Business

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 20 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Five memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were sealed at the Kuala Lumpur Summit (KL Summit) 2019 Thursday by Muslim countries’ government agencies and companies.

The deals included the areas of youth exchange, food security, media collaboration, defence and security.

TOKYO, Dec 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Hassan Rouhani will make the first visit to Japan by an Iranian head of state for two decades on Friday, as Tokyo seeks to mediate between Tehran and Washington amid spiralling nuclear tensions.

The trip comes after violent protests last month over petroleum price hikes in Iran, as Washington-imposed sanctions over its nuclear programme hit the Iranian economy.

The United States re-imposed crippling sanctions on Iran in 2018 after withdrawing from an international deal aimed at tackling the Islamic Republic’s nuclear programme.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 20 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan believes Ankara and Kuala Lumpur can enhance their cooperation in the Islamic finance sector for mutual benefits.

“We (Turkey) have to take Islamic finance on our agenda, make it a priority. We believe Malaysia has the advantage as a pioneer in Islamic finance and resources. So we can collaborate between our banks, private players…we have the models, such as Sukuk,” he said Thursday.

WASHINGTON, Dec 20 (NNN-Xinhua) — The United States and India have signed two Defense Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) agreements, the latest effort to boost bilateral ties, said the Pentagon on Thursday.

The DTTI pacts, concerning bilateral industry collaboration forum and standard operating procedure respectively, were signed during the second bilateral “2+2 Ministerial Dialogue” held earlier this week in Washington, according to a statement released by the Pentagon.

SERI KEMBANGAN, Dec 19 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Malaysia has called for more collaboration with China to enhance the transportation sector, especially in port and shipping development. 

Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook said more investment from the republic’s companies will not only enhance the maritime network between the two countries, but also trade, business and tourism linkages.

“It’s a major order for us to compete with our neighbouring countries but we must be able to compete.

NEW DELHI, Dec 19 (NNN-PTI) — Dense fog engulfed the Indian capital and its surrounding areas on Thursday morning (this morning), as departures and arrivals of many flights and trains were delayed, due to poor visibility.

Regular commuters faced difficulty driving on major highways, since visibility was less than 50 metres at many places.

AMMAN, Dec 19 (NNN-PETRA) – France signed some agreements with Jordan, agreeing to provide the latter with a total of 250 million euros (277 million U.S. dollars) in soft loans.

The soft loans will be used to develop the judiciary and water sectors, and reconstruct the sewage system in Balqa governorate, said Jordan’s Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation.

The first agreement entails a soft loan of 150 million euros, to fund the development of the water sector.

18 Dec 2019; MEMO: Israeli occupation authorities have allowed Gaza farmers to export strawberries to European countries and Gulf States, news agencies reported yesterday.

Palestinian farmers from Gaza exported five tonnes of strawberries to the UK yesterday through Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport, the Jerusalem Post said.

18 Dec 2019; MEMO: Iraq has paid back more than $20 billion in foreign debt, the head of the parliamentary finance committee Haitham Al-Jubouri said on Monday.

“Iraq’s foreign debt amounted to more than $50 billion. More than $20 billion was paid back over the last period,” Al-Jubouri told the Iraqi news agency.

Washington/New Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) Indian IT major Infosys has agreed to pay USD 800,000 (nearly Rs 5.6 crore) to settle allegations of misclassification of foreign workers and tax fraud, officials said on Tuesday.

Infosys will pay California USD 800,000 to resolve allegations that, between 2006 and 2017, approximately 500 Infosys employees were working in the state on Infosys-sponsored B-1 visas rather than H-1B visas, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said.