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marektysis

Novartis gains positive CHMP opinion for Lucentis® (ranibizumab) to treat vision loss due to macular edema secondary to RVO
Lucentis recommended for approval in EU for visual impairment due to macular edema secondary to branch- and central-retinal vein occlusion (RVO)
Pivotal data show rapid and significant improvements in visual acuity at six months with Lucentis treatment compared to standard of care, with gains sustained to 12 months
RVO is a sudden-onset disease where patients suffer from visual impairment and associated difficulties in daily activities such as reading and driving

Basel, March 18, 2011 - Novartis has received a positive opinion from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) for Lucentis® (ranibizumab) to treat patients with visual impairment due to macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion (RVO).

Lucentis has been shown to improve vision and vision related quality of life for patients with visual impairment due to macular edema secondary to both branch-RVO (BRVO) and central-RVO (CRVO).

"An effective therapy to treat the second most common cause of vision loss due to retinal vascular disease represents a welcome benefit to patients," said Frank G Holz, MD, Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Bonn, Germany. "In addition, it is important for physicians to have the option of a well researched therapy like Lucentis."

The recommendation to approve Lucentis was based on data from two Phase III studies in patients with BRVO (BRAVO) and CRVO (CRUISE). These studies showed that approximately 60% of BRVO and 48% of CRVO patients treated with monthly Lucentis gained at least 15 letters of visual acuity at six months, compared with 29% and 17% of those treated according to current standard practice, respectively. Patients maintained their visual acuity gains through to 12 months with as-needed dosing of Lucentis.

"We are committed to being a leader in ophthalmology and providing effective licensed therapies that make a difference in people's lives," said David Epstein, Division Head of Novartis Pharmaceuticals. "If approved, Lucentis would be the first anti-VEGF therapy licensed for the treatment of RVO in Europe. This would be in addition to the Lucentis approvals for patients with wet age related macular degeneration and patients with vision loss due to diabetic macular edema."

The pivotal data also showed that patients with BRVO experienced a mean gain from baseline of 18.3 letters in visual acuity at month six with monthly Lucentis injections, compared with a gain of 7.3 letters with current standard practice. Patients with CRVO experienced a mean gain from baseline of 14.9 letters at month six with monthly Lucentis injections, compared with a gain of 0.8 letters with current standard practice.

The safety data from the BRAVO and CRUISE trials were similar to previous studies examining Lucentis, with no new adverse events reported. At six months the most common ocular adverse events that occurred in the Lucentis-treated patients included conjunctival hemorrhage (48%) and eye pain (17%). In the BRAVO trial, there was one case of endophthalmitis, two arterial thrombo-embolic events, fatal hemorrhagic stroke and non-fatal myocardial infarction. One case of non-fatal myocardial infarction was reported in the sham group. In the CRUISE trial, systemic safety events included one case of either myocardial infarction or acute coronary syndrome in each of the three groups. There were no cerebrovascular accidents or deaths.

RVO is usually the result of a blockage forming in a blood vessel in the retina, which is the light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye. In CRVO, the blockage occurs in the main retinal vein at the optic nerve. In BRVO, the blockage occurs in one of the four branches of the main retinal vein. Both CRVO and BRVO can lead to swelling of the macula, which is the central portion of the retina. This swelling of the macula, or macular edema, is the most common cause of visual impairment in patients with RVO. RVO often leads to increased production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which can exacerbate the RVO complications.

Laser treatment, the current standard of care for patients with macular edema in BRVO, may provide gradual and partial improvements in visual acuity, though many patients fail to regain vision despite treatment. Laser therapy is not indicated for patients with macular edema in CRVO. Currently, observation is the usual course of action available to these patients.

Lucentis is an antibody fragment that is injected into the eye and acts by neutralizing VEGF. Lucentis is currently licensed in more than 85 countries for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and in the European Union for visual impairment due to diabetic macular edema.

Lucentis was developed by Genentech and Novartis. Genentech has the commercial rights to Lucentis in the United States, where Lucentis is also approved for the treatment of macular edema following RVO. Novartis has exclusive rights in the rest of the world.

