FREE TRADE TALKS BETWEEN THAILAND AND EU LIKELY THIS YEAR
The EU last week announced that it would start negotiations for bilateral trade pacts with Viet Nam and Singapore soon. Previously, the EU wanted to conclude an FTA with Asean as a whole. However, problems arising due to the varying development levels and differing interests of Asean's members led to the suspension of the talks in 2008. The EU, therefore, expressed interested in bilateral agreements with certain countries in Asean, including Thailand.
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U.S. HOPES INTERNET EXPORTS WILL HELP OPEN CLOSED SOCIETIES
Seeking to exploit the Internet’s potential for prying open closed societies, the Obama administration will permit technology companies to export online services like instant messaging, chat and photo sharing to Iran, Cuba and Sudan. The Treasury Department will issue a general license for the export of free personal Internet services and software geared toward the populations in all three countries, allowing Microsoft, Yahoo and other providers to get around strict export restrictions.
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SOLAR POWER FUTURE FOR GLASS PYRAMIDS?
Center for Architecture Science and Ecology, (CASE), is a research consortium that wants to turn office windows into multifaceted solar power generators. Their "integrated concentrating dynamic solar facade" consists of grids of clear pyramids that help focus the sun's rays to generate energy. This system would tackle cooling, heating and lighting - usually a building's biggest energy suckers.
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BIODEGRADABLES SEEN AS FUTURE FOR ASIA'S PLASTICS INDUSTRY
Asia's plastics industry is seeing new expansion, driven by demand in China and India. Both environmentalists and industry executives agree biodegradable plastics will need to play a larger role in the industry's future. Bio-plastics are on the verge of a major breakthrough, being used in packaging, electronics, autos and agriculture. Environ-mentalists want to see more government support promoting development of bio-plastics, as well as having consumers pay a higher price for using plastic containers and bags.
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TINY EAR LISTENS TO HIDDEN WORLDS
A micro-ear could soon help scientists eavesdrop on tiny events just like microscopes make them visible. Initially, researchers will use it to snoop on cells as they go about their daily business. It may allow researchers to listen to how a drug disrupts micro-organisms, in the same way as a mechanic might listen to a car's engine to find a fault. A team from three UK institutions is building the device, which they hope will become standard lab equipment.
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CHINA, KENYA TO SEARCH FOR ANCIENT CHINESE WRECKS
China and Kenya plan to search for ancient Chinese ships wrecked almost 600 years ago off Africa's east coast. An agreement was signed for a three-year project funded by China's Commerce Ministry to explore waters near the popular tourist towns of Malindi and Lamu. The sunken ships are believed to have been part of a massive fleet led by Ming dynasty admiral Zheng He that reached Malindi in 1418. Kenyan lore has long told of shipwrecked Chinese sailors settling in the region and marrying local women.
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Professor Edvinsson is a key pioneering contributor to both the theory and practice of Intellectual Capital. As the world’s first director of IC in 1991 he initiated the creation of the world's first public corporate Intellectual Capital Annual Report 1994, and inspired the development ever since on IC metrics. He was parallel to that prototyping the Skandia Future Center as a Lab for Organisational design, one of the very first in the World in 1996, and inspired many to be followed.

Professor Edvinsson is a key pioneering contributor to both the theory and practice of Intellectual Capital. As the world’s first director of IC in 1991 he initiated the creation of the world's first public corporate Intellectual Capital Annual Report 1994, and inspired the development ever since on IC metrics. He was parallel to that prototyping the Skandia Future Center as a Lab for Organisational design, one of the very first in the World in 1996, and inspired many to be followed.

Professor Leif Edvinsson has his education from the University of California, Berkeley, USA, and Lund University, Sweden. He is the author of numerous articles on the service management and on Intellectual Capital. In March 1997, together with Michael S. Malone, he launched one of the very first books on Intellectual Capital. He is also special advisor on Societal Entrepreneurship to the Swedish Governmental Foundation for Competence Development, as well as on Serciece Science to the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation.

Leif is serving on the Board of Directors of several knowledge intensive enterprises among others earlier the Swedish Brain Research Foundation as well as for many years the Center for Molecular Medicine at Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. Since 2000 he has been the Honorary Chairman of the UK based Henley College, KM Forum. Since 2000, he has been Professor, adjunct at Lund University on Intellectual Capital. In January 2006, he was also appointed professor adj. at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and later promoted to Chair Professor in 2007.

For contact use email: leif.edvinsson@unic.net