conference during a visit to northern Penang state that "if you want to link (Parliament's dissolution to) No. 13, you can link," the Bernama news agency reported.

"Yes, I like that number because nobody wants it because of superstition," Bernama quoted Abdullah as saying. "Since nobody wants No. 13, I take it."

Aides traveling with Abdullah could not immediately be contacted for comment.

Abdullah's five-year mandate runs through mid-2009, but he can ask the king to dissolve Parliament before the period has expired.

Elections must be conducted within 60 days after Parliament is dissolved, but most recent national ballots have been held less than three weeks after that.

Abdullah said Sunday he has told government leaders to be ready for polls.

A recent survey by the independent think tank Merdeka Center showed Abdullah's approval rating slipped to an all-time low of 61 percent in December, from 91 percent in late 2004.

Five killed by floods in Situbondo

JAKARTA : Five people were killed and hundreds of houses were destroyed by floods that hit Situbondo regency, East Java on Friday night.

Antara reported Saturday that Sampeyan river and Pelelangan river had overflowed their banks, flooding 17 districts in Situbondo.

The local government has yet to give necessary aid to the victims, although the floods have started receding.

Holland claims trade right over Gayo coffee

JAKARTA : The Gayo tribe in Aceh Nangroe Darussalam may already have lost the right to use their own name in international trade for their own brand of coffee after a Dutch firm officially claimed Gayo coffee as its trademark.

Made from one of the world's finest varieties of Arabica beans grown only in central Aceh's highlands, the Gayo trademark coffee can only be used in international trade by Amsterdam-based company Holland Coffee B.V.

"We recently received a letter from Holland Coffee, reminding us not to use the word Gayo on the packages of Gayo coffee exported to the Netherlands," Rachim Kartabrata, the executive secretary to the Indonesian Coffee Exporter Association (AEKI), told The Jakarta Post recently.

Rachim said Holland Coffee claimed to have registered the word as one of its brands, Gayo Mountain Coffee.

Gayo coffee is produced only in the area of Aceh Tengah and Bener Meriah, known as the country's second largest coffee bean plantation.

The coffee was named Gayo after the Gayo people who process the beans.

The coffee is a favorite among Europeans and Americans for its strong premium taste and long shelf life.

According to Rachim, CV Arvis Sanada, the Indonesian company Holland Coffee has asked to give up the name, had refused to stop exporting its coffee under the name of Sumatra Arabica Gayo.

Rising disasters to spur insurance demand

JAKARTA : Indonesia has seen a rise in natural and man-made disasters which means insurance firms are likely to profit from an increase in business this year as more people seek disaster cover.

The finance ministry's head of insurance bureau Isa Rahmatarwata said the high number of disasters in the country had raised people's awareness of the importance of buying insurance.

"The intense occurrence of earthquakes and floods in the last two years, for example, has somehow made people think more about putting their savings not only in the banks, but also toward insurance," Isa told The Jakarta Post recently.

For the last four years, Indonesia has seen an increase in natural and man-made disasters, including train and airplane accidents and highway collision.

Isa said he believed disasters would remain a key driver for growth in the domestic insurance industry this year.

He said he did not want to estimate growth figures on insurance premiums for 2008, but said the whole insurance industry in Indonesia grew about 25 percent last year in terms of premiums.

Furniture businesses seek new markets to avert downturn

JAKARTA : Local furniture firms are seeking new overseas markets to address declining demand in the face of a possible economic meltdown in the United States, the country's largest buyer of wooden furniture.

The gloomy economic forecast could trim furniture exports to the world's largest economy by at least 5 percent, Ambar Tjahyono, chairman of the Association of Indonesian Furniture and Handicraft Manufacturers (Asmindo), said recently.

"For the U.S market, we can only rely on products for the upper class because they still have strong purchasing power. As for the remaining classes, we cannot expect much," Ambar said.

"To make up for the decline in U.S. demand, we are preparing to penetrate other potential markets to maintain our export growth."

