The Swiss giant, which boasts Nescafe and Nespresso amongst its brands, will have the right to market Starbucks' coffee in retail outlets outside the cafe chain.

That part of the business currently generates $2bn in annual sales.

The deal means Nespresso machine owners will be able to buy Starbucks coffee branded pods for use at home.

Consumers will also find Starbucks coffee beans, ground and instant coffee more readily available as Nestle, the world's largest food and drinks company, uses its vast distribution network to market Starbucks products worldwide.

Nestle's name will not appear alongside Starbucks's, but the deal could still help Nestle strengthen its US business, thanks to the powerful High Street coffee brand.

Boil it all down and this is a giant licensing arrangement, whereby Nestle is allowed to sell Starbucks products through Nestle distribution channels.

That means you'll see a lot more Starbucks branded coffee pods for use in Nespresso or Dolce Gusto devices which are all the rage - thanks in part to those George Clooney adverts.

Starbucks will continue to buy the raw (green) coffee beans from farmers but now Nestle will step in and roast and prepare those beans for consumers under strict Starbucks licensing rules. Nestle will not acquire any Starbucks infrastructure nor will any Nestle products appear in Starbucks coffee shops.

For that arrangement, Nestle is paying $7bn because it believes Starbucks products will appeal to premium coffee lovers around the world.

Despite the price tag, Nestle shareholders appear to like the deal. Nestle shares rose 1.5% today. While Starbucks investors kind of shrugged.

Mark Schneider, who in 2016 became the first outsider to run Nestle in almost 100 years, is attempting to boost the company's profit through expansion.

Last year, Nestle paid an estimated $425m for a 68% stake in Blue Bottle Coffee, a California-based company that sells coffee to customers online and has a number of shops in the US and Japan.

Kona Haque, of the commodities trading company ED&F Man said Nestle was aiming to further strengthen its position in the US market through this latest deal.

"At the moment Nestle is very much known for its instant coffee. This is an opportunity to go into roast and ground which for today's millennials is a big growing trend," she said.

Mr Schneider described the "global coffee alliance" with Starbucks as "a great day for coffee lovers around the world".

Nestle said 500 Starbucks employees will transfer over to its business but they will continue to be located in Seattle, which has been the group's headquarters for the last 47 years.

The company recently sold its US sweets and chocolate business, including brands such as Crunch and Butterfinger, to Ferrero Group for 2.7bn Swiss francs (£1.9bn).

The value of China's imports from Belt and Road countries stood at $666 billion in 2017, an increase of 20 percent year-on-year, or 39 percent of China's total imports value, according to a report compiled by the State Information Center, a State Council think tank.

In the same year, China's exports to those countries came in at $774.26 billion, a rise of 8.5 percent year-on-year. The growth of imports outpaced exports for the first time since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed five years ago.

China's combined trade with those countries reached $1.44 trillion, up 13.4 percent year-on-year, 5.9 percentage points faster than China's overall trade growth.

The Belt and Road Initiative was proposed by China in 2013 to boost trade and investment among countries along the ancient Silk Road trade routes from Asia to Europe and Africa.

China's trade with Central Asia countries grew at the fastest rate, followed by Eastern Europe. Countries including Republic of Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, India and Russia rank among China's top 10 trading partners along the routes, contributing nearly 70 percent of China's trade with Belt and Road countries.

China mainly sells mechanical and electrical products to Belt and Road countries, and imports mechanical and electrical products as well as fossil fuel from them, the report said.

Chinese private companies do the biggest chunk of trade, followed by foreign-invested companies and State-owned firms.

Yu Shiyang, director of the department of big data development under the State Information Center, said that amid rising protectionism by some countries, China's trade with Belt and Road countries had risen at a brisk pace, showing the initiative was being implemented well, featuring free trade flow.

The report covers 71 countries along the Belt and Road summarizing the current trade picture and projecting future trends.

Milk processing small plants named 'Ger kitchen’ are planned to be built in six soums in scope of UNFAO technical cooperation program ‘Improving Local Dairy Processing through promoting women’ (TCP/MON/3606), the subproject of the abovementioned project.

Each milk processing small plant will have daily capacity of processing up to 500 liter milk and producing 5-6 types of dairy products using up-to-date technology. Operation of a plant is expected to provide ten people with jobs and to make annual sale of MNT 127.9 million, earning MNT 7.1 million net profit.

Furthermore, 12 people who involved in teacher training conducted trainings to more than 120 women from six local milk processing groups on methods and practices to process traditional dairy products that meet food standards and sanitary requirements using ‘Ger kitchen’ equipment. The project is making contribution to develop production of diary products in rural area, to introduce modern technology and to increas types of products.

B.Batchimeg

Foreign trade balance resulted USD 352 million in profit as total export is currently higher than its import thanks to raw materials export. Therefore, goods account totalled USD 260.9 million.

In other words, while the goods account was profitable, the services account had USD 347.6 million deficit. In connection to tourists’ spendings, the outflow of foreign currency increased, which had impact on services account. In addition, balance of primary income account, which registers in and outflow of cash related to salaries and investment, had a deficit of MNT 386.4 million. This shows that outflow is dominant in the primary income account.

