Archive for November 18th, 2009
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
We have a real race for first place in the Monohull division between two French boats, Safran, with Marc Guillemot and Charles Caudrelier Benac, and Groupe Bel, with Kito De Pavant and François Gabart. Currently only 24.3 NM separate the two front boats, with the second place boat currently having an average speed of 16.4 knots to the first place boat’s 13.8 knots. However, this is only the half way point. Mike Golding Yacht Racing, with Mike Golding and Javier Sanso, is in third and Foncia, with Michel Desjoyeau and Jérémie Beyou, has passed Veolia Environnement, with Roland Joudain and Jean Luc Nelias, to take fourth. None of these competitors should not be counted out of this race. Four of the original 14 Monohulls have retired including: Brit Air, BT, DCNS and Hugo Boss. Hugo Boss collided with something in the ocean and started taking on water, on Monday, when they were approximately 400 miles south of the Azores.
Conditions still are not perfect. The winds are unstable, between 12 to 20 knots and it keeps changing and coming from all directions. Michel Desjoyeau shared that Jérémie Beyou was worn out after three solid hours of spinnaker trimming.
Crepes Whaou! with Franck Yves Escoffier and Erwan Leroux, continues to hold an impressive lead in the Multihull division, currently maintaining speeds of 19.4 knots. They can take a conservative approach now that they are 831.4 NM ahead of the second place boat, Guyader Pour Urgence Climatique, with Victorien Erussard and Loic Fecquet. The race in the Multihull division is now for second place. Guyader has overtaken Regiou Aquitaine-Port Medoc, with sailors Lalou Roucayrol and Amaiur Alfaro. The distance between them is 50 NM. The last active boat in the Multihull division, Price de Bretagne, with Hervé Cleris and Christophe Dietsch, currently is 1,842.2 NM out of first place.
The Transat Jaque Vabre race is approximately at the half way point. These are all amazing sailors, but anything can happen. Already six of the original 20 boats are out of the race including one time leader BT. It will be fascinating to watch them battle the second half of the race.
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Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
Chile, Uruguay and Costa Rica have the lowest perceived levels of corruption in Latinamerica, a benchmark and inspiration for the Americas according to the latest report from Transparency International. Argentina and Venezuela are among the low performers in a region where there are serious indications of “rampant corruption”.
Among the 31 countries from the Americas included in Transparency International’s (TI) 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), 10 scored above 5 (out of 10) while 21 scored less than 5 indicating a serious corruption problem. Overall, nine countries failed to exceed a score of 3, indicating rampant corruption.
However in the overall ranking of 180 countries, headed by New Zealand, Denmark and Singapore, Uruguay and Chile figure in position 25 (next to France); Argentina ranks 106; Paraguay, 154; Brazil, 75 close to China, 79; Mexico, 89; Venezuela 162, worse than Russia, 146.
Canada and the US are the best performers in the Americas, ranking 8 and 18, which compares with the UK standing of position 17.
In Latinamerica with the exception of Guatemala, no country in the region showed a significant increase in its CPI score.
In the group of countries which score above 5, Canada remains at the top of the list. It continues to be among the ten countries with the lowest perceived levels of corruption worldwide, serving as a benchmark and inspiration for the Americas. Chile, Uruguay and Costa Rica are the only Latin American countries included in this group, although with lower scores than their Caribbean neighbours in Barbados and Saint Lucia. (more…)
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Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
Costa Rica and Spain have signed two cooperation agreements to promote the development of their fishing and aquiculture sectors, a senior Costa Rican government official said on Tuesday.
Costa Rican Agriculture and Livestock Minister Javier Flores said the pacts were aimed at enhancing food security, fighting poverty, and promoting technology exchanges.
Flores also said both countries were interested in cooperation on research, promotion of production, the sustainable management of the environment and fishing.
According to the agreements, Spain will provide technical and legal assistance to establish a Network of Marine Reserves along the Costa Rican coasts.
“We have worked a lot with Spain and we are sure that our commercial ties will be boosted,” Flores added.
The agreement was signed on Monday by Costa Rican Fishing Vice Minister Roman Solera and Spain’s Environment, Agriculture and Marine Minister Elena Espinosa, Flores said.
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Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
Amway Global, a multilevel marketing and direct sales company, announced plans to transfer 93 positions from its corporate office in Ada, Michigan to Costa Rica within the next 12 to 15 months. The majority of the positions will be in the finance division of the company, which is undergoing a restructuring process that aims to increase its presence in Latin America.
“Costa Rica is a primary hub for servicing the Latin American region,” said Stephen Duthie, a spokesman at Amway Corporations. “We are looking at growing in the Latin America market and Costa Rica is a good location with proximity to our manufacturing facilities in the U.S.”
Amway sells a multitude of products, including vitamin, mineral and dietary supplements, skin care and cosmetics, XS brand energy drinks and L.O.C. cleansing products. Customers buy Amway products from such sites as Shop.com and Barnes & Noble.com, as well as in stores such as Office Depot, Bass Pro Shops and Dick’s Sporting Goods. According to Duthie, Amway had over $8.2 billion in sales last year, which was a 15 percent leap from the previous year.
“The move to Costa Rica is a long-term decision,” Duthie said. “It is not a decision made in duress.”
The company has not yet chosen a specific location for its Costa Rica branch.
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