NGCCI holds meet

KATHMANDU: Nepal German Chamber of Commerce & Industry (NGCCI) organised a reception in honour of a visiting delegation of the German Parliament headed by Josef Winkler, chairman of the South Asia Committee, in Kathmandu on Wednesday. During the meeting, security situation, economic activities of bilateral trade, investment and export and import were discussed. The team was also briefed on the current power situation of the country, foreign investment, tourism, handicrafts and herbal products of Nepal, states a NGCCI press release. — HNS

Birgunj trade fair

BIRGUNJ: The National Industrial Business and Trade Fair (NepExpo-2007) is to be held in Adarshanagar Stadium of Birgunj on February 21-27. The fair, which was scheduled for January 29 - February 6, was postponed because of Terai unrest. The fair is being organised after eight years and will have various entertaining programmes including fashion show and cultural programme. More than 500,000 people is expected to visit the fair. — RSS

P’pines poverty gap

MANILA: Billions of dollars in remittances by its huge overseas work force are lifting many areas of the Philippines out of poverty but millions more are being left behind. Manila and five other regions that account for most of the labour exports also have the country’s lowest poverty levels, and five of these areas showed significant drops in poverty levels between 2000 and 2003. However, poverty levels increased to between 34 per cent to 49 per cent in those regions where labour export is not a principal preoccupation, the study said, citing government data. — AFP

Jobless rate steady

HONG KONG: Unemployment in Hong Kong held steady at 4.4 per cent for November 2006 to January 2007, unchanged for two monthly reporting periods. Total employment rose by some 13,700 in the three-month period from October to December 2006 to an all-time high of 3.54 million. The labour force increased by around 10,000 to a new high of 3.69 million. Gains were notable in the construction, hospitality, and welfare and community services sectors. — AFP

Sweden raises key rate

STOCKHOLM: The Swedish central bank said it was raising its leading interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 3.25 per cent to contain inflation. The bank’s “assessment was that the repo rate needs to be raised a further 0.25 percentage points in the coming six months”, the bank said. “The interest rate increases are expected to contribute to inflation being on target a couple of years ahead.” — AFP