A1SaudiArabia.com

TOKYO – Japans economy may get another lifeline soon.

Faced with meager growth and a strong yen, the countrys leaders are moving toward injecting more stimulus measures to fight a sharp slowdown in momentum. A new package would set Japan apart from the rest of the developed world, which is winding down stimulus steps even as worries grow about a cooling global economy.

Gross domestic product data earlier this week showed Japan grew at an annualized rate of just 0.4 percent in the April-June period, down from 4.4 percent the previous quarter. As a result, the country lost its place to China as the worlds No. 2 economy.

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<br/> RIYADH &ndash; Awareness of the importance of adopting green technology and saving energy and the country&rsquo;s environment has been increasing in Saudi Arabia.<br/> After Princess Noura University in the education sector, the 21-story Waseel Tower, set to open soon, will be the first green office building in the capital. It plans to deploy a complete suite of energy-efficient KNX smart building solutions from ABB Saudi Arabia, a leading power and automation technology group.<br/> ABB Saudi Arabia has won the order to implement KNX smart building technology that will substantially reduce energy costs. <br/> &ldquo;The ability to control energy-intensive functions, such as air-conditioning and lighting in each room, will reduce power consumption and carbon dioxide emissions by more than 40 percent in Waseel Tower,&rdquo; said Ali Nazzal, senior sales and operations manager, Smart Home and Intelligent Building Controls, ABB Saudi Arabia.<br/> Located at King Fahd Road, Waseel Tower has a built-up area of more than 63,000 sq. meters and a height of 163 meters.<br/> &ldquo;KNX smart building technology will enable tenants to lower their energy costs while automating many office functions with the touch of a button, saving up to 30 percent on energy and operating costs. We&rsquo;ve taken a decision for our office buildings to be energy-efficient and we hope that other building owners in Riyadh will follow suit,&rdquo; he said. Waseel Tower&rsquo;s amenities include car parking lots on four levels, a spa and fitness center, several restaurants, and international conference and business centers. &ndash; SG<br/> <br/>

SHANGHAI – China and the Middle East are likely to expand two-way capital flows rapidly in the coming years, as investment catches up with recent fast growth in trade, the chief executive of Abu Dhabi financial services firm Invest AD told a conference in Shanghai on Monday.

Two-way trade between China and the Middle East has tripled in the last five years to $107 billion in 2009. Chinese companies have also become more active in the Middle East, especially in the infrastructure sector, winning $2.1 billion worth of the construction deals in the United Arab Emirates alone in 2008.

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ABU DHABI – World leaders raised a fresh alarm on global warming, urging international action to increase use of clean energy at a four-day forum that opened in the emirate on Monday.

“If we dont act now, our coral reefs and rainforests will die, desert countries will become unbearably hot and low lying countries like the Maldives, will slip beneath the rising seas,” said the president of the Maldives, Mohammed Nasheed.

“Tackling climate change is not like dealing with other global issues, such as trade or disarmament. We do not have the luxury of time to meet, year after year, in endless negotiations,” the leader of the low-lying Indian Ocean nation told participants at the World Future Energy Summit.

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ABU DHABI: The events accompanying the third World Future Energy Summit slip into gear on Sunday as the attending delegates and media tour the Masdar site in Abu Dhabi.

Billed as the single most important event of its kind worldwide for stakeholders in energy and environment, the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) takes place each year in Abu Dhabi where the newly created International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) based itself in February 2009. WFES which along with being a conference is a coming together of leaders in the renewable energy fields stages energy and future environment exhibitions during its four-day run.

The organizers intend to provide a meeting place, and an environment to encourage collaboration and a cross fertilization of ideas and technology to tackle policy, innovation and investment issues surrounding renewable energy. Masdar city is the physical result.

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SINGAPORE – Asia-Pacific economies pledged Thursday to pursue a giant free-trade zone covering 2.6 billion people and called for easier access to green technology to combat climate change.

Foreign and trade ministers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group said they would direct their officials to study ways to achieve the long-term vision for a “Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific”, or FTAAP.

The proposed area would cover APECs 21 member economies, stretching from Chile to China via the United States. They account for 40 percent of the worlds population of 6.7 billion people and over half its economic output. “APEC will work towards reducing barriers not only within APEC, but also with other non-APEC economies,” the ministers said in a statement ahead of a leaders summit this weekend to be attended by US President Barack Obama.

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JEDDAH – A delegation of 25 UK companies from different sectors under Noel Johnston, manager of “Invest Northern Ireland Mission,” held products exhibition at the British consulate here for a networking event on Monday.

Johnston said the main aim of the delegation was to meet partners and at the same time seek distributors for their products.

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JEDDAH – GE Energy calls for diversification of energy sources in Saudi Arabia as well as in the region to come to grips with the growing demand.

Stephen R. Bolze, president & CEO of GE Power and Water, said on Monday that amid ever-increasing need for water and electricity as population grows and economic development expands, emphasis should be given on investment in technologies which would lead to diverse solutions on enhancing the development of thermal renewable energy and gasification, among others.

He emphasized that ongoing research should be done locally as some opportunities emerge for innovative technologies to address the Kingdoms power and water needs.

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JEDDAH – GE Energy calls for diversification of energy sources in Saudi Arabia as well as in the region to come to grips with the growing demand.

Stephen R. Bolze, president & CEO of GE Power and Water, said on Monday that amid ever-increasing need for water and electricity as population grows and economic development expands, emphasis should be given on investment in technologies which would lead to diverse solutions on enhancing the development of thermal renewable energy and gasification, among others.

He emphasized that ongoing research should be done locally as some opportunities emerge for innovative technologies to address the Kingdoms power and water needs.

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JEDDAH: Investment in green technology has gone far beyond earth closets and recycled brown paper bags, admirable first steps though they were. When a major global industrial player commits to it to the extent that the corporate giant Siemens AG has, that alone is a convincing argument that the world is looking for cleaner ways of producing energy other than burning fossil fuels. Moreover, it is a very strong indication that the alternative power generation market is also commercially viable.

Siemens has formed a team with Munich Re, the German insurer, Deutsche Bank, utilities RWE and Eon to form a company to explore the technical and geopolitical challenges of building hectares of solar mirrors in the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East to prove concentrating solar power technology (CSP) on a large scale: the Desertec Project. The project is out to prove both the economic viability of solar power and the political and PR benefits that go with it.

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