Canada's Dollar Strengthens to a 40-Month High as Crude Oil Prices Surge

Canada’s dollar strengthened to the highest level against its U.S. counterpart since November 2007 as commodities including crude oil, the nation’s biggest export, surged amid optimism global economic growth is accelerating.

The currency gained for the third straight week as oil exceeded $112 a barrel on concern Libyan output won’t rebound when fighting ends in that divided nation. Gold surged to a record. The Bank of Canada is expected to keep its target interest rate at 1 percent when policy makers meet next week.

2011 UN INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF RACISM

COUNCIL FOR AFRIKA INTERNATIONAL welcomes the United Nation's Declaration of 2011 as the International Year for People of African Descent but cautions that it has come rather late and unless an urgent suite of creative, innovative, unorthodox action-backed paradigms are taken to comprehensively and irreversibly eradicate discrimination faced by persons of African ancestry and the African Continent, the entrenched African Holocaust will continue.

South Africa Into BRICs: Shifting Global Economic Balance Away From Developed Countries? – Analysis

In January Chinese President Hu Jintao formally invited South African President Jacob Zuma to attend the third BRIC leaders’ summit to be held in China in mid April 2011, thus taking the number of BRIC nation to five (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). South Africa had applied and lobbied to join the BRIC at the G20 meeting of the world’s leading economies in Seoul in November 2010. The acronym, BRIC was coined by Jim O’Neill an economist with the Goldman Sachs in a paper entitled “The World Needs Better Economic BRICs” published in 2001. Yet in another paper Dominic et. al. (2003), again from Goldman Sachs argue that over the next 50 years, the BRICs could become a much larger force in the world economy and could be larger than the G6 in US dollar terms.

Recent reforms in Oman add to the feeling of hope

There is an apparent feeling of satisfaction among the Omanis, despite the demonstrations that took place in Sultanate recently.

The good news is that Oman has maintained its 34th rank in the World Economic Forum’s annual report on World Competitiveness for 2010-2011. And this is no mean achievement since 139 countries were included in the World Competitiveness Index survey. Moreover, the Sultanate maintained its top ranking despite the global economic slowdown.

Middle East MICE industry is upbeat

The overall outlook for the Middle East Meetings Incentives Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) industry is upbeat, despite recent regional political upheaval. This is according to delegates polled at the Gulf Incentive, Business Travel and Meetings Exhibition (GIBTM) which is being held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre this week.

At a panel discussion entitled ‘What is happening in the World of Meetings?’ hosted by Sally Greenhill, from The Right Solution, delegates were asked how the current political unrest had affected their business.

BRICS Summit to Focus on Global Developments

An upcoming summit of emerging economic powers will focus on global developments, financing and cooperation the attending countries, a senior Chinese diplomat said in Beijing on Saturday.

The meeting of BRICS, or Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, will be held in Sanya on south China's tropical island of Hainan Province on April 14.

Corruption, dictatorship don't necessarily impede development: AUB lecture

BEIRUT: Corruption and absence of democracy are not necessarily obstacles to economic growth, according to the head of a leading Canadian funding agency for international development.

During a lecture at the American University of Beirut this week, Dr. David Malone, the president of Canada’s International Development Research Center, told an AUB audience of faculty members and senior administrators that there is no one successful model for development.