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In this week's edition of the Emerging Powers News Round-Up, read a comprehensive list of news stories and opinion pieces related to China, India and other emerging powers...

1. China in Africa

Overseas dams: China evaluates role
When African and Western banks stalled on a deal to fund the building of a controversial dam in Ethiopia, the project's backers found an unlikely source of support. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China's biggest bank, stepped in with a $400-million loan, allowing the project, which is located near Ethiopia's sensitive borders with Kenya and Sudan, to go ahead. The Gibe hydropower project in Ethiopia, say analysts, underscores China's widening involvement in dam projects overseas, often in inaccessible and unstable regions where other countries are reluctant to go. However, amid a backlash from local communities, in countries from Myanmar to Ethiopia, China is beginning to re-evaluate the nature of its involvement, and considering introducing standards its companies will have to follow.
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China willing to fund investment projects in Tunisia: official
China is willing to fund investment projects in Tunisia and Tunisia would offer better facilities for Chinese investors, Tunisian state-run press agency TAP reported late Thursday, quoting visiting Chinese Deputy Commerce Minister Fu Ziying. Fu, who is leading a delegation of Chinese businessmen and banking sector representatives for a four-day work visit in Tunis, met with the Tunisian Minister of Commerce and Tourism Mehdi Houas Thursday.
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Zuma seeks ‘fair deal’ in Africa’s ties with China
AFRICA must build a trade relationship with China that benefits the continent without becoming one-sided, President Jacob Zuma said yesterday. China was approaching Africa without the baggage of the old colonial powers, which meant that a different interaction was possible, he told a conference organised by the World Economic Forum in Cape Town. "With the coming of China comes a different kind of relationship ... let’s do business," Mr Zuma said. "We are very much aware of the size of China. We need to take a position that is clearly understood by us — how do we trade with China in a way that benefits us as well as them?"
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China, Egypt vow to strengthen cooperation
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi met with his Egyptian counterpart Nabil el-Arabi on Monday to discuss the strengthening of bilateral relations. Yang said Egypt was the first Arab country to recognize New China and establish strategic cooperation partnership, with bilateral ties on a substantial basis which can be regarded as an example of south-south cooperation.
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China's Special Envoy Arrives for Independence Celebrations in Sierra Leone
Han Changfu, the special envoy of Chinese President Hu Jintao, arrived here on Monday evening to participate in the national celebrations of the 50th anniversary of independence of Sierra Leone. Han, China's Minister of Agriculture, and his delegation were warmly received by Sierra Leone's Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Forestry Sam Sesay and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Joseph Bandabla Dauda upon their arrival in this West Africa country.
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Chinese language newspaper published and circulated in West Africa
The growing population of Chinese in Africa has been given credence with the publication and circulation in West Africa of a mandarin (Chinese language) newspaper. The newspaper called ‘West Africa United Business Weekly’ is printed in Nigeria and circulated in other West African countries including Ghana.
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First quarter China-BRICS trade up 45 percent
The imports and exports value between China and the other BRICS countries of Brazil, India, Russia and South Africa was up about 46 percent to 60 billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter of 2011, 16 percentage points higher than China's overall foreign trade growth rate during the same period, according to latest data released by the General Administration of Customs (GAC) on April 15.
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2. India in Africa