Disclaimer
The foregoing release contains forward-looking statements that can be identified by terminology such as "recommended," "can," "may," "committed," "would," "recommendation," "expected," or similar expressions, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential new indications or labeling for Lucentis, or the timing of any such new indications or labeling, or regarding potential future revenues from Lucentis. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views of management regarding future events, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results with Lucentis to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. There can be no guarantee that Lucentis will be approved for any additional indications or labeling in any market, or at any particular time. Nor can there be any guarantee that Lucentis will achieve any particular levels of revenue in the future. In particular, management's expectations regarding Lucentis could be affected by, among other things, unexpected regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; unexpected clinical trial results, including unexpected new clinical data and unexpected additional analysis of existing clinical data; competition in general; government, industry and general public pricing pressures, and unexpected reimbursement decisions; the company's ability to obtain or maintain patent or other proprietary intellectual property protection; the impact that the foregoing factors could have on the values attributed to the Novartis Group's assets and liabilities as recorded in the Group's consolidated balance sheet, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
http://www.danielvasella.com/newsroom/media-releases/en/2011/1497952.shtml
Marek tysis, hoping that their sight is clear and not broiled.

marektysis

Business gurus converge on Jeddah for JEF opening
Filed under NewsMar
18
JEDDAH: Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal will open the 11th Jeddah Economic Forum (JEF) on Saturday night. The three-day event is organized by the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) under the theme “21st Century Transformation.”

The forum will be attended by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayep Erdogan, Chairman of the Russian-Arab Business Council Vladimir Evtushenkov and 40 other leading local and international players.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tagged as: Abdullah Zainal Alireza, Amr Al-Dabbagh, Bank of America Richard, Bashkortostan Rustem Khamitov, BBC, CEO, chairman, Dean, Director General, Director General of Saudi Arabian Airlines, executive vice chairman, finance;, Governor, JCCI Saleh Kamel, JEDDAH, Jeddah Chamber of Commerce;, JEF, keynote speaker, Khaled Al-Faisal;, Khaled Al-Molhem, King Faisal Center for Research, Lee Kuan, Lee Kuan Yew School, Majed bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi, MIddle East;, Minister of Commerce and Industry, National Commercial Bank Abdulkarim, President, Prime Minister, Prince, Public Policy National University of Singapore Kishore Mahbubani, Recep Tayep Erdogan, Robert Hormats, Russian-Arab Business Council, Saleh Kamel, Saud bin Abdul Mohsen, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority;, Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency;, speaker, the main speaker of the third session, The State as Equity Partner, Turkey;, Turki Al-Faisal, undersecretary

No Comments [WILL BE DONE I GUESS]
http://www.a1saudiarabia.com/tag/robert-hormats/
MAREK TYSIS

marektysis

Naturally they want the richest Indians to share their money for
'humanitarian ' goals to the Bill and Melinda fundation to save
CID ( countries in development) through medicine and vaccins,
biological agriculture...in Africa, in accordance with US policy.
In last paragraph, an hidden threat: give your money; if not...."
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Gates, Buffett bid to open rich Indians' wallets
Foreign 2011-03-20 13:55

Warren Buffett (L) and Bill Gates are set to visit India this week to persuade the country's super-wealthy to part with more of their money. Photo courtesy: AFP
By Penny MacRae

NEW DELHI, Sunday 20 March 2011 (AFP) -- Two of the world's richest men, software pioneer Bill Gates and investor Warren Buffett, are set to visit India this week to persuade the country's super-wealthy to part with more of their cash.

The pair made headlines last year when they said they would seek to get fellow billionaires to commit half of their wealth to good causes as part of the "Giving Pledge". So far, 59 rich Americans have taken the pledge.

But while charitable giving is widespread in countries such as the United States, it is less well established in developing nations such as India and China, where Gates and Buffett went in September on a similar mission.

The former, in an open letter in the Times of India newspaper, said he and Buffett plan to sit down with some of India's affluent business leaders "to talk about our own enthusiasm for philanthropy and the impact it can have".

"We come not as preachers, but more like cheerleaders," said Gates, just a few months on from the billionaires' high-profile China trip, where they wined and dined the country's richest industrialists to promote charity.

Fast-growing India is home to some of Asia's richest billionaires, making it "an exciting time to be having this conversation," added Gates.

But while there is no shortage of billionaires for Gates and Buffett to meet, it may not be the easiest of missions.

India's booming economy -- growing by nine percent annually -- has 55 billionaires with an average net worth of $4.5 billion, according to Forbes, the third-largest pool of billionaires after the United States and China.

Yet rich Indians are often criticised by local media for a reluctance to part with their cash.

