{OCDE REVUE DE PRESSE/OECD PRESS REVIEW} •••• May 14

{OCDE REVUE DE PRESSE/OECD PRESS REVIEW}
••••
May 14 Mai 1991
••••
LE TEMPS - Région parisienne: Quelques
rayons de soleil ce matin, puis le ciel
va se couvrir. Il fera 14 .
••••
SG/PRB/D(91)87
REUTER - WORLD NEWS SUMMARY
CAIRO - US Secretary of State James Baker takes his Middle East mission
to Jordan and Israel, warning that he cannot foist peace on the region if
Arabs and Israelis lack the will to strive for it.
WASHINGTON - In an effort to encourage approval of an international ban
on chemical weapons, President George Bush has agreed in principle to
renounce US use of such weapons for any reason and eventually get rid of
them completely.
JOHANNESBURG - The conviction of Winnie Mandela on kidnap and assault
charges has raised the prospect of violent protest by her supporters in
the African National Congress that could further fuel tension in South
Africa’s war-ravaged townships.
BELGRADE - The Serbian minority in the Yugoslav republic of Croatia has
voted overwhelmingly in favour of uniting a large chunk of the republic
with the rival republic of Serbia, TANJUG news agency said.
***************
OECD IN THE NEWS
NIHON KEIZAI SHIMBUN: OECD to invite Taiwan to experts’ meeting
"The Taiwanese English newspaper CHINA POST of May 13th reported that a
Financial Ministry’s high ranking Official disclosed that the OECD will
invite a high ranking official of the Taiwanese Financial Ministry to an
experts’ meeting which the Financial Committee will hold next year. It is
said to be the first time that a government official of a non member
country or region participates in that meeting. Among the Asian NIEs,
Korea has already made a move towards the joining the OECD. The Taiwanese
move can also be interpreted as another example of the recent rapprochment
of the Asian NIEs to the OECD which has a charactor as a ’Developed
Countries Club’."
POPULATION MONDIALE
AFP: La croissance démographique entrave le développement, affirme l’ONU
PARIS - "La forte croissance de la population mondiale entrave le
développement et seule la maîtrise de la fécondité peut contribuer à
améliorer les conditions de vie (croissance urbaine chaotique, famines...)
et l’espérance de vie, souligne le rapport annuel du Fonds des
Nations-Unies pour la population. La population mondiale (5,4 mrds en
1991) pourrait atteindre 8,5 mrds en 2025 si une véritable ’stratégie de
survie’ mondiale n’est pas adoptée, ont affirmé des représentants de l’ONU
lundi à Paris. L’objectif est de parvenir à ’une croissance équilibrée’,
en réduisant la fécondité de 3,8 à 3,3 enfants par femme d’ici à l’an
2000, ce qui revient à fournir une contraception moderne à 567 millions de
couples dans le monde, pour un coût évalué à 9 mrds de dollars par an."
GERMAN MONETARY POLICY/MARKETS
WALL STREET JOURNAL: Speculation increases that Poehl will quit
FRANKFURT - "Expectations that Bundesbank President Karl Otto Poehl will
resign by year end roiled financial markets as economists pondered how
German monetary policy might change with his sudden departure. Speculation
that Germany’s long-serving central bank chief might quit escalated Monday
after the bundesbank and Mr Poehl declined to quash the rumors... The mark
was pressured downward by the rumors. In European trading the dollar rose
more than a pfennig but settled back by midday in New York. When Mr Poehl
declined to comment, the dollar was pushed higher again. But in late New
York trading, the dollar slipped and was quoted at 1.7140 marks. Mr
Poehl’s tenure has been the subject of speculation since last year when he
publicly disagreed with Bonn over the terms and speed of German monetary
union... Meanwhile, bonn’s DIE WELT newspaper reported today that Mr Poehl
has informed a small circle of people that he plans to leave in the second
half of this year for personal reasons, not because of policy disputes
with Bonn."
