UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) is throwing down the gauntlet to SMEs across the country to look to the export market to help rally the domestic economy.
UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) is throwing down the gauntlet to SMEs across the country to look to the export market to help rally the domestic economy.
In January 2012 the British International Freight Association held their annual awards dinner to celebrate the leading lights of the industry in the preceding year. Cardinal Plus were proud to sponsor the event, which was hosted by Christine Hamilton on 19th January at the Brewery in Central London.
Business leaders are being lobbied to support an anti-piracy campaign by SaveOurSeafarers.com (SOS). The campaign aims to put pressure on governments to be more decisive in their efforts to tackle piracy in the Gulf of Aden hotspot on one of the world’s busiest ocean trade routes.
Two foreign aid workers who had been held captive by pirates for three months were freed in a dramatic operation by US Navy SEALs. Jessica Buchanan from the USA and Poul Thisted from Denmark were rescued in a deadly shootout that claimed the lives of nine Somali pirates.
The 23 January marks the beginning of the Year of the Dragon as the Chinese celebrate Chūn Jié (“Spring Festival”), known as “Chinese New Year” in the West. The event is the most important in the Chinese calendar and will be marked with a 4-day national holiday from 22 to 25 January 2012 – something to be aware of if you regularly deal with Chinese agents and clients!
Clearer guidelines are needed for the use of lethal force against Somali pirates, according to a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee report. The report, titled Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, states “The government was right to permit private armed guards to defend British-flagged shipping against Somali pirates, but its guidance on the legal use of force lacks critical detail.”
The Rena, which has been grounded on Astrolabe Reef off the coast of New Zealand since 5 October 2011, has now broken in two after being hit by heavy waves. Hundreds of containers have been lost and debris including timber, plastic and sacks of milk powder has begun to hit the shores of the North Island’s east coast.