In fact, India's wealthiest social class has the lowest level of giving -- just 1.6 percent of household income compared to 1.9 percent for the country's middle classes, according to global consultancy Bain and Company.

A $2 billion education donation by high-tech tycoon Azim Premji late last year was a rare exception -- and shone a harsh light on the patchy philanthropic track record of India's wealthy.

Arpan Sheth, a consultant for Bain who is author of a recent overview of Indian philanthropy, said the country's charitable potential is huge.

"Should individuals (in India), particularly the well-off, be giving more? And can they afford to make more and larger donations? The answer to both questions is, 'Absolutely yes'," he said.

Philanthropic activity has failed to keep pace with growing riches, partly, Sheth believes, because the rapid accumulation of individual wealth is still a relatively new phenomenon.

"We have a history of scarcity and so it takes a while to build confidence that the future will be better on a sustainable basis and let go of newly earned wealth," Sheth told AFP.

There is also a suspicion that charities are badly managed and so donors fear their contributions "won't be put to good use or are at risk of being misappropriated," Sheth added.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the charity set up by the software tycoon and his wife, was tight-lipped about the visit, citing security.

"The visit of Bill and Melinda Gates starts Tuesday," said a spokesman.

He declined to give details about who they would meet but India's Business Standard newspaper reported Gates, his wife and Buffett would hold talks with the country's wealthy on Thursday in New Delhi.

There is no doubt that the need to help India's teeming poor is glaring.

Some 42 percent of Indians, or 455 million people, live on less than $1.25 a day, according to the World Bank. India's statistics on health, infant mortality and malnutrition are worse than those for some countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

There are signs, though, that India's billionaires are waking up to the urgent need to bridge the yawning gap between rich and poor in the country of 1.2 billion people.

India's richest man Mukesh Ambani, who heads the country's largest private company Reliance Industries, warned earlier this month that "there will be no peace" if people are "discontented, deprived, unhappy and therefore angry."

MySinchew 2011.03.20

http://www.mysinchew.com/node/54951
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marektysis

You may be certain he is paving the way to subvention medecine,
pharmaceutical industry...where he invested a lot of money....
***** Bill Gates Supports Socialized Medicine: ‘I’d Take Any Rich Country’s Medical System Over Ours’by Charles C. Johnson
Bill Gates of Microsoft fame (or infamy) visited the Claremont Colleges this past week. You can watch that visit here. What follows is a transcript typed by one of my associates of that event.

Gates, after discussing his foundation’s work, had harsh words for America’s health care system.

Our health care system has huge problems. It’s got equity problems where the poorest in the country of all the rich countries our poorest quarter get the worst health care so the accessibility is a huge problem.

We spend 17.8 % of GDP, the number two, which is Switzerland, spends 12.3% so you have — it’s mind blowing — you have over a five percent of GDP difference. That means that one out of every twenty people in the country are excess people in our health care system that other countries that get better results than we do, don’t have. If you take inefficiency disadvantage like that, than you take how much we spend on defense versus everybody else, and how much we spend on legal stuff versus everybody else, you can start to say, ‘Wow. How do you stay competitive with those things?’ So our medical system has to change. I happen to like the Swiss system and the German system the best, which are not a single payer Canadian or British type system, but I’d take any rich country’s medical system over ours. Ours is provably the worst. [Audience laughter]. It is the most expensive and the least equitable.

Gates walked back a bit from that statement. “Now you have to be a little careful, because everybody else drafts off of us. We do a lot of the research. We do more basic research, our consumers pay more per drug. What other countries do is watch what happens here. If something is cost-effective, they adopt it, usually with about a three-year lag. Many of the things we do, like care at the end of life, or various therapies that are unbelievably expensive, they just don’t adopt those things. “

In other words, the Europeans have death panels.

That might be an unfair characterization, if Gates hadn’t himself said something similar in July 2010. Gates, whose foundation purports to support the equal worth of every human life wherever it is lived, makes an exception in favor of “death panels.” Could that be the way our medical system has to change? It seems likely. After all, his father, Bill Gates Sr., served on the board of Planned Parenthood.

Meanwhile, back at the Claremont Colleges, Gates insults the American public.

