BusinessBarbados.com

Flow plans $250m cable expansion

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Foreign communications company Columbus International Inc, which operates under the cable TV and broadband network Flow in Trinidad and Tobago, will spend $250 million to expand operations in the country this year. Columbus will continue with the ’aggressive rebuild and expansion of its service footprint across the country’, the company said in a statement yesterday.

Fram Exploration strikes ‘black gold’

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Fram Exploration AS, the Norwegian firm which was awarded the sub-licence to take over operations of the Inniss-Trinity oilfield, last Saturday started to examine existing wells on that field, said Jim Oberkircher, director, Fram Exploration.

Long-awaited Broad Street office opens

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:00:00 GMT

IT has been a few years in coming, but the new state-of-the-art Barbados National Bank (BNB) Broad Street office is finally open for business. Business commenced on Monday at the newly renovated office formerly owned and occupied by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), after a quite lengthy period of construction activity, during which a number of delays had forced the postponement of its operation.

Affordable land ownership programme to be launched in Barbados

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Conveyances will be delivered shortly as part of Government's $5.00 per sq ft land programme, aimed at first time homeowners who cannot afford to buy land on the private market. This assertion came last Sunday evening from Minister of Housing and Lands, Michael Lashley. He was delivering the feature address at the handing over of keys ceremony at Marchfield, St Philip, the site of the first Housing Every Last Person (HELP) development.

Caribbean and EU officials meet to discuss enhancing partnership

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Caribbean and European Union diplomats, government officials and representatives from regional organizations, the private sector and non-governmental organizations met to discuss the parameters for an enhanced Caribbean-EU partnership at a seminar in Barbados 4-5 March 2010. The ultimate goal was to launch the process of drafting an ambitions new joint EU-Caribbean strategy.

Caricom single market report card

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:00:00 GMT

A comprehensive appraisal of the state of implementation of the CARICOM Single Market (CSM) has found that all five core regimes - movement of goods, movement of skills, the right of establishment, movement of capital and the provision of services - are functioning. At the same time, the appraisal, which will be discussed by the region's heads of government at their March 11-12 inter-sessional meeting in Dominica, says legislative actions taken so far do not mean there is full legislative compliance by all member states.

Obama Defies Pessimists as Rising Economy Converges With Stocks

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:00:00 GMT

The political consensus may be that President Barack Obama’s handling of the economy has been weak. The judgment of money in all its forms has been overwhelmingly positive, and that may be the more lasting appraisal. One year after U.S stocks hit their post-financial-crisis low on March 9, 2009, the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 Index has risen more than 68 percent, and it’s up more than 41 percent since Obama took office. Credit spreads have narrowed. Commodity prices have surged. Housing prices have stabilized.

China’s Exports, Property Prices Add Pressure to Pare Stimulus

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:00:00 GMT

China’s exports rose more than forecast in February and property prices jumped the most in almost two years, adding pressure on policy makers to pare stimulus measures adopted during the global recession. Shipments abroad gained 46 percent in February from a year before after a 21 percent advance in January, the customs bureau reported on its Web site today. Commercial and residential property prices in 70 cities climbed 10.7 percent, the statistics bureau said separately.

Emerging-Market Stocks Climb, Erasing 2010 Loss; Metals Gain

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Emerging market stocks rose, erasing their losses for the year, and metal prices gained after China said exports soared by the most in three years. The British pound weakened as U.K. manufacturing contracted.

High taxes triggers widespread evasion

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Complex tax systems and widespread evasion are distorting investment decisions by companies in Latin America and the Caribbean, reducing the efficiency of markets and preventing governments from investing in infrastructure, education and other key public goods.