It is not. Turmoil and reporting particularly in the media who saw the year two thousand and seventeen for us it was very. Encouraging it ever since we. Those of you who know us. And we never had to give up last year air bus delivered seven hundred eighteen aircraft a Company Record this year air bus is on course to sell eight hundred planes due in no small part to the companys new champion the long range a three twenty one. Rebuilding a country after decades of war doesnt come cheap the World Bank Estimates reconstruction costs at about ninety billion u. S. Dollars to date International Donors have pledged about twenty five billion more donations are to be made at a Donor Conference in kuwait the host nation itself is making substantial financial commitments to its neighbor. Well. Im pleased to announce the state of kuwaits commitment to support our brothers in iraq by committing a one billion dollar loan under the mechanisms of the kuwait fund for arab economic development. But its not all about loans also keen to attract companies iraq is offering Business Opportunities in almost every area of its economy including the Energy Sector the c. E. O. Of german industrial giant Siemens Joe Kayser told you that his company is rebuilding for power plants in iraq because securing availability of electricity is probably iraqs biggest challenge right now we know that the grid is under tremendous stress. Iraq urgently wants to ramp up Oil Production oil sales which account for more than ninety percent of the countrys total revenues generated close to fifty seven billion dollars in two thousand and seventeen the Donor Conference comes just two months after iraqs declared victory over the socalled islamic state. South african president jacob zuma resigned this week during his tenure the country saw its bond rating downgraded to junk status and with its second largest city cape town quickly running out of water trust in the countrys ruling elite has plunged. Growth has declined steadily from more than three percent seven years ago to less than two percent in recent years one of the weakest rates for all of subsaharan africa. Is really thrashing at the moment stability is pretty difficult so you. Just before the big say the country is now resting its hopes on a newly elected president Cyril Ramaphosa a former union leader since his appointment as head of the ruling a. N. C. Party in december the countrys currency has surged by ten percent against the dollar. Its a positive sign that investors are banking on a change in south africas fortunes. Joblessness in france is now declining at a rate not seen since before the start of the financial crisis ten years ago the French Economy added more than a quarter of a million new jobs last year mostly in the Services Sector machinery makers an i. T. Companies are also recruiting heavily boosted by low Interest Rates on the global upswing france is a commie grew by almost two percent last year. He u. S. Ports to the u. S. Jumped to sharply last year while the bloc imported only marginally more from the u. S. The use resulting trade surplus rose seven percent more than one hundred billion euros. U. S. President donald trump highly critical of the trade imbalance has accused the europeans of unfair practices saying e. U. Import tariffs in many sectors are higher than those imposed by the us. Posted losses of four point five billion dollars last year this as the on demand taxi service has a real from scandal and legal troubles including shareholders ousting c. E. O. Travis colonic last june optimistic after improved Fourth Quarter results new management says the company is still on track for an i. P. O. Next year. This conspicuous structure is actually a mini market located in a commercial district outside beijing its fully automatic theres no staff stores like this are being touted as markets of the future the idea is simple customers use an app to access the store locate products and pay for them. There are security cameras watching the store. For customer shop. Without paying the Customer Service center contacts them to remind them that they have to pay. The store contains typical many market items snacks drinks and Hygiene Products most of the customers here come from nearby offices during their lunch break. Each item is priced electronically and purchases are completed with the payment app. I like shopping this way no one watching you find what you need and then you pay. Bingo box in beijing is just one of several startups developing unstaffed markets that operate some two hundred stores like this one theyre all running smoothly so far. Our theft rates are even lower than traditional supermarkets the last rate is less than point one percent. J. D. One of chinas Largest Online retailers also run supermarkets without employees they have a store in the companys offices that uses bio metrics once youve registered on the app its all automatic customers do their shopping and as they leave the facial Recognition Technology identifies them at the docks the payment from their account. Were still in the test phase so we cant provide exact figures yet but were fairly certain that a market like this is cheaper to operate the normal supermarkets. It seems that nowhere are people as enthusiastic about digital shopping as here in China Payment apps and Online Delivery Services are an established and interval part of their lives consumers in china except that these businesses store all their purchased data. Im sure this is the wave of the future. To have convenience we have to share our personal data i think its acceptable. Digitalisation does have its limitations however people are still needed to keep the products on the shelves well displayed. At the syrian flower farm in Central Kenya all these stemmed beauties are processed by hand from harvesting to bundling to packing for transport. Tonnes of flowers are prepared for market on these work tables. The companys director hamish kerr runs a well organized and highly efficient operation each flower arrives in stores no later than two days after their cut. Were going to be off now isnt people we are needed when it comes to have ethical trade so were paying ostroff the highest in the industry with providing housing medical schooling so in terms of the flowers that we produce they are putting money into peoples pockets the flower industry is the countrys second most important sector after tourism five percent of its economic output comes from cut flowers here at lake ny bhatia growing conditions are perfect twelve hours of sunshine per day cool nights fertile soil and enough lake water to keep the more than fifty flower producers here in business. The head of the Kenya Flower Council in the capital nairobi however is concerned about cheaper competition in neighboring ethiopia she says the government there is attracting investors with price dumping. They get access to land they get the subsidies on even freight let me give you one example we. Was in the u. S. Three point five to four dollars a kilogram. On this subsidized plates on their airplane and it. Didnt bring it down. As a result farmers are leaving. This flour grower abandon operations here to move to ethiopia lower cost operations in the north are endangering the industry in kenya along with jobs and Economic Growth a continued exodus of companies would be bad news for the flourishing flower sector in kenya. The tatts market and hanoi as old city is awash in red and gold the colors of the tents or new years festival red is for luck and gold for wealth in the new year. For retailers its the most important shopping season as people buy gifts for their loved ones and decorations for their homes to welcome in the year of the dog. Its also high season for the citys florists. We have a peach flower branches and cumquat trees to bring a warm and joyful atmosphere to our homes during tet. More of my tent is when the trees bad and the flowers bloom and you know its the time for families to come together to celebrate and to welcome the new year and. The law. In china to people have been on the move for days millions of Migrant Workers in shanghai scramble to find a train seat. Those who havent already bought a ticket arent going anywhere. The annual festival runs about one week in China Vietnam singapore taiwan and many other countries. And those where this weeks top business stories. That people of the world over g. W. On facebook and twitter up to date and in touch follow us. For freedom of expression. A value that always has to be defended and new. All over the world. Of Freedom Freedom of art. A multimedia project about artists and their right to express their views freely. D w dot com part of freedom. We make up of what we watch as a office that under the age of five we ought to Civil Service and. They want to shape the continents future to. Be part of enjoying african youngsters as they share their stories their dreams and their challenges. To seventy seven percent of the platform for africa charging. Dangerous and swine. Venture of. A trip by airplane. Seventeen thousand kilometers in six weeks. Breathtaking landscapes. Suffragette of experience a. Touching story. This is our home its gods country of her its another better place seventy thousand come. Starting salary twenty seven