US Consumer Spending Up Slightly Amid Weak Recovery
(Published on Tue, 2 Mar 2010 23:01:18 GMT)
The U.S. Commerce Department says consumer spending rose more than expected in January, up half a percent. Analysts say its another indication that the U.S. economy is on track to climb out of the worst recession since the 1930s. But while consumer spending drives about 70 percent of the U.S. economy, economists say other factors are making the recovery more difficult.
The U.S. economy grew at a faster than expected rate at the end of 2009, up nearly six percent in the last three months of the year. But a little more than two months into 2010, some analysts say the U.S. recovery is losing steam.
Although consumer spending improved slightly in January, economist Diane Swonk says housing sales remained anemic. The housing market has recovered from the exceedingly low levels that we saw hit during the worst of the recession. That said, were still not going anywhere fast, she said.
Despite an $8,000 tax incentive for first time home buyers, sales of existing homes have declined two months in a row.
Some say record snowfalls may have kept homebuyers away.
But with prices still falling, realtors predict an improvement for March and April. Youre not going to get more affordable than it is right now, with the combination of interest rates and the home prices. Its a really good time, said Gary Keller of Keller Williams Realty.
Although manufacturing numbers, which reflect demand, expanded again in February, some economists say recovery will not be as rapid as in previous downturns. I think consumer spending numbers are reflective of the job numbers, which continue to be weak, said John Silvia, chief economist at Wells Fargo bank.
The pace of job losses has declined dramatically in the last year, but nearly 15 million Americans are still out of work. Silvia expects the situation to improve soon. I would suspect that the jobs numbers would turn positive by the second quarter of this year, so probably another two or three months out well get some positive jobs numbers, he said.
Americans should get a better idea of where the economy is headed on Friday, when the Labor Department releases its closely-watched monthly jobs report.
Malaysias Efforts to Liberalize Economy Could Cause Short-Term Pain
(Published on Wed, 3 Mar 2010 13:37:40 GMT)
The government of Malaysia knows that, in the current global economic situation, it must innovate to survive. Its traditional manufacturing base is threatened by competition from lower-wage countries. The country is promoting a new economic model that would use technology to increase development and is investing in developing high-end products and a highly skilled workforce. Still, economists say Malaysias economy continues to lag behind developed neighbors because of government policies that stifle competitive market forces
Halimaton Hamdan, a professor of nanotechnology at the Technical University of Malaysia, has developed a process to extract silicon dioxide from rice husks. Rice husks are what is left over after the grain is harvested. Silicon dioxide is a key ingredient in a number of products, from cement to insulation. Hamdan says providing a cheap source of this material from a locally available and abundant source is the kind of innovation Malaysia needs to compete in a global economy.
We can come up with value-added products. So this is the advantage and cut a lot of costs at the same time and it will benefit, at the end, because the application of this product is going to support the technology, because it is a green process and at the same time, hopefully, we can provide materials for our local construction buildings and things like that, said Hamdan.
Hamdans work is being funded by the government. It is part of the countrys drive to make Malaysia more competitive in the global economy.
Economist Yeah Kim Leng says Malaysias past success in building a vibrant middle class is threatened by low demand for from the United States and Europe, following the global economic crisis, and by low-wage competitors in Vietnam and Cambodia. He says the countrys only option for future growth is to follow the model of developed neighbors like Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea.
These countries have invested tremendously in human resources, having very open as well as meritocracy-led economies that impact on polices that emphasize a lot on science and technology, he said.
Malaysian cities, like Kuala Lumpur, already have the infrastructure needed - modern buildings, good public transportation and high-speed electronic communications - to support a growing technology sector.
The Malaysian governments investment in research is also starting to pay off. In addition to Hamdans work, students and professors are also developing new medical technology to detect heart and hearing problems. Hamdan says, although this research has succeeded in developing new, innovative technology, the private sector has been slow to utilize it for commercial application.
