Saudi Arabia: Good news for Saudi today, as it was announced that the countries petrochemical exports were up 32 percent in the third quarter. This rise comes from increased demand in Asia and the countries of the European Union. The country exported 9.59 billion riyals ($2.56 billion), compared to 7.28 billion riyals in the third quarter of the previous year.
Ivory Coast: More news today from a story that we have continued to keep on top of throughout (we just can’t get chocolate off our minds): Ivory Coast is again having trouble with their cocoa exportation. Ivory Coast is the worlds’ largest cocoa producer, but because of political and economic unrest they have been falling behind in exportation. It was recently announced that the exports fell 16 percent in November compared to November 2009. Shipments dropped from 121,358 metric tons to 102,022.Mexico: The National Autonomous University of Mexico announced yesterday that it has developed and tested a new, highly effective hurricane prediction technology. University researchers of the Geophysics Institute figured out a way to indentify deep water areas in the Atlantic Ocean that are critical in the evolution of a tropical storm to a hurricane, and this allows them to predict when category five hurricanes will occur. The University has been testing this technology for two years, and they claim that it has been very successful. Using the technology, they are able to predict that there won’t be any violent hurricanes until 2013 (in the area which they are measuring, which is mostly the Mexican Gulf Coast).
Pakistan: Pakistan officials confirmed today that they plan to enhance economic relations with Yemen, primarily by strengthening the trade exchange. The Pakistani Federal Minister for Industries and Production Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani stated Pakistan’s intent to boost their investments and trading with Yemen in his meeting with Prime Minister Ali Mujawar. The meeting was held during the sixth session of Yemeni-Pakistani joint ministerial committee which began on Tuesday in Sana'a. He also discussed the idea of a Pakistani-Yemeni businessmen joint council to assist in the cooperation of the countries, especially in the areas of culture and human resources.
Brazil: In the midst of Brazil’s unique period of impressive economic growth, Dilma Rousseff, a former Marxist guerrilla, takes over as Brazil's first female president this week. Rousseff has a lot to live up to, as former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took Brazil from a crisis-torn country with little economic growth to a world leader during an economic downturn that other world leaders can’t seem to figure out. Thankfully, Rousseff was mentored directly by Lula, as she was his Chief of Staff and was picked as Lula’s successor. By @StanaMark
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