African delegates visit India
In a bid to connect African youths with India, 24-member delegations of eleven African countries are on India visit for seven days starting from April 23. They participated in an interaction programme called 'India Future of Change', a public private partnership between theIdeaWorks and PD Division of Ministry of External Affairs of India in New Delhi on Monday evening (April 25).
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India to manufacture fertiliser in Gabon, and then ship it back home
An Indian company has chosen to invest in a fertiliser manufacturing plant in the central African country of Gabon. Up to 25% of the fertiliser produced at the facility will be shipped back to India. It was recently announced that Tata Chemicals, a subsidiary of India’s Tata Group of Companies, will invest US$290 million in a fertiliser project in Gabon. Tata Chemicals will acquire a 25.1% equity stake in a urea manufacturing project from Olam International, a Singapore-based global agriculture firm, and the Republic of Gabon.
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Specialised African course for India Inc soon
Mumbai University’s Centre for African Studies is mulling over developing a specialised course in order to train the employees of corporate houses such as Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), World Trade Centre, and different pharmaceutical companies who are catering to the African market.
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PM to attend India-Africa meet in Ethiopia next month
Sixteen heads of governments and states will take part in the India-Africa summit to be held in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa from May 20-27. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will attend the summit on May 20 and 25, while external affairs minister SM Krishna will have bilateral meetings with foreign ministers of 45 African nations from May 20-26.
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Morocco exploring strategic partnerships with India
Indian firms can invest in Moroccan firms to gain direct and preferential access to several markets with which the African country has signed free trade agreements (FTAs). This was discussed at the Indo-Morocco Joint Commission Meeting, co-chaired by Mr Anand Sharma, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry and Moroccan Minister of Trade Finance, Mr Abdellatif Mazouz.
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India-Kenya ties to create jobs, says VP
Economic cooperation between Kenya and India is aimed at creating jobs and ending the perennial food shortage in the country Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka has said. Mr. Musyoka said whereas Africa was a continent of abundance in terms of arable land, forests, wildlife and minerals it is still faced with constant food shortage and poverty, with hundreds of millions of citizens living vulnerable lives. The VP was speaking in Mumbai, India where he is the chief guest at the Indo-Africa Chamber of Commerce and Industry Forum.
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'Indian investment is important for us'
With investments of $64.17 million in energy, mineral resources , agro-industries , transport and communication, food processing, coconut and cashew processing sectors, India became the fourth largest investor in the southeast African country of Mozambique in 2009. Mozambique is a key Indian Ocean Rim country that provides a crucial window to India for trade with landlocked southern African countries such as Zimbabwe , Zambia, Malawi and Swaziland. Prime Minister of Mozambique Aires Bonifacio Baptista Ali hopes that bilateral trade between India and Mozambique will grow and the target of $1 billion by 2013, which has been set, will be achieved.
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Not competing with China for Africa, says India
With China making deep inroads through business and investment in Africa, India has said it was not in competition with Beijing in furthering economic interests there, but would play a complementary role. "India is not in competition with China and I do believe the description is accurate. In may cases, India and china complement each other," Vivek Katju, secretary (west) in the external affairs ministry, said.
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Mozambique says will review its visa rules
Mozambique has promised to review its tightened visa rules, which Indian businessmen complain are affecting travel to the resource-rich east African nation. The rules have been made stricter after an influx of illegal immigrants from Asia, seeking to cross into regional economic powerhouse South Africa. Recent reports in the local and international press have spoken of illegal migrants from India, China, Bangladesh and Thailand using the coastal country as a route to South Africa.
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3. In Other Emerging Powers News

Opposition gathers against India's UNSC push
As India's push for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council gathers pace, the opposition too is gearing up for battle. In May, Italy has invited the group of countries known as 'United for Consensus' to a meeting in Rome to chart out a strategy in the UN that can halt the momentum of the G-4 countries (India, Brazil, Germany and Japan) to reform the UN's apex body. Much more importantly, China has sent off demarches to UN missions asking everyone to put the brakes on the UNSC reform process.
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Mozambique’s energy and agricultural potential fought over by new emerging economic powers
Mozambique’s potential for production of coal, biofuel and agricultural products is being fought over by the new emerging economic powers in search of natural resources on a global scale, such as China, India and Brazil, says researcher Loro Horta. “The expansion of the mining industries and crescendo of foreign investments has the potential to bring significant benefits, but also new challenges to the country,” said Horta in a recent article in Yale Global magazine.
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Chinese companies to boost overseas investment
Almost 90 percent of domestic companies involved in international trade plan to increase overseas investment, a survey reveals. Of the 1,024 companies surveyed, about 88 percent said they want to boost investment overseas over the next two to five years, a sharp rise from a year earlier when 61 percent of the firms surveyed said they planned to expand investment. The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development conducted the survey between December and March.
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SA entrepreneurial activity low compared with its Brics counterparts
South Africa lagged far behind other emerging economies when it came to entrepreneurial activity, speakers at a FNB - Endeavor entrepreneurship dialogue in Johannesburg said on Wednesday. Currently, South Africa’s Total Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA), a measure used to calculate the percentage of a country’s working-age population attempting to start a new business, stands at 5,9%. FNB external acquisitions head Marcel Klaassen said that this was far below an average rate of around 11% in other emerging markets, with Brazil reaching up to 15%.
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SA companies eager to exploit Brics
With only few weeks after South Africa joined Brics, the global group of leading emerging economies of Brazil, Russia India and China, there has been a marked increase of local companies seeking advice on trading with the Brics countries. According to industry experts enquiries from locals who wish to do business with Brics countries have gone up significantly.
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Congo, SA presidents ‘working on Inga project’
The presidents of SA and the Democratic Republic of Congo were working together to accelerate the development of the Inga hydroelectric project on the giant Congo River, Energy Minister Dipuo Peters said yesterday. She said she was "very optimistic" about the possibilities of the project, telling a panel discussion on energy at the World Economic Forum on Africa that "it is not a question of if, but when".
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India planning to include more items under PTA with Mercosur
India today said it is planning to include more items under the preferential trade agreement (PTA) with Mercosur -- a trading bloc in Latin America comprising Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. India is also negotiating a similar pact with South Africa Customs Union (SACU), whose members are Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland.
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China may expand its foreign aid in future: vice minister
China may increase assistance to foreign countries to "an appropriate extent" within its ability, as China's national strength grows, Vice Minister of Commerce Fu Ziying said here on Tuesday. During a press conference on China's foreign aid, Fu said China will not make big changes to its general principles on assistance to other developing countries, but will adjust the structure and fields of specific projects in the future.
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China drafting special law on climate change: official
China's chief negotiator to UN climate change talks said here on Tuesday that the country is drafting a special law dedicated to climate change and will explore a low carbon development path suitable to China. "We are in the process of preparing for a special law dedicated to climate change and we have already set up a working group and started the preliminary work," Xie Zhenhua said while attending the launch of a study of climate change-related legislation by Global Legislators Organization (GLOBE).
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Nation sets $1 billion trade target with South Africa
Viet Nam and South Africa should boost efforts to push bilateral trade value to US$1 billion in next few years, Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan said yesterday in a dialogue with her South African counterpart Kgalema Motlanthe. Doan also thanked the South African Government and people for their support of Viet Nam's construction and development progress. She was particularly appreciative of the African country's recognition of Viet Nam's full market economy and of Thang Long Royal Citadel's world cultural heritage status.
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4. Blogs, Opinions, Presentations and Publications

