A1SaudiArabia.com

SO, what news of our tourists abroad? It has so happened that in recent times Ive had the chance to go to a fair few of the countries and cities popular with Saudi tourists, particularly in Europe, so, if youll permit me, Id like to offer you the following report on what they are getting up to in three popular locations in Europe.

In Paris:

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Workers from Indonesias state utility firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) maintain a power plant station in Jakarta on Wednesday. Indonesia is looking into infrastructure and green bonds, a senior advisor to the government said on Thursday, as the biggest economy in Southeast Asia is in need of billions of dollars for the sectors development. Indonesia will need $140 billion over the next five years in infrastructure development ranging from paving roads and highways to providing more power and water supplies nationwide. – AFP

LONDON/BEIJING – Manufacturing in China, India and Russia powered ahead in August while growth slowed in European factories, emphasizing a growing divide in the pace of recovery between the rich and emerging worlds.

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ROME – Germanys economy continues to set the pace in the euro zone and bank lending in the bloc shows signs of reviving too, data showed on Thursday, but Spain and Italy face a harder road to recovery.

German consumer morale increased for the third month running, hitting its highest level since last October as shoppers responded to an improving labor market, following an unexpected rise in business sentiment reported on Wednesday.

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YASUNI NATIONAL PARK, Ecuador – Ecuador is pressing its appeal for wealthy countries to put up $3.6 billion to protect a pristine Amazon rain forest preserve by leaving its rich oil deposits untouched underground.

Huaorani Indians who live in the area said during a visit by Ecuadors vice president over the weekend that they support the plan to prevent oil drilling.

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RIYADH: A Saudi air force pilot was killed on Tuesday during a training flight at a Spanish airbase, Spains Defense Ministry said. The fatality was identified only as a lieutenant colonel. The cause of the crash was not immediately known.

A statement released by ministry said the Eurofighter jet crashed “shortly after taking off Tuesday from Morón de la Frontera airbase in the southern Andalusia region.”

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MADRID – Spanish Finance Minister Elena Salgado reaffirmed Sunday the governments forecast of an economic contraction of 0.3 percent this year, despite the more pessimistic expectations of other institutions.

“We are continuing to maintain our forecast: there wont be any negative (growth) quarters and the year will end with a drop of 0.3 percent” in gross domestic product, Salgado was quoted as saying in the Publico daily.

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DUBAI, UAE – The camels know the drill by heart. Just after dawn, they file on their own, always in groups of 12, into metal stalls for milking. Workers attach automated pumps. The milk flows into a system of chilled pipes that empty into a sealed metal vat.

The next stop someday could be markets in Europe, and possibly beyond, under ambitious plans backed by Dubais ruler to expand the reach of the playfully eccentric brand name Camelicious.

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Tags: BUSINESS CITYSCAPE)

BRUSSELS – The economy of the 16 countries that use the euro expanded by a better-than-expected 1 percent during the second quarter as growth engine Germany expanded at its fastest pace since reunification two decades ago.

Thursdays figures show the euro zone grew at its fastest rate in nearly four years – and faster than the US during the same quarter.

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JEDDAH – Toyota broke its own sales record in Turkey in July, the company said in a statement on Saturday.

As one of the most preferred brands, Toyota advanced to 2nd position in the passenger car market, up from 7th the previous month . Year to date (January-July 2010 ) sales figures show that Toyota also increased its sales by 15.5 percent compared to the sales of the same period of last year. During July, the showroom traffic increased by 255 percent. Toyota Turkey also attained 5th position among the national marketing companies of Toyota Europe, leaving France and Spain behind.

The acting Chairman of Toyota Turkey, Fady Jameel, said: “We are working very hard to accomplish our sales goals for 2010. We continuously work to raise the bar in customer satisfaction. And now with the launch of the Toyota Finance system, we have added further value. And in July, we became very successful and broke a sales record in Turkey. We believe our customers will appreciate the Toyota brand more than ever. In the coming months, we will continue to offer tailor-made solutions with the Toyota Finance system. We aim to continue our success in sales and customer satisfaction.

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JEDDAH – The global demand for Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) will grow at CAGR of 4.9 percent up to 2020, as the economies recover from the slowdown and the rise in consumption of commodities again, a new report on “The Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Market to 2020 – Carbonated Soft Drinks and Bottled Water Market in Asia Driving the Global Demand” said. The global demand for PET was growing fast over the last decade.

The report, released by researchandmarkets.com, said the effect of the economic slowdown has adversely affected the consumption of various commodities in many countries globally. Hence, demand for PET has also slowed down over the past two years. The global PET market in 2009 was 15.3 million tons.

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