The main challenge is trying to convince especially the industry, because in the past its very difficult for us [in] the local [community] to convince the industry that we have a product that can be commercialized, he said.
However, Malaysias main challenge is making its economy more competitive. For four decades, the government employed a policy of racial preferences for ethnic Malays. The policys goal was to close the gap between rich businessmen, mostly Chinese, and the poor, who were mostly Malay. Kim Leng says, although the policy succeeded in creating a vibrant Malay middle class, it also stifled competition.
Some good policies, over time, become bad policies, if they are not changed, if they do not keep up with things, he said.
Last year, the government announced a new policy weakening a requirement that companies reserve 30 percent of their shares for ethnic Malays. Leng says, in the long-term, liberalization of the economy will create new jobs and opportunities but, for now, the countrys traditional manufacturing base will continue to shrink.
In the short term there will be pain. There will be objections to opening up the markets. There will be the need for government intervention to elevate, not to rollback, this liberalization or expansion, market expansion, but actually to assist these industries in coping with an intensified competition from these countries, he said.
He says, over time, equal opportunity could turn Malaysias ethnic diversity into an economic advantage. The language and cultural links between Chinese and Indian ethnic minorities, in particular, could help increase economic ties between Malaysia and the two largest economies in Asia.
UN Expert Warns of Looming World Food Crisis
(Published on Wed, 3 Mar 2010 20:14:20 GMT)
Conditions in the worlds grain markets today are similar to those during the food price crisis of 2007-2008, according to the head of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.
FAO chief Jacques Diouf tells VOA another food price crisis is possible.
Riots broke out in Kenya and more than 30 other countries in 2007 and 2008 because people could not afford to buy food.
Price crisis
Experts say record high energy prices, growing demand for bio-fuels, low grain reserves and bad weather in producing countries helped push up prices beginning in 2007.
Record high energy prices, growing demand for bio-fuels, low grain reserves and bad weather helped push up prices beginning in 2007.
Responding to the high prices, major global exporters have ramped up production. But Diouf says farmers in some of the worlds most vulnerable countries have lagged behind. And these were the countries where we had riots and other problems, he says.
Food prices remain high in many developing countries. And Diouf says the threat of another global price hike persists. Energy prices have not fallen to pre-crisis levels, and crops are still being diverted for bio-fuels. In fact, he says, except for larger grain reserves, not much has changed since 2007.
All the other factors that led to the price crisis are all here. They have not changed, he says. So, I think that, if we have -- and I pray that we dont have it -- serious problems of flood and drought in major exporting countries, were back to square one.
Experts say floods, drought and other extreme weather are becoming more frequent, brought on by climate change.
And the worlds population is expected to grow by nearly 50 percent, to 9 billion by 2050. Developing countries will grow the most.
More investment needed
Diouf says many nations are still not investing enough in agriculture.
Last summer in Italy, the G-8 group of industrialized nations pledged $20 billion to help farmers in the developing world expand food supplies.
All those commitments are not met yet, he says. So this is where we are.
Diouf says what farmers in many developing countries need is simple: irrigation, improved storage facilities, help with fertilizers and high-quality seeds to improve yields.
Without those investments, he says, the world risks another food crisis, and the hunger and instability that go along with it.
US Will Support Ban On International Trade of Bluefin Tuna
(Published on Thu, 4 Mar 2010 14:05:24 GMT)
The US announced on Wednesday that it will support a ban on the international trade of Atlantic bluefin tuna. The announcement comes prior to this months meeting in Qatar of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wildlife Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Atlantic bluefin tuna is being overfished and there are fears it could become extinct.
Repeated attempts to allow the species to recover have failed under the pressure to supply a market willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars for a single fish.
Later this month, a proposal to ban the international trade of bluefin tuna will be debated by almost 200 countries that signed the UN convention on endangered species.
Rebecca Lent is in charge of International Affairs at NOAA Fisheries, the US government agency responsible for protecting the countrys marine resources. There were bluefin tuna in the good old days in Brazil but those stocks were fished out and they are gone, she said. So its primarily a north Atlantic species now.
