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Global IT revenues at 1tThe global information technology industry had revenues last year of 1.027 trillion, 80 per cent of which were...

Global IT revenues at 1t

The global information technology industry had revenues last year of 1.027 trillion, 80 per cent of which were earned by US companies, a study showed.

The Information Technology Industry Council said revenues from sales of computers, software and services and telecommunications equipment and services increased 8 per cent in 1997 over 1996.

quot;These figures reinforce our case that US leaders need to continue to develop public policies that foster a competitive business environment,quot; said Rhett Dawson, Council President.

The council has advocated an acceleration in global electronic commerce and the removal of tariff and non-tariff trade barriers in the information technology sector.

Jakarta improves textile quota system

The Indonesian government has issued a new decree to help improve the distribution and use of textile export quotas, a report said. quot;The decree will optimise the distribution of textile quota to increase foreign revenue, to give businesscertainty for textile producers and to provide more opportunities to smaller companies, cooperatives and newly-operating companies,quot; Trade and Industry Minister Rahardi Ramelan said.

He was quoted by the Jakarta Post daily as saying that the ruling, issued on August 4, imposed sanctions on companies that traded, swapped, shifted or did not use over 10 per cent of their allocated export quotas.

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The companies under-utilising their quota or trading them to other companies will lose their right to obtain other quota categories the following year.

The ruling will now also allocate its fixed quotas to producers based on data provided by the state auditing company PT Sucofindo. The quota system is based on the companies8217; quota utilisation the previous year.

The daily quoted ministry data as showing that textile and textile-related exports rose 50.8 per cent in the January-April period bringing 2.46 billion against 1.63 billion in the same period last year. It also said that 63.79 per cent ofIndonesia8217;s fixed quota for textile exports were actually utilised last year. About 60 per cent of Indonesian textile and textile-related exports are made under the quota scheme.

Brazilian coffee comes to the boil

Reform of a loan system to Brazilian coffee growers brought coffee prices back to a boil this week, as authorities freed up cash to improve home stock levels, thus cutting future supplies on the export market. Dealers hoped that the measures would bring Brazilian exports into line with Association of Coffee Producing Countries guidelines, at nine million sacks.

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Brent North Sea crude prices meanwhile fell further amid a gloomy fundamental outlook of plentiful supply and demand that has been seriously undermined by Asia8217;s economic meltdown.

Renewed tensions between the United Nations and Iraq failed to bolster investor confidence, and the same applies to steps taken by the Organisation of Petroleum Producing Countries OPEC in July to cut back on runaway output levels.