U.S. consumers are currently facing a decline in their purchasing power, as indicated by the mortgage crisis where most borrowers can no longer afford to pay their obligations.

On average, the United States imports around 30 percent of the Indonesia's total furniture output annually, according to the National Agency for Export Development (Nafed).

The agency said with a market share of 4.26 percent, Indonesia ranked fourth after Germany, with 5.19 percent, as the top supplier of wooden furniture to the United States.

G-7 finance chiefs in Tokyo for talks on global market turmoil

TOKYO : Finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the world's seven richest nations met Saturday in Tokyo to tackle a challenging agenda, including market turmoil and the risks of a global slowdown.

But senior ministers from France, Japan and Britain threw cold water on hopes that this weekend's meeting will produce any sweeping policy agreements - such as a unified move to cut interest rates - to remedy market instability.

After talking Saturday with U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson ahead of the Group of Seven meeting, French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde told reporters Paulson made clear the United States had not called for others' stimulus packages.

"We have been surprised by the creativity of the media on this topic. Paulson didn't suggest that other countries should resort to fiscal stimulus," she said.

The remarks were similar to sentiments expressed earlier by other participants, who played down expectations for anything more than a message of unity among the seven industrialized nations comprising the G-7 - the U.S., Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Canada.

Paulson also met with Japanese Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga ahead of the meeting. They exchanged views on the global economy and financial markets, and agreed to work together and keep up good working relations, according to the Japanese Finance Ministry.

Nukaga has played down hopes of unified financial moves by G-7 countries.

"Economic conditions differ among the U.S., Europe and Japan," Nukaga told reporters Friday. "It is important ... that each country makes its own best efforts regarding how to restore and stabilize its economy."

U.K. Treasury chief Alistair Darling echoed that idea.

"The actions that the U.S. Federal Reserve and President (George W.) Bush have taken are appropriate to the U.S.," Darling said separately in Tokyo. "Other countries are not in that position and will take appropriate action for their own economies."

World financial markets have been battered since the start of the year amid worries about a possible U.S. recession and uncertainty about the full extent of the subprime mortgage crisis that has led to billions of dollars in losses at major banks.

U.S. efforts to tackle the credit crunch is expected to be a key discussion topic.

"Paulson said he was concerned about the state of the U.S. economy and is worried about the U.S. property market. But he didn't use the word 'recession,"Lagarde said.

Nukaga, who is hosting the gathering, said earlier in the week the G-7 may urge financial institutions to disclose more information about the losses they have suffered from the crisis.

The senior officials will hear a preliminary report from a panel of experts led by Mario Draghi, the head of Italy's central bank, who were asked by the G-7 last fall to study the market turbulence and make recommendations on what should be done.

Paulson will talk about the U.S. economic stimulus plan, said David McCormick, U.S. Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs. The U.S. Congress passed on Thursday a US$168 billion (euro115billion) package of tax rebates for American consumers, business tax write-offs and other measures to shore up the sagging economy.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is also attending the gathering.

Nukaga said he hoped the officials could send a joint message to markets "through international cooperation" to calm jitterymarkets, without elaborating.

But a unified cross-continental policy announcement - such as cutting interest rates together, as speculated among some traders - appears highly unlikely.

"We're not opposed to moving in a prescriptive way on policy where it's appropriate," McCormick of the U.S. Treasury said earlier this week. "But we don't want to move too quickly before all the facts are in and we have a clear sense of how we can best address some of these challenges."

The Fed slashed a key U.S. interest rate by 1.25 points to 3 percent late last month, and investors speculate that more cuts may be coming.

On Thursday, the Bank of England cut its rate a quarter point to 5.25 percent. Darling said the BOE had been able to cut interest rates because inflation in the U.K. remains closest to the government's target of 2 percent.

"I remain very confident that the British economy will get through the current uncertain times," he said.

The European Central Bank, which sets policy for the euro-zone, appears to be leaving the door open for a rate cut, but it is unlikely to take as drastic a move as the U.S. because of inflation concerns.