The proposal would declare bluefin tuna so endangered that a ban on international trade in the fish is required
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has been sounding the alarm on bluefin tuna for decades.Since the 1970s, the western section of the stock, which is the US portion, has declined 82 percent, Roberta Elias, with WWF explained. So there is only something like 41,000 adults remaining in that population. Some believe that population is stable in contrast to the eastern portion of the stock which is continuing to decline at probably lower population levels.
Bluefin tuna is highly popular in Japan, where much of it goes for sushi and sashimi. Japan consumes some 80 percent of all bluefin tuna. It opposes the ban.
Were trying our best to avoid having a ban enacted, Hirotaka Akamatsu, Japans Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries said. Japan says it is urging European countries that export bluefin tuna to also oppose a ban.
Warm blooded bluefin tuna can live up to 20 years. Scientists hope the ban would allow bluefin to recover. But while international trade could be outlawed, officials say a robust black market could survive. To deal with the shortage, Japan has bluefin tuna farms.
But theres a reason such farms are not more widespread, Lent said. These fish are voracious eaters. In order for it to be economically profitable we are going to have to find some way to get cheaper food for fish. The best way to deal with bluefin tuna fisheries really is to manage it well in the wild.
In addition to bluefin tuna, measures to protect sharks and coral will also be debated at the upcoming conference in Qatar.
Unintended Acceleration Problems Persist Despite Toyota Recall Repairs
(Published on Fri, 5 Mar 2010 00:14:52 GMT)
The U.S. Transportation Department is looking into complaints from some Toyota owners who say they are still experiencing problems with unintended acceleration even after repairs to their recalled vehicles. The complaints raise concerns that safety issues that led to the recall of more than eight million vehicles may not be mechanical in nature, as Toyota engineers claim.
February 24 in Washington, U.S. lawmakers heard words of assurance from top Toyota officials.
Toyota engineers have developed effective and durable solutions for the vehicles we have recalled, said one.
But Toyota owner Stewart Stogel is not so sure.
Whatever they did, didnt work, said Stewart Stogel.
Stogel says he picked up his recalled 2009 Camry from a dealer after getting repairs to fix a sticky gas pedal. He says what happened next came as a big surprise.
I almost got into a serious accident after the fix was done, he said. I was saved only by a few feet and about a second going down an embankment and smashing into a brick wall.
Stogel took his car back to the dealer, but he says the service manager was unable to give him answers.
Were going to have to look at the car, said the service manager. I have Toyota on standby to help us with our investigation, and we definitely want to get to the bottom of it.
So does the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The agency has received at least 10 similar complaints and wants to hear from other owners who have experienced problems after repairs were done.
Safety experts say the new complaints underscore the need for tougher safety standards. Clarence Ditlow at the Center for Auto Safety in Washington says the problem may be caused by faulty electronics.
Todays modern car is in a way more sophisticated than a fighter jet in terms of the computers that are in it but we dont have any reassurance as to what standards went into designing the computer software that goes into those vehicles, said Clarence Ditlow.
NHTSA says the Toyota recalls are linked to at least 50 accidental deaths. U.S. lawmakers are expected to push for new tests and new regulations after holding a series of hearings last week on auto safety.
Fair Trade Campaign Kicks Off in Britain
(Published on Fri, 5 Mar 2010 23:34:05 GMT)
Fair trade has become an increasingly important campaign in todays global market place. Its focus is the rights of millions of workers in developing countries who earn low wages and face harsh working conditions to produce low cost products many of us use every day, including tea, coffee or even flowers. Britain has been sponsoring a number of events to highlight the fair trade issue in a two-week long campaign.
If its one thing most Britons cherish its their cup of tea. So its not surprising that the Fairtrade Fortnight kicked off with a tea ceremony - where hundreds of women dressed as tea ladies, dancing and offering cups of fair trade tea at venues across the country.
