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ABU DHABI — The World Trade Organisation (WTO) pushed for reform at a high-level ministerial meeting in Abu Dhabi on Monday, warning that economic headwinds and geopolitical tensions are threatening global commerce and multilateral trading systems.

The WTO's 13th ministerial conference (MC13), scheduled to run until Thursday in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, is the first in two years.

The WTO is hoping for progress, particularly on fishing, agriculture and electronic commerce.

But big deals are unlikely as the body's rules require full consensus among all 164 member states — a tall order in the current climate.

Speaking on the first day of MC13, WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said that "multilateralism is under attack", highlighting a need to "reform the multilateral trading system" and boost international cooperation.

"Looking around, uncertainty and instability are everywhere," the WTO chief said, adding that the world is in an "even tougher place today" compared to two years ago when WTO trade ministers last met.

Okonjo-Iweala did not name countries, but tensions have risen between the West on one side and Russia and China on the other in recent years.

The war in Gaza and related attacks by Yemeni rebels on ships in the Red Sea have added to the challenges.

Reiterating warnings that signs of "fragmentation" are appearing in the global economy, Okonjo-Iweala said trade volumes for 2023 likely fell below the WTO's October forecast. Trade volumes may also not reach WTO's growth estimates for this year, she added.

"If we fragment, it will be very costly to the world, both developed and developing countries," Okonjo-Iweala said.

"Cooperation and trade is vital. If we didn't have it, it would be very difficult for parts of the world to adjust."

'Need to evolve' 

The WTO chief's push for reform was echoed by UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, who said he hoped MC13 would serve as a "launch pad" for necessary reforms.

"The world has changed. And institutions like the WTO need to evolve too," European Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said on Monday, adding that "geopolitical tensions are on the rise. We are faced with crises wherever we look."

During the WTO's last ministerial meeting, held at its Geneva headquarters in June 2022, trade ministers nailed down a historic deal banning fisheries subsidies harmful to marine life and agreed to a temporary patent waiver for COVID-19 vaccines.

They also committed themselves to re-establishing a dispute settlement system that Washington had brought to a grinding halt in 2019 after years of blocking the appointment of new judges to the WTO's appeals court.

"Our challenge this week is to... demonstrate that MC12 wasn't a one-off miracle," Okonjo-Iweala said.

"I have seen the US engage more and I have to say they have been quite constructive," she told a press conference, dismissing claims of an American leadership vacuum.

The WTO faces pressure to eke out progress on reform in Abu Dhabi ahead of the possible re-election later this year of Donald Trump as US president.

During his four years in office from 2017 to 2021, Trump threatened to pull the United States out of the trade body and disrupted its ability to settle disputes.

"There will be the US elections in November... so this is the last chance," a diplomatic source in Geneva told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Reform agenda 

On Monday, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said "reform is squarely on the agenda for this week".

That includes "dispute settlement reform, where the goal is not just to go back to the way things used to be, but rather to provide confidence that the system is fair", she said in a statement.

But Marcelo Olarreaga, economics professor at the University of Geneva, said the other members of the WTO "cannot expect huge concessions" from the administration of US President Joe Biden in an election year.

While there is doubt over progress at the WTO on key issues, there is hope for advances on a new global agreement on tackling fisheries subsidies.

After striking an agreement in 2022, which banned subsidies contributing to illegal, undeclared and unregulated fishing, the WTO hopes to conclude a second deal, this time focusing on subsidies that fuel overcapacity and overfishing.

"We are within sight of ratifying the fisheries subsidies agreement," Okonjo-Iweala said on Monday.

DOHA — Qatar on Sunday announced new plans to expand output from the world's biggest natural gas field, saying it will boost capacity to 142 million tonnes per year before 2030.

The new North Field expansion, named "North Field West", will add a further 16 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year to existing expansion plans, Qatari Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi said at a press conference.

"Recent studies have shown that the North Field contains huge additional gas quantities estimated at 240 trillion cubic feet, which raises the state of Qatar's gas reserves from 1,760 [trillion] to more than 2,000 trillion cubic feet," said Kaabi, who also heads the state-owned QatarEnergy firm.

These results "will enable us to begin developing a new LNG project from the North Field's western sector with a production capacity of about 16 million tonnes per annum", he said.

This will bring Qatar's production capacity to 142 million tons once "the new expansion is completed before the end of this decade" — a nearly 85 per cent rise from current production levels, Kaabi added.

The QatarEnergy chief said the firm will "immediately commence" with engineering works to ensure the expansion is completed on time.

Qatar is one of the world's top LNG producers alongside the United States, Australia and Russia.

Asian countries led by China, Japan and South Korea have been the main market for Qatari gas, but demand has also grown from European countries since Russia's war on Ukraine threw supplies into doubt.

