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Zaventem named Europe's best airport
BRUSSELS, Mar 9: Belgium's Zaventem Airport in the capital of Brussels has been crowned the best airport in Europe by the Airport Council International (ACI), news agency Belga reported yesterday. However, Zaventem was awarded equal first place with the Copenhagen Airport in Denmark. Zurich Airport of Switzerland and Helsinki Airport in Finland were ranked second and third. The Airports Excellence Awards are awarded based on a broad survey among passengers. In total, passengers filled in 100,000 surveys, spread over 66 airports. --- Xinhua
Nepali govt lowers GDP forecast to 3.5pc
KATHMANDU, Mar 9: Dragged down by poor performance of agriculture sector along with the sluggish pace of non-agriculture sector, the Nepali government has scaled down the estimated GDP growth rate to 3.5 per cent for the current fiscal year (July 16, 2005 to July 15, 2006), the Ministry of Finance MoF) said here today. The government in its budget for the current fiscal year had vowed to achieve 4.5 per cent economic growth, the mid-term review of the budget issued by the MoF said. The inflation rate during the period remained at 7 per cent against 4.6 per cent witnessed in the same period last year, the review said. --- Xinhua
Swire Pacific posts slight profit fall for '05
HONG KONG, Mar 9: Hong Kong conglomerate Swire Pacific posted Thursday a 0.3 per cent drop in annual profit as its subsidiary Cathay Pacific's sharper-than-expected fall in earnings weighed on the group. Swire recorded a net profit of 18.76 billion Hong Kong dollars (2.4 billion US) for 2005, down from 18.8 billion dollars but helped by gains from the sale of the group's port interests and residential apartments. The company, which owns Hong Kong properties, reported sales up 3.3 per cent to 18.94 billion dollars. ---AFP
S'pore rules out mandatory day off for maids
SINGAPORE, Mar 9: Singapore has ruled out giving foreign maids mandatory days off, saying it would be inconvenient. "Prescribing minimum employment terms and conditions will inevitably lead to rigidities and inconvenience for many households," Hawazi Daipi, senior parliamentary secretary to the ministry of manpower, told Parliament Wednesday. "For example, some households have elderly or infirm members with special needs who require constant attention, and may find it difficult to release the domestic worker for a prescribed period every week," he explained. ---AFP
Qantas cuts jobs, warns of offshore moves
SYDNEY, Mar 9: Flag-carrier Qantas said Thursday it would axe about 480 engineering jobs in Australia and warned of possibly moving more maintenance work overseas in a cost-cutting drive. The jobs will be lost at Qantas's heavy maintenance operations in Sydney, which will be closed by May as part of a major review of all engineering operations, chief executive Geoff Dixon said. The review targets cost savings of about 100 million dollars (75 million US) as the airline battles to reduce the impact of high jet fuel prices, he said. ---AFP
HSBC to expand operations in Pakistan
LONDON, Mar 9: The HSBC, one of the world's largest banking and finance services organisations, is planning to expand its operations in Pakistan owing to the positive economic policies and reforms undertaken in the financial sector in the country. The Group's Chief Executive Stephen K Green, who called on Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz here, appreciated Pakistan's economic reforms. He praised Pakistan's growing economy and said far reaching reforms had made a positive impact, particularly in the financial sector. --- APP
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