But, the campaign is more than tea dances - it seeks to offer farmers in developing countries a guaranteed premium for their products over and above market prices
Comfort Kumeah has come here from her native Ghana, where she works on a cocoa plantation. She says until a few decades ago, cocoa growers had no choice but to sell their cocoa to the government at whatever price was offered.
Farmers lives [were] miserable because the money they received was very little, she said.
As a result, 1,500 of these cocoa growers decided to form a co-operative, Kuapa Kokoo, that would sell its own cocoa. The co-operative has grown to include almost 45,000 Ghanaian workers who sell their cocoa to chocolate companies around the world who practice fair trade. And, they are now also the owners of one such company, Divine Chocolate. Kumeah says that turned things around
We benefit much from it because we are fair trade certified and on top of the market price we are paid premium and with that premium our lives have really improved, she added. Weve been able to build schools, weve been able to provide good drinking water, weve been able to provide good sanitation for our village communities.
In Britain, during this Fairtrade Fortnight, the humanitarian group, Oxfam is encouraging people to bring in their charity donations into Oxfam shops and they get a box of fair-trade tea in return
Oxfams Stuart Foukes explains how buying fair-trade products can make a difference.
It enables people to use their powers as shoppers to actually support producers in the developing world in a real and practical and a very direct way and what it also means is that consumers can use their powers as shoppers to actually influence the way in which retailers and the way in which business goes about doing things, he noted.
Foukes says almost any purchase could be a fair trade one - pillowcases, chocolates, tea, coffee, flowers or even wine, but he says the campaign must grow and spread further.
What we would really like to see you know is a commitment that everyone involved in the production of a product from producers and supplier right through to manufacturers until it ends up on the shelf you know is paid a fair wage and is treated the way one would hope they would be, he added.
Foukes says too many workers around the world are still deprived of decent working conditions and decent wages and he says the fair trade movement could make a significant difference for them.
US Jobless Claims Down, Productivity Up
(Published on Thu, 4 Mar 2010 16:15:53 GMT)
The number of people signing up for unemployment compensation in the United States dropped last week, while an updated study of U.S. productivity shows rapid gains in the last few months of 2009.
Thursdays reports from the Labor Department show jobless claims dropping by 29,000 to a total of 469,000. This may be evidence that the job market is making a slow recovery.
Other figures show the amount of work produced per worker per hour grew at a strong 6.9 percent annual rate in the last quarter of 2009. Productivity gains are usually good news, but in this case they follow a long period of layoffs and employers efforts to squeeze more work out of the remaining staff
Some economists say companies have just about reached the limit of what they can produce without hiring new workers, so hiring may resume in the next few months
On Friday government experts are set to publish the official U.S. unemployment rate, which economists surveyed by news organizations say probably rose slightly in February.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
India to Raise Fuel Prices Amid Protest
(Published on Fri, 5 Mar 2010 18:04:12 GMT)
The Indian government has indicated it will push ahead with its decision to raise fuel prices despite strong political opposition. The government says it wants to focus on strong economic growth and fiscal discipline to cut poverty
Lawmakers from opposition parties led demonstrations and disrupted parliament this week demanding that the government roll back its decision to raise fuel prices.
Even the governments own allies have opposed the decision to hike gasoline prices by about six percent and diesel prices by about eight percent.
Opponents of the hike say it will fuel inflation, which is nearly nine per cent -- its highest level in more than a year
But Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee says the oil price hike is necessary to bring down the fiscal deficit, which is at a 16-year-high.
India subsidizes the prices of oil products such as gasoline, diesel, cooking gas and kerosene fuel to protect poor people from sharp fluctuations in energy prices.
But economists have been calling for an end to these subsidies. D.H. Pai Panandikar heads the private think tank, RPG Foundation.
Subsidies put a burden on the budget, and worse than that, because the price of petroleum product is low, there is a temptation to consume more of petroleum products. So there is no effort to economize, he said.