The latest expansion plans follow a flurry of announcements for longterm Qatari gas supply deals.

Earlier this month, Qatar said it would supply 7.5 million tonnes of LNG per year for 20 years to India's Petronet, with the first deliveries expected from May 2028.

And at the end of January, QatarEnergy announced a deal with US-based Excelerate Energy to supply Bangladesh with 1.5 million tonnes of LNG per year for 15 years.

Last year, Qatar inked LNG deals with China's Sinopec, France's Total, Britain's Shell and Italy's Eni.

CAIRO — The United Arab Emirates is to inject $35 billion in foreign direct investment into Egypt over the next two months, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly told a news conference recently.

Madbouly said the investment would "contribute to resolving" a hard currency crunch that has threatened Egypt's ability to service its large foreign debt and allow it to end separate official and black market exchange rates for the Egyptian pound.

Emirati sovereign wealth fund ADQ meanwhile said that $24 billion of the investment would go to developing the Ras Al Hikma area west of Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast.

The remaining $11 billion would go towards "deposits that will be utilised for investment in prime projects across Egypt to support its economic growth and development", according to a press release.

The deal signed between the two governments foresees the injection of a first tranche of $15 billion over the next week, with a second tranche of $20 billion following within the next two months.

Madbouly said the Ras Al Hikma project would see the development of a full resort city with an airport to be managed by the UAE.

Egypt's highly import-reliant economy, dominated by military-linked enterprises and with a fondness for infrastructure mega-projects, has been hit hard by a series of recent shocks.

The pandemic impacted its key tourism sector. The Ukraine war raised the cost of wheat and other imports. And recent attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels on Red Sea shipping have slashed vital Suez Canal fees.

Remittances from overseas Egyptian workers — the main source of foreign currency — slumped by as much as 30 per cent in July-September 2023 alone, according to Central Bank of Egypt data.

The Egyptian state, highly indebted after years of heavy borrowing, including for a new capital city in the desert east of Cairo, has struggled to service its ballooning debt.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has stepped in with a $3 billion loan facility but demanded painful austerity measures.

Loan tranches and programme reviews have been repeatedly delayed until Cairo moves ahead with promised reforms, including a fully flexible exchange rate, the IMF says.

The currency crunch has undermined confidence among Western investors about Egypt's ability to service its debts.

JP Morgan recently announced it would exclude Egypt from its index of government bonds, while ratings agency Moody's lowered its outlook on Egyptian bonds from "stable" to "negative".

HANOI — Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast on Thursday reported a net loss of more than $2 billion in 2023 after missing its sales target, despite a 90 per cent increase in revenue. 

The communist state's first homegrown car manufacturer is trying to crack the international market, aiming to compete with global EV giants such as Tesla. 

VinFast said in a filing submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission that its total revenue in 2023 was $1.19 billion, up 91 per cent compared to the previous year. 

But the firm also reported a net loss of $2.39 billion, up 14.7 per cent compared to 2022, after missing its EVs sales target. 

"We saw favourable results in our business operations in the fourth quarter with strong revenue growth and improved profit margins," Anh Nguyen, Vinfast Chief Financial Officer said in a statement. 

"We remain focused on enhancing investment performance and strengthening our balance sheet by reducing production and materials costs." 

A total of 34,855 Vinfast EVs were delivered in 2023, accounting for $1.09 billion and up 111 per cent from the previous year — but that figure was short of VinFast's 50,000 target. 

The filling said that Vinfast's gross loss was $551.6 million last year, with $174.9 million in the fourth quarter. 

However, its revenue between October and December reached $436 million, a 26 per cent rise compared to the previous quarter. 

The firm said it would raise its delivery target to 100,000 vehicles in 2024, and focus on penetrating other international markets beside the United States, Canada and Europe. 

Vinfast announced Wednesday that it will begin building an EV factory in India's southern state of Tamil Nadu on 25 February, with capacity to produce 150,000 vehicles a year. 

The firm also plans to invest at least $1.2 billion in Indonesia, where it plans to establish an EV factory, and has expressed intention to invest in the Philippines. 

Vinfast listed on the Nasdaq in August, hitting headlines around the world as its valuation skyrocketed and then crashed. 

The company's CEO is Pham Nhat Vuong, Vietnam's richest man and chairman of Vinfast's parent company Vingroup. 

BERLIN — The German government slashed its growth forecast for 2024 on Wednesday, warning that Europe's largest economy was in "difficult waters" as it faced a series of headwinds.

Output is now seen expanding by a mere 0.2 per cent this year, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said at a Berlin press conference.

Last autumn, the government was still expecting 1.3 per cent growth.

The country ended 2023 in recession, shrinking by 0.3 per cent, and the latest data suggest the first quarter of 2024 will see another contraction.

