BOSTON - Coils of Polish sausages glisten on shop counters and vodka bottles line the shelves. In this corner of the English countryside, much of the chatter is in Latvian or Lithuanian. Welcome to Boston, the most Eastern European town in Britain. Census data shows that more than a tenth of the residents of this sleepy outpost in rural Lincolnshire, in east England, are immigrants from the ten ex-communistcountries that joined the European Union in the 2000s. With its streets dotted by Polish cafes and Baltic food shops, Boston is almost unrecognisable from the town which listed 249 Germans as its biggest foreign population at the time of Britain's census in 2001. But now Britain is expecting a second wave of immigration from Eastern Europe next year - this time from Bulgaria and Romania, as the EU lifts restrictions on their 29 million citizens' access to the bloc's labour markets. There are few who view this prospect with more trepidation than the English residents of Boston, … [Read more...] about Britain braces for fresh Eastern European immigration wave
Eastern european countries
Central and Eastern Europe – New Labour Export Markets
Vietnamese workers in Malaysia and the Middle East can earn only about US$200-300 a month while there are differences in climate (in Middle Eastern countries), culture, tradition and custom.... That is why many Vietnamese labour exporting companies have difficulties in recruiting workers for these markets. On the contrary, Vietnamese labourers in Central and Eastern European markets "are well-paid and benefit from good working and living conditions" as the Vietnam Association of Manpower Supply (VAMAS) has remarked. According to this Association, this is a good sign for Vietnam's labour exporting companies as well as skilled workers. Mr Nguyen Thanh Binh, administrative manager of Sovilaco under the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs, said that the monthly incomes of 230 labourers of Sovilaco now working in the Czech Republic are between US$600-700 and even US$1,000 for overtime (mainly in Prague). "And Europeans are not accustomed to mistreating overseas labourers," … [Read more...] about Central and Eastern Europe – New Labour Export Markets
BIDV looks to Eastern Europe
Two prominent banks, Vietnam's BIDV and Eastern Europe's IIB, have signed comprehensive cooperative agreement in many business activities, especially credit and syndicated loan. Specifically, Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) will cooperate with the International Investment Bank (IIB), an institution headquartered in Moscow, in information exchange, training, research, credit and project loans, and in processing transactions on financial and capital market. IIB will lend to BIDV a medium and long-term loan of Euro 50 million ($65 million) for investment projects finance and trade finance. The two parties also pledged to implement priority deposits and foreign exchange transactions. The cooperation between IIB and BIDV is to specify the areas of cooperation and further stimulate the long-standing relationships, promoting bilateral trade between Eastern European countries and Vietnam. The International Investment Bank is an international financial … [Read more...] about BIDV looks to Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe sales to give UK condom maker a boost
SSL International Plc chief executive Garry Watts is taking the manufacturer of Durex condoms to eastern Europe just as the region’s economic meltdown turns investors away. The UK maker of Durex and Contex brands plans to raise its stake in a unit that distributes contraceptives in Russia and nine other eastern European countries to 50 percent by April and expects to take full ownership by 2010, Watts said. The £200 million (US$283 million) takeover will raise SSL’s sales in the region by £100 million a year starting from April. … [Read more...] about Eastern Europe sales to give UK condom maker a boost
Labour exporters target European market
Vietnam is shifting its labour export activities to European markets rather than relying on traditional Asian markets, in order to create more job opportunities for local workers. A series of labour cooperation documents have been signed by Vietnam and Russia and by Vietnam and Slovakia during the past two months, the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs (Molisa) said, adding that later this month, it plans to visit Poland to conduct research into the market. Eastern European countries such as Poland , the Czech Republic , Slovakia and Russia have huge demands for overseas workers and this represents an excellent opportunity for Vietnamese workers, said Nguyen Ngoc Quynh, director of Molisa’s Overseas Labour Management Department. Quynh’s view was supported by Nguyen Huy Tung from the Tourism, Trade and Labour Export Joint Stock Company (TTLC), who said the European Union’s policy of allowing free travel between member countries has made it possible … [Read more...] about Labour exporters target European market