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The Week AheadNovember 9-16 1998
Brussels, November 5, 1998 (ICFTU OnLine): The following is a selection of next week's events. This selection has been prepared for the information of subscribers to the ICFTU's OnLine service, and does not necessarily reflect the position of the ICFTU.
Monday November 9: The International Federation of Chemical, Energy and Mine Workers (ICEM) is to hold a world energy industry conference in London. It will end on November 11.
Monday November 9: The Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Abel Matutes, is due to visit Cuba this week, to discuss the "political differences" between the two countries and foster dialogue. Mr. Matutes and his Cuban negotiating partners will also discuss preparations for a visit to Cuba by King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia in 1999.
Monday November 9: A meeting between the representatives of the Libyan government and senior United Nations officials is due to take place in New York, to discuss the fate of the two Libyan suspects accused of taking part in the bomb attack on Pan Am flight 103 which crashed in 1988 in Lockerbie. The United Kingdom is demanding that the two suspects be handed over.
Monday November 9: Legislative elections are due to take place in Bermuda.
Tuesday November 10: A ministerial meeting between the 15 Member States of the European Union and the representatives of the six applicant countries (Hungary, Czech Republic, Estonia, Slovenia, Poland and Cyprus) is due to take place in Vienna.
Tuesday November 10: The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is due to publish its 1998 report on World Investment. The publication will give details on levels of direct foreign investment, the financial crisis in the Far East, international production figures of multinational firms and means of attracting foreign investment from Central and Eastern Europe.
Wednesday November 11: The South African Institute of International Affairs is organising a two day meeting in Johannesburg on the future of the Lomé Convention. The Convention, which governs economic relations between the European Union and 71 countries of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific, is due to expire in 2000. It is vital to the countries concerned however, as it is worth some 25 billion dollars in trade per year.
Wednesday November 11: The Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi is due to visit Moscow where he is to meet his Russian counterpart, Yevgeni Primakov. Discussions will focus on the peace treaty due to be signed between the two countries in 2000.
Thurday November 12: A "cyber-crime" conference is due to be held in London. Specialists from several countries will examine the means of combating crimes carried out through electronic networks, ranging from money laundering via the computer to non-authorised access to information concerning people’s private lives.
Friday November 13: Legislative elections are due to take place in Syria. There will be few surprises. Of the 250 seats in the People’s Assembly, 167 are automatically reserved for the movement led by President Assad.
Saturday November 14: A United Nations team is due to visit Cambodia to investigate the activities of the Khmer Rouge with a view to a possible trial of the movement’s leaders.
Saturday November 14: The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) is due to hold a ministerial meeting in Kuala Lupur, Malaysia. It is expected to accept Peru, Vietnam and Russia into membership of APEC. The ministerial conference will be followed by an APEC economic leaders meeting on November 16-18. The ICFTU held a meeting in Kuala Lumpur at the end of September and presented the trade union demands (http://www.icftu.org/english/sclause/escl98apecs.html) to the Malaysian Prime Minister Mahatir Mohammad. Mr. Mohamad will host the ministerial meeting.
Sunday November 15: Presidential elections are due to take place in Burkina Faso.
Sources: These forecasts have been prepared in cooperation with Future Events News Service in London (FENS), 8-10 Wiseton Rd, London SW17 7EE. Tel.:++44 181 672 31 91. Http://www.hubcom.com/fen
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