"The German economy is still in difficult waters," Hebestreit told reporters.

High interest rates, weaker demand and "geopolitical crises" including conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine were just some of the challenges confronting Germany, he added.

Economy Minister Robert Habeck will unveil details of the latest economic report later on Wednesday.

According to media reports, it will show that Germany risks facing anaemic growth up to 2028 if no action is taken.

The German economy, Europe's largest and traditionally a driver of eurozone growth, is being buffeted by "a perfect storm", Habeck said earlier this month.

Germany's once-mighty industrial sector has been hit particularly hard by multiple headwinds.

Having previously relied on cheap Russian gas imports, the sector is still reeling from the energy price surge triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The European Central Bank's streak of interest rate hikes to tame inflation has added to the pain, dampening demand and investments.

Exports have slumped on weaker trading with key markets such as China, which increasingly produces its own goods. Geopolitical tensions including shipping disruptions in the Red Sea have added to trading woes.

The long-promised shift to a greener economy meanwhile, requiring major public and private investment, has run into fresh hurdles after a shock legal ruling last year forced the government to rethink some of its climate spending plans.

German chemical giants BASF and Bayer were among some 60 companies this week issuing a joint appeal to European Union leaders to adopt a "European industrial deal" to help pull the sector out of the doldrums.

"Without a targeted industrial policy, Europe risks becoming dependent even on basic goods and chemicals. Europe cannot afford this to happen," the statement read.

Debt brake row

But the three parties that make up Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition of the Social Democrats, the Greens and the liberal FDP, are at odds over how to respond.

Finance Minister Christian Lindner from the pro-business FDP wants to ease the tax burden and cut red tape for businesses.

"If we do nothing, Germany will become poorer," he has warned.

A draft law that would reduce taxes on corporations was being debated by lawmakers on Wednesday, but months of squabbling has seen the expected impact reduced from around 7 billion euros ($7.5 billion) a year in tax relief to around 3 billion euros.

Economy Minister Habeck, from the ecologist Greens, wants to go further.

He has called for a relaxation of the government's constitutionally enshrined "debt brake", a self-imposed cap on annual borrowing that critics say has hampered much-needed spending on modernising infrastructure and financing environmentally-friendly projects.

Tensions over the brake spiralled after a top court in November found that the government broke the debt rule when it transferred billions of euros earmarked for pandemic support into a climate fund, throwing Scholz's budget into disarray.

While Scholz's Social Democrats have since signalled an openness to tweaking the rules, any loosening of the debt brake remains a red line for the FDP.

The economic headwinds have contributed to a steep decline in support for the government.

Plans to scrap agricultural fuel subsidies triggered nationwide tractor protests last month, with many farmers voicing dissatisfaction with Scholz and his coalition partners.

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands — The world's first chemical tanker ship fitted with massive rigid aluminium "sails" has left Rotterdam, its owner hoping to plot a route to bringing down the shipping industry's huge carbon footprint.

The MT Chemical Challenger, a 16,000-tonne chemicals transporter set sail from Antwerp for Istanbul on Friday, and will undergo sea trials along the way.

Built in Japan and kitted out with four giant 16-metre-high sails similar to aircraft wings, the tanker's owners hope to cut fuel consumption by 10 to 20 per cent as the sails will allow the ship's captain to throttle back on the engine.

"As an avid sailor myself, I have been thinking for a long time how we can make our industry more sustainable," said Niels Grotz, chief executive of Chemship, which operates a fleet of chemical tanker vessels mainly between US ports in the Gulf of Mexico and the eastern Mediterranean.

"Today we launch our first wind-assisted chemical tanker, which we hope will serve as an example to the rest of the world," Grotz told AFP at the ship's unveiling.

Global shipping — which burns diesel and other bunker fuels — contributed around 2 per cent of the world's carbon emissions in 2022, the International Energy Agency said.

New guidelines by the International Maritime Organisation said shipping emissions needed to be cut by at least 40 per cent by 2030 and down to zero by around 2050 if the Paris Climate Accords are to be achieved.

"Shipping has always been extremely competitive and it will be a struggle to reach these targets," admitted Grotz, who added the company was unlikely to "make money" on its latest project.

"But we have to bring down CO2 emissions — and we decided we're not just going to sit and wait for something magical to happen."

"With the sails on this ship we're expecting a yearly reduction of some 850 tonnes. That's the same output as around 500 cars annually," Chemship added in a statement.

Pulling power 

Grotz said the project to put sails on one of his chemical tankers — with others to follow — came when he and Dutch company Econowind, which specialises in building wind propulsion systems for ships, first put their heads together three years ago.

Last week the installation of the four sails was completed while the Chemical Challenger laid dockside in Rotterdam's massive sprawling harbour.

