Unemployment in Bulgaria dropped to 7.42% in June 2007. The rate is 0.4% lower than for May 2007, Bulgarian news agency BTA reported.
A year earlier, in June 2006, unemployment was 1.76% higher at over 9%. The National Employment Agency said that unemployment had decreased in all regions of the country not just Sofia.
The number of people registered as unemployed was 274,820. This was 14,933 less than in May and 65,239 less than in June 2006.
Seasonal work opportunities were behind the decrease in unemployment, the agency said.
Serbia expects to join EU in 2014
Serbian deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic announced on August 5th that he is ‘certain’ Serbia will join the EU in 2014. Accession could take place on June 28th of that year, marking the religious holiday called ‘Vidovdan’, he suggested. According to Djelic, the date would represent the ‘symbolic end of the 20th century’, exactly 100 years after Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was assassinated in Sarajevo on June 28th, 1914. He also noted that 2014 represents a new budgetary and electoral cycle in the EU.
Djelic reiterated his view that the Stabilisation and Association Agreement could be signed by the end of this year, but acknowledged that this depends on full co-operation with the UN war crimes tribunal at The Hague.
Sofia subway to serve 30% of population once extension completed
Sofia subway will serve 30% of the city’s public transport population, or 450,000 people daily, after its extension is completed, said the Mayor of Sofia mayor after touring the stations currently under construction.
Sofia municipality has vowed to finish the construction works this year. The extension of the subway runs from the international trade centre to the residential district of Mladost.
The total length of all routes on the completed Sofia subway will reach 54km and will be serviced by 48 stations.
Easyjet starts flights to Gdansk and increases flights to Bucharest
Easyjet will start operating flights to Gdansk in Poland for the first time this winter, as well as expanding its flights to the Romanian capital Bucharest.
Three of the new routes will be from London Gatwick, with daily flights to both cities. The Gdansk service takes off on 1 October and the Bucharest flights start on 29 October.
New Gdansk flights will also be run from Bristol and Edinburgh. Both cities will be served three times a week from the Polish port from 30 October.
Worldwide News
Projects planned in Dubai total $310bn says new report
A new report on the Dubai property market by MEED has revealed that the value of projects either planned or currently underway in Dubai will total $310bn over the next decade and, of this, close to $230bn, almost 75% of the total, is earmarked for the property sector. Meed’s report also states that although 175,000 residential units will be released by 2010, an estimated 181,000 units will be required by the end of the decade.
The research, conducted by MEED in conjunction with external industry experts over a two-year period, is based on data and business insight from a variety of sources, including prominent developers and their growth plans and government agencies. The report states that the property industry is set to remain the major factor fuelling Dubai’s booming economy until at least 2010.
Construction has grown at an average of 32.7% a year since 2001 and in 2006 accounted for 12.7% of GDP, up from 7.2% in 2001. Largely due to this property development, the Dubai economy has averaged at 17.9% since 2001, the best performing in the Gulf.
Real estate and business services have recorded average growth of 25% a year, driven in large part by government-empowered developers, such as Emaar Properties, Dubai Properties and Nakheel, and landmark projects like Downtown Dubai, Business Bay and the Palm Islands trilogy.
Bangkok property market slowing down
Bangkok ’s property market in the first half of 2007 has shown signs of a slowdown, according to Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). However, the company said that the short-term outlook for the city has now improved because of better political stability in Thailand.
JLL believes that the future of the Bangkok property market in the second half of the year depends mainly on the overall prospect of the economy. Suphin Mechuchep, managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle Thailand, says: “The lack of consumer and investor confidence experienced over the past 18 months due to the political chaos continued to negatively affect the commercial property markets in the first half of 2007. Demand for office and retail space grew only marginally as businesses were reluctant to expand. In the second quarter of the year, sentiment looked up to a certain degree, largely due to a clearer political picture and the interim government’s stated commitment to holding general elections by the end of the year.”
Regarding the residential property market she added: “Many observers are calling an oversupply in the condominium market. While our findings show the market has continued to enjoy strong demand, a large proportion of condominium purchases in central Bangkok are buy-to-let investors. With competition in the rental market further intensifying as more units are completed and offered for rent, demand from investors could wane in the near future.”
According to a recent Jones Lang LaSalle study, the number of condominium units in central Bangkok now totals 54,280, including 3,630 units completed over the past six months. However, more than 20,000 units are currently under construction, with twenty new projects comprising 5,420 units launched in the first half of 2007.
But Dan Tantisunthorn, head of research at Jones Lang LaSalle, says demand is equally as strong: “In spite of growing concerns that condominiums are overbuilt in Bangkok, our study shows that over 97% of the units in completed projects have already been sold. Among projects that are currently under construction or being marketed, the sales rate still appears healthy at over 75% of the units offered.”
Most of these units were studio and one-beds, ranging in price from Baht 1.4-2.0m, (£23-33,000), targeted at the new generation of young professionals who have limited budgets but prefer living in the city centre.
£7bn sea front regeneration planed for Tunis
Sama Dubai, the international property investment arm of Dubai Holding, is investing £7bn in the construction of a new city covering 830 hectares, to be located on the southern part of the Tunis Lake, in the capital of Tunisia.
The development is intended to join the capital with its sea front through the construction of a marina, and to make it an international business, services and leisure centre.
The foundation stone of ‘ Century City’ was laid down in early-August by President Zine Al Abidine and his UAE guest Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai.
Henceforth, Sama Dubai will invest around £161m a year over the next 15 years. According to studies, the project will provide 130,000 additional construction jobs for local Tunisians.
The project will also be working out a specific training programme which is anticipated to reduce the demand for foreign expertise.
This mega-project will give birth to a new city of 300-500,000 inhabitants. The large-scale development will consist of two ‘gigantic’ residential complexes, seaside resorts, luxury hotels and quays for yachts, as well as offices and sports facilities.
Non-stop flights to Perth and Sydney coming soon
British Airways is leading the race to become the first airline to operate non-stop flights from London to Sydney. The 9,200 mile journey, which will take up to 20 hours, has eluded airlines in the past because there have never been any commercially viable aircraft capable of flying such a long distance.
Airbus is offering BA the new A350-900R model, which will be capable of flying about 9,400 miles. Passengers have a while longer to wait though before finally being able to take a non-stop flight to Australia – the A350-900R won’t take to the skies for at least another seven years.
Virgin Atlantic has already committed itself to a rival airplane - the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. This has a range of up to 8,500 miles, which would enable Virgin to launch non-stop flights from London to Perth in Western Australia. Virgin’s 787 is likely to enter service three years earlier in 2011.
Virgin may become the first to launch non-stop Australia flights, but until Boeing offers an extended-range version of the 787 the key markets of Sydney and Melbourne will remain out of the company’s reach.
Australian airline Qantas also has ambitions to offer non-stop flights from Sydney to London using extended-range 787s.