“There’s a true schizophrenia,” Gates noted. “If you talk to voters, they think the federal government spends too much money and they should spend less, they say, ‘Yeah, absolutely.’ Then you name specific things like Pell grants for students and they say, ‘No, not that.’ How about NIH, medical research funding? “No, you shouldn’t really cut that.’ Pretty soon you prove is that what the American public is against is arithmetic.”

(Maybe so. In fact, 71% of Americans — a clear majority — supports reducing foreign aid, according to an Economist/YouGov poll. )

Later, he endorsed the DREAM Act, which would make illegal immigrants throughout the country into automatic citizens and the death tax, which both he and his father support. Throughout his talk, Gates criticized U.S. military spending, which he says gets in the way of health care spending.

“There are topics I know more about and there are topics I know less about,” he answered, but went on.

“I think the defense budget needs to shrink. It won’t shrink dramatically enough to make room for these health care cost increases. Unless you bend the curve on medical costs, you’ve got a huge problem. You end up spending so much of society’s resources on people past the age of 65, which is fine in a way, but what that means that you’re not re-investing into the young. If you look at state budgets over the last twenty years, the amount of money for education as a whole — particularly higher education because that gets hit first — that’s gone down very substantially. California’s a perfect example of this…

In terms of military things, obviously, war is the biggest waste of money there is and the theory that you can send your army over some place and that somehow those people will like you better, I think that’s a very difficult theory. I mean, even if you didn’t accidentally shoot a few people every once in a while, so I’m still trying to understand that one. They’re going to like us, they are really going to like us. Because we’re going to be there for awhile and then we are going to leave and we will have shot people. “

The military may cost a lot — and it does — but the cost of appeasement is far greater and part of what makes that bill never come due is a strong military that wards off potential threats. If Europe paid for its own defense, it couldn’t afford the welfare state it sneeringly advertises and the medical system Gates so loves. Arms races are expensive
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http://biggovernment.com/cjohnson/2011/03/20/bill-gates-supports-socialized-medicine-id-take-any-rich-countrys-medical-system-over-ours/

what to say else.THIS MAN IS A MONEY RABATTEUR...

Marek Tysis

marektysis

GCC to bank on ‘brain power’ of citizens
By S. VIPULANANDA | ARAB NEWS

Published: Mar 20, 2011 23:31 Updated: Mar 20, 2011 23:31

JEDDAH: A top Arab academic on Sunday called on GCC states to harness the “brain power” of their young citizens and diversify their oil-reliant economies to achieve sustainable growth.

Nasser Saidi, chief economist and head of external relations, Dubai International Financial Center Authority, stressed that radical educational reforms should start at the level of kindergarten with a focus on mathematics and quantitative science.

Addressing the Jeddah Economic Forum on Sunday, he said the regional education system should ensure that university graduates possessed skills and talents that matched the needs of employers.

Saidi, one of the four speakers at Session 4 titled “The Great Transformation”, noted the benefits of the proposed Gulf monetary union and a common currency, which he said would help strengthen regional integration.

He highlighted the need for a new international monetary system, recognizing the role of Chinese yuan and currencies of emerging economies.

He said Saudi and GCC leaders should opt for “strategic and forward-looking” measures to ensure that the youth are equipped with competitive skills to get jobs anywhere in the world.

The Dubai-based economist was joined by Yusuf Alireza, head of securities and member of management committee, Goldman Sachs; Nouriel Roubini, chairman and founder, Roubini Global Economics and Robert Hormats, undersecretary of state for economic, business and agricultural affairs.

The session was moderated by Kishore Mahbubani, dean, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore.

BBC World News anchor Mishal Husain welcomed the speakers.

Professor Kishore, responding to a query on political reforms in the region, acknowledged that Egyptian youth are brave, resourceful and dynamic but stressed that future economic success there “is difficult and not guaranteed.”

Commenting on Egypt’s march toward a new era, he said some of the hard work had been successfully completed but there was harder work ahead.

“It will be painful. There will be dark moments.”

Stressing that he is not anti-West, the Singaporean academic the Western dominance of world history is at an end. “But it’s not the end of the West. The West will remain as a strong civilization for a long time to come.”

He pointed out that the number of Chinese and Indian students joining US universities had been on the rise. This has further boosted the economies of the two Asian giants, he said.

US official Robert Hormats said the region’s youngsters should have access to world-class education, which in turn would lead to sustainable growth.

Alireza said Middle East states deserved a chance to implement their version of political reforms and Western plans should not be imposed on them.

