P&O, Britain?s biggest ports and ferries group, is set to receive a ?3 billion takeover approach from a Middle East rival as early as this week. Dubai Ports World (DPW), which is owned by the Gulf state?s government, has hired Deutsche Bank to advise it on a bid. Banking sources in Dubai said this weekend that a preliminary meeting between the two sides was likely to take place within days.

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Koninklijke Vopak N.V. (Royal Vopak), the world?s largest independent tank terminal operator specialising in the storage and handling of liquid and gaseous chemical and oil products, achieved an group operating profit excluding exceptional items for the third quarter of 2005 of EUR 45.6 million, which is 19% more then last years Q3 results.

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As previously reported, the State Department has been struggling with concerns over privacy and security in developing new passports. The struggle has ended, and by “October 2006, all U.S. passports, with the exception of a small number of emergency passports issued by U.S. embassies or consulates, will be electronic passports.” Of course, by “electronic” it is not meant that passports will be paperless, rather the paper will have embedded RFID. While electronic identification has received much attention in the US since 9/11, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has been working on global specifications for electronic passports for decades. The new US passport builds upon that foundation.

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Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announced here Friday that China and Chile have reached agreement on trade in cargo which is an important step towards the establishment of their free trade area (FTA). The agreement was reached Friday night in Beijing after five rounds of negotiations.

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China became one of the major victims of trade protectionism in the past nine months or so, suffering from a wide range of trade barriers including anti-dumping, safeguard measures, subsidies and countervailing measures and special safeguard measures.

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A global study of logistics and supply chain executives finds that for the first time in 10 years price has overtaken value?added services as the most important attribute in selecting a third?party logistics (3PL) provider.

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Stewart Oades, UK based Christian Salvesen?s recently appointed Chief Executive, has announced a management re-structure as the company gears up for a sustained period of growth across its logistics markets.

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The LEGO Group, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of play materials for children, will centralize its European distribution center (EDC) in Prague, Czech Republic, and outsource its European operation to DHL Solutions. DHL will open and begin operating its new and customized logistics center in early 2006.

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DHL Danzas Air & Ocean, part of the logistics division of shipping company DHL, has consolidated all of its Los Angeles operations into one facility.

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New liberalization measures were jointly approved by leaders in Hong Kong and the Central People?s Government of China. Rules of origin will be adjusted to allow more goods to move tariff free.

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