POLAND
REUTER: Polish unemployment could top 2 million by end of year
WARSAW - "Unemployment in Poland threatens to rise above 2 million or
some 10.6% of the work force by the end of 1991 if present trends
continue, the government said on Monday... Official figures released last
week showed that 1.37 million people, or 7.3% of the work force, were out
of work at the end of April."
TRADE
REUTER:
China, anxious over trade status, will buy American goods
BEIJING - "China announced a buying mission to the United States on
Tuesday in what will be a last-ditch chance to win goodwill before US
President George Bush decides on whether to renew Beijing’s Most Favoured
Nation trade status. China stands to lose billions of dollars of trade if
the preferential trade treatment, under which its goods are taxed at low
levels in the US market, is not extended... ’The main purpose of the
mission is to reverse the drop in US exports’, said Zhu, who is in charge
of the US section of the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade.
’We want to send a strong message to the US business community and Chinese
entrepreneurs that we’re absolutely serious about addressing the problem
of falling imports. We also want to send a strong message to our trading
companies to buy more from the US’, he said... A similar mission last year
signed contracts for imports worth US$ 700 million."
OECD ECONOMIES
Japan
FINANCIAL TIMES: Bank of Japan urges review on foreign workers
TOKYO - "The Bank of Japan has called for an immediate review of Japan’s
virtual ban on the employment of foreign workers, in a rare public comment
on a highly-sensitive political problem. In a report on the country’s
labour shortage published this month, the central bank says that ’the
employment of foreign workers is an urgent issue which requires
examination from every angle’. The fear that labour shortages increase the
risk of inflation has played a central part in the bank’s decision to push
up interest rates over the past 2 years. It will remain a key factor in
future management of the economy, says the report."
REUTER: Japan urged to boost official development aid
TOKYO - "Japan should boost official development assistance and lead in
helping Africa to fight poverty, former World Bank president Robert
McNamara said on Monday. Japan’s ODA spending must reach at least 1% of
GNP by the end of the decade, he told delegates on the first day of a
3-day forum on least developed countries sponsored by the United Nations
and the Japanese foreign ministry. Japan was only contributing 0.32% of
GNP compared with an average 0.51% from OECD countries, excluding Japan
and the US, McNamara said."
Italy
FINANCIAL TIMES: Cossiga revokes powers of top judge
ROME - "Italy’s President Francesco Cossiga has withdrawn his support
for Mr Giovanni Galloni, the deputy president of the Consiglio Superiore
della Magistratura (CSM), the ruling body for the judiciary, in a public
row over increasing Mafia violence. In a step bound to trigger a new
crisis between the presidency and the legal establishment, Mr Cossiga
yesterday revoked Mr Galloni’s powers to represent him as constitutional
head of the CSM. Mr Cossiga, who as head of state is also head of the CSM,
cannot sack Mr Galloni, as he is elected independently by judges and
magistrates. The president’s unprecedented step, which has come as a shock
to judges and politicians alike, follows growing friction with Mr Galloni
and the judiciary on the question of organised crime, notably in southern
Italy. Gang warfare in the south, especially Calabria, has reached new
heights in the past fortnight, with almost daily tit-for-tat murders."
Autriche
AFP: Bons résultats de l’économie au début de 1991
VIENNE - "L’économie autrichienne a obtenu de bons résultats au cours
des 2 premiers mois de 1991, annonce le dernier rapport mensuel de
l’Institut autrichien de recherches économiques, WIFO, publié lundi. Selon
WIFO, la production industrielle a progressé de 5% durant cette période
par rapport aux 2 premiers mois de 1990 et ce malgré la guerre du Golfe,
essentiellement à cause de la progression de l’industrie du bâtiment. Le
commerce extérieur a bénéficié directement de l’ouverture économique des
pays d’Europe de l’Est vers lesquels les exportations ont été intensifiées
en 1990, en particulier vers la Tchécoslovaquie et la Hongrie." •
T
END-OF-TEXT