Business

BEIJING, March 18. /TASS/. China’s private businesses are interested in involving Crimea in the implementation of projects under the Belt and Road Initiative, head of the association of Chinese compatriots on the peninsula Ge Zhili reported on Monday.

BAKU, March 18 / TASS /. OPEC + has invited Iraq, Kazakhstan and Nigeria to join the monitoring committee, said the Saudi Arabian Minister of Energy Khaled al-Faleh, before the start of the meeting of the ministerial monitoring committee on Monday.

"We invited Iraq, Kazakhstan and Nigeria," he said.

BAKU, March 18 / TASS /. The average daily oil production in Venezuela in February was 1.43 million barrels, said Venezuelan oil industry minister Manuel Quevedo at a meeting of the OPEC + ministerial monitoring committee on Monday.

"1.432 million barrels per day," he said, answering the relevant question. At the same time, Quevedo did not mention the volume of production in March, citing the fact that the month is not over yet.

MOSCOW, March 18. /TASS/. Russia has decreased it holdings in US Treasury Securities to $13.180 bln in January from $13.216 bln in December last year, according to the Treasury International Capital (TIC) data for January 2019.

The share of long-term bonds accounted for $6.322 bln, short-term bonds - $6.858 bln.

Russia began to drastically reduce investments in the US national debt in the spring of 2018.

In April 2018, investments fell from $96 bln to $ 48.7 bln, and then in May to $ 14.9 bln.

SIMFEROPOL, March 18. /TASS/. Russia will lift counter-restrictions if the European Union abolishes its sanctions, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday at a meeting with Thierry Mariani, head of a delegation of French politicians and the President of the French-Russian Dialog Association.

ROME, March 19. /TASS/. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov will hold consultations in Rome with US Special Envoy for Venezuela Elliott Abrams on the situation in the Latin American country.

BAKU, March 19. /TASS/. Caracas views Russia and China as major oil exports destinations, Venezuela's Oil Minister Manuel Quevedo said at a meeting with Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov, the Azerbaijani Energy Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

"The minister said that Venezuela had suspended oil exports to India and stressed that Russia and China were considered to be major oil export destinations," the statement reads. Quevedo added that Venezuela "is working to diversify its exports."

LUSAKA, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Zambian President Edgar Lungu on Monday stressed the need for African countries to trade more with each other before looking to the outside world.

He made the remarks while meeting with a visiting delegation from the Federation of Egyptian Industries that is in the country to explore investment opportunities.

The Zambian leader said visits by African business delegations need to be encouraged in Africa's quest to trade more within the continent.

JAKARTA, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia has permanently banned Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft from serving in Indonesian airspace, following the notice issued by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Indonesian Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi said here on Monday.

The official said the ban has taken effect since Thursday after the FAA issued Continuous Airworthiness Notification to the International Community (CANIC).

The permanent ban was based on the evaluation on the existing Boeing 737 Max 8 operated by national airlines and the FAA notice, the minister said.

DAMASCUS, March 18 (Xinhua) -- The military commanders of Syria, Iran and Iraq discussed in the capital Damascus on Monday issues, including the coordination to counter terrorism, opening borders, and restoring all Syrian areas.

The meeting was attended by Ali Abdullah Ayyoub, the Syrian defense minister, Othman al-Ghanmi, chief of staff of the Iraqi military, and Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces.