Business

ANKARA, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Initial delivery of Russian made S-400 air defense system parts will start in June, as planned before, Turkish officials said on Thursday.

"The first parts of the S-400 air defense system will arrive in June and the shipment will be completed in July," a Turkish official from the Ministry of Defense said on condition of anonymity.

DHAKA, April 4 (Xinhua) -- A state-owned Chinese company on Thursday signed an agreement for improvement of Elenga-Hatikamrul-Rangpur Road to a 4-Lane highway in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

China Construction Seventh Engineering Division Corporation Limited, a subsidiary of China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited, signed the official contract with the Bangladeshi government's Roads and Highways Department here.

ROME, April 4 (Xinhua) -- The Italian government has approved a so-called "growth decree" designed to kickstart the country's shrinking economy, Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio announced late on Thursday.

"This decree will have a positive impact on our growth, making it sustainable," Di Maio, who leads the populist Five Star Movement and who also serves as minister of labor and economic development, told reporters in televised comments.

WASHINGTON, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a message delivered to his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, on Thursday that new substantial progress has been made on the text of the China-U.S. economic and trade agreement in the past more than one month.

New Delhi, Apr 4 (PTI) The country's services sector activity eased in March with slowest pace of output growth in six-months due to a slower expansion in new work, leading to weakest rate of hiring since last September, a monthly survey showed Thursday.

The seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Services Business Activity Index fell to 52 in March from 52.5 in February, indicating the slowest expansion since last September.

Washington, Apr 4 (PTI) A free trade agreement between India and the US is a key to resolving their trade disputes as it will cover biggest irritants in ties including tariffs and mobility of Indian professionals, a top American business advocacy group has said.

Observing that the relationship between India and the US in the last five years has progressed tremendously, the advocacy group said the interest of the two largest democracies of the world are much more aligned than ever.

Washington, Apr 4 (PTI) India is one of the highest taxing nations in the world, US President Donald Trump has again slammed the country for imposing 100 per cent tariffs on American products, including the iconic Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

Such a high tariff is not fair, Trump said Tuesday during National Republican Congressional Committee Annual Spring Dinner here.

PARIS (AP) — Foreign and interior ministers from the Group of Seven are gathering in France this week to try to find ambitious solutions to world security challenges. Putting a dampener on that are two glaring American absences: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

PANAMA CITY (AP) — China’s expansion in Latin America of its Belt and Road initiative to build ports and other trade-related facilities is stirring alarm in Washington over Beijing’s ambitions in a region that American leaders since the 19th century have seen as off-limits to other powers.

3 Apr 2019; DW: The "Debt Report 2019," presented by Jubilee Germany in Berlin on Wednesday, paints a dark picture of global debt. The organization, which is comprised of civic and church groups, is engaged in efforts to end the problem.

The report claims that low interest rates and cheap credit are motivating poorer countries to borrow beyond their means, catching them in a debt trap they will never be able to escape from.