But the balance of financial accounts, which involves transaction of direct and portfolio investments, resulted with USD 332.2 million gains. In other words, financing of such amount was obtained from outside sources in the first three months. Furthermore, the private sector brought in a total of USD 552.9 million FDI, including debt instruments, in the first quarter of this year.

Minister of Construction and Urban Development Badelkhan Khavdislam informed that the ministry is planning to grant MNT 220 billion mortgage loan from the repayment of BoM and MNT 120 billion from the State Budget. The State Budget funding is granted quarterly for the loan, while the BoM monthly transfers the finances. However, the mortgage loan is under deficit, the Minister noted. Therefore, a new regulation for the loan has been formulated and submitted to the Cabinet in order to increase accessibility. According to an estimate, the current financial sources of the mortgage program can only cover 5-6 thousand households.

The ministry signed contracts with over 300 companies and individuals for granting 16.5 thousand seeds.

According to an estimation, a total of 7800 tons of diesel fuel is required for normal cultivation process this year. Under the agreement signed between the Fund for Cultivation Support (FCS) and NIC LLC, 3500 tons of fuel is being granted with 50 percent prepayment loan through local gas stations. The fuel price was established at MNT 1720-1800 per ton for wholesale and MNT 1949-2080 per ton for retail.

As reported by the ministry, a total of 3230 tractors, 2254 seeders for wheat, 5424 soil processing equipment, potato and vegetables cultivation seeders are required for the 2018 spring cultivation. The Ministry is organizing a purchase of agricultural and watering equipment from the fund of Chinese Government soft loan under relevant rules. In cooperation with the Development Bank of Mongolia, the ministry is implementing Agricultural Equipment Leasing project and conducting talks on purchasing agricultural equipment from Russia, Belarus and Germany.

Furthermore, the ministry has formulated a draft bill on customs duty exemption of agricultural equipment, fertilizer and plant protection products. Presently, proposals on the bill are being collected from stakeholders of the industry. The draft will soon be submitted to the Cabinet for discussion. In addition, the FCS is granting agricultural equipment including mid-size tractors with a loan that has 7-9 years maturity and 10 percent prepayment.

As of today, cellars throughout the country are capable of storing 56 percent of harvested potato and vegetables for the population needs. Therefore, the ministry is making efforts in increasing the capacity of storages, which include a project on establishing an elevator with a capacity of 15 thousand tons in Selenge with Russian soft loan, and cellars for storing potatoes and vegetables in Selenge, Bayan-Olgii and Khovd aimags with MNT 1.2 billion financing from the State Budget. In addition, Fruits and Berries, and Vegetables national programs were approved by the Cabinet early this spring.

Once operational, the new Sainshand Wind Farm will make a significant contribution to reducing Mongolia’s carbon emissions and cater for an expected increase in power demand across the country. The scheme will significantly enlarge Mongolia’s renewable energy capacity and help the government to achieve the goal of renewable energy accounting for 20 per cent of all power by 2020, and 30 per cent by 2030.

The Sainshand Wind Farm is the third privately financed facility of its kind in Mongolia, will receive a USD 120 million project financing package from a group of international investors and financiers.

Located 460 km south-east of Ulaanbaatar in the Gobi Desert, the Sainshand Salkhin Park LLC is sponsored by French energy leader ENGIE, German project developer Ferrostaal, the Danish Climate Investment Fund (DCIF) and Mongolian entrepreneur, Radnaabazar Davaanyam, with long-term financing provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

"If the conditions are met, the EU will be ready to launch a budget support operation for around 50 million euros. By supporting Government policies, we ensure full alignment with Mongolia's priorities and also support Mongolia's commitment to implement the IMF Extended Fund Facility. We had very productive meetings with key stake holders, which we thank, and we are encouraged by Government's efforts to maintain stability in public administration, to promote sound management and efficient implementation of policies and programmes. We will continue to assist in developing solid policies for the country in the next years", said Mr Marco Ferri, Chargé d'Affaires of the EU Delegation to Mongolia.

The purpose of the mission was to assess the eligibility criteria of an EU Budget support operation and launch its identification process. This Budget support operation could cover two focal sectors of the Multiannual indicative programme 2014-2020 "Governance of Revenues for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth" (29 million EUR) and "Support for Better Employment Opportunities" (21,8million EUR) for a total amount of approximately EUR 50 million.

Among others, the mission had meetings with officials from the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Labour, judicial authorities, members of Parliament, International Financial Institutions based in Mongolia and civil society organizations. The EU expresses its gratitude to the authorities of Mongolia for their cooperation. This mission has allowed reinforcing the policy dialogue between the EU and Mongolia in areas like Public Financial management and Employment policies.

Once the conditions are right, the EU is committed to provide budget support as a means to support country‘s policy objectives to help financing national development strategies and to promote sound and transparent public financial management. Budget support involves the direct transfer of funds to a partner country’s budget using national systems combined with technical assistance and enhanced policy dialogue.

The four eligibility criteria are the following:
- Sector policies are in place;
- Stable macro-economic framework;
- Sound Public Financial Management;
- Transparency and oversight of the budget.
source: eeas.europa.eu