He pointed out that the Chinese model of governance had been more effective than that of India in achieving economic targets, while stressing on the GCC’s need to focus on sound fiscal policies and investment in human capital.

Other speakers too analyzed the strong roles of China and India in global trade and economics.

There is a major shift toward the East, they said, adding that oil-rich economies should invest in innovative enterprises and move away from what they termed as the "resource curse". They all agreed that the Gulf region has a great future.

Roubini, the economist who predicted the global financial crisis, shared his assessment of his regional developments with forum participants.

“Openness is critical,” he said, adding that “transferring money” might not be the ideal solution. He called for additional steps to promote equality and empower women, youth and minority groups.
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yes mr Hormats, what about the right of homosexuals, and christians,
jews that are bad seen in these countries and might be seen as 'minority
groups' by natural selection (arab neodarwinism?)
http://arabnews.com/economy/article323932.ece
Marek Tysis

marektysis

THE SWEDISH FINANCIAL SUPERVISORY AUTHORITY has frozen assets in Sweden connected to the Libyan regime and leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi worth more than 10 billion kronor ($1.58 billion), Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter reports Wednesday.

This follows an EU decision to impose economic sanctions against the Libyan regime, based on a United Nations Security Council resolution.

"We cannot comment on where they [the assets] are and what type of assets are involved," FSA spokesman Jonatan Holst told the daily, citing bank secrecy laws.

Foreign Minister Carl Bildt told Dagens Nyheter Tuesday that he was surprised by the amount of Libyan assets ...
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110323-702744.html

marektysis

The Liberals have announced they will bring forward a non-confidence motion against the Conservative government on Friday which both the Bloc Québécois and the NDP plan to support. The move sets the stage for what Prime Minister Stephen Harper has already characterized as an “unnecessary” election. In a statement released Wednesday morning, Harper lamented that opposition parties “didn’t take the time to read [Tuesday's] budget before they decided [to defeat it],” and economic uncertainty would be compounded by a federal election. If, as expected, the Liberal motion gains the approval of the House, Harper will then be forced to ask Governor General David Johnston to dissolve Parliament and call an election likely slated for May 2, 2011.

http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/03/23/opposition-says-it-will-support-liberals-non-confidence-motion/

marektysis

Bill Gates, appearing at a press conference in New Delhi on Thursday with India’s minister of science and technology, insisted he uses the same skills in philanthropy that he did building Microsoft into one of the world’s most successful companies.

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates, right, and Pawan Kumar Bansal, India’s minister of science and technology.“Giving money and making money have a lot of similarities,” he said, in answer to a question from the media. “In my work at Microsoft, my job was hiring talented engineers to solve tough problems that look unsolvable and backing their work for five to 10 years and understanding what works and what doesn’t work.”

“At the foundation, it is similar,” he said. “My Microsoft experience has prepared me well for this foundation work. Running the foundation is a lot like running a software innovation company.”

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have long advocated being smart about philanthropy. The foundation recently helped fund a new book called, “More Than Good Intentions: How a New Economics is Helping Solve Global Poverty,” which argues for more economic research into poverty, measured by rigorous statistical analyses.

Mr. Gates, in a grey suit, joined Pawan Kumar Bansal, India’s science minister, on a dais at the Le Meridien Hotel, where they jointly described plans for the foundation and the Indian government to continue a partnership that aims to deploy technological breakthroughs to improve public health.

Mr. Bansal said India has worked closely with Mr. Gates’ foundation on nutrition and vaccination programs. Now, Mr. Bansal said, the government and the Gates Foundation will expand their partnership to include agriculture and maternal and child health challenges. In fact, Mr. Gates and his wife, Melinda Gates, spent Wednesday touring the state of Bihar to review programs they are helping fund to promote vaccinations and maternal health, among other things.

Mr. Gates said he had met Thursday with leaders of universities because he hoped to partner with Indian institutions as part of his plan, “to do even more in the area of scientific innovation.”

One area where the software mogul would like to see more innovation is in diagnosing and preventing tuberculosis. He said India had made great strides in reducing tuberculosis to 300,000 cases a year, where it was once 500,000. But, “that’s 300,000 that really shouldn’t be necessary,” he said.

Vital to stamping out tuberculosis, Mr. Gates said, was developing a low-cost vaccine. Diagnostic tests that could help eradicate the disease are also too expensive at present, he said, and that’s where Indian scientists and the Gates foundation should partner to find a solution.