Although not the first modern ship to be kitted out with rigid sails — last year British firm Cargill put a wind-assisted cargo ship to sea for instance — Chemship said their Chemical Challenger is the world's first chemical tanker ship with sails.

Built similar to an aeroplane wing, the rigid aluminium sails are equipped with a system of vents and holes to maximise airflow in winds of up to 61 kilometres.

"This system called a 'ventilated wingsail' increases the wind's power by five times — and gives the same power as an imaginary sail of around 30 by 30 metres," said Rens Groot, sales manager at Econowind.

'Modern day sailors' 

Groot told AFP the installation of modern-day rigid sails on massive ships harked back to a time when sailing was the only way to move across the oceans.

Sails on ships are also reopening long-forgotten routes that fell out of favour as steam and fuel replaced wind power.

"Once again, modern-day 'sailors' will have to look for the wind, for instance along the Brouwer route," Groot said, referring to a sailing route around the Cape of Good Hope, first pioneered by Dutch explorer Hendrik Brouwer around 1611.

That route dips into the so-called "Roaring Forties" across the Indian Ocean before snaking north again along the Australian west coast to Asia.

It became compulsory a few years later for captains employed by the Dutch East India company on their way to the Netherlands' colonies in today's Indonesia.

"We are trying to find a way to bring nature back into technology," said Groot.

"Suddenly, you can feel a ship sailing again — just like in the olden days," Groot said.

SINGAPORE — Aviation hub Singapore will require airlines departing from the city-state to use sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from 2026 as part of industry plans to cut carbon emissions, the transport minister said on Monday.

But as the environmentally friendly fuel is three to five times more expensive than conventional jet fuel, authorities will introduce a levy on tickets to help cushion costs, Chee Hong Tat told an aviation summit.

Aviation is responsible for between two and three per cent of global CO2 emissions but it is one of the most difficult industries to decarbonise.

SAFs are produced from renewable biomass and waste resources and can comprise up to 50 per cent of jet fuel mixes.

They are seen as the main tool for decarbonising the aviation sector, but the technology is still in its infancy and production remains expensive.

"To kickstart SAF adoption in Singapore, we will require flights departing Singapore to use SAF from 2026," Chee said in a speech.

Airliners will be required to use a jet fuel mix that is 1 per cent SAF that year, gradually increasing to between 3 and 5 per cent by 2030, he added.

"This will provide an important demand signal to fuel producers and give them the incentive to invest in new SAF production facilities," Chee said.

To partially offset the cost, Singapore will collect a levy that varies depending on the distance travelled and the travel class.

Starting in 2026, an economy ticket on a direct flight from Singapore to London could increase by Sg$16.0 ($12.0), according to Chee.

Passengers with premium tickets will pay higher levies.

"We will monitor global developments and the wider availability and adoption of SAF in the next few years, before deciding on the SAF target beyond 2026," Chee said.

The International Civil Aviation Organization has set a goal for the industry to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and SAF is key to reaching that target.

Chee said that it was best to take a gradual approach.

An "overly ambitious" target "will hurt our air hub and our economy, and raise the cost of travel for passengers", he said at the summit, which is being held on the eve of the Singapore Airshow, Asia's biggest aviation event.

Willie Walsh, director-general of the International Air Transport Association, called for increased SAF production through government incentives to meet demand.

He said that while passenger traffic surged 175 per cent from 2000 to 2019, the global aviation industry's carbon footprint rose by only 54 per cent, an encouraging sign.

BERLIN — Union Verdi called on ground staff at Lufthansa to stage a walkout on Tuesday across Germany's biggest airports, in the latest strike to plague the country in recent weeks.

The industrial action affecting seven airports including Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin will start at 4:00 am (03:00 GMT) on Tuesday and end at 7:10 am on Wednesday, the union said in a statement.

No progress had been made in negotiations on working conditions, the union said, calling the strike of 25,000 workers, including maintenance employees and airport counter staff across the company.

Among sticking points were what the union said were an overly low pay offer made to the staff in comparison to other employee categories such as pilots.

"While the company is offering pilots with annual basic wages of up to 270,000 euros ($298,000) raises reaching two digit figures, ground staff are unable to break even given the inflation of the last years," said Verdi's lead negotiator Marvin Reschinsky.

The union added that it expected major flight disruptions over the walkout.

"We don't want this escalation. We want a quick result for employees and passengers," said the union, which is seeking pay rises of 12.5 per cent, and a minimum of 500 euros more a month.

The next round of negotiations will take place on February 21.

Germany has been hit by a spate of strikes across varying sectors including transport, the civil service and supermarkets.

Pinched by inflation over the last years and in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, workers are demanding higher wages to cope with the cost of living.