The dispute over fuel prices will test the governments determination to push ahead with further reform of state-run sectors such as petroleum.
The government says as the economy returns to a high growth path, it needs to restore fiscal discipline and use the money saved on fuel subsidies to finance social welfare programs.
On Friday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told parliament that if economic growth continues to be strong and if the country manages its fiscal situation well, then it will be possible to soften the harsh edges of extreme poverty in about five years.
We need to invest more in education, we need to invest more in health, we are doing that, we need to invest more in rural infrastructure, and urban infrastructure. We are doing that. But more needs to be done. Please help us to strengthen the growth impulses in our economy, he said
Although strong economic growth has created a huge middle class, more than half of Indias one billion plus people are still poor and live on less than $2 a day.
US Monthly Unemployment Rate Holds Steady
(Published on Fri, 5 Mar 2010 18:11:00 GMT)
The U.S. unemployment rate held steady at 9.7 percent in February. Fewer jobs were lost than many economists had feared, but the statistics show that many companies dont have enough faith in an economic recovery to start hiring now.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says the economy lost 36,000 more jobs last month than it created. Many analysts see it as good news, because the expectation was for a loss double that figure.
That expectation was largely based on two recent blizzards that shut down many businesses in the Philadelphia and Washington areas. But the bureau says its not clear how much the storms affected unemployment, because many of the people who couldnt get to work are still counted as employed.
Still, the latest figures interrupt a trend of gradual improvement in recent months. And the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says a total of 14.9 million Americans are still out of work.
The U.S. economy may be in a recovery mode, but the labor market is still doing poorly, said John Lonski, an analyst at Moodys Investors service.
But officials remain optimistic. In a speech just before the latest job figures were released, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Charles Evans, said employment is often the last thing to recover in a recession. Many businesses slash payrolls, he said, and try to keep a lean staff even as output levels begin to recover.
But I think many businesses already are finding that they can take lean production only so far, he added.
At a recent jobs fair in New York, many people clung to the hope of finding a job soon. Banker David Gereb lost his job three months ago.
Depending who you listen to - some people say its getting worse, some say its getting better, just cross my fingers that I get a job soon, Gereb said.
The United States is enduring the worst rise in unemployment of any economic slowdown since World War II. More than 8.5 million jobs have been lost since the recession began a little over two years ago.
US Redesigns Hundred Dollar Bill
(Published on Sat, 6 Mar 2010 20:07:24 GMT)
The United States says it will debut a new design to the hundred-dollar bill next month
In a statement Friday, the Treasury Department said it makes decisions about currency redesigns by evaluating ongoing counterfeit threats.
The department said the new look will help protect against fraud.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will unveil the new look on April 21 in a special ceremony.
Details of how the bill will be different from the current version have not yet been released. But the treasury department says it will launch a global public awareness campaign to make sure everyone is aware of the new security measures before the bill starts circulating.
The hundred-dollar note is the highest U.S. dollar denomination in circulation. It is used by people around the world.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
China: No Contact with Google About Dispute
(Published on Sun, 7 Mar 2010 00:03:25 GMT)
China says it has not had any direct contact with the U.S. Internet company Google about ending its China-based search service because of government censorship.
Chinese Vice Minister Miao Wei told the state-run Xinhua news agency that Chinas ministry of industry and information technology has had no contact with Google on the matter.
Miao says Google never informed the ministry that it was planning to withdraw from China. The minister spoke on the sidelines of the National Peoples Congress in Beijing Saturday.
Google has said it was holding talks with Chinese officials about how it could continue operating in the country without censoring its content.
Google had earlier said it would no longer respect Beijings censorship rules after discovering what it said were China-based cyber attacks on its e-mail accounts. The Chinese government has denied any involvement.
China carefully censors the Web to filter out sexually explicit or violent content, as well as information it considers to be a challenge to the ruling Communist Party.
Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.