“I’d like Indian scientists to take the basic idea and find a format that would be widely available,” he said.
http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2011/03/24/what-microsoft-taught-gates-about-philanthropy/

marektysis

PATNA: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has $80 million worth partnership with Bihar government in health sector, has shown its interest in expanding cooperation in agriculture sector too. This was announced by the software czar and world's leading philanthropist Bill Gates here on Wednesday after rounding off his day-long tour.

Gates, who was accompanied by his wife and Foundation co-chair Melinda Gates and a strong team, said the Foundation is doing well in Bihar and state government's ambitions are quite good. "Our partnership is going at full speed. The great works being done here are lessons for other places in the world," said a beaming Gates while lavishing praise on chief minister Nitish Kumar, sitting beside him.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-03-23/patna/29177932_1_health-projects-health-sector-bill-gates

marektysis

Axa to Install New Asia Management as It Closes Asia/Pacific Transaction
March 24, 2011 | A.M. Best Company, Inc. Email Print Free Newsletter
Copyright: (c) 2011 A.M. Best Company, Inc.
Source: A.M. Best Company, Inc.
Wordcount: 616

Axa SA is appointing new top management in Asia when it closes on its acquisition of Axa Asia Pacific Holdings' Asian business April 1. The move will see the departure of Andrew Penn, chief executive officer of Axa Asia Pacific Holdings, who has been with the company for 20 years.

The new CEO of Axa Asia will be Mike Bishop, a member of the Axa Group executive committee and previously CEO of AXA Asia Life, a division of Axa Asia Pacific. He will be responsible for Axa's life and savings business, as well as management of the development of the group's property/casualty businesses in Asia.

Another executive committee member, John Dacey, will take up the new role of vice chairman for the Asia/Pacific region, focusing on Axa's expansion in the region, following the closing of the transaction. He was formerly chief executive of Axa's Japan and Asia/Pacific business unit, which will be restructured into Axa Asia and Axa Japan.

Both Dacey and Bishop will report to Axa Chairman and CEO Henri de Castries.

Jean-Louis Laurent Josi, Axa Japan's CEO and another executive committee member, will also report directly to de Castries.

Gaelle Olivier, the new CEO of Axa Asia P&C, will report directly to Bishop.

Axa's Asian life and savings operations were among the fastest growing within the group in 2010, with "very strong" new business profitability, said de Castries in a statement.

"This strategic transaction allows us to reinforce our growth profile with a significant increase in our exposure to high-growth markets and is fully consistent with our ambition to combine value and growth through an effective capital management strategy," noted de Castries.

The acquisition will cost Axa a net cash payment of A$2.6 billion (US$2.63 billion), the company said. The deal sees Axa Asia Pacific'sAustralia and New Zealand businesses merging with AMP Ltd., while the remaining Asian operations are sold to its French parent, Axa SA.

http://insurancenewsnet.com/article.aspx?id=253351

marektysis · Last edited by marektysis on Thu Mar 24, 2011 10:29 pm; edited 1 time in total

Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt has warned that Europe risks becoming a "museum" and "irrelevant".

Speaking in Brussels on Wednesday, he also said the EU will "not be taken seriously" unless it gets its economy in order.

Quoting former US president Bill Clinton, he said, "I know it may be an adage but it really is the economy, stupid."

His comments come in the wake of criticism of the EU's response to the recent revolutions in the Arab world, including the unfolding crisis in Libya.

As a result of the unrest in the region, Bildt, widely seen as one of Europe's most-respected statesmen, said that the EU was currently in "crisis management mode."

He said the unrest presented a "serious challenge" to the EU and the rest of the world, adding, "What we are seeing right now presents enormous opportunities but also significant risk.

"It is certainly a testing time for the EU."

Bildt, who was a keynote speaker at a debate organised by the European policy centre, drew a comparison between what he called EU "software" policy – its inter-institutional affairs - and "hardware" policy, or its foreign policy.

He hopes that, under the Lisbon treaty, one of whose aims is to project the EU on a global stage, the EU could "forge" a more "unified" approach on the foreign policy front.

If successful, this would increase its ability to handle "important" issues, such as the current unrest in the Arab world.

The current crisis had shown, he said, the need for the EU to forge a common foreign policy.

He said, "Either the EU is going to become a more assertive global actor or it is going to increasingly slide into irrelevance."

