CEE Oct-Dec 2002

• on a five-year-programme thm wi ll sec the development of more regional ised cost/profit centres. We can. l(>r e.\ample, merge companies that arc close together as indccd we ha\1.! done in Latin America. For c.\<llnple. Colombia and Venezuela nO\\ have one CEO and one CFO for both countries . plus one I T sys tem. one human resou rce manager. Th is rationalises all the -,upport fu nctions and of cou rse reduces costs. We have also managed the organisa tion in Western Europe, and as a result, we can strengthen our organisntion in line with our strategy of developing 'clusters' . The same parameters apply for a global procurement platfo rm. ,,·here \VC now are able to pool global commodities and develop one standard ised purchasing plat form. Ind ia is obvious ly ve r y interesting. It is a huge market and we arc looking closely nt a number of oppo11unities at this time. ' !::-business is very popular in Asia. and '' e are seeing quite a lot of similar business developing in the 1\ mericas. The same app lies to E-procu remcnt which we believe has a strong futu r~. In time we might even offer similar types of procuremen t services to our clien ts. White cemen t is another good small profi table ma rket. We re centl y se t up ll o lc im White Cement which enables us to better focus on thi s particular market sector. l,ooki ng ahead. llolc im should continue to do well. We nrc set to benefit from a number of factors. There is stabil ity and gro\\ th in mo~t of our eme rging markets. particularly Mexico. Thailand. Vietnam and Indonesia at th is time . We ha\'e abo diversified our risk whe1 e npproprinte and as I said ear lier. Vietnam has excellen t potential. O nce t.he Eas t European countries enter the European Union their potent ial for rcn l growth is there. What you have seen happen in Spain and Portugal wi th regard to st rengthening economies. good const ruc tion and ri sing cement demnnd, you will eventually sec in Easte rn Europe. Indeed such markets arc ready for some real growth. ( 'ourtesy: lntemalional Cement Reviell'. ,)'ep 02. Pp 6 I-63. E-mail: ii!(O a CemNet. co.uk Weh: \l'li'W.CemNer.con1 24 EPICENTRES IN NCR: STUDY Press trust of!ndia 1\ Disaster management study group. se t up by the Centre for National Capital Region, has iclenti tied 2 cpicentrcs in the area I) ing in "lone- I v·· w ith potential of earth quakes above 6 degree on Richter scale. 1\ Sub-Group on D isaste r Management for National Capital Region Plan (NCRP). in its report submitted before the Del hi lligh Court, has stated that th e occurrence of earthquakes in and around Delhi is attri buted to seven tectonic fau lts with 24 identified epicentres. The seven tectonic fault s inc lude Sohna. 1\ravali. hidden Moraclabad fault in Indo-Gangetic I3asi n. Sonepa t-Del hi -Sohna, Junction of Arava li and Sohna and Delhi- llaridwar Ridge faults. The report was tiled by the Centre in reply to a pub lic interest l itigation ( PI L) hi ghli ghting inadequate di saster management faci lities in th e capital and its surrounding areas to dea l w ith a major ea rthquake li ke the one in Gujarar despi te th e r egion ' s locations in earthquake ··zone - IV". The PIL quoting report s by various scientists had stated that it' an earthqu ake or over 6 degree 7 1 magn itude st r ikes De lhi region. ncar!) :20 per cent ot' the capital's populat ion wou ld perish and there \\OUid be large '\Calc destruct ion or properties. inc luding hundreds of sky-rise building which did not have any efTcctivc tremor safet~ measures. ( 'ourre.1y: The Stute.~/Jion. ~ (Jet ()~ CMA'S 41' 1 ANNUAL SESSION The Econo111ic Ti111es. Oct -1. 02 The Cement Manufactu rers· Assoc iation expects a double digit growth in the cu rrent fisca l even though the half-yearly gro,vth rate stood at 9%. ··we expect a double digit growth for current fiscal as the demand trend is healthy." President TMM Nambiar. told repo1ters at the side l i nes of CMA 's 4 I'' annual session in New Delhi. Stating the on-going highway and rural roads development programme and housing projects would boost demand for cement. he said "'the demand would further incrcnsc in clays ahead." On the problems facing the industry. Mr. Nambiar said "' import duty on coal sti ll continues to be very high. A large number or imported finished goods have lower rate of duty compared to coa l.'' lie also highlighted the multiple tax burden which the industry bears and urged government to " take nppropriate steps to remove al l constraints and pro\ ide a healthy environment for the growth of the indUSll") ." On the rising trend or power tariff, Mr. Nambiar said ·· this ''ill increase production cost as well as ::lfTect the industry's globa l competiti veness." The industry has to sho u l der the bu rden of inefficiencies in transmission nnd dist ributi on. powe r subsi dies to other sectors as'' ell as power thefis. he added. Cement industry still faces problems in maki ng full use ol captive power capacities. he said