Iceland Rejects Bill to Repay Britain, Netherlands
(Published on Sat, 6 Mar 2010 23:51:40 GMT)
Icelandic voters overwhelmingly rejected a $5.3-billion deal to repay debts to Britain and the Netherlands for their losses in the 2008 collapse of Icelands private online bank, Icesave.
Partial results from Saturdays referendum on the issue show that more than 93 percent of voters said no to the legislation.
Britain and the Netherlands compensated about 340,000 of their citizens who lost the money they had in Icesave.
The bill narrowly passed Icelands parliament in December, but President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson refused to sign it, saying the terms of repayment were too harsh
Under the plan, each citizen would have to pay about $135 a month for eight years. The president said many Icelandic families cannot afford that.
Talks among the three countries Friday ended without agreement
Icelands failure to reach a final repayment plan could hurt its aspirations for European Union membership.
Icelands finance minister, Steingrimur Sigfusson, said Reykjavik will honor its financial obligations regardless of the polls outcome
Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
Burkina Cloth Reveals Paradoxes in Countrys Biggest Industry
(Published on Mon, 8 Mar 2010 23:44:39 GMT)
In Burkina Fasos second-largest city, Bobo-Dioulasso, cloth merchant Douda Tassembedo walks up and down the streets selling new designs. Today he has rolls of cloth for International Womens Day, March 8. A lot of women are looking, but Tassembedo is having a hard time getting anyone to buy. He says business is slow. He says people buy one piece, or at most three pieces, each, not too much. So he says if he makes five sales a day he can get by
Tassembedo passes by one lady, Salimata Ouedrago, wearing the Womens Day cloth from last year. She decides not to buy this years design quite yet
Ouedrago says in Burkina Faso, March 8 is a day for women to relax and men to take care of everything at home. Ouedrago says the men go to the market, run errands and then come home and cook. But she says the March 8 designs are expensive
The cloth vendor says good bye and keeps walking
In the town of Koudougou, the machines at Burkina Fasos only textile factory, Fasotex, are busy printing cloth for Womens Day. Even though this cloth is specially designed for Burkina Faso, only about a third is manufactured in the country
The Fasotex factory has had trouble making money recently. It was privatized and reopened in 2006 after losing money as a national business. Since then, only one small part of the factory has gotten up and running
Today, Fasotex only prints designs on fabric, it does not turn the raw cotton into cloth like it used to. Underneath the designs, the fabric itself is imported from Benin, even though Burkina Faso is Africas largest producer of cotton
Factory director, Elie Grand, says that is because the machines in the factory are outdated. He says the modern looms outside the country do the same job six or seven times quicker than the Fasotex machines. Grand says if they were to make the cloth now, it would be twice as expensive as buying it from outside
Virtually all of Burkina Fasos cotton is exported. Of the 400,000 tons of cotton it produced last year, far less than one percent actually stayed in the country. The rest goes abroad to Asia, Ghana and Europe. It is sold at a price determined on the world market. About 20 percent of the population depends on cotton farming
On a small farm outside Bobo-Dioulasso, farmer Sogo Sanou is getting his cotton fields ready for planting
Sanou says that cotton used to be the biggest part of his farm, but now that the price has been dropping, he plants more corn. He goes on to say that with cotton, even if farmers do good work, they will not have anything to show for it. He says fertilizer is very expensive and they have to borrow money to pay for it. Sometimes, even after the harvest, Sanou says farmers have to pawn their belongings to pay back their creditors.
But some people think cotton producers could make a better profit, if their crops could be used in Burkina Faso
National Union of Cotton Producers Coordinator Leonce Sanon says Burkina Faso has a very weak capacity to turn cotton into fabric. But, he says, he thinks developing the textile industry would help increase the revenue of the producers
There are a few efforts to do that. At the Fasotex factory, General Manager Grand is working on getting a new fleet of machines that would begin weaving cloth out of local cotton by next year. He says it will not be a big part of national consumption, but Grand says it will certainly give other people the idea to do the same thing across West Africa
Back on the streets of Bobo-Dioulasso, Douda Tassembedo the Womens Day cloth vendor has finally found an interested customer. She looks at the cloth and they haggle over the price. She decides to buy some and even says her friend wants some too. Tassembedo makes a sale. He celebrates with a calabash of millet beer, and then keeps walking.