Bildt said that in order to become a more important player, the EU must also focus on its immediate "neighbourhood policy."

He said, "If we are not taken seriously on our own doorstep how can we expect others to take us seriously?"

The debate, called "Time for a new European security strategy" also featured Maciej Popowski, deputy secretary general of the EEAS.

http://www.theparliament.com/latest-news/article/newsarticle/europe-at-risk-of-become-a-museum-piece/

marektysis

European Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia speaks at events in Madrid at 9 a.m. CET and 12 p.m. Spanish Finance Minister Elena Salgado will attend the 9 a.m. event at Madrid’s Hotel Villamagna.

WHAT TO WATCH: *Spain’s National Statistics Institute reports January Mortgages data at 9 a.m. CET. *Enagas (ENG) SA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Antonio Llarden speaks at the company’s headquarters in Madrid at 10 a.m. CET ahead of the shareholders meeting that will take place March 25.

ECONOMY: *Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero travels to Brussels to participate in the Council of Europe meeting. *Spain plans to almost double its wind power capacity by 2020 even as the government faces legal action from investors over cuts in clean energy subsidies, Industry, Tourism and Trade Minister Miguel Sebastian said. *The Bank of Spain, which is restructuring the country’s savings banks, said eight of the so-called cajas need to raise 14.1 billion euros ($19.9 billion) to meet new capital requirements. *Comisiones Obreras and UGT, two Spanish unions, said they’d seek to reach an agreement on collective bargaining by the middle of April, Efe newswire reported, citing comments from Spanish Labor Minister Valeriano Gomez.

EQUITIES: *Enagas SA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Antonio Llarden speaks in Madrid. *Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA)
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-24/spain-daybook-almunia-speaks-in-madrid-spain-s-mortgages-data.html

marektysis

http://acus.org/content/josef-ackerman-atlantic-council-photo

As a crow in a hangar of wreckle's stock
Marek Tysis

marektysis

MUMBAI: Indian policymakers need to address the current situation where the nominal rate of interest is lower than the rate of inflation, which is a situation of negative real rate of interest, quickly to get the economy on a solid footing once again, feels Martin Feldstein, a Harvard professor of economics and a long-time India watcher.

Feldstein is impressed with India's growth story so far, with the GDP growing at 8-9% every year, but feels that there is a lesson to be learnt from the recent rise in inflation and rate of interest, that threatens to slow growth.

"I'm very impressed with India," Feldstein said. "Despite so many institutional flaws, like terrible infrastructure, terrible primary and secondary education system, the GDP is growing at 9% annually, there is a variety of industries, so many entrepreneursâ€¦ it's a miracle," he said. Feldstein was in Mumbai to address a select gathering at Canara Robeco Mutual Fund's Thought Leadership Series of lectures.

The Harvard professor, who is also an advisor to the Dutch asset management major Robeco, also looks at India as an investment destination very favourably. When international investors ask him where to invest around the world, he points them to India as one of those which they can look at, he said.

Interestingly, Feldstein feels that India is more closed than China because things move at a much faster rate in China than they do in India. "China is much more open than India," he said. Feldstein feels China has done an 'incredible job' of growing the economy over the last 30 years, and India has a lot of catching up to do.

On the economic situation in Europe, Feldstein feels that the continent is likely to remain weak.

"They continue to muddle through," said the Harvard professor who was vocalagainst such a single currency mechanism (euro) for countries with unequal growth and productivity levels since it was conceived, said. However, the impact of the continuing mess in Europe on the global economy is expected to be relatively small as long as the problems are limited to smaller countries in the union, "and even smaller for India," Feldstein said.

The professor who just a few years ago was one of the top economic advisors to US president Barak Obama on rebuilding the crisis-hit economy, expects countries like Greece will continue to get 'handouts', that is monetary help from Germany, and in turn Germany will continue to have low interest rate and a robust business environment. He thinks it is unlikely that the current European Union will allow even a smaller country like Greece to leave the single-currency structure because the EU is "afraid of (this exit) being contagious".

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/India-growth-despite-poor-infra-a-miracle/articleshow/7776772.cms

marektysis

Henry Kravis of KKR bets big money on India

VIDEO

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/et-now/experts/henry-kravis-of-kkr-bets-big-money-on-india/videoshow/7261028.cms

Marek Tysis
remark: should n t they organize their meeting in New Delhi? Smile