Is SA at the foreign policy crossroads in Libya?
South Africa’s first significant test in its current tenure in the UN Security Council, that of Libya, is not perceived as an unqualified success. Unlike its Ibsa (India, Brazil, South Africa) partners, South Africa voted in favour of Resolution 1973, which mandated the imposition of a no-fly zone in Libya. Together with the African Union, it also criticised the coalition a few days later for civilian casualties and what it perceived as the desire for regime change by Western powers. This has made it a focus of criticism.
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The OECD should give up control of the aid agenda
The decline of western power does not mean the decline of the west. The former is not only a certainty; it is already a reality. Power is relative, so the rise of power elsewhere automatically diminishes the power of others. But it is how the west reacts to these new realities that will determine whether it suffers actual decline or responds to this geopolitical repositioning in such a way as to enhance its own interests and those of others. The west has two options. Either it leads the process, whereby power and responsibility in global governance become more democratic, encouraging all countries to be brought in on a more equal footing (the G20 being a step in this direction). Or it resists (for example on the issue of World Bank and IMF governance), thus squandering long-term influence over the kind of changes that are anyway taking place.
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BRICS set to outshine IBSA?
When BRICS speaks, its views are bound to receive much greater notice than those of IBSA. If IBSA does not become stronger, it will become irrelevant. In international politics, nations form new groupings or compete to join existing ones, sustain them for a while or long, and then abandon them, though seldom closing them formally. Following the recent summit of leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS), it is worth pondering what lies in store for the IBSA Dialogue Forum with India, Brazil and South Africa as its members.
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Foreign policy - SA’s schizophrenic approach
As the world battles to find a coherent policy to deal with the crises in Libya and Syria, the recent spate of international incidents has exposed SA’s own schizophrenic foreign-policy approach, which has often left diplomats baffled. Since early this year, as political upheavals unfolded in North Africa, the Middle East and Côte d’Ivoire, with the situations in Iran and Zimbabwe still on the boil, criticism of SA’s often erratic position has caught officials off guard.
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The Rights and Wrongs of China’s Aid Policy
Foreign aid forms an important part of international diplomacy. Almost all countries use foreign aid to extend their international influence. China, too, has been using foreign aid for diplomatic and other purposes for a long time. Today, aid is an essential part of the Chinese diplomatic engagement with small developing countries. The Chinese Government recently released a white paper on its foreign aid policy, which indicates that China is bound to extend its aid to more countries and in new areas with the increase in its economic might.1 Even as China tries to extend its soft power through aid, it has other objectives as well. China’s aid challenges the aid policy of Western states.
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