Foreign Workers in Russia Face Sudden Red-Tape Barrier
(Published on Mon, 8 Mar 2010 23:50:50 GMT)
Russia has long been known for being the land of bureaucracy, but lately red tape has taken on a whole new meaning for foreign workers. It is all because of a four-year-old law that is suddenly being enforced.
The line at the central migration office in Moscow is nearly out the door. One can see the anxiety on peoples faces as they approach the window.
Most foreign workers accept that they have a daunting task to obtain a visa and maintain their legal status in Russia. For example, forms must be filled out in triplicate with the proper signatures, and government forms can change on a weekly basis, without notice. Fill out a wrong form and your visa is denied.
Every foreigner must register with the central migration office within three days of arriving in Russia. If they fail to do so, they are issued an exit visa. Furthermore, foreigners with a work visa have to let the migration office know if they are leaving the city they are authorized to work in, failure to do so could result in a fine, arrest or both.
If that is not enough to worry about, a newly enforced, existing law requires foreign workers to get their college diplomas notarized in the country where they received them, and then get a stamp from that countrys foreign ministry.
An official stamp is often used by governments as proof that an important document or a signature is real. It is usual for many countries to require these stamps for things such as medical certificates or legal documents, but not college diplomas.
German Robert Zellner has been working for an international hotel chain in Moscow for nearly three years.
Now, all of a sudden I have to fly to the United States, where I went to college, and get my diploma stamped and double stamped, in order to keep my own job? Who is gonna pay for this? Zellner asked.
Moscow-based political analyst Mascha Lipman of the Carnegie Center, says she thinks the recent enforcement of the obscure law is just the governments way of making it difficult for foreign workers to stay in Russia.
These recent hurdles have to do with historic, traditional Russian xenophobia. Suspicion of people, from abroad, coming to Russia doing something in Russia. This has to do with the Soviet experience. This was a closed country in which people could not leave or come freely, Lipman said.
Zellner agrees and says he feels the government is trying to weed out foreigners.
I was given very little notice that I needed to get this stupid stamp. I mean, I just cannot leave the country and do a stamp run. But I could lose my job if they do not give me enough time, Zellner said.
And, he could face some trouble meeting the requirement. Stamps often take up to eight weeks to get. Scotland native Euan Crawford says he was only given two weeks notice. He is vice president of an accounting firm in Moscow.
It got to the point that the office was considering buying me a degree from a university in eastern Russia, because it was going to be cheaper than getting my degree certificate to the notary and then getting it apostulated, and then getting it to Russia, Crawford said.
Human Rights Watch Moscow office director Allison Gill says the law is being enforced now because Russia does not need foreign experience like it used to.
You know, there was a time in the early 90s when a foreign worker was actually sought out; particularly in business, in consulting and finance. Then as the Russian economy got more on its feet and Russia resurged in all kinds of ways the pendulum swung the other way, Gill said.
Zellner agrees, he says he is regularly reminded his Russian boss prefers to work with her fellow countrymen.
I cannot tell you how many times I have been told that Russia is for Russians and that we are taking their jobs. They do not really want us, Zellner said.
Russian officials say they are not trying to harass foreign workers. They say the diploma certification requirement is a way for foreign workers to prove they are qualified for the job.
There is some suggestion Russian authorities may be easing up a bit on what many analysts say is their unwelcoming stance. President Dmitry Medvedev recently encouraged authorities to be more hospitable to foreign workers, and hinted at easing visa regulations within the next year.
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Record high energy prices, growing demand for bio-fuels, low grain reserves and bad weather